#happy release day tho lads

[lansyuan]

LUO BINGHE | scumbag system (穿书自救指南)

#svsssedit #scumbagsystemedit #donghuaedit #svsss #luo binghe #paleresource #scumbag system #svsss donghua #scum villains self saving system #myscreencaps #creations #happy release day tho lads #theyre finally out the microwave #ngl im really keen to see sqq ?? #i too am a depressed gay millennial #its got the potential to be really funny?

[fly-like-a-phoenix]

House of Lust (part 5)

Abbé de Coulmier x reader.

Summary: Five years has passed since the events of Quills. The Abbé de Coulmier is released of prision by a misterious event. And he will know again those feelings he never thought will meet again: love... and lust.

Warnings: spoilers from Quills, some mentions of sex, things will go a little wild from here...

"Excuse me, madmoiselle." François said. "But I don't really understand anything. My parents said you will---"

"Oh, yeah. Your parents, yeah." Odelle interrupted him. "They... They came here two weeks ago, maybe more, before leaving to Spain. Are you hungry, Abbé?"

His stomach was grunting. He was thirsty too. He hadn't drink anything since the morning. But he needed some answers from those women wearing their nightgowns.

"Who are you two? Why am I here?" He said, his voice deeper than never.

"Come with us. You too, Y/N." Josephine said. But you stepped in front of François, covering him from your sisters view.

"He asked you two questions. Answer him, Odelle." You said. Knowing your sisters, you will try to protect him to all costs.

"My name is Odelle, and she's my sister Josephine. And it seems you already know Y/N, the little one. You knew us all, Abbé. But let me explain you better in the dinning room."

François and you shared a look. You nodded with your head, walking right next to him while he zipped his shirt. You weren't going to let him alone with them.

François saw the large hallways, admiring them. The walls were full of paintings, but there were not enough lights to see them properly. Some red courtains covered the windows, not letting the moon light enter the house.

And then you all arrived to the giant dinning room. A large table was in the middle, at least thirty chairs surrounding it. Josephine moved her hand to him, inviting him to sit.

"Y/N, can you bring him some food?" Odelle said, siting next to him. "As I was saying, we knew you from before. The three of us went to that theatre play in Charenton five years ago. We thought we were seeing The Happy Shoemaker, but actually you allowed the presentation of the Marquis de Sade play.

"I didn't allowed it. I didn't knew the inmates prepared another play to mock about doctor Roger-Collard and his young wife. I didn't---"

"Shh, shh. Whatever you say, Abbé. But let me finish. That play, those moments, seeing everyone enjoying it, and some quotes said from the actors... That changed us completely."

"It changed you both, Odelle." You said, bringing a plate with potatoes, a piece of meat and bread, letting it in front of François. "Don't talk for me, please. I was just sixteen years old, and I didn't care so much about---"

"Let me finish, then, if you think you didn't change too."

The silence crowned the large room for a few seconds. You looked at your sister with hate. You did hate her, actually. Because of many things.

"As I was saying before my sister interrupted me," said, as she didn't do it before with you and him. "That Marquis' play changed us. We started to read more of his work, you know? More of those hundreds of stories he had to tell. And then, we started to believe different, to feel the world and see it with other eyes. Seeing that we're just here to enjoy the carnal pleasures."

François looked at you, but you were with a hand in your face, trying not to see him or your sisters and not showing the shame you were feeling. Josephine continued what Odelle was saying.

"It's like a creed, Abbé. A creed based on lust, greed and violence. And we believe in it, as many other friends of ours do. You are pale, Abbé. Are you okay? Is the food alright?"

François was breathing heavier. He remembered that horrendous play very well. The Marquis, with Madeline's help, used the inmates to perfom those blaspheming performances that made Roger-Collard angry with him.

"This is the House of Lust in France, Abbé. Many people come here to satiate their thirst for sex and perversion. We help them to do it. And we enjoy it a lot too, just as the Marquis used to say."

"You're damn crazy, all of you!" He said, getting what Josephine just told him.

"Abbé, I'm not part of---"

"Shut up, Y/N." Odelle interrupted you again. "What were you saying, Abbé?"

"Please, stop calling me Abbé. I don't have that charge anymore. What am I doing here, for Christ sake?"

Josephine left her chair, and went to stand just behind François, letting her hands in his shoulders. Odelle touched his hand with her fingers slowly, her nails scratching the skin, hurting him a little.

"Your parents asked us to help you, that's true." Odelle said. "But they didn't know about our... activities this month. And you, as a man who took the vows, have never experienced things like we do. You're still innocent and pure, even if your body doesn't feel like that. And you got free and arrived the Villa just at the perfect moment to discover those feelings.

"What the hell are you talking about? I just wanted a place to sleep and eat something. I think I'm going to Paris again..." He responded, trying to get up. But Josephine stopped him, sitting him again.

"Now, Abbé, are you going to be a good boy and accept we're helping you? or you are going to try to escape? It's not gonna be easy, tho. Guards are everywhere, and we're not letting a cute virgin guy like you to come to this house and let you go like that. He have to taste you, you know what I mean. Or we kill you right now and we say to your parents you were killed by a thief. You choose."

François looked at you again. This time, you were seeing him too. Not only shame in your face, but fear. You nodded again, convincing him not only to stay in there, accept and survive, but also that you were in the same situation, under their threat.

"Alright, mesdemoiselles. I see I don't have other option. What do I have to do?"

"For now, just go to sleep. You arrived late, and every room in the Villa is full of our guests. We don't have other, maybe the dungeon. But I think Y/N doesn't mind he can sleep in her room. Do you, Y/N?"

You saw the young man with pity. What a poor lad! Just getting out of his unjust imprisonment to get beaten and now under the power of those mad women that your sisters were.

"It's okay." You answered, knowing that in your bedroom, at least, he will be safe for some hours. And that you both could plan a way to escape.

"Amazing! But will you let her fuck him, Odelle?" Josephine said, as if he was just a toy. "We should take care of that first."

"And we will, sister. We will. Tomorrow we will see how we start him in this. They can do whatever they want. But as I see it, she's too shy even to touch herself, so I don't think she will do nothing. And he... well, he can't do nothing without our permission. So don't you dare to do nothing to our little sister, Abbé. You're still a priest to her, until she doesn't respect those vows. She never wanted to be part of our creed, but she's our sister, and we love her. Are we clear?"

François couldn't believe all that was happening. How could people be so sick? You see them on the streets, walking, shopping, being arrogant assholes. And then, you learn how depraved they are, as Roger-Collard and Madeline herself.

"What will happen tomorrow?" Said he, scared.

"It's a surprise, my dear." Josephine responded. "For now, finish you dinner, go and sleep. Recover from that beaten you took. And wait for us. Tomorrow you will get a bath and new clothes."

Josephine squeezed his shoulders, and left with Odelle, both talking low and laughing while they went to their bedrooms.

François kept his eyes in the plate, looking at the meal in shock. What did he got into? He just needed some help his parents promised. What a fuckminded friends they got!

You served him some wine, and gave it to him. He drank it quickly, feeling the sweet savour going through his throat, waiting for you to say something.

"I'm sorry, François. I'm truly sorry. I don't even know if your parents really came here and talked with these two harpies. Maybe that isn't even true. But I should have taken you out of here as soon as I recognized you."

François looked at you in awe. He couldn't believe you were so different to them. He took your hand with care, and smiled even if he didn't knew what your sisters will do to him the day after.

"Is other people in here?" He asked.

"Around seventy guests of the famous House of Lust my sisters run. God damn it, I can't believe this is not an awful dream. They've being doing this since the last five years. And it's so wicked that I can't believe is real. I fear all them."

"Well, I can't believe you're so different to them. It's true you're not part of this madness." Said he, smiling again with pain in his eyes. "So you think we can't get through this? I'll help you escape if you help me."

Your prayers were answered! This young man you felt attracted to five years ago was going to got through many things these days, but you both will go out that Villa, that was for sure.

He finished dinner in silence, you looking at him, admiring his factions and manners. He was in prison a lot of time, but he was still a gentleman.

He decided to sleep in the divan you cured his face before. He didn't want to disturb you. But he was the most normal man in that house at the moment.

You regretted talking about him to your sisters that time after the play five years ago. Maybe him being in there was all your fault.

"That priest is really gorgeous." You said to them when you were at the carriage, leaving Charenton. "I wish he hadn't taken the vows. Maybe we could know each other and have been friends."

Your sisters seemed to take this seriously, because when they knew he could get out of the asylum, they took advantage of it.

And now, there he was, a prisoner again, like you were those last years, of your own family. Hopefully, his mind would not get so dirty those days as his body covered of mud when he was out the Villa a few hours ago.

Tagging: @darknessisafriend @five-miles-over @yukis-writing @thegirlwho @jokerflecker @missrockabilly99 @luperugorria99 @lyoongx @weirdflecksbutok @skaraboo @stardancerluv @sgtsavoytruffle @ohcarlesmycarles @beautifulyoungprospect @sophiefleck @the-queen-of-things @jokerphoenix @ajokerfangirl

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

#abbe de coulmier #abbe thirst squad #abbe de coulmier thirst squad #abbe x reader #abbe de coulmier x reader #quills #joaquin phoenix #joaquin phoenix x reader #marquis de sade

[asgardian--angels]

Recommend some good folk metal music please

:D i never thought i’d see the day when someone actually wants to know more about the music i listen to *cracks knuckles* my time has come

I apologize in advance for this novel. Feel free to skip to the recommended tracks lol.

Most folk metal comes out of northern Europe (Finland, heavily) though you can find it all over the world (Hu Band comes to mind but I mean, it’s on every continent). I am one of those people with like, a small handful of favorite bands that I listen to mercilessly so I am sure that I am only representing a miniscule percentage of what’s available out there. What’s great is that folk metal is much more versatile than many other genres in its sound; the essence of folk metal is simply to 1) utilize traditional (or rather, in the sense of a metal band, non-traditional) instruments such as violin, accordion, brass ensemble, bagpipes, what have you, and 2) have lyrical themes which revolve around regional folklore, mythology, cultural heritage, or place (what I particularly like is a frequent reverence and respect for nature). Other genres of metal (death, black) have the second element but not the first, and tend to incorporate darker overall tones and consistently harsher or lo-fi vocal styles and sounds. Folk metal can be a gateway genre into metal and can often be quite hopepunk (if you will). Because of these criteria, the actual sound of folk metal can range from sea shanties to ‘spooky walk in the midnight woods’ to scathing social commentary to SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SH

Basically you can find a range of styles within the genre that fit what you’re looking for, from those that have an orchestral, ballad feel, to things that border on death metal but have a hurdy-gurdy in there. There’s also a much higher percentage of female-led folk metal bands than other metal genres.

I’ll go through my top picks.

Turisas. These motherfuckers. My boys.

Turisas is based in Finland, but sing primarily in English (with occasional Finnish, a smidge of Greek and Swedish too). Four albums out to date, fifth in progress. Sound is absolutely fucking bonkers god tier shit, if I may say so myself. Every single song sounds like you’ve been transported into an Iliad metal musical. Heavy use of a full orchestra and choir, along with sick violin and accordion solos. Their lyrical themes focus heavily on ancient Greco-Roman and Viking military history - but before you raise any red flags, rest assured they’re liberal as fuck and trust me the tea is scalding when Mathias feels like making a Point about Then and Now. No seriously, I don’t know how to express the beauty and depth of his songwriting - Mathias Nygård is an incredibly talented composer, musician, and songwriter (nay, POET), and an extremely intelligent and down to earth guy. There are plenty of bands that are happy to write Viking songs about pillaging and glorious death in battle and all that (Alestorm comes to mind), those are a dime a dozen. Turisas makes history come to life in a way that transports you back in time and thrusts you into the living breathing world of the past. They deal with the horrors and tragedy of war from both sides, consequences and motivations, fears and pride and loss, home and family, despair and hope. They write songs about people, big and small, and their role in weaving the great tapestry of history. And the best part is that it’s informed - Mathias does his damn research and the tales he tells are rooted in fact. He brings them to life so we can experience what it must have been like for those real living people, with the goal of forcing us to confront our own selves in them. He’s a modern Homer, I shit you not. 

Did I mention there’s a song about pirates that’s actually really complex and nuanced, about how the hypocrisy and vile colonialist deeds of emperors makes them no different than the criminals they persecute?

Or that they do a badass cover of Rasputin?? yeah?????

Anyway enough gushing. Their second and third albums (The Varangian Way, Stand Up And Fight) are consecutive concept albums that follow the story of the Varangian Guard (the legendary Viking battalion that defended Alexander the Great) so the songs are actually chronologically linked to tell this epic tale. It’s a fucking listen, lads. The Varangian Way is probably my favorite album. But all their albums are top notch. 

My favorite songs: End of An Empire (this one comes for 2020 hard), Piece by Piece (AKA die fascists 2k20), Cursed Be Iron, Among Ancestors, Greek Fire, Miklagard Overture (you gotta earn this song tho, it’s the finale)

Good first listen picks/hits: Battle Metal, To Holmgard and Beyond, March of the Varangian Guard, Ten More Miles, One More

Finntroll. These other motherfuckers. My other boys.

Another big name in the Finnish folk metal scene. As you can see, their band revolves both aesthetically and musically around Scandinavian troll folklore. Yall weird elf-fuckers who like the really big ears? Here you go. Look at those ears. They’re good friends with Turisas. Both love their facepaint.

Musical style leans much more towards black and death metal influenced, with a heavier, fuller sound and growling vocals. But it’s an incredibly rich and creative aural tapestry, with layers of masterfully executed sound that’s a real delight to lose yourself in. Use of fiddle, brass, keyboard, accordion, and banjo, and strong folk melodies make their sound unmistakable and unique. They are known for their ‘black humppa’ beat, which basically gives the effect of feeling the primal need to stomp around loudly to their music. It’s great cardio. They also utilize orchestra in some great intro tracks. They know their stuff.

The majority of their songs are sung in Swedish (they do some English cover songs which are FANTASTIC holy SHIT), but don’t let that stop you. The mood and power and emotion of their music transcend language, and you can be sure the lyrics are about either trolls, witches, the dark woods, spirits, or something of that ilk. I think Swedish as a language works very well with this kind of music, and honestly having it in English would lose something. 

They have been around a long time and so have many albums, but I personally have only listened to the last three which feature their current singer, Mathias Lillmåns, whom I adore. Those albums are Nifelvind, Blodsvept, and their recent release Vredesvävd (that i’ve had on repeat since I got it three weeks ago). I’m sure their other ones are great too, I just can’t make a personal recommendation since I haven’t heard them. 

My favorite songs: Galgasång, Tiden Utan Tid, Ylaren, Skogsdotter, Två Ormar, Ett Norrskensdåd, Skövlarens Död

Good first listen picks/hits: Forsen, Under Bergets Rot, Häxbrygd, Trollhammaren (older song), Solsagan

I’ll go through these other ones a little faster, I haven’t heard quite as much from them but I do love them.

Korpiklaani. 

Great, full folk sound, utilizes a lot of folk instruments including some less commonly seen ones like hurdy gurdy. Songs are mostly in Finnish but plenty in English too. Jonne Järvelä has a really unique voice that grows on you, but it’s not for everyone. The band started as Sami folk, and Jonne is trained in Sami yoik singing, which makes an appearance in a few songs. I prefer the Finnish tracks, as a lot of the English ones are drinking songs lmao. But again, really well-executed music with layers of sound that keeps you hooked. I haven’t heard enough of their discography to really recommend enough to cover everything. 

Song picks: Minä Näin Vedessä Neidon, Metsälle, Ämmänhauta, Lempo

Moonsorrow.

Definitely a darker, black-folk band. Probably not a great pick if you aren’t accustomed to black metal - very long tracks (8-15 mins is standard), growling/shrieking vocals, a ‘thinner’ but encompassing wall of sound usual of black metal, but with the benefit of wonderfully entrancing dark folk elements and chants. It’s done really really well. Sung almost entirely in Finnish (apart from cover tracks). Lyrically, focuses on themes of Norse mythology, man vs nature and similar elements. Definitely one of those bands whose music gets you into a zone. I can lose serious time just putting a whole album on and letting my mind wander elsewhere. My favorite album is Jumalten Aika. 

Song picks: Ruttolehto Sis. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa (my fucking FAVORITE), Suden Tunti (well known hit), and also uhh check out their cover of Non Serviam cause it’s a fucking banger

Other bands that I like what I’ve heard but really can’t say much about them, whoops - Tyr (from the Faroe Islands, great stuff, Faroese is a baller language), Ensiferum, Nightwish (female-led).... I’m open to suggestions. Like I said, there are folk metal bands all over the world, and each is intrinsically linked to a sense of place and cultural identity that makes them unique. I’d love to hear about more tbh. 

#koschei-the-ginger #folk metal

[scapegrace74-blog]

Saorsa, Chapter 24

A/N  Here is the next installment of Saorsa.  The honeymoon on Skye continues, albeit out-of-doors.  I’ll make the same disclaimer here as I did on AO3: I don’t recommend drinking while pregnant, but Claire lives in 1940s Scotland, when that was not yet a medical concern.

Rather than link to all previously posted chapters, I’ll just direct those of you wanting to catch up on your Saorsa-reading to my AO3 page, where the fic is posted in its entirety.

Thank you to each of you liking and reblogging!  It does my little fanfic writer’s heart good.

The sun made a rare appearance on the day before their departure.  Besides a few short walks in the village and their mandatory attendance at afternoon tea, they hadn’t left their room in forty-eight hours and her body was beginning to protest.

Convincing Jamie to join her on an outing was proving difficult, but she had an ace in the hole.

“Whisky?” he asked, raising his head from their pillows like a russet-coated setter at the prospect of flushed game.

“Very good whisky, apparently.  Mrs. Mackenzie called ahead, and they would be happy to show us the distillery, provided we purchase a bottle or two.  I imagine that will be no great hardship.”

He was upright and donning his trousers before she finished speaking.

“Ye’ve been very slothful on this wee journey of yers, Sassenach, and I’ll no’ stand for it.  Fresh air and sunshine is wha’ ye need, a’fore ye fall into total dissipation.”  He emphasized his mock tirade with a soft tap on her arse, then practically trotted out the door, leaving her to gather her things in haste.

**

It turned out Jamie knew quite a lot about the making of whisky.  He and the owner of Talisker Distillery were soon immersed in an animated conversation in Gaelic.   Every fourth sentence or so Jamie would volley a hasty translation over his shoulder, but she was content to wander the gangways and between the enormous stills, listening to her husband’s hearty laugh echo off the cool, white walls.

“… the malting floors, tho’ of course tis no’ the season…”

“… feed the rest tae their lucky coos…”

“… could fit ye inside one of these copper stills, Sassenach…”

After several hours and a tasting session that bordered on religious rite, they climbed into their car for the drive back to Dunvegan.   Jamie released a contented sigh.  The next time she could spare him a glance, he was fast asleep with the sun through the window burnishing his copper curls.   His lips were curled gently upward in repose, and her heart gave a painful hiccup.  She had a suspicion there was little in this world she would not do to protect that smile.

**

She drove down a gravel lane that wound between bright green pastures dotted with sheep and bisected by dry-stone walls.  It ended abruptly at a headland.   As the car came to rest, Jamie woke and attempted to stretch his long limbs.

“Where are we, Sassenach?”

“Cape Neist.  Grab a bottle of whisky and follow me.”

She carefully picked her way between loose boulders, heading uphill.  Jamie caught up easily and offered his arm to steady her.   Only a few hundred metres from their car, the stony cliff bent into a series of ledges, like a natural amphitheatre.  Claire sat on the highest of these with her feet dangling, and Jamie lowered himself beside her.

The cape before them extended like a crooked jade finger into the heaving sapphire ocean below.  At its furthest point, barely visible against the glow of the setting sun, was a white lighthouse.   Jamie uncapped the whisky and took a healthy swig before handing her the bottle.  Her belly burned with warmth after the strong, surprisingly peppery taste flooded her tongue.  She passed the back of her hand across her mouth and handed the bottle back to her husband with a grimace.

“When I was a wee lad,” he began without preamble, “I thought the sun snuffed ‘erself out every night in the sea, and that my Da set ‘er ablaze each morn.  My Mam would oft’ say Da was ‘up to catch the sun’, and I reckon I took her at her word.”

She smiled at this charming childhood memory.   She wished she had similar recollections of her own parents, but there were only shadowy scenes, too hazy to make out clearly.

“I was but four or five when Da fell ill.  Twas the first time I kent him tae be mortal, and it scart me greatly.  He lay abed, too sick tae rise.  The next morn I woke wi’ the lark, snuck down tae the stables, and saddled my pony.  I carried a lit torch and set off in the direction I kent was east.  I ne’er got far, for the sun rose wi’out my help, of course.”

“Were you disappointed?” she asked.

“That twas no’ my Da who bade the sun tae rise?  Nah.  Twas a good lesson.   And a braw adventure for a wee warrior.”

She rested her right hand on the swell of her tummy, wondering what memories her child would carry of this man who would serve as its father.  That the babe would believe him capable of lighting the sun and other mythological feats was inevitable.  Even in a less superstitious time, Jamie inspired that sort of awe.

The sun set below the sea like an immense golden yolk that sank into the horizon until it was nothing but a memory of light.  Jamie handed her the bottle and she took one last nip.

“Twas a bonnie day, Sassenach.   Thank ye.”

**

She stood before an antique dressing mirror in her nightgown, trying to brush the salt air from her curls.  Jamie’s broad form appeared behind her.  He draped something over her head, a milky coolness against her collarbones.  Her free hand found a string of fine pearls, their opalescent surfaces glowing in the dim light.

“They’re Scotch pearls.  They belonged tae my Mam.  Now they belong tae my wife,” Jamie murmured.

“But how…?”

“My sporran.  I carried them wi’ me into battle.  They’re all I ha’ left of her.   Verra precious tae me.”  He paused, measuring his words.  “As are you, Claire.”

She turned in his embrace and raised her arms about his neck, playing with the curls there.   She wasn’t ready to put words to the feelings that rose up inside of her, so she kissed him softly and hoped he could see into her heart.

#my writing #outlander

[phoebehalliwell]

Yo imagine Wyatt being raised by the cleaners and coming back as an adult but time moves differently in the void (idk where they live) and it’s only been a few minutes. THE DRAMA tm I mean imagine Piper’s outrage! It could encompass a whole freaking season!! And then just because I’m a sucker for Phoebe’s baby living, like they could have stolen this child too! Twice!Blessed Wyatt & Source!Touched Dency as Cleaner siblings 👀

i feel like this would be like the Quintessential like network tv drama move tho like bc like. child actors? who wants em? they’re not that good, there are a whole bunch of rules about how long they can be on set for, you gotta bend over backwards trying to film a scene of theme fighting a demon w/o actually having them be in the room with said demon bc they get scared. bc they’re a child. when instead of having a child actors,,, you could have a grown human actor. amirite lads? i feel like this is definitely like a thing i swear they did this on ouat with belle and rumplestiltskin’s baby bc like. who wants a baby as a character when you can get the abc equivalent of kylo ren i guess? like who wants a baby wyatt when you could have a full grown adult wyatt who is still trying to get a hang of being in a human world bc he’s grown up in like. a void. and i Love the idea of dency being with him too especially bc i think they would form this sibling bond without ever actually know that they’re cousins (bc i don’t think the cleaners would like tell them of their lineage) and i also think powers are like augmented in the void i think both of these kids powers would be dampened probs like to that or a normal witch (and the cleaners would know any better bc uhh quite frankly they don’t host witches very often) so once dency and wyatt go out into the real world and find out they have like powers like a god that’s also gonna be a trip. i also think it’d be like inch resting bc i think obvi dency and wyatt would be drawn to the manor in one fashion or another bc well a) the plot needs it but b) it’s like their ancestral home it’s the nexus they feel the pull and the charmed ones would like equally feel this connection to wyatt and dency bc like you know That’s Their Children but they don’t know that. bc like piper’s been wiped of the idea of wyatt but it’s still something that you know she always mulls over that feeling when you lose a tooth and you can’t help but poke and prod at the lil vacancy where it once was and i think she feels like this really strong connection to wyatt bc she’s like if i had a son i would want him to be like you and i think like the more time she and wyatt spend around each other the more she’d really get echoes of y’know having wyatt but she just thinks they’re like he mind constructing fantasies of what it would have been like to have a kid besides wyatt’s like twentysomething so clearly like they can’t be related but like They Feel Related but it’s probs just the fact that she regrets never having kids latching onto her. leo will occasionally pop in but he doesn’t like spending time around wyatt something about him like puts leo in pain and he can’t figure out why so he thinks it’s just like Instincts and he goes to do some like digging into exactly who this dude is meanwhile piper’s been having this whole crisis about the fact that she never had kids blah blah blah which is specifically dredging up memories for phoebe about her own pregnancy that only last like two months but was still like a very formative time for her (the cleaners got a hold of dency when the source/seer/whatever was vanquished and the found the essence of the sources heir left still imbued with the power of the source of all evil and a charmed one and then went zoinks shouldn’t leave that just lying around that’s way too much power and it’s definitely not be used responsible we’re gonna take this back to The Void™ just to make sure it doesn’t go haywire well much to their surprise within a couple months that essence has now taken the form of a Human Child and they’re like a child but y’know they can’t Kill It because then it’s just release the essence in a less tangible form (also it’s a baby) so they’re like word well okay what if like we raised the kids and another cleaner is like what and the first cleaner is like okay well the whole reason we brought the essence back was so that it didn’t go haywire and destroy everything and make our jobs all a lot more difficult so like what if we raised the kids and taught them the ways of the cleaners! and cleaner two is like what ew no let’s just trap it in a giant ice cube and call it a day and the eldest cleaner is like no cleaner one is onto something so blah blah blah by the time they have to vanish wyatt and entire baby they’re like hey we’ve got another one now we can give dency a sibling!) so like blah blah blah (oh also fun fact in this au dency has the same haircut as the cleaners) and phoebe’s just sorta like she feels like the has this connection to dency but she thinks it’s just cuz she’s like a young witch who like loves her powers and like has a close bond with her sibling and phoebe just thinks she sees herself in dency blah blah blah oh cole’s spirit who is like fuckin creepin around the house or whatever in a very disturbing manner Also Sees Dency and is like hey. hey what’s up with that. blah blah blah leo has done his digging and confronts wyatt like why don’t you exist and wyatt’s like what and leo’s all like aggressive & upset bc he’s trying to protect his family and wyatt’s just like really confused like i was raised in a void with my sister?? like normal people???? and blah blah blah dency gets involved which gets phoebe involved and then piper’s showing up like what’s all this then and leo’s like accusing wyatt of lying and saying like the two of them are trying to infiltrate the family and get closed to the charmed ones to like you know learn magic straight out of the book of shadows something or others and then the cleaners themselves actually show up like okay kids this was fun and all but like it’s time to pack it up like let’s go home and like dency and wyatt are both like hey no we like being like here we like being out in the real world and the cleaners are like okay but you have to think of what’s best the real world just isn’t safe for you you’re too powerful to ever fit it you’ll always be ostracized and made out to be villains it’s better with us it’s safe with us just come home and like you know now paige has also shown up and the charmed ones are like who the hell are you and leo’s like what the actual fuck is going on right now Are Those Cleaners and wyatt and dency are like standing strong with each other and they’re like we can live here we can be safe here like please just give us another chance and the cleaners are like i’m sorry we can’t it’s just too dangerous and wyatt’s like i’m not letting you take me away again! and dency’s like again? and piper’s like yeah again? and phoebe and paige are like what does that mean? and like the gears are turning in leo’s head and like for once he really leans into the emotions that sorta y’know know double double toil and trouble underneath the surface whenever he’s around wyatt bc he always ran from them, they were painful and he figured it was because wyatt was well like evil but now he’s not running and he’s leaning into it and really trying to figure out what he feels and it’s this insane loss and fear and longing but underneath that is like joy and elation and absolute happiness and unconditional love and he remember the time wyatt was born meanwhile phoebe the empath has basically been knocked off her feet with the tidal wave of raw emotion that just shot out from leo and she has the same realization and leo’s like I’m Not Letting You Take My Son Again. and wyatt’s like what and piper’s like what and phoebe like also takes a stand and she’s like dency and wyatt are our family. and you can’t take them. and wyatt and dency are looking at each other like ????? but they’re like game they don’t want to leave and the cleaners are like you know what no No absolutely not and they take dency and wyatt and they wipe the halliwells’ memories and fuck off back into the void but now the ball is rolling and dency and wyatt are like no who are we who were they that was our family and the cleaners are like you don’t have family and dency and wyatt are like that’s not true and you know it and wyatt like piper’s my mother isn’t she and the cleaners are like don’t ask stupid questions and wyatt’s like she is!! i knew it! i fucking knew it!!! and dency sorta sitting there and she’ll totally you know go to bat for wyatt and she believes the halliwells are her family but she just doesn’t feel this connection wyatt has like wyatt Knows piper’s his mother but dency doesn’t feel the same way. she doesn’t have the same connection that like wyatt has. but blah blah blah they aren’t able to argue long bc they’ve sense a shift in the void meaning someone’s out there exposing magic and they go and it’s the charmed ones fucking up things and the cleaners are like word we can get rid of you too and wyatt’s like if you do i’ll go & destroy everything and paige is like yeah love the energy not actually necessary bc you guys aren’t allowed to get rid of us bc well not to flex but we’re the charmed ones and the cleaners are like yeah big whoop and phoebe’s like how familiar are you with the cosmic balance and the cleaners are like . and phoebe’s like yeah though so and paige is like you can’t kill us without drastically tipping the scales. and the cleaners are like fine what do you want and they’re like we want dency and wyatt and the cleaners are like well shouldn’t it be their choice whether or not they want to go with you and the charmed ones are like fine ask them i’m not worried and wyatt’s like i’m going with the halliwells period end statement but then like cleaner one the initial cleaner who was like let’s care and raise dency is like talking to her like please. it’s safer with you here. wyatt feels his connection with them. what do you feel? we raised you, we care for you, we love you, we want to see you safe. we’re your family. and dency’s just like who am i. and the cleaner’s like nothing they would like. and dency’s like that doesn’t answer my question. and the cleaners are like you’re the source’s heir. and the charmed ones are like She’s The What. and dency’s like i’m what. and the cleaners are like you are the daughter of the source of all evil. you are the epitome of power and destruction. but we can keep you safe, we can keep you from hurting anyone. and phoebe’s like are you gonna tell her the rest. and dency’s like tell me what. and phoebe’s like you may be the daughter of the source of all evil. you’re also the daughter of a charmed one. you’re my daughter. and dency’s like What. The Fuck. and the cleaners are like oh don’t be so generous you carried her for all of two months she is not your daughter and dency’s like What. The Fuck. and like paige and piper and in the background and like the gears are turning in their heads like cole’s kid??? and the cleaners are like when we found you you were barely an essence all that was left over from a brutal vanquish and dency’s like WHAT. THE FUCK. and phoebe’s like you took my kid from me! and the cleaners are like you vanquished her! and phoebe’s like we vanquished the seer! we stopped the source of all evil! and it cost me my child don’t you dare say i did this to her and dency’s like you know what actually no and she flames out and piper’s like well i guess you have your decision feel free to get the fuck out of my attic now and the cleaners are like like you guys are assholes and there’s a reason we let prue die 😗✌ and dip and piper’s like if a see another cleaner ever again i’m gonna vanquish that motherfucker So Quick he won’t even have time to ruin yet another one of my family photos. blah blah blah wyatt’s like At Home he’s reunited with his family and they’re so happy to have him back and piper’s like let me cook you a really nice dinner the last time i cooked for you it was just pureed carrots i’m hoping you’re palate’s gotten a little more refined and wyatt’s like thanks mom that really means a lot but i can’t stay here i can’t turn my back on dency she was my family before i even knew i had one i have to go find her so of course the let him go blah blah blah he finds dency blah blah blah heart to heart blah blah blah they all reunite blah blah blah happy ending : )

#2.3k #fun! #charmed #wyatt halliwell #dency halliwell #the cleaners #margaretsminiessays #💌 #next gen #ish

[ununniliad]

WikiLull EXHALE: “After the After”

November 15th, 2016. The lawn outside LNHQ, which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

There was a great battle here.

...well, since this is the headquarters of the LNH, there have been many great battles here, and many more yet to come. But today feels like the day after a great, terrible battle, tho in fact it's been a week; coming down from the edge is like that, sometimes. And in a way it's been much longer, almost four years; recovering from trauma is like that, sometimes.

Nevertheless, the battle is over. There's a wind through the trees, blowing off the brightly-colored leaves; the world is stepping back, sitting down, and letting out its breath.

A single oak leaf, red and mottled with brown spots, tumbles down through the air, whirling in the cool autumn breeze. It flips, floats down... and disappears into a bubble of swirling darkness, inky colors shimmering and shifting like an oil slick on its surface. The bubble grows to the side of a person, then pops - and Cheesecake-Eater Lad and Token Girl tumble to the ground. A moment later, a tall, muscular blond woman with red eyes and subtle Star Trek-ian ridges on her face lands solidly on her feet - Captain LNH.

Token Girl coughs, pushing herself up, hands on her knees. "Whew. Felt like I was gonna turn inside-out."

Captain LNH chuckles, helping her to her feet. "That's what it's like, traveling from Looniverse-Astaroth, gateway to the Deep Omnilooniverse."

"Yeah, I think I liked it better back when we called it alt.comics.lnh." Token Girl stretches her arms, hands palm-out in front of her, and lets out a tension-releasing yawn. "How're you doing, Cheesy?"

Cheesecake-Eater Lad pounds himself on the chest and coughs. "Good thing I have such a strong stomach, that's all I'm saying." He shakes his head and turns to Captain LNH. "And you really want to... I mean, of course it's your decision."

Captain LNH nods firmly. "It is, and I do. I'm not..." She looks up at the LNHQ. "Not ready to come back."

"I get it... I think." Cheesecake-Eater Lad puts on a brave smile, but its edges start drooping. "I'm just... you spent so long in your own head. Uh, you didn't have a body at the time, but you know what I mean."

"Right, yeah. But not..." Captain LNH grabs her own shoulder, squeezes it. "Not all of us heal by talking about it. At least not right away."

oh god please let me step away from this awkward conversation, thinks Token Girl.

"Right. Well." Cheesecake-Eater Lad takes Captain LNH's hand, puts his over it. "I support you. And the Deep Omnilooniverse couldn't have a better defender."

Captain LNH smiles, a soft wave of starlight rolling thru her hair. "And the regular Looniverse couldn't have a better Anchor of Indulgence."

Cheesecake-Eater Lad chuckles. "Yeah, uh, you'll have to ask Unixepoch what that actually means, the next time you talk to him." He let go of her hands, and she took a step back.

"Will do. See you later, Tara!" Captain LNH begins to float up in the air, cosmic energy coalescing around her body.

Token Girl lets out a breath. "Right. Looking forward to it! Bring me some of the anime merch Looniverse-Murmur has, it looked amazing!"

Captain LNH laughs. "Gotcha. Oh, and keep an eye on the Loonited States for me. That new president..." She shakes her head, smiling. The energies swirl around her body, forming into a swirling bubble of bright colors, shafts of light shining out from the globular mass. It shimmers bright - then seems to zoom away, from every angle, until it is out of sight.

Cheesecake-Eater Lad takes off his toque, runs his hands thru his hair. "Whew." He turns to Token Girl. "We should probably--"

WHUMPF! He's lifted off his feet and up into the arms of a tall, pudgy, freckled woman who showers his face with kisses. "Oh my goodness dear I missed you!"

He squirms in her arms and laughs, wriggling out and onto the ground. "Jeez, hon." His cheeks are a-blush, and Token Girl smirks. "It was only a couple hours."

"Yes, and a couple decades before that, so forgive me my clinginess." She pulls him in close and presses him to her side.

He wiggles pleasantly, and a lithe, athletic woman in an abbreviated ninja outfit walks around his other side. She leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hearty Homecoming, Husband! Our Wonderful Wife Was Worried, but your Safety Surely Seemed Secure, by Superhuman Skill and Cosmic Competence!" She slides in, snuggling both of them and smiling at Token Girl.

Cheesecake-Eater Lad blushes. "Ah, I believe you know my wives, aLLiterative Lass and Petunia Boonspackle."

Token Girl nods! "Right. aLLi's a co-worker, of course, and I met Petunia back during the whole Neme.sys thing."

"Ah yes, Tara the Multinaut!" Petunia releases Cheesecake-Eater Lad in order to clasp Token Girl's hand in both of her large, warm hands. "Thank you so much, for helping weave our timelines together."

"Aw, don't worry about it," says Token Girl, blushing herself. Gosh, this lady's presence feels comforting, like a crackling fireplace. "I've always been a shipper, anyway. And if the history where Cheesy's alive can coexist with the one where he's dead, it's a minor problem to make the one where he's married to Petunia coexist with the one where he's married to aLLi."

"'Specially Since Sapphic Sisters Surely Sign-off," says aLLiterative Lass. "Truly, Triads Treat Tenderly. Will you Witness our Wonderful Wedding?"

"Er..." Token Girl's eyes swivel back and forth. "Aren't you already...?"

"Separately," notes Petunia, "but since polygamous marriage is legal in this timeline [The Liminals #1 - Footnote Flower Girl], we wanted to let everybody know that this isn't two marriages, or even three, it's one big one." She puts her arm around aLLi, who rests her head on the taller woman.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," smiles Token Girl. "...unless I have to save the world that day, of course."

"Then that can be your present," says Petunia, smiling wide and giving Token Girl a thumbs-up.

"Precipitant Perfidy is a Powerful Possibility with that Present President," says aLLi, rolling her eyes.

"Now, now, let's save the politics for later. For now, we must be off~" Petunia hefts a squeaking Cheesecake-Eater Lad up under one arm, and aLLi under the other. "Picking up the daughters~"

"Right! See you later!" Token Girl chuckles under her breath as she watches them head off. Maybe this is what being the Looniversal Anchor of Indulgence means - making the people around you happy by making yourself happy. Well, good - they all deserve to be happy for a very long time.

She looks up at the clear blue sky, streaked with whispery clouds, and feels herself inch back from that sense of panic and emergency. There will be more emergencies, more world-shaking battles; but for now, she strolls casually back into LNHQ, looking for cheesecake.

The usual crowd is milling about in the lobby, chatting, getting the mail, rushing out to desperately stop a net.villain, learning the true meaning of Armistice Day, and so on. Subtle breezes flow thru the room, the tarp over the partially-destroyed wall flapping in the wind.

Token Girl makes her way thru the crowd with practiced skill, heading towards the hallway door until she spies a cluster of people and people-like entities that she can't let herself miss.

Escape Lass hefts a bowl of apples under her arm. "...can't sustain over-the-air signals, they just bleed out between the dimensional apertures, so we'll have to lay cable the whole way."

"Which is a problem," speaks the bowl of apples, in fact the MicroMAC Quadcore, "since it is an indeterminate distance which, likely, shall change in indeterminable ways over time."

"Right," says Escape Lass, voice filling with problem-solving enthusiasm, "which-- oh, Tara!" She bounces in her blue short-sleeve straitjacket towards Token Girl, wrapping her free arm around her and squeezing her tight to her side.

Token Girl squirms in surprise, but laughs. "Hey, Evie. Y'all about to head out?"

"I think we are," says Escape Lass, letting go of Token Girl and putting Quadcore in her arms. Token Girl blinks at the robot in disguise, who doesn't blink back, as his form currently lacks eyes. "Foreshadowing Lad, how's it looking?"

"Hmmmm..." Foreshadowing Lad stretches out an arm clad in green spandex, and smiles up at Escape Lass. "Feels like we're almost at a happy ending."

Escape Lass grins, takes Foreshadowing Lad's hand, spins him around, dips him back and kisses him, then lets him go~ The young man stumbles back into the arms of his other partner, Non-Judgmental Agnostic, who squeezes him in a tight hug.

"Man, everybody's in a triad nowadays," says Token Girl, chuckling and handing Quadcore back.

"We'd invite you in and make it a quad," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic in her soft, tinkling, quasi-divine voice, "but I'm afraid it would turn into a Great LNH Polycule and swallow Net.ropolis."

Token Girl flushes. "Uh, so uh, y'all are going to make your way back to your world, Escape Lass?"

Escape Lass nods firmly. "Right. We're going to head down into the depths of the LNHQ, down to the point where the LNHQs of different universes start mingling to save on storage space, and find our way home to the Legacy of Newfangled Hierophants."

"Newly designated Looniverse-Bael," speaks Quadcore.

"That's right, in the Deep Omnilooniverse... ah, dammit." Token Girl tsks at herself. "We could've had Captain LNH take you back."

Escape Lass shakes her head! "No, don't forget, we have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs back."

"Preferably in the form of interuniversal messaging system," speaks Quadcore. "If we can overcome these significant technical issues."

"That's right," nods Token Girl, dislodging some of the details she learned during that whole confusing shebang. "You got a lot of people who'd like to emigrate."

"Right, tho your Looniverse isn't our main destination." Escape Lass smiles down at Quadcore. "Somebody made us a better offer."

"Ohhhh..." Token Girl looks between the lady and the robot and it clicks. "Ohhhhh-- with *them*!"

Escape Girl laughs, fingers half-covering her mouth as her eyes sparkle, and nods. "Right."

"That's-- wow," says Token Girl, processing the idea. "A world with tiny robots and giant humans feels very Deep Omnilooniverse, but it's not what I would have expected them to--"

"Cower, fools!" A figure leaps into their midst, with the swish of a cape! He rolls back his head and opens his mouth to let out a megalomaniacal cackle!

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Mueh-heh-heh-heh! ...how was that?"

"... it sounds like you're making progress!" says Non-Judgmental Agnostic supportively!

The figure smiles in delight. He looks like a very normal person, with hair a few tones darker than his skin and eyes that are a color. The only odd things about him are the crimson circuitry running down from his eyes, over his chin and down his neck, and the symbol on his forehead - a stylized sword tucked into a breast pocket, with fancy monogrammed initials on it - PE, for the Pocket Empire!

"...cool, hi," says Token Girl, eyeing the man. She'll have to catch up with WikiBoy on all his weird clones later, but for now, she's pretty sure this is... "wIkimus Maximus, right?"

"Correct!" says wIkimus proudly, idly battling his cape out of the way.

"Or should we call you..." Escape Lass tosses Quadcore to wIkimus and points a dramatic finger. "Our most thrilling enemy!"

wIkimus juggles Quadcore for a moment before getting his arms solidly under the bowl, then looks back at Escape Lass. "Mwa-ha-heh-heh-ho! That's right! Now that I have deposed the foolish Antiochus XXVIII, I am the one true leader of the Pocket Empire!"

"God, and thank you for doing that," says Escape Lass, shaking her head. "Um, and argh you fiend and such."

Token Girl has her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. "That's a heck of a thing."

"It probably seems strange," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic, smiling. "But on many worlds, the rivalry of support is one of the strongest social bonds there is."

Token Girl nods, and leans away from the dramatically-proclaiming nerds so that her worlds can go straight to the ears of Non-Judgmental Agnostic and Foreshadowing Lad. "So... what happened to CassAIndra?"

Foreshadowing Lad sighs, a heavy weight on his brow. "Multi-Tasking Man thinks he can fix her."

"He'd be the one if anyone was," murmurs Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "They know each other from the inside out, now."

"Fair. I just wanted to thank her... well, hopefully I'll get the chance." Token Girl shakes her head. "And WikiMan?"

"His WikiPowers are lost," says Foreshadowing Lad, "and I don't see a future where he gets them back. He's now a fixed narrative being, based on his last edit."

"I don't think he minds much, tho," says Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "He gets to experience the childhood he never did the first time, with the MicroMACs as his friends."

Token Girl nods thoughtfully, eyes on Escape Lass and wIkimus. "And... mmm." She shakes her head. "I don't know. It feels strange that all the different factions, the Pocket Empire and the Guardiettes and the AniMACs and the MicroMicroMACs and everybody else, are still going to keep fighting each other, even tho..." Her forehead wrinkles, and she looks up at Non-Judgmental Agnostic. "Like, do they really have a reason?"

Non-Judgmental Agnostic turns her eyes up to the skylight over the foyer, watching the clouds swoosh by. She takes a deep breath, and in an 'I am reciting this from memory' voice, says, "Ever since the Trademarkers used their Alterscope to spy on the RoboMAC worlds, the MicroMACs have been fighting battles for the entertainment of others." She smiles at Token Girl. "They can be more than that, now. They already are. But doing huge, dramatic, splashy stuff for an audience - that's part of them."

"Like it's part of the LNH," says Foreshadowing Lad, nodding.

"Heh. I guess so..." Token Girl turns to Escape Lass and wIkimus Maximus and snaps her fingers, giving them the fingerguns. "Okay, I'm gonna head off. Catch you all on the flipside."

"Oh, before you go!" Escape Lass bounds forward and catches her in a hug. Token Girl squirms in obvious embarassment and quiet delight, and hugs her back.

After she's let go, Token Girl waves and heads out of the foyer and down the winding corridors of LNHQ, towards the cafeteria. As she turns a corner, a figure staring off into space collides with her, both of them falling on their butts.

"--oh, sorry!" The other one scrambles to his feet, and Token Girl can see that it's Can-Handle-Any-Type-of-Change-Except-For-the-Ultimate-Ninja-Wearing-a-Cape Lad, three-time winner of the Longest Name in the Legion contest.

"That's okay," she says, helping him up. "But are you all right? You seem, uh, distracted."

He shakes his head, blushing just a bit. "It's just..." He looks over his shoulder, then leans in to murmur. "I'm afraid my powers are malfunctioning."

"Ohhhh?" Token Girl felt a slight tinge of worry. CHAToCEFtUNWaCLad was a relatively new Legionnaire, but had already become one of their dependable stalwarts.

He nods firmly. "I saw Ultimate Ninja walk by the cape closet, and..." He breathes just a bit deeper. "I didn't feel anything."

"...ah." Token Girl's worry becomes a different kind of... melancholy, really. She had been right there when it happened, but...

"Me too!" Puts-Paperclips-on-The-Ultimate-Ninja's-Desk Lad, three-time loser of the Least Useful Power in the Legion contest, popped into the conversation out of nowhere. "I just got a new jar of clips and they've just been sitting in a drawer all week!"

"Oh, man!" says Can-Handle-Any-Type-of-Change-Except-For-the-Ultimate-Ninja-Wearing-a-Cape Lad. "It's weird, isn't it?"

"It's super weird!"

"Mmmm..." Token Girl draws in a breath. "Well, maybe you should go to Doctor Stomper and have him check up on your powers."

"Ooh, yeah, good idea. Thanks, TG!" The two of them head off in the general direction of sickbay, chattering about the weirdness of the day.

Token Girl rubs her upper arm, getting some of that stiff tension out. She was there when it happened, but... she's not supposed to say anything. She's still not really sure that was the right choice, but it's...

Well, it's what Ultimate Ninja wanted, so.

She makes it down to the cafeteria, grabs a slice of one of Betamax's weird culinary experiments (in this case, pizza with black bean sauce and cotija cheese), reflills her canteen from the water filter, and takes ten to relax, sip, eat and process.

Just about ten minutes later: "Hey, mind if I sit here?"

Token Girl is tired enough that her first impulse is to pull out one of her trademark snappy comebacks so she doesn't have to People any more. But she recognizes the voice, and its owner doesn't count as a People, he counts as a Friend; so she looks up and gives a tired but sincere smile. "Yeah, sure!"

And Wikiboy sits down, putting his Szechuan tacos and soda on the table and smiling back, with just a touch of hard-earned confidence. "How've you been?"

"I've been..." Token Girl rolls her mind over a chaotic landscape of emotion... "I've been a lot. How about you?"

"Uh... also a lot, I think." Wikiboy adjusts his hair and straightens up. "Adjusting to how my powers work now, and the new... part of me, I guess you'd call it."

Token Girl nods, the questions that have been on her mind for a while rolling to the front. "Yeah, uh, did you absorb, like... the whole Apathy Beast, or...?"

"It felt like it at the time, but now it just feels like..." WikiBoy puts his hand over his chest, and takes a deep breath, stilling. "...like an extra bit of... weight? Calmness? Metaphysical machinery?" He shrugs! "Something like."

"Right. But you can still be edited?"

"Yeah, that still works about the same way. It's just that I can ignore edits if I really want to." He looks out the window. "It's kind of... the power to Not Care."

A little wave of regret sloshes on the shores of Token Girl's brain. "Gotcha. ..can you edit yourself?"

WikiBoy stares out the window, quiet for a long while. "...I don't know. When... when we were all together, all in one body, I could, but... I haven't tried since." He takes another deep breath, straightens up, and turns to her with a smile. "Someday, I guess. But right now, it feels like..." His smile droops just a bit at the edges. "WiKaine messed himself up real bad by editing out everything he couldn't stand."

Token Girl summons up her ultra-secret net.ahuman power, Being Distractingly Light and Humorous. "You mean Axen Kiwi, the No One of WikiBoy, right?"

WikiBoy blinks, then laughs. "Oh, god, yeah. I forgot about all the convoluted video game nonsense for a bit."

She grins. "Kingdom Hearts references are the natural destination of ridiculously convoluted crossover plotting."

"They really are." He shakes himself and runs his hands thru his hair, blushing a bit as he realizes how vulnerable he'd been. "I think he ran off into the Deep Omnilooniverse in the end. I hope he finds something to..."

"...put in that literal heart-shaped hole in his chest?" Seeeecret power!

"Oh, god, that's right. WikiBoy laughs. "Jeez our lives are hilarious sometimes." He shakes his head ruefully. "I didn't really get that, when I was the butt of all the jokes."

Oh no, the secret power backfired and now a huge wave of guilt is swamping Token Girl's brain! "I'm--" She stumbles. "I'm sorry if I ever--"

WikiBoy holds up a hand and looks her in the eyes. "Don't worry about it, please."

"...you sure?"

He picks up his taco and gives a big, performative bite, chewing and swallowing. "I was--" Slurp crunch smack. "I was created to be the butt of all the jokes, the one who just takes abuse because it's not as funny if I get revenge. That's who my Writer needed me to be... a harmless fantasy, something you write to find the happy buttons in the folds of your own brain and push them, and maybe find other people with the same buttons that'll enjoy it. That's who I was, then, and... I'm kinda proud of it?" He takes another bite, and licks his fingers. "Yeah, definitely this weird existential pride."

"I don't really get it," says Token Girl, "buuuuut that's good?"

WikiBoy giggles and lets out a little snort. "Yeah, it is. But then other writers got ahold of me, ones with different buttons, and they decided to take the elements of the fantasy and use them for a different kind of story. Like Jay Edidin embracing Chris Claremont's version of Lee and Kirby's Cyclops - finding the part that appeals to you. That's what collaborative fiction universes are about. And now I'm who I am right now." He pulls out a wet-wipe and cleans off his fingers. "There's plenty of room in there for different interpretations, too. I still get into wacky unfortunate comedic peril." He tosses the wipe on his tray and leans back in his chair. "I dunno. It's weird to think about who I used to be, but... yeah, I'm not sorry I was him."

Token Girl looks at WikiBoy, relaxing, thoughtful, and warmth swells in her chest. "I'm proud of you, man."

"Awh. Well." WikiBoy blushes, straightens up, and grabs the rest of his taco, shoving it in his mouth and mumbling "Thanks." around the food.

Token Girl chuckles. "So, uh... what haven't we... oh, yeah, WikiCide. He decided to become your evil opposite, huh?"

"Yeah~" WikiBoy swallows. "I'm proud of him, too. He's had a longer path than I have, even, but I think he's gonna do a great job."

"Four outta five ain't bad, I think," says Token Girl.

WikiBoy nods, and streeeetches and yaaaaaaaawns. "Mmmmm... I think I'm gonna go take a post-lunch nap."

"Hey, nap buddies~" Token Girl holds up her fist, and WikiBoy bumps it. She stands up and stretches. "See ya when I see ya."

"See ya too, assuming I have eyes at that point." WikiBoy stands up and picks up his tray.

Token Girl turns to go... ponders for a moment. "Hey, WikiBoy?" She snaps her fingers. "You're an SD Deathscythe."

"...yeah, sure~" WikiBoy poofs into an adorably chibi battle robot holding a glowing laser scythe, and toddles off on his chunky robotic feet.

Token Girl makes her way out of the cafeteria and down to her room without any more run-ins. She shuts the door and leans back on it, closing her eyes. Jeez, what a day. And it isn't over yet, but she can kick off her big stompy boots, hang up her button-covered denim jacket, flop into bed, cuddle a body pillow with a badass anime girl on it, and take a nap.

...she dreams of patterns in the sky, lines that aren't lines and gods that are great rotating symbols, and she watches the lines separate until the symbol is gone, and she watches Discord wave as she passes...

Token Girl wakes up 23 minutes after her alarm was supposed to go off. Oh, crap, she's supposed to get the Metatronium Sifter back in-- oh crap oh crap oh crap!!

She pushes her feet into her boots and wiggles her heels into place, grabs her jacket, and charges down the hallway to the transporter room. Parking Karma Kid is there, sitting behind the console and watching a compliation of ridiculous Grand Theft Auto vehicle tricks on his phone.

"Pete!" Token Girl says, leaping onto a transporter.thingy pad.thingee. "Gotta be at a place right exactly now! Address!" She throws a paper airplane at him.

Parking Karma Kid catches it out of the air and unfolds it. "So you're asking me to drop you off, not in some open space at sea level, but inside a mid-city building on the fifth floor?"

Token Girl nods desperately!!

Parking Karma Kid cracks his knuckles. "Thanks! But next time, give me a hard one!" His fingers dance over the console and she's gone~

Token Girl materializes in the hallway outside apartment 507-- whew, only a minute and a half late. She knocks on the door, and a kinda butch lady with short curly hair and devastating cheekbones opens it - "Terrible" Maddie Turnip. Token Girl holds out her hand, Maddie grabs it with a little grin, and they go up, down, left, right, wiggle your pinkies - the old Radikool Kidz Klub secret handshake. Then Maddie pulls her forward unexpectedly into a brief but strong hug that makes Token Girl gasp - not unpleasantly - as the air is squeezed out of her.

Behind Maddie, on the couch, are two people. One is a tall, dark-haired woman with a sort of 40's pinup girl look and an infectuous smile - Forgotten Gal. The other is a scrawny young man of Polish descent, with long blue hair and wearing a lemon-yellow T-shirt and blue jeans - Skrajny the Multinaut.

"C'mon, c'mon, I got a cherry crumble in the oven." Maddie leads Token Girl in and sits her down in a big plush recliner, a plate of dessert pressed into her hands.

"Okay, okay," laughs Token Girl. "But just one slice for me, please, I've got a dinner date." She takes the proffered fork and nibbles - delicious. "Lessee, uh..." She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a weird, septagonal device. "Here ya go, Skrajny."

"Please, call me Kacper." He says 'Casper' but Token Girl's gone thru enough baby naming sites to know how it's spelled. Kacper takes the Metatronium Sifter. "Tho I don't know what I'm gonna do with it."

"We'll figure it out," says Forgotten Gal, squeezing Skrajny's hand and giving him a reassuring smile. Token Girl notices that she's still wearing the Nostalgic Brace she'd gotten... somewhere along the line, Token Girl wasn't really sure. But it counterbalanced her forgettability, for people who had an emotional investment in her - which everyone in the room definitely did.

Token Girl decides to jump directly to the elephant in the room. "You're definitely not going home, then?"

Kacper sucks in a breath, lets it blow out loose lips. "...I want to go back. I want to help my people, the ones who are still trapped in that messed-up imperialist view of the multiverse." He puts his hands out in front of him and shakes his head. "But the Ordered Realities bureaucracy would hunt me down as a deserter even if I wasn't keeping the Idoloid technology. It's much safer, for now, for me to stay in an unregistered world where their influence is strictly indirect."

Maddie nods. "'Sides, this way, we can keep each other safe."

"Hell yeah!" Forgotten Girl pumps her fist. "Heroes together!"

"Woo!" says Kacper, giving a thumbs-up.

Token Girl grins and finishes off her bit of cherry crumble. "I'm glad to have someone like you on the force, Maddie."

"Heh, well." Maddie puts down her beer and gives Token Girl a tired but sincere smile. "Thanks, but I ain't on the force anymore."

"...oh. Uh." Social snafu? Had something happened?? "Sorry???"

"Nah, it's okay." Maddie sits back, arms crossed. "You're right, I was a good cop. But I was mostly good at not being like a cop's supposed to be. And after we found out..." She shakes her head. "Some of Shadez Radikal's people were... acquaintances, maybe even kind of friends. People I thought I could count on - people who'd given me orders. And I thought about those orders..." She shrugs. "I'm done with necessary evils. Or as done as you can be, in this world."

Token Girl let out a breath. "Yeah, that's fair. And like, who even knows what the laws are gonna be like with that new President."

"Oh lord, that guy," says Maddie, shaking her head and tilting her beer back, pouring the rest of it down her throat, then letting out a satisfying belch.

"Coulda been worse, tho," says Forgotten Gal, punching Maddie lightly in the shoulder.

"Yeah," says Token Girl, shaking her head too. "Anyway, what are you gonna do now?"

"You wanna take this one?" Maddie says to Forgotten Gal, who smiles and leans forward.

"We're gonna try and make something new. A place for Weird People."

"While everything was going down, we ended up getting to know some of your Shadow People," says Kacper.

"And we had ideas, and they had ideas..." says Maggie. "And a lotta those ideas were compatible."

"It's gonna be a place where weirdos like us can just, like, live, and support each other," says Forgotten Gal, eyes sparkling with possibility. "Without having to worry about cops, or CEOs, or weird people in frog masks, or any of that."

"Sounds great," says Token Girl. "But..." She rubs her chin thoughtfully. "Isn't that basically the LNH?"

Maggie lets out a little bark of a laugh. "Kid, you got a flippin' ninja death machine for a leader. It ain't an egalitarian society yet, that's for sure."

"...yeah, you know, fair, reasonable."

"Besides," interjects Forgotten Gal enthusiastically, "we can have more than one!"

"We gotta have more than one," says Maddie. "As many as we can get, I think."

Token Girl mmmmmms. "Good point..."

"It's like the Powernauts taught me," says Kacper. "You gotta spread the power around."

Token Girl giggles. "Right, and--" She's interrupted by her phone, which belts out a rousing chorus of 'Yappapa'. "Aw shoot!" She bounces to her feet! "Gotta get going to dinner!"

"Hugs first!" Forgotten Gal leaps up and hugs her, and Token Girl puts up only minimal protest. Maggie pushes herself to her feet and wraps her arms around the both of them with even less protest, and after a hesitant moment, Kacper joins in. Token Girl feels embarassingly warm and snuggly and appreciated, and only lets it go on for so long before she squirms out and away.

"See ya!" Everybody waves as she heads out the door.

This time, she walks to her destination; it's only a few blocks down the street, and exercise is always a useful prelude to the kind of food you get at the Pizza Pit.

At the door, she checks her phone; 7:57 PM. Awesome, just a couple minutes early. She slides inside and finds a place to lean up against the wall, looking up at the stage. She wouldn't want to miss this - the very last performance of the Cool Name Band.

Merissa is absolutely shredding on the bass, and Kid Occultism Kid is leading on guitar. Keeping up the beat is, of course, Deathspork: The Terminator on drums, with accompaniment by Amnesiac Brad Pitt on saxophone. And belting out the vocals at the top of her lungs is the one and only top of the pops, Rock'n'Roll Lass!

The crowd looks up from their pizzas, at the stage usually reserved for animatronic animals and karaoke performances of Baby Shark, enraptured by the sudden sense of something special happening; a magical alchemy that will disappear after tonight, and somehow, that feels okay; somehow, that feels right.

Token Girl leans back and lets the sound wash over her; the secret chord that pleased Discord. She hadn't been able to appreciate it properly before, either during the Secret War of the Bands or during the moment they had played to the universe itself. Now... her eyes lid, and her breath slows, and something opens up in her chest, and she lets it flow thru her...

When the music ends, she opens her eyes, stands up, and streeeetches. It feels like she's taken another nap, but she's absolutely brimming with energy...

"Thank you, Net.ropolis!" shouts Rock'n'Roll Lass. "Never forget where the rock came from! Good night!" The curtains swish closed, and Token Girl slips around the side and heads backstage.

The five of them are in the dressing room, taking off their stage makeup and chatting, letting themselves wind down too. Token Girl knock-knocked and leaned in. "Hey! Got a minute for your biggest fan?"

All five look up and all five smile, tho Deathspork's expression is annoyed at his own happiness. Rock'n'Roll Lass crosses the room, grabs Token Girl's hand, and pulls her up close in a sororal fist-clasp. "Glad you could make it, babe."

Token Girl feels that warmth rise to her cheeks again. "Wouldn't miss seeing y'all off!"

"Indeed, you are just in time!" Deathspork rises, having strapped his drums to a wheely cart, and gestures grandly. "For our alliance has been fruitful-- but now it must end! You have earned my respect, but the next time we meet, it will be-- as enemies!!"

Merissa rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. "Dude. PLEASE get over yourself and you might stop sucking."

"Verily," speaks Kid Occultism Kid, "you have far greater potential than you allow yourself to know. Especially on the drums."

"Bah!" Deathspork opens the stage door and sweeps dramatically out of the Pizza Pit. Tries to sweep dramatically out of the Pizza Pit. Trips on the steps and falls out of the Pizza Pit.

Screaming.

"...right," says Token Girl. "How about you, babe?"

Rock'n'Roll Lass laughs. "Yeah, I'm headed off too. Got to get back to the '60s and make sure all the 'classic rock' isn't being produced by white boys." She shakes her head. "'Classic'. Man, what a trip."

"Hang it loose!" says Amnesiac Brad Pitt, throwing up the horns.

Rock'n'Roll Lass raises her eyebrows and chuckles. "Yeah, you do you! G'night, folks!" She steps carefully over Deathspork, and disappears into the night.

"I have taken the liberty of ordering our repast for the evening!" Kid Occultism Kid thrusts out a hand, and the wood warps within the dressing room wall, turning into a mystic swirly portal! "Shall we?"

Merissa rolls her eyes. "You really didn't need to be that extra." She walks up to the door... and blasts it into tiny pieces with her Ultra-Mega-BIGGUN! "Not when you could be that extra!" >:D

"oh my god you nerds." Token Girl stepped thru the pieces of broken door, pulling Amnesiac Brad Pitt along with her. Kid Occultism Kid waves their hands, and a giant arrow appears, guiding them to their table. A waitress drops off their pizza and gets Merissa's signature, and they dive in.

"So," says Token Girl, dipping one of their gloriously greasy breadsticks into marinara, "how are you holding up, Brad?"

"Ah..." Amnesiac Brad Pitt shakes his head. "I don't think I'm going to call myself that anymore." He gets up and stands behind his chair, putting one hand on the faded First Trenchcoat draped over it. "After the other Brad Pitts formed the Idolon of Millions and sacrificed themselves, the idea of holding up that name, that legacy... that's not what I am."

Kid Occultism Kid swallows and says, "And what, then, would you be?"

"I'm just a memory of what came before." The former Amnesiac Brad Pitt puts on the First Trenchcoat and turns towards the door, but stops for a moment, looks back. "I'm just... a Memento."

"...uh," says Merissa, "you weren't in that movie."

He freezes. "Wait, really?"

"Are you thinking of Guy Pearce, maybe?" says Kid Occultism Kid.

"Well shit." The still-nameless Idolon turns around and sit back down at the table. "So... how about that election?"

The tension breaks and the table turns into a caophony of nods, sighs, mumbles and eyerolls.

"Like jeez that new President," says Merissa, shaking her head. "I mean, I was too busy to run, but..."

"Yeah," says Token Girl, "but... it could definitely have been worse."

Merissa pauses, remembering, and nods firmly. "Yeah, it really could..."

"And for now," says Kid Occultism Kid, "we shall look forward, to the future. To what we can do to keep this from happening again - to make things truly better."

"Hear, hear," says Mr. What's-His-Name.

Between them, the foursome quickly finish off the pizza, the breadsticks, and the side order of wings. Token Girl lets out a satisfied belch, and Merissa gives her a high-five. "Okay," she says, "I'm gonna head back to LNHQ, how 'bout y'all?"

"I'll totes come with," says Merissa, picking up her bass.

"I shall stay here and help our friend consult on a new moniker," says Kid Occultism Kid.

"yeah thanks," says you-know-who.

The two of them head out the door, into the cool autumn night, gibbous moon waning overhead. As they walk, Token Girl feels Merissa's demeanor change, from the chill relaxed lady she likes to project to the insecure teenager-esque being she actually is (in Token Girl's estimation). Something wants to come out, but it can't be forced, so she waits...

They're almost there when Merissa turns to her and bursts out with a "So hey..."

"Yeah?" says Token Girl, like she hadn't been waiting.

"It's just..." Merissa fidgets, and her face wrinkles up in the frustration of being kuudere, trying to hold back her feelings to maintain her persona of Cool. Thankfully, she isn't very good at it, and the words come spilling out. "Do you really think we can make stuff better? Like, the world almost went totally to shit! It's fucked up in so many different ways! I don't think..." Her voice softens, and she turns her gaze away. "I don't think anybody, no matter how cool and powerful they are, can deal with it by themselves."

Shit. Token Girl does not consider herself anything like 'good at this stuff'. Fearless Leader or Catalyst Lass would be much better at the encouraging speeches, and Special Bonding Boy or Fairy Princess Lad would be much much better at the talking about feelings. But, well, she was there and now she's here, so she takes a deep breath and...

"...yeah, I think you're right. Like... during all the shit that happened, all of the crazy and cosmic and depressing and amazing stuff-- I couldn't have done any of it by myself. Which..." Okay, here goes. "Which is why we all had to do that together. So many of us had to take it on from so many different angles, your band, the Powernauts, Captain LNH and Cheesecake-Eater Lad, the MicroMACs, Maddie and Forgotten Gal, Escape Lass and WikiMan, all the WikiBoys, all of us... We had to come from different places, different backgrounds, different powersets and different stations in life, because we were all needed, we all helped in different ways."

Merissa's eyes are wide and-- oh, dear, yes, they're sparkling. Well, at least it's working - better wrap up while she's ahead.

"So like... yeah, I do think we can stuff better, but only if we keep doing that. If we all value each other's efforts, and don't stop supporting each other - the front line fighters, the healers and comforters, the big public speakers, the logistics nerds, the hyperspecialists..." Token Girl chuckles. "And the token weirdos like me, who just happened to be in the right time and place to kinda, give a little push in a helpful direction."

"...hey!" says Merissa, snorting. "Don't be so down on yourself, grandma. You did a lot of the work too." She shrugs~ "Not as much as me, of course~"

Token Girl laughs. Oh thank fuck it worked. "Grandma, eh? Well, sonny, er, little lady... no, that sounds dumb, I don't know how grandmas talk."

Merissa lets out a gigglesnort. "Okay, okay, so stop talking. See you in the morning, I'm gonna do something cooler than hanging out with you~" She runs down the sidewalk to the back door of the LNHQ, swings it open, and yells, "Also you're rad and thanks!" before disappearing.

Token Girl chuckles, running her hands thru her hair as she saunters thru the back door. Whew. It's been a day of far too many emotions... time to vegetate.

She finds her way to the TV room, the hallways gently guiding her as always. Forsaken Lass and Net.Access are on one of the overstuffed couches, making out and oblivious to the world around them, so she flops down on the other one, next to Fuzzy. "What's on the boob tube?"

"Well, I don't watch the news a lot," says Fuzzy, flipping from channel to channel like it's 1992 or something. "But I figured this was important." She stops on an image of a podium with American flags around it. Vaguely stirring, vaguely patriotic music was playing.

"...welp," says Token Girl, running her hands thru her hair. "Let's do this."

The vague music quiets, and a warm and enthusiastic announcer comes on, completely unfazed by what he's about to say. "Ladies and gentlemen, in his first address to the nation, please welcome the new President-Elect of the Loonited Sates of Ame.rec.a..."

A person walks up to the podium. A person both of them recognize. A person both of them have fought with. And before last week, the last person either of them would have expected to see up there...

"...Bad Judgment Boy!"

The Icon of Ill-Considered Ideas strolls saucily up to the podium. He's wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Che Guevara on it and tight shorts that say "JUICY" on the bottom. He grabs the microphone (causing a screech of feedback) and addresses the nation.

"Hey guys! Wait, there's a teleprompter. My... fellow... Africans..."

An aide runs up to Bad Judgment Boy and whispers urgently in his ear, but he waves them off.

"Look, look, I know you wanted me to talk about the economy or whatever, but let's focus on what's really important: Me! See, I'll be great for the Ame.rec.an people. Most politicians are big in debt to shady figures in industry. But all the shady figures *I*'m in debt to disappeared last week, so it's fine!"

Token Girl watches, open-mouthed, for as long as she can stand. Then she grabs the remote, clicks off the TV, and falls back on the couch. She looks up at Fuzzy. "...well, it coulda been worse, right?"

Fuzzy chuckles. "It really could have. But..." She scratches her head. "I still don't understand how the heck he won!"

Token Girl sits up and shakes her head. "I should head to bed." She stands up, streeeetching out. "But I'll tell you what I can tomorrow." She walks to the door, but turns when she gets there. "And we can start at the end." She gives Fuzzy a wink, then ambles away.

Fuzzy shakes her head. "Good night." She turns to the camera. "And sleep well, when you do."

----

Author's Notes: So, the thing is...

I had SO MANY PLANS for WikiLull. And they grew, and they grew, and they just kept growing. And I realized - what I really wanted WikiLull to be was a catharsis to all the pain and awfulness of the 2016 election, all of its causes and all of its effects. And that's just too big for one story to be.

So instead, I decided to tie off the loose ends, and take a lot of the places Jeanne and I had wanted characters to go and just move them there, and leave the Looniverse with a good status quo. And get it done before the 2020 election, eheheh... just under the wire.

The Deep Omnilooniverse is, of course, a parody of DC's Dark Multiverse. Jeanne and I were originally going to call it the "Dark Omnilooniverse", but using "dark" like that is overdone and carries Weird Racial Overtones, and the play on the idea of the "deep web" was really compelling. All of the Deep Omnilooniverse worlds mentioned in this issue are named after demons from the Ars Goetia, because we're fancy like that. It's not very well-defined here, so feel free to go wild!

#Fiction #Original Fiction #Superheroes #Silliness #Drama #Adventure #Legion of Net.Heroes #Classic LNH #WikiLull

[another-bryk-in-the-wall]

Callout post for a lot of cuties

I have been on Tumblr since 2012. In that time, I have been part of the Mishapocalypse, unironically asked someone about their shoelaces, you get the drill. But I have also been in many fandoms. 

I joined the Far Cry fandom in 2015, back in the day when 4 and Primal were big names. I remember how dry it was before 5 was anounced/released, and how every little content was worth gold.

The Far Cry fandom has always been unique to me, smaller than other fandoms and that makes it more...comfortable for me? Yeah, comfortable. Nearly everyone knows everyone, and stuff spreads quickly. Negative and positive parts tho!

And that’s why I want to spread some positivity!

@oh-the-bliss @eastwardbound @citizenofglasss @seedsplease My Coven, my girls, my sweethearts! I have the feeling, without you I wouldn’t have stayed in the fandom for so long. We have been friends for over a year now, and I do not regret a single day I got to spent with you. You are all supportive, amazing, creative...and thots. I am so glad we have our little chill server and can talk about everything, no matter how good, bad, everything in between. Thank you girls.

@lucientoldyou @casino-lights my admin lads, idk what I would have done without you during the shitstorm with a certain someone. But I know it would have been less funnier to make fun of her alone. >:) Thank you girls for having my back, and also for not being too afraid to call me out if I do bullshit. I appreciate the hell out of you two.

@jacknought @celiansartblog @minilev @outranks @stormklinge @lexieheron @statichvm you guys!!! Thank you for being good buddies and awesome people. Your funny messages in the server, you beautiful artworks and fanfictions make my day! I wish you all only the best for what will come in your lives!

@pabstbeerpussy I have to seperate you from the others bc WTF. At first I thought you were a real ass bitch, idk why. But now you have become a person I call friend, I admire your strength, and all in all you are a wonderful person. Don’t let anyone or anything ever hold you down, Erin!

@echoes-of-a-capricorn @ryumisadei my two Bryksters! You are such amazing and thirsty support! Thank you for being my partners in crime and supporting me whenever I have a new idea...and fueling my thirst. That’s a very important part too. :D

@geronimo-11 @josephseeds-rosary @eliios​ @sharky-broshaw​ @seedlingsinner​ @jackythemoo​ @mrs-sakurai​ @yandad-thoughts​ You thots. You absolute thots. I am glad we found this little group to stay and thot in. You all are amazing, talented writers and artists, and I am more than happy to support you in every possible way. You all mean a whole damn much to me, and I am glad I get to call you my friends!

@nihildep​ all I’m gonna say is I love you lesbean. :3c Thank you for being my sweetheart and love. I cannot wait to finally meet you in December. It will be amazing.

And now, last but not least, I gotta say thank you to the man himself, Greg Bryk. His fans (Nikki, Vanessa...) have been nothing but amazing in every possible way. I have never felt that welcome in any fandom I was in, and it still surprises me how much he interacts with me/us. I hope I am making him proud, and that I will stay his fan for a long, long time. He changed me for the better.

Thank you guys.

[shadedrose01]

Monster

Relationships: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker

Tags: Time Travel, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Character Death Discussed, Canonical Character Death, Its not shown tho, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure

Prompts: “2029, that’s not a real year” / time travel / future au

Notes: HAPPY PARKNER WEEK 2020 EVERYBODY!! Im so excited for this, and I hope you guys are too! We're starting off with a fic that's more irondad with Harley than parkner, oops 😅 BUT most of the rest of the week is allll parkner. Either way, I hope you all enjoy!! 💞💞

Read on ao3 here!

~~

The tools he was subconsciously fidgeting with fall to the floor with a few loud bangs, and theres a quick thought of "oh shit, Jax" before its gone and the overwhelming reality of his situation smacks him in the face and floods his mind. This, this can't be real, he reasons, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped, his vision blurry from sudden tears as he stares at the hologram in front of his own two eyes. Blinks, ignoring the tracks that run down his cheeks, rubs his eyes hard, checks again. Because it can't be true, but the hologram still says "successful", still shows the 99.73% chance of working, still gleams in a bright green glow and illumates the entire room.

He releases a shuttering breath, takes a wobbly step back on legs that feel like they'll give out at any second, grasps on tightly to the table beside him to hold him upright as his gaze is still locked into the image still in front of him, still existent, still real even though it couldn't be, it was too good to be true, but it was.

He places his free hand hand over his mouth, his lips pulling at his cheeks as his smiles so unbelievably wide, tears slipping into his mouth unbeknownst to him because- he did it. He really did it.

Harley had found a way to recreate time travel. He had his chance.

Eleven years ago, Harley had disappeared into ashes and dust, had died along with half of the entire planet, the entire universe. Six years ago, he had returned, lost and confused, only to find his house in shambles, his mother dead and that Tony Stark- the man that had saved his life once upon a time- had done it again, along with everyone else by snapping the infinity stones and bringing everyone back, losing his own life in the process. A few days after that, he was called by Pepper Potts herself- or, Pepper Stark now, he later discovers- to tell him the news, and personally invite him to his funeral. A few weeks, and he was on a plane, then in a car, then surrounded by people, heroes in which he didn't know, seemingly the only non-powered kid there, outside of Tony Stark's daughter.

Six years ago, Harley Keener met one Peter Parker, and everything fell into place. Everything that was once dark, cloudy, uncertain after a whole five years of being gone, was now bright, sunny, and hopeful. They were at a funeral, sure, but Harley just knew that they were meant to be. They just clicked, and as the days, weeks, months, and years went on, they had grown together. First through their grief, then their confusion, their bitterness, fustration and anger at a world that had moved on without them, then through their connection, their love. They had talked through messages and even hand written letters when they were 16, 17, they had went to university together when they were 18, 19, moved in together when they were 20, 21, and adopted their Jackson, or Jax as they called him, when they were 22, 23. They were soulmates since the moment they met, had found each other when they needed each other most, and Harley had always said, always known that it was Tony who had put them together, who had put them in the same place and gifted them with the other, and Harley couldn't have been more thankful.

And yet... Harley couldn't get this stupid idea out of his head. He had gotten it the first year after, when he had drank away his sorrows and clambered to the lab, throwing things out of the closet, Tony's closet in a fit of passion, of agony and loss, until he had stumbled upon two glass tubes full of a vibrant red liquid and had frozen solid, like a deer in the headlights, an idea, a plan forming in his head. He had scribbled down everything he could think of, he drew what he remembered of the way the time portal had looked, had rambled to Peter about once he had come home from his patrol- his coping mechanism of the time- trying to think of ways to recreate the very time machine Tony had recreated to go back to retrieve the stones, only instead of getting stones, they'd be saving him, saving Tonys life and it would be great.

But, then he remembers how Peter had shut it down then and there, how upset the other man had gotten, thinking Harley was insane, telling him of all the things that could go wrong, of how it could change the entire outcome of the universe, and then, once he recognized how drunk Harley truly was, had dragged him to bed and given him an ultimatum in the morning, had told him to forget the idea in the morning, or else they were over. And Harley had forgotten about it for a while, had put it into the back of his mind and tried to focus on the here and the now, tried to focus on their relationship, on Peter, on his kid, on their lives... but he just couldn't get it out of his mind. Not completely. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, that just grew more and more itchy the longer he ignored it. When he had proposed to Peter underneath the stars, at a candlelight dinner, and they had called all of their family afterwards, he had felt a pang in his heart. When he had gotten married to the man of his dreams in the forest, surrounded by their family and friends, he had ached, knowing Tony would've been in the front seat, probably crying like a baby, even though he'd never admit it. When they had adopted little Jax, and gotten to hold their baby for the first time, Harley had yearned, aching for the father figure in his life to help give him advice, to help tell him what to do, to be there at all. Even though Tony and Harley hasn't been close before everything, he had always wanted Tony to be there for these steps of his life, and he knew, knew that Tony had wanted it too. He wanted to rant to him about his crush, wanted to ask for his hand, wanted him to walk him down the aisle, wanted him to teach him how to be a dad, wanted to tell him all about Jax and his quirks, his first steps, "He's babbling now, Tony, it's the cutest sound you'll ever hear!" and he just...

He hears footsteps walking down the hall, and Harley's breath hicks. His gaze shifts to the two smaller tubes on full display on his desk, just beside the reactor for Iron Lad suit that he had upgraded for this exact situation, just in case this moment ever happened. He hears Peter call his name, sounding a little worried, and his gut drops, his heart beating like stallion galloping in an open field. He doesn't think as he grabs the reactor, sticking it to his chest and pressing it, feeling the nanites fall into place over his skin as he also grabs the tubes, putting one into the canister and the other into a holding area, for his way back, before racing to the platform and hovering his finger over the button, the system already set to bring him back to April 15th, 2023.

He knew Peter would be upset, and might hate him, might leave him for this but... he had a chance, and he just couldn't let it go. He squeezes his eyes shut, feels more liquid slip down his cheeks, silently begs for forgiveness before pushing the button just as his helmet falls in front of his face, Peter's face, full of unbridled fear being the last thing he sees, a scream of his name being the last thing he hears before he shrinks, collapsing again and again as he weaves through tunnels of nothing, of time, he assumes, his eyes narrowing and his teeth clenching as his body is bashed around by the wind and speed of his decent, until suddenly he's on the ground again, on all fours, his hands and feet grabbing onto dirt and surrounded by dust particles floating in the air. Harley gasps, panting out fast breathes as he sits up, and turns to look behind him, his mask retracting instinctively as he sees the ruins of the Avengers Compound, and loses his breath again.

He's here, holy shit, he's here, he's doing this, oh my god Peter was going to kill him.

His head whips around as he hears a loud yell, multiple yells, and then screaming, sounds of weapons clashing and fists thumping, people fighting, and it brings him right back into his reality, his helmet returning over his face as he creeps forward, around the rock (or scrap of compound, Harley couldn't tell) that he was hiding behind to see the battle firsthand, the allies matched by the enemies one for one. From here, Harley can see Black Panther, T'Challa swiping at an aliens ankles before jumping on top of him and slitting his throat, while his sister Shuri is beside him, shooting lasers the smaller ones rushing beside them. A wizard is using a magic rope against another alien creature, holding it down while a... goose? Duck? Burns its face with a cigar. Harley doesn't know why he's surprised at that, he's seen weirder in his years, but he shakes it off quickly, whispering for his AI, TON-EE, to track and find her namesake.

He can't be seen, he knows that much. Iron Lad didn't exist at this time, Harley wasn't apart of the battle, and now, as he watches it take place all around him, smells the sharp bitterness in their air, breathes in particles and coughs out soot, he's sort of thankful that he wasn't, a complete contrast to the nights, the years spend wishing that he was. 

TON-EE beeps at him, and then a map comes up, of one large red dot surrounded by what looks like a million tiny white ones, all allies and enemies, and when it zooms out, Harley can see its right in the middle, right where all of the action is. Of course Tony could be there, in the hardest place possible for him to get to. He's gotta make things harder for him, even after death. Or, before death? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Or, it won't, if Harley gets his way.

He's just gotta get there now. He can hear the battle raging on in the background as he whispers to TON-EE, and starts to fly, feeling the armor shift as it turns and flips, the retroreflective panels going into place and turning him mostly invisible to the naked eye. Normally he wouldn't fly when in this mode, his replusors and their glow would give him away, but he's hoping the battle will be enough of a distraction to where nobody will notice. Or, if they do, they'll ignore it for the time being, and assume he's just another ally. He makes sure he's high above the battle, making sure to keep an eye on the flyers around him- Falcon is dropping grenades and bombs further into enemy territory, and Ant-Man, while huge, couldn't move very fast, so he should be fine- as he zooms into the warzone, moving quickly and efficiently, watching as the red dot gets bigger, closer.

He feels something out of the corner of his eye, in his blind spot, and he jerks backwards at the last second, just as a giant white Pegasus flies past him, a woman on its back and a higher pitched scream of "woAH-" flying past afterwards, hanging from- from a web, Harley freezes, realizes, watching Spider-Man, watching Peter cling to the web as he gets thrown around haphazardly, hanging off of the horse, clutching onto what he knows is the infinity gauntlet, remembers from when Peter told him so all those years ago, a few months after all of this. Told him that he had it, that he should've held onto it when Carol asked for it, should've gotten the stones and used it himself, should've saved everyone himself, he mightve survived it after all but Harley had only felt fear, knowing that he wouldn't have. He shakes the memory away, and follows the swirving horse, the clinging spider, knowing it'll lead him straight to where he needs to be.

The thing was, Harley had forgotten why Peter had fallen to the ground, why Carol had gotten the chance to ask him for the gauntlet, only remembering when he hears a scream of "Look out!" Before all hell breaks loose, canons shooting down from the sky and exploding to the ground, shaking the earth beneath him.

"Shit!" He tries to fly out of the trajectory, tries to get out of the battlefield while still staying close, but his leg gets nipped by the beam, he gets thrown off balance, and then he's falling, and crashes to the ground with a loud bang that's sounds quiet compared to the booms of the canons, of the tremors of the earth he can now feel beneath his fingertips, his entire body shuttering with the ground. He groans, his body searing with pain, before his mind reboots and the panic sets in. He checks the storage area, sighing with relief when the vial is still in tact, before checking his system to see whats broken, what's working, whats still up. His back replusor is down, so his flight system is gone, but outside of that, it seems everything is still working, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. Its okay, he can still do this, he'll just- have to find his way on land, he'll just have to be more careful.

He glances around, the earth still exploding around him, hearing wails of pain from people he can't even see, dust scattering in the air and blood seeping into the dirt, his stomach churning at the sight and his ears ringing as he tries to focus, stepping forward to run into the field, to find his way to Tony just as the tracker system reappears in his field of vision, just as he sees the red dot basically overtaking the screen, just as he's grabbed and is suddenly in flight, weaving through the air in somebody's arms.

Before Harley can even struggle, he's being dropped, the two suits landing back down at the same time, and Harley turns, his eyes widening as he sees the signature red and gold, scruffed and marked and dirty from the fight, the bright blue glow of the arc reactor, and the two eye slits that disappear as his visor retracts and suddenly Harley is stumbling because oh my god, he did this, this is it, this is- he is-

"Kid?? Is that you?" Tony asks, voice full of wonder and awe, full of bewilderment and concern, his iries a little darker, softer than he remembered, his hair and beard full of gray hairs and his face full of wrinkles from smiling, laughing, crying, and he's so real, this is real, that Harley can't help the sob that bubbles out of his chest, that slips past his lips. He can hear Tony still talking to him, saying something about Harley's suit, but he doesn't even hear it, can't hear it as he stumbles forward and pulls the man into a tight hug, his body lurching forward in another silence cry, tears flowing down his pushed up cheeks harder when he feels the warmth beneath his fingertips, the smooth metal and the feeling of skin and stubble against his cheek and he's here, he's okay, he's alive. "Harley?" The man murmurs quieter, sounded so confused but also not questioning, seemingly not caring as he pulls the younger man closer, running a hand down his back and pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "Bud?"

"I'm sorry," He blurts out, and he doesn't even know why he says it, but he needs him to know, needs him to. "I'm sorry. I just-" He rubs at his eye with a free hand, burrowing his face into Tony's neck, feeling the rapid bump of a heartbeat beneath his skin and sobbing again. "I missed you so much." Its a whisper, under his breath, one he doesn't mean for Tony to hear, but its clear he does, the man stiffening up for a few seconds before untensing with a shaky breath, tugging Harley even closer.

They don't say anything else for a while, Tony clearly thinking, putting together pieces of a situation he shouldn't even know, that Harley never should have told him, but he can't care, doesn't care right now as he feels Tony move, feels his chest rise and fall with each breath, feels the heat beneath his skin, feels his jaw moving and his cheek shifting as he blinks, and breaths, and lives. Harley could stay here forever, and be happy, but he knows he can't, knows that isn't how this day should, or can, go.

"What year are you from?" The older man questions, finally breaking the silence between them as he seemingly put the puzzle together, and Harley releases a shaky exhale, shutting his eyes, longing to block out the world and live in this moment forever.

"2029," He answers anyways, honestly, and suddenly Tony snorts, Harley furrowing his eyebrows at the seemingly random sound until-

"2029? Come on, that's not a real year."

Harley bursts into chuckles, unexpectedly, and from the grin it places on Tony's face, that was the purpose of the tease. "I mean it, old man. 2029."

Tony lets out a noise similar to a squawk at the old man comment, and lightly smacks the back of his head as Harley snickers, feeling so light and warm, he missed this, he missed this feeling so much, and seemingly sensing the sadness lingering under Harleys skin, the mood darkens again, their voices quieting again as Tony whispers, "2029, wow."

"Yeah," Harley whispers back, feeling the heaviness in the air on his back, his shoulders, his lungs, almost suffocating him with its thickness.

"So you're... 24?"

"23." He corrects, as Tony finally steps back and Harleys fingers twitch to pull him back in, as Tony's hand grabs his chin lightly, a thumb rubbing his cheek in a soothing, paternal gesture, his eyes softening even more, growing shiny in the faint gray light.

"All grown up."

Harley hums in affirmation, ignoring the way the back of his eyes start burning again, his heart swelling. "I have a kid, a son." Now that he has the chance, everything just seems to be spilling out of him without filter.

Tony's eyes widen and his face glows with a pride that makes Harley's shoulders shutter again, even as his smile widens far enough to break his face. "A son, huh?"

"Yeah, me and- me and Peter adopted him a few months ago, his name is Jackson Anthony, and- and he's perfect, Tony, he's perfect, he's so small, and sweet, and he barely cries, he's like a dream." And that he's started, he can't seem to stop, spilling quickly about Jax, and about Peter, the wedding, their life and how wonderful it is, how much he loves them, but before he knows it, he's biting his tongue and freezing into place, words on the tip of his tongue that he dare not let out, he can't, his chest feeling heavy and aching as he thinks, 'God I wish you could've been there'.

Tony just smiles, tight and sad, like he knows what he's thinking, like he knows what happens, and brushes another tear off his cheek as he asks, soft and low, "Harley, why are you here? Why did you come back?" And Harley just stares at him, begging and pleading him to understand without him having to say it, and when the mans face shutters, his eyes darkening and his smile tilting into a light frown, he knows that he does. "Kid-"

"I couldn't-" He shakes his head, clenching and unclenching his hands rapidly. "I had a chance, Tony, and I had to, I have to-"

"You can't, bub." Tony murmurs, and Harley just shakes his head again, harder, firmer.

"I have to."

"You can't." He restates, holding onto Harley's arms tightly and forcing him to make eye contact, to look him in the eyes even if Harley wants to look anywhere else, wants to think of any other way, any other option than this. "This is my destiny, kid."

"It doesn't have to be, there has to be another way," Harley pleads, "Captain Marvel could survive the snap, I did the calculations, if I just get the glove to her-"

Tony just shakes his head too, looking eerily serious, sullen. "It could change too much, it could change everything, Harley-"

"So? You'd survive-"

"You have a husband, and a kid-"

"So did you!" Harley spits back, shaking off Tony's hold and glaring at him, even as he shakes, and swallows around a lump in his throat. "You had Pepper, and Morgan, and- and Peter, and me and you just- you still want to just-"

All of the fight rushes out of him, and his shoulders slump, his head held low and salt pooling at his chin, dripping to the floor. Tony takes a step forward, and carefully places a hand onto Harleys shoulder, stating calmly, accepting, "I made my choice, kid. And I don't regret it." When Harley peers up at it, face scrunched up in agony, Tony continues, soft and sad. "How can I, when I get to see this? When I know you and Peter are so happy, when I-" He swallows. "When I hope Pepper has moved on, and Morgan has got the chance to grow up with his two older brothers." He squeezes Harley's face, and gives him a smile made only for him, full of honest, open love. "How can I regret any of it, when I know all of my family is together again?"

"Without you." Harley chokes out, and Tony's smile stays, shrugs once.

"If thats the price to pay, I'll pay it. I told myself I'd do anything, anything to get you and Peter back. I knew it was worth it, worth anything, and now, this," He rubs Harleys cheek as he crumbles with another agonizing sob, "Now I know for sure. It was worth it. It was all worth it."

Harley falls into his arms again, wailing loudly into his chest, and Tony just soothes him, shushes him quietly and holds him close. "I miss you so much,"

"I know," He murmurs faintly.

"I love you so much." He sobs, and Tony just presses a harder kiss to his head, and holds it there for a few seconds, liquid dripping onto his head.

"I love you too, polpetta. More than you'll ever know."

"I don't know if I can- can lose you again."

Tony doesn't answer this time, and Harley cries harder, his entire body tremoring just like the ground did, knowing, knowing he has to back, knowing he cant change Tony's mind, but aching, his heart shattering and crumbling into pieces of dust similar to the compound surrounding them, and it takes a few more minutes, a few more moments of a hug so tight it makes his muscles whine, his bone creak, before Tony tells him quietly, melancholy.  "You gotta to back, Harls."

He squeezes the man again, nodding, knowing he's right, knowing his husband his back there in the garage waiting for him, knowing his son is in his cradle, fast asleep, knowing his life is waiting for him back home. He savors the last few seconds of holding his father, his dad in his arms, before he steps back. Tony gives him a grin, one last, big toothy smile, a complete contrast to the shine in his eyes, on his cheeks, and Harley smiles back, saying one last "I love you," and hearing it echoed in return.

"I love you too. Both of you, all of you."

He takes the vial out of the storage slot, putting into place, and glances up one last time, searing all of Tony's features into his mind, into memory, his words echoing in his head as he presses the button, whispers a goodbye, and shrinks.

The return back is much faster, Harley only getting a blink before he's back in his garage, the room a mess similar to how he left it, and the first thing he sees is Peter, his husband, the love of his life still stood in the very same place, in the doorway of the garage, his baby browns wide and teary, looking so fearful, so scared, yet so thankful that Harley returned.

"Harley?!?" He gasps, and Harley barely gives his suit time to retract before he's rushing forward and crashing into Peter, Peter already into soothing mode and whispering faint reassures, to himself or to harley he doesn't know, Harley crumbling again in his arms and sputtering out, over and over and over, "He loves you, he loves us, loves us so much." Like its the last chance he'd ever get to say it again.

Peter just holds him close, similar to the way his dad did only moments before, and Harley sinks into the warmth, vowing to live in the here and the now from now on. To live in the moment, and be there for his husband and his son, knowing that Tony was watching over them, with that same proud smile and little glint in his eyes.

#parkner week 2020 #parkner #parley #harley keener/peter parker #harley keener #peter parker #tony stark #irondad #this is mostly irondad oops #sorryyy #the rest of the week will be better #or more parkner anyways 😂

[piperdelaprim]

Headcanon: If Piper made a coming out video (Piper x Tara)

[Yes lads, this is another Tiper piece, with a little bit of a different format. She won't mention her by name, but now you'll know who she's referring to.]

Also, to keep this shorter on the dash, I’ve added the “keep reading” cut after the intro! Sorry for not adding this before! Also this took me 2 months to finish it be like that sometimes tho

Piper: [mellow] Hi guys...

[After saying that shyly, she For about 10 seconds, Piper, while sitting down, stares at the camera and then shifts her focus to her laptop screen, examining how she looks with a rare casual outfit while contemplating on her next set of words.]

Piper: So I don't think anybody's ever gonna see this. I highly doubt in God's name that I'm ever gonna post this somewhere,

[Piper slightly chuckles at her own statement, but quickly shifts back to her serious tone]

Piper: ...but I have to say it. To somebody--er, somethin' rather.

[She chuckles once again]

Piper: As a lot of people know, I'm...well, not poor. I grew up very wealthy, and very fortunate.

Piper: [Her tone raises slightly] So damn fortunate that I got bored of it! [Yet another chuckle] Kiddin', kiddin', but I didn't feel like I had a life to live, uh, I didn't feel free, is a better way to say it. I kinda knew as a kid that I was missing a lil' somethin' in my life. Of course when I was a little child I didn't get this dang philosophical, but it was always there. And I know, I know. I pro'lly sound privileged as hell, but at the end of the day I'm grateful for everything I've endured thus far, but that's not the point here.

[Piper lets out a large sigh before continuing with her story]

Piper: My momma and poppa...though I love 'em to death, God bless their hearts, they wanted me to get married as soon as I can. I was...well...I ain't sure if this is how you say it but, conditioned to think that, that um...I was gonna get married...like a normal girl would! [Pause]

Piper: [Sarcastically] Well, I'm still not married!

[Piper pauses to drink the water cup beside her and then looks at the camera again for a couple moments before continuing]

Piper: And I really wasn't sure why I felt like nobody ever felt like they were...you know...the one! I mean, my life is already so dang crazy, I don't brawl for money or fame, but to, uh, release all the anger within me--to make up for all the times I couldn't resist what I was told to do. The funny thing is...I'm well over the adult age--and I still don't feel so free. I suppose I'm independent, but not exactly...free. If that makes sense.

[About to talk about the most serious part of her life, Piper lets out another big sigh]

Piper: I was set up with many different men by my family, and most of them were very kind and courteous toward me. They were all very good men, but fallin' in love with them was very hard for me to do--it ain't somethin' that came naturally. Well, I ain't been in love for a very very long time. Last time I was in love--it was many years ago--it didn't seem to work out, and lookin' back, it's hard for me to understand why things happened the way they did. Maybe it truly wasn't meant to be, I don't know, but the stars...didn't align. [quietly] They...uh...never did. But anyway, now it's a different time for the rest of the world; we're becomin' more open to each other and we're becomin' more accepting of things I couldn't have imagined being okay when I was growin' up. I'm talkin' about...being gay.

[Nervously, Piper laughs quietly to lighten the mood for herself]

Piper: Being gay, in my household and my family...was...unheard of. I'd like to say even forbidden. We're Christians and they said we can't be gay. I don't even know who the hell "they" is, but it was made sure of that I cannot be gay. It was even an insult I heard growin' up--and my, my, people thought it was a brutal word. Many of my classmates used to say it left n' right thinkin' that their dignities would be stripped for good! And frankly, because of the cruel world we live in, I thought bein' gay was weird, not normal, sinful even. 'Cause to everybody else it was, and I was predetermined to think the same.

[Piper suddenly starts smiling widely out of nowhere, and starts to chuckle, thinking fondly of the next thing she is about to say.]

Piper: Sorry! I get pretty damn giddy thinkin' about this part. I'm just...well I'll just tell you. So anyway, fast forward to present day. I brawled for the hell of it, just for fun. I thought I was straight but life didn't treat me very well.

[Piper suddenly remembers this aspect of her life and the mood shifts back to its original serious tone, but slightly more mellow.]

Piper: I got shit everyday. Sometimes just for breathin'. And it sucked for me. I didn't fit in because people were scared o' me. I was lonely, I was sad, I was...empty to the point where I thought disappearin' would be the answer. It wasn't great to be me at the time. There were such beautiful people havin' the time of their lives out in the battlefield--some o' them so madly in love with either each other or with life as a whole. And I was as jealous as a girl could be. I wanted that so darn badly that my anger built up too much to the point where I just shut everyone out. I also became too violent out in the battlefield and accidentally physically hurt too many people that didn't deserve a scratch. It began to all be too much.

[Piper then remembered the good part about her story, and she starts smiling brightly once again]

Piper: Anyway, this is what you’ve been waiting for, them little happy moments! It’s still a secret, sorta. But at least I can talk about it. So, um, I met this lovely lady in town one day, and I was feelin’ kinda hopeless so I went to talk to her about stuff, ‘cause I had no one. I thought I was a lil mad for just goin’ to some random stranger and ask ‘em about what I should do about my sad ol’ life. And to my surprise she read me like a book...with her cards! [laughs] It was crazy! She just clicked with me so fast, it was somethin’ I never felt before. You know, it made my heart race a lil. 

[She laughs again, except more nervously]

Piper: I’m actually a little nervous right now talkin' about her 'cause it's so scary but, obviously what we have was more than what meets the eye! [She laughs nervously again, but then continues to smile] I'm so nervous talkin' about this because it was against everythin' I knew. It didn't feel right at all, but my feelin's couldn't take it anymore. I was already so restricted in my normal life and everythin' prior to it, I couldn't let this opportunity to be happy go. Again, I thought I was a fool tellin' er how I felt. I mean, what if she wasn't...you know?! But like I said my own happiness was on the line. All the signs added up, for some odd reason I was confident enough that my chances were high. Ah, haha...my mom always taught me to shoot my shot...ahh she might be a lil' disappointed at me though! Well anyway, that new lovely lady with a mask told me she felt the same, and at that moment I never felt more free in my life. I was so scared to my stomach, I was scared of rejection, not only from her but from the rest of the world. Even though it felt so wrong to do, the feeling afterward felt so right.

[Piper takes a short breath and takes a sip of water.]

Piper: Well, I've been ramblin' and ramblin' but I will say this last thing. Love can fix a lot of things--not everythin', but a lot. I still got my issues, life ain't gonna be dandy forever just 'cause I found my lover, but consider this: do things because of love, doesn't gotta be that icky, cheesy type o' love that I was talkin' to you about, but it could be your family, your friends, whoever or whatever, alright! I realized I brawl 'cause I hated myself, not 'cause I loved the adrenaline or the glory. I also realized that I denied this part of me for so long cause I was scared, and I hated feelin' more outcasted than I usually had. I'm still tryin' my best to set myself free, but it's a process that became a little better for me to handle. Just don't do things outta hate or outta fear, it ain't good for you, it ain't good for nobody.

[Piper's cell phone rings, once she finishes her sentence, she picks it up]

Piper: [on the phone] Hey love! How much did you earn today? [She smiles as the person on the other end speaks] That's good. I would be more than happy help you if you wanted, it's what I should do for you, but you keep on sayin' no! [Inaudibly, the person on the other end speaks as she laughs happily]

Piper: [on the phone] I'll come by later for sure! I don't exactly need a readin' though, I'd just love to talk normally. Did you want to...

[Piper uses her cursor to stop the recording before she could finish her question to the person on the other side of the line.]

...

And scene. I hope you enjoyed it! This was a long time coming but I'm so happy I was able to finish it!

#brawl stars #brawl stars piper #brawl stars tara #tiper #brawl stars headcanon #headcanon #brawl stars headcanons

[master-hand-official]

10 song tag

I’m writing this because @crazy-hand-official did it a couple weeks ago when i was logged out of tumlbr and said “do this if you want!” at the bottom and i just now read it and i do want to, once again, list some of my favorite tracks of the last while or so. Enjoy!!! And I’m not tagging anyone I’m just gonna say “Do this if you want!”

1. All Alone - Gorillaz

I’m so glad i popped Demon Days in to try it cause i knew from like track 3 that i was listening to some kind of “game changing” album like lol wtf i wanna be like damon albarn and release an album i produced but credit it to my OCs. also the woman’s verse in this is just so lovely

2. Nature Boy - (Cover) by Gandalf

shiiiiiit they did an excellent version. where tf did this song come from lmao

3. Trailerpark - Blur

This song RUUUULES..... it feels like it fits so nichely into “Songs that Are Exactly Up My Alley”. I used to hate Damo’s “fReeStyLe ForTY Faiuve!” bits but i grew to love the lines haha

4. Happy Hour - Weezer

My new singalong Weezer track. It’s just OH SO singable. “Let’s chill out on this island, I’ve been suckin’ on a lime and coconut” is just rich!!!

5. Rooster - Alice In Chains

daaaaamn that voice man. I need to listen to more of them so if you have rec’s...

6. Tiny Girls - Iggy Pop

You just know iggy’s tiny girls are a buncha strippers lol. I first heard this from Martin Gore’s cover, which is a lot less sleazy. I love that sleaze tho.

7. Outro - Vulfpeck

this song is SOOOO chill so catchy so good like i wanna learn the bass because of it wtf

8. Elephant Love Medley - From the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

UGHHH im gonna see it in a couple weeks woah wtf!!! Anyway  i wish Ewan would have sung this to me... i love the absolute cheese

9. Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead

This is a superb opening track lads...

10. Policy of Truth (Capitol Mix) - Depeche Mode

I’ve known about this mix for over a year now but it’s still one of the only long mixes of the DM songs i still come back to (more often than the original perhaps??) even though it’s 8 min long!

#10 song tag

[rxcusant]

Lol explain Kingdom hearts to me. Like all of it. Cause I'm confused as fk. Not KH3 tho cause I'm still going through it.

buckle up lads

so theres a buncha keyblade masters called foretellers and theyre all runnin round like headless chickens cause their master disappeared and nobodys telling each other anything so they all start fightin (except this one guy luxu voiced by max mittleman, he grabbed a box and high tailed it outta there) and then it sparks a keyblade war for all the light in kingdom hearts i think ??? and then i legit forget what happens from here because i hate ux with every fiber of my being but it made this cool place called a keyblade graveyard, its pretty dope.

fast forward 1000 years and we got the cool wayfinder trio all living in land of departure about to take their mark of mastery except terra doesnt pass because Mark Hamil Said Darkness Sucks. also we meet this old guy Xehanort he kinda sucks a lot. theres these enemies called unversed rolling around and mark hamil tells aqua and terra to go stop them but ventus said HEY IM COMING TO and ran after terra so aquas left to be the mom to bring them both home idk and its revealed ventus is made of pure light and xehanort literally split the darkness form his heart and it made vanitas-- hes responsible for all the unversed, he sucks, we dont like him but we love him-- in an effort to forge this thing called the X-Blade (PRONOUNCED LIKE KEY BLADE I HATE THIS SERIES) that will open the door to kingdom hearts, and the x-blade can only be made when pure light and darkness clash, and like... restart the keyblade war and bring about balance?? idk. And xehanort wants to live long enough to see this happen so he literally possesses terras body. Cool! Just what the poor guy needed. Ven and vanitas fight and ven sacrifices himself so he goes to take a Very Long Nap and vanitas just dies like the bitch he is. But ven’s heart finds his way to baby 5yo sora who decides HEY ILL HOARD YOU IN MY HEART FOR THE NEXT 11 YEARS and thats why roxas looks like ventus. Aqua yeets him in the land of departure and then like..locks the world up and it turns into castle oblivion.  meanwhile terra and aqua punch each other and terras about to fall into a darkness pit but aqua sacrifces heself to get him out and so she ends up trapped there for 11 years and terra??is now terranort and has amnesia and this old dude Ansem The Wise finds him and adopts him and an apprentice. yeah. bet he wont regret that decision ; )

10 years later kh1 happens and sora and riku and kairi are chilling on destiny islands until it explodes and riku fucks off to the darkness and kairi fucks off to soras hearts -- i hope she said hi to ventus in there-- and sora ends up in traverse town where he meets donald and goofy. YOU SEE king mickey of disney castle also fucked off because worlds are disappearing to darkness and he left donald and goofy a note to go find The Key cause thatll help. so they do and they journey around with sora and become good buddies i love the trinity trio so much. eventually they meet riku at hollow bastion again and hes been posssessed by this dude Ansem whos not Ansem the Wise but is actually Xehanort’s Heartless (i hate this fucking series) and they find kairis comatose body chillin in the corner and they have a fight scene thats engraved in the memory of Everyone whos ever played PS2 KH1 KAIRI! KAIRI! OPEN YOUR EYES! ITS NO USE. THAT GIRL HAS LOST HER HEART. SHE CANNOT WAKE UP. oh my god why didnt they add a skip scene button. anyway they punch the possession outta riku and sora stabs himself with the keyblade to release kairis heart BUT it also releases his own heart which created his nobody, Roxas, who got vens heart???who thats why he looks like ven?? and it created namine who is kairis nobody because??i honestly forget i hate this goddamn series. anyway soras a heartless for a few minutes but kairi got her heart and life back and wanted to get some sweet sweet screentime and so she saved sora and restored him Thank you kairi. so sora dumps kairi off at traverse town and goes to give Ansem / Xehanort’s Heartless a good ol ass whopping ad they win and restore the worlds but kairi and sora are separated again I’LL COME BACK TO YOU, I PROMISE! I KNOW YOU WILL! WHEN YOU WALK AWAY YOU DONT HEAR ME SAY PLEAAAAAAASE OH BABYYY DONT GO oh also riku and king mickey and sora closed the door to kingdom hearts and trapped riku and mickey in the realm of darkness, that was a thing.

and then chain of memories happened. theyre in castle oblivion!!! whoa!! we meet the organization for the first time! whoa!!! we meet namine!! whoa!!! so like namine has sora-memory powers and can tinker with his memories and the memories of everyone hes connected to (AND HOLY FUCK IS THAT BOY CONNECTED TO A LOTTA PEOPLE NAMINE IS VERY POWERFUL) and the organization is making namine rewrite soras memories as he progresses throuhg castle oblivion to turn him into marluxias pawn so he cna use sora to like..overhtrow the organization, i think?? i hate this seriees. but it all works out in the end except soras memories are so scrambled he decides to sleep for a year to get all the right ones back. MEANWHILE RIKUS IN THE BASEMENT OF CASTLE OBLIVION and hes fighting his own demons i mean darkness i mean ansem i mean xehanorts heartless and he meet up with mickey a few times and then he meets DiZ and he also meets a replica of himself--yeah by the way the organization is making replicas, That Sure Wont Ever Be Referenced Again : )-- and its this game that rikus like YEAH I CAN USE THE DARKNESS AS POWER AND STRENGTH and HES GONNA WALK THE ROAD TO DAWN and then every riku rper put dawn in their url and i got confused trying to keep them all straight lord please help me im a little ol sammi

then we have 358/2 days for the DS which i never replayed cause it was tedious af which is all about the organization and roxas’s time in the organization and meeting his best buds axel and xion and saix standing in the corner being a jealous little binch PLEASE SAIX JUST BE NICE THEYLL GIVE YOU ICE CREAM TOO IF YOU ASK POLITELY Xion is another replica except shes a replica of sora but something got messed up and she got his memories of kairi which is why she looks like her but with black hair for whatever reason, i think nomura just wanted a cool goth girl to add to the series and we all thank him for it, and she and roxas become so close they kinda start influencing that weird memory shit going on and xion keeps trying to leave the organization to set things right but axel always gets stuck with the icky jobs and we got the iconic GO ON YOU JUST KEEP RUNNIN BUT ILL ALWAYS BE THERE TO BRING YOU BACK and i think around this time roxas is also super fed up with the organization and decides FUCK YALL IM DONE and punches saix and leaves. but xion finds him and they have a cool boss battle sequence got i love you xion you are a POWERHOUSE but roxas defeats her and she dies and its the saddest thing in the world AND NOBODY REMEMBERS HER WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT!!!! anyway roxas decides hes gonna punch kingdom hearts next cause it was xions last wish but riku, who is sporting a cool blindfold for edge, is like HEY WE NEED YOU TO WAKE UP SORA and roxas is all SORA THIS SORA THAT I DONT GIVE A FUCK and tey fight! and riku loses cause roxas has two keybladees! OBLIVION IS THE BEST KEYBLADE IT LOOKS SUPER COOL I LOVE IT SO MUCH WOW but riku rips off his blindfold and summons the darkness and he takes on ansems, xehanorts heartless, appearance and he squeezes roxas until he passes out and then they yeeted roxas into a data twilight town for a few days.

so enter kh2 with the 6 hours roxas tutorial in the data twilight town until he goes to find sora and returns to him. SO FINALLY AFTER AN ENTIRE YEAR sora wakes up with all his proper memories and so does donald and goofy and theyre like COOL LETS GO FIND RIKU AND KING MICKEY and they go journeying around the worlds again to stop the organization. meanwhile axels gettin desperate to see his best friend for life roxas again and kidnaps kairi but shes like HEY I AINT HAVING THAT and runs off and ends up in twilight town but axel finds her and kidnaps her anyway but then saix kidnaps her to the world that never was. and so soras like WE GOTTA GO SAVE KAIRI AND RIKU NOW cause by the way earlier like midpoint of the game maybe Mickey was like SAY FELLAS DID SOMEONE MENTION THE DOOR TO DARKNESS and its one of my favorite quotes in this hell franchise, so like THYE KNOW KING MICKEY IS OK that just leaves kairi and riku and stopping the organization. so they find kairi and they find riku and sora cries a bit and im just happy the destiny trio is together again. And DiZ showed up again, hes actually ansem the wise, and he talks about computers and hearts and research and xemnas, the organizations leader, is likeI WAS YOUR APPRENTICE! BUT YOU DIDNT LET ME DO ILLEGAL HUMAN EXPERIMENT SON HEARTS SO I KICKED YOU OUT AND RREMOVED MY OWN HEART AND THATS WHY THERES A HEARTLESS AND A NOBODY OF XEHANORT and ansem the wise is like YEAH BITCH and he explodes and riku turns back to normal but he also really needs a haircut. so they go punch xemnas in his zebra coat and riku and sora chill in the realm of darkness for about ten minute son the beach, i guess aqua was hanging out somewhere else, and they get a message form kairi in a bottle and the door to light opens and they go home and it was literally!!!!! a better fucking ending!!!! than kh3!!!!!!!!! thats my tea!!!!!!

so then we have KH3D, dream drop distance, which begins telling us ‘hey when you kill a heartless and a nobody that person is gonna be recompleted so uhhhhh xehanorts coming back Thats Not Good, make sora and riku do their mark of mastery test in the realm of sleep to get the power of waking’ and thats the whole game but its great because flowmotion! dream eaters!  TWEWY TWEWY TWEWY T W E W Y!!!!!! playable riku!!! fun worlds!!! soriku!!! except KH3D’s fatal flaw is THEY INTRODUCED TIME TRAVEL INTO THIS FUCKING COMPLEX HELL HOLE I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM FOR THAT. anyway rikus been doing a great hecking job!!!! except sora ended up in twtnw and kept chasing the dreams into the deepest pit of slumber and the organization broke his heart so they use him as one of xehanorts vessels [gesutres to my blog with will smith arms] yeeah babey. and riku is understandably like HEY GIVE ME MY FRIEND BACK and xehanort is like FUCK OFF TWINK and mickey and donald and goofy and axel, whos been recompleted as lea, arrive and steal comatose sora back form xehanort and xehanort monologues about the X-Blade split into 20 pieces- 7 of light, 13 of darkness- and so hes gonna make 13 vessels of darkness with his heart inside them and the guardians of light gotta gather 7 lights to clash and bringg about the keyblade war or bring about kingdom hearts, i-- i literally hate this series so much Why do you think i went on a year long hiatus??? i needed to calm the fuck down-- either way xehanort yeets off with his darknesses and soras STILL comatose and rikus like I WILL DIVE INTO HIS SLEEP AND SAVE HIM BECAUSE DEARLY BELOVED IS PLAYING AND if i continue this joke someones bound to get mad at me for ‘’’pushign a soriku agenda’’’ BUT YKNOW WHAT, RIKUS A REAL MVP AND PUNCHES A NIGHTMARE VEN AND SAVES SORA AND SORA HUGS HIM AND ITS GREAT AND I LOVE MY SONS SO MUCH and the kh3d ends with them saying ‘hey look kairis gonna do something!’ but Little Did We Know.

and thats your summary of what the fuck happened in kingdom hearts. i hate this game so much.

#outofxiii #long post #i didnt have to answer this like i did. ive been making a video all day long and im so close to finishing #i could have linked the Good Enough Summary of Kingdom Hearts video and went back to my own project #but no #here i am. i actually went and did this. i hate myself and i hate kingodm hearts #nobody come into my ask like Um Actually [x] Happened because its 2am and i assure you i do not care!! #Anonymous #!questions

[notepadsandtealeaves]

Hi, I just found your blog and it's wonderful!! I usually do this thing where I ask writers what their favorite things they have written is so that I can read those pieces. So, what pieces of yours would you recommend I should definitely read? Feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you want :))

First let me say hello and welcome to my blog—where the updates are infrequent, but usually (extremely) lengthy. ((way too lengthy, some might argue, but those people would be wrong lmao))

And secondly—well aren’t you sweet!

Not knowing what fandom brought you here I’m not exactly sure what to suggest, so I’ll just give you a bit from each one I currently write for.

The Batboys

Most of what I’ve written for these lads has been for my 12 Days of Batmas series. The Christmas series that has taken me 2+ years to write lmfaooo. Look, the 2020s have been ass so far, and inspiration likes to abandon me at years end, but anyways! Most fills are a HC/ficlet combo of varying lengths. It’s an all-around fun read, I think, and there’s a lot there despite the fact that I’ve yet to finish it.

As far as individual works go, Maybe (Love, Once Lost) is definitely a favorite despite the mental toll it took on me lol. I love reading angst and H/C fics, but writing them is… an experience. Probably wouldn’t have been so bad, but I was also writing like three other angsty pieces (they were fills for an event and I wanted to get them done ASAP) so I was already feeling the strain. The writing process gave me a lot of grief, but looking back on it now I’m p. happy with the way it turned out.

And as a palate cleanser for all that pain, Damian’s installment in the Autumn’s Arrival series is a cute little read (littlebeing used loosely here since I have a penchant for wordiness, as you can probably tell lmao).

HQ

In recent years Haikyuu!has become my main fandom, and I’m okay with that lol. As for works—honestly anything I write for Asahi is an instant favorite because he’s the loml, my sunshine, my Big Texas Cinnamon Roll lol. But if I had to pick my current favorite it’d probably be my latest piece for him, It’s so Lovely, Loving You; it’s a songfic based around one of my favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite artist. It was very relaxing to write, despite the lil dash of angst in the middle.

As for the rest of the fandom… The Autumn’s Arrival series is mostly comprised of HQ boys at current, despite the fact that it’s technically multi-fandom lol. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it really is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written in general. A lot of people have described those fics as warm hugs, and honestly that’s all I ever wanted lol. They’re v. much meant to be comfort fics, so I’m happy to know that I’ve been able to consistently hit my mark. ((also writing this has reminded me that I need to update my m.list lol))

And lastly if you’re looking for really long, drawn out character study type deals, the Love You Like I Do series is a pretty interesting read, if I do say so myself. It’s currently on hiatus for the for foreseeable future, tho at current I’ve covered all of Karasuno’s first and third years (well aside from Kiyoko as I’m including her with the team’s management).

MHA

I haven’t written much for this fandom—a far as published works go, anyways. I’ve got a lot of WIPs, but god only knows when they’ll be released. At current there’s only the love letters written for my 2021 Valentine’s Day event (characters included are Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Hawks) and the NSFW ABCs written for Dabi (please excuse the look of this one; I’ve yet to go back and give it a facelift lol). Despite the fact that it was my first time writing for any of them, the letters were super fun to write as all of the guys are comfort characters for me. The ABCs were also a really fun write because I love Dabi’s trifling ass so damn much. I just love the dude’s energy, and what that says about me I do not rightly know lmao…

RDR

Most of what I’ve written for my cowbabies is over on my main blog (please ignore the state of that m.list, it still needs to be edited), but it’s all all NSFW so if that’s not your thing feel free to ignore that lol. (it’s also Javier-centric, with one random Strauss HC thrown in for texture and flavor lol)

On a more wholesome note, I did installments for all of the van der Linde gang in that VDE that I mentioned before. Sadly, my favorites are also some of the most overlooked, so I’m more than happy to give them a shout out now.

The ladies: Abigail | Molly | Susan | Tilly The gents: Kieran | Strauss | Swanson | Trelawny

Unsurprisingly those listed aren’t exactly the fandom’s darlings, so it isn’t a surprise that they didn’t get much attention, but it’s still lowkey disappointing nonetheless.

That said, don’t feel the need to read them—or anything else I’ve listed—if you’re not that way inclined! At the end of the day fan fics (and fandom as a whole) are meant to be a form of enjoyable escapism—if more people remembered that and acted accordingly this damned hellsite would be a far chiller place, but ever as always I digress…

Alright, I’ve prattled on way longer that I probably should have, but such is my way lol. Thanks for taking the time to reach out, I really do appreciate it!! And do so I hope you enjoy your stay on my blog 💖

#them (in good faith): elaborate as much as you want! :D #me (being the wordy lil goblin i am): you sure about that fam?? lmao #just popped on here in between adulting and there's so many nice'n'sweet reblogs as well as this and i just... #i am feeling so many things #my heart is doing a swoop thanks for liking my work so much guys ;n; #i'm gonna reply to those reblogs too but it'll probably be late tonight or tomorrow as i still have Things(TM) to do--more's the gd pity :/ #anyways... #asks answered

[gusenitsaa]

En Garde

Another deleted scene style fic, around the time of 6x09. Emma hasn't told her family about her visions yet, and decides that fencing lessons from Killian might improve her chances of defeating Gideon.  I’ve written Killian teaching Emma to fence before, fluffily, but it seemed a good time to update the headcanon with the added angst of those visions!  

Read on FF!

There was no time for a moving day; not when every day brought a new disaster, a new story no one was sure if they wanted to see the end of. A single chest of Killian's belongings moved in the first day, set carefully next to a box in her closet, waiting for a quiet moment to be shared. His jackets mingled with hers in the closet, his boots sat neatly underneath the hung leathers and books and papers were gradually filling the empty spaces of their house. Sometimes Killian mentioned something that he would need to get from his ship and within a couple hours it would appear on the kitchen table. He suspected she was testing her magic on his belongings when he was not looking, but it saved him a trip and hopefully calmed her frayed nerves, so he simply thanked her with a kiss on the cheek and filed another hole in a still too empty home.

Two battered sticks joined her boots next to the door, growing more banged up each day as Killian and Henry sparred in the front yard in their spare moments. It warmed her heart to see them spending time together, but from time to time the sight filled her with sudden dread as wooden practice swords were replaced in her mind by sharp steel and unresponsive magic. She fought for her life without a sound, clasping her hand tight to hide her battle from her family no more than a few paces away.

Henry hugged her tight when her eyes were distant and Killian pressed her shaking hand to his lips with questioning eyes. She caught them glancing at each other sometimes, when she told them again that she was fine. They had finally stopped asking with their lips, perhaps hoping she would tell them eventually on her own, but their eyes ever begged her for an explanation that was not forthcoming. She refused to give voice to the whole story, refused to interrupt the happy illusion she had built for herself.

The stick flew from Henry's hand once more and Killian laughed, leaning his own against the steps. "You're doing better, lad. But I've the reach of my arm and a couple hundred years training head start."

"Aren't you supposed to let me win sometimes?" Henry grumbled halfheartedly, diving to retrieve his 'weapon.'

"Never!" Killian insisted. "One of these days you will disarm me. And you will know for certain that it will not be because I let you do so. Now off with you, lad, your mother will end me if you're late for school again." Henry tossed his stick to Killian who caught it as the boy bolted for the bus, grumbling about how between two magical moms, shouldn't he just appear at school?

Killian laughed and gave Henry's pole a practice swing or two as he turned back towards the house, to his surprise he was met with the sudden appearance of a pole aiming for his head. He ducked by impulse, his arm moving before he'd the chance to identify the person on the other end of the attack. Emma grinned at him, blocking his swing with the stick he'd put down a moment ago.

"My turn, pirate. Someone ought to bring you down a peg or two!"

Killian smirked, breaking away and moving to circle her. "You think so? You may have the advantage with firearms and fireworks but swordplay... Swordplay is my strength, love."

"You underestimated me the last time we dueled. Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"I did. But that is not why you won."

"Why did I win, then?" Emma retorted. She grew tired of waiting for Killian to make the first move and dove forward, seeking an opening that was gone as soon as she moved. Suddenly she was on the defense, pressed backwards step by step until her boot smacked against the bottom of their steps. She wavered for a moment and then fell backwards, only saved from a bruised backside by Killian's hook, which had suddenly slipped through her belt loop and tugged her upright again.

"You won because I did not wish to see you die on that lakebed, my dear."

"Okay... maybe I could use a few pointers," she admitted.

"Why the sudden interest in fencing, love?"

"It couldn't hurt to be prepared, right?"

"And you think a few tricks with a blade will make you better prepared?" He reached for her hand, which had begun to tremble.

His eyes were questioning her again and she forced a smile. "I mean why not? Things are crazy, and it doesn't look like they're gonna let up anytime soon And it's an excuse to spend some time together, just the two of us. Wouldn't you like that?"

"Of course, Emma. Perhaps once all this madness with the untold stories is ov- "

"Not after. Now."

"Now?" Her eyes were blazing with determination and he tilted his head to one side, studying her intently,

"Right now!" She held out her hand to him and he took it without question. Their house vanished and the smell of salt brought a smile to his lips. When his vision cleared they were on the deck of the Jolly Roger.

"Right now it is, then." Emma had replaced the wooden stick in her hand with steel and he raised his eyebrows. "I've a better idea." Killian moved to the hatch to his cabin, knocking twice before pulling the hatch open. "Permission to come in?" he called.

Emma heard Belle's voice call something back that must have been affirmation, because Killian pulled the hatch the rest of the way open and dropped inside.

"Oh Emma!" Belle exclaimed, upon seeing her peeking her head into the opening. "I'd been meaning to thank you."

Emma cocked her head to one side, squatting down to get a better look into the cabin. To her surprise she saw that the cabin was now strewn with flowers and old books, with a tea pot steaming cheerfully in the center of the table.

"For what?"

"Excuse us, Lady Belle," Killian interrupted, reaching behind her to a pair of swords hooked to the wall "I just needed to grab these. Emma and I were going to have a bit of a lesson above, will that bother you?"

"Of course not," she said cheerfully, "it's still your ship, Killian."

Belle might have fallen for the distraction, but Emma noticed the pink suddenly at the tips of Killian's ears and a smile spilt her lips. "What were you saying Belle, what did you want to thank me for?"

"Oh, Killian told me about all this that you sent over, you were right, it is really wonderful to have some familiar things around right now when things are so..." The pink in Killian's ears had spread to his cheeks but now Belle noticed it too, though she may have been clued in by Emma's chuckle.

Before she had a chance to say anything Killian was up the ladder and she chuckled, following close behind.

"Killian?" she prodded gently. "Why does Belle think the flowers were my idea?"

"Bloody hell, Swan, leave a man his pride," Killian grumbled, tossing her one of the swords.

She shook her head and turned her attention to the sword in her hand, "So, why is this better than ours?"

"Training blade, sharp enough to cut but only just," he explained. "If I'm to be sparring with you, I'd prefer to not be constantly in fear of doing you grievous harm should you trip on a loose plank." She ran her finger along the edge, which was hardly sharper than a dinner knife. "I was going to move Henry on to them soon. I had them filed down when I taught... well, let's just say they've not seen use in many years."

"These are perfect, Killian," she said with a small smile.

The hatch door popped open behind them and Belle pulled herself up, grumbling about swollen feet as she did so. The red returned to Killian's cheeks instantly as Belle marched her way across the deck toward him. The point of his practice blade hit the deck with a thud as Belle walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"You're sweet as well as clever, Killian. I can't ever thank you enough for everything you've done for us."

"It's nothing more than you deserve," he replied and Emma grinned, Captain Hook, scourge of the high seas was blushing like a school girl, right to the tips of his ears. With a final squeeze she released him and made her way back to the hatch and Killian glanced back at Emma.

"Not a word to the lad about the flowers," he grumbled, "or your father, not a word to Dave."

"It will be our little secret," she agreed, raising the practice sword to get a feel for its weight. She could feel the beginning of the trembling in her hand and she tightened her grip in response, reminding herself again and again that the hilt in her hand would not be the one to...

"Relax, love." Killian's voice came from behind her, she had been so focused to hiding the tremors that she hadn't even seen him move. "Widen your stance, bring your foot forward to here," he tapped the deck and she glared up at him. "I think I'm a little past fighting stance, Killian."

"Did anyone ever teach you a proper stance?"

"No, I just-"

"Perhaps you can humor an old pirate then? This is the foundation. Coming back into this position should be so second nature you do not think about it. Because there will be no time to think about it." He moved behind her and ran his hand up her arm to where her hand clenched the hilt with an iron grip. "Relax."

" Killian-" Emma grumbled, "if I relax my grip I'm just going to be disarmed."

"That yellow contraption of yours, Emma, do you ever feel the need to get out and push?"

Emma took a deep breath trying to push back down the mounting irritation. She didn't have time for this. "No Killian, but I don't see how-"

"You do not feel the need to push your vessel, only guide it on its way. The blade has one job, and it is far better at doing it then you are. Let it do its job. You simply guide it on its way."

"Did you make Henry sit though all of this before getting to the good stuff?"

Killian's face fell and he took a step back. "What is your hurry, love? I thought you wished to spend this time together?"

Emma shook her head, letting the blade fall as she stepped forward. "I'm sorry. Killian. I just don't think I have time for the wax-on wax-off treatment. I need to practice, I need to-"

"Before what?"

Emma stopped speaking abruptly and glanced down at the deck.

"Emma please. Why won't you tell me what haunts you so?"

"I'm fi-"

"Don't-" His jaw tensed and there was sudden fire in his eyes that dried up the word before it fell from her lips. "Do not lie to me again."

"Killian-"

"Refuse to answer. Tell me to shove off. Do what you will, but do not... lie to me."

"I'm not fine," she admitted, "but I can't... talk about it yet. Can we just practice?"

Killian nodded, moving behind her again and to her surprise gave her a slight nudge forward. She lost her balance and stumbled forward, turning to glare at him as she recovered herself.

"That is why you need a proper stance," he told her, eyes sparkling with amusement.

The clash of metal echoed across the water, rapid clanging and quiet grunts and not a word between them. She wanted to tease him, something about having so many more years of practice than she had. Something flirtatious or... her grunt of frustration was no longer for another successful parry. He fenced like it was no more difficult than breathing, the blade an extension of himself; as much a part of him as his hook. What he had in grace she made up for in sheer frustrated passion, blow after blow pushing him back by sheer force of will rather than finesse.

She'd finally told him of her visions two days ago, and it might as well have turned him to stone. His jaw was tense, his eyes hard. But he didn't say a word. Not one teasing comment... not one smirk on his lips. She lunged forward again. Too slow, or he'd seen it coming. Either way the blow she had anticipated he would block was instead dodged and she dropped her blade to catch herself, the deck of his ship as hard and unyielding as his eyes had become.

He sheathed his blade and offered her a hand and she glared up at him defiantly. "Damn it Killian, say something."

His gaze softened and he cocked his head to one side. "What do you wish to hear?"

"You've been bottling it up for days. Just ... just do it. I don't have time for this passive aggressive-"

"You will have time," Killian cut her off.

"Please, Killian?"

"Have I upset you, love? You wished to practice with a blade and I have obliged you. For hours each day, this is what you wanted is it not?"

"You're mad at me," she pressed, "for refusing the scissors. Aren't you?"

"Whatever course you set, Emma. I am with you."

"Stop... stop telling me that. And just say it. Just tell me you hate it-"

"Of course I bloody hate it!" She had asked for this, prodded him into it but still she jumped when his words rang out loud enough for her to be glad that Belle had left for Granny's. His jaw clenched as he reigned in his temper. "I wish I could beg you to take the easy way. To assure your survival no matter what the cost. But I can't and you won't and I hate it. I hate it." She didn't even bother sheathing her blade, and it dropped to the deck with a clatter as she buried herself in his arms. "But I am with you," he whispered, "whatever the course."

"I keep telling people... Henry, my parents... that I'm going to win," she whispered, her voice trembling. "But if these lessons have taught me anything it's that without control of my magic I'm just... a sub-par fencer. I'm not fast enough, Killian."

"This isn't about swordplay, Emma," Killian said. "Bloody hell, if this was a contest of steel alone it would be my fight, not yours."

"But in my vision-"

"Damn the visions," he interrupted. "Emma, I will practice swordplay with you until we're both raw and weary to the bone if that's what it will take to give you the confidence you need. But when Ashley's life was on the line, it was not an elegant parry that saved her. You took control of your magic when it counted." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, "You will again."

He was right of course, and when she crossed blades with Gideon her grip was a little more relaxed, her stance a little more balanced. And it wasn't what saved her, but she stood a little taller for having crossed blades with Captain Killian Jones.

Leave me a note, make my day!

#cs ff #captain swan #cs deleted scenes #spinning yarns #cs crew #ouat 6x09 #en garde #Two in one day! That happens when I discover a dusty nearly complete oneshot in my drafts!

[amphibious-thing]

Laurens time on parole and Hamiltons engagement to Elizabeth Schuyler

On the 12th of May Laurens is taken prisoner of war and confined to the boundaries of Pennsylvania.

On 30th of June Hamilton writes to Laurens offering sympathy for his capture and assures him he is doing what he can to see Laurens exchanged.

I received my Dear Laurens a letter from you which came by Mr. Ternant; and I since learn you are arrived at Philadelphia on a parole restricted to the State of Pensylvania. I regret the loss of Charles Town as a public misfortune. I regret it, as it affects my friends and among these I need not tell you how much my heart distinguishes your case. I know what you must suffer ⟨to⟩ have your hands tied up at a crisis so important as the present. I have talked to the General about your exchange; but the rigid rules of impartiality oppose our wishes. I am the only one in the family who think you can be exchanged with any propriety, on the score of your relation to the Commander in Chief. We all love you sincerely; but I have more of the infirmities of human nature, than the others, and suspect my self of being byassed by my partiality for you.

He also informs Laurens of his engagement to Elizabeth Schuyler

Have you not heard that I am on the point of becoming a benedict? I confess my sins. I am guilty. Next fall completes my doom. I give up my liberty to Miss Schuyler. She is a good hearted girl who I am sure will never play the termagant; though not a genius she has good sense enough to be agreeable, and though not a beauty, she has fine black eyes—is rather handsome and has every other requisite of the exterior to make a lover happy. And believe me, I am lover in earnest, though I do not speak of the perfections of my Mistress in the enthusiasm of Chivalry.

On the 2nd of July Hamilton writes to Eliza about visiting Laurens

I have received a letter from my Laurens solicitg an interview on the Pensylvania Boundary. The General has half consented to its taking place. I hope to be permitted to meet him; if so, I will go to Philadelphia and then you may depend, I shall not forget the picture you requested.

It seems however Hamilton probably didn’t make it to Philadelphia until November (he does get that picture for her tho).

On the 19th of July Hamilton writes to Laurens however the letter is missing.

On the 30th of July Laurens writes to Hamilton that he only just received his letter of the 19th. Given this i would assume he has received the letter from the 30th of June with the news of Hamiltons engagement however he does not mention it at all in this letter. Instead the letter is mostly about a hat he is getting made for Hamilton. 

This leaves 3 possibilities:

1. He mentions Hamiltons engagement in an earlier letter that has been lost.

2. He hasn't actually received the earlier letter yet. (Its possible it was miscarried and took longer to get to Laurens than it should have. Hamilton says in a latter letter “I am sure one of my letters must have miscarried.” He could be referring to this letter however its really impossible to know.)

3. He is just really passive aggressive and is purposefully not mentioning it.

On the 8th of September Laurens writes Hamilton a letter. This letter is missing.

On the 12th of September Hamilton writes Laurens. There is a clear strain between them form lack of correspondence, Hamilton takes some responsibility but is clearly somewhat bitter at Laurens for not writing. (It should be noted he has not yet received Laurens letter written on the 8th).

We ought both my Dear Laurens to beg pardon of our friendship for mutual neglect in our correspondence, though I believe you are a good deal in arrears to me, and I am sure one of my letters must have miscarried.

He is clearly feeling the distance of their relationship

I have conveyed your reproof to the lads. They have considered me as the secretary of the family and fancied a partnership which did not exist.

On the 16th of September Hamilton receives Laurens letter form the 8th and responds immediately. He tells Laurens he hopes his attempts to be exchanged are successful and tells him if that if they are not he should not kill himself.

For your own sake, for my sake, for the public sake, I shall pray for the success of the attempt you mention; that you may have it in your power to act with us. But if you should be disappointed, bear it like a man; and have recourse, neither to the dagger, nor to the poisoned bowl, nor to the rope.

Its hard to know if Hamilton is seriously worried Laurens may hurt himself or if he is being figurative. Considering other evidence that Laurens may have been suicidal i’m inclined to take this passage quite literally.

He again pleads with Laurens to write

That you can speak only of your private affairs shall be no excuse for your not writing frequently. Remember that you write to your friends, and that friends have the same interests, pains, pleasures, sympathies; and that all men love egotism.

Then we finally get some evidence of Laurens reaction to Hamiltons engagement.

In spite of Schuylers black eyes, I have still a part for the public and another for you; so your impatience to have me married is misplaced; a strange cure by the way, as if after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now.

There is so MUCH going on it this sentence. Its clearly a direct response to something Laurens has written in his previous letter. It seems Laurens thinks that Hamiltons marriage to Eliza will ‘cure’ him of his devotion to Laurens. Hamilton basically shuts it down essentially saying ‘thats not how it works’. Hamilton is reassuring Laurens that his marriage wont change their relationship.

However he wants to be clear he is going to have sex with his wife

Let me tell you, that I intend to restore the empire of Hymen and that Cupid is to be his prime Minister.

and he would invite Laurens to join

I wish you were at liberty to transgress the bounds of Pensylvania. I would invite you after the fall to Albany to be witness to the final consummation.

but Eliza is just not into Laurens in that way

My Mistress is a good girl, and already loves you because I have told her you are a clever fellow and my friend; but mind, she loves you a l’americaine not a la françoise.

In October Hamilton writes to Laurens about the Benedict Arnold treason and the fate of John André. This is more of a public letter than a private one and Hamilton also sends a copy to Eliza and eventually publishes it in the Evening Post.

On the 27th of October he writes to Eliza about visiting Laurens in Philadelphia

I expect in a few days to go to Philadelphia for a day or two. I shall there see my friend and make him participate in my good fortune by giving him a picture of my mistress. After that I will return to Head Quarters, where I shall remain a fortnight and then set out for Albany. You will see me before the end of next month.

Despite his plans to leave in ‘a few days’ he doesn't seem to have left until the 5/6th of November. He was definitely in Philadelphia by the 10th however Laurens was released on the 6th so he was probably no longer a pow by the time Hamilton arrived.

Hamilton was at Passaic Falls, New Jersey on the 15th and was back at headquarters on the 18th, he was there until at least the 27th and was in Albany by the 14th when he married Eliza.

#john laurens #alexander hamilton #by action rather than words #elizabeth schuyler hamilton #im pretending this is work but its not #oh the things i should be doing #*

[bluedragonbooks]

Ch 04 - Ep 32 - The Stught

“Garod called, they’re having a bit of trouble with one of the species waiting for companions. They’re stirring up trouble.”

“Do we need to make another trip?”

“They’re demanding to meet here, not their ships … just their companions. They’re saying they’ll respect the embargo. But …”

“But you’re concerned the ships will use the template to track their Companions, and they’ll blackmail us with disclosure.”

“Yes.”

“Could you firewall them? Wrap them in a quantum forcefield noisy enough to block their communication?”

“An interesting thought; hang on sec… The Archives indicate its possible for a First ship to block other Companions; like we did with Dragon and Thomas though it’s considered rude.”

“Not if they agree to it tho.”

…

“Hello Rohan … This is unexpected.”

“The boys are playing, and I’m the guinea pig. None of the Stugth companions are “First”; so …”

“So if Icarus can block a First like you from his ship; the Stught’ll have no chance at breaking through.”

“Precisely … Ah, it seems to be working; I can’t hear Garod … Icarus tell Garod to use the template at full power; see if he can find me?”

“He says he can’t find you … What about you, can you access the template?”

“Barely, but not enough to call to him or any other.”

“Can you get any sense of co-ordinates?”

“None, I can’t even get a sense of your Quantum field …and in all the time I’ve known you you’ve never been able to hide it fully from me.”

“Thanks Icarus.”

“Oh, that’s a relief, I felt quite ill-at-ease being out of communication with my ship.”

“I’ll make note of that, it might come in useful. Tell me more of the Stught.”

“They’re a new ship species and somewhat unpleasant for the Platth to deal with. I almost didn’t include them in the lottery. The trouble is they’re a Patriarchal species with very rigid beliefs on the role of Males and Females. One of our Elder Companion males has been their primary point of contact. They have 5 Billion souls, but register very few ships, a few hundred at most. They have 5 ships at Platth at the moment, though none have calved … I suspect they claimed earlier due dates to secure a place; but these are their first calves, so I’ll excuse their caution.  

“Let me guess, no females Companions.”

“No, they do have Female Companions and Ships, many more in fact than males; but the females must serve under the command of non-companion Male Captains. Their species seems to lack some of the emotional capacity required of Companions. They seem to have been largely abandoned by the species that discovered them, but given the ratio of female companions to males we think they have potential; so we’ve been treating them as a hardship case.”

“Are there any of the female ships at Platth?”

“Two of the five.”

“I’ll meet with them on the following conditions; We'll meet only the 5 Companions, no Captains are to accompany them. Secondly, they must agree to Garod blocking them and transporting them here; both Icarus and Garod will continue to block them on arrival. I’d like You and Lilithandra to represent the Platth during the negotiations, and I’ll invite Myriam. So it will be the four of us and the five of them, and a reasonable gender balance. On second thought, I’ll ask Lilith to bring Mirith with her and schedule a time when Mirith will need feeding. That’ll even up the numbers.”

“Daedalus, you're an evil devious man; You'll make a great Elder Matriarch.”

…

“Garod has the Stught delegation on board, and he’s about to jump.”

“Well, you better fetch Myriam.”

“Already here” replied Myriam.

Daedalus smiled, “And you look particularly fetching in … whatever it is you’re almost wearing.”

“Aniya did some Stught research … This is apparently ‘Power-dressing yet Feminine and Alluring’.”

“It’s a little bit …teenage boy, Hero-gamer fantasy; I feel over-dressed.”

“I was thinking Xena Warrior Princess, but yes. You’ve got time to change, I’m sure Icarus can whip you up a fetching little battle thong or something.”

“Been there, made that mistake … never again; and Umm … I’m not sure we want to set the precedent … but it’s your call.”

"I concur, but I wanted to see your face … priceless; at least you’ll be better prepared when they arrive. Back in a sec,” said Myriam before she transported out.

As it was, it still took all of Daedalus’ composure to keep a straight face when their guests arrived.

…

Once the introductions were out of the way they took their seats; the Stught males sat together, flanked by their females, their leader Thulsa took central place. Daedalus also noted both of the females were pregnant. Daedalus had Myriam to his left, with Lilithandra and then Rohan to the right. Daedalus himself sat left of centre, effectively showing he and Lilithandra ranked as equals.

One thing puzzled Daedalus, Mirith was sucking on a bottle, rather than one of Lilith��s teats as he’d expected. Even so, it was clear the Stught Males were less than impressed; whereas both the Stught females hid slight smiles as if they’d guessed the game.

Just as they were about to commence, Mirith slurped her last and Lilith offered her to Daedalus to hold.

“Daedalus? Do you mind, you’re so much better at burping her and getting her to sleep than I am. I really do need to find a competent Male to act as nursemaid and take care of her.”

“Perhaps Terenthrad, the lad seems to have a knack with the younger cubs, and from what I’ve seen in the Nursery he seems competent enough. Once his Sister chooses a concubine he’ll be released from his Clan duties.”

“An excellent suggestion, now perhaps we should get down to business. Thulsa of Stught, what is your grievance, and why did you think it warranted the attention of the high councils of both Earth and Platth and in particular the First of Earth and Platth?”

“Why do you let this female speak on your behalf?” Thulsa asked Daedalus while trying to avoid looking at the cub he was holding.

“I authorised the Elder’s of Platth to act on my behalf and to invite species to bring their calves to Platth and join with my Companions. Lilithandra is the Platth Ambassador to Earth, in this room she speaks with the authority of the Elders of Platth. Neither Elder Rohan nor I have heard anything to cause us to question her authority in this matter. So, perhaps you should answer her question before I grow offended at your rudeness. Need I remind you that as none of your ships have yet calved, there is nothing to stop me striking your names from the lottery and telling you to take your calves elsewhere.”

“There are more calves at Platth already than all of the ships of Stught combined; we could commit more calves; but we do not believe you will honour your side of the bargain.”

[Rohan, were the Stught at my previous demonstration?]

[No, they came after.]

[Ah … perhaps we should schedule another visit to the Nursery.]

[Perhaps.]

“And you have so few ships, when others already have so many. Perhaps, you feel you deserve some special consideration for committing as many ships as you have?” asked Daedalus.

“We noted the success the Platth are having with their Companion breeding program, and have implemented one of our own. We felt that if you were to assign some of your females to us; under the command of a male Stught Captain; it would go someway to repaying us for the calves we will give you. We don’t ask for servitude, just until their First calf is born and can join with the Stught Companions we are breeding. It would make the transaction more of a loan, than a gift.”

“Our females are not cattle to be traded for their calves, nor bred for their genetics. They are equals and do not answer to the command of men. I’m sure those of our companions who choose to join with Stught calves will maintain a close relationship with the Stught Homeworld. If you wish to avail yourself of the services of our ships; they or Myriam as Head of our Trading Guild will be happy to negotiate with you. When the time comes for our ships to calve, we will have sufficient calves to offer you as many as you can muster Companions.”

“How many can you pledge?”

Daedalus opened the Quantum Template and displayed it as he had before on Platth. “9 Million, 847 Thousand, and 643; how many do you think you will need?”

“How is this possible?”

“Perhaps if you started treating your females as equals and showing them the compassion they deserve, the number of your companions would increase … Now if you excuse me, this young cub has soiled herself and needs changing. Rohan, can you make sure our guests get home safely. Thulsa, please let Lilith know if your ships decide to remain at Platth, you have 7 days or she will declare their places vacant. Myriam, have I forgotten anything? No, Lilithandra? Thulsa, it seems our business is complete; unless you wish to remain and help me bathe this cub?”

The look on Thulsa’ face was priceless, as were the grins of his female associates.

Daedalus nodded to the Stught females and added “You’re welcome to visit anytime, just give Garod a call and confirm you’ll respect the Embargo. You might find discussions with some of my female High Councillors very enlightening.”

#chapter04 #LGBTQ fiction #sci-fi #Long Reads #spilled prose