#***too lazy to go back but its the mummy returns

[claireelizabeth85]

Come Home to Me - Chapter 3

John Egan x OC Female!Reader

Summary: We learn a bit more about what is going on with Lizzy. For those not entirely sure where this is going - think Evie from The Mummy 2 and Claire from Outlander.

Warnings: Implications of death, heartbreak, sorrow.

AN: Many thanks to those of you who have read Chapters 1 and 2. If you have questions or want to share your thoughts/ideas of where this could be going, shoot me a message - I would love to hear your thoughts.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

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

The atmosphere inside the White Stag was warm and cosy, a stark contrast to the chill of the evening outside. Lizzy and Sarah found themselves surrounded by a few elderly locals, including James Thatcher, who had revealed his connection to Lizzy. They exchanged pleasantries as James introduced the other patrons as some of the children Lizzy remembered from her time in the village. Each conversation she had seemed to deepen the mystery of her past, as more people claimed to have known her "back then." Despite Sarah's scepticism, Lizzy couldn't ignore the feeling of familiarity and belonging she felt among these strangers.

Suddenly, James leaned in and whispered something to his grandson, who hurried off to retrieve something from the back of the pub. Lizzy's heart raced with anticipation as she watched the young man return with a dusty trunk, its wooden exterior weathered with age.

"This," James said solemnly, "is yours."

Lizzy's hands trembled as they ghosted over the lid, her rank and name etched into the surface were now dull with age. As she reached out to touch the trunk, her mind was racing with questions and emotions. With a deep breath, she slowly lifted the lid revealing a treasure trove of memories carefully preserved within.  Her civilian clothes, dress uniform and a spare flight suit were all neatly folded and smelling faintly of lavender. Photographs of familiar faces smiled up at her, frozen in time. Books she hadn't seen in years nestled among the keepsakes. 

But it was the sight of a red checked blanket that brought tears to Lizzy's eyes. She smiled at memories of lazy afternoons spent with John and she felt her cheeks flush with emotion. Something she had never expected to see lay tucked safely beneath the blanket. A letter, yellowed with age but bearing John's unmistakable handwriting waited for her. 

Excusing herself, she took her drink and the letter outside. As she delicately unfolded it with shaking hands, every word seemed to carve deeper into her already wounded heart.  John's opening words, "My darling Lizzy," echoed with a tenderness that both soothed and exacerbated her pain. Tears blurred the lines of his familiar handwriting as if mimicking the haze that clouded her mind.

The absence of any prior communication gnawed at her, emphasising the significance of this final missive. It was as if fate had handed her the last fragment of their connection, a cruel reminder of what once was and could never be again.  John's words painted a picture of longing and despair, his agony palpable with each sentence. “The very thought of you waiting for me kept me going in that hell - but I knew the moment that I saw Buck, the look on his face told me you were gone”. The weight of his absence bore down on her, a burden too heavy for her fragile heart to bear alone.

In his lament, he bared the depths of his sorrow, mourning the life they should have shared. Their unspoken vows, the promise they had whispered in the secrecy of tangled bed sheets under a burning London night sky now lay shattered amidst the ruins of their dreams.

With each passing sentence, the weight of John's absence grew heavier and heavier.  Each one a jagged shard piercing her already wounded soul, the pain that poured from the paper, the magnitude of his love for her was too overwhelming to comprehend. She remembered this feeling, of having her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. But this time, there were no screams of grief that burned her lungs, no physical pain to match the agony of the hollow emptiness that she felt within, made ever more real by solitary, battered fortress that sat on the airfield reminding her that it had not brought him home.

As she finished reading, Lizzy held the letter close, the weight of her grief enveloping her.  Surrounded by the lingering shadows of her past, the pain of her loss surged within her, too potent to suppress. Tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked, a torrent of emotion unleashed by the overwhelming sorrow that consumed her.

She longed for them all: John, Gale, Crosby, Biddick, Pappy, Benny, Crank—their camaraderie, their laughter, their unwavering support. Memories flooded her mind, scenes of shared moments and inside jokes, each one a bittersweet reminder of what she had lost.

She missed the way they would tease the new recruits, the protective arm John would wrap around her, the astonished whispers as she took her place in the cockpit and the forever furrowed brow of Chick Harding, sceptical of her relentless quest for missions.

Amid her grief, Lizzy found solace in John's words, a testament to a love that endured. Though separated by time and tragedy, she would love him as deeply now as she did then. 

#masters of the air #mota fanfiction #john egan x fem!reader #john egan fanfic #gale cleven #curtis biddick #comehometome #john egan x reader #john egan x oc #John x Lizzy Waterfield #mota fanfic #John Egan

[sleephyjhs]

Sleeping Lions (Taehyung One-Shot)

pairing: dad!taehyung x pregnant!reader

genre: fluff ofc!! + family au (?)

summary: a quiet morning in the kim household was very much unheard of. a puppy, three small children and another on the way was constant cause for mayhem. when better to cause a raucous than an early sunday morning?

wc: 1.53K

song rec: stay here - gaho

note: i think this is my favourite thing i’ve ever written here, please enjoy!! <3

m.list | requested

The eventual gush of tepid sunlight through a thin gap between the curtains was the worst part of every sunday morning. Striking across your aching eyelids, the light disrupted your peaceful slumber and forced you to acknowledge the impending sunrise. You took a brief moment to wriggle around in the imprint you’d moulded into the mattress; the arrangement of pregnancy support pillows sometimes gave you more aches than they eradicated.

On lazy sundays such as these, sitting up straight away was more effort than what it was worth. Taking the few minutes that were left before your shared bed would be surely invaded to embrace the chilliness of the sheets were essential. Beside you laid your husband Taehyung who, visibly, seemed much less accustomed to the early morning than you. Bound on your back by the angled pillows and the growing bump you carried, you instead rolled your head over to face him. Cheeks puffy from a good night’s rest, Taehyung scrubbed the sleepy residue from his squinting eyes.

“Morning sleepyhead...” you groaned, harnessing his attention. His hearty pout widened into a toothy smile at the sight of you. Since you were unable to, Tae curled onto his side and reached a hand out to your bump. Smoothing down the crinkled fabric of your cami, he took a few moments to greet his unborn baby before registering you were there also. With his thumb, he stroked the curve where the most kicking activity seemed to be. Sure enough, the direct caressing alerted your baby it was morning time.

Following her first few kicks of the day, Taehyung returned his extended smile back to your face, “She’s getting stronger every week, you know.”

“Oh I know.” Out of all your children, this one definitely packed the strongest punch. Despite your bump being designed to protect her, her main goal was seemingly to escape, “One day she might just kick a whole right through.”

Taehyung chuckled at your prediction, adoring your sly smile that accompanied it. He took a small breath, evaluating which gentle statements were acceptable for so early in the morning, “At least we’d get to meet her a lot sooner.”

For an unborn child, she sure was already loved; beyond adored. Not a single baby of his wasn’t. All of the children you shared seemed to latch onto him differently to you. Being outnumbered by 3 kids to one adult, one might have thought Taehyung would struggle to divide his attention equally between them. Yet somehow, he always managed to make each one release their giggles. With a fourth on the way, it was beginning to look like you’d have to join in on some of their playtimes. Of course, there’d be no need to ask you twice.

“It’s not even two months to wait now! She’ll be here before we know it, Tae.” He chuckled at your sudden burst of enthusiasm. Usually such expression was reserved for later in the day yet for some reason, you couldn’t quite hold back.

Before any more reminders could be dished to one another, the still silence of your bedroom was ripples by a tuning bark. Taehyung turned back to look over the edge of the bed in disapproval of the columbus introduction, “Are you wanting to come up, Tannie? You feeling left out?”

A slight tilt of the head confirmed his suspicions. Without missing a beat, Taehyung offered his hand as a step up onto the mattress and soon enough, you were greeted with a daily lick to the cheek. Ruffling his flattened fur, you soon had Yeontan looking more like the majestic puppy he really was. The couple of you watched attentively as Yeontan approached the bump protruding from the mattress. Having a pet that reacted so gently to the welcoming of your children was more than a relief to you both, but neither of you ever failed to completely melt at the change of character he expressed when interacting with the smaller humans.

Seemingly uninterested in his surroundings, Yeontan stalker back up to the head of the mattress and snuggled between a small gap in the pillows (a spot generally reserved exclusively for him), “Still tired Tannie? I feel you.” Taehyung groaned groggily, making the final adjustments to waking up.

“Lazy day?” You asked. Taehyung opened one eye and furrowed the opposite eyebrow. It couldn’t have been more obvious that that was the plan anyway, “Lazy day it is!”

A few more blinks to really adjust to the light and you were ready to sit up a bit, “Can you just help me a second?” Before you could finish, Taehyung was already propped up on the bed, ready to roll onto his knees should the extra support be needed. Basic actions such as sitting up and climbing the stairs were becoming increasingly difficult with every passing day. Assuming that all the changes would be second nature by the fourth pregnancy was a regrettable mistake.

Huffing slightly as you scooted back into the pillow chair you’d recrafted for yourself, comfort was now yours, “Everything good?” Tae assured before realigning himself to match your new height.

Snapping the attention away from each other, the plain panel door to your shared bedroom sweeped open, revealing your second born, Jaehee, sucking his thumb, “What’s wrong little man?” Taehyung asked, leaning forward in order to comfort him, “You never suck your thumb.”

You pouted as Jaehee looked to you for assurance; something wasn’t right. Taehyung was observant. Thumb-sucking was a habit none of your children had really developed. However, it had its benefits at times; it was the perfect indicator of their mood, which was clear to both of you mattered more than most things, “You’re okay in here.”

Soft easings was how to approach your son. Nervous habits had become daily procedures with him and he rarely reacted well to direct approaches before. Taehyung patted the creased duvet, formally inviting Jaehee into your bedroom. Without any hesitation, he shuffled across the ivory carpets towards the foot of the bed. For the sake of your children, you’d previously purchased a small stepping stool for them to be able to climb in with you.

“Come here bub,” Taehyung cooed, wavering his hands to direct him over. Wobbling, Jaehee clambered over your outstretched legs and rushed into his dad’s arms where he collapsed into a cuddle, “wanna tell us what’s going on?”

“I missed you.” He muffled, head buried in Tae’s chest. Your heart could’ve melted right there and them. From the day you became parents, it had been your only goal to raise them with love and affection; seeing that your children had inherited the same love you showered them with was nothing short of a relief.

“We missed you too bud!” You replied, reaching out to tickle his side. His rowdy giggles curled him further into Tae’s chest, earning a bonus hair ruffle.

Just as the ripples of laughter began to settle down, the bedroom door edged open, instigated by a tiny hand, to reveal your two girls holding hands. Minju, the firstborn, clutched onto Somin, the most recent addition to the household. As the oldest child, it wasn’t uncommon for Minju to guide her siblings to where they needed to be. Perhaps the echoing giggles of their brother had guided them towards the main bedroom.

Suddenly, Somin yanked her hand from the grip of her sister and began to waddle towards the bed, “Tannie!”

Increasing in her speed, you couldn’t help but become worried. She still wasn’t the most stable on her two legs, and the last thing you needed was to search for the first aid box you’d slipped away somewhere, “Careful darling...” You warned, already holding out the arm to support her for when she climbed onto the bed.

Following behind, Minju shuffled across the carpet, clearly still not accustomed to the morning light. As Somin fussed over Yeontan, who remained curled between the pillows, Taehyung looked over to Minju, who was unusually quiet, “Everything okay?”

Minju nodded slowly, “Just sleepy!” Thankfully, the cheer in her high-pitched voice hadn’t dimmed overnight, “Mummy...”

“Yes~?” You smiles as she too clambered up the stepping stool at the foot of the bed. She crawled up the side of your legs and crouched at your hips. Her wavy baby hairs plastered against her cheeks; the best sign of a good night’s sleep.

“Is baby sister awake yet?” Minju asked innocently, gently holding her cheek against the curve of your bump. She was, by far, the most excited of your children, particularly after learning she’d have another sister. Being the most capable of understanding what was happening meant Minju frequently offered to help where you were less able. Taehyung had taught her to help make beds and organise shoes on the rack, and strangely enough she rather enjoyed it.

Flashing a quick smile to Taehyung, who watched his eldest daughter with softened eyes, “Well, if you feel around here,” you began, leading her hand slightly upwards, “she might give you a small kick to say hello!”

Along with Taehyung, you chuckled as her eyes illuminated. In all fairness, you too became just as excited whenever your precious cargo decided to say good morning.

^ congratulations! your request is my most favourite post i’ve ever written 🥺 thank you for this!!

#bts #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung x reader #bangtan #taehyung fluff #bts reactions #taehyung imagine #taehyung boyfriend #bts imagines #bts one shot #bts drabble #request #bts headcanon #bts mtl #taehyung x y/n #taehyung one shot #taehyung au #taehyung icons

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph!! I was wondering if you knew of any really long fics (like 25k or more) that are only one chapter, I travel a lot sometimes and some places don't really have good enough internet for multi chapter fics. So yeah, any really long one chapter fics about John and Sherlock would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hey Nonny!!

LOL OKAY FUNNY STORY. I almost replied to this with “oof I’ll have to read EVERYTHING so I’m sorry.... and then... I remembered.......

I put chapter counts on everything 🙃😐 

I’m not the brightest crayon in the box. 🖍 

Anyway, so yes, I can definitely rec you some fics! BUT I should also offer you two suggestions you can totally do to read ANY fic!

On Ao3, you can click on the “Entire Work” button to load ALL chapters of a fic (it’s the very first button along the top) and in turn you can then just read it all there! 

And the very last button along the top, you can Download copies of the fic to your phone or computer with eBook file types (AZw3 for Kindle, ePub for iPhone’s Books app, and MOBI is for other mobile devices and e-readers), the HTML if you want to read it as-is in a web-browser, or the PDF format which is a universal file format that is supported by everything, even web browsers, so it’s a good one to download if you don’t know what format you need :) If you read on an eReader, though, I can’t recommend enough just downloading the format for your device. You get to keep a copy of the fic AND the eReader keeps it nicely formatted. It’s a BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL feature that Ao3 gave us, because I like downloading all my fics and read them later in iBooks. Once you start that, Nonny, you can’t do it any other way. AND at the VERY END of the fics, it links BACK to the original post so you can bookmark, kudos, and comment on it!! <3

So yeah, two options you can do to solve your poopy internet and still read long fics hee hee! <3

ANYWAY EXCUSE FOR A NEW LIST LOL. 

ALSO, side note, check out @silentauroriamthereal; a large chunk of her fics are both long AND one chapter, so it’s a good place to go and she’s a brilliant author so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! <3 Plus a lot of her fics are on this list, so I am sorry hahah.

AND I wanted to make the list a bit longer than I had, so I picked fics over 20K, if that’s alright :) As always, if you wrote a 20k+ single chapter fic, let us know!

SINGLE CHAPTER FICS OVER 20K WORDS

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

The White Lotuses by SilentAuror (E, 20,340 w., 1 Ch. || Slow Burn, Domestic, Romance) – One day John realises that he just isn't where he belongs, which is back at Baker Street with Sherlock. So he goes back and Sherlock, in his own way, courts him. Romance.

Out of the Woods by SilentAuror (E, 20,471 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Romance, Slow Burn, Flirting, Drunk Sex, Practical Jokes, POV Sherlock, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Pining Sherlock, Frustrated Wanking, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, First Kiss/Time, Virgin Sherlock, Love Confessions, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Bum Appreciation, Hanging out with the Yard) – Sherlock is fairly certain that John has taken to flirting with him of late, but can't be entirely certain of it. At least, not until a case takes them into a forest, along with Lestrade's team and something happens that will change everything about their lives...

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

whiskies neat by Ellipsical (E, 20,660 w., 15 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, POV Second Person Sherlock, Slow Burn, One Night Stand, Rimming, Blow Jobs, Anal, Soldier John, Crying, Emotional Lovemaking, Switchlock) – Home and hearth and whiskies neat, or, alternatively, Sherlock Holmes falls in love.

Achieving the Together-Coloured Instant by teahigh (E, 20,776 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel, PTSD, Codependency, Fluff & Angst, H/C, Smut, Demisexual Sherlock, Experiments) – John wonders if this is how it’s going to be: A life speaking in code, because they’re both too stupid to figure out how to say, “I love you.”

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Love Is by SilentAuror (E, 21,508 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, UST / URT, Post HLV, Romance) – At Mrs Hudson’s urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him. Part 1 of Love Is

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

Ghost Stories by SwissMiss (M, 22,256 w., 1 Ch. || Pining, Holmes Family, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, First Time) – Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

Sonatina in G Minor by SilentAuror (E, 22,574 w., 1 Ch. || Case Fic, POV Sherlock, Angst, UST, Sherlock’s Violin, Post-S3, Romance) – John has come back to Baker Street, but Sherlock doesn't understand the strange tension between them, even after he begins teaching John to play the violin at John's request.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

26 Pieces by Lanning (E, 28,236 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Torture, First Time, Happy Ending, Schmoop, Past Abuse) – Mycroft gives Sherlock the apparently simple task of solving a puzzle box containing a stolen microchip. It isn't simple.

The Wisteria Tree by SilentAuror (E, 29,773 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S3, Emotional Love Making, Amnesia/Memory Loss, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Sherlock POV, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, First Times, Hurt/Comfort, Est. Rel., Retirement) – Sherlock wakes up from a month-long coma only to discover that he has no memory of the previous six years to his own shock as well as John's...

Shallow Grave by SilentAuror (E, 31,672 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Angst, HLV Fix It, Infidelity, Pining Sherlock, First Person POV Sherlock) – Starts as Sherlock's plane is taking off at the end of His Last Vow. When he finds out that Moriarty is alive and that he's being recalled from his mission, Sherlock decides that he should have told John how he felt before he left. So he walks off the plane and kisses him.

The Midas Touch by flawedamythyst (E, 32,231 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Magical Realism || John has a Magical Cock, Dub Con, Healer John) – John Watson has a medical condition that means everyone he sleeps with is instantly healed of all illness and injury. This causes complications when Sherlock breaks his arm, and even more complications when Sherlock falls in love with him. Yes, this is a story where John has a literal magic healing cock. It's a lot less cracky than you're probably imagining. Warning: Contains complex issues of sexual consent, although not between Sherlock and John.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John's head.

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, H/C, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

Bedtime Stories by Liketheriver (M, 34,388 w., 1 Ch. || Emotional H/C, Romance, Angst & Humour, Bed Sharing, John First Person, TRF, John Whump) – John's POV during Season 2 and beyond when Sherlock takes up semi-permanent residence in his bed. A collection of codas and missing scenes wrapped up into one long fic and topped with a bow that takes the story beyond Reichenbach and into happy territory once more. Part 1 of Bedtime Universe

The Yellow Poppies by SilentAuror (E, 34,952 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Nightmares, HLV Fix-It, PTSD, Trauma, POV Sherlock, Doctor John) – Sherlock is threatened and assaulted in the hospital immediately after having been shot in the heart, first by Mary, then by Magnussen. As he recovers at Baker Street with John and plans the attack on Appledore with Mycroft, he fights to work through the trauma caused by these two visits. Set during His Last Vow.

The Unfinished Letters by SilentAuror (E, 37,391 w., 1 Ch. || Post S3 / S3 / HLV Fix it, Angst with Happy Ending, Romance, Infidelity, Depression, Case Fic, POV Third Person Sherlock, Love Confessions, Pining Sherlock, Letters) – A fire at Baker Street leads John to read something he was never intended to see: a notebook of half-written, unfinished letters Sherlock wrote during his time away...

Set in Stone by SilentAuror (E, 39,309 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Wedding, Therapy, Fluff and Angst) – Sherlock and John are back from Ravine Valley and planning their wedding. However, as they move past the trial of the human traffickers, Sherlock can't help but wonder if he's imagining that John is becoming a little distant. Surely he isn't getting cold feet about the wedding... Part 2 of The Ravine Valley series

Act IV by SilentAuror (E, 39,707 w., 1 Ch. || First Person POV Sherlock, HLV Fix-It, Infidelity, Angst, Drama) – After Sherlock is shot, John moves back into Baker Street. They spend the autumn together as John tries to make sense of his life and make some important decisions about both Mary and Sherlock. Canon-compliant, excerpts from His Last Vow.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevent to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #my fic recs #long fics #single chapter fics #Anonymous

[snapeysister]

Vulnera Sanentur

New one-shot consisting of 5 different time episodes about Severus Snape’s signature healing spell. My headcanon is that the spell had been passed down to him by mother Eileen and not having been used before by any other wizard except those from the Prince family. // This and other one-shots can be found on my newly opened AO3 account https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hayalee8 <3

_______________

 "Watcha sayin', mummy?"

His voice sounded feeble, dropping with exhaustion. Just a short while ago, his shrieks of pain and terror had been filling the room; now, however, a soothing dizziness took over, his mother's quiet singing voice lulling him into sleep.

"Be silent, darling, it's almost over. Just a wee bit and I'll be done. Don't move yet."

Gentle fingers continued tracing along his naked back, and he obediently held still, and yet wanted an answer to his question.

"But watcha sayin'?.."

His mother sang a few last tunes, voice trailing off, the words turning almost into a whisper.  Her movements stopped and she rose from his bed which she had been sitting upon for the last minutes.

"Something good, something very good, Sevvie. It's a song which makes your back feel alright again. It's not hurting anymore, is it?"

"Nah, it isn't, mummy."

"I'm happy, darling. Now let's make sure you're going to sleep well, shall we?"

He wanted to protest, as he always did, he never wanted to sleep, he hated being left alone and the nightmares only increased the fear; but his lids did not obey him anymore.

"I see you won't need a calming draught this time", he heard his mother chuckle quietly, "good night then."

He felt being tucked in and a light kiss on his forehead, yet was too tired to even smile back as he usually did, as his mind traveled off into the land of dreams.

***

"Please, please come! She's going to die, you have to heal her!

"I can't."

"Please, she will die!! You know how to do it, you always know!"

"I said I can't, Severus."

"But why!? Just come and sing that song, you've just been doing it on my arm when father hit me yesterday, why can't you now?!"

"Just let it go."

"No!! I won't! If you don't want to, I'll do it myself! Tell me the spell!"

"It won't work."

"Because I don't know how to, but you do, mum! Help me save her!!"

"Be quiet, Severus."

"I won't! That's evil! She doesn't deserve to die!"

"I said be quiet!"

"You are just as evil as him!"

"Shut up, will you!? Is it my fault that your retarded father had to kill this sodding cat?! The spell doesn't work on animals! Besides, he cut her throat; she must have bled to death already."

"I don't believe you!!"

"Leave me alone, now!!"

***

Severus riffled through the drawers in desperate urgency. Nothing. The bookshelf didn't have anything to offer either. The floor was littered with papers and pencils and books and whatever else he had thrown around in his frantic search. He hadn't still mastered the spell well enough to be able to follow the exact sequence of melody and words, but his notes could help him out, they most definitely would, he had no doubt in his abilities, he just needed to find those notes. The ones he had scribbled down after having listened carefully to his mother performing it on his body, following yet another broken bottle having been thrown in his direction, slicing up his skin. He didn't want to ask his mother as she would inquire  in turn what he would need it for, or even worse, for whom... Severus had no intention whatsoever to elaborate on who he had been sharing his magic with the past weeks. Never were they to know who he was meeting with during those lazy afternoons filled with absolutely nothing but him sitting behind the bushes, staring at the road behind them and waiting for the tiny figure with the long, wavy red hair to approach the playground and whistle three times. Then he could leave his hiding place and allow himself to smile and be him, actually enjoying his existence, for the next few hours, until the darkness fell and they both had to leave, each one to what they were able to call home.

Severus threw himself on the bed. The notebook was nowhere to be found. And yet he had promised it to her. That he would help her get rid of the ugly red scar on her leg, the result of the recent tryouts of their magical abilities. How he hated himself for that stupid idea of his. What was he thinking, attempting to cut that bloody orange with her sitting right next to it? To be honest, neither of them had deemed it possible to actually make something happen just by staring at it and doing imaginary cutting movements with the fruit knife. When she had tried it, nothing at all happened, whereas him... Of course it was Lily who had kept her nerves and swallowed the pain and the tears and promised she wouldn't tell anyone how the knife ended up slashing her leg instead of the orange.  And that she didn't believe he did it on purpose, like when the branch had fallen on Petunia back then, before she got to know who he really was. Severus, devastated as he was about his lack of damage control, and astonished by her bravery, gave his most sincere and heartfelt promise to find a way to make it disappear. So Lily could attend her first day at Hogwarts without this disgraceful injury, the screaming proof of him having failed her in both his abilities and their rightful application.

Their first day was due tomorrow. Lily was waiting at the playground for him to arrive and fulfill his promise before the sun would set and she had to go home and prepare for her big day. And here he was, in his bloody room, all his efforts in vain, the notebook gone and so the healing spell.

Severus sighed deeply.  Never before had he dared taking anything of his mother's, neither ingredients which she kept  in a box in the storage room, nor vials or lotions she used to store in an empty cupboard in the attic. But drastic times called for drastic measures. He had to make up for the spell somehow, and if he remembered correctly, dittany was another way of healing scars. Luckily for him, his mother was at work. Severus quickly climbed the ladder to the attic. He had no time to lose. Thankfully enough his mother knew how to keep things in order. Every vial and bottle were meticulously labeled. He grabbed the bottle with "Dittany" written on it and stormed down the ladder and out of the house. He would take care of the chaos in his room later and if his father arrived before him to see it and punish him for this, so be it. Perhaps he'd get another chance then to listen to his mother singing the spell and would write it into another notebook. Right now, Lily was what mattered most.

***

"He must have it written somewhere!"

"We've searched through all of his stuff so far, there is nothing here!"

"Who told you he really knows how to do it?! Perhaps it's just a rumour!"

"A rumour? Are you daft?! I saw him perform it with my own eyes, on Evans! They were practicing with their brooms and she flew into the Whomping Willow by accident and had her face and arms cut badly. Snape rushed to her and began moving his wand up and down the cuts and do some singing, so by the time the patrol arrived the cuts had disappeared and she was walking on her feet with him leading her up to the castle."

"You are the daft one, Prongs; isn't it clear then that he must know it by heart??"

"It still has to be written somewhere. He could've hardly made it up on his own, could he?"

"Yeah, rather not; it's Dark magic the git is into, not healing spells. He must have found it in the library and written it down."

"What for then?"

"To impress Evans? He fancies her no less than you, Prongs, and that's the sort of thing she'd appreciate, mind you, so he can cover up for all his Dark stuff."

"Oh shut up and search, Padfood, the class will be over soon and we've got to get out of here before everyone comes back!"

"What if we don't find anything?"

"We cannot let anyone know it was Moony who scratched the boy. If there won't be another option, we'll drag him personally to the hospital wing to make the cut disappear."

***

This was not the enemy he had invented it for. This was not the spell he would have expected to make its way into the halls of Hogwarts, of all places. And even though it was by far not the first time he had to resort to Vulnera Sanentur to heal cursed injuries of students or colleagues or Death Eaters, he would have never thought it to be possible that he had to use it to undo the damage caused by his very own curse, casted by Lily's son, of all people.

Of course he believed Potter. He could have never known what force the curse carried. If Potter knew, he certainly wouldn't have applied it. As much as Severus felt repulsed by the boy, he knew that Potter was as far from Dark magic as the Dark Lord from valuing mercifulness, or love. He contemplated if a simple detention had been enough an appropriate punishment to bestow upon Potter. If he should have made him to return the book, which Potter undoubtedly had laid his hands upon, regardless of the lies the boy had told him. His apparent leniency for the infliction of such a powerful curse by a student on another was obvious, and it worried Severus. Sectumsempra  had by far not been the only dangerous spell he had written down in his book. On the other hand, he reasoned, as easily impressible as Potter was, the messy result he had created would probably serve as a deterrent, powerful enough to keep him from attempting another tryout with any of Severus's spells. At least not without the knowledge of their counter-curses, first and foremost Vulnera Sanentur, which Potter had not the slightest possibility of mastering.  

Vulnera Sanentur. Such tremendous power in only two words, reversing unforgivable, unfathomable harm, healing what would've never been expected to heal. A song of life, the melody of which he had inherited from his mother to be able to put a stopper in pain and destruction and death. This time it had saved the soul of his godson and his former enemy's son alike, the one from being killed, the other from becoming a murderer.

Where would he meet it again, waiting for him to be evoked to secure the survival of another miserable being? How would that fateful crossroads look like, where would the paths it offered lead to? There was one thing he knew with dreadful certainty - it would not be destined to save the Headmaster's life. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt his other conclusion to be affirmed - neither would it save his.

Severus sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion overpowering his senses. Before he closed his eyes to gain a few hours of sleep which were left for him until the break of dawn, a peculiar thought crossed his mind, perhaps for the first time in his life: If his mother had mastered the healing spell for a human body and taught it to him, wouldn't it have been assumable she had  knowledge of a spell to relieve the pain of a human mind as well?  And if she had, would there have been a reason not pass it down to him? If only...

His mind drifted off, and so did the thought.

#severus snape #vulnera sanentur #one-shot #finally writing #fanfiction #young snape #marauders #eileen prince

[fromthewifecage]

Kombatants nursing you/Kombatants tending to your wounds/illness

So this time it’s the Kombatant wearing a Nurses hat and a Drs white coat. (With or without anything underneath the coat.) Featuring Erron Black, Johnny Cage (both Younger and Older), Raiden, Fujin, Bi-Han, Mileena, Ermac and Kano (he’s last so if you don’t like him you don’t have to keep reading).

Erron Black: Erron’s been around a long time, and the man has seen most illnesses and has picked up enough tricks and tips to keep both him and a partner alive. He’s seen smallpox up close, so if you have a cold then don;t expect much sympathy, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. For a tall man, Erron is extremely agile, and even when hurling himself forward, feet first, he pulls off a graceful landing without breaking his limbs. You however are not quite as graceful. You’re following him up the hill (“more like a fucking mountain” you grumble) to get to “this quaint ol’ spot I know where we can get a fire going, toss a couple a blankets on the dirt and get naked”. The hill is steep and covered in wayward branches and stones, and with Erron’s long gait, you can’t quite keep up and end up taking a tumble when your foot gets caught in some gnarled tree roots. You cry out and roll into a ditch filled with leaves and probably a billion bugs, your ankle throbbing like a bastard. Erron’s after you in a flash, plucking you from the ditch and cradling you in his arms. A quick kiss to the forehead and then he’s carrying you all the way back to the car where he gently unlaces your boot and gives you an even gentler once over. When he’s sure your foot isn’t going to fall off, he tosses you a water canteen and a bottle of pain killers, then drives you back to your place where you spend a long weekend being looked after by Dr Black. Once he knows the pain is manageable he’s going to tease you something rotten (but with genuine affection). He’ll leave the remote just out of reach, he’ll pretend you’ve run out of beer then walk past opening a new bottle. At the first sign of you getting sulky he’ll kiss your pouty lips and tell you he’s going to make it up to you before grinning and tugging down your pyjama bottoms.                            *************** More under the cut!******************

Johnny Cage: He’s played Doctors and Nurses before and not just on screen. He even has a pair of blue scrubs he wears if you’re hankering for some Dr Cage action. Younger!Johnny may have been a selfish git at times, but he wasn’t stupid and knew that looking after a sick S/O was always going to get him brownie points, and if it was serious he had enough money to get you any Dr from anywhere to get you well again. Older!Johnny got a crash course in paediatrics when baby Cassie had a bad case of colic. He would stay up with her, singing lullabies, rubbing Vick's on her chest and dressing teddy in a teddy sized nurses outfit when not frantically phoning Drs for their advice. Little Cassie was always getting into scrapes, coming in from the garden with bruises and scabby knees, and at first it would terrify him, but he mellowed when he saw how he was scaring by panicking. So he’d work on his tan in the garden or practice his martial arts, and little Cassie would climb trees or play on the climbing frames and obstacle course Johnny had installed. You’re at home, cleaning the bathroom, reaching up to get that cobweb in the top corner when you slip on the bath frame and land awkwardly, bruising your ribs and elbow. Johnny’s just coming in through the front door when he hears your yelp and it’s Nurse Cage to the rescue! He’s gentle and calm, asking if you remember where you hit, was it your head? Can you move? When he is sure you’re not badly hurt he scoops you up and carries you to the settee, gives you one of his most charming smiles, and fetches the ice pack and medicine box. Chuckling to himself as he wraps your elbow in 4 bandages (to make you laugh), he then gets you to lie back and keep the icepack on your ribs. He’s more than happy to look after you, more than happy to be your willing slave. When you’re feeling less bruised he makes you promise not to clean dangerously again. The Postman arrives with one of those cleaning brushes on an extendable pole. Nurse Cage has saved the day again. Raiden (and Fujin): Raiden might be the worst patient in all the realms, but he makes a pretty decent nurse. If you really need healing then he’s whisking you away to the Jin-sei, he’s not chancing it. If you’ve got a cold then Fujin is taking over, Raiden is not going through that again. Poor bemused Fujin stands at your bedside, wide eyed and fake smiling, pretending not to panic. After a very late night partying with Bo’ Rai Cho, Raiden turns up at your home only to find you still in bed. He checks the time again, then coughs loudly until you groan and pull the duvet over your head. Raiden is readying to teleport you both to the Jin-Sei Chamber when you blearily assure him you might feel like you’re dying, but it’s only a hangover. Disapproving Dad Raiden sighs, kisses your forehead then tucks you back into bed. He disappears in a muted flash (he’s careful not to be too bright knowing it’ll be painful), returning a moment later after a quick Consult (yup, he went there, Shinnok just laughed) with a basket full of juice and breakfast goodies. He slides into bed with you (he’s changed into some snazzy pyjamas) and helps you finish the breakfast, then pulls you to him and strokes your forehead. When you’re feeling a bit better he’ll draw you a hot bath, joining you if you’re happy for him to, and then have an afternoon nap together. He’d lecture you about the effects of alcohol on your frail human body, but he decides it’s your choice to make. Caring Daddy Raiden is the best. Bi-Han: He feels a bit awkward dealing with a hurt S/O. It brings back lots of unwanted and sad memories from childhood, also memories of looking after Kuai, kissing scraped knees when none of the Masters were looking, telling Kuai he was being “a good boy but not to cry loudly” when Bi-Han found Kuai tearily limping back to the dormitory. At the beginning of your relationship with Bi-Han, he disappears if you’re ill or hurt. He doesn’t mean it as a slight, but it brings bad memories he’d repressed or rather he could repress. He’ll send a bunch of last minute flowers as way of an apology, but it’s only when he truly feels comfortable with you that he’d feel able to stick around. He goes over the top. He almost kidnaps a Dr even though you protest it’s just a cold. A migraine and he won’t let you out of bed unless you plead you need the bathroom. The flu really does have him bringing medical staff in, and although he says he didn’t force them, they look scared enough that you’re anxious that the Police will kick down your door. It takes a while, but eventually his emotions calm enough that he won’t panic unless you’re gravely ill. He trusts you know if you really need his help, but it doesn’t stop him googling your symptoms. He still will sleep on the floor next to your bed, even if it’s just a sniffle. Mileena (featuring Ermac, yay!): Because she shrugs off most of her injuries and illnesses, at first she expects you to do the same. Edenians don’t get ill that often, neither do Tarkartans, and Shang Tsung made her to be the best of both so she doesn’t get a cold or feel crappy for no reason. At the beginning of a relationship with her she’ll think you’re being lazy or simply trying to avoid spending time with her, and she’ll get upset. Even though you’ve finally dragged yourself to your front door, dressing gown flapping, sweat rolling off your )not normally) green face, she thinks you don’t want to spend the day with her and angrily slams the door in your face. When you haven’t replied to her sulky texts or commented on her Instagram of her dancing lewdly with Tanya (Ermac rolling their eyes in the background), she tries to ignore the tickle of worry in her stomach. When its 3 days later and you still haven’t replied and she goes back to your door and lets herself in with the key she ‘borrowed’ (you’d have given her one but you knew she’d taken the spare one. Luckily Ermac had followed her because you’re half delirious with fever and Mileena doesn’t know what to do apart from cry. Several of their 10,000 souls were healers so they have Mileena go grab medicines and supplies and they nurse you back together. When you’re recovered you buy Mileena a little Nurses hat and have her wear it. It very quickly turns X rated. Kano: This man spits in the face of illness, and if it’s a casual thing, then he’ll leave you to the Lemsip and Vicks Vaporub. He’ll send a bunch of flowers if it’s more serious and if he trusts you and has known you for a while, he’ll pay any bills. If it’s serious and he can actually admit that his cold black heart of stone feels bigger when he’s around you, then his ‘baby’ gets the gold treatment. No Dr is too pricey or too far away and no treatment is out of reach. And if you get hurt on his watch - an enemy hurts you or someone targets him and you get caught in the crossfire, then he’ll scorch the earth to get you well again and to make that bastard pay, You were at the supermarket choosing something nice for tea when a faulty fridge explodes because a manager cut corners (again) and had an extra long lunch-break before reporting a sparking socket. You wake up in hospital, covered in bandages and slightly delirious due to Kano demanding you needed more pain relief (and who was going to say no? He’s fucking terrifying!). Kano is immediately holding your hand, giving you his biggest grin and taking the piss about you looking like a Mummy. You don’t mention his eyes look a little red and his voice wavers, but you’ll never forget it. The TV on the wall is on the news channels where all the reports are all about a Supermarket manager found skinless with their penis stapled to their forehead. Hmmm.

#Erron Black #Johnny Cage #Raiden #Fujin #Bi-Han #Mileena #Ermac #Kano #Mortal Kombat #Mortal Kombat Headcanons #Mortal Kombat Headkanons #Mortal Kombat X Reader #Younger!Johnny Cage #Older!Johnny Cage

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Are we going to get more flood my mornings?

FMM: Of Small Kangaroos

This story takes place in an AU where Jamie travels through the stones two years after Culloden and finds Claire and his child in 1950 Boston.

FMM Master List

Previously: Found

**Backtracking timewise just a bit on this one! The woes of getting acclimated to your own AU timeline again ;)** 

—-

November, 1952

“Can’t you stay home this morning?” she wheedled, wiping maple syrup from Ian’s chin. Christ, how sweet she looked in her Turtle’s-Neck sweater, the cabled one the same color as her skin. Not even six o’clock—bairns make early risers of all, aye?—and still her eyes were bright and sharp. “It’s Sunday and cold as b…all-get-out.”

“I wish I could.” He’d like nothing better than to spend a few stolen hours abed with her while the children napped away the afternoon. “But I canna,” he said,  the last piece of toast in his mouth as he began clearing up the dishes. “Promised Hank I would go in and cover for h—”

“DA, Mummy SAID, it’s—”

“Don’t *interrupt*, Bree,” they chanted with one well-worn voice. 

Brianna sighed with even greater exasperation and piled every remaining piece of bacon onto her plate with a grumble that sounded a great deal like.  “…interruptin’ me….” 

“Brianna Ellen.” Claire’s head tilted, hawk’s eye fixed with deadly precision. “Attitude.” 

“S’too cold out there, Daddy,” the lass piped at once with saccharine primness that dared anyone to question its sincerity.  

“Aye, ‘tis cold,” he agreed, sharing a secret, rueful glance with Claire, “and that means the horses will be, too.” He laid a freshly-scrubbed plate onto the rack and took up the next. “Shall ye come along wi’ me to the barn, then, cub?”  

“Me?” 

“ME!” Ian parroted, slithering down from his seat. 

“Aye, you, and yer Mam, and Ian? Make a wee outing of it?”

“No-thanks,” came the verdict of the bacon-cruncher. “Dinna wanna put my coat on.”

“Ye lazy wee baggage!” He cast over his shoulder for her and spied Claire first, hiding behind her mug. “No!…Et tu, mo nighean donn?” 

“It’s awfully warm and cozy indoors….” Her guilty grin gave way to a yawn, then a stretch. “And I really do need to stay,” she said, bringing her stocking-feet up onto the seat and hugging her knees, “got to make a dent in these applications today.” 

This last rose in crescendo, still barely heard over the din of: 

            “CAN I–” 

             “Me-me-meee!!!” 

               “CAN I BE ‘SCUUUSED!?”

“Verra well,” he sighed at Claire with a wink, Bree seizing upon this as permission and tearing out of the kitchen while Jamie dried his hands. “I suppose I’ll don my coat and set off all alone into the frigid—”

“Meeeeee!!”

At last, he took notice of the smallest Fraser, who had been wrapped around his leg. “Why, hallo, YOU.” 

“Go, too?” he asked excitedly in Gaelic, giving a little bounce for emphasis. “Me, too?”

He took a moment to simply marvel. The boy didn’t always choose to speak, but when he did, it never failed to surprise Jamie how much he truly understood of the action swirling about over his head. And to reply to English with Gaelic, forbye! Perhaps it shouldn’t be shocking, seeing as how Ian had been hearing it spoken since birth, but Lord, his pronunciation was near perfect as he begged, “Go, too, Daddy?” 

“Ye want to come wi’ Da to see the horses, jo?” (in English, for Claire’s sake). 

Ian nodded once and beamed, raising his hands expectantly and switching languages without missing a beat. “Go-’IF!”

Jamie gripped Ian’s wrists and let the lad climb up his front like a mountaineer, grinning as broadly as he. “Go we shall, then!” 

“But, shouldn’t–? Jesus H. Christ, I can’t believe I’m asking this, with the chance at a 50% less chaotic day on offer,” Claire laughed, coming to stand with them and rumple Ian’s hair, “but won’t he be in your way?”

“This wee face?” he said, kissing it. “Nay, never.”

—-

It might well be, in actual fact, Jamie admitted as he set the pair off them off for Fernacre. A child of sixteen months was never a simple matter, even as one as generally agreeable as Ian, but having the lad with him was well worth a bit of disruption here and there.

It wasn’t simply Ian’s acuity that had startled him earlier, but that the lad had asked to go with Da. With him. 

His heart melted afresh as he thought on it, as he felt Ian’s head, warm and heavy against his hip. 

Naturally, the singular bond with Claire had stayed strong, even past the time he was weaned. Many was the occasion that Ian would suddenly turn from Jamie and wail for her, entirely inconsolable until he might cry against her shoulder and be soothed by her hands, her voice. 

There was nothing malicious in the preference, of course. Brianna was a never-ceasing demander of energies and was always happy to fill any vacancy left by her brother. Besides, Jamie could see the wee one’s point, for he likewise had a very strong desire to be held by Claire at all times. 

Even so, being singled out himself by the lad was yet new enough that it sent a warm, silly thrill through his chest each time, almost like being a schoolboy again: happily heartsick over his attentions being returned. 

“And if it’s no’ being in love,” he murmured as he slowed the car, palm atop the boy’s head, “I haven’t the faintest idea.” 

“We-heer?” Ian exclaimed, coming to life and nearly toppling over as he tried to stand on the seat mid-parking. ‘We-heer?”

Scooping him up with one arm, Jamie stepped out into the chill. “Aye, here!” He bent to set Ian down, remembering the great bag of diapering supplies, food, and toys in the back seat.  “Off ye g—”

“Nooooo!” The boy turned violently legless, twisting impressively to avoid touching the ground. 

“Ian, ye–” 

“Hoam-me!”

“Do ye no’ want to walk on your own feet like a big boy?” He already kent well the answer.

His brown-haired lad gave an uncanny impression of Claire’s ‘don’t talk nonsense’ face. “HOAM-me.”

A Sucker he was, wi’ no hope for it whatsoever. He chuckled and sighed, hoisting the lad up higher.  “Today you win, joey.” 

Strange, thinking back now, that he’d gone the first quarter-century of life knowing nothing of Kangaroos.

He’d first learnt the odd word in the days when his appetite for knowledge of the centuries missed had made trips to the library a near-daily event. Australia— what a wonder that place seemed to him! All that vast expanse, filled with such uncanny creatures. A nightmarish beast, this one had looked from the illustration: like a man-sized hare with a great, thick tail, tapering like a lizard’s; eerily man-like in the arms and chest, capable of leaping thirty feet in one bound before kicking one’s teeth in.  

Still, a softer recollection had come straightaway to mind later, when Claire began to carry Ian about the house in a sling on her front. Jenny, too, had worn her bairns, wrapped in a shawl on her back, yet there was something all the more intimate in seeing mother and child nestled chest-to-chest amid the mundane tasks of the day; seeing Claire wrap her arms around him with utter tenderness, whispering soft love; the babe dozing as she worked and moved about, warm and safe in the comfort of her heartbeat, just as he had been in the womb.

Both the nickname and the love of being cuddled had stuck, and it was only sight of the horses of Barn A that coaxed Jamie’s little marsupial down. True-to-form, he hit the stable floor with a hop.  

Jamie made quick inspection of his four-footed charges. No need for mucking out, God be praised; just feeding, watering, and a bit of love for each. He began making his way down the first aisle of eight, Ian toddling along to watch, full of quiet wonder. 

It had been some time since he’d gotten to be alone–mostly alone– with the horses. Nearly all his working days were spent in the paddocks, training the young or new ones; coaching the riders on how they might better work in harmony with the being beneath them. He loved it, took such pride and joy in witnessing the excitement of human and beast alike as they improved, as they bonded.

Yet it brought his heart a different sort of joy, the quieter sort, to be in the stables on a still morning such as this, gentle mist seeming to soften the hard edges of world and word.

They soon reached the last stall on the eastern side. “How goes it, a nighean?” he crooned to Cornflower, who knocked her snout into his shoulder in companionable greeting. 

“Pat him?” Ian asked in the same language, honey-eyes glowing. 

“Aye, ye can pat *her.*” 

Lifted high, Ian gingerly reached out to touch the mighty neck. 

“Morning, Jamie!” 

“The same to you!” 

He turned them to face Tom, who was coming through the door with two steaming cups.“HEY! Look who came to help his Papa out! Jeez, Jamie, when did he get so darn tall?” 

“Tis our constant question, as well!” He set Ian atop a stack of hay bales by Corny’s door and gratefully reached to take the mug. 

Tom winked at Ian. “How you doing today, little man?”

“Hiii,” was all Ian said before covering his face so nothing save grinning eyes showed between hat and mittens. 

God bless Tom Harper, Jamie prayed sincerely as they sipped and chatted, discussing business, the children, all the usual things. Of all the people in his new life, it was Tom that minded him most of Murtagh: always near, always willing, always irreverant, yet always looking after ye from afar. It wasn’t often he thought of it: but knowing that Tom was only ever a call away should emergency strike or counsel be needed of one with more years of experience in the world was an immense comfort, more than Jamie could ever truly express to the man. 

A jubilant shriek erupted from behind them. 

Ian had descended the hay bales and was now right underneath Cornflower’s stall, head thrown back, both hands reaching up to touch– 

“IAN, STO–” 

“Mmmm-wah!” Ian kissed the fuzzy snout, right in the spot between the heaving nostrils. He bounced on his heels, chirped ‘Bye!!’ to her in Gaelic, then ran toward the next stall. 

Jamie crossed the space in two leaps to yank him backward….but of all the wonders, Hector was already at the front of the stall in response to Ian’s command.

“What’d he say??” Tom whispered.  

“He said, ‘Come here.’”

“Whoa….” 

The horse had lowered his neck, inspecting Ian judiciously. Jamie kept both hands around the boy’s ribs, half-crouched in readiness to rip him away at the slightest sign of danger….but as though by magic, Hector nudged his snout deliberately into Ian’s outstretched hands with a tiny nicker, getting an enchanting giggle and kiss in return. 

“Christ in Heaven…..” 

Tom hooted. “I. will. be. DAMNED!!” 

Jamie discovered both that his mouth had fallen open and that his son was already in front of the next stall, charming his mark. He and Tom stayed close, heart still thudding in terror of the inevitable crushed finger or nip on the face, but no….  one by one, each horse willingly lowered their nose for a kiss. 

It wasn’t just heedless affection young Ian radiated: it was instinct, too. For, when Bard put back his ears and snorted, the lad took a tidy step backward, not offended in the slightest. He only gave the brute a cheery wave and moved on to find his next sweetheart. 

“Well done, a bhalaich!” he laughed, giving the lad a squeeze.

“Fanks!” Ian wriggled out without a backward glance, intent on his mission. 

Tom groaned as he settled onto a bench, beckoning Jamie to do the same.  “So little Ian takes to horses a bit more naturally than Brianna, huh?”

“Aye…” Jamie exhaled heavily, allowing himself to sit and relax. “He’s got a way about him.” 

Tom resumed sipping his coffee (Jamie’s somewhere on the floor), watching Ian and chuckling. “You do crank out some damned cute kiddos, Jamie.”

“I do have a damned cute wife.”

They laughed and Jamie’s mind wandered, even as they continued to chat, even as he kept Ian in the corner of his vision. 

Strange, no? How bairns can be so similar in some ways and yet so different in others. Bree, with her warrior spirit, indomitable, was nearly as frightened of horses now as the first time he’d brought her here. This morning she had blamed the coat and the cold, but Jamie knew it was more to do with the great stomping hooves and enormous teeth. Never would she admit fear, of course. She would fluster and put on that wee glower he loved so well, but beneath it, the lass was petrified.

Contrast this with Ian, for all he might be the more quiet and cautious in life as a whole, who showed no fear whatsoever here in the stable. True, he had seen horses before, even ridden one on Jamie’s lap, so there was no factor of shock as there had been with Bree. Still… Strength and courage manifests to each of us in our own way. A comforting thought, in this ever-changing world, no? Unlike Jenny and Ian, he had not one clue how his children might spend their lives once grown, so many paths being available to them. It weighed heavily on him some days– but if they each find their strength, wheresoever it might lie, then surely they shall find their own prosperous path, as well….

Sounds of human and equine unease sent his head whipping round. Merlin, one of the younger horses of this bunch, was standing in the window with no apparent intent to lower his head. Ian was grunting, jumping up and down to get the laddie’s attention with a persistent, “Hiii? HIIIII???” on repeat.

“He may no’ wish to talk just now, Ian.”

The boy whirled eagerly and pointed back up over his shoulder. “Up, Da?” Without waiting for an answer, he sprinted over, eyes bright with urgency. “Da, Up! Up, ‘kay?”

“I think you’d better pick him up, Jamie, before he blows a gasket,” groaned Tom as he stood, heading toward to door to continue his day. 

“Take it easy, Tom,” he called. 

“You do the same!” 

“Daaaaa, UPPP???“

He heard Tom’s infectious laugh vanish into the distance. 

–

“Easy now,” he murmured to the horse in Gaelic as they approached, reaching out his free hand to carefully rub the long, white neck. Merlin blew out through his nostrils. “Aye, I ken, your wizardship, ‘tis a bit unconventional, but the wee thing just wants to say hello, aye? Can ye find it in your heart?” 

“No scary,” Ian promised. 

With sudden inspiration, Jamie rifled in his coat pocket and held out the contents to the wary brute. “And what say ye now, friend?”

Merlin held back a moment for dignity, then descended upon his treat. 

“W’ ‘is ‘it?” demanded Ian, back to English in his curiosity.  

“Give me your hand—“ Jamie pulled the mitten off with his teeth. “Cup your fingers like a wee bowl, aye?”

Ian peered into his palm.“…..’Is ‘at, Daddy?” 

“'Tis a sugar cube. Shall we see if he’d like some more?”

Ian’s eyes lit up and he swiveled around toward the horse so suddenly he dropped the cube. Once resupplied, he held his arm out at full length, bellowing, “Hiiiii!”  

Ian squealed in delight as the huge lips and teeth explored his hand. “Mooorr-Da!”

Many, many sugar cubes later, Jamie crouched to set Ian on his feet, but the lad  flung his arms about Jamie’s neck with an insistent “Nnnhhhh!”

“Christ, you’re truly naught but a barnacle wi’ legs!” Jamie gave up, kissing the boy’s capped head. “If I ever thought your sister was a cuddly sort, there was no fathoming what was to come, wee jo.”

“Moor-coops?” Ian asked, popping up to search Jamie’s face.

Jamie checked his pocket, coming up with one last sugar cube. Ian didn’t miss a beat. He took it between his fingers, said ‘Heer-Da,’ and pressed it firmly against Jamie’s lips. 

“You’re a sweet one, a chuisle,” Jamie said, crunching the sugar and kissing the hand. “And you’re lucky the horses didna chomp all your wee fingers off—!!” 

Ian squealed as Jamie made play of gobbling them up, his little belly shaking with giggles so deep he began turning red. 

“Allllllright, lad,” Jamie soothed after a time, before the lad exploded, “we’d best be going.” 

“Go home?” 

“Nay, no’ until later. We have three more barns to check, yet. Let’s hope ye have enough kisses left in ye.”

.

He did. 

#Anonymous #Flood my mornings #FMM Chapter 73 #;mod Bonnie

[chuffyfan87]

Hiding. Part 55a

Cowritten with @disastrousintention.

-x-

Despite trying every trick and crazy idea she could think of nothing had worked. Fed up didn't even come close to describing Duffy's mood now she was just four days away from her due date. Even with crutches she was finding it almost impossible to get around due to the pain and discomfort she was suffering with. The baby was sitting low which had relieved some of the pressure on her lungs but only increased the pressure on her back and pelvis, which wasn't helped by the fact that due to her petite frame she was all bump, and a much bigger bump than she was used to at that!

Charlie was growing frustrated and impatient too. Only because he really, really wanted to meet his son. He was working and looking after Duffy, since she couldn’t do much on those crutches and she was still in a great deal of pain.

Charlie was just arriving home after a night shift when the phone rang. As she was stood next to it Duffy picked it up.

He placed his keys down on the side and removed his coat, hanging it up. “Who is it?” He mouthed.

"Not sure." She mouthed back before turning her full attention to the phone. "Mmhmm. Yes. Oh my gosh! Is he OK? Hang on, my husband has just walked through the door right this second." She covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Its a hospital in Canada. Louis is OK but there's been a car accident." She explained as she handed the phone over.

He frowned as he took the phone, “Hello?”

The doctor on the other end of the line explained that although Louis had been unharmed by the crash other than a few cuts and bruises the other occupants of the car had been seriously injured so there was no-one to look after the boy.

“When you say seriously, how bad are we talking?”

"The boy's mother is currently in surgery and her partner is on a ventilator. The accident happened about six hours ago but we've only just been able to get your contact details from your son. He's very upset and shaken up."

“Ok.” Charlie sighed sadly, “You’re going to need to keep hold of him until I can get there. I’ll have to get the soonest flight but we’re looking at tomorrow before I’ll even get to Canada.”

"That's fine. Would you like to speak to him?"

“Yes please.”

There was rustling before a little voice could be heard on the phone. "Daddy!" Louis cried, sounding much younger than his eight and a half years.

“Hello son. It’s ok, daddy’s on his way.”

"I'm scared. Mummy wouldn't wake up. I tried everything!" The little boy sobbed and sobbed.

“Oh...” It broke Charlie's heart to hear Louis so sad and not being able to comfort him. He sat down on the stairs, “I know you would’ve tried everything! I’m very proud. Mummy will be ok.”

"She and Dan were fighting. I shouted at them to stop."

“Please don’t worry.” Charlie didn’t know what else to say or do.

"When will you be here?"

“Tonight, tomorrow? I don’t know. I need to look at flights.”

"OK. The doctor wants to look at me again."

“Will you stay with the doctor whilst daddy gets there?”

"OK. I love you daddy."

“I love you too, son.”

Duffy turned to look at Charlie as he hung up the phone. "You start looking at flights, I'll get your holdall packed."

“Thank you.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

By the time Charlie had organised the flights and gotten upstairs Duffy had only managed to get his clothes out onto the bed. She'd given up on trying to take the holdall down from the top of the wardrobe. She'd tried to knock it down with a crutch but that hadn't worked.

“Couldn’t reach?” He asked as he got the holdall out of the wardrobe. “Are you sure you’re going to be ok on your own?”

"You mean you haven't already organised a babysitter for me?" She asked sarcastically.

“No I haven’t. Haven’t had time.” He answered back.

"I'll be fine. You go to your son."

He nodded and began to pack the clothes.

"Give him lots of cuddles from me."

“I will, I promise.”

"I hope he's OK."

“I think he’s just scared and shaken up.”

"Poor baby." She sighed.

“I hope Baz is ok. I know we didn’t get on but...” He shrugged.

"Did they tell you much?"

“She's in surgery. Dan’s on a ventilator.”

"Oh my gosh, keep me in the loop once you get there."

“I will do.”

"Try not to worry. Everything will be fine and you'll be back home before you know it." She reassured.

He nodded, “I can’t help but worry though. That’s just me.” He kissed her tenderly.

"I know. We'll all be here with plenty of cuddles for you once you get back."

“Love you.”

"We all love you too."

He kissed her again and rubbed her stomach.

Duffy smiled as the baby gave a kick in response. "I think he's gunna miss you doing that while you're away."

“I’ll miss feeling him respond.” He smiled sadly.

"He'll help keep me company whilst you're away." She gave Charlie a kiss.

He returned the kiss before leaving.

Later that evening Duffy had just finished clearing after dinner when there was a knock at the door. Grabbing her crutches she slowly made her way over. She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Oh good evening ladies, what a total surprise to see the two of you on my doorstep!" She greeted them sarcastically.

“That’s not a very nice way to greet us.” Kate replied.

"I don't need babysitting!" Duffy complained.

"We'll be the judge of that!" Megan commented.

“Can we come in?” Kate asked.

"OK." Duffy replied, slowly moving out of their way.

“Thank you.” Megan and Kate entered the house.

Kate looked anxiously at Megan as she saw the difficulty her daughter was having walking even with the crutches.

Megan gave a reassuring smile.

"She's gotten worse since I saw her two days ago." Kate whispered to Megan.

“It’ll be the baby. Boys are stubborn.”

"I don't know why they haven't brought on her labour by now. Surely that would have been better?"

“There might be more risks to why they haven’t induced her yet.”

"Surely her heart issues would be the main concern?" Kate worried.

"Shall I just leave you two to talk about me in peace?" Duffy complained.

“Sorry.” Her mum said quietly and then sighed. “Do you want a drink?”

"No its OK, I'm not supposed to drink tea or coffee after 6pm but you're welcome to help yourself."

“Charlie called us. Said you might need our help.” Megan replied as she ushered Duffy to sit down in the lounge.

"I can cope just fine." Duffy sighed.

"Aunty Megan! Granny!" The girls squealed as they looked up.

“Hello girls.” Both women replied as they crouched down to hug the three girls.

"Daddy had to go on a plane." Tilly explained.

“He did, didn’t he?” Kate smiled, “So Granny and Auntie Megan came round to help mummy look after you.”

"Coz mummy can't walk without the special sticks?" Lottie asked.

“That’s right.”

"Why?" Emily asked.

“Because of the baby in her tummy.” Kate explained.

"Its coz she's so fat!" Jake smirked from the doorway.

“Jake! Pack it in.” Megan answered, “That's rude!”

"True though." He shrugged.

"Shut up doofus!" Peter exclaimed as he shoved his brother in the back.

“Ow!!” Jake squealed.

“Boys! Behave.” Megan shook her head, “Hello Peter. Gosh, haven’t you grown?”

"Hi Megan." Peter replied, clearing his throat slightly as although his voice had pretty much completely broken it still briefly changed pitch on occasion, much to Peter's horror.

"Boys please stop arguing!" Duffy sighed.

Jake began to laugh at his brother's voice. "You sound stupid!"

“Shut up.” Peter muttered. “Mum, do you need a hand with anything?”

"No you come sit down. Thank you for doing the washing up sweetheart."

“Mum?” Peter asked with a smile.

"Yes?"

“Can I go and see Sarah? Or is it too late?”

She looked at the clock. "As long as you're back home by 8pm. It is a school night."

“I will, I promise.” He kissed his mum’s cheek, “Love you.”

"Give my best wishes to Sarah and her parents."

“I will mum.”

"Text me when you get there. Love you."

“Yes mum, love you, bye.” Peter grabbed his coat and left the house, closing the door behind him.

Despite Duffy's objections that she would be fine she was left with no choice but to accept that Kate and Megan planned to stay over until Charlie returned home. They insisted on putting the children to bed between them. When she returned downstairs Megan was disgruntled but not surprised to find that Duffy wasn't on the sofa where they'd left her.

“Duffy? Where are you?” Megan asked as she shook her head fondly at the empty space on the sofa.

"Kitchen." Came the muffled reply.

Megan walked into the kitchen.

"Not a word!" Duffy told her before the older woman had chance to draw breath.

“Can I not even ask what you’re doing?”

"I'd think it was fairly obvious what I'm doing. It needs doing or my kids are going to school in their underpants tomorrow!"

“Can I help you? Or are you adamant on doing everything by yourself?”

"All that's left to do is turn the machine on but by all means feel free to do that for me!" Duffy replied, rolling her eyes.

“You are so stubborn! How does Charlie put up with you?” Megan joked.

"Why do you think he was so quick to run off to Canada?"

“For a break?” Megan shook her head, “Have you eaten?”

"Yes!" Duffy sighed. "I had a sandwich just before you arrived."

“How’s the baby?”

"Apparently very comfortable in there and getting bigger by the day!"

“I take it he doesn’t want to come out any time soon.” Once the washing machine was on, Megan made Duffy sit back down in the lounge.

"Doesn't seem to no." Duffy sighed. "I'm starting to think this is some kind of message from the fates."

“Message from the fates? What do you mean? You don’t still believe in all that, do you?”

"Well how else would you explain it?"

“He’s a boy. They’re lazy.” Megan replied.

"Peter and Jake had both arrived by this point."

“He’s your youngest son. They’re never easy.”

"Mmhmm." Duffy replied, her voice not entirely convincing.

“Your children were never going to be easy, Duffy. Not with yours and Charlie’s combined genes.” Megan laughed just as Kate came downstairs after saying goodnight to all the children.

"Why does everyone always accuse me of being stubborn and difficult?" Duffy grumbled.

#chuffy #charlie and duffy #charlie fairhead #lisa duffin

[hortascountrysidenotes]

Waiting for Rain

Apparently we are due heavy rain tonight and storms tomorrow - this is not surprising given there is a full moon and we can gaze in amazement that 50 years ago, Apollo 11 achieved the goal and its brave crew stepped out on that friendly face that looks down on us.  A partial lunar eclipse is due as well - as if to remind us of the mysteries and magic of space.

And here we are 50 years on - who knew aged 14 sitting at school lunch listening to that epic commentary what was lying ahead but one thing is for sure, we never never thought our little planet would be under such threat from man’s overindulgence and casual approach to the natural world.

But... it is not too bad here in Brisley - we have at least 3 turtle doves in the environs, singing away but we are still not sure if there are nests in their territories.  At least we are hearing them after a number of years of deafening silence, so I hope next year they will return and they will have mates and we will be able to ascertain if young come forth.  Our mummy swallow is perched on the side of the nest which would indicate the second brood have hatched, and both second clutches of robins have fledged.  One had a very near miss when I drove into the drive a few days ago and found a small fluffy feathered ball on the gravel just inches from my wheels - I immediately went to the jasmine nest but the three babies were still tucked up, so then I went to the mushroom yew bush from where I had heard loud seeping noises the day before.  On glancing in the flower bed underneath I could see three more balls of fluff who had clearly been very naughty and got out a few days too soon as they couldnt quite fly.  The parents were nearby so I put my little charge in with its siblings and hoped for the best.

Looks like the swift young have flown too as we now have 12 fighter jets doing their Red Arrow impersonations over the roof lines, screaming and screeching - they must have such fun!

The garden ticks on but I always find it a dull time of year - the dahlias put on a good show and the cosmos etc., ground is rock hard, and everything has lost its lustre somewhat.  The veg garden is producing but struggling so the rain will be more than welcome as beans and courgettes are just needing that final push.

Wallflower seedlings are up and running and two rows of the next lettuce - Amaze and the very reliable Lobjoits Cos.  At last at the fourth attempt I have a decent row of flat leaf parsley, but the leeks are useless so we shall be buying those.  I shall not fall into the laziness trap again, and next year I will go back to sowing them in root trainers and planting out, rather than sowing two rows of seed in the raised beds.  Ants do seem to be the most likely culprit so I have resorted to ant powder and will start excavating soon to find the nests.  Beetroot and carrots however look good and I have some fennel that looks promising which needs thinning out after the rain.

A lot of work has been going in to Mavis and with great success.  Our Tuesday Night Training sessions have now finished for the year and this week was Trophy night - only 6 of us, 1 clear winner, 4 in a run off and 1 bringing up the rear.  Mavis did an excellent first run off, then had to do another between 2nd and 3rd but finished 3rd.  She has improved greatly and since the grass in the bottom meadow has been cut short we are doing a lot of work with white dummies perched on mole hills so she really sees the target and goes out full tilt.  I am feeling much happier about her now, and we have ironed out lots of annoying foibles.  Last night I took them all and they all did their bit, even Scouty at 11 dashed off and over a ditch and was pretty keen to take part.

Next week we have the Sandringham Flower Show invitation gundog test and Mavis will have her first chance - Inca has done 5 years and been very reliable after the first awful year, but Mavis has a better temperament for crowds and noise so I dont think she will be worried at all! I am excited to see how she gets on.

Harvest has started, rape is cut and the first barley.  Next week should be hot and dry so the farmers will move on very quickly. How fast the year goes once the Solstice is past - the fields turn golden in no time, then the blasted plough comes out far too soon!  The verges are being cut now which is still a shame as the flowers are super - in the main it would seem that councils are cutting them later due to pressure from public and environmental bodies but it’s still a bit soon and awful to still see the amount of rubbish that appears - hard to believe there are still people happy to chuck out Costa cups, crisp packets and plastic bottles - clearly they have no conscience at all.

We shall have a new PM next time I write - time we all went to the Moon

HORTA

[shewhowantsmouseears]

Welcome to Spookyville! Chapter 4

Notes: As always, big thanks to my amazing editors, Drucilla and BlueShifted!

This was a huge 'make stuff up as I go along' chapter, as I had ideas for chapters 1-3 and 5, but not 4. As a result, this probably isn't as funny as the last chapter... but what can I say, Donald's such an easy punching bag. One more chapter and we're done!

Summary: Mayor Mickey tries to enjoy his day off, and winds up befriending a cute pink bat. You'll be able to guess the plot twist in a handful of seconds.

For this next tale of happy haunts and horrors, we skip the schools and office-work to find Mayor Mickey just getting out of bed. He was rather sluggish this morning, not exactly looking forward to this day – for it was his day off! As much as he whined about paperwork, he did love his job and was always eager to make Spookyville a better place. But even he knew that too much work would wear him out – his cheerful stalker not exactly helping that pace – and so he was forced to take a day off at least once a week.

How he loathed these days! They were so boring! Granted, he knew at some point Minnie would come and harass him, but even she ran out of spells eventually. What was he supposed to do for the rest of the day? He wanted to be in his office! He wanted to eat Goofy's pumpkin cookies! He wanted to follow Donald's schedule! He wanted to cut a big ribbon in front of a new building – he had a whole closet full of gigantic scissors for such occasions. With a sigh and shuffle, he slipped into his clothes, adjusted his hat, and mournfully ate his breakfast – pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, and for a change of pace, pumpkin eggs. (Don't ask how, it's a horrifying process.) What to do, what to do?

Maybe he could go for a walk. But if he did that, he'd be so distracted by everyone around him and feel an urge to help them as the Mayor! Maybe he could go fishing. But if he did that, he'd be constantly thinking about water pollution and drafting ideas to clean the lakes! Maybe he could just nap all day. But if he did that, he'd have nightmares about a big-eared witch trying to tie his tail to a giant mouse-trap! It took him a moment to realize that wouldn't have been a nightmare but a recollection, as that did happen last Tuesday.

He mulled and mulled over his options until he heard a very loud THUD at his window. Mickey blinked, wiping off his mouth with his sleeve before rushing to the door to find the problem. There on his flowerbed laid a dizzy pink bat with a growing bump on its forehead. “Aw, poor little miss!” It was a fair guess, given the bat's color scheme. “Hope you didn't hurt yourself too badly. Lemme take a look at'cha.”

Mickey scooped the bat into his hands, holding her up to see her better. The bat sniffled, sitting up in his palms, large ears twitching back and forth. “Least you hit your noggin instead of your wing! I'm sure you'll feel better in a minute or two.” The bat squeaked, perhaps grateful for the reassurance, and Mickey found himself charmed. She was a cute little thing, and didn't seem spooked by him at all. Perhaps this was a domesticated batty, one who was used to human touch. In that case, it was only right to search for the owner. Plus, if she had rabies, surely she would've shown some sign by now.

“How's about we get some breakfast in you, and look for wherever you came from?” Mickey offered, already heading back into his house. “I always make too much for myself anyway. It'd be nice to have some company for once!”

As everyone begins to massively roll their eyes at the really obvious irony and guess the major plot twist already, it should be said that writing anything original these days is hard. C'mon, you have to admit you're kind of curious how this is going to play out.

The bat offered no objection to being in Mickey's house, and was more than happy to chomp away at the remains of his breakfast, even as she got a syrupy mess around her mouth. Mickey wound up laughing, picking up a napkin to dab at her mouth. “I guess you were mighty hungry! Now you've got enough energy to help me look for your owner. Until then, I guess I should call you something...” He tapped his cheek, trying to come up with a proper name. “StellaLuna?”

The bat made an X signal with her wings, as trying to make a trademark signal would have been much harder.

“Foxglove?”

A louder slapping of her wings for this X.

“I'm going to save us some time and say Bartok is no good either. That pretty much uses all the famous bat names.” A small shrug before he finally settled. “Why don't we keep it settle and go with Miss Pink?” The bat gave this some thought before agreeing, before flapping her wings and flying to sit on Mickey's shoulder. He chuckled, affectionately petting the top of her head with a finger. “All right, Miss Pink it is! Don't you worry, we'll find your home in no time at all! Oh boy, I finally have something to do on my day off!”

With a whistle and a skip to his step, Mickey readjusted his hat and walked outside. It was a perfectly sunny day, with the citizens enjoying the good weather and good company, waving to one another and glancing around for any signs of a certain witch. Mickey headed for the marketplace, since he figured this would have the greatest number of people, and thus, plenty of people who might know about a bat.  Spookyville's market mostly consisted of cheerful farmers selling their pumpkins and pumpkin-related goods, and Minnie-related insurance.

“Good morning, Miss Clarabelle!” Mickey waved to the cowhand cow, the resident town gossip.

“Goooood morning, Mister Mayor!” Clarabelle waved right back, though she had to watch how hard she moved any part of her body lest it fall off – she was a zombie, and reattaching fallen limbs was always a pain. “What can I do you for? We're offering a special discount on our pumpkins today – 20% off if you find a worm! 30% if you can find my husband's eye, he lost it last night. Again.”

“Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something else.” Mickey gestured to the guest on his shoulder. “I think my friend here belongs to someone, so I was wondering if you've seen her around before.”

Clarabelle thought about popping her eye out to get a closer look, before remembering that the average fanfiction reader does not appreciate emptying their stomach contents while reading. So she settled for simply leaning in. “Hmmm... sorry, Mayor, but she's not a familiar face! I can ask around, but I'm pretty sure this is a new one! A pink bat is really rare!”

Mickey raised his eyebrows, intrigued by this news. “It is? You've never seen one before?”

“I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band, I seen a needle that winked its eye, but I be done seen 'bout ev'rything, when I see a-”

“Okay you need to stop, we're not sure if that reference is offensive or not anymore.”

Clarabelle agreed to play it safe and moved on. “She's a real beauty though! I do hope you can find her home soon enough. But speaking of beauties!” She giggled, rubbing her hands together eagerly while hoping one wouldn't fall off. “Long as a certain missy isn't around... I've got an adorable niece who would just die to get her hands on you! I think you two would hit it off perfectly! Why don't you pick her up around eight?”

Mickey would have politely declined the invitation, but Miss Pink decided to do it for him – minus the polite part, and if “decline” meant “launching themselves at Clarabelle's face and trying to claw her to death.” - which would have been impressive, given that the woman was already dead to begin with. “AAAAAH! MY FACE! IT TOOK AGES TO STITCH IT BACK TOGETHER! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I COULD FEEL PAIN THERE ANYMORE!”

Mickey blinked stupidly, wondering what had brought that about, and after a few seconds Miss Pink calmly returned to his shoulder as if nothing had happened at all. Clarabelle laid on the ground, trying to reattach everything, which we will not describe here because the narrator is too lazy to raise the rating on this story. Mickey quietly pulled out a few bucks from his wallet and slid it on the harvest table before inching away, mumbling an apology.

Once they were far enough away, Mickey picked up Miss Pink to wag his finger at her. “That was really rude of you, you know! No more attacking people! What set you off, anyway?” In a way, it was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Sadly, no matter how hard the reader screamed at him, he couldn't hear it. (Only the narrator has that kind of power and she's having too much fun right now!) The bat merely shrugged, and sat herself on his shoulder again. “Hm... maybe you're just allergic to formaldehyde and it set something off.” It wasn't the most unreasonable connection – but it was second to most unreasonable. “We'll try a different place and see if anyone else recognizes you.”

It was a comfortable day at the park, with children playing, dogs being walked, and  several bomb shelters being opened in case a familiar witch made an appearance. Mickey tucked his hands in his pockets, happy to see so many people enjoying their best life. “See, this is what I love about Spookyville!” he announced, hands on his hips, taking in the fresh air and joyful laughter. “Everyone getting along and simply being themselves! I'm so proud to be the Mayor of this great town! I love everything about this place! I love the pumpkin patches, I love the sounds of people walking on crunchy leaves, I love children's balls about to smack me on the-”

BONK!

Mickey didn't know why people called pain “feeling smart”, because being smacked in the face with a large red ball made him feel pretty dumb. Miss Pink held onto his shoulder, squeaking worriedly, as Mickey sat up and rubbed his sore snout. “I don't think I'll be able to smell for a while...”

“Aw, gee, mister!” Two small mummy children scrambled over, the brother picking up the ball while the sister looked near tears. “We're real sorry! We didn't see you there!”

“That's okay!” Mickey said pleasantly, popping his hat back on his head. “No harm, no foul! I was kind of getting sick of smelling pumpkin anyway.” After making sure his nose was back in place, he stood up, brushed himself off, and then patted both of the kids on the head. “You two just be careful out there, all right? Let me be the only accident of the day!”

“Okey-dokey, mister!” the children said together, which was cute in a children's cartoon and would've been creepy in an adult horror movie. With their ball back, they frolicked back to their play area.

“What a cute bunch of kids,” Mickey mused out loud, not seeing the large shadow that began to drape over him. “Kind of makes me wish I had kids off my own... or a pair of twin nephews, which is apparently the same thing as having kids.” He then paused, noting a peculiarity. “I thought we weren't supposed to have clouds today.” So what was blocking the sun? He tilted his head up.

There stood the father of the little mummies, huge, hulking, and unpleasant. “Were you just trying to tell my kids what to do?” he snarled, drool dribbling from his jaw.

“Uh.” Mickey faltered, amazed at how he could get in trouble without Minnie's help. “I mean. Technically?” He reached for his cape, ready to use his magic if need be.

“NOBODY TELLS MY KIDS WHAT TO DO EXCEPT ME!” The mummy-daddy roared, grabbing Mickey by his cape and holding him up in the air. “YOU'RE GUNNA PAY FOR THAT!”

Mickey would have tried to gently rebuff that he sincerely meant no harm and that hands-on parenting could be a wonderful thing, except the cape was snugly tied around his neck, and thus the daddy-mummy had him in a chokehold. As such, his reply was, “MUUUGHFBLLBUFF.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!” The mummy-daddy oh-we-did-that-already-sorry swung his fist back, ready to wreck the wimp, when Miss Pink flew into action, finding a loose strip of wrapping and tugging at it with her teeth. One, two, three tugs – and the entire binding began to unbind. Remember, boys and ghouls, always make sure your wrappings are snug and firm before you head out! Or else you might wind up losing everything and then turning into dust in the middle of the park.

Mickey landed on the grass, caught his hat, and tried not to sneeze from the dead man's powder. He raised an eyebrow at the mess, unsure if this counted as murder or not. He put a hand to his ear, heard aggravated grumbling from beneath the gigantic dust pile, and sighed with relief. “That was a close one. This story has shaky morals already.” Miss Pink returned to his shoulder, and Mickey smiled at her. “You saved my hide back there! Looks like I owe you one. Whoever your owner is, they're one lucky person!”

Miss Pink nuzzled up to Mickey's cheek, and as he walked on, lightly petting her, he began to consider the idea that maybe she didn't have an owner, or at least they wouldn't find them today. If so – well then, Mickey would just have to bear this responsibility and care for her himself! A pet would be nice! It'd give him plenty to do on future days off! He could walk her and teach her tricks and use her as a bodyguard! As much as the thought pleased him, he could only stop searching once he exhausted every avenue, and there was one place he had yet to try.

~*~

“Oooh, look at me, I'm the Mayor!” Donald mocked while swiveling around in Mickey's chair. “I'm the most perfect guy in the whole wide world! I'll let you walk all over me, who wants to use my face as a doormat!”

Goofy poured a fresh batch of tea. “Not still bitter about the last chapter, are you?”

“I'll stop being bitter when I recover from anemia.” Donald stopping spinning around, lazily leaning on the Mayor's work desk. “Besides, it's his day off! He's got no reason to come in today. I allowed myself five minutes on my schedule for goofing off. No offense.”

“None taken.” Goofy began to add sugar, cream, milk, and anything else he could pull from his hat. “But we should still work our hardest, even when he's not here! That way, when Minnie ruins our day, we can at least say we tried our best. Then we can spend the rest of the day putting out the fires she set.”

“She's probably hounding him down right now.” Donald chuckled at the mental imagery – knowing Minnie, she could have made that literal with a giant magical doberman. ���And the Mayor's running for his life, tail between his legs, screaming like a little girl, and exactly how long as he been standing behind me?”

“Long enough to dock next week's pay,” Mickey dryly replied, watching Donald slowly slide out of his chair.

“What're you doin' here anyhow, Mickey?” Goofy asked, eyes quickly flying over to the odd looking animal on Mickey's shoulder. “Did you get yourself a new pet?”

“Yes and no.” Mickey held out his hand, and Miss Pink hopped into his palm, happy to be shown off. “I found her this morning and I've been trying to find out if she's got an owner... but if she doesn't, I might just keep her myself! She's pretty cute, ain't she?”

“I'd be very careful about that, if I were you,” Donald warned, eyeing the vermin suspiciously. “If Minnie finds out you like it more than you like her, she might wind up as bat flambé . Which is tasty but also disgusting.”

Mickey knew this was a rational, albeit disturbing, train of thought, but it brought him to another realization. “The funny thing is, I haven't seen Minnie all day! By this time, she normally would be rifling through my underwear drawers, stalking me through the streets, and have launched a love-potion missile down my throat. And that's just if she's not feeling inventive.” Why hadn't Minnie shown her face at all today? Did she, too, get off days from her “work”? Maybe crazy needed breaks too.

“Maybe your little friend is a good-luck charm!” Goofy chirped, always trying to see the positive side of things, despite their most obvious conclusions. “Keep her around and maybe Minnie won't come near! 'Course, we'd lose a whole lot of readers for that, but they're probably just scrolling down to the big punch-line at the end anyway.”

“I'm not making any big decisions until I know for sure she doesn't belong to anyone,” Mickey decided, wagging a finger, which Miss Pink imitated. “That's why I came here! I want to look at all the pet licensees in the town, and see if any pink bats come up! I figured it shouldn't take long. How big's the file anyway?”

Donald flipped through his notebook to find the correct data. “It contains... six-hundred and forty-two licensees.”

Mickey's confidence and finger faltered. “You're kidding.”

“Hmmm... ah, yes, you're right, I was wrong.”

“Oh thank-”

“Six-hundred and forty-three.”

Mickey glanced at Donald's notebook, and then off to the distance. “This... might take a while. Why don't we do one of those fancy line-breaks and check on another character? Go with a 'Meanwhile' and we'll catch up later.”

~*~

Meanwhile, Daisy was... taking a nap in her coffin. Hm. Let's try that again.

~*~

Meanwhile, Mortimer was picking his nose - okay let's go once more.

~*~

Meanwhile, Chip and Dale were by themselves in the busy streets of Spookyville, gratefully not doing anything boring or gross. They had woken up early that morning to help set things up for their mistress, as many witch familiars tend to do. This included laying out her clothes, cleaning up the house, and adding more deranged magazine clippings to the Mayor Mickey shrine in her bedroom. However, when it came time to wake Minnie up, she was nowhere to be found! Unlike the Mayor, witch familiars can't take a day off because they never unionized, so they set out to find her.

Naturally, they headed for the Mayor's house first, but didn't find a sign of her, although they did snatch some flowers from his flowerbed, knowing she'd appreciate the terrible gesture. Next up was Magica's school, but there was still no trace of her in the hallways, in the classrooms, or in the principal's office, where they went unnoticed by the drunken headmaster who was wailing that “HE'S WITH THAT GOLDEN-HAIRED BINT, ISN'T HE?!”

Their last option was the Mayor's office, but since it was still in one piece and they couldn't hear anyone screaming from inside, they decided she couldn't be there either. What to do? They sat on the doorstep, puzzled.

“What could we have missed?” Chip asked, cupping his thin in thought. “Mistress always goes after the mayor, and always leaves a trail of chaos in her wake. What changed?”

“Last night, she did say she was working on a new spell.” Dale replied, copying the gesture. “But I don't remember what it was! Usually when she goes into one of her Mayor-related ramblings I kind of tune out for a while.”

“Do you think it was an invisibility spell?” Chip pondered, trying to imagine it. “Hmmm... No, she definitely would have already tried to wait in his shower, and we would have heard that screeching no matter where we were.”

“Maybe it was a teleportation spell gone wrong?” Dale kept it up, knowing that Minnie's weird powers at times appeared limitless. “Maybe she's landed in some weird world that doesn't celebrate Halloween 24/7. She could be in a world that celebrates Thanksgiving 24/7!”

“Or worse...” Chip paled, the awful possibilities beginning to pile up. “... 24/7 Arbor Day! Dale, we've got to find that spell and get her home! She'll be bored to death!” The chipmunks jumped off the doorstep and headed back home as fast as their little feet could take them, hoping to save Minnie from the horrors of a 24/7 President's Day.

~*~

Well, that's enough of that. Back to what you came to see – bureaucratic paperwork!

“License for a ten-foot-long python named Tickles...” Mickey read aloud, as his companions were doing, the trio huddled around a stack of papers to try and find any trace of Miss Pink's owner if she had one. Miss Pink, for her part, was content to nestle herself on Mickey's head, her face sticking out from underneath his hat. “License for a Capuchin monkey named Cappuccino... I had no idea we had so many people with so many exotic pets, and with such terrible names too!”

“And I ain't seen a sign pink bat in any of these.” Goofy concluded, although his share of the papers were now folded into origami shapes. “I think you might be in the clear, Mickey!”

“This is the last one,” Donald announced, holding his paper high in the air before reading it. “License for a warlock named Donald.” He paused, and then crumbled it up. “All right, I need to have a word with Daisy later...”

“Then she's all mine!” Mickey said cheerfully, popping to his feet. “Oh boy, my first pet! This is going to be really exciting! I'll build her a nice bat-house, with all the trimmings! I'll walk her every day! And I'll get tested for rabies!”

Donald flipped through his notebook, jotting something down and using his magic to bring it to life. “Hang on, Mayor. If you're going to be a responsible pet owner, you need to keep an eye on her! So, here you go, one leash at the ready.” As stated, once he wrote it down, it poofed into existence – extra pink and glittery for all to see.

“Perfect!” Mickey gently picked up Miss Pink from his heat and helped fit the collar snugly on. “There you go, how does that feel?” Miss Pink blinked at the collar and leash, then glanced at Mickey with a strange, eyebrow-wiggling look. “See, she likes it! I'm going to take her home and show her around! Boy oh boy, what a great day!” He headed for the door, waving to his pals, Miss Pink fluttering behind him. “Thanks for all your help, guys! I'll make sure to remember this when it comes time for your bonuses!”

Goofy and Donald joyfully waved back until the door was closed, before their faces fell. Donald cleared his throat. “So... you realize that's Minnie, right?”

“Figured it out forty-five minutes ago when she kept licking his cheek.” A click of his tongue. “Us not telling him is gunna affect those bonuses, ain't it?”

“Probably. But the mental trauma might keep him from remembering for a few days. Maybe we should call the Spookyville Asylum and see if they have an opening? When is that spell going to wear off?”

“When it's funniest, I'd reckon. Which might be...” Goofy took a quick glance at the watch on his wrist. “...In a few minutes. Line break, please!”

~*~

“Dum de dum de dum...” Mickey made up his own ditty as he strolled down the street, fingers entwined in the leash and not a care in the world. A nice pet to love and take care of and keep him company – life was grand! Sure, the leash suddenly felt heavier, and people were staring at him with stunned expressions – one mother even slapping her hand over her child's eyes – but what did those things matter? He and Miss Pink were now BFFs! “Aw, you're gunna love livin' at my place! And I'll even get-cha a dozen leashes, see which you like best!”

“My word!” a scandalized skeleton cried out.

Huh, that was weird. Anyway, he went on, “And if you're on your best behavior, you can sleep in my bed!”

“There are children here!” an alarmed arachnid shouted.

What did that have to do with anything? “But first things first... we've had a pretty long day. I think what you need is a bath! Shoot, we both do, why don't we just save time and take it together?”

What followed was nearly a choir of aghast gasps, lots of incredulous pointing, and several ghouls declaring they'd switch candidates for next year. Mickey was a happy-go-lucky fellow, but even he had buttons that could be pressed, and he stopped walking to put his hands on his hips and glare at the various passerby. “What's got everyone's sheets in a twist? Can't a fellow walk his pet anymore? I tell you, this isn't like my Spookyville anymore! Don't you think, Miss Pink?” He turned his head.

And, to the surprise of nobody who has two brain cells working, there stood Minnie, the collar having magically grown with her to continue fitting comfortably. She grinned, not making any effort to take it off. “Um... squeak?”

Mickey looked at her, looked at the lash in his hands, back and forth, the last sense of trust he had in this waking world dissolving into ash. Now knowing Minnie had, apparently, the ability to transform, he could no rely on anyone or anything being its true self. He would never be bored on a day off again.

If there is a moral to be found in this chapter, it's to be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Also, if you faint, don't do it on a stone pavement, because you will wind up with a cracked skull, and need to spend several weeks in the hospital, if the crazy witch stalker doesn't insist on healing you herself personally.

Okay, that last one doesn't entirely apply, but you get the idea.

#disney #fanfic #welcome to spookyville #mickey mouse #minnie mouse #donald duck #goofy #clarabelle cow

[siriuslysnuffles]

Time

my contribution to @jilychallenge for march 2018. i was partnered with the superb @starlillie. 

James is the dad that not so secretly frets over every potential disaster that could happen and accidently freaks out and yells quite a lot because "nO Harry get away from the toaster or so hELP me Godric"

can also be read on ffn and ao3. 

James had always been the type of person to care for others. Or as Sirius would put it, smother them. He enjoyed taking the mickey out of James’ need to fret over them when they were sick. The joke had started in first-year when Remus had been sick but continued on through the years. They had believed it had reached its peak during Lily’s pregnancy, but it had been nearly as bad as when Harry had been born and the months that followed.

Having always been spoiled and adored, James saw no other way to care for Harry than by spoiling and adoring him. Although, Harry, being a baby, didn’t quite understand everything his mum and dad were doing in order to make sure he had a wonderful childhood he wouldn’t remember. This included James’ many attempts at bribery that Harry refused to accept.

The first-month home was fine. Brilliant even, despite the lack of sleep James and Lily were receiving. Most of what Harry had accomplished to do was stare at his mother’s beautiful eyes. It had been one of his favourite pastimes, and James didn’t blame his cariad bach. He would watch her every second of every single day for the rest of his life if he could.

James wished he could go back to the second month when Harry had cooed at everything James or Lily did, but they grew up so fast, he supposed. Part of him wished he’d never grow up, feeling instantly guilty when he remembered the news they had been told. Knowing that Voldermort, he scoffed, was after his son, his love and there was nothing they could do about it but hide away.

Month three was filled with laughter. Laughter as his mother who blew on his stomach and kissed his cheeks at every moment. Laughter at his father who played peek-a-boo with his invisibility cloak. Laughing as his uncles made faces at him or tickled him. Snuggling into his father as he put him down for a nap.

Harry’s fourth-month was the beginning of James’ Harry-caused anxiety. He could see so much of Lily in him just by the way he held himself, or tried to. Head held in a look of defiance as his feet wobbled; James was always there to catch him with Lily watching in amusement as James kissed every inch of Harry’s face when he cried–even when the tears had passed and the child had calmed down.

Next was Harry’s anxiety-filled stage where he would cry anytime Lily or James left the room. His little lips would begin to tremble and Lily would take him into her arms, stroking his hair and back softly until he would look up at her with his big green eyes. James would bounce him on his lap gently, rambling a mile-a-minute until his own nerves calmed down only to notice that Harry had fallen asleep. With a small kiss on the forehead, James would place him gently in his arms and up the stairs to his cot.

In his sixth-month, Harry had begun exploring. Everything was his and had a right to be placed in his mouth. Whether it was his mother’s potion vials or his father’s old snitch. Lily would giggle before taking it away while James’ mind immediately went to every worse case scenario in which Harry would need to be taken to St. Mungo’s. His wonderful wife would tease him before placing consolation kisses on his cheek, neck, nose. Maybe he would find a way to bottle them, they’d work better than any Liquid Luck.

Harry in month seven had begun to get a twinkle in his eyes about giving his father every heart problem imaginable that James supposed was his own form of karma for all the mischief he had gotten into as a child. His eyes had begun to get fixated on Godric, that only meant trouble could be expected for their precious cat. He supposed the cat might have deserved it in his son’s eyes for his initial mistrust of the baby.

Once Harry had begun to crawl at eight-months, the house was chaos, but James wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Even if he was the one running after Harry as he chased the cat giddily. Lily’s reasoning when he asked why he had to be the only always going after Harry was that it was a way to keep him fit. He couldn’t really argue with that logic–or maybe it was the way her eyes held a mischievous glint to them that would have had him falling in love with her if he wasn’t already.

He was nine-months old, and James couldn’t help but tear up as Harry began catching the toy snitch Sirius had gotten him. Grasping it in his tiny hand and showing it off to his mummy. Her laughter would fill the room as she looked at James with a teasing scowl before dramatically blaming James for their son’s habit of showing off. He’d ruffle Harry’s hair, affectionately placing a kiss on top of his black mane.

He was waving good-bye to James as Lily carried him away from the room. He smiled back at his precious son, letting it fall once he was no longer in sight. A moment later, he let himself fall apart. Let himself shake in fear as the overwhelming dread for his family settled into the pit of his stomach. He’d die before he let anything to happen to Harry or Lily, and he trusted Sirius with his life, but he couldn’t help but be scared. He tried to clear off the look from his face when Lily returned to the living-room, but she knew him better than that. Placing herself in his lap, she rested her head gently on his shoulder, mumbling words of comfort into his neck as her own fears surfaced. He stroked her hair absentmindedly, reveling in the feeling that was just so Lily.

Eleven-months old and running a hand through his hair as he watched James do so. Lily giggled before kissing Harry’s cheek adoringly. What about me, Evans, James teased before receiving a kiss of his own accompanied with whispered promises. Hazel eyes widened as he began nervously grabbing onto his hair, followed by his son’s imitation of it. Does mummy make you nervous too, Har, he asked as his eyes shifted back to Lily walking away with a grin. As he picked Harry up, he didn’t notice Harry’s small hand reaching for the wand James had placed behind his ear until his poor son had taken it in his tiny grasp. Waving the wand back and forth, he had managed to set the toaster on fire for the second time that week before James had managed to steal it back from him. With a soft sigh and a lazy flick of the wrist, he extinguished it; James wasn’t even sure if it still worked from the last time, it was probably fine...he hoped. He turned back to his son who had an innocent look on his face, as if he hadn’t just been misbehaving. James laughed gently, yeah, I get it, irony. Harry began nuzzling into his neck, looking up at him only briefly with dada escaping his mouth in a content sigh.

It seemed surreal that he was already one. Lily had begun sobbing into James’ chest on Harry’s birthday. James whispering to her for over an hour that it was a good thing as he watched his son chase after Godric who still hasn’t forgiven the little troublemaker for his previous assaults. James chuckled, placing a lingering kiss on his wife’s lips. Wait until he opens his godfather’s gift, he said as his fingers trailed down her cheek. It’s what we wanted, he reminded her before placing a kiss to the top of her head. She sighed sadly before moving away from him to attend to Harry who lied on the floor, his bottom lip quivering as he tried to gain the cat’s attention. Godric, Lily look pleadingly at the animal who consented and cuddled up next to Harry. He held an exasperated expression as Harry grabbed onto his fur roughly. Mama, he said proudly, his joyful giggling enough to warm his mother’s heart. Lily placed him gently in her lap, bouncing him up and down with kisses placed on her son’s nose, cheeks, and forehead. James took a seat beside her, his hand going around her shoulder. I love you, Lily, he sighed her name gently. I love you too, even if you are corrupting Harry, her eyes caught his with a sly smile. Instantly he moved, letting his hands shift to her hair and his mouth to her neck. More giggles escaped the birthday boy’s mouth, oblivious to his parents’ flirting. Oblivious to the limitless love they held for one another.  

Bye, Mama, Harry said waving his hand as Lily left the room. James sat back as the toddler walked around the bedroom. His toys scattered around the room. Harry’s eyes shifted to his toys as he sat down to examine them before deciding on the broomstick Sirius had given him. Do you want to fly, Har, James questioned him adoringly. He watched as his son’s eyes lit up at ‘fly.’ C’mere, cariad bach, he said, motioning for the toddler to come to him. Harry stumbled only slightly before entering his father’s arms. I love you so much, Harry, he mumbled into his son’s hair before taking the boy’s hand in his and walking him over to the toy broom. Lily came back into the room a while later, her face set alight with the amusement from her husband’s body sprawled on the floor with a toddler sitting on top of him. Your son exhausted me, Annwyl, his eyes shifted to the child on his chest. And to think you used to be fit, and here we have you in your old age, Mr Potter, her lips curved up into a gentle smile before taking Harry from him. Is your daddy being funny, love? He nodded, smiling up at his mother while pulling on her hair. Red, he gripped the hair again. Lily threw her head back, our little Gryffindor, isn’t he?  

James laughed as he fondly watched his small son stuff scrambled eggs into his mouth. Messy eater, aren’t you? Didn’t mummy just get you to use a spoon, cariad bach, Harry eyes had gone wide at the mention of his mother. Green eyes scanned the room for any indication of his favourite person, or so Lily teased. Mama, the word held a question to it. She’ll be awake soon, he said as he handed Harry another spoon which he proceeded to bang on his plate. James looked into the emerald eyes sternly (or as sternly as he could), he was preparing to be a responsible adult to a fourteen-month-old when Harry decided to tell him off. No, was his son’s brilliant statement that set James off into a giant laughing fit that only made Harry begin chanting the word. No, no, no, no, he said with a smile as his mother walked into the room. Harry learned how to say ‘no,’ a grin spread across her face as James nodded.

I want another one, James told her the morning Harry turned fifteen-months-old. His arms wrapped around Lily’s waist as he watched his son drawing lines on a piece of parchment–although James thought it might have been Lily by the colours he was using. He laughed lightly into her neck, or maybe two. His mouth shifted to kiss the spot behind her ear delicately, what do you think? I mean perhaps not now, but one day. She leant back into him as she watch her son with pure adoration. Okay, she promised.

No matter how much trouble Harry got into, they would always want more of him. More time to love him, care for him, adore him. Time they would never get.

feedback? can anyone also let me know if i described a child’s behavior right? 

#jilychallenge #jily #james potter #lily evans #harry potter

[edogawatranslations]

999: Alterna (1) - Part 4, Chapters 3-4

Table of Contents | Previous: Part 4, Chapters 1-2

Chapter 3

After a short discussion to determine the areas each of us was responsible for and how we would carry out the search, the eight of us divided up the rooms.

We also set a time limit - the next time the clock rang. Afterwards, we would regather in the large hospital room. If anyone found the missing circuit boards before then, they should promptly shout and inform the others. If none of us were able to find anything in that time, then we would have no choice but to come up with a different plan of attack.

“Start searchin’!”

At Seven’s call to action, we scattered off to our respective areas. I wondered if Santa would slack off on account of his laziness, but when I looked over, I saw him obediently running over to the area Seven had assigned him. At least for now, I didn’t need to worry about him.

I hurried down the staircase to the lower floor. I was assigned to the sixteen rooms towards the back. I quickly opened the first door and found four beds arranged in a space no bigger than my apartment. A medicine cabinet stood in one corner of the room. Sifting through all of its thin drawers would be quite time-consuming.

The monotonous operation dragged on. I quickly grew tired of it after searching just two rooms, but I didn’t have the option to give up. Reluctantly, I continued onto the next room.

While I searched for the circuit boards, thoughts of Akane drifted into my mind. She had vanished from right in front of me. Even after searching for her as much as I did, I wasn’t able to find her, and as suddenly as she had disappeared, she unexpectedly reappeared and surprised us all.

She had been spirited away - how else could I describe it? What in the world happened to her? If Lotus was right about there being a hidden door, then even if Zero had taken Akane away from us, I still wouldn’t be able to understand his intentions at all. I failed to reach a satisfying conclusion, and instead, my thoughts continued to stir restlessly deep inside my chest.

It wasn’t just Akane. A number of unexplainable mysteries about the others unsettled me as well. Snake stood out the most. His cool and collected attitude seemingly wasn’t shaken by anything at all. That aroused not only curious admiration, but also peculiar suspicion. I couldn’t help but feel that his superhuman sense of smell posed a threat.

Santa’s behavior was also an enigma. He clearly doesn’t want to cooperate. He acts like he lost his will to live, but the Santa that rescued me from drowning was almost like a completely different person. I couldn’t even begin to grasp his true intentions.

Seven’s amnesia presented another mystery. Was it really possible for someone to forget his own name and age?

Likewise, Ace and Clover weren’t exceptions. I had a strong hunch that all of them were hiding something.

A single chime from the grandfather clock cut short my train of thought. It was time. I stood up and left the room. In the end, I only finished investigating five rooms.

A black door loomed at the end of the long hallway. It struck me as blatantly out of place, as everything surrounding it was white. Something important definitely lay beyond it.

Unable to resist my curiosity, I approached it and grabbed ahold of the doorknob, but the door showed no sign of budging.

“No use, huh,” I muttered to myself. I turned around and headed up the stairs back to the large hospital room.

When I returned, six others had already gathered in front of the [8] door. Something felt different. Did someone find the circuit boards?

I approached Akane and asked her from behind, “What happened?”

“Oh, Jumpy, look!”

As she turned her head to look back at me, she pointed to the <RED>. I weaved between everyone until I stood right in front of the door.

Immediately, I noticed the change. The panel above the <RED> now displayed the word <VACANT>. I peeked underneath the <RED>. The gap that had existed earlier was now closed off by a steel cover. Someone had inserted a circuit board.

“Who was it?” I asked, turning to look at everyone. “Didn’t we decide that whoever found something would yell out and let everyone know?”

“That’s the thing...” Akane hesitated for a moment. The others all kept silent, with looks of confusion on their faces.

“We have no idea,” Lotus answered. “I arrived here first after hearing the chime, but it was already like this when I got here.”

What did this mean?

I decided to examine the other numbered doors. All of the <REDs> had their parts in order.

“Let me double check to be sure,” I said. “But nobody has any idea who did this?”

Ace and Akane nodded quietly. Seven threw his hands up in exasperation, while Santa shrugged his shoulders as if feigning ignorance. Clover, with her head hung low, was the only one who didn’t react.

“...Huh?” At that moment, I realized that Snake was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Snake?”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t see him around here,” Lotus said, spinning her head around. “Maybe he was too focused on searching and missed the chime?”

That was impossible. Snake had just been bragging about his extraordinary sense of hearing.

“Could Snake have been the one who inserted the circuit boards?” Akane suggested.

“Who knows? We would need to ask him directly to be sure,” Ace responded, stroking his beard.

“Whatever it is, he’s late. Maybe he’s wanderin’ around somewhere?” Seven spat, turning back to look at the door that led to the small hospital rooms.

“Did he get lost?” Lotus proposed.

“Yeah, that’s gotta be it. He’s blind, so-”

“That’s not possible!” Clover shrieked, interrupting Seven. “My brother may be blind, but he figures everything out through sounds and stuff!”

Clover clasped her hands. Her shoulders trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. “That’s why for him... getting lost isn’t... isn’t...” She turned away from us to hide her tears, before exclaiming, “I’m going to look for him!”

She vigorously dashed out of the room.

“Hey, wait!” I called out to try and stop her, but my voice couldn’t reach her. Without even looking back, Clover disappeared to the other side of the white door.

“Ugh, what now?” I muttered to myself.

“We can’t just be standing here doing nothing,” Lotus replied. “We only have five hours remaining. The <REDs> are functioning again, so...”

Lotus wanted to keep moving forward as soon as possible. I understood how she felt, but we couldn’t leave Snake and Clover behind.

“We can’t abandon two people. Let’s help search too,” June said, pulling on my arm.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I added.

Lotus yelled out, “Wait, Junpei!”

Ignoring her call, I headed towards the white door.

“We have no other choice,” Ace said.

“Tsk. No other choice, huh.” Seven added. I could tell that he was hurrying after us. “First lost circuit boards, now a lost person... Hey Santa, you’re comin’ with too.”

“Hey... Get your hands off me. I can walk by myself,” Santa’s childish voice echoed out.

“Lotus, what’re you gonna do?” Seven asked.

“I’m going too. I can’t open one of these doors by myself.”

Lotus didn’t bother to mask the displeasure in her voice.

Chapter 4

Just like when we searched for the circuit pieces, we split up and swept through the rooms one by one.

Since we didn’t need to scour under the beds or dig through the cabinets, it didn’t take too much time.

After examining every room, we regrouped in the large hospital room. In the end, we couldn’t find a single trace of Snake anywhere.

“Brother... Brother...” With head hung low, Clover’s entire body trembled with fear.

“Since we weren’t able to locate him during our search just now, perhaps he returned to the casino bar,” Ace said, glancing at the orange door. “I’ll go take a quick look.”

“Wait up, old man! I’m gonna go too.” Seven followed after Ace, and the two of them disappeared beyond the door.

“We’ll take the kitchen,” I said to Akane, before opening the green door. “Lotus, please look after Clover.”

After saying that, I headed back into the kitchen with June.

“Snake!” I called out.

No response. We crossed the kitchen and opened the door that led back to the passenger cabins, but nobody was there. We peeked inside the second-class cabins as well, but nothing had changed from earlier.

“...He doesn’t seem to be anywhere,” June said, looking nervous.

“Yeah...”

“Disappearing so suddenly like that... It’s just like what happened with June. Maybe there really is a mummy’s curse.”

The voice came from behind me. I spun around to see Lotus standing there.

“Lotus, why are you here? Didn’t I ask you to look after Clover?” I didn’t mean to, but my tone came out sounding harsh.

“Don’t worry, Santa’s still back there. But never mind that. This is more important.” Lotus licked her glossy bottom lip. “Junpei, June, I have a proposal for you. Care to listen?”

“What is it?”

“I hate beating around the bush so I’ll get right to the point.” Lotus lowered her voice and brought her face closer to us. “Do you two want to team up with me?”

Akane and I looked at each other with skepticism.

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Lotus bit her lip impatiently. “I’m asking if you two will go through a numbered door with me.”

“That’s... impossible.” June answered.

“Why?”

“Well, Jumpy’s bracelet number is [5], mine is [6], and yours is [8]. We wouldn’t be able to open any of the doors.”

I quickly did a mental calculation.

[5] + [6] + [8] = 19 1 + 9 = 10 1 + 0 = [1]

Our digital root was [1]. But there wasn’t a [1] door in the big hospital room.

“Then we just need to add one other person,” Lotus said, grinning widely.

“Who?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Seven.”

[5] + [6] + [8] + [7] = 26 2 + 6 = [8]

Indeed, with Seven, we would be able to pass through the [8] door.

“Wait. What about the other four?”

“You’ll know if you calculate it, right?”

As Lotus suggested, I tried adding the numbers together in my mind.

[1] + [2] + [3] + [4] = 10 1 + 0 = [1]

“Their digital root would be [1],” I concluded. “That prevents them from going anywhere.”

“That’s right.”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s right’?”

“Are you thinking about leaving them behind?” Akane asked.

Lotus pouted. “Hey, can you not make me sound like a bad person? Once we successfully escape, all we’ll have to do is bring back help.”

“Lotus, please don’t lie. You don’t mean that sincerely, do you?” I retorted.

“Oh? Why do you say that?”

“We don’t even have five hours left. Even if we were to escape now, it would be impossible for us to bring back help within five hours.”

“Well now. You won’t know unless we try, right?”

Lotus and I both became more and more agitated, and our voices grew louder by the second.

“Both of you, please calm down,” Akane cut in. “Even if Seven joined the three of us, we wouldn’t be able to escape from this ship.”

“...Why not?” Lotus asked, blatantly showing her discontent.

“We wouldn’t be able to open the [9] door by ourselves.”

Akane was right.

“The exit is hidden somewhere on this ship. Seek a door. Seek a door that carries a [9].”

Zero said that to us. However, our digital root was [8]. Unless we added Ace’s [1], we wouldn’t be able to open the final door.

After I explained that, Lotus let out a deep sigh. She closed her eyes and started scratching behind her ear. She mumbled, “I guess that’s a no then. Now what should we do?”

“Let’s find another way. A way to save all eight of us.”

“That’s impossible. What are you spouting all of a sudden? You know that at most five people can pass through a numbered door, right?” Lotus shouted. “That probably applies to the [9] door as well, don’t you think? Three people are getting left out no matter what.”

A cold shiver crept up my spine.

Why hadn’t I realized it earlier?

She explained it so simply, but to put it another way, out of the eight of us, at the very least, three would certainly lose their lives.

My chest felt heavy, as if filled with lead.

Unless we sacrificed someone, none of us could be saved.

To save ourselves, we would have to let our group members die. Were we truly capable of doing something like that?

Next: Part 4, Chapters 5-6

#999 alterna #9 hours 9 persons 9 doors #nine hours nine persons nine doors #zero escape

[escailyyy]

The vanishing Hitchhiker

Sherlock Holmes consulting detective didn’t believe in apparitions, specters or anything of that sort, he was pragmatic and cynical, that’s why when Lestrade warned him against driving down St Margaret road on a Friday 13th he scoffed at the silly superstition and refused to listen to more, really, the less evolved could be so idiotic sometimes.

It was a quiet evening with little traffic and he’d just finished a seven in a nearby town, maybe that’s why Sherlock decided to stop for the petite woman who was so evidently failing at getting a ride from the cars passing her by.

“Oh thank heavens” she said when Sherlock pulled up to the curve, turning around to smile at him revealing the probable reason why she was in her predicament “I’ve been walking for miles but nobody will stop, one look at this bloody lab coat and everyone thinks I’m a serial killer” She huffed in indignation

“Its the logical conclusion since evidently the blood isn’t yours, yet you had little choice in wearing it because the dress you are wearing underneath is a flimsy protection against this windy weather” Sherlock replied rapidly deducing the stranger, she was female, in her late twenties “you’re a doctor working on your PhD, live alone but you’ll be married soon, sentimental, have a cat, and are well off financially…. judging by the tools in you pocket and lack of purse I’d say you were called to do an emergency consultation during some important event that required you to wear that dress”

She watched him for a couple of moments blinking in astonishment before extending her hand “Molly Hooper, recent hire by St Bart’s pathology department”

“So I was right” Sherlock congratulated himself “I’m Sherlock Holmes, only consulting detective in the world” he said smugly

“Well Sherlock I’m sorry to bother you but can you take me to Heathrow? I had a row with the people supposed to drive me back and they just left me at the side of the road, someone’s waiting for me and I can’t be late”

Sherlock was exasperated but agreed to give Molly a lift and to nobody’s surprise she turned out to be a veritable chatterbox, but that wasn’t a surprise to Sherlock, she had the look of someone who found silence uncomfortable.

Mostly she told him about the situation where he’d found her, she’d told him of a old rival who was being accused of murdering his pregnant wife, she of course noticed immediately that the lady died at childbirth and the “friends” that had offered to give her a ride home had quarreled over her verdict, eventually deciding to leave her to reach home alone.

“One of them probably did it” Sherlock deduced after hearing the bare bones of the case “They knew you didn’t like the accused man personally and would probably be willing to lie about the COD if it meant getting even”

“I figured so too, except that I take my professional integrity very seriously” Molly replied in a huff “I still don’t understand why, I mean the victim was a battered housewife, wouldn’t it be more logical to kill the abusive husband?”

“Not necessarily, if the killer had a personal connection to the victim and she didn’t want to leave her husband” Sherlock shrugged not realizing he found her line of questioning interesting “saving the baby from a household like that would have looked like a better option…And if you were willing to commit perjury then most likely the killer would return the child”

“So the murderer was either related to the victim or loved her hard enough to "save” her baby from the abusive father, they also knew of my personal history with the man and wanted to see him behind bars….I think I have an idea on who it is" Molly hummed non committal “As if I would commit perjury because of a petty grudge” then she turned to Sherlock “And you? What was a posh detective doing so far from London, in the country no less”

So Sherlock told her, he talked about his case a complicated closed room situation where a snake the width of a penny had been pushed through a hole in the roof and been confused as part of the furniture by the idiots on Scotland Yard. Molly listened attentively, happily offering suggestions on how the forensics could have done better and giving positive commentary.

It was already dark when about one mile before their destination, Sherlock’s car stuttered to a halt and refused to start again, for some reason Molly didn’t look disappointed, in fact to Sherlock’s view the animated pathologist looked strangely at peace “ the tow truck, will be here in a while Molly” Sherlock explained after making his calls

“It’s all right, today has turned out to be a better day than I expected, I should thank you for that” Molly shook her head laughing “you’re a great detective Sherlock Holmes, it was good luck that I met you”

“The universe is rarely that lazy” Sherlock retorted using a phrase Mycroft was fond of, thinking that he would like to see Molly again after he saw her home “You said your fiance is waiting, I hope your anniversary dinner won’t be spoiled” he didn’t know why he said that, but he felt the whole car ride was driving him too close to sentiment for his liking.

“He probably IS worried crazy, but don’t worry about it, I’ll see him again eventually, when this blows over” Molly explained cryptically “I was actually surprised that you picked me up from St Margaret’s road, they say Friday 13th is known to produce it’s fair share of accidents in that area”

“I don’t believe in superstition and magic nonsense Molly, statistical analysis will tell you that any road is dangerous when the wrong driver decides to get behind the wheel” Sherlock scoffed remembering Lestrade and his poppycock excuse for staying behind while Sherlock drove himself to London

“Either way, do me a favor and don’t take that way up to London again, next time try Carsonfield Road, it’s actually shorter and less bumpy” Molly advised and in a blink Sherlock saw her face turn yellow with decay, a gruesome cut that ran from her cheek to her arm, and a collection of fresh bruises marring the skin that had been blissfully smooth all evening “It’s been a wonderful day, thank again for your help Sherlock” the corpse like vision said again and like midst in the air she vanished right before his eyes. Leaving behind only a bloody lab coat to prove she existed at all.

Later after not being able to give himself a logical explanation for what had happened, how or why or when. So many things didn’t make sense that Sherlock naturally decided to investigate. It turned out that the address she’d given him wasn’t a house in Heathrow, but a hospital, Saint Margaret’s General Hospital to be exact.

But try as he might he couldn’t find her, or any mention of her anywhere, there were really no Molly Hoopers associated with that hospital. It wasn’t until he began investigating in St Bart’s employment records that Mike Stamford took pity on him and pulled him aside to show him an old framed newspaper from the world war II era.

“I heard that you’re looking for someone called Molly and I thought you might be interested in knowing how an old road in the countryside got it’s name” Stamford said pulling up the framed picture from his filing cabinet “St Margaret’s road was called Linton Lane before the war you know” Stamford explained “around that time a general suspected of smuggling weapons to the Germans was accused of killing his own wife, everyone was sure he’d done it, except for the mortician: a woman named Margaret Hooper, she used to work here”

The story went in an identical vein to what Molly had told him the previous day, a mortician well known to have been wronged by the general gave a testimony that corroborated the man’s innocence casting a doubt over the location of a kidnapped baby. But unlike Molly’s story, she hadn’t been left on the side of the road to catch a ride home: She’d been left there to bleed out after being gruesomely stabbed multiple times and as a result for a long time nobody could pass the road without thinking about her. Hence the name of the place.

“Here I know that name, right here, William Scott… he’s one from mummy’s relatives” Sherlock realized zeroing on one of the names listed in the newspaper. He of course knew that his family tree had a smattering amount of detectives here and there, but to find out that his ancestor had been leading the investigation gave him pause.

What had Molly, if there was even a Molly in the first place, been trying to tell him?.

Apparently detective Scott launched an investigation on the officers involved in the case that Molly had been consulting on at the time of her murder, which led to Scotland Yard discovering that the wife beating general was being set up to take the fall for a superior that was using his wife and working for the Germans into creating a bomb that would have decimated half of the Parliament.

Which still didn’t tell him anything about Molly, until finally he caved and asked his mother.

“Oh Molly Hooper? She was his fiance” Mummy replied absentmindedly “you probably deleted that when I told you that you were named after a hopeless romantic” Yes Sherlock definitely had skipped that part of the family storyline “ your three times Great uncle William was going to get married shortly before her murder, tragic stuff with him, they used to exchange letters filled with love and he never recovered from losing her”

“Did he ever find out who murdered her?” Sherlock wondered thinking back to the smiling brunette who had almost stolen his heart too in the space of one road trip

“No, that’s the sad thing, William Scott closed the general’s case, but he never could find enough evidence for Molly’s murder, although he did fund a hospital in her honor using the house that would have been theirs when they got married”

“Saint Margaret’s General Hospital” Sherlock muttered with dawning realization

“So you do remember!, Well that’s all I know about the issue, I named you after him because I thought he was a very dedicated sort” And that was the end of the conversation.

Sherlock never told anybody about the little vanishing hitchhiker. He later learned that superstition or not there really were a number of unexplained car accidents around that road. When questioned the victims that swerved into trees claimed to have seen a woman in a white dress standing right in the middle of the road, some said she appeared repeatedly again and again as they drove by, and the less injured ones claimed to have been giving a kind lady a lift when their cars stopped for unexplained reasons in the middle of a well transited spot.

Sherlock never talked about her clever mind, her button nose or the way she seemed to know exactly what to say to put him at ease. So much he was distracted from the splash pattern in the lab coat that was consistent with multiple stab wounds.

Sometimes of Friday 13th he found himself talking Mycroft’s car to drive down St Margaret’s road, thinking about a ghost stuck wandering in the countryside trying to get back to her loving fiance.

And perhaps he also thought about his newfound determination to solve her murder.

#molly hooper #Sherlock Holmes #sherlolly #sherlolly halloween at 221b #another #ghost story #happy halloween #some girls like ghost stories #other girl write them

[nixonsmoviereviews]

"The Mummy" (2017)- Perhaps the production was cursed? This new 'Mummy' is so wrapped up in contrived world-building, it simply cannot stand on its own. A complete mess.

You gotta give director Alex Kurtzman's 2017 reboot of the popular "Mummy" franchise some credit! Why? Well, because now there's no rational way anyone could possibly say "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" was the worst Universal "Mummy" movie... Nope. Not anymore. At least that one got a couple chuckles out of me here and there and had characters we knew and loved... This one? Well, let's just say this is one 'Mummy' that should have stayed buried... The 85 years, the "Mummy" franchise has been a staple in the world of horror. From the iconic and classic 1932 Boris Karloff masterpiece... through the wild Hammer flick and it's own follow-ups... and indeed to the incredibly popular 1999 Stephen Sommers film which retold the tale of the mummy's curse in a modern and adventurous way... "The Mummy" has always remained a recognized and relevant part of popular culture. So it should come as no surprise that when Universal decided to try their hand at creating a "cinematic universe" based on their various monster and creature franchises, a brand-new "Mummy" would serve as the first chapter. Unfortunately, this newest reboot is a complete mess. It's far too wrapped up in contrived world-building and completely unfocused on doing anything to allow it to stand on its own. Director Kurtzman and his small army of screenwriters have delivered a movie that honestly left me a bit dumbfounded. Yes, it boasts all the pretty special effects you come to expect from a modern-day blockbuster. Yes, the cast is made up of actors and actresses who typically light up the screen with electrifying performances. And yes, it does do some new and vaguely interesting things with a concept that some could argue has already reached its peak long ago. And yet... I did not for one single moment care about anything that was happening on-screen. It's a joyless slog that only exists to set up a potential franchise, and relies on tired old clichés and tropes to pad out its run-time. It's a glorified, feature-length commercial. Superstar Tom Cruise stars as US military officer and treasure- hunter extraordinaire Nick Morton, who accidentally helps to uncover an ancient tomb in modern-day Iraq. With the help of his painfully annoying comedic-relief sidekick Chris (Jake Johnson) and beautiful archaeologist Jennifer (Annabelle Wallis), Nick investigates his mysterious discovery and finds it to be something of a prison... As it contains the cursed sarcophagus of the vile Ancient Egyptian Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella)- a conniving and devious figure who sold her soul to the dark god Set and murdered several others in a ploy to ascend in power. Upon being released from her tomb, Ahmanet returns to life and launches a devious plot to take over the world. But Nick will not be alone in his fight against this dark force, as he soon comes to meet a mysterious doctor (Russell Crowe) who is part of an ancient monster-hunter organization known as the "Prodigium"... "The Mummy" really is a glaring example of failed potential. This particular franchise could benefit wonderfully from a modern retelling with new filmmaking technology and fresh blood behind the cameras. After all, that's what made the Hammer films and the Stephen Sommers movies work so well! But that's not what this is. This is studio-mandated, written-by-committee hack garbage, cynically conceived to cash-in on the trend of "cinematic universes." It's far too cold and clinical in its execution, lacking any real sense of humanity or artistry. Characters are written as one-note, dumbed-down to be massively appealing and completely non- challenging. Dialog is robotic and inorganic, only serving to either supply attempts at humorous quips or provide near-constant exposition. And the structure is suspect at best, feeling more like it's going down a corporate product checklist than trying to be an honest film. Opening flashback? Check! Set up the dashing hero and quirky comedic-relief sidekick? Check! Mandatory "every 10 or so minutes action-scene"? Check! Too much of the movie is devoted to setting up the so-called "Dark Universe" and it feels really tacky and out of place. It's what gives the film that uncomfortable overlong-commercial feel. But fear not, because the rest of the movie is equally as bad, but in its own way. The film has a complete lack of focus or narrative structure, and the story-line is awkwardly confusing and often changes the rules whenever it's convenient for the screenwriters to write themselves out of a corner. Nothing really works together in a cohesive way... the writing is just mind-boggling. It's like everything that's there to set up the "Dark Universe" is soulless and dull, while everything else seems hastily cobbled together from about ten different drafts of the script. And as for Kurtzman's visual guidance? Uh... it's OK, I guess. It's basically visually indecipherable from most other generic studio- fare, and the few standout moments are the scenes lifted from previous "Mummy" movies. I wouldn't really recommend he quit his day-job to become a director... Oh, I almost forgot! What did I think of the cast? Nothing. Nothing at all. Because clearly none of them thought much of the film, based on how bored and dreary they seem. I guess maybe Tom Cruise got in a few zingers here and there? And I guess I could see Sofia Boutella being a good villain with a better script? But other than that and the fact I will actively avoid seeing movies with Jake Johonson in the future after finding him insufferable here... I don't have a single thing to say. Let's not stretch this out. "The Mummy" (2017) is a complete trainwreck. It's dull. It's lazy. And it's the very definition of hack-filmmaking. This series and this iconic monster deserve better. My recommendation? Just go back and watch the 1932 film or the 1999 flick. They're far superior to this corporate product nonsense. I give it a terrible 2 out of 10.

#imdb #movie #film #review #mummy #the mummy #remake #action #horror

[agentnico]

Top 10 WORST Movies of 2017

This year’s been interesting to me in terms of bad films. I seem to have avoided the main bad ones, with the likes of ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’, ‘Geostorm’, ‘The Emoji Movie’ and a few others, so even though I’ve heard they were terrible, I cannot put them on this list for I have not seen them. However still the following list are the films that I found to be most displeasing to me nonetheless, and I apologise to anyone who likes any of the following movies, for I am just sharing my personal opinion on them. And I feel like I definitely will make some people unhappy with some of my choices here, as some films on this list are actually fairly liked (especially the top 2 worst films on this list will cause some discomfort for some), but for me they just didn’t work.

DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS: Goodbye Christopher Robin, Ghost in the Shell, Fast & Furious 8.

10) ALIEN: COVENANT - Alright, so ‘Alien: Covenant’ is not a terrible film, it’s just the definition of mediocre and Hollywood running out of ideas. Ridley Scott takes aspects from the first two ‘Alien’ films as well as ‘Prometheus’ and rehashes them without adding anything majorly new, which ends in a lazy sloppy film that, even though visually looks good, feels completely lack-luster and pointless. What makes me more sad is that I know that Ridley Scott has the talent to do better. In fact, his last film ‘All the Money in the World’ is a very well made thriller based on a true story where Scott really shines as the director, which make it even more disappointing how he cannot bring the franchise that he originally created back on its feet. And for anyone who wants to see ‘Alien: Covenant’ for James Franco, don’t. Just don’t (unless you are planning to switch the film off 5 minutes in, in that case do go watch it for Franco!). Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/160697767214/alien-covenant-2017-review

9) THE CHIPS MOVIE - I didn’t actually finish this film, and that is because I got bored. The jokes weren’t funny, and this is supposed to be a comedy, so that pretty much sums up why this film is bad. Honestly, I don’t even know what I was expecting. Full review: N/A (I did not review this film on the blog)

8) THE GREAT WALL - The Great Wall of China was built to defend against weird CGI’d monsters. Well okay, it’s a fantasy, I can accept that. But boy, even for a fantasy this film does not make any sense. And, at the end of the day, this film is just too damn stupid. I mean, I appreciate that this is a big budget motion picture about China, but at the same time a bad film is a bad film. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/159233230134/the-great-wall-2017-review

7) THE MUMMY - I kind of feel sorry for Universal. They are really trying to make this Dark Universe cinematic universe thing happen, and it’s just not working out for them. They began with ‘Dracula Untold’ and that failed, so they rebooted again with ‘The Mummy’ which failed also, and now it seems like they will be starting from scratch again. At this point I think they should simply drop it. ‘The Mummy’ was a big-budget mess, and there’s not much more to it. If you want a good Tom Cruise 2017 film to watch, look no further than the very enjoyable ‘American Made’. ‘The Mummy’ on the other hand should be forever forgotten. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/161654366954/the-mummy-2017-review

6) PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: SALAZAR’S REVENGE - Disney, stop making ‘Pirates’ films. Just stop. They are getting worse and worse. This one is no exception. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is officially a caricature of each Jack Sparrow from the previous films. Now, I hope you realise that ain’t a good thing! Also, for the budget that this film had, the visual effects are honestly speaking simply embarrassing. What did you spend all that money on, Disney? Oh yeah, that’s right, funding Johnny Depp’s island! Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/161123151399/pirates-of-the-caribbean-salazars-revenge-2017

5) THE BELKO EXPERIMENT - Interesting concept, bad execution (pun intended). What could have been a great social study turns out to be more of a guilty pleasure flick, only without the pleasure part. The movie never really knows what it wants to be, and the very forced sequel set-up is nothing but annoying. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/159644906714/the-belko-experiment-2017-review

4) BAYWATCH - I mean, look, there will be many out there who will have a lot of fun with ‘Baywatch’. Unlike ‘The Belko Experiment’, this can work as a guilty pleasure flick, however it’s not for me. The level of comedy was too dumb for my liking, and with the very funny trailers the final product was even more disappointing. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/161235915729/baywatch-2017-review

3) RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER - At the end of the day I don’t know what I was expecting. A surprisingly good film in a franchise that so far has been terrible? I should get my head out of my ass. Also, it was a January release. And its sort of a rule now that somewhere in my worst films of the year list there is a January movie, since minus the late Oscar-releases, January is kind of a dump month for studios. January of 2017 we had the likes of ‘Underworld: Blood Wars’, ‘xXx: The Return of Xander Cage’ and ‘The Bye Bye Man’ were amongst those dumped movies, yet I tend to give January films some slack, but one always makes the list, and this year it was ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/156930554774/resident-evil-the-final-chapter-2017-review

2) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 - This was is going to cause probably the most disagreement, since I am aware that a lot of people enjoyed this film. In fact a lot of good friends of mine liked it, which is fair enough, but for me it did not work. Easily the biggest disappointment for me this year. I love the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ film, however this was a big step down. To be honest, this movie isn’t the worst thing ever, the reason why it’s 2nd worst on my list is simply because it was indeed the most disappointing 2017 movie for me. I was really excited for it, and it was everything I did not want it to be and more. Instead of a proper story, the film felt more like ‘a day in a life of’ kinda deal, which took any proper stakes away. All the characters became more caricatured, and the soundtrack was nowhere as good as from the first film. The ending was done nicely but the rest of the movie is all over the place. This is possibly an example where a director for a studio film had too much creative freedom. I think there needs to be a sort of right balance between creative freedom and studio interference, it’s only a matter of finding that balance. Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/160115869259/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-2017-review

1) JUSTICE LEAGUE - Out of all the movies on this list, there is only one that I truly hated. An here we are. The DC Cinematic Universe is a trainwreck by this point (minus ‘Wonder Woman’ respectively), and ‘Justice League’ is worst of the lot. With no knowledge of what pacing is apparently, this film rushes through all of its scenes and jumps to so many locations within minutes trying to throw so much at us without actually giving any substance or character work, that I was baffled at how Warner Bros. actually let this movie be released. And don’t get me started on the villain; he looks like a PS2 character! He’s fully CGI’d, and looks terrible for it, and he has the most generic plot line possible. For all my issues with this film, check out my full review where I go more in-depth, but this was easily the worst cinema experience I had this year. I was bored during 70-80% of it. There are a few redeeming qualities, but they are overshadowed by the list of negatives. And Henry Cavill’s upper lip is something to behold! Full review: http://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/167589149664/justice-league-2017-review

And with that I can now forget all these movies (finally!). I still have my Best Movies of 2017 list coming up, and its a good one, as 2017 was a very strong year in film, that’s for sure. So keep a look out for that list and then my reviews for 2018 films (here’s hoping for a good year!) and thank you for reading my blog!

#2017 #bad movies #top 10 worst movies of 2017 #top 10 #bad movies 2017 #worst movies of 2017 #movie #film #alien covenant #the chips movie #the great wall #the mummy #pirates of the caribbean salazar's revenge #the belko experiment #baywatch #resident evil the final chapter #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #justice league #pirates of the caribbean dead men tell no tales #bad films #top ten #cinema

[boo-yar]

Treasure Pursued in Ruin 4

Dragon Age AU fic inspired by The Mummy.

Featuring: my Inquisitor OC Maia Lavellan, @kurosmind ‘s OC Fael Lavellan, Dorian Pavus and Felix Alexius.

Words:

Parts: 1/2/3/4

Thankfully the second time on a boat proved to be less murder-filled and far more relaxed for the group. As time went on in their journey over the remainder of the Nocen Sea, Maia had noticed the atmosphere between both Fael and Dorian shift into the more flirtatious and humorous with some not so subtle glances thrown in when the other wasn’t looking. While she was amused and pleased to see this, she was still not impressed that the two seemed to dance around the subject a little too much for her liking. The attraction was so obvious even the Creators could feel it.

 On one lazy afternoon, Maia and Fael sat in their quarters while Dorian and Felix were speaking to the captain of the ship. With the key Tevinter male out of earshot, Maia asked about the lack of action between him and her friend. “Since when were you so invested in the romantic aspects of my life?” Fael asked with a sigh looking up from the map on the table to fix her with a stare that she returned in force.

“Since there was nothing else to do and since you were taking your sweet time about doing anything.” She answered unapologetically. “Plus I have to live somewhat vicariously through you, since my own romantic well is so completely dry not even the Dread Wolf would take me at this point” Fael sat back and laughed but stopped when he caught sight of Qarinus coming into view.

 Stepping off the boat and onto stable land again coupled with the heavy smell of expensive perfumes instead of sharp sea spray were welcome changes. The last time Fael and Maia had been in this city, they were in chains and shackles, being bundled off after being caught outside the ruins. Hopefully this time around at the old elven site would be more lucrative and wouldn’t result in their capture again.

“Do we spend tonight in the city or do we set off for the Forest now?” Felix asked as they walked further from the docks and deeper into the bustling city streets. Dorian knew which he’d prefer, a night in a proper room with a real bed, thick comfortable mattress, silk and satin sheets…or sleeping on the cold, hard, uneven ground of the forest. Yes, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. As they walked his gaze drifted down to Fael’s rear and he quickly lifted it again when both Fael and Felix turned to look at him, looking for an answer.

 “City for tonight and leave early tomorrow.” Dorian suggested as he looked up at the sky. “There won’t be enough light left to take us all the way there today. And after that incident on our first boat, sleeping out in the open isn’t the best of ideas.” Not that it was easy to forget, the others all thought back to the attack and nodded in agreement. They would stay in the city tonight.  After finding a tavern and leaving their things in their separate rooms, they settled themselves downstairs where other patrons sat, drinking and talking as music played.

 It wasn’t at all surprising to find they got a few stares every so often. Both Fael and Maia displayed their vallaslin proudly and sat so comfortably around the table with Felix and Dorian that not even a fool would mistake them for slaves or servants. Because of this, it made some boldly curious about what two Dalish elves were doing in the Imperium.

 When their meals were finished, Maia drained her glass and stood swiftly. Dorian glanced up, used to the woman’s restless nature by now.

“Try not to cause too much trouble on your wanderings, remember we leave early in the morning.” He reminded her with a cheery smile as he refilled his own cup.

“I’ll try to behave my very best.” Maia grinned before offering the three sitting men a flourishing bow. “I’ll be back once I’ve found a certain wolf…” She winked at Fael and disappeared from sight with a laugh.

“Wolf?” Felix repeated with a confused expression, looking to see Dorian appear just as perplexed. “Is she going hunting?” Fael choked on his drink at the choice of words. Clearing his throat and wiping the droplets of wine from his lips he laughed softly.

“In a way… best not to think about it.” Felix accepted Fael’s advice and yawned, quickly covering his mouth to supress the action. With his drink finished, he bade both Dorian and Fael a good night before heading to his own room to sleep.

 With their friends gone, both Fael and Dorian became quickly and sharply aware of how close they sat together. Now truly alone together for the first time in days, they both found themselves thinking of the same thing, the same images that had persisted in vividness and desire as they had travelled across Tevinter. Yet despite the urge and hunger to act on those imaginings, neither had done so, until now. Dorian turned his head to look at Fael, caught in surprise to find the elf was already one step ahead of him, his breath hot against his darker skin. Mouth dry, Dorian glanced down when he felt Fael’s strong hand settle on his knee. Despite his desire for Dorian, Fael made no more advances further than the ones he had taken. The last thing he wanted to do was to force him.

 Dorian’s gaze slid briefly to take in the other patrons in the tavern. None seemed to be giving them any notice, but this was the Imperium after all. Everyone had perfect masks, and he knew just because they appeared to be invested in their own conversations it didn’t matter a damn thing. Let them talk. Over his surprise, he leant in towards Fael and met his lips with his own, sharing a brief but heated kiss. Breaking apart, Dorian smiled smoothly.

“Why don’t we take this somewhere more private?”

  Waking with another naked body against him was a feeling he was admittedly unused to. In his previous dalliances, his partner for the evening left soon after or it was he that hastily left when it was over to avoid ‘sordid rumours’ from starting. Looking down at Fael, Dorian was perfectly still so he didn’t wake him but soon realised Fael was awake and making a sound he had never heard come from another being before.  

“Are you aware you purr?” Dorian mused languidly; one hand tucked behind his head while the other lightly ran through Fael’s hair but stilled when Fael lifted his head to arch a brow at him. “I don’t mean any offence, it’s mostly curiosity. Can you control it?”    

“Not especially…it’s just all part of being an elf.” Fael explained before stretching out. Rolling onto his back so it rested against Dorian’s chest he peered towards the window at the far wall, seeing the light creep in through the parting of the curtains. “We should make it to the ruins today.” He noted as he forced himself to sit up. If he lay any longer with Dorian, it would be harder to get up. “Ready to get this relic of yours?” he asked, looking over his shoulder to smile at the Tevinter male.

  The Arlathan Forest was unlike anything Dorian had imagined. He was never one for nature or forests in general, but this was unexpected. As soon as he stepped through the first line of ancient trees, the air changed instantly. The shudder that ran through him was a subtle mix of two feelings. The first being the chilling sensation one would feel when purposely stepping on someone’s grave and the second was thrilling tingle of the possibility of discovering something new, some untouched knowledge. It was waiting here; he could feel it in his bones. The relic he sought was so agonisingly close, he wanted to quicken his pace and he would have done so had he known the way to the ruins.

 Maia scowled; her gaze scanned the trees as they manoeuvred over thick, snaring roots and moss covered ditches. Her hands lightly danced over the hilts of her blades. Something felt different this time. The forest still held its eerie calm atmosphere as it had the first time she and Fael came here. Still something gnawed at her that there was some sort of disturbance but couldn’t quite place it. Perhaps it was because she knew others were seeking the ruins that she was being extra vigilante and tensed in anticipation of an attack? While she would have been happy to convince herself that that was the reason, she knew she couldn’t. Dropping her guard was a sure-fire way of getting herself and the others hurt. The closer they neared the ruins, the stronger the feeling got.

 Stepping into the clearing, Fael and Maia were reunited with the site of the ruins being reclaimed by nature. This time would be different. Maia looked around once more, waiting for some of the strangely dressed group from the boat to come leaping out from behind the trees and fallen pillars for a fresh assault.

 “You feel it too?” Fael muttered in a low voice to her as they stepped inside to the entrance hall that was untouched since their last visit. Maia nodded once. “Here’s hoping we get in and out without any trouble or manage to avoid them altogether.”

“It’s a large building.” Maia agreed. “Creators willing, the giant spiders found them already.” She looked around the hall and eyed the different pathways they could take. Suddenly the echoing of voices sounded from one of the corridors and was getting louder. Felix, Fael, and Dorian readied their staffs while Maia drew her blades.

“Really friends, put your weapons away.” A cheerful voice sounded above them and both Felix and Dorian tensed. Figures appeared from the far corridor and begun to line the wall, beginning to block off all routes except for the way they came from. “We can all be reasonable, surely.” The voice added with a little too much sweetness. Slowly they all looked up to the balcony but both Fael and Maia frowned to see the older man above them pale and stare at Felix and Dorian in shock.

“Hello father…” Felix greeted tensely.

#my writing #dragon age #dragon age fic #dragon age writing #my oc #maia lavellan #Other people's OCs #kurosmind #Fael Lavellan #the mummy au #doriael #doriael fic #dorian pavus #felix alexius #treasure pursued in ruin #i love the idea of elves purring so it's in the fic

[isakthedragon]

A Dragon Sized Adventure Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Everybody's Super Sonic Racing...

*The next terrarium up on the list is the Motorworld Terrarium. Nitros Oxide has decided to exact some revenge on the bandicoots by recreating the dangerous park that is Von Clutch's Motorworld and forcing everyone that was at the park (humans and all) there to endlessly race until they die. Now that our heroes have arrived, hopefully they can stop this nonsensical race.*

Sonic looks at their new surroundings. "Hmm? Racetracks, huh? I didn't know you guys did some racing."

Coco: "Yeah. And it looks like we are at-"

*Coco is interrupted by a loud, fan-girlish shriek. A short (like 4') cyborg-man runs their way, accompanied by an Opossum and 2 chickens.*

Ebenezer Von Clutch, with his thick German accent: "Crash! And all other video game heroes! They'll save us! I have all your games!"

Spyro: "What the heck is he talking about?"

*Crash, Coco, and Crunch look a little uneasy to talk about it.*

Pasadena Opossum attempts to steer the conversation away from what is clearly unknown knowledge. "You'll have to excuse him, he's a little loopy. It's actually nice to see you guys, though. Hopefully you can help us."

Sonic: "What's wrong?"

Chick (To the cameraman, with his Howard Cosell voice): "Good morning, race fans, to what is our 3rd day in this endless race. Morale is running low here as Nitros Oxide runs us ragged."

Stew (Wearing what looks like a blue Mohawk): "That's right, Chick. In fact, he reminds me of my wife chasing me with a frying pan-"

Chick: "I think that's enough, Stew, before your wife actually kills you."

Pasadena: "Any way, we need your help to defeat Oxide in a race against him. But first, you need to collect the 5 crystals he's offering for winning each race."

Sonic: "Doesn't sound so tough if you ask me."

*Oxide flies in in his hovercraft from somewhere in the park to where the heroes are.* "That won't be easy, you blue pincushion! Don't think I haven't been studying you heroes! You guys have to race in these karts I provided!" *He calls the transport beam and forces everyone into karts* "I doubt you guys can win this way!" *He laughs and flies off.*

Sonic feigns being scared. "Oh, no! He's taken away our only chance of beating him! Oh, what will we do?!"

Shadow: "Sarcastic much, Sonic? I agree, he is an idiot. Let's go beat him."

Sonic: "Let me. I want to show him the meaning of speed." *The others don't object and let Sonic take this world. He screeches his kart's tires and speeds off.*

(I should note that the HUB are here is of the Midway.)

—–

Level 61: Mystery Islanding

Crates: 60

Time Trial

Sapphire: 4:00.00

Gold: 3:50.00

Platinum: 3:40.00

(There is no helping partner in this world. Other than you, 7 other characters are chosen at random to be in the race. Everyone does have their own strengths and weakness, so there is no clear easy pick. There are also 4 kart riding lab assistant pawns too, bringing the roster in a race to 12.)

Badniks: Kart-Driving Lab Assistant Pawns: They're mostly here to make the race harder, but they won't be actively after you. Pirate Lab Assistant Pawns: They run down the track dragging anchors to make you spin out, wasting time. (It's all they can do, any way. It does also take away some Wumpa fruit and rings.)

Chick: "Welcome, race fans, to Mystery Island, your first driving challenge. Race your way through this pirating wonder that is a complete remake of Von Clutch's Tiki Turbo, Pirates of the Carburetor and Deep Sea Driving!"

Stew (Wearing yellow fox ears): I've never had such a blended mash since I put chocolate bars with a salad-"

Chick: "Ahem!... Any way, do you think you can plunder victory from the Jaws of defeat or will you end up a casualty of Davy Jones Locker?

Oxide has made 5 courses made out of the race tracks of the original Motorworld. This one is specifically made of the Mystery Island tracks: Pirates of the Carburetor(POTC), Tiki Turbo(TT), and Deep Sea Driving(DSD). The track is somewhat of a mishmash of the 3 since it has the pirate ships of POTC, the underwater parts of DSD and TT's mountain and sea walk. At least it's a short race (It should only take a minute for a lap to suggest how long the track is).

There are plenty of weapons at your disposal, like the missiles and bowling bombs, beakers and TNTs and even warped clocks. They come in nice, floating objects that you simply need to drive through.

There are also rings and Wumpa fruit about the track too. Collecting Wumpa fruit makes the kart go faster, with 10 making the kart its fastest and also making the weapons stronger. Although rings won't make the kart faster by themselves, collecting 50 rings will let you change the kart into it's super form, probably guaranteeing you the win.

Getting first place on these tracks wins you a crystal and getting all the boxes strewn about wins you a gem.

Achievement Unlocked: Animatronic Pirate Island.

-----

Level 62: Stinking Beauty's Fairy Tale

Crates: 62

Time Trial

Sapphire: 3:30.00

Gold: 3:20.00

Platinum: 3:10.00

Badniks: Knight and Horse Lab Assistant Pawns: They run down the track to try to spear you.

Chick: "Magic fills the air here, race fans, in Happily Ever Faster."

Stew (Wearing bat ears): "Almost like it came out of a storybook. I wonder if we will see the beautiful Stinking Beauty."

Chick: "Well, if our racers can survive Once Upon A Tire, Track and the Beanstalk and Evilocity, we might just get that." 

This level is made out of the Happily Ever Faster tracks. We have the drive through the castle from Once Upon a Tire, (I shit you not) a drive on a rainbow from Track and the Beanstalk, and the trip through the mirror and the drive by a dragon from Evilocity.

Achievement Unlocked: Took One Too Many Poison Apples

-----

Level 63: Dangerous Curves

Crates: 58

Time Trial

Sapphire: 3:10.00

Gold: 3:05.00

Platinum: 3:00.00

Badniks: Cave Man Lab Assistant Pawns: They stand near the edges of the track, trying to club you.

Stew (wearing Dragon horns like Spyro): "Hey, man! Tyrannosaurus Wrecks is freaking crazy now with all the dinosaurs running about!"

Chick: "Aren't we related to them? Maybe we can blend in..."

Stew (wearing horns more like Ember and Cynder): "Well, if our racers don't go as slow as tar through Fossil Fuel Injection, Labrea Car Pits, and Tire and Ice, we might just make it out alive."

Chick: "I second that."

Oxide decided to add some realistic charm (Read: more dangerous) by letting actual dinosaurs roam in the Tyrannosaurus Wrecks tracks. We have the dinosaur drive by in Fossil Fuel Injection, the trip down a volcano from Labrea Car Pits, and a icy slide through a cave from Tire and Ice.

Achievement Unlocked: Another Blast from the Past

-----

Level 64: Mummy Drivest

Crates: 64

Time Trial

Sapphire: 3:40.00

Gold: 3:35.00

Platinum: 3:30.00

Badniks: Mummy Lab Assistant Pawns: They just waste space on the track with their slow lumbering.

Chick: "Well, race fans, it's a return to ancient-ish Egypt once more in this race in haunted Tomb Town."

Stew(Wearing bandages on his head): "I hope these racers won't by running for their mummies while driving through Dead Heat, Crash Test Mummies, and Pyramid Pass. I got money riding on some of them!"

Chick: "I have the exact same sentiment, Stew, cause I know I'm gonna beat ya!"

Stew (Wearing an Egyptian headdress): "No, you aint, Chicky-poo!"

Mummy Lab Assistants come out in force here in the Tomb Town tracks. We have the S curve area from Dead Heat and the drives through the pyramids from Crash Test Mummies and Pyramid Pass.

Achievement Unlocked: I Want My Mummy!

-----

Level 65: Totally Spaced Out

Crates: 70

Time Trial

Sapphire: 4:00.00

Gold: 3:55.00

Platinum: 3:50.00

Badniks: Astronaut Lab Assistant Pawns: They hide off the track, firing laser shots off at the track.

Chick: "Well, sports fans, here it is, the last racing challenge known as Astro Land."

Stew (Wearing an astronaut helmet): "Hey, Chick? How are we breathing? Cause all I can see is *Bleep*ing SPACE!"

Chick: "Best not to question it, but I assume Oxide had something to do with it. Hopefully, Sonic will emerge as the victor to save us from Oxide's reign, but he'll have to race through Uranus's Mine, the Craters Of Uranus, and the Rings of Uranus."

Stew (Wearing a black and red Mohawk): "That's a lot of Uranus!- Wait, hang on, the script made us go through the same joke as last time? Jeez, the writer must be lazy!"

Chick: "(Aside to Stew) I think he saw it as a repetition joke. Besides, he might just hate it too." *He looks back at the camera.* "Oh! Right. Just win this thing, Sonic. We're counting on you."

Oxide felt that Astro Land was a little lacking... so he decided to make these tracks actually take place in space! We start with the drive on the Rings Of Uranus, then through the mining area in Uranus's Mine, and then a warped trip through the strange gated area in Craters on Uranus.

Achievement Unlocked: A Trip Amongst the Stars

-----

Chick: "That's it! He's done it! Sonic has collected all five 1st place crystals!"

Stew (Wearing his black pompadour): "Now he has to defeat Oxide to set us free from this horrible, horrible nightmare!"

*The camera pans out to show Oxide in the next chair over.*

Oxide: "Horrible nightmare?! It's more like a dream for me!"

*Chick and Stew are surprised to see Oxide and are taken aback. Stew loses his hear, revealing a bald head.*

Oxide: "No matter. I am quite curious about this blue hedgehog..."

*Transport beams send Oxide, Sonic and everyone else to the Midway.*

Oxide: "So, we finally meet on better terms, Sonic the Hedgehog. I see you won all the crystals very easily."

Sonic: "Well, I am pretty fast, and known for it too. I am called the fastest thing alive."

Oxide: "Hmm, you remind me of my younger self on Gasmoxia. In any case, I doubt that adds up much since you live on a small world. I'm known as the fastest in the galaxy!"

Sonic: "I seriously doubt that."

Oxide: "Care to put you money where your mouth is? If I win, you guys are stuck here, racing till the end of time!"

Sonic: "Fine, but if I win, you take us out of these karts, and let all of these humans home."

Oxide: "Fine, but I doubt you can beat me on a racetrack like this!" *Oxide sends him and Sonic to a new area. He took all of the racetracks from Motorworld and rearranged them into one long super track that are even more messed up from before...*

Boss: Oxide

Chick: "Here we are, race fans, the last race. Sonic is challenging Oxide for our freedom."

Stew (Wearing hair like Silver): "You better win this race, Sonic, and it's not because I bet on you. We wanna get out of here!"

Chick: "You're reading our minds, Stew. Sonic just has to beat Oxide through what is his rendition of all the Motorworld tracks combined into one big mess."

Stew: "Sounds like one of my hard drunken nights. I can barely even tell one thing from another."

Chick: "Win this race, Sonic, to help free us all."

Oxide has decided to challenge you on a racecourse of his design. It's a race through all 12 of the Motorworld tracks, but it looks almost unrecognizable, an example being that Mystery Island has Astro Land and the other areas stuff. Even the courses have turns changed so they can all fit together. And, worse, Oxide cheats at the start by leaving a bit early and tends to fire off weaponry behind him more often. But, don't panic, Oxide still has his flaws. Since he tends to be a heavy taunt-er, he rarely is too far ahead of you. He also isn't tending to boost all the time, and his prone to making mistakes (Especially if you hit him with something.) Once you overtake him, it will be a lot easier since his hovercraft has no way to attack in front. Just keep ahead of him to win!

Achievement Unlocked: The Fastest Thing Alive

Oxide: "NO! I can't believe it! Once again, I lost to these small little Earth animals once more! What the hell is wrong in this backwater planet!-"

*A transport beam calls Oxide back and transports all the humans back to Earth. This leaves all the heroes, Von Clutch, Pasadena, and Chick and Stew left on in the Midway. They all get out of their karts.*

Sonic stretches. "Ah... it feels good to spread your legs out."

Chick: "I want to know why we are still here."

Crash: "I doubt Cortex was going to let you guys leave. You're free to follow us if you want."

Pasadena: "I suppose so. We don't have anywhere else to go. And you guys are probably our ticket out of here any way."

Von Clutch: "Ah! I am so happy! I get to see my favorite video games heroes in action! I have so much glee!"

Rouge: "I wonder why they transported the people away. It's not like Eggman." *Since they had nothing else to do here, they left the terrarium.*

Death Head's Bridge

Cortex: "Well, I don't think we could really use those for anything. The heroes are still going to come and kick our butts, so might as well do something good."

Eggman looks displeased, as though he didn't want to do it, but had to. "Cortex, do you even consider yourself a villain? You're not supposed to do something good!"

Cortex sounds defeated. "What's the point? Every plan I try to use on that bandicoot fails miserably."

Eggman: "You give up too easily, Cortex."

Cortex: "Just you see, Eggman. They're going to fight Uka-Uka next and I doubt he can do anything to stop them."

Next Time: Fear the wrath of an angry mask in the Cortex Terrarium.

#Isakthedragon's fanfiction #A Dragon Sized Adventure #ADSA #ADSA: Chapter 38