#some explinations.... This was easier when I made them?

[the-best-invader]

PAK things.

It’s a monitoring device that you cannot remove without dying.

#INVADER ZIM #MY DRAWINGS #PX #MY CREATIONS #testing tags. #some explinations.... This was easier when I made them? #the first one is the PAK removing connection from itself to the brains #second one is more sensical when you know about hearts #none of us have 'hearts' because they become redundant when the PAK is installed #PAK is me? Same thing but I ACT weird at it anyways despite it being me #uhg #IZ Askblog Community

[popculturebuffet]

Sam and Max Save the World Retrospective Finale: Bright Side of the Moon! (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy freelance police and after a short delay, we're finally back with the final chapter of telltale and skunkape's SAM AND MAX SAVE THE WORLD! Rest assured as the fact i've often called this the sam and max telltale retrospective shows, i'm nothing if not consistent, this isn't the end of the road as we'll be going onto it's sequel, Beyond Time and Space, next month and The Devil's Playhouse whenever the remaster comes out. If I need to stall for time we've got PLENTY of other sam and max content to shove down your ravenous max sized gullets.

But the future is the future and the past is a rainbow colored cult leader our heroes have to stop in order to Save the World. It's been a long strange trip.. and honestly some of the most fun i've had doing these reviews. As I said in the first chapter of this retrospective, and I feel bears repeating now we're at the end... I often don't quote jokes.. because there's so damn many. Trying to do reactoin images recently I had to rely on a best of montage because the game is around 7 hours long and just.. DENSE with quotable lines. And even with that I've had to pace myself and only done about half an hour simply because the writing is that sharp. The level design is also fantastic for the most part, and the puzzles aren't that obtuse and this again being the internet age, when they are it isn't a problem. That also brings me to a few odds and ends about the game as a whole I haven't really talked about. The first is the hint system. See I did try this in the first chapter, but felt max was just rambling and it was a joke.

Yeah the hint system is very helpful, it's just sometimes you have to ask twice because it's max we're dealing with. Kev told me it was and I just.. plain forgot for most of the game till this chapter. I was so used to the gameplay loop of trying it myself then using the guide I genuinely forgot I had an in game helper there. I still required it when I got stuck on one puzzle, but for the most part it makes the game so much easier. And of course being a professional I took the fact there was a really helpful tool I could've been using this whole time like a pro

The other thing is the dialouge changes to the remaster, waited on till now so I didn't run into any spoilers I hadn't already run into years before doing this retrospective. And look I know a lot of longtime fans of Sam and Max aren't fans of the changes... but they were necessary. The game was 14 years old at the time and none of these jokes had aged well. And in a LOT of cases the replacement joke is better. To use an example in Reality 2.0 originally the googles they have for max were desgined for "special needs children"

Yeah it wasn't funny THEN, should not have been made in the first place, and has only aged worse with time. By contrast the replacement is the COPS emphasising you can use it for various sporting activities. It's a more sam and max joke than "Hey let's laugh at children with disablities!". There were other just.. outright gross jokes like asking "Why the sex change" when bosco crossdresses in the final chapter (More on that later), and bosco implying he pretends to be an underaged girl online. which just

NONE of that was funny to start with, so taking it out of the game dosen't really hurt it. It only dosen't work when they don't sub in another joke, and that's more "If your going to all the trouble to edit out these lines, re-record the dialouge and fix stuff up why didn't you make a new joke when you have for OTHER lines you cut out?" And even then i'm sure there's a rational explination why Skunkape didn't. It's fine to touch up your work for a rerelease especially when said work is simply something your not proud of anymore. If it's okay for them to touch up the textures, add needed accesiblity options, and other neat stuff.. why isn't it okay to get rid of some offensive stuff that simply dosen't really fit sam and max?

Now those odds and ends are out of the way it's time to return to the moon to put an end to this hypnosis scheme, reconnect with some old friends, and save the world. Goody!

Chapter wise, Bright Side of The Moon is a strong contender for my faviorite. It is REALLY hard to pick betweent his one and The Mob, The Mole and the Meatball. Writing good as usual, but there's an epic scope, a genuine tension and unease, and it really feels like a grand finale to everything you've done up to this point, while still keeping the level design tight. The only real issue is the long walk from the blister of tranquility back to your car. And having to walk back a bit when you need to get back to sam and max's street is a common issue it's just emphasized here. But overal one hell of a finale gameplay wise. let's get into the story.

We open with Sam catching up ot the audience.. by complicated deduction, he figures out Hugh Bliss is behind things, and finds out from the Chief where he is: THE MOON ALICE... I mean the giant face was kinda a big clue. So our heroes head back to the moon! I covered their previously moon adventure recently if your interested. It's in large part because Bad Day on The Moon is one of the only two stories pre-telltale explictly refrenced in this trilogy, via the photos in the boys office, the other being Meet the Road, from which both bosco's this season and stinky's next season come form, simply fleshed out into fully explorable places here. There's nothing saying the other Freelance Police comics or tv show aren't canon, and it's likely light on call backs outside of hit the road to be accesible to new audiences. And possibly rights issues ala the tick, which REALLY needs a proper comics refresh that brings it all together. But that's a retrospective for another day (and if anyone's intrested let me know).

For now our heroes head to the moon, and we see our first of MANY character returns, as , fitting a season finale, at least one major character from every previous chapter shows up on the moon, now having joined Prismatology. The only exception is the soda poppers...

It's a mildly weird omission but I get why: they only needed four call back characters for the puzzles, their terrible and I hate them, and their the only group present on the moon that didn't intersect in some way with Hugh's plan, so there's no real reason for him to care about them.

And we do find out his plan.. and I like how it's revealed: you can just casually find out in the gift shop. That's it. Hugh just has his plan up there.

It also is a shockingly well thought out one, as each plan had a contegency.. and as we find out this episode Hugh had both a moon base and a final plan should all these fails. You gotta admire the guy for being through. And each one in the previous chapter was a seroius threat to the world, an amusing as hell one sure, but if our heroes hadn't stopped it Hugh woudl've likely conquered the us and eventually the world. And even if he couldn't do that last part , his controllign the us would at least stall for time long enough for him to carry out his masterstroke with no one to stop him.

You might also be noticing that Brady.. is absent. And that's because his plan, while kicking off our heroes knowing about hypnotisim.. wasn't planned. It's also nicely set up that way: unlike the others after ther'es never a reveal of a larger part of the conspiracy and his plan does nothing to help Hugh in the long run. It's just to make BRADY feel better and bigger, with his minons being chosen.. because their show was succesful and his wasn't. As for how Brady stole the protype goggles, also from the gift shop, hence Harry Mole now working as security. Thankfully he ONLY checks sam so we're able to smuggle a telekinesis talismen out in max... though we'll have to get it out later.

The TK Talismen is one of several we'll collect but first we have to get past sam and max's oldest and most dangeorus foe: DOORS!

Yes once again Agent Superball is guarding one. This time it's a bit easier though, as he gives us a unicorn which tests one's prismatology level. It also allows you to ask everyone "Want to touch my unicorn" which is just the best. Sam gives you the solution, pointing out how it likely works like a cheap mood ring, so you simply need to heat it up.. and I figured out HOW quickly... All it requires is a quick jaunt back to earth, as we start the adventure on the moon. Before we check in on Sybil and Bosco, I check the closet.. and also get the coat hanger for the tv again. Sadly... the last trophy room item is pretty weak, just the vr gag. There's a great and entirely close to home gag out of how they destroyed the internet

But it feels like a let down after the presidents head and leonard> Leonard is plot relevant this time as Max fed him the deed to america. Like the talisman we can't get it YET, but we shall. So it's time to check in with Bosco but before using his micro we see his deal for the episode: He's become his mother!.. no really he's pretending to be her and unlike most of his personas which are just a shoddy accent, he commits to the bit and it's hilarious. Gratned Sam and Max being.. shocked by this as much as they are has aged like wet cheese on the titanic, he's just wearing drag, but Max's frustration Bosco won't break character and eventually buying into the bit is comedy gold.

Anyways Bosco is selling an earthquake machine but as usual we can't buy it yet. We can however use his Microwave to cheat the system, and I do like that Bosco's various conviences are something that commonly come up to solve the puzzles. It's something you'd think of instantly given their always there, especially after the ketchups come in play twice and instead of calling you a dum dum for thinking that they just.. let you be right.

Before we go back to the moon though we check on Sybil and for her final random job.. and i'm goign to miss these as I didn't realize till Kev told me that next season your quest buddies change. Sybil and Bosco aren't written OUT, but I will be sad to see them not around as much.

WIth Sybil though I kinda get it as it's entirely hard to top her FINAL JOB... QUEEN. OF. CANADA. Yes really. It's both so entirely random and such an escalation from her previous more mundane jobs as dating service person, carbondater and beta tester. It's a cermonial thing but it's still just a heck of a reveal and a lot of fun with canadian sterotypes. I assume Red Green is her minister of ducktape and her minister of annoyance is of course.. Lorne

I assume he was one of Max's presidental pardons. I also assume one of the cofnidtions was he was shipped in a crate second class. It had at least one airhole though.. maybe... so that was nice of him.

At any rate this will naturally be useful to us later. It does give me a chance to talk about the gameplay loop though.. and how it works. You'd THINK after 6 chapters of "go to sybil or bosco to move the plot along" it'd get boring.. but honestly.. no. The writing is sharp, and each time things are radically different. I mean across these 6 chapters Sybil gets locked up by a patient, gives you a psyche eval, needs her death faked by you without her realizing it to save her from the toy mafia, has a dating service, gets her heart broken by you two via the lincoln memorial, beta tests and finally becomes queen of canada among some other shenanigans we'll get to. While with bosco he takes on various disguises, has some new doodad set up or someone hassling him, from jimmy twice, once as a skinbody once as himself, to whizzer.. you'll ALWAYS need to visit these two.. but they'll always have some funny stuff to say and something fresh. It's a way to recycle the enviornments sure but it dosen't feel stale. I can see why they swap them out next time: as sad as I was to find that out it DOES make sense to change your item buddies each game to keep things fresh.

Anywho, now we can get through the door via our bright red unicorn horn

So we're on to the next part of this episode and it's fairly straight forward: Hugh Bliss is in the deepest part of his blister of tranquilty, which is a very close second with Ted. E Bears to my faviorite setting of the game. It's weird rainbow amusment park complete with a roller coaster, a shark floating in acid, and as said earlier a gaggle of familiar faces from each chapter, each having a new prismatology talismen that grants a psychic power we need to get to the final section of the chapter. Starting with the most familiar of faces, we have Abe Lincoln, whose not really happy to see the guys who blew him up real good a few chapters ago. Hilariously though it's not any of the obvious reasons: he's fine being just a head, and as for loosing the presidency only a "grade a psyschopath" would want the roll. Max is naturally touched> I mean grade a. His real beef is that they ruined his chances with Sybil... deciding he wanted to get back out there. Max has.. several questions about that.. questions we thankfully don't here as otherwise the rest of this review would just be me rambling incoherently from madness. Not the BIGGEST difference mind but I like to at least have the illusion of quality control here.

Our heroes are happy to help and thus we get one of the funniest sequences in the entire game as the two have to feed abe lincoln pickup lines. It's easily the best of these long strings of "answer it right or go back to start" puzzles, as there are just enough options to get a LOT of great comedy out of Lincoln's horrible pickup lines and Sybil's annoyance, but not so long it becomes frustrating like the midtown cowboys stuff in episode 2. You successfully get the head of abe lincoln laid

And get us the talismen. The next one is an eye that can see through stuff and it's with our old friends the C.O.P.S. who are a TAD mad about our heroes taking away their goodhood, but allow them to beta test their game. Which once again and not with hyperbole, is one of the best jokes in all 6 chapters. Seriously the writing for this chapter is the peak of Save the World: In a post apocalyptic hellscae only the strong survive. Can you face the challenge of TIC, TAC, TOE?! Well you shouldn't as you need to loose. luckily the game just sorta. .had me loose. I was genuinly trying to win but either the game was rigged for me to, or the switch futzed it up. Either way , another talismen got. Now before we get our last one we need to open our present from the gift shop. Getting it out of max was easy, just use the gastronomy talismen, which I already had when I had him eat it. The hard part.. is getting the thing open. It took me ages and was the one puzzle that REALLY got me for this chapter. I looked it pu and it turns out it's simple. There's a lunar landar outside you can get into, using your coathanger, netting the key. You simply place the talismen under it, activate the lander which can only go up an ddown and boom, telekensis kyle. Well specifically bending anything similar to a spoon, which is clever. Is the puzzle frustrating? yes. Is the prize worth it? yes. So with that our final talismen, which allows you to pull jimmy out of a hat. Just him. To get it we talk to Philo Pennyworth, the most welcome return of all. I mean I fucking love the COPS but i've got minor spoilers they'll be in the next two games. I don't think Philo shows up nearly as much so his long awaited return was appricated. He can pull jimm y out of his hat but since jimmy's clinging to a parking meter to avoid more shenanigans from our heroes, we have to bend him off. With that philo pulls him out and is disgusted enough to let us have his talismen.

With that we can enter hugh's sanctum, which is neat, using the spoon bender to open the door, the eye to see so we can bend the door and jimmy to hit the switch.

Normally this would be where our heroes confront our villian, violence and some puzzles and jokes ensue... but in a clever twist on telltale's part... Hugh KNEW they were coming, would likely do some shenanigans to get into his sanctum and presumibly what htey had for lunch. For the record it was a hamsteak with extra gravy and extra ham and an all dress flavor stygian being of questionable origin. It also turns out our heroes are too late as while Hugh didn't do it 25 minutes ago.. his plan is already set up: to use a crystal thing with him in the center to make EVERYONE on earth Hugh bliss.

As for WHY he'd do that, it turns out he's a sentient colony of plankton and eats emotions, a neat and utterly batshit twist, and his translucent look he takes on for a second is genuinely unsettling. Really Hugh's entire demeanor post turn is unsettling as he's still got that squeaky sing song voice, think Regular Shows Pops if he snorted hellium.. but instead of being just.. blindly happy and a tad hammy, you can also sense his malice and pride at what he's done. Sure guys gotta eat but he's just so gleeful. Now granted you could poke holes in this , say there were easier ways than mass hypnosis to get a free emotoinal meal, etc etc... but you have to remmeber what game we've been playing for the past 6 months

So it REALLY dosen't matter and the fact Hugh went to all this lengths is likely part of the joke. But the one thing that can stop endless bliss? Max. His chaos is the one thing that can possibly upset this plan... so Hugh lured him here to steal his bliss... so he takes out his sloth, hunger and violence, leaving Max a shell, Sam disturbed and our heroes needing to round up three other maxes to restore him to proper zaniness and resotre the world. First up is Red Max, all of max's anger and violence.. and he's SHOCKINGLY disturbing. Usually max' s violent tendencies are played for laughs, the violence done off screen. This max.. has a gun, laughs manically and is geninely creepy. Dispatching him is nicely tricky but not too bad once you think it out: being a max, red max jumps around, jumpsa round, get up get up get down.. and his stalking grounds just so happen to be right next to the roller coaster. This.. really just gives him a fun ride, but luckily there's a big ole chekov's spork on the track, and since it's spon adjacent, you can bend it, send Red Max for a ride.. and disarm him. Or dishand him. Max gets his rage back and we're on to our next one.

Our next max to collect is the Green max, who being the embodiment of max's endless hunger for sentient planets and artifical cheese, is currently terroizing boscos. Suprisingly you DON'T use the gastrolgy talismen which is good as i'm pretty sure the contents of Green Max's stomach at this point would get Telltale brought up on obscenity charges. The solution is no less horrific though: you FEED HIM JIMMY. Yes you have him eat a rat.. which to be fair i'm sure Max's has done at some point but is still pretty .. eeeuuugh. We use the magician's hat from fethearly to pull him and max's stomach out which is way less graphic than it sound but still will haunt my nightmares for many moons to come, and thus max has his hunger back.

All that's left is sloth which, while max is OCASIONALLY lazy is the only one tha tdosen't quite fit. This max just... lays on the moon. To get him we finally give Sybil her due in one of the funniest callbacks of the game. So you remember how max was feeding the deed to the united states to leonard?

Turns out you need to get him to cough it up, give the deed to Cybil and canada now owns the untied states!

Seriously I.. don't see a downside. With that she gives us the money for bosco who charged a zillion dollars this time. I also love his justification "All I know is I keep making up the biggest price I can think of and you guys keep paying it, now tell me, whose crazy?". With that we have the earthquake machine.. aka the last of his satlite network. I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out the finally "do you have any" gag. See the rest are all just a great stream of Sam asking Bosco for random stuff. This one though.. turns out EVERY ONE is a solution to a previous puzzle. It's fucking glorious especially with Max's mounting bafflement that in all the things sam asked for he never asked for these when heneeded them. Bosco DOSEN'T have hugh bliss tied up back there, but can't blame Sam for trying. It's a brillaint payoff to what's already one of the best running gags in the series.

So with that we head, whoah oh, back to the moon again, and use the satlite to flip lazy max over, take his tale and max is' restored. With that we're FINALLY to the finale, with Hugh, mad they were able to beat him, deciding to put on a show.. specifically putting Sam thorugh a ton of magic stuff while max watches from the crystal chamber thing. It's easily the best climax of the whole game: tense, fun, and using every talismen you've gotten so far to turn the tables on hugh before using the lunar lander to finish him off. Hugh Bliss is no more. Problem is.. the machine goes off so now everyone is maxified. Our heroes naturally have a solution for that though... PUNCH EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD. I'm.. not exagerating or underplaying it. That's how season 1 ends. Our heroes are happy, the world is saved and Max is going to punch every last person to de-max them. And that would honestly be a perfect ending to a perfect season of gammery.. but this being sam nad max they took it one last step further for the credits.... which is max punching EVERY single character we've seen, or most of them at least to the games best song. I didn't think you could top War.. but .. here we are

It both beautifully sums up max, and is a relaxing and hilaroius way to close out a relaxing and hilaroius game. I can't stop listening to it, not that i've tired very hard. It's so damn good. It utterly baffled me when I saw it, but I still loved it. I can't belivie THIS I show they ended it.. but I can't imagine a more perfect ending to this game. As an added touch the menu music for the remaster is an insturmental of this so it makes a nice bookened for your adventure.

So with that we've closed out Save the World.. and this may be one of the funnest experinces i've had reviewing. It not only opened me up to finally reviewing games, with more to come, but I got to play a game i'd long craved to , got paid for it and enjoyed every second of it. All thanks to kev. While this only ends the first third of this project.. it dosen't make it any less special or hard to say good bye to this game. This was true fun and I thank so many of you for reading... and see you next month for round 2.

#sam and max #sam and max save the world #sam #max #sybil pandemik #bosco #hugh bliss #telltale games #skunkape games #Youtube

[dailyadventureprompts]

You’ve noted your distaste for the alignment system before, and I was wondering what you thought about using Magic the Gathering color identity in place of it. I’ve started using that in my own game and it feels much better

Inspiration Station: Magic the Gathering

TLDR: I really like the color alignment system as it can communicate a lot about a character's moral outlook and general vibe a lot clearer than regular alignment can. I like it so much infract that my drafts blog uses MTG color combinations as a sorting system so I can find things that go together easier. That said, its an extra level of game knowledge for new players to understand/have to do be taught. Alignment is supposed to give new players an idea how their character might act, and it's a lot easler for someone who's never roleplayed before to wrap their minds around acts that are "lawful" or "good" than for them to try to guide their character in a particularly "Blue" direction.

While I'm going to go on a bit of a ramble about this, I'm going to start with an explination of what "Color Identity" is for all the members of my audience that haven't lost years of their lives and chunks of their disposable income to a particular trading card game.

In Magic the Gathering (MtG from hereon out), there are five "elements" of magic that encompas the bredth of existance, all with their own emotional and thematic cores and endless interpretations of what they and their combinations represent.

Anything from creatures to magic to places to civilizations can be found in some combination of these one to five colors, which in turn have relationships with eachother ( harmonizing with their neighbors while conflicting and complimenting with the ones across from them). This makes it a great shorthand from a design perspective, as it links together ideology, iconography, and gameplay into a palate that you can use to paint your characters and settings. There are quite a few "Using the color-pie in d&d" videos on youtube which I encourage you to check out, as they can do a much better job explaining the basics than I could do here.

Advice on how you can use this framework in your own games below the cut:

1: MTG colors as character alignment

If you take a step back and consider the colors not as basic pokemon elements ( wood, water, fire, life, death) but as embodiments of different outlooks and philosophies, the color pie system suddenly becomes a radically efficient tool for summarizing how a character or culture carries out its beliefs, with the understanding that individuals within that culture will mix in new elements or lean away from others depending on their personal predilections. A character who relies on luck and wits (Blue-Red) may be tempted towards story beats that indulge either of their color synergies, but chafe against systems that would deny a part of themselves ( Such as the rule of a Black-White Authoritarian noble or the simplicity of Green-White peasant life).

2: MTG colors as writing tools

The fun in understanding how characters in your story fit into the color wheel isn't only in assigning them a static position, its in testing to see how they evolve and grow when exposed to external stimuli. Will the Blue/Black spymaster veer towards duty to their state (white) or personal power (red), will the righteous Red/White paladin give up their honor for vengeance ( becoming only red) or achieve some level of enlightenment ( white) after suffering through a crisis of faith.

Through the colorpie, and understanding your characters, you can make narrative arcs easy, or at least pencil some interesting questions as you develop the rest of the story.

3: MTG colors as setting design

The different colors have historically been tied to different types of terrain, and while I tend not to do a 1:1 conversion for all of my settings, its very easy to see how thematic throughlines can be made between setting and environment ( yes, necromancers probably would hang out in places full of shadows and rot, but those that embody Black's aspects of ambition and manipulation probably live in settlements infused with some form of social or infestructure decay, or perhaps a dark history concealed just beneath the surface)

To that end, I like to think of small to medium settlements as possessing a dual color identity made up partially of their land and culture, while larger settlements and nations tend to be two or three colors as they are a composite of diverse groups and interests. By looking at these combinations, finding contrasts between them and synergies with outside elements, you can easily begin to set up political and social dynamics: A White/Red/Green kingdom may have contrasting demographics between a warrior nobility ( WR), a traditionalist peasantry ( WG), and nomads who live on the frontier (RG). The kingdom could be threatened by an invading lich (UB) or by an alliance of nomads and peasants who resent the warrior nobility for their conquest generations ago (BRG)

4: MTG colors as game design

Bo yourself a favor and every time you're struggling to make a dungeon, try to figure out what color identity it has. Instantly you've given yourself a massive dose of inspiration for monsters, traps, hazards, and iconography for you to mine simply by visiting the gatherer and scrolling through the visual spoiler. Generally you can do this by thinking about where it was built and by who, with further richness added by thinking about what sort of creatures from the locality have crept in during the meantime and how their color identities harmonize and contrast with the dungeons own.

Likewise, if you're trying to think of abilities/gear to give a player or npc, think about how the different colors play:

White wants to bolster their allies before clashing head on

Blue wants to be tricky until they get in position to outplay their opponent

Black wants to fight dirty until they can really twist the knife

Red wants to go recklessly and blow their opponent away before they can retaliate

Green wants to level the playing field before getting really strong and stomping their foes into the floor

These playstyles ( and their combinations) can guide you in everything from what loot to give your party to the way monsters behave during an encounter: A (GR) barbarian would probably never want to pick up a (u) wizard's staff, but they might be tempted by a (UR) flaming arcane blade that let them expand their usual toolkit by going ethereal. A pack of hungry (BG) ghouls would lurk in the shadows of their crypt until they could ambush their prey, retreating to let their fetid bites weaken the party before sweeping back in with more numbers.

#mtg #d&d #dm advice #dm tips #tabletop inspiration #dnd #dungeonmaster #inspiration station #prompt postage #dm tools #game design

[kyinpeachichu]

Genshin impact boys reaction to showing them your magical serenitea pot

===================================================Basically their reaction when you show them a whole adeptal world of your own inside something that can fit in a bag. Characters mentioned: Diluc; Kaeya; Childe/tartaglia; Zhongli; Bennett; Xiao; Kazuha; Albedo. ====================================================

Diluc:

"Your house? I never knew you actually had a place to stay."

- Aaaannnndddddd he turns you down cuz he's busy at the moment.

- You had to ask him a few times but he pretty much turned you down every time.

-He didn't mean anything bad by it. He really was just busy. He still is the dark knight hero after all.

- When he had free time though, he was sitting by himself in his room, and he feels like he's forgetting something.

- Then he remembered you and he thought "Well I have free time now. It would be interesting to see where the traveler lives."

- He went out to find you, and when he did, he brought it up.

- You were so excited and happy when you pulled out your teapot from your inventory..... that it confused him for a second.

- "Oh... uh, I didn't know you collected antiques too Traveler. Is that a new decoration you found for you home?"

- To be honest he thought the teapot looked kinda normal, and it didn't have any historic value by the looks of it. But he didn't want to be rude and question your tastes.

- You looked at him for a second before remembering that you actually have to explain

- "Oh, right. This may be a little confusing but...... this teapot, is my house......"

- Diluc was just straight up confused. He didn’t know what to say. "Uh..... I see....."

- But you didn't let him wait and you let him your teapot home.

- He was surprised of course, but at the same time, he somehow knew something like this could happen to you.

- He was in awe, but he didn't show it. (Much to your disappointment)

Kaeya

"Oh my, Are you inviting me over? Well what gives me the right to say no?"

- you were happy he said yes almost immediately.

- "So, where do we go?" / "Oh, we dont need to go anywhere. My house is riigghhttt- Here!"

- He was surprised when you dug through you inventory and pulled out a teapot.

- He was confused but he didn't say anything.

-You didn't waste time pulling him into your humble abode~

- You turned to see his reaction, and you were happy to see it

- He showed more reaction than Diluc did. His one un-covered eye was open wide and his mouth was ajar. But he didn't let out so much as a gasp.

- After that he laughed and said "You never cease to amaze me Traveler."

Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax

"Sure, I dont have anything to do at the moment."

- and just like that, he agreed

- Being a rich bank owner- (*cough* sugar daddy), you can bet his home in snezhnaya will be a friggin mansion.

- He doesn't expect your house to be a mansion though. But if he sees that it's just an old shed, he's gonna buy you one.

- "So where is this home of yours?"

- You pulled out your teapot from the inventory and he didn't seem surprised.

- But he did wonder what that teapot was for.

- When you finally showed him what it was for, he definitely didn't expect a whole terrain. Much less the mansion infront of him.

- it was smaller than the one he had back home, but it was still a mansion.

- His face was full of wonder than with shock or surprise.

- "I gotta say comrade, when you said you we aking me to your house, I definitely did not expect this."

Zhongli:

"Your house you say. Well I dont have a reason to decline right?"

- To be fair, being an archon who associated with the adepti, he wasn't surprised and immediately knew the second you pulled out a teapot.

- However, the thing that surprised him most was how one of these fell into your hands.

- He cant assumed you found one on your travels. No adeptus would be so foolish as to leave something like this around for a human to find.

- Anyways, when you were both inside he immediately knew who gave it to you.

- "Ah, I see, it was madame Ping who gave thus to you."

- "How did you know?"

- "I feel a certain..... presence of hers. Also, the terrain seems to have her touch."

- He was pleased with how well decorated the place was. (Assuming you didn't fill the place with pine folding screens)

- (He was considering getting one too because he's probably too broke to get a place of his own)

- (But lets leave it to the imagination and hope he's living with Childe in the meantime)

Bennett:

"Oh, you have a house? Gotta say, since you were a traveler, I didnt actually expect you to have a place to stay. Sure I'll visit your house!"

- You dug through your inventory and presented him a teapot

- "Woah whats that? An artifact?" / "Nope, this is where I live."

- Then lo and behold your very own world!

- His eyes were ✨sparkling✨

- Probably have the best reaction out of everyone.

- "Wooaahhhh!!!! Traveler..... you live here?!? I-in the teapot?!? This is a teapot!?!"

- The boy was so excited, running around the place and exploring the whole place!

- He almost didn't even notice the giant mansion that was actually the place where you stayed.

- When you let him inside he was even more excited.

- He asked if he could stay the night before he was even aware he said it.

- And you let him, even gave the guy an extra room.

- "I gotta say traveler, you really are lucky to have a home right in your bag! And I'm lucky to be invited here. Thanks so much!"

- such a sweet boi

Xiao

"Perhaps I can spare some time. Alright, I'll come for a visit."

- Well he was alot easier to convince than you thought

- Actually no you had to find him all over liyue and whenever you did find him, he'd be too busy.

- This is like, the 6th time you asked him

- "Where is it? Is it somewhere within Liyue?"

- You got your teapot and he was confused for a second but immediately knew what it was later.

- before he could say anything you were both inside.

- He was more or less the same as Zhongli. Being an adeptus himself, he had an idea on what was going on, but was surprised you had access to this kind of adeptal magic.

- So sadly, he didn't have the best reaction except for: "Huh, I didn't know you had access to an adeptal world like this. Much less make it your home."

- "Do you like it Xiao?" / "Well ...I suppose it is quite peaceful here."

Kazuha

"An invitation to the home of the traveler who saved Inazuma? Well, it's not like the wind tells me not to."

- He had to ask permission from Beidou first before leaving. She didn't mind.

- "So traveler, where's this humble home of yours?"

- While still on Beidou's ship (cuz thats where he was), you took out your teapot, and he looked quiet puzzled.

- "Fogive me but, is there something you need with this teapot?"

- You let him in (the crew on the ship didn't even notice)

- He was amazed yes. His face looked like he was watching a firework show.

- It was night time in your teapot so the stars were out.

- "Amazing, a whole entire world, all to yourself, inside a simple trinket that a person could turn a blind eye on if it were at a flea market.

And to think suck a world could fit inside a bag, and in the palm of our hands. Traveler, you have always been one to be full of surprises."

- Aw god his poetic speech is just 👌👌👌 (and I'm putting in more)

- he closed his eyes and inhaled the air, listening for the slightest gust of wind. (Yes there is wind the the teapot I think, I do see the grass blowing)

- "It's quiet here, so peaceful. It feels like it's completely safe here. I could find the nearest rock and doze off right now. It's beautiful here traveler. Do you mind if I stay here, just a little longer."

- Boi you can live here for the rest of your life more rent free than Mona if you'd like!

Albedo

"Huh, I never thought a traveler would have the need for place to settle in and sit still for a period of time. But sure, I'd like to see your house. I'm not too busy at the moment"

- You were in his research place right in dragonspine when you asked him.

- He began to clean up his things and getting ready to go, but then you told him that wasn't necessary.

- "Hm? Aren't we leaving?"

- You brought out your teapot, and he looked at it like it you were holding a baby bird.

- "strange, why would we need a teapot traveler?"

- without any further explination you grinned and then you brought him in.

- He was in awe.

- his eyes widened slightly while his mouth fell ajar. But other than that, he was quiet.

- "Amazing, traveler, may I be so bold to ask on what sort of alchemy you used to create this? Or maybe, this isn't alchemy at all....."

- He was more curious about every explination there is to be made than the actual place you two were at.

#genshin impact #kaeya #diluc #albedo #zhongli #childe #tartaglia #bennett #xiao #kazuha #genshin kaeya #genshin kazuha #genshin childe #genshin headcanons #headcanons #genshin albedo #genshin diluc #traveler #genshin zhongli #genshin bennett

[beware-of-you-98]

BAU as College Professors AU

*cracks knuckles*

Penelope

penelope is a graphic design professor

she loves teaching kids about the wonders of photoshop!!

hates illustrator and indesign with a burning passion

(the illustrator pen tool can fucking choke for all she cares)

(AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PUT THE FRONT AND COVER TOGETHER IN INDESIGN!?!?)

(she really hates both applications sm 😭)

is always reluctant to teach them but does it begrudgingly

(she’s just glad there’s other professors in the department that teach editorial and graphic illustration)

teaches photography!!

encourages the students to be as expressive as they want to be with their pictures!!!

she’ll be just as enthusiastic to see a close up of a sneaker as she is to see a sunset landscape shot

teaches the graphic design studio classes too!!

she always has music playing!!

half the time, her students come into the class and her glasses are all skewed, her hands are covered in paint or glue and some abstract art piece is sitting on her desk

when the students ask her what it is, she just gives the projects human names

“hey professor... what did you make there?” “oh, this?? her name is... pam.... yeah, pam”

she doesn’t offer up any further explination than that

and the students just accept it

her office light is always off

but she has multiple fairy lights in various colors hung up

her office is v inviting!!!

students come to her to vent or to talk about their problems bc the campus therapist doesn’t help all lmao

she always has on the most unique outfits but she pulls them off so well

a ray of sunshine tbh!!

Spencer

teaches major science and math courses

he teaches chemistry but only chem for majors in chemistry

it’s not that he can’t teach chem for non majors

but he sometimes gets too ahead of himself and forgets he’s teaching a course for non majors

it’s easier for him to teach for majors because the students can follow his ramblings better

he teaches upper level math courses and usually only has like three students in those classes

he’ll sit up on his desk and debate with the students for the entire hour about the riemann hypothesis

he gets excited because the students are just as enthusiastic as he is

he is two extremes

he either shows up to his classroom like a half hour early and writes out all his notes on the board so that when the students come in, he can go right into lecture

or he’ll show up two minutes before class starts with his hair disheveled, his tie undone and his expression glazed over and just be like “listen up i woke up late and just downed an entire pot of coffee i brewed with several cans of monster energy—i don’t exist on this dimension anymore”

on those days, he lets his students work on other projects for other classes because he knows it’s not fair to ask his students to focus if he’s not

he helps them with their homework

penelope brings him lunch sometimes to make sure he’s eating

he appreciates it a lot because between lesson plans and grading, he sometimes forgets to eat

he’s absolutely the youngest prof on campus

sometimes even his students are older than he is

but everyone addresses him correctly and respects him bc he’s really chill

his office is a disorganized mess

there’s files and papers all over his desk

and a sculpture penelope made for him (she named that one “roger”)

JJ

psychology professor

she really has a passion for teaching and learning about human psychology

(she may have started to become interested in psychology bc her sister was in the psch honors course before she died)

she comes across as a little hostile and unapproachable tbh

but she’s young

and she’s attractive

and she’s not conveniently what people think a professor looks like

she’ll respect her students if they respect her

she didn’t graduate the top of her class and work her ass off for the degree to not be respected

if there’s any inappropriate comments aimmed towards her or anyone in the class, she kicks the aggressor out immediately

she stands at the front of the room and lectures for the beginning part of the semester

once she’s built a good rapport with her students (and vise versa), she becomes more chill

she’ll sit on the edge of her desk and encourage discussion rather than following a book or a set plan

(she finds it’s more interesting that way anyway)

sometimes her students will show up ten minutes before class starts just to talk with her once they’re comfortable with her

she always answers her emails students send her (queen shit tbh 👑)

some kids in the psych major course playfully call her “mom” because she always asks them how they’re doing and about their week

(she hasn’t decided how she feels about it, but she also lets it slide)

always wears pants suits but cuffs the sleeves to the jackets

her office always smells like eucalyptus because she has a small mist diffuser plugged in

she also has a small fish tank with a beta fish inside (its the appropriate size too!!)

(she let a student name the fish—it’s name is sir bubbles of argon)

she also has a sculpture from penelope (“her name is maxine”)

her desk is very organized and clean!!

there’s a small couch in her office and her door is always open

sometimes, students will come in if they’re having a hard time and need someone to talk to

they know jj is there to listen and she always seems to understand (she doesn’t judge them either)

Emily

teaches three languages, both for majors and non majors

spanish, french and russian

(she’s also quite fluent in arabic and italian and can hold her own if she’s speaking in german or mandarin, but the students don’t need to know that)

she’s actually very intimidating lmao

students are so scared of her 😭

she’s serious af

(she smiles in class sometimes though!!)

(besides, she’s only serious inside the classroom)

(outside the classroom, she might even be as approachable as penelope)

always dressed in expensive black suits, polished heeled shoes with very dark makeup and a “don’t fuck with me” steely attitude to match

she also wears expensive watches

she always stands at the front of the class and slowly paces the entire hour

one time someone decided to fuck off in her spanish 101 class

she didn’t even yell at him, she glared

rumor has it the kid was never spotted on campus again after that

(BOY SHE SCARED HIM SO BAD HE DROPPED TF OUT)

despite that, her classes are some of the easiest to take

one because emily has a way of teaching that helps all students understand

and two because her voice is naturally very easy to listen to

students taking her french 101 are going to leave the class speaking fluent conversational french

she also doesn’t tolerate people being racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc in her class

if she catches a bigoted comment someone makes in her class, she kicks them immediately

she brings in her cat sometimes

he’s all black and his name is sergio

(he’s her esa that she brings in when she’s feeling really stressed out)

he’s clipped on a harness and sits on her shoulder or on her desk

if he meows, she accepts it as an answer

it’s the only time the students ever see professor emily prentiss as soft

well

other than the days she has the class watch foreign films because the students can tell emily has a fondness for them

her office is pretty organized like jj’s

instead of it being light and inviting, emily decorated her office on a more dark side

she has a few animal skulls, crystals and other gothic memorabilia on her desk or bookshelf

she has a small cat bed on the corner of her desk that sergio sleeps in

on the other corner is a sculpture penelope made her

(it kinda looks like a crow and emily named it kurt)

really, the only colors in her office are dark, deep purples and the small lesbian pride flag sticker on the back of her laptop

Derek

teaches history classes

but like modern history

from like 1940s to present

he refuses to follow most western history books bc they’re not accurate like at all

in his first year of teaching, the dean of his department made him use a book and he hated every second of it

how accurate could the information be if they portray king tut as a white guy???

he graduated under one of the best historians in the country

he also traveled a lot after he graduated and met a lot of people that had first hand experience with major historical events

that’s really what he bases his teachings off of—first hand experiences and encounters

every two weeks or so, he’ll invite in guest speakers to his classes to talk about what they went through (depending on his lesson plans)

that’s how he likes to teach and learn (bc he always loves to learn new things!!)

this is random, but also he is the type of professor to randomly box jump up onto a desk

he also sits in chairs backwards and has a more laid back style to teaching

his exams are based on what the students can learn from history rather than the information itself

he’s always dressed super casual!!

solid color, short sleeve button ups are a favorite!! (no tie)

he gets along with all the students

he’ll talk to the athletes about their games but sound just as enthusiastic and genuine talking with students who are majors in fine arts about their projects

he’s just a v down to earth professor tbh!!

he brings in clooney so much

like... every friday

it’s just another bonus of taking his history classes!!

he and penelope are dating

his office is full of sculptures she makes for him 🥺

he drops by her graphic design studio class with clooney to help out or even to just watch

he’s supportive and encouraging of penelope and her art!!

other than the sculptures penelope makes him, his office is a bit more disorganized than jj’s or emily’s, but cleaner than spencer’s

he has a few papers scattered on his desk but mostly he’s a little more put together

his office door has a small basketball hoop attached that he plays around with if he’s bored (and if penelope is busy)

both he and penelope have a dog bed in their office and water bowls for clooney when he comes in

Hotch

law professor

is the most intimidating professor on campus

like

seriously

if students think professor prentiss is intimidating, they haven’t met professor hotchner

he stands in the front of the room and goes over his lecture without pausing or asking questions

his voice is naturally low and intimidating and he actually never smiles

his attire and appearance is always so professional

suits

ties that are tied so tight, they look like they’re choking him

shoes so polished, he can see his reflection in them

hair always styled neatly

pants and jacket are always wrinkle free

his classes are difficult

not just because of the subject matter, but because he has a very organized, straight forward method to his teaching

students wouldn’t dare act up in his class—they’d be absolute idiots to

he’s quiet and reserved outside the classroom

if the others hear anyone talking shit about hotch behind his back, they’re always quick to come to his defense

they actually know hotch

they know he puts on a hardass exterior, but really he’s just a softie

he always lets them hang in his office with him

he listens to spencer’s ramblings and is extremely patient with him

he has lunch with emily every other day

even if she’s a pain in his ass 99% of the time, he likes that she sticks around and that he can trust her

he shows up to all of penelope’s art shows

and sometimes sits in on derek’s lectures when he has guest speakers

jj brings him pastries from the coffee shop on campus sometimes

he knows that he can come to her if he ever has anything he needs to talk about

(he never opens up to her but he really appreciates the sentiment nonetheless)

penelope has definitely made hotch a few sculptures

(he keeps them at home, but he does have one of her paintings hanging in his office)

speaking of his office it’s hands down the most organized out of all of them

his desk is so clean besides the picture of his son he proudly displays at the corner

he always has his lights off and his door shut

he seems so unapproachable, especially in class

but sometimes his lecture notes have crayon scribbles all over the page

or a small sock will fall out of his briefcase

and maybe, even for a moment, his serious demeanor falls when he spots them

and it almost reassures the students that he is human

Rossi

actually he’s the only one besides maybe reid i can see being a criminology professor

is a retired fbi agent

and successful author

so like that hasn’t changed from canon

but because he doesn’t work for the fbi anymore, he has absolutely no chill and tells all secrets

he’ll be like

talking to his class about a case he worked on in ‘83

and be halfway talking about details of cases that were supposed to be confidential

he’ll pause and go “oops” but keep talking lmaooo

penelope actually never made him a sculpture

instead she made him a coffee mug she made on the wheel and glazed herself!! (she even made her own glaze bc she’s extra like that)

carved on the side is “world’s best italian dad”

(this is because when emily introduced rossi to the group she was like “yeah he’s kinda like my dad” and now everyone calls him “dad”)

(he loves it so much though and proudly accepts his title)

he loves his mug so much and uses it every single day!!!

he’s the only professor besides penelope that let his students refer to him without the title of “professor”

he gives off kind old grandpa vibes

and that he’s only teaching because he really doesn’t have anything better to do during his retirement

but he’s chill and his class is interesting to take

(plus he really does love to teach)

he’ll ramble on and on about his “golden years” as an agent

he will especially talk a student’s ear off if they come up to him and tell him that they read one [or all] of his books

he writes a different quote on his board every single day

his attire is always business casual

he sits on the edge of the desk or on a swivel chair because it’s comfy

he was doing a lecture on jack the ripper and just pushed himself around on the swivel chair, slowly spinning around the front of the room

his voice kept changing in volume every few words because of him facing the wall and then a few moments later facing the classroom

his students refer to him as a “living breathing meme”

he has no idea what the fuck that means

but he take it as a compliment

his office is empty because he goes home after he’s done with classes lmao

he doesn’t do paperwork

or fuck with technology (he never fucking responds to emails smh)

so he has no need for an office

#criminal minds au #penelope garcia #spencer reid #jennifer jereau #emily prentiss #derek morgan #aaron hotch hotchner #david rossi #honestly not much has changed about rossi from canon #but #ye #also #half of these are based on my college experiences lmao #my history professor brought his pair of poodles to class like every other week and it was the only reason i didn’t drop the class #my math professor walked into class one morning and just fucking box jumped up onto a fucking desk for no reason #during dead week my graphic design professor let us watch katy perry music videos for an entire class period it was grear #my gd studio professor was a weird dude but his class was so much fun #i’m still pressed about professors not responding to my emails tbh #professors: email me if you have any concerns or questions #me: (emails profs) #profs: (never respond or even read emails) #fuck right off lmao #long post #emily has a sculpture now pls #college professor au

[vegalocity]

A Curse of Feathers and Mud

So y’all know how it’s implied that Eda was Stan’s Ex-Wife Marilyn? Well I was thinking some thoughts at work and was like ‘what if they stayed together’ So here we are

Ao3 link

-

Edalyn Clawthorne—or apparently as far as the human world was concerned, Marilyn Forrester—Was tired of the Boiling Isles and if she didn't still need to keep Elixirs on hand, she'd never return, throw the folding door and the key over a ravine and resign herself to never seeing her homeland again.

She'd had her curse for a little over a decade at this point, but had only recently learned the truth about it. A lump formed in the back of her throat at the memory of her Sisters shouting. Eda's bounty had just jumped another zero and Lilith had been 'lucky' to catch her while she was doing some self training on the Knee. And she... they'd gotten arguing and God-! She hadn't even SEEN Lilith since she'd ran from the Coven Ceremony!

And THAT was her pitch to try and get her in?! 'Hey I cursed you when you were fourteen! Come join this system you hate and could never be happy under and serve this tyrant that brainwashed everyone in the goddamn land to practically worship him so he can fix what I did to you so I don't have to do it and take responcibility for my actions! Everything will be fine!' Lilith was lucky she'd still been recovering from a curse flare up and she'd just ran, else she might not have been able to control herself.

She'd ran back to her cabin—she'd been considering making a House Demon for the place, but it would need to be more than two rooms before the demon would have enough space to thrive, Eda was a lot of things, but a neglectful demon owner was not one of them—packed a bag with some human clothes and an armful of her stash of Elixirs and left for the human world. She'd needed to get away and the furthest she could think of was the human world.

Which was, of course, how she'd met Hal.

It was just some stupid scheme of hers that ended up blending in nicely with a scheme of his own, the two of them had caught on to eachothers game and played off of eachother until they had enough to split a hot meal.

She did her best to seem as though she knew exactly what she was doing, and thankfully Dollars weren't too different in setup than Snails were. And she hadn't been overly hungry her gut still turning and churning from the previous day's discoveries, so she let Hal have most of the yellow salty sticks that came with the sandwich.

“So, what's your name?” He'd asked, a mouth full of tomato blood—well, not REALLY tomato blood, it was too viscous and salty, but it was the closest approximation she'd had at the time—and brown eyes flickering to her ears—thankfully still covered by her mountain of orange hair.

“Edalyn.” She'd answered easily. It's not like she was anybody in the Human world. Her name was only dangerous on the Boiling Isles.

“Marilyn...?” he fished, and Eda had been just about to correct him, before deciding against it. New world new her.

“Marilyn Blight.”

“Hal Forrester, nice to meet ya.”

So they'd ran some schemes together since it made it a little easier and eventually earned enough to hit the Casinos in town.

Maybe Hal was just lonely, in how quickly he'd taken to Eda, and maybe She was just desparate for the idea that she could actually do this, could actually run away to the human world and just drop back into the boiling isles when her Elixir runs dry. But eventually, high on adrenaline and the mutual sense of dispair, the two of them found themselves in a drive by chapel. He didn't have a ring for her, so He promised that that would be the first thing they got with their winnings once the stint in 'Vegas' was over.

Of course when they left Vegas it wasn't easily. The Goons for whatever powers controlled the human world in their screaming cars tearing across the road behind them, And for a moment, Eda was tempted to leave. To pull Owlbert from where she'd hidden him, take the Vegas winnings she had in her lap, and leave. Open the door while they were at this speed, say something snarky like 'I think we should see other people' and jump out, her staff there to catch her.

But if she did... where the hell would she even go? The Owl Lady had a hundred thousand snail bounty on the Boiling Isles, and she didn't want to return there unless either she HAD to, or she was READY to. And the last thing she wanted was the chance to somehow cross paths with her sister again. Eventually Belos would start actually sending agents out to find her, and knowing her Sister, Lilith would be the first to volunteer. And she was NOT ready for that yet.

“I have an idea, do NOT slow down.”

“Wasn't dreamin' of it, toots.” 

Magic was harder here, this place didn't have magic pouring from its very core, it was a magic vacuum. Everything Eda made took almost twice as much magic as it would back hom- Back on the Boiling Isles. She'd probably need to chug an elixir a day earlier than normal. Damn things... She used to only need to take them once a month, but now it's come to a weekly basis. Maybe someday she'd have to guzzle the things like a morning apple blood.

Eda took a breath and drew a circle, the amber magic flashing only breifly before an Illusion was crafted, pulling away from them as the illusionary car stopped abruptly, the loud screech of tires against stone barely audible. The Goons behind them so startled as to not crash into their 'targets' not a one noticed the trickery for what it was.

Hal, for his part, didn't falter, she saw him startle slightly as he saw the illusion in the rearview mirror, his eyes widening and his hands scrambling over the steering wheel, but he kept his cool.

“What the hell was that?!” was the first thing out of his mouth when they'd crossed territories, into some place called 'Utah'.

Soooo maybe he didn't take it like a CHAMP, but he did take it.

Well, Eda was in it now. She had a fake name that was a wanted woman, she was in a marriage of convienence—Eda had always had a torrid romantic history but even she knew that this wasn't based in love, it was too soon, this was just mutual desperation for contact—with a human, and while she could return to Bonesbourough whenever she pleased, she found that, she still didn't want to.

“Edalyn is my real name, with an 'E'. Edalyn Clawthorne. Back home they call me the Owl Lady, I'm one of the most powerful witches on the Boiling Isles.”

And Hal had let out a nervous chuckle, Owlbert hopping down from Eda's staff and resting on his shoulder curiously. He took a deep breath and introduced himself as Stan Pines.

Though they both chose to keep the fake names for the next couple of states. A married couple looked better as an explination than just a pair of wandering people who decided to stick together after all.

Eda had barely realized a year had passed until she was on her... tenth run back to Bonesbourough for her next supply of Elixir, Stan had come with her—so long as he swore to keep the hood of his jacket up over his head so people wouldn't notice his ears—and ran her Human Curioscities stand for her as she did her business. And... okay, Stan was NOT a better salesman than she was, they were on pretty even footing, he'd simply grown up in the Human world while Eda had only been living there for a year. He knew more intimately how the curiosities worked so he knew how to better market them to others.

And HIS face wasn't the one on the wanted posters that she'd seen periodically around the marketplace. So the Conformatorium's Mooks left him alone.

When she came back, her newest crate of Elixir under her arm, over half of their stock had been cleared out, Stan humming a song about counting money to himself.

And you know... they weren't in love. Not really. Maybe on some level he was trying to replace that brother she'd heard him mention in passing with her. And maybe on some level she was just trying to prove to herself that her own sister hadn't ruined her life by making one of her own.

But they could maybe find a way to be happy. Just Maybe.

#I was talking about it on a discord group #and the best 'Why' we could come up with was #'Eda found out Lilith was the one that cursed her a lot earlier' #vega writes #The Owl House #Gravity falls #crossovers are neat #Edalyn Clawthorne #Eda Clawthorne #Eda the Owl Lady #Stanley Pines #Stan Pines #Staneda #I mean kinda? it's more of a pre ship thing #Stan Pines X Eda Clawthorne #Stan X Eda

[megalony]

Sweetheart- Part 4

Another part for my latest bodyguard! Ben Hardy series which I hope you are all enjoying so far.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction

Series taglist: @anikatcmh @sillyscissorsnerdsoul

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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

"You do know we're meant to be leaving in five minutes, right?" Ben questioned, a hint of a smirk on his lips as his eyes followed (Y/n) practically running from the corridor into the main area of the apartment. Her eyes widened as her body turned to the left to aim for the kitchen where Ben's voice came from.

Ben had noticed more and more of (Y/n)'s father's workers dotted around the streets lately and two or three had approached them this week. He thought it would be better if they left a bit earlier for her work so then they could take a different route and see which one was safest where no one was hanging around. He had been sat at the kitchen counter for the past ten minutes, checking his watch as he waited for her to get ready. Normally they were both ready on time, grabbing breakfast and leaving. (Y/n) was punctual, Ben wasn't normally left hanging like this.

His brows raised as he looked her over. Her hair was neatly brushed, a few strands hanging over her features here and there but she still looked lovely. But what caught his attention as that she was simply in her bra, underwear and socks.

"Going out like that?" He mused, leaning his left elbow on the counter before propping his head up on his hand.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, ignoring the cocky attitude he was simply radiating at this point as she headed over to where he was sitting. Moving so she was standing between his legs as he continued to smirk, something she knew would disappear the moment they stepped outside. She felt his other hand settling on her hip as he waited to be told why she seemed giddy this morning since today wasn't anything special or different. Today was the same as most other days, go to the shop for work, head to the store to stock up and come back home.

"Don't be cocky." She scolded with a smile as Ben kept his head resting on his hand. His smirk turned into a smile as he waited to be told what she clearly ran here to tell him. (Y/n) moved her hands as she held a blank expression, waiting for him to notice but he stared back at her with the same mirrored look waiting for an explination.

"Nice underwear, now are you getting dressed so we can go?" Ben dipped his finger into the band of her underwear, pulling it before letting it snap against her hip. He knew her underwear clearly wasn't what she wanted him to see or notice but he couldn't help but rile her up a little. It was always fun to push her buttons and see how far he could get, and it wasn't as if she didn't play the game as well. But they did need to get going soon.

(Y/n)'s shoulders fell as her head tipped back like she was a child having a temper tantrum. She didn't think Ben was this blind or ignorant and she wasn't in the mood for playing games.

"Fine." She muttered, trying to hold back a smile as she lifted her chin before turning around. Taking two steps away from him before she felt his hands gripping her hips to stop her going any further away from him. The smile broke out onto her face as she turned her head to look over her shoulder, seeing Ben had hopped off the black leather seat he'd been on, now standing behind her.

"Go on, tell me what I'm supposed to notice." He sighed through the words although he was smiling to show he wasn't annoyed or angry. His hands let go of her hips so she could spin around and face him. Her hands motioning to her stomach as her head leaned to the side, waiting for the penny to drop and for Ben to finally see what she had noticed this morning.

(Y/n) bit down on her lower lip as she watched Ben's eyes narrow before his hands slowly reached out for her shoulders. Gently turning her so she was standing sideways to him before he leaned his head to the right as if he was trying to press his ear to his shoulder. She watched the corners of his lips pull upwards as if they were trying to meet his eyes, causing creases to surround his smile as his eyes seemed to widen and capture stars in their pupils.

It was small, but it was there. A bump.

Exactly what (Y/n) had been looking for these past few weeks and now they were little over four months gone, it was finally beginning to show. Standing sideways made it more visible to Ben but it still made him smile. He had to agree with what (Y/n) had said before, this kind of proof was better than a scan photo.

Slowly reaching his hand out, Ben pressed his palm to her stomach, his thumb brushing over her skin causing her to shiver from the tickling feeling it created. He could feel the barely noticeable rise against his hand, it made all his nerves tingle like they were set on fire and frazzling in his system. But it was a very good feeling. Leaning down, Ben pressed his lips against her own, slowly, gently but passionately at the same time. A feeling that was quickly becoming intoxicating. 

Moving his hand from her stomach back to her hip, he gave a gentle squeeze before pulling back.

"You need to get dressed." He muttered quietly, nodding his head to the corridor to signal that she should go and get changed. They were going to be late if they didn't leave now because they were taking a slightly longer route to get to her work today.

It took two minutes for (Y/n) to disappear and grab her leggings and jumper before appearing back in the kitchen. Grabbing her bag from the counter before moving to put on her coat and shoes as Ben was already ready to go. Turning to face him, (Y/n) narrowed her eyes when he held out a breakfast bar to which she shook her head, politely declining the offer. Not that it made a difference when Ben simply held it closer to her.

"You haven't eaten anything yet." His voice seemed a mix between concerned and neutral as he was already getting into bodyguard mode. The moment they stepped out the door (Y/n) knew it would be like walking with a different person- not that it was a bad thing. She had hired him after all and this was what he was like when he was working, she could handle the switches in attitude.

"I'm not hungry." (Y/n) responded as they headed out of the apartment. As she locked the door she caught Ben stuffing the breakfast bar into his pocket obviously going to give it to her later when she eventually felt hungry.

Sometimes (Y/n) wasn't hungry in the morning, sometimes she was. Recently it seemed easier and safer not to eat this early in case it simply got thrown back up later in the morning. She felt fine at the moment and she wasn't risking that by eating something now and having morning sickness later. She would eat something in a few hours when she gained an appetite and knew she could hold the food down.

"Don't blame me when you feel ill." Ben muttered, eyeing her with a trace of a sly smile on his lips before the neutral expression came back to his face and corrected his lips into a thin line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leaning his elbows on the counter, Ben clasped his hands together as he scanned his eyes around the shop he had mapped out in his head down to the last detail. He liked being at the counter or near to it because it gave him a bird's eye view of the interior of the shop and he was close to the workshop if he needed anything.

The counter was a rather old, light brown oak that looked rather brittle to Ben but it wasn't really any concern of his. There were many various sized drawers beneath the counter that the customers couldn't see. It was where they stocked the seashells that could be seen in the window. Each drawer contained a different shell with various sizes. There were a few button drawers at the end and one he noticed that had various sewing needles ranging from sharp to blunt. There was also a drawer stacked with knitting needles too. He had a few weapons to choose from here for an emergency.

The shop really did look like a nicnac store on the inside as well as the outside. There were two main windows with displays of seashells, wool and little shell creations or small collectable snowglobes and magnets. There were many various pottery creations in the other window too. Some were trivial things like turtles or a few Disney ones. Others were pots, plates and ceramic mugs. They all had different colours and designs and Ben loved to see (Y/n) painting them.

Today wasn't a painting day though, it was more a stocking up day to keep the shelves stacked as they had quite a few customers day to day.

Mary-Ann, the lady who owned the shop wasn't normally in but she had been last week and it was the first time she saw Ben. He could hardly tell her he was (Y/n)'s boyfriend because it would make (Y/n) seem like she wasn't working or she was bringing him there to mess around when no one was in the shop. Telling her he was a bodyguard seemed a little risky since (Y/n) had tried to create a new persona for herself here. She used a different name here like she did when they went for the scan and when she used to work as a waitress.

Ben told her he was (Y/n)'s friend who had been helping out here and there in the shop and he was more surprised that she bought it rather than the lie he came up with on the spot. He told her he was a volunteer worker to try and coax her into letting him stay or else he would have to keep sneaking in whenever she was around and she bought that too.

Doing another sweep of the shop with his eyes, Ben kept an eye on the lady standing in the corner of the shop on his left. She was picking up bundles of wool, scanning them and then setting them down for a different colour. There was a young girl looking at the shell ornaments next to the door and then there was (Y/n). Carefully setting the pottery she had painted the day before on the shelf with precision. Trying to set them straight and in line so they looked presentable.

Ben had to admit that if he was into the calmer kind of lifestyle this would be a nice place to work. He figured it was nice for (Y/n) here, she didn't have to have a hectic job that made her worry more than her family problems did. She could just relax and have a calming day here which is what she both wanted and desperately needed.

But Ben was into the more hustle and bustle kind of life at the moment and a bodyguard gave just that style. The threat of being watched, being followed and the danger of being hurt. Things Ben had to be careful of and stop and people he had to protect, people who needed him. It was a job he loved and he didn't really know what he would do if he didn't do this.

Yet he was beginning to see that he didn't want to simply take a few months off and then go and protect someone else. Not if he was going to have a baby. He never had anyone significant waiting for him at home before. He lived on his own in an apartment that was only used a few weeks or months at a time before he went away working. Ben couldn't do that if he had a family waiting for him at home. He couldn't say goodbye to his child and leave for what could be three, four or even five months at a time and then come home whenever a job finished. His mother was right, this wasn't a job he should be doing if he was going to have a family.

Ben allowed that train of thought to continue in the back of his head as his attention turned to the woman who stood in front of the counter he was sitting behind. Dumping three lots of wool in front of him and then reeling off two names of the shells she saw in the window that she wanted.

Pushing the stool back, Ben clicked his neck into place as he leaned down to find the names of the shells written onto the drawers. Unloading three different sizes of each shell before carefully putting back the ones she didn't want. He was glad she didn't ask for a different shell because there was one kind that had points like a porcupine and had stabbed into Ben's hand earlier.

He gave her the change and watched her walk out as he found himself going back to his train of thought, his eyes still sweeping around the store just to be on the safe side. Seeing the girl disappear after putting the shell ornament back down, clearly uninterested.

Turning her head in the direction of the door when the bell chimed, (Y/n) glanced over to see the next customer rolling in as she carefully settled the next clay ornament onto the shelf. Her hands wobbled as she tried hard not to drop the ornament when she saw who was walking in. Snapping her head to the right, (Y/n) caught Ben's eye in an instant, seeing his eyes narrow to ask what was wrong. His skin bristling as he watched her mouth something to him.

'My brother.' (Y/n) mouthed, her head tipping behind her in the direction of the man who had walked in.

Her head ever so slightly shook to tell Ben to stay put. Moving around the tray of ornaments over to where the shelf was that stocked the Disney ornaments. Trailing her finger over one of the Dumbo ornaments as if she was interested in buying it. She couldn't let her brother know she worked here or he would report back to their father, she had to act like a customer and this was the only way she could think of doing that. Her trembling fingers wrapped around the small, delicate item as she held it closer to inspect it although she had taken in every feature on this ornament many times before.

Out of both her brothers, Mark, who had walked in, was the lesser of the two evils. He was the one who had tried to leave but ultimately took the bribe he had been offered and got sucked back into the business. He wasn't as bad but he still wasn't good because he was still working for their father.

"Sis." Mark spoke in a hushed tone as if they were in a crowded room. When her head turned to look at him she saw how worried he looked. His eyes darting back and forth like he was going mad. A few beads of sweat glistening to his forehead as his black curls were somewhat knotted and dancing around his head. He was around her height, maybe an inch taller but he didn't look menacing like their elder brother. He looked small and frail in comparison to his brother.

"Please, just leave me alone." (Y/n) whispered back, settling the ornament down only to pick up another one. Inspecting it in much the same way as her brother scanned the shelf before reaching and taking the statue from her hand and carelessly putting it back.

"Don't turn up to court." He hissed like a snake to the point she was expecting his tongue to dart out and be split down the middle.

"You know I can't-"

"Yes you can, goddamit!" He balled his hand into a fist and rested it against the shelf, looking about ready to knock everything off but he tried to control his sudden anger. His eyes darted over to the counter where Ben was sitting, their eyes locking as Ben's expression went from neutral to stern. Showing Mark he was watching him because he clearly didn't trust him. "Sis, please... you go to court we all go down for this and you still won't be safe. Dad's on the warpath here, he's gonna find you. Do what mum did, take off somewhere, anywhere. Just... please, just disappear."

A look of hurt came onto (Y/n)'s face at the mention of her mother and how her brother didn't seem to care about her. He wanted to save his own skin and stay in their father's good books and by giving her the hint to leave he was doing their father a favour. He was making sure all of them were safe from their dodgy dealings.

"It's too late to save your own skin, Mark. Do yourself a favour and go to the police yourself or just wait to be put in jail. I didn't do any of this."

Her brother could easily take some of their father's papers and documents and go to the police. Get himself a lesser sentence for cooperating and making sure their father was put away. But instead, she knew he was going to try and dissuade her because if she didn't go to court then they wouldn't have enough to put her father away.

"You fucking snitched! This is all down to you."

"And you took the money." (Y/n) spat back, her fury matching his own. "You could have left but you took his bribe and landed yourself in this. You're a coward." (Y/n) knew that provoking him wasn't the right thing to do even if her words were true. He could have escaped all of this but he was greedy and took what he was offered and stayed in the business. He landed himself in this mess because he was too much of a coward to leave.

Pushing himself to his feet, Ben rounded the side of the counter, his skin prickling as he stormed down the aisle to where the siblings were. His eyes darkening when Mark suddenly lashed out at whatever (Y/n) had said.

A fire seemed to spark in his eyes at what (Y/n) called him before his hand suddenly latched onto her throat, pushing her into the shelves behind her causing a gasp to leave her lips. The air started to burn in her lungs as her eyes saw the desperation in her brother's infuriated face. She was condemning both her brothers and her father by going through with this but at the same time, they condemned themselves by going along with their father in the first place.

Mark's eyes darted from (Y/n) to Ben who pulled him away from (Y/n), roughly pushing him away and placing himself between them both. Trying to act like he didn't know either of them or the fact that they knew one another or were related. He couldn't give away that he knew (Y/n) or that she worked here.

"What's the problem?" Ben questioned, his chest heaving as his jaw locked in place. His hands clenching into fists at his sides as he waited for an answer, leaning to the side when Mark did so he couldn't see (Y/n).

"Nothing-"

"Then buy something or get out. Don't harass my customers or I'll call the police." Ben folded his arms over his chest as Mark seemed to debate his choices before huffing and turning to imply that he was going to leave when he saw that Ben wasn't letting him near (Y/n). Not willing for another argument or a fight to break out.

"He's gonna get you soon, you know." Mark spat, looking over his shoulder at (Y/n) who simply shrank away into the shelves she was trying to disappear into. Her body quivering as she wanted to go home because suddenly, work didn't feel so safe anymore. Her eyes followed Ben as he started walking over to Mark, grabbing him by the shoulders before roughly shoving him to the point he almost fell flat on his face.

"Oh get out." Ben stated in annoyance, swinging open the door so he could give Mark a final shove out the door. Closing the door, Ben stood in front of it as he watched Mark stumble onto the street. Casting another look at the shop before he stormed off like a toddler having a tantrum.

Ben slowly moved away from the door when he was satisfied that Mark had gone and wouldn't be coming back in. Walking over to (Y/n), Ben gently tilted her chin up so he could look at her neck, seeing no harm done which he was thankful for. He gently pulled her away from the shelves he was worried she was almost morphing into at this point, holding her to his chest with one arm around her waist and his other hand knotting in her hair.

"Are you alright?" He mumbled the words into her hair as he kissed the top of her head. Breaking his cold work attitude because he could see she was a little shell-shocked.

"I'm okay... he's mad because he knows he's going down if I talk at the trial." Ben slowly unravelled his arms from around her, pulling back as he scanned over her features just to do another check that she was okay.

He couldn't help but lower his gaze to her stomach, her eyes following his gaze before her hand moved to press to the bump that couldn't even be seen due to her striped jumper hanging off her frame. Ben's lips curved into a small smile at the action that told him nothing was wrong with her or the baby which was a good thing.

Yet both of them couldn't help but think that this was getting a bit dangerous now. There wasn't even a date for the trial and her father's men and even her brother were now threatening her and 'advising' her to stay quiet or to even elope somewhere to keep safe.

Maybe this trial was more trouble than it was worth.

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben x reader #dad! ben #imagine #bodyguard #borhap #joe mazzello #sweetheart

[romeulusroy]

Push Pins (Matt Murdock Drabble)

Character/s: Matt

Word Count: 615

Inspired By: Love Is A Bitch by Two Feet

A/N: Using writing as a therapy? Me? Always haha. The concert was absolutely amazing last night, which makes these feelings I'm feeling feel weird and displaced, but oh well. I've had this idea for a few days, I hope it turned out okay! Feedback is always appreciated 💜

It felt like stepping on push pins. A sudden sharpness underneath the skin, the smallest wound letting all your own personal dread seep out. Wet footsteps staining the floorboards. Easier to clean off tile. The sting in your cheek, a reddened hand print left behind, the terrible reminder you needed to forget. A striking so sudden, so quick, you never caught who caused it. Pins and needles, eventual numbness.

He didn't feel those pins. He noticed the way you stepped around them, timid, afraid, unsure of yourself, listened to your every move. Sharp objects only you could see littered the floor. It didn't matter, not really. Brave enough to face them, smart enough to avoid, something always lingered in the dark, in the shadows, in the pit of your stomach. It waited patiently, still and sweet, until the right moment. When you used up all your happiness. That was not unconditional, not for you. Those kinds of moments lasted hours, a day or two if it ran thin, blinding you enough to forget about those things. One wrong step, even a graze, left you bleeding out. For days, weeks, however long your mind decided. It never truly liked you, did it?

He brought it up. Once. But describing it made you choke on wet cement. It put pins in your bed, your back, a lovely little reminder he couldn't understand, not while he slept so easily. Not until he was as colorful as you are, your skin spotted in reds, blues, yellows, greens. Not until he could hang those handwritten reminders from himself, his own flesh and bone. Out of milk. Do some laundry. Just get through the day. By last of them, you're begging yourself not to push those pins in yourself, speeding up the process of the inevitable.

You made him check. His hands over your arms, your shoulders, spine. Matt could never feel them, no matter how much, just this once, you wanted him to. Maybe, if he could, they would spell out some unforseen explination, a book in braille of all the reasons you deserved this. He never knew the way they nicked on clothes, when they pushed in even further and pulled out while you changed, why it was so hard to drop the blanket held around your body. Always those fucking push pins. You didn't want him to know. You wanted holes in your skin to be yours, not his. Wouldn't have wished it on anyone else but yourself.

It was better he didn't understand. He would have tried to pull them all out, one by one. It'd take too long, and with no results. They'd be there in the morning anyways, pressed into your palms, your thighs, your chest. He wouldn't listen to all the ways you'd tried to do the same, to get rid of them for good. Throw them away. Lock them up. They always found a way. In your pockets, shoes, the surprise party you never asked for.

Numb kisses, hollow words. Your lips swollen, your tongue a beautiful blue and green. Eventually, those began to hurt. Hugs became a thing of the past. Touching him, him touching you came with insecurities. Convinced yourself this would be it. This time he would feel them, that they would get caught on his skin. A worry he'd bleed out the way you did, become disgusted by the way you took it without a fight, by the way you gave up, gave in.

It was better like this, you convinced yourself, pressing them into yourself. He didn't have to understand. You would deal with this on your own, the way you always have. One pin at a time.

#writing #mat murdock #matt murdock drabble #matt murdock oneshot #daredevil #daredevil drabble #daredevil oneshot #marvel defenders #marvel defenders drabble #marvel defenders oneshot #marvel #marvel drabble #marvel oneshot #matt murdock x reader #matt x reader #x reader #drabble #oneshot #take a shot everytime i write feeling in the a/n

[burningcollectionsandwich]

hi guys

right before I say this, this post doesn't have anything to do with batman the enemy within (holy crap what the hell is wrong with me) please don't kill me.

I was looking on my deviantart account (which I made a while back) looking at my journal and I found my old calculations I made for corpse party tortured souls (for anyone who doesn't know what that is, its an AWESOME Japanese game where these students get transported into this hell hole school after doing a charm and they have to find a way out while solving the mystery behind the school before these ghost children can kill them...there is a lot of gore in this game, trust me. also my favourite character is yuka). anyway, when it was the holidays in 2017, I got bored and decided to watch corpse party tortured souls (the anime adaptation of the game, the game is way better) and while I was watching the death scenes, I thought “....huh, if I can calculate it correctly, maybe I could find out whos death lasted the longest”, I also had this thought because me and my friend were joke argueing about which character had the worst death and crap...we are weird people. anyway again, back then I was actually so proud of myself that I calculated this pretty much correctly, and my friend ended up winning the joke argment and they’ve been rubbing it in my face ever since. anyway enough with the explination, this is what my post said:

“Anyway, after reading all the mangas and watching the entire game plays/anime/extra chapters of each game (even hysteric birthday 2u for some reason), I have concluded the death times of each character in tortured souls and which character is in which space (yes I have a  messed up mind but I don’t care, I’m not changing). For the death timings, I am only doing the main 9 characters, well the 7 that died anyway. Also you might want to look at the heavenly host map while reading the first bit - i.psnprofiles.com/guides/3443/… (I don't own this picture) *spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched any of the corpse party games or anime or read the mangas* How long the characters lasted in corpse party: tortured souls (using MATHS and SCIENCE) Seiko – calculating seikos death was a bit complicated but I think I have it. If you look on the heavenly host map, it shows that the infirmary is on the second floor while the girls bathroom is on the third. Now, this is important because when naomi hung Seiko, she would of have to walk back down the stairs and sit in the exact place where she was before she unknowingly got possessed by the darkening. For naomis journey up the stairs back to her previous place, I estimated to be about 3 minutes as in heavenly host it is dark and if you notice on seikos tv death scene, possessed naomi walks and acts rather slowly. Naomis trip back up the stairs takes 1 minute and 2 seconds (I had to add at least 10 seconds on has there was a cut scene). Now, if we take the time for Seiko to die on screen, which was 1 minute and 32 seconds. Seikos death lasted for 5 minutes and 34 seconds Mayu – do I even need to explain her death? She got splattered on a wall, meaning she died almost instantly, however the time it took her face being dragged against the floor was 5 seconds (im not even kidding). Mayus death lasted 5 seconds Morshige – I had a major problem with morishiges death as I have no idea when he fully died, but for this lets say he died as soon as the earthquake happened. So morishiges death timer starts when he gets stabbed in the neck by kizami to the end of episode 2, which was 50 seconds, now if you take the time from the beginning of episode 3 to the earthquake scene, you get 45 seconds. Morishiges death lasted 1 minute and 35 seconds Yuka – calculating yukas is a bit tough because you have to keep time on other parts in order for it to make sense. Yukas death timer starts when she gets stabbed in the leg by kizami to the cut scene where they are on the bridge, which is 2 minutes 40 seconds. Now if you take the time from the cut scene to yuka actually dying, which is 21 seconds. But in order for this to make sence, we have to take the time satoshi reaches to bridge to the time he actually arrived there, which is 1 minute 53 secnds seconds, this is because during the cut scene, they ran to the bridge where yuka dies, so we have to add that time on because that’s what happens in the cut scene. Yukas death lasted 4 minutes and 54 seconds Yoshiki – yoshiki had one of the easier calculating deaths because his death didn’t have any cut scenes so I easily took the timings from the anime. Yoshikis death timer starts when you hear him yelp scream from being stabbed in the eye by yoshikazu to the scene where he gets a hand shoved through his head, which was 34 seconds. Yoshikis death lasted 34 seconds Ms yui – I could go ahead and say that ms yui was killed instantly by decapitation but scientists say that the head lasts or the brain stays oxygenated for about 12 seconds after decaportation. Ms yuis death lasted for 12 seconds Satoshi – I had to research the timing for blood loss for satoshis death but I may have found an answer. My research says that after losing a limb, like an arm, the human would die in 6 minutes if pressure is not applied, however in this case, satoshi loses both of his arms, so I just halfed the time, which is 3 minutes. Satoshis death lasted 3 minutes”

its tumblr me again, my god, for a person with dyscalculia, this is pretty good (though I got to say, I do have a very messed up mind). the post also had a segment where I tried to figure out which character was in which space (you’ll understand all this if you’ve watched corpse party). I do highly recommend corpse party though (btw, the order of the games are: corpse party blood covered, corpse party book of shadows, corpse party hysteric birthday (not sure how the hell this game is a corpse party game but whatever), and corpse party blood drive)(corpse party totured souls, is an anime adaptation but its best to watch the game)

again, sorry this post wasn't about batman telltale, ive probably made some of you guys annoyed and I apologise for that, corpse party is my favourite Japanese RPG game, while batman telltale is my favourite English RPG game, ok? everyone understand? yar? cool

#corpse party #corpse party tortured souls #I'm messed up #math

[olicitysecretsanta]

Planning

Happy Holidays Sammie @gohstfoxgoddess I hope you enjoy this.  I am not very good at third person so I went with what I know.  Lisa @lageniuswannabe

Rating: Fluff with angst rating is General Audience.

William was at school, Oliver was at city hall and Felicity was looking at their new home with a sense of peace surrounding her heart. She should call Curtis maybe he could help the easy part of hanging up clothes and putting away things was done. She wanted it to be homey when her boys got there. She peeked out as she heard the door open and saw standing in the doorway Raisa. Felicity was always in awe of how organized and loving she was.

“Felicity, are you okay?” Raisa smiled at her.

“ Just trying to figure out how to fit my stuff in here, I don’t want it to feel like I’m overtaking everything and I don’t want William to feel out of place, I just wish I knew the best way to merge integrate our lives. Or so I have no idea!” As her babble stopped Felicity hoped Raisa understood the explination.

“Let me help. I think I know what you mean. Oliver has no warmth in here, and I think you add the warmth. Felicity” Raisa hugged her.

Felicity smiled as they get to work. When Raisa pulled out pictures of their trip, Felicity explained reminiscing about Europe and Bali.  After Felicity explained that some of those pictures Felicity still can’t look at, Raisa told her in a gentle tone, “Talk to Oliver about these things. He needs to know how you feel so you two can work this out.”

Felicity picked up the blanket Oliver bought for her telling Raisa about it.  “He probably doesn’t even remember buying this.  I got cold when he was gone so he bought this to keep me warm,”

“May I?” Raisa asked her pointing to the blanket.  Raisa sweetly draped the blanket over the couch.  “Now it is close by.”  

One box remained marked Hanukkah.

Felicity lit up when she sees her Menorah. “I forgot that starts on December 12th and my mom will be here, I’ll ask all Oliver if it’s okay if I explain it to William. “

“I think any child would love a holiday they get 8 days of presents for,” both women laughed. Felicity put the box aside for now and then stored the Christmas decorations.

Raisa made some coffee and Felicity grabs her Doctor Who mug and filled it. While she was working on her laptop at the kitchen counter, Raisa starts to get things put away from laundry and clean up.

“Raisa, I will go get William from school, see you shortly,” she yelled as she headed out the door.

……

As they walk back into the apartment, Will and Felicity were talking almost at high speeds. Will told her, “My English teacher gave us an assignment to write a story about the most exciting things that happened to me at Christmas.”

William told Felicity “I cannot remember good times right now. All it’s going to do is make me sad I can barely look at her picture without crying, knowing she lied to me my whole life. I should just make something up.”

“Will, you can’t do that. I know it’s going to be hard. Here let me read what the assignment says.” William handed her the paper.

‘Write about something exciting that has or could happen to you for  Winter Holidays due December 20th. Mr. Smithers.’

“Will, it says could happen here too. You could write about this year coming up or 5 years from now.” Felicity handed the note back to him.

“Yeah, sure right my dad’s in jail this Christmas and all because he cared more about saving the city than me!” Will stormed off and closed his bedroom door with such force that it rolls back a bit.

She looked around but Raisa was gone. So she picked up her cell phone and texted Oliver.

F- Be prepared. Will not in a good mood. Call me when you are not busy.

O- I will in 5 minutes.

Felicity walked over to the balcony and snow falls softly outside she can smell dinner that is already started waiting for Oliver to call her. Why do English teachers have to be such a pain in the ass? Felicity thought to herself as her phone rang.

“Hello mayor handsome.”

“Hey beautiful,” Oliver sounded so good on the phone. “What is going on?”

Felicity explained to him about the English assignment and how upset William was telling Oliver everything he said.

“I will cancel my last meeting and come home.”  Oliver Explained.

“William? Hon, Dad is on his way home. Can I get you anything to drink? Will, I love you, but please talk to me or your dad or both of us, please.”

She heard him crying. “Be out in a minute,” he called.

“Okay,” Felicity’s heart breaks a little. She hated that he is hurt from all this, he never chose it. Two minutes later, the door slides open. William grabbed a water as he sat on the couch beside her.

“Why do English teachers always make life harder, math is so much easier than English.” He complained.

Felicity pulled him in for a hug and sighing “I know what you mean math is straightforward and logical. Other things involve our emotions I just hope you know we are all here whenever you want to vent, argue, or hug. That is what family does.”

William wiped his eyes and took a few more sips of water.

Felicity wished she knew the best way to get rid of his fears about Oliver being the Green Arrow. She has that same sort of fear, but she is part of the team understanding the reason Oliver is needed. Maybe William would be able to handle it better if he knew more about the team.  William would grasp how the team protect each other, love each other and are part of his family, also.

Oliver walked in and sits down on the coffee table facing them both. William looked up with eyes shining as he stood to hug his dad.

“Dad, I need help to understand. I need to know more about your other world so that I know it’s safer than I imagine it to be. My imagination is probably a lot worse than what it is actually like.” He took a deep breath, “I just think it could help me to understand you more.”

Felicity looked at Oliver as she told him, “you make some good points Will. Can you give dad and me a minute to talk, first?”

“Okay, I’ll go start my math homework,” Will went to his room.

Oliver shifted to sit beside Felicity.

“I think you have a decision ahead of you,” Felicity kissed his cheek.

Oliver turned and kissing her more fully. “Tell me what you think, please.”

“Oliver, I can’t decide for you, you are his father. I just wouldn’t feel right. Felicity lowered head.

Oliver lifted her chin. “Fe-li-ci-ty, we are partners in everything. This will not only affect him, but us the team and our children, our future. I trust your opinion always. Please talk to me.”

“Okay,” she began lacing her fingers through his. “I think we should show him, I mean he hasn’t asked before just always assumed things which has got to be a lot scarier than what the actual is. He hasn’t spent any time with the team where he could really get to know just how dedicated and how much of a family we all are. Thea told me he asked her a bunch of questions already and she wasn’t sure how much to share. So she kept telling him to talk to you. He has been talking to the therapist at A.R.G.U.S., but she can only do so much. I just think it’s time, you know.”

“I know I was just hoping it wouldn’t have to be this soon Felicity. I was out and it just keeps pulling me back in, hell, you’re halfway out I don’t know.” He started playing with her wedding band, “I dragged…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there you did not drag me into this I made a very informed decision Oliver, you know that!” using her loud voice.

“I know, I know. Okay, what if we bring him down there and then he gets all inspired or decides he doesn’t want any part of it. I just got him in my life He finally calls me Dad, I can’t lose that.” Shaking his head, “what if he decides he’d rather go live with his grandparents in Central City, I don’t want that at all and this shouldn’t have to be his life. Maybe I shouldn’t have promised his Mom.”

“Look at me,” she reached for his face. “You are not going to lose him, I think you will be just fine and think about what he could actually be imagining. It has got to be worse than the actual. With the team and everything we can take steps back and have been. The world there is so much brighter than when you started your solo mission 6 years ago. Oliver, we have to do something to help him feel better. He saw the news last week Thea tried to turn the TV off, but she said he saw some of it and that is when he started asking questions,” she started stroking his beard.

“Okay, if we do this, he needs to promise to ask questions and be ready for answers and not want to run away from the answers. I also want him to know that there are always other ways to be a hero.” Oliver kissed her palm.

“Agreed” Felicity nodded.

“Oh, also I want him to go with you to see what you and Curtis are doing with Helix Dynamics maybe even spend a day with Dinah or Quentin at police headquarters,” he looked at her and she nodded her head in agreement.

‘Will come out here bud.” Oliver called and William sat on the ottoman and looked at his father.

“If we do this, there are going to be conditions.” Oliver started, “you need to understand you will not be leaving the bunker staying in Felicity’s eyesight the whole time, you will also agree to go to Felicity’s business and see what they are doing to change the world and go for a day with Quentin to see what life is like with a badge.”

“Thank you, thank you, I agree.” Will hugged his Dad and Felicity.

“Also, we don’t want you to get your hopes up or see things that are just not there so you really need to listen to Felicity in the bunker, and if you have questions ask, but know she won’t always be able to answer right away. She is a very important part of the team and is sometimes the only eyes we have,” Oliver kissed the back of her hand “Will, please understand? I know we chose this life and to live this way. I want so much for you.”

“I know that I promise I will listen to Felicity and not to be annoying and I will talk to both of you about everything,” Will crossed his heart and gave another hug.

……

In bed Felicity stares up at the ceiling thinking so very loudly she doesn’t even hear Oliver at first until he kissed her on the forehead and said, “you’re thinking so loud I can almost hear it Felicity.” She wrinkles her forehead a bit. “What is going on in that beautiful brain of yours, Felicity Smoak Queen? Talk to me.”

She looked him in the eye and replied, “just nervous. I hope everything stays quiet for days with the Holiday’s starting and Mom coming here and planning this party with Thea. Now Will coming into the bunker. Just praying, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” as he looked at his wife of one week. “I noticed the pictures and things of yours finally landed and made me smile when I saw your elephant over there.”

“Yeah, Raisa, helped me today. I hope it’s not too much. I tried to not overtake the space.”

“It’s your home Felicity. It’s our home. As a family we can sort through everything else this weekend.” Oliver started with a small chaste kiss and Felicity reached up and grabbed his face, pulling him in for a deeper kiss.

……

Waking up the next morning, Felicity stretched and glanced at her wedding ring married finally.

Crap, Mom is coming today. I got to pick her up at 9. Felicity thinks. She got ready for the day. She walked into the living room and saw Will in her green blanket, which made her smile. No one in the kitchen, she noticed.

“Morning Will.”

“Morning Lissy,” William smiled.

“Where is dad?”

“He went for a run about 10 minutes ago.” William smiled at her.

“Whatcha watching?” Felicity asked.

“Teen Titans, want to watch?”

“Yeah,” Felicity sat down and Will shared the blanket with her. After the show is over Felicity told him to get dressed. They had to go to pick her mom up at the airport.

A few minutes later, Oliver came in from his jog as he grabbed her around the waist.

“You’re all sweaty,” she squealed.

“I thought you like me all sweaty.” Oliver kissed her on the nose.

“I do, but not when I’m dressed for picking up my Mom at the airport and you need to get dressed.”

Oliver kissed her forehead and went to get ready for the day.

With Felicity’s Mom coming Raisa is making a special dinner.

“Morning, Raisa,” Williams said. Felicity smiles and straightened Williams tie.

“How many people are coming today again, Felicity?” Raisa asked.

“Let me see Mom, John, Lyla, J.J., and Thea plus us makes 7 with you.” Felicity answered.

“I’m bringing chairs from storage when we get back,” Oliver added.

Raisa hugged William, “behave William and stick close to Felicity and your father.”

“Yes Ma'am.”

“Light breakfast big meal later,”

…..

At the airport, Felicity was tapping her toe nervously. She has been distant with her Mom since she went back to Vegas only because she was so busy, but hopefully Donna won’t be too mad about her and Oliver being married. She looked at William and he looked like he wants to bolt.

Oliver approached William. “What’s wrong bud?”

“Nervous” William swallowed “What if Felicity’s Mom hates me, or I don’t know her, so what if we don’t get along.”

“Donna is an incredibly loving woman. She has forgiven me for breaking Felicity’s heart once. She knows that we are all family now, I’m sure she is just as nervous as you. Donna is really enthusiastic and loves hugs, so don’t be surprised,” Oliver rubbed his back.

“My mom will love you as much as I do Will, don’t worry…..”

“Baby, Oh my God you look so beautiful. Oliver honey, how are you? You must be William?   I’m Donna, Felicity’s Mom but, if you want you can call me Bubbe.” Donna hugged all three.

Felicity grabbed her arms, “slow down ok? Show us where your bags are and lets go do this back at the apartment.”

“Okay honey, I’m just so excited my baby is married.”

“Donna it is really is good to see you,” Oliver added.

“Oliver call me Mom honey.” Donna smiled.

“Okay, Mom” Oliver grabbed her bag from the carousel.

“Let’s go home.” Felicity replied as she gave William a small hug..

They got back to the apartment and Raisa had set out a light lunch for them. Donna got the tour from William. They seem to be getting along, “what does Bubbe mean?” William asked.

“Its Hebrew for grandmother but if you don’t feel comfortable William you can call me Donna. But just so you know I am going to spoil you like a grandson, because you are a part of my family now as well. You have so many people who love you and that includes me.” Donna hugged William

“Thanks Bubbe.” William smiled. “Felicity can you help me with my project from science fair later?”

“Of course Will.”

As William goes to his room Oliver followed him. “You okay Will?”

“Yeah, I guess I am kind of missing Grandma and Grandpa a little. They weren’t around a lot, but Grandpa always made Christmas better by taking me ice skating and stuff, while Mom and Grandma argued all the time. Do Felicity and her Mom argue?” Will asked.

“No, not really, they talk and may disagree a little bit, but they don’t argue.”

William played with his tie, “Mom said Grandma was just difficult, but I heard her call me bastard a few times that is usually when Grandpa would sneak me out of the house. So I guess I don’t have good experience with Grandmas.” William tugged his tie off.

“Will I think it’s about time you got a good Bubbe experience? Donna’s great and she would never think or say anything like that.” Oliver hugged his son. How dare these people treat his son this way?

“Mom, where are you?” Felicity called.

“Looking at this view, I didn’t realize there could be a better view than your loft,” Donna said.

“Yeah, it’s great. You’re okay staying at the loft with Thea right?” Felicity asked.

“Of course, I love Thea.  She’s very vibrant like me.”

“I’ve missed you Mom,” Felicity hugged her.

“Me too baby girl.”

Oliver came up from behind. “Hey do you guys want to go skating tomorrow? Will said something that makes me want to take him skating.”

“Sure we can drink cocoa and watch you skate.” Donna hugged Oliver.

“Desert girl Oliver not sure skates and I get along…”

“Come on try it for Will,” Oliver said as he kissed her on the nose.

“Alright but no laughing when I fall on my face or other body parts,” she poked him on the chest.

“No promises. Hey Will come out here, we’re going skating tomorrow Felicity needs lessons.”

“Hey, maybe Rene and Zoey could come. Zoey plays hockey for school.” Felicity said.

“That would be cool.” William smiled and ran back into his room.

“I think he likes her,” she hugged Oliver as she texted Rene then Thea, to see where she was. “Thea is in the elevator.”

“Dad. Can you come here?” William yelled.

“What’s up?” Oliver looked in the door.

“My skates pinch, I need new ones.” William mumbled.

“We can get them tomorrow morning, first thing Sportsplex opens at 9 tomorrow. Don’t worry, all good probably have to get myself some too, can’t remember where mine are?” Oliver reassured him.

“I think they’re at the loft in the storage room, Felicity, Donna it is so good to see you again,” Thea smiled hugging Donna.

“Auntie Thea!” William ran towards her.

“Hey Will.”

“Hey, so good to see you moving about the world Speedy. I’ve missed you,” Oliver hugged Thea.

“Oh my God, this party planning is going to be so fun and expect a lot because I am paying you two back for just up and getting married,” Thea laughed.

Oliver and Felicity groaned at the same time.

“Serves you both right and I am so bringing the glitter Thea,” Donna added.

“Mom no glitter, please!” Felicity face palmed herself.  William and Oliver just started laughing.

Raisa walked in at that moment. “I’m so happy to see everyone so happy both your children deserve all this happiness.” Thea hugged Raisa and kissed her cheek. “Enough of that enjoy while I get dinner ready.”

The girls sat on the sofa and Will asked if they wanted to play one of his MCU games. “I’m so winning this time you and Lis can eat my dust,” Thea exclaimed.

Oliver just stood there watching it all happen, Felicity came up to him and hugged him whispering, “we both deserve this much happiness, but you, especially you, my wonderful husband deserve this much.” Oliver smiled down at her eyes, shining everything he dreamed of 4 years ago, watching her and Lyla after JJ was born. It’s finally here. Oliver kissed the top of her head and said “thank you.” Felicity smiled up at him, “you never have to thank me not ever.” He hugged her tighter and then they both grabbed controllers. “You’re going down Speedy.”

The night continued like that, with William showing JJ how to work the controls for Mario kart, Lyla and John just enjoying this time as much as Oliver and Felicity. Thea turned to Donna, “come on Mama Smoak, let’s get out of here lots to do tomorrow.” Thea and Donna rise to leave and John grabbing a very sleepy JJ head home. Oliver and Felicity hug Raisa and thank her for dinner. William went to get ready for bed.

“Felicity thank you for making my dad so happy love you, goodnight Dad and Felicity.” William closed his door and went to bed.

Felicity turned to Oliver, “he loves me Oh my God I didn’t say it back.

Oliver hugged her, “tomorrow. We have a million tomorrows, now.” they head to the room hands interlaced Oliver turned and pulled her in for a kiss that was so tender and loving. Felicity reached around his neck and made the kiss more passionate as they headed towards their bedroom. They closed the door to their room and head to the bed. The next couple of days was a fury of fun and planning and shopping.

William smiling a lot, not much had happened in the city they were just getting things repaired, prepared and sorted when Felicity got a text.

C-Dead body looks like Black Siren.

“Great? Oliver.” She showed her husband the text, “your mom and Thea are busy and Raisa is at a friend’s. So I guess we can bring him. If you think he’s ready?  It’s just recon anyway.”

“I agree as long as he brings his homework.”

Felicity and Oliver knock on his door, “William pack your homework and we’ll grab Big Belly on our way to the bunker. Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Oliver asked.

“Yes,” Will packed his backpack. They headed out to the bunker.

……..

“Hi Curtis” William yelled running down the stairs.

“Will, what are you doing here?” Curtis looked confused.

“We thought he should see what happens try to quell some of his fears and maybe help his understand better,” Oliver slapped Curtis on the back.

Felicity added, “he will only see what I think he should and listen to me. Right, William?”

“Yes Lissy I promised.” William set his bag on the conference table and opened it up getting his stuff out. 

“Suit Up”

Everyone went to get dressed and Felicity turned to her monitors hacking into the nearby traffic cameras and Police radios.  “Looks suspicious, be cautious rooftop across from the site looks clear and good vantage point.”

The team heads out.  Felicity put the bunker on lock down and turned on the com’s and body cameras.

“Okay,” Felicity motioned for William to come over. He went to where Felicity pointed. “See this is Green Arrow’s Camera and Mr. Terrific’s.” William went to speak Felicity held up a finger and silenced her com.  “Okay what?”

“Why did you do that?” William asked.

“Because if anyone may be listening on the com I don’t want them to hear you, Will. That would not be good.  So if you want to ask me something tap my shoulder and I will give you a signal it’s okay to talk like this.” Felicity made a thumbs up symbol, “and I will go like this when you are not to speak,” she made the sh symbol on her lips, William nodded.

“So that’s Green Arrow, Dad right?” Felicity nodded her head.  They arrived and Felicity gave him the quiet symbol.

“Definitely something out of sorts here Overwatch” Curtis whispered.

“Looks staged, stay low Terrific.” Oliver looked around the setting.  He noticed a glint from the window in the building across from the shooting. “Focus on that window Overwatch.”

“On it.  According to heat signatures there is no one in there but the Wi-Fi protection levels are definitely James type.  Probably a trap of some sort.  Stay out of there.” Felicity screamed, “there is definitely something off like a trap of sorts.  Terrific send in a T-sphere.”

Curtis threw the sphere at the window capturing a picture of a thermo imaging camera and laptop before going dead.  “I was right some sort of trap.”  Felicity started chewing on her bottom lip.  “I am going to send a message to the police anonymously about a possible trap above their heads using his IP from there.” 

“On our way back,” Oliver told Felicity.

…….

Back at the lair they watched from a camera that was placed on the adjacent building.  The camera was pointed at the scene below supposedly a trap of some sort for the hero’s. 

“If I dig further into his firewall he may be able to piggyback of that to watch us through our cameras again.  I think we have to let Dinah do the leg work on this as a lieutenant.” Felicity started typing a message to Dinah.

“Okay let’s go home Thea and your Mom were coming over for dinner to finalize the reception.”  Oliver held out his hand for his wife.

William packed up his back pack and looked a little dejected, “kind of disappointed I didn’t really see anything.” Curtis looked at him and said, “Will about 50% of what we do is leg work and recognisance we cannot go into a situation blind and we always trust our instincts.  Your Dad taught us that.”

“Good to know you were listening Curtis.” Oliver patted him on the back.

Back at the apartment Oliver showered and Felicity set the table.  The lasagna smelled delicious, just then there is a knock on the door.  Will ran to answer it.  Felicity saw Thea, her Mom and her Father.  She quickly ran to pull Will back.  “What are you doing here? Mom what is he doing here? Like we don’t have enough to deal with you here.”

Oliver ran out as he pulled on his shirt.  “Noah what?  Thea did you know about this?”

Donna reached up and grabbed Felicity’s arm.  “Baby girl your Dad and I have been talking. I called him and told him you got married.  He wanted to be here for you.  I promise there is no ulterior motive here other than wanting to be here for his daughter.”

“Mom, he is full of ulterior motives.  How can you trust him?  I can’t, No you stay on the outside of that door Noah.”  She grabbed onto Oliver and collapsed onto the couch.

“Felicity, Baby I wouldn’t have brought him here if I had thought there was an ulterior motive.” Donna tried to sooth Felicity but it was definitely not working.

“Do you want me to ask him to leave?” Oliver looked at Felicity.

“No, I want to know why you think Noah after everything I forgave you 100%.  The least you could have done in the last I don’t know a year would be to call me.  Honestly, Noah when you left again at Mom’s request what makes you think I would want you to cut me off completely.  Where have you been?”  Felicity looked directly at her Father waiting for an answer.

“Felicity, I wanted to call you but right after I left your place ARGUS approached me and I have been working with them deep undercover.  Lyla thought you might be alright with me being here.  She said you could call her and verify everything.”  Noah looked down at the floor. “I have always loved you Felicity and I am so happy that you are happy and I just want the opportunity to be a Father walking his daughter down the aisle.”

“Oliver, I don’t know what to do.” Felicity turned into his arms and started crying.  Oliver looked at everyone, “give us a minute.  Noah come in sit down.” He lifted Felicity and carried her into their bedroom followed by William.

“Felicity, I just want to give you a hug I have never seen you so sad.” William grabbed her around the waist and Felicity kissed the top of his head.

“Thanks buddy, can you give Felicity and I a minute okay? Go play with Aunt Thea in your room. Oh, ask her to turn the oven down will you.” Oliver rubbed his back. “Okay, Dad,” William ran out of the room to his Aunt.

“Honey look at me, this is all up to you but you know how I feel about family.  No matter the mistakes my Dad made I would give anything to have him here to see how happy I am and how wonderful our life really is bumps and bruise and all.” He hugged her tight to him. “I think in this maybe call Lyla check his story and then we give him a chance.  If he can convince your Mom all this and she has been dead set against him for decade’s maybe he’s telling the truth.”

“Oh God I hope so Oliver I want so bad for this to be true.” She looked up at him and kissed his cheek.

“Call Lyla,” He kissed her on the lips so gently and handed her the phone. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Yes, hello Lyla I guess you know why I am calling.  Is what Noah is saying true has he been working with you? … really, okay.  So what, okay top secret.  Thanks Lyla.” Felicity hung up.

“I guess he was telling the truth from what I heard.” Felicity nodded at Oliver. “So, Felicity what do you want to do with this?  All of it is up to you, Honey.”

“I want him here part of me really does want him here.  I am scared so I want us to stay on alert with him.  He goes no where near the business or anything else. I really want to be cautiously optimistic, you know.”  She looked up at Oliver and he nodded he goes to the kitchen leaving Felicity to freshen up.

“Noah, I called Lyla and yes I do want you here but know there is no way you are going anywhere near my business and I will be observing as much as possible.  So you need to get a hotel room as you are not going near the loft.” Felicity looked at him and she reached out to give him a hug. “Thank you for saving my life and I hope that this works.”

“Me too Felicity, I am so very proud of you and Oliver is good for you I can see how much he truly loves you.  I will be on my best behaviour.” Noah hugged her back.

“Will can you set another place setting? Let’s eat everyone.” Oliver announced.

Dinner went well with casual conversation and stories of how they got married, leaving out the part about Earth Xer’s.  After dinner Donna pulled out her wedding story board.  The planning goes well with a veto on Glitter on the tables.  Tomorrow should be beautiful and Felicity cannot wait to show the world how much she loves Oliver, oh and her dress.  Felicity is sleeping at the loft tonight, even though they are married she liked the idea of seeing him finally waiting for her and them to start their lives in front of everyone they love.  She kissed Will on the cheek and then she turned and kissed her husband fully and passionately on the lips. “Mmhmm, see you tomorrow, I love you sooooo much.”

“I love you too and I cannot wait.” Oliver hugs her to him.

Tomorrow can’t wait……

#arrow #olicity #olicity secret santa 2017 #olicity fic #olicity fanfic #submission

[irphanfic]

Helping Your Soul

Hello! So here I finally bring you the fanfic I had promised you. It’s the longest I have ever written and also could be seen as an original story so I hope you enjoy it.

based on these prompts: “Our children are best friends….yeah”  + “We are the only two parents who agreed to attend the school trip”

summary: Phil Lester is a single dad struggling to give his daughter Olivia the best life she could have. What happens when Billie Howell (Olivia's best friend) and his dad enter their life in more ways that one can imagine?  

word count: 9.5k

no trigger warnings

''Dad, they need some parents for this trip, could you come with us, pleaseeeee?'' Olivia's pleading voice asked his dad, who was washing the dishes in their not so big kitchen. ''C'mon dad, we are going to the amusement park, you love rollercoasters! We can spend time together and eat popcorn while waiting!''

''Olivia...'' her dad started saying, ''It's a three day trip, I don't know if I can miss so many days of work.''

Phil Lester was a single dad struggling to keep up with all the bills with his office cleaning job, and now his daughter was asking if he could miss work to go on a three-day trip. He knew how much Olivia wanted him to go, but he didn't know if he would be able to ask for some free days.

''Dad please, you haven't taken a vacation day in ages!'' his daughter reminded him. It was true, since he had been fired from his previous job he couldn't stay without one for long, so he took the first job that had been offered to him, which didn't pay much, but enough to give Olivia everything she needed.

Even though Phil was trying to find something better for the both of them, it was difficult. He often argued with his parents because he thought he wasn't doing enough for Olivia and he felt terrible but his parents tried to reassure him that he was the best dad Olivia could have. He was glad his daughter didn't know how bad he felt for her, he would feel terrible if that happened.

Phil started thinking about the trip. It was a three day trip, and that meant staying somewhere to sleep, and also the tickets to the amusement park, and the bus... Oh god. He was sure he couldn't afford that much. But his daughter was so excited...

''Dad'' his eight year old woke him up from the not so enjoyable daydream ''don't worry about money, the school is paying for everything, except whatever we want to buy at the park.''

''Oh'' Phil whispered, a relieving sensation passing through his body. That changed things. If he didn't have to pay for anything other than miscenalleous things he could maybe go with his daughter. ''I will have to ask at work tomorrow so don't make any promises yet, but if I can I could maybe go with you.''

''YES!'' his daughter screamed, circling her tiny arms around his waist, resting his head in his stomach. ''You are the best dad, thank you.'' Olivia muttered before deattaching herself and skipping her way to her bedroom.

________________

It was easier said than done. Phil had approached his boss the next morning, asking for a few days off, explaining the situation.

After a few minutes, his boss considered his request and allowed him those three days of vacation, but on one condition, ''You will have to work extra next week, mornings, evenings and some nights even, understood?'' his boss said with a serious tone.

Phil could only nod and thank him, making his way back to the storage closet to pick some products before starting cleaning again.

As he was doing his work, his mind wandered off again. Working extra hours would mean leaving Olivia with a babysitter, which he would have to pay and that mean spending more money...

It was going to be an adventure trying to find one.

________________

''Olivia, can we talk?'' Phil asked his daughter who was reading a book on her bed.

''Yeah, sure'' his daughter responded, letting the book down on the nightstand, and folding his legs to let his dad sit at the end of her bed.

''I managed to have some days off so I can go with you to that trip'' Phil started explining, seeing his daughter's face light up, but before she could scream he spoke again, ''but I will need to work extra hours next week, so that will mean that I need to find a babysitter for you.''

Olivia's face sobered up, not liking so much the idea of having to spend time with a babysitter, ''Oh,  okay. Maybe one day I can stay with Billie, do a sleepover, we haven't managed to do one yet. That way you won't have to pay the babysitter much more.''

Billie was Olivia's best friend. Billie and her dad moved to the city a year ago, and the girls instantly connected, making the both of them inseparable. Phil still hadn't met Billie's dad, maybe this time he could get to meet him, he was sure having another friend who was a parent wouldn't hurt much.

''It's a very good idea Olivia, make sure you can get Billie's dad phone number so we can arrange something, okay?'' Phil smiled at his daughter, so glad she had suggested that idea.

''Dad,'' Olivia's tiny voice said, opening his arms towards his father, asking for a hug. Oh Olivia. Phil gladly accepted his daughter's hug, kissing the top of her head, ''thank you for all of this., I love you.''

''Olivia, there is no need to thank me'' Phil whispered, his voice cracking a bit trying not cry.

''You know? I would love you more if you made pizza for dinner'' Olivia told him, making both of them laugh before separating from the hug.

''Oh really? So pizza it is'' Phil said before grabbing his daughter and lifting her above his head, a loud shriek echoing through the hallway, carrying her to the kitchen.

________________

Olivia had managed to bring Billie's dad phone number the next day. His daughter told her that 'Dan' (that was the name of Billie's dad) would be avaliable after 6 pm, so Phil waited till almost 7pm to call.

The phone beeped three times before a soft but masculine voice greeted him from the other side ''Hello, who is this?''

''Oh, hi I'm Phil, Olivia's dad. I suppose you are Dan, right?'' Phil said, a bit nervous.

''Hi Phil, Billie told me about the sleepover your daughter wanted to organize and all is fine by me, don't worry! That's why you were calling, right?'' the other dad asked him.

''Yes, that's why. Could you maybe pick them up at school? I will be working all day so I cannot pick Olivia, I will send her with everything she needs.'' Phil worriedly asked.

''Yeah, no problem. When will you be picking Olivia up? Next morning?'' Dan wondered.

''Could it be better by lunchtime? I also work in the morning and...'' Phil explained, bringing a hand nervously through his hair, realising how much he was asking Dan. Pick her daughter up, let her sleep in their house...

You could tell Dan sensed how stressed Phil was about this so he tried to reassure him that it was okay ''Phil, don't worry, okay? I will take care of Olivia till you arrive, I will be glad to spend a bit of time with her after Billie told me so many things about her.''

''Thank you Dan, really.'' Dan's words had calmed him down a bit. Dan was a great dad, he could tell.

''It's nothing Phil, I will send you my adress later and if you need anything just call me again, don't hesitate'' Phil heard some background noise, and before he could speak again Dan was already saying goodbye ''Phil, I need to hang up, Billie needs something. Bye!''

''Bye Dan.'' Phil whispered into the room, letting the phone down on the kitchen table and calling Olivia down for dinner.

________________

It was the morning Olivia was going to stay at Dan's and Phil was nervous. ''Dad, calm down, you have already checked my bag six times and I'm not leaving anything'' Olivia told him, finally managing to stop Phil from pacing around the room.

Phil kneeled down so he could face Olivia and zipping her coat. ''Promise me you are going to be good to Billie's dad, okay? And if anything is wrong please call me, I will leave and pick y...''

''DAD STOP!'' Olivia shouted at him, grabbing Phil's cheeks and squeezing them, making his dad put a funny face ''everything is gonna be fine, now c'mon, we are gonna be late.'' she said, opening the front door and walking down the stairs, a little smile appearing when he heard his dad runing down the stairs trying to catch her up.

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Dan was waiting outside the school waiting for Billie and Olivia. He was glad his daughter had finally found someone so nice and outgoing as Olivia, since Billie wasn't always the best opening up.

''Dad!'' he heard his daughter's voice, two little eight year old's running to him.

''Hey girls!'' Dan gave each a hug, ''Excited for today, girls? Hope we are good hosts, Olivia.''

''Oh, I'm sure you are, Mr. Howell'' Olivia responded politely, like his father had taught her.

''Olivia please, call me Dan'' he told her with a smile, grabbing the backpacks of the two girls and making their way to the car.

''Now, let's blast some Disney songs on the ride home!'' Dan excitedly said, the two girls letting out a tiny shriek and getting inside the car.

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They girls had spent the afternoon painting, playing some videogames and now they were braiding eachother's hair while sitting in Billie's bed.

Dan was walking towards his daughter's bedroom, ready to tell them that the dinner was ready when he heard them talking, Olivia's voice a bit sad. 'Did she miss her dad?' Dan thought, probably that was it.

''Billie, he doesn't know that I know that he spends all the money he earns in the house bills and me. It's not that we are poor, but I just want to help him. He hasn't bought any new clothes for him in like three years! He works so much, really, he took extra shifts so he could go with me on the trip and is trying to find a babysitter for those days when he needs to work.'' he heard Olivia tell Billie, not really knowing if he should have heard that or not.

''Olivia, your dad works so much because he wants to give you the best. You know that...'' Billie was trying to tell her friend when she cut her off.

''I know, he told me that, but I still saw him the other day reading all the bill papers and crying a bit, and I don't want to see him like that Billie.'' Olivia whispered, her voice getting lower.

''Olivia I...'' Dan heard his daughter say, sensing she didn't know how to really comfort her friend. That's when Dan lightly knocked on the door, opening it a bit.

''Hey girls,'' The both of them looked up and he saw Olivia's eyes a bit red, trying to hold tears ''Dinner is ready if you two have finished brading your hair. Billie, go wash your hands.''

''But Olivia...'' Billie said, her word dying in her mouth.

''I'm going to talk to Olivia, okay? Now you go.'' Dan told his daughter, who was rapidly exiting the bedroom, not wanting to question his father.

''Mr. How... Dan, did I do something wrong? I promise I won't do it again, I'm sorry.'' Olivia quickly excused herself, not really knowing why Dan wanted to talk to her alone.

''No, Olivia, no,'' Dan calmly told her, sitting down next to her on the bed, ''you did nothing wrong.''

''Oh okay'' she told him, sniffling a bit, ''so, why did you want to talk to me?''

''I'm gonna be honest, I heard you two talking about your father's situation,'' Dan said, ''I know, it is a bad thing and I shouldn't have done it and I'm sorry but Olivia, really, if any of you need help with anything at all just ask us, okay?''

''I... I... Dan I can't let you do that,'' Olivia nervously spoke, shaking her head a bit ''please don't tell my dad I know about it, he probably is gonna feel worse if he knows and I don't want that.''

Dan, seeing how stressed Olivia was about this, quickly hugged her trying to calm her down ''Hey no, I won't tell him, don't worry Olivia, everything is gonna be fine.''

After a few minutes the both of them separated and softly Dan tucked a strand of hair into Olivia's braid, a small smile appearing on her face ''now go, wash your hands and I will wait for you two down, okay?''

Olivia quickly nodded and went to the bathroom, leaving Dan thinking what he could do to help that family.

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Dan had already left the girls tucked in their beds and he headed straight into the bedroom, when he noticed his phone shining. He picked it up and saw that Phil had sent him mutiple texts asking about Olivia.

'Hey Dan, Phil here. Is Olivia okay? We left in a rush this morning and I didn't even check if everything was fine. Tell her I love her. Thank you. Bye!'

'Hi Dan, Phil again. Just wondering if Olivia needs something or if she is feeling poorly just call me please.'

'As you might have guessed it's me again. It's just I miss her. Sorry for bothering you I promise I won't sent anymore messages. Thanks again Dan'

Phil was worried about Olivia, he knew that feeling. They didn't even know eachother, he would be worried about his daughter too. And Phil was probably stressed about work also, which didn't make it any better.

'Phil, don't worry about Olivia, she is great, she is such an amazing kid, really. I can feel she misses you too, but she is fine. No need to thank me, Phil. Anything you need just ask.'

No response came instantly, guessing Phil was still working so he changed into his pyjamas and went to sleep.

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It was a bit strange but Dan woke up energized for the day. He made too many pancakes for him and the girls, he even managed to get a jug of orange juice ready by the time the girls woke up, the both of them with puffy eyes, probably from staying up late chating.

Now they were all playing videogames in Billie's room when they heard the doorbell, guessing it was Phil, Billie paused the game and they three walked down to greet Phil.

Dan let Olivia open the front door, who let out a loud ''DAD!'' as he saw Phil and run straight into his arms.

''Oh my little one, how are you? Did you have a good time with Billie and Mr. Howell?'' Phil asked his daughter, crouching down to her level and tucking some strands of hair that were falling in front of her eyes.

''Dad we had a karaoke session at night and I won! The were the best hosts ever, I promise you'' Olivia pecked her dad on the cheek as a greeting.

Dan and Billie, who were also at the door looked at the scene, a soft smile on both of their faces.

Phil suddenly aware of their audience stood up and coughed a bit before extending his hand to properly thank the other man, who gladly shook his hand ''Mr. Howell, thank you for taking care of Olivia.''

''Oh, Phil please, call me Dan, we already talked on the phone no need for formalities. And no worries, Olivia here was the perfect guest.'' Dan said, smiling at her, who smiled back.

''And, who is my daughter's best friend here?'' Phil asked, crouching down again to greet Billie.

''I'm Billie Mr. Lester, nice to meet you.'' she handed out her hand for him to shake, who Phil gladly accepted, laughing a bit.

''You can call me Phil, Billie; Mr. Lester is too formal'' he told her, standing up again.

Dan realised that Phil was still wearing his uniform, and that probably meant he came here straight from work. He had been working for almost 24 hours, he must be exhausted. He looked at Phil's face, who was chatting with the two girls now and realised the bags under his eyes.

''Um, would you maybe want a coffee or something before you two head home?'' Dan offered, wanting to give Phil a bit of relaxing time before going home again.

''Oh, we don't want to intrude anymore Dan, thank you but...'' Phil started but Olivia cut him off.

''Dad, you just arrived and I haven't even packed my bag yet, you can take a coffee with Dan while I do that, okay?''

''Um so okay, I will have that coffee'' Phil laughed a bit while entering the Howell's home and Billie led him to the living room.

________________

The two dad's were chatting while sitting on the comfy sofa when the trip came up. ''Dan, are you going to the trip?'' Phil asked him, sipping a bit of his coffee.

''Yes, Billie told me they needed some parents so I decided that it could be a good idea to go, you are going too, right?'' Dan said, suspecting a yes from the other dad.

''Yeah, I took extra shifts so I could go with Olivia.'' Phil looked down at his mug, ''She was so excited to go that if I said no I would have disappointed her so much'' a sad tone could be percieved in Phil's voice.

''Phil,'' Dan sofly called him, waiting for the other man to lift his gaze ''you are an excellent dad, you could never let her down.''

''I think I don't do enough for her, you know? I could do much more but I'm stuck in this job unable to move on scared that I won't find anything better for us.'' Phil explained his worry letting his empty cup of coffee on the table while a yawn made its way to his mouth.

''Sorry Dan,'' Phil excused himself drawing a hand to his mouth trying to hide his yawn, ''I have been working for almost 24 hours and I'm exhausted, we should better head home.'' he comented, standing up and calling for Olivia.

Dan quickly stood up too, ''Phil, I can give you both a ride home since I guess you walked here.''

''Dan, I cannot let you do more for us, you have done enough, really.'' Phil told him, not really wanting to bother Dan anymore.

Olivia and Billie quickly arrived downstairs where their parents were, Olivia wearing her coat and backpack, not really wanting to go home yet.

''Phil it's nothing, I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of the street.'' Dan said, and before Phil could deny his request again he ran to the entrance where he grabbed the car and house keys from the and opened the door.

''C'mon you all, road trip to the Lester's!''

________________

Once Dan had parked outside Phil and Olivia's house, he remembered how Olivia mentioned that Phil was trying to find a babysitter. Maybe he could help Phil by taking Olivia those days when she couldn't stay with her dad, and that way Phil could also save some money.

''Um Phil, before you get off I wanted to talk to you'' Dan commented, and Phil seeing the serious look on his face handed the house keys to Olivia and Billie and told them to go inside, that they could play for a bit.

'Yeah, what's up? Did something happen to Olivia?'' Phil worriedly asked him once the girls were out.

''No no, Olivia is fine. You mentioned before that you were taking extra shifts and I'm guessing that you were looking for a babysitter to stay with Olivia so I was thinking that I could take Olivia with me those days when you can't.'' Dan offered with a smile, happy that he could help Phil in some way or another.

Phil considered this, and it wouldn't be that bad, sensing that Olivia would be with the Howell's and not with a stranger ''Oh Dan, that would be wonderful, I didn't really feel comfortable to leave Olivia with someone she doesn't really know but...'' Phil shut up for a moment, a bit embarrassed of was he was going to say next ''but I cannot pay you much money Dan I'm sorry, I will pay you enough don't worry, but it's just...''

Dan cut him off by posing a hand on his shoulder ''Phil, I don't want your money. You don't have to pay me.''

''But Dan I have to pay you back somehow, I cannot let you take care of Olivia for a week and not pay you!'' Phil exclaimed a bit shakily.

''You know how you can pay me back?'' Dan said, making Phil look at him, ''by letting me sit by the window seat on the trip bus'' And with that sentence he managed Phil to laugh a bit, which it made him laugh to.

''Okay, I will let you the window seat.'' Phil responded with a smile, glad he had found someone as good as Dan to take care of his daughter.

________________

A week had passed since that conversation and Dan had been ''babysitting'' Olivia for some days. Phil texted him the day before to let him know if he had to pick her up or not and he always came over by 10pm, exhausted as ever to bring her home, and even though Dan offered them a ride home Phil always denied, picking a tired Olivia in his arms and walking all the way back to their home.

The day of the trip had arrived, and the four of them were on time to meet the teachers and some other parents that had also agreed to come to the trip. Dan could see how tired Phil was, he could even sense he had lost some weight and he was even paler, probably for not eating enough between breaks.

They got on the bus Dan seatting on the window seat as Phil had promised. He looked at Phil again, who was fiddling with his fingers, so he touched his forearm trying to catch his attention.  

''Hey Phil, are you feeling okay?'' Dan asked him worry clear in his voice.

''Um yeah Dan'' Phil answered distractedly, ready to fall asleep anywhere ''just tired.''

Dan could sense something else was wrong but he didn't ask since the bus had started moving already and Phil had thrown his head back, trying to sleep for a bit.

''Don't worry Phil, sleep. You deserve it.'' Dan whispered just to the both of them while he rested his head into a small pillow he had brought.

________________

They had finally arrived into their hotel, where they showed them their respective rooms. Phil had slept the entire ride, and even though he seemed more energized he was still showing signs of tiredness.

The students had special rooms prepared for them, with some bunkbeds where they would be sleeping. For the parents and teachers they had managed to get some two single bed rooms. Phil and Dan only looked at each other to confirm that they would be sharing one of those, not really wanting to bother to ask other parents.

They had reached their room and as soon as they entered Phil dived into one fo the beds, resting his head into one of the cushions, making Dan laugh a bit at the other man's action and at the same time feeling a bit sorry for him.

Dan sat at the end of Phil's bed, taking the black haired man's worn out shoes so he could sleep more comfortably ''Phil we are leaving to the park in an hour, take a short nap if you want, I will wake you up.''

Dan only heard a hum before soft snoring sounds filled the room.

________________

They were now in the park, Olivia and Billie quickly listing all the rides they wanted to go in. Phil had taken out his old phone to take some photos of Olivia's excited and happy face, seeing his daughter so happy was something he wouldn't change.

Dan was doing the same, but he asked the girls to pose for a picture at the entrance, the both of them with big smiles on their faces. It had been worth it to go on this trip, that for sure.

''Could you send me that picture, Dan? It's beautiful. It's just my phone is old and the camera isn't that good...'' Phil asked him a bit embarrassed for having such and outdated phone. He couldn't afford a better one.

''Of course Phil, I can send you all the pictures we take today, even the silliest ones.'' he smiled at Phil, lifting his phone to take a picture of him before Phil could shield his face from the camera.

''Dan no!'' Phil shouted, turning around so Dan couldn't see him anymore.

Both girls looked at each other with a smirk and grabbed their dad's hands and led them to the first ride, the four of them laughing.

________________

They had spent the day laughing, taking photos and even riding some rollercoasters more than twice, so it had been an eventful day for the girls and their dads.

Now they were back at the hotel, the girls having dinner with their classmates and Dan and Phil with few of the teachers and parents. Phil had only eaten some fries and salad when he annouced that he was going to bed.

Dan looked at him worriedly, but not really wanting to question him in front of anyone, wished him goodnight and saw how he made his way to Olivia and Billie's seats, wishing them both good night before leaving the dining room.

After half an hour of socialising and seeing that some of the kids were also retiring to their bunkbeds, Dan also stood up and went to Billie and Olivia's table, the both of them chatting.

''Girls, I think it's time you both go to bed too, don't you think?''

''Oh, hi dad'' Billie said, looking up at him, ''are you going to bed too?''

''Yes, I just came to wish you both goodnight, so'' Dan was about to continue when Olivia's voice cut him off.

''Dan, can you check if my dad is okay please? I saw him looking a bit down when he came here...''

Oh Olivia. God, he hoped he could something soon to help them. ''Olivia I will check on him, don't worry, I'm sure he will be fine by tomorrow and the offer of helping you both still stands, you know?''

Olivia nodded, muttering a ''thank you'' before both girls got off the seat, Billie giving his best friend a comforting hug and leading them both back to their bunkbed.

________________

Dan entered the hotel room not expecting to find Phil, already in his pyjamas softly crying into one of his pillows. Oh Phil. He didn't even realise Dan had entered the room when he felt the side of his bed sink a bit.

Phil quickly sat up, croaking out a ''Dan'', trying to clean the tears from his face.

Dan was worried. He didnt expect to find Phil crying and it was really shocking to him, seeing as he was always such a happy man even though his life wasn't the best, but even the happiest people had its bad moments.

''Phil, care to tell me what's wrong? I think it will do you good'' Dan encouraged him, not really wanting to tell him that Olivia was worried about him too, that would only make it worse.

Phil took a long breath before speaking, ''I came up because I was tired from all the rides and also working so much has taken a toll on me, so maybe going to bed early would be a good idea but as soon as I closed my eyes I started thinking about my life and it just...''

Dan saw hesitation in Phil's face, he probably felt embarrassed because unlike Phil, Dan had such a perfect life he couldn't believe it himself. ''Phil, it's okay if you don't wanna tell me, but I'm not gonna judge you, I just want to help you, okay?''

Phil could tell Dan was being honest, he could trust Dan, so he took another breath and continued, ''Three years ago I was fired. I worked for a company as a consultant and it seemed like they didn't need my experience anymore so they fired me. I realised that I couldn't stay unemployed long so I picked up the first job that appeared in front of me. It isn't the best job, I work a lot of hours and it doesn't pay enough, but just so I can pay the bills and give Olivia everything she needs.''

''I have tried searching for something more but I'm stuck. I went to a few job interviews but I never got a call back. I think it's because I cannot really afford any good looking clothes anymore, so I have to show up in worn out shoes and washed out shirts, not giving the companies a first good impression is always bad. And it just really hurts me because I want to give Olivia everything because she deserves it and I cannot give it to her and it breaks my heart and I'm a terrible dad for it.'' Phil broke down again, burying his face into his hands.

Dan's heart broke for him. He really wanted to help Phil, help him and his daughter to have a better life. ''Phil, listen to me'' Dan called out for him, waiting for the other man's gaze to lock on his.

''Phil, once this trip is over I will help you get a better job, I will lend you some of my clothes or even buy you new ones and I also know people that might need someone like you in their company, okay?'' Dan promised him, wanting to give him the best help he could recieve.

''Dan I cannot let you do th...'' Phil started but Dan cut him off.

''Phil no. You are gonna let me do this for you and Olivia. I promised I wasn't gonna tell you but Olivia is worried about you Phil, she has seen you cry about bills and also she noticed how much you were working'' Dan's voice softened a bit, ''You cannot keep dealing with this alone, and if you want to make everything better for Olivia you are going to take my help, okay?''

The mention of Olivia's worry made Phil see things other way. He was dealing with all of this, not even stopping for a moment to check on his daughter, who was also worried about his well being. He was a terrible dad, oh god.

''I'm a terrible dad, Dan.'' A sob escaped Phil's lips before starting crying again.

''Phil...'' Dan whispered, bringing the other man into a hug, trying to calm him down. ''Phil, you are not a terrible dad, you couldn't be. You made everything that was in your hands so Olivia could have a happy life and she has one, but if you want to improve that you need to have help and I'm offering to help you so please, let me.''

A broken ''Okay'' was heard form Phil, who slowly calmed down, and hugged Dan back, getting finally some comfort from the other dad.

________________

It was the next day already and both dad's were waiting for their daughters to come out from their bedroom so they could make it to the park on time. After the night they had had, their friendship had improved.

After Phil's breakdown, Dan put on his pyjamas and both laid down on their respective beds, and since neither could sleep, they had spent few hours talking about their lives. Apparently Dan worked for BBC, writing articles about pretty much everything. Also Phil told him about how Olivia had been a surprise child, and her mom didn't really want her, so Phil signed the papers so he could be her only parent. Dan told him that Billie's mother died after her birth, he had been heartbroken at the time, but after eight years he had managed to deal with it. The topics drifted from one to another, till they both finally fell asleep.

''Dad!'' they heard two squeaky voices behind, both girls running towards them.

Olivia collided with his dad's legs and hugging him tightly, making Phil crouch down to properly hug her daughter, whispering a ''Dad is okay, don't worry'' into her ear, knowing his daughter needed those reassuring words right now.

Dan lifted Billie up, tapping her nose making her giggle,''did you sleep well you little munchkin?''

Billie leaned a bit into his dad embrace and nodded, looking at the scene in front of them ''They are gonna be okay, right dad?''

''Billie,'' Dan hugged his daughter tighter, glad his daughter had such a kind heart, ''we are gonna help them, they are going to be fine.''

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They had spent all day on the amusement park, and now they had decided to go and see some of the souvenir shops, see if they could buy something to remember their trip.

Olivia and Billie had found some 'best friend' necklaces that were beautiful so they ran to their dads to convice them so they could get them.

''Why are you both running so excitedly?'' Dan asked them, already knowing what they were going to ask.

''Dad, look at this necklaces, they are perfect for Olivia and me! Look!'' Billie handed the necklace to her dad as Olivia did the same so Phil could also see.

Phil looked at it, and Billie was right, the necklaces really were beautiful. He checked the price tag and he almost had a heart attack, it was more than he could afford. He looked back at his daughter who was looking at him with pleading eyes, he was sure he would break her heart if he didn't buy it but it was too expensive...

Dan looked at Phil, already knowing what he was thinking. He was sure Phil didn't have enough money on him to spend on the necklace. He looked back at the girls who were looking at them waiting for an answer when Phil started speaking.

''Olivia...'' but Dan cut his sentence off by snatching Olivia's necklace from his hands.

''C'mon girls, you are getting out of here with your necklaces.'' Dan said, heading to the check out.

The girls let out a little scream as they followed Dan.

Phil, still dazed about what was happinging realized that he couldn't let Dan spend so much money on his daughter, so he caught up with them and grabbed Dan by the forearm, leading him a bit further where the girls couldn't hear them.

''Dan no, I cannot let you spend so much money on Olivia'' Phil told him, ''Yes, I cannot afford to pay so much money on a necklace but I cannot let you spend it too. It is too much.''

''Phil, you promised me yesterday you were going to let me help you and I have seen the look you had in your eyes, you don't want to break Olivia's heart, do you?'' Dan said, trying to reason with Phil.

Phil looked down, still a bit embarrassed about his situation, ''Olivia has never asked for anything and now that she is just asking for a necklace I cannot afford it, it's just so frustrating... I'm just disappointing her'' a lone tear slid down his left cheek, quickly cleaning it with his hand.

Dan's heart was aching seeing how much this affected Phil. He didn't want to disappoint his daughter by not buying her one thing she had asked for. ''Phil no...'' Dan whispered, ''listen to me, you are not disappointing her.''

''Yes I am Dan! I cannot buy her a necklace to have along with her best friend, what kind of dad that makes me?'' Phil almost shouted, loud enough to catch Olivia and Billie's attention and come running to them.

Olivia saw how upset her dad was so she instantly gave him a tight hug by circling her arms around his waist, ''Dad, you could never disappoint me, I love you.''

Billie was watching the scene and she saw who Phil was having an internal battle between believing Olivia or not. ''Phil'' Billie's tiny voice called him, ''Olivia has always told me how an amazing dad you are and we all can see that, so please, let us help you. There is nothing wrong with accepting people's help.''

Phil was surprised at Billie's words, the girl had always been a bit shy but apparently she had managed to get out of her comfort zone to console him. So, he crouched down and looked at both girls' eyes before bringing them both into a bear hug.

Once the hug was over Billie spoke again, ''so Phil, are you gonna let us help you? We just want the best for you two.''

''Yes Billie, I will accept your help, thank you so much.'' Phil smiled shyly at her, and she returned the smile back.

Dan, who was witnessing the scene with a soft smile on his face loocked his gaze with Phil's and muttered a silent 'thank you', which Phil responded with another smile, standing up after giving each girl kiss on the top of their head.

''C'mon girls, you will be the envy of school with these necklaces'' Dan told them as he approached the check out again, the girls happily following him.

Phil looked at the three people that were now walking toward the exit, focusing on Olivia who had a big smile plastered on her face, while Dan took a picture of the two girls showing their new necklaces. Maybe getting help wouldn't be that bad, right?

________________

They were back at the hotel, all of them had already had dinner and now both dad's had finished preparing the suitcases before they had to go back tomorrow evening. Even though they were visiting a natural park tomorrow, they had decided to pack everthing now so that they wouldn't be rushing later.

Now they were sitting in the two seat sofa watching some kind of TV game show. At one point Phil turned the volume down so he could speak.

''Dan I haven't told you but you and Billie are amazing, I am so glad Olivia has found a friend as good as Billie, you really are a good dad'' Dan looked at him ready to thank him but Phil continued, ''it's just like a dream to have found such good people like you in our lowest moment so really Dan, thank you.''

''Phil, I told you like a million times now, you don't need to thank us.'' Dan replied, smiling a bit, getting lost in Phil's blue eyes.

''But I need to thank you, no one has ever done anything like this for us ever.'' Phil told him, his voice getting lower as he was losing himself also in the other's brown eyes.

One of them knew how happened, but suddenly their lips were on eachother's, a bit slow, testing the waters. One of Dan's hands made his way onto Phil's neck, bringing him a bit closer, as Phil's hands grabbed Dan's waist, circling it, the movement showing that they both wanted it so they deepened the kiss, making Phil lean onto Dan, so that they were now lying horizontally on the sofa, lazily making out.

''Wow'' they both said at the same time, making a soft laugh erupt from them both as well.

Dan looked at Phil, biting his lower lip. After that kiss (okay, kisses but still) Dan knew they couldn't just be friends. But if Phil didn't want anything more... He hadn't been with anyone for a long time, yes he had had some dates but no one really stuck around. He just hopped at least Phil would.

''So... what happens now?'' he asked nervously, a bit afraid of what Phil could respond.

Phil he looked into Dan's eyes and saw uncertainty in them, probably scared of what he could say. But he shouldn't be. He really wanted to try something more than a friendship with Dan, even if he was scared too. ''Dan, you know that I'm not in my best life moment, but I would like us to try to be something more than friends.'' Phil paused, thinking his next words ''We don't have to really label anything, just let it flow, follow our instincts, only if you want too, of course.''

Dan was glad Phil proposed the 'no-label' thing. It was too soon to know what they could be and he wasn't sure if both of them were ready for a relationship yet, as Phil had said, he wasn't in his best moment and Dan was also insecure about having a formal relationship.

''Okay, I like that idea.'' Dan agreed, caresing Phil's cheek making him lean into the touch, a smile appearing on his face. ''C'mon, let's go to bed, we have a tiring day tomorrow.''

And with that Phil lifted himself up from Dan's body, extending a hand so the other man could take it, leading them to their respective beds.

________________

The next morning was nice. The girls had enjoyed the nature park, learning about the widlife surrounding them, as they excitedly told their parents all they had taught them. Dan and Phil had also enjoyed it, they had walked around the park while their daughters were with their teachers, subtly touching eachother and sometimes holding hands when they made sure no one was really looking.

Now they were already seated on the bus on their way back home, Dan on the window seat of course, as Phil had promised him. ''You know, I don't think I would have enjoyed this trip that much if you and Billie hadn't come.'' Phil quietly told Dan, trying not to disturb the sleeping passengers on the bus, while trying to untangle his earphones.

''I was thinking the same. It was nice to get to know you better, Phil. And...'' Dan leaned a bit, just so he could whisper into Phil's ear, ''I'm glad we decided to give us a try, even though we still don't know what it will lead to.'' And Dan quickly looked around, making sure no one was looking before pecking Phil on the cheek, rapidly looking out of the window again, not wanting to let Phil see his red cheeks.

What he didn't see is the way Phil lifted a hand onto his cheek, touching where he had just kissed him and smiling at the gesture.  

________________

It had been a week since the trip, and Dan and Phil hadn't managed to meet again due to their work hours, but they had been texting eachother nonstop.

One of those days, Dan called him and excitedly told him that he had contacted one of his friends and they were looking for people in their company. Phil swore he could cry in that moment. So, they had decided to meet up on Thursday afternoon to go shopping for Phil so he could finally show how professional he really was.

They left the girls with a babysitter at Dan's house so they could shop without any distractions. They were both excited, they hadn't seen eachother since the trip and now they would be a few hours all alone. It wasn't a 'date' but they both felt it was, even though any of them brought it up.

They were now in what would be their fifth shop. Phil was having an inner battle now. He had tried on many suits, but he always checked the tag, saw how much it was and even though Dan was the one buying he still didn't want him to spend so much money on him; so he tried them on in the dressing room and told Dan that they didn't suit him through the curtain before he changed back into his clothes.

He was now in the dressing room, a red tie on his hands, trying to tie it up, but he had lost practice after not wearing one. Dan was waiting for him and when he noticed that Phil wasn't going out he called out ''Phil, you okay there?''

''Um yeah,'' Phil responded, a bit strangled ''just, the tie is not my thing...''

Oh, the tie. Dan suggested trying one, it would make him look more professional. ''Let me help you'' Dan said, drawing the curtain to the left so Phil could step out of the dressing room.

He swatted Phil's hand off the tie and explained to him how he had to do it. ''Now, that's how you tie a tie'' Dan laughed, letting his hands rest against Phil's chest once he had finished while he looked at his blue eyes.

Phil grabbed his hands and laced their fingers, tugging Dan closer so that they touched their noses, giving each other eskimo kisses, both enjoying the moment.

Suddenly Phil moved his head a bit, giving Dan a peck on the cheek and another on the lips, feeling the brown eyed's smile on his lips.

''Thank you, and not only for the tie.'' Phil whispered once their lips had parted.

Dan tugged Phil so he could kiss him again, ''I told you, no need to thank me. Now mister,'' Dan took some steps back and looked at Phil, admiring how attractive he looked in that suit, ''I am getting you that suit because you look amazing.''

''But Dan...'' Phil was going to put the same excuse he had put all those other times but Dan didn't let him speak more.

''No, Phil, no buts. I am getting you that suit and you are going to get that new job, okay?'' he playfully pushed Phil onto the changing room again, closing the curtain. ''I will wait for you in the shoe section, don't make me wait.'' Dan shouted and letting Phil change into his normal clothes.

________________

It was the day of the interview and Phil was extremely nervous. After dropping Olivia at school (who had wished him ''good luck'' with a tight hug and a peck on the cheek) he went back to his house, put on his new suit and took the tube to the company.

He was checking his phone when suddenly a text from Dan showed up. 'Phil, I cannot call you right now but I wish you the best of luck today. You are going to be fine, don't worry. I believe in you. I will check with you later. Kisses x D'

He smiled at it, that was the confidence boost he needed. He could get through this.

________________

''You are hired, Mr. Lester. Welcome to our company. You start next Monday at 10am.''

As soon as he had heard the words Phil almost cried. He did it. He could finally give Olivia what she deserved. He could finally be at peace with it.

''Thank you Mrs. Aiken, thank you so much'' Phil answered, shaking his new boss' hand.

Once he was out of what would be his new company he called his what would be his old boss to let him know that he wouldn't be working with them anymore.

When the call ended he noticed how a weight had been lifted from his chest, making him breath easier.

He and Olivia could finally breath.

________________

Phil arrived home happier than ever and he suddenly remembered the text Dan had sent him. Maybe he should ask him to come and tell him the good news in person, yeah, Dan deserved that.

'As soon as you can come to my house. I need to see you' he texted and sent. He hoped Dan could come soon, he needed to tell someone.

A few minutes later a text came back. 'How did it go? You okay? I can be there in 20'

'Yeah, just come soon please' Phil texted back. He just needed Dan right now.

________________

Dan parked his car and got out of the car running straight into Phil's porch, knockikng on the door harder that he had intended. The texts he had recieved from Phil were so ambiguous he didn't know if he had bad or good news. He hoped it would be the last one.

Suddenly the door opened, a poker faced Phil appeared in front of him and as soon he went to greet him a smile broke into Phil's face ''I got the job.''

Dan went to scream but before he could make any sound two hands grabbed his cheeks and brought him into a deep kiss, making him close his eyes and lean into Phil's body, latching his hands in his tie bringing him even closer.

''I hope you have good news more often so you kiss me like that'' Dan told him once they both had parted for air, ''I'm proud of you Phil.''

''Dan, it was all thanks to you, I cannot thank you enough for this,'' Phil kissed him again, this time just a peck, ''I will pay you back all the money you have spent on us and...''

Dan cut him off with another quick kiss, ''I don't want you to pay me back. I don't want your money, Phil. Seeing you finally happy is enough.'' he told the blue eyed man.

Phil stared at him, a smile appearing at the kindness of the man in front of him. ''At least let me take you on a date. Once I get my first salary let me take you to a fancy dinner, just the both of us, or with the girls if you want, I don't care. I also kind of wanna see you wearing a suit...'' he blushed at the last part. He couldn't deny Dan was very attractive but the thought of seeing him on a suit was making him have punishable thoughts.

Dan bit his lower lip and pulled a thinking face even though he already knew the answer, ''of course I would want to go on a date with you,'' he leaned a bit to whisper onto his ear ''and I kind of want to see you on a suit again, those pants make your butt look great.''

And with that Dan skipped off to his car ''Hurry up Phil! we need to pick up Billie and Olivia and tell them the good news!''

Phil had managed not to be red faced by the time they reached their daughters' school.

________________

Billie and Olivia were chatting about one of their classmate's birthday when suddenly Billie spotted her dad with a suited clad Phil waiting for them, so she grabbed Olivia's hand and ran as fast as she could to them, leaving her and her friend out of breath.

''Don't worry girls, we are not leaving without you'' Phil laughed at them, reaching for Olivia and lifting her onto his arms while Dan did the same with Billie.

''Dad! How did it go? Did you get the job?'' Olivia asked Phil, quiestioning him with her big eyes.

''I got the job Olivia, I will finally be able to give you everything you deserve, my little girl'' Phil told her, his eyes watering.

''Oh dad'' Olivia hugged his dad tight circling her arms around his neck, making him hug her closer to him ''you always gave me everything I wanted, now I just want to see you happy.''

That made it for Phil. He couldn't stop his tears from falling into his daughter's shoulder, ''I was happy because you made my life happy Olivia, but now it will be even happier, I promise you.''

Dan and Billie looked at them, one of Dan's hand traveled to Phil's back, rubbing circles so he could calm down. Billie put a hand on one of Phil's shoulders, making him lift his head and look at the smaller Howell.

''Congratulations Phil, I knew you would get the job.'' Billie smiled at him.

''It was all thanks to you both, so thank you so much Howells. You really are amazing.'' Phil croacked out, fixing his gaze on Dan who was smiling at him and leaned to peck him in the cheek, both girls squealing at the movement.

''I'm starting to think 'thank you' is the only word you know, Phil Lester'' Dan teased him, putting Billie down on her feet and grabbing her hand, ''why don't we celebrate this with ice cream?''

Olivia jumped ot of his father's arms and grabbed his hand, dragging him after Billie and Dan, not wanting to miss the ice cream.

________________

It had been a month and a week since Phil got his new job. He loved the company, and his co-workers were so nice he never wanted to leave. His life was like a dream right now except for one thing.

He and Dan were still on the no-label thing and everytime they meet, he wanted to ask Dan to be his boyfriend, but since he had promised him a fancy dinner he wanted to do it properly, not after a coffee date. Dan deserved it after helping Phil change his life 180º degrees.

He wanted it to be a surprise, but then he remembered that he had told Dan that he didn't care about  bringing Olivia and Billie with them, and Dan didn't seem to mind either. So, he told Olivia about his plan.

She would told Billie to stay in their house as a sleepover, but then they would dress up and suprisedly pick Dan up to go with them to have dinner. Yeah, that would be best.

Now, he was waiting for both girls to get out of school so he could bring them to their 'sleepover', since he had told Dan that he would pick them up and bring them directly to his house. Dan seemed to be alright with it so...

Two pairs of arms circled his legs, making him wake up from his daydream and loook down to greet them ''Ready for your 'sleepover'?'' he asked them, making quotation marks with his hands.

Olivia and Billie eagerly nodded at him, grabbing each of his hands and making their way to the Lester's house, chatting exitedly about the dinner.

''He is going to love it Phil, really.'' Billie told him after a few minutes.

''I hope so, Billie, I hope so.''

________________

Dan was just watching a movie wearing his pyjamas even though it was just 7 o'clock but since Billie was at a sleepover with Olivia he was bored. He was going to switch on his Wii when he heard a knock.

Who could that even be? His 60 year old neighbour asking for sugar? Well, a 10 minute conversation wouldn't hurt to be honest.

''Hi, what do you want?'' tha last word died in his throat when he saw Phil with Olivia and Billie, fancily dressed up. ''What are you even doing here all dressed up?'' he exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face at the sight.

''I promised you a fancy dinner, didn't I?'' Phil told him, his voice wavering a bit from his nerves.

''But...'' Dan wanted to speak, but the girls pushed him, leading him onto his bedroom so he could get dressed fancily.

''Don't take too long, we have reservations at 8!'' Phil shouted, making the girls scream and hurry Dan up.

________________

They were at the restaurant, the four of them having eaten the main courses and now they were waiting for the desserts. Phil decided it was time...

''I want to say something.'' Phil coughed before speaking again, making Dan and the girls look at him, ''After you both entered our lives I was struggling to keep on with my life, but now, I have an amazing job, an extraordinary daughter and her best friend but I just need one more thing to be completely happy...'' Phil paused a but and fixed his gaze on Dan, who was sitting next to him, ''Dan, when we first established this we had a non-label kind of relationship but I have realized I want more and I hope you do too so... Dan Howell, will you be my boyfriend?''

Dan looked at him, his smile getting bigger and muttering a yes before grabbing Phil by the neck and bringing him into a kiss, keeping it appropiate since they had an audience, who were cheering at them.

Once they parted Dan leaned a bit, enough to whisper into Phil's ear so only them could hear eachother ''Once we are alone I wanna get you out of that suit and kiss every single freckle you have on your skin, Phil Lester.''

''That will take you like all you life to complete'' Phil laughed softly into his ear.

''I don't care. That is what I was hoping for anyways'' Dan whispered back, leaning back against his chair and biting his bottom lip while winking at him before starting a conversation with the girls.

Phil sighed and smiled at the sight. This was the life he had dreamed of, and all thanks to the Howells.

#phanfiction #phanfiction au #phanfic #phanfic au #danisnotonfire #amazingphil #oneshot #irphanfic #helping your soul

[roseandmae]

Review: Lady Mechanika La Dame de la Muerte

This is my review for the Lady Mechanika: La Dame de la Muerte story arc written by Joe Benitez and M. M. Chen, Pencils by Joe Benitez and Martin Montiel.  Colors by Peter Steigerwald, Mike Garcia, and Beth Sotelo.

So back in November, my mother and I met for breakfast. We just so happened to be next door to my favorite local comic book store. After breakfast I convinced my mom to come in with me. There were a few issues I wanted to pick up and we both wanted to look around for possible gifts. 

My mom is actually the one who found this particular comic book. Her dad was Mexican so the art work on the cover of the first issue captured her attention. The sugar skull design and the name were enough to catch my attention. The first two issues were out already so I bought both of them and then was waiting for the third to write the review. This is the first Lady Mechanika story arc I've read but am interested in reading more. I also had to let my mom borrow all the issues.

Just to be clear: SPOILERS AHEAD

Some backstory, Lady Mechankia is set in a steampunk world. She is dubbed that title by the tabloids after being the sole survivor of a madman's experiments that left her with mechanical limbs and eyes. She has no memory of her former life and is on a mission to figure out her past while also working on cases too tough for the police. 

Issue one starts with a story of the legend of La Dame de la Muerte and her demon riders. From there it cuts to Lady Mechanika departing a train in Mexico City. She ends up in a small village right on the before the celebrations for  La Dia De Los Muertos (day of the dead) and meets the inn keeper and her two grandkids. The younger grandkid, a girl named Zita, affectinitly dubs Lady Mechanika "Nika." (okay so writing Lady Mechanika again and again is getting long, here on out she's LM) LM wakes up right as the celebrations are starting. This segues into an explination of the holidays and some of the traditions. As LM is starting to feel more relaxed a young man who's been bruitilized stumbles into the village.

Issue two picks up with the town realizing the young man is a warning from Los Jinetes (the demon riders for La Dame de la Muerte) and explain that the towns must pay tithes to please La Dame de la Muerte or she will bring suffering to the town. LM points out that spirits would have no need for tithes in the form of gold and food and Los Jinetes are just men using myth to screw over the towns folk. She also learns that standing up to Los Jinetes is what killed Zita and her brother Lucito's parents. However realizing they are men that she probably has more power than LM goes to make sure the town never has to live in fear again. After a battle with Los Jinetes, LM tries to follow some of them back to their hideout. She doesn't find any men but finds kids locked in a cell. From them she learns that the survivors went to gather the others. Upon hearing this she races back to find everyone in the town, including Zita and Lucito, have been slaughtered. She is then shot by some Los Jinetes who were waiting for her.

Issue three starts with her recovery and a new found determination to avenge the death she feels she caused. She goes out and seek Los Jinetes. During this time it cuts away to the men pretending to be demons having a conversation where one of them, the younger brother of another, talks about his doubts with what they're doing. It's revealed that their essentially broke Americans who figured this was an easier way to get rich than working back in the states, or possibly criminals (I don't fully remember and my mom is borrowing that issue right now). When LM finds these men she kills them except for the younger one who ran away and hid. Instead she reveals her red eyes and spares him. The story arc concludes with how she essentially becomes the legend of La Dame de La Muerte.

Overall...

I found the story arc to be pretty predictable. However, I was absolutely memorized by the artwork. I think it's a fun way to go more in depth with the celebrations of Day of the Dead past the sugar skulls. I like that it focused on the celebration of life and celebrating loved ones. It also made me a lot more interested in the Lady Mechanika story lines, so I will probably be buying the Trade Paperback collections of her other stories. I also want the coloring book. Pretty much I've spent too much time on Benitez site since I started reading these. Another observation is I liked that the steampunk setting was just that, a setting. It wasn't overly done or shoved in your face to the point of taking away from the story. 

-Rose

If you would like to check out the Lady Mechanika series (this story arc or others) or anything by Benitez Productions check out http://www.joebenitez.com

Otherwise you can always check in with your local comic books shop!

#Review #Comic Book #Lady Mechanika

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Reviews: How Santa Stole Christmas! or Scrooge is kind of a dick

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody! Christmas begins on this blog with the last new Ducktales of the season! Time to break out some eggnog, presents and warmth of good family, i’ve got a bushel of Christmas reviews planned for the season, and this one is just the start of htem. As you can probably tell by my enthusasim I love this holiday. Oh sure it has it’s bad sides, paticuarlly several jackasses making huge deals out of the fact some people say happy holidays because “there’s a war on christmas” when really their just petty morons who can’t accept theirs more than one holiday in the month and not everyone likes christmas. I do, but I know not everyone does, and that’s fine. But overall it’s a fine holiday with warmth, cheer, family, generosity and of course, what brings us here today, really damn good episodes and specials of television. It’s just a really warm and cheerful time that , whlie it can bring out the absolute worst in people.. can also bring out the best more often than not. And that’s why I love this holiday. If you don’t that’s just fine, but it’s my blog, I can love what I want. And I love this holiday.. and I loved this episode, a good end to a great run of episodes. So let’s rock around the Christmas tree and find out why Scrooge hates santa, this is How Santa Claus Stole Christmas!

We open with the classic night before Christmas poem.. only naturally since Della is reading it to the boys, it’s Scrooge’s version involving barbed wire and calling the man a traitor because what honestly did you expect. Though I find it ironic a man introduced in a Christmas story has a one-sided blood feud with Santa. The boys are annoyed with this and just want free presents and the presecne of a jolly fat man and don’t get why Scrooge hates him. And yeah.. all of that tracks. They were raised by Donald who, while he clearly spent several years at Scrooges tolerating this feud, likely figured the Feud was just some personal gripe of scrooges and that Santa had done nothing that terrible. Which given Scrooge isn’t personable on the best of days and the episode goes out of it’s way to point out Scrooge has no friends, is entirely accurate and Donald was, as always the sane one in this situation. Plus he was already mad at Scrooge, this was just another way to tell him to go fuck himself. 

The boys hear what they think is Santa on the roof but turns out to be Scrooge, in full Scottish war garb manning traps with webby.. in full chimney camo... putting a knife to Dewey’s throat for siding with santa.. well okay pointing at his throat but still god damn. Every now in then i’m reminded how ready Webby is to murder someone. It never gets easier or less disturbing. The boys.. continue to make a good point: Scrooge says he’s the richest duck in the world and can provide them whatever.. but being Scrooge just gives them itchy hats made of cheap fabric, and bemoans them wanting a trampoline, a new electronic game, and a new phone. And while Scrooge can give them whatever he wants, it’s his money, he also could’ve put some actual thought into it and clearly views the holiday more as a transaction and less for hte acutal sentmient. Instead of giving them personal mementos, or making them personal mementos, or even just simply building them a sled or something, a simpler toy than what they want but still something nice that comes from the heart.. he just gave them the cheapest hat he could find and tries to guilt them for not liking his thoughtless present he probably bought in bulk for everyone in the manor and his employ because he’s kind of a dick sometimes. IT’s good storytelling though as it sets up that Scrooge.. can possibly be int he wrong, so when the main plot comes to his front door, quite literally, there’s some doubt as to wither he or santa is in the wrong. Speaking of which Santa is at the door. So cue the credits and cue the cut for the rest of the plot as is usual. Full spoilers, and full plot under the cut. Ho ho ho. 

First a quick comment on the Holiday version of the theme, the same one from Last Christmas! IT’s really good, a really nice frank sinatra style verison of the theme. Good stuff. My only real complaint is like last time.. there’s nothing unique about it, it’s just the normal season 3 intro but with snowflakes. And that’s.. more on Disney than the creators. If Frank and Matt had the option they would likely do an entirely original intro.. it’s just Disney can be cheap when it comes to intros, see how possesed ludo stayed in the star vs intro long after that plot point was resolved, and only affords one a season. That being said they still have one up on most networks, who, with the exception of Netfix with she ra, never really let intros change more than once, if at all. I mean I get it, budgets are higher here than with anime, they can’t do a new song and intro every half a season.. BUUUT it wouldn’t kill more stuidos to do this more often and do a complete intro overhaul, as it adds freshness, and you can still use the same old theme, just over a new set of pretty images. Most just allow a few swap outs, Disney included, and while I get intros are expensive, this is something you can use for a whole season, or more, why are you like this? 

Anyways one theme song and me complaning about an animation trend I don’t like later, we’re inside the Manor with none of the other adults present because this season hates me. I do actually get it this go round: Besides Della, Donald and Launchpad getting a full subplot in the other holiday episode, they aren’t really needed. In fact most of the episode’s present day is a framing device for the tale of how Scrooge and Santa met and why Scrooge hates him, so for once the minmal use of the supporting cast.. is actually done well. The focus is on Scrooge and Santa, a feud that’s had four years build up in real time, and two years in series and a bunch of months. So yeah, i’m okay with sidelining everyone for once, because this story really needed all of the space and there was no real place for them aside from the climax. This is Scrooge and Santa’s story, with Webby there as an impartial-ish observer. We’ll get to that in a moment.  Also if your curious where in the fuck this episode fits on the series massively warped time scale.. i’m going with this and “The Trickining!” taking place before season 3, since “Astro Boyd” takes place in march, and “Forbidden Fountain” takes place in probably late april, huge thanks to a friend on discord for help with the timeline. Otherwise it just makes no sense whatsover and while it dosen’t TECHINCALLY need to, I prefer the series timeline at least making some rational sense. The world dosen’t have to but time still does. So the boys are at least 12, possibly turning 13. Congrats. Or maybe they just don’t age. I dunno. 

Now time and plot concerns aside, Santa gladly gives the boys their gifts which is.. everything they listed: A mini tramp for Dewey, Legends of Legend-Quest 2 for Huey, and another phone for Louie, which Scrooge dosen’t get. But Louie gets it on 2 levels: One, the one he asked for is probably a nicer model and as someone who just got a very marginally nicer model on insurance, I get it, even if like Scrooge i’m fine as long as mine works, it’s still nice to have more space to do shit. And two, he plans to sell the old one and keep the money. So yeah the boys already loved Santa but now they have every reason to since, you know, Santa actually gave them what they asked for and Scrooge gave them itchy hats because he’s cheap not because he put the slighest thought into it. And no i’m ont letting him get away with that: Again, off list, perfectly fine. Right behind me on my sprawl of book shelves is Weird Al’s biography, a really fun, really intresting book with photos on his career. I did not ask for it, but my mom rightly knew I would love it and got it for me for my birthday, which is very close to christmas, the 16th if you were curious, anyway, and I’ve treasured it since.. and really need to re-read it. My point is you CAN get someone something they didn’t ask for and still have it be something they LIKE. I did that for most of my christmas gifts this year. Scrooge just, as I went on about above, didn’t give a shit and was a bit callous about it so yeah, Santa wins this round.  But Santa naturally needs Scrooge’s help to save Christmas because his ankle’s sprained and he’s out of options. Scrooge.. naturally refuses because, as i’ve made clear this and past episodes, he can be kind of a dick and Santa is one of his worst enemies in his mind. Why help him? So Santa, reluctantly, offers Scrooge the one thing you can get for the man who has everything: An agreement to leave his house alone. The boys aren’t happy about it, but Scrooge reluctantly agrees to the deal. They prepare to mount up though the boys aren’t invited, as Scrooge thinks their too far in the Santa camp and Scrooge does not trust him. Which again is both accurate and fair on their parts as again, he gave them things with well meaning and love, he gave them hats he fished out of the dollar store clearance bin. I mean at least go for the dvd’s and blu rays man. Yeesh. Santa does lightly buy them off by offering them another present if their good boys. Though honestly given Santa in this universe, he probably was going to anyway and this is his nice way of getting them to stay behind to make Scrooge happy. 

So as they take off, while Webby is wary of Santa, she is curious what happened, especially since earlier Scrooge actually did finally voice his gripe, if without any full length explination: Santa took Christmas From him. And Della might know that, Scrooge likely didn’t tell her or Donald the full story and Donald rightly didn’t buy it was that one sided. And it isn’t as we’ll see. Since the episodes divided up into two storylines, i’m once again splitting the difference. This time though I would like to mention the story is beautifully woven in, with both complementing each other: there’s some legit suspense as we wonder if Santa did something really that bad or if he’s lying to webby, or if Scrooge being Scrooge was just exaggerating or holding onto a grudge that was partly his fault. It’s genuinely well done to build up the story and helps really flesh Santa out as a character in both stories. i’m only not doing that because my short term memory, while good enough to hold the story for now can be spotty, and this is a lot less taxing on it. Also parts of this segment happen before the boys leave, but it’s easier this way. Sooooo... 

Times Past: Santa’s Worst Christmas Some time ago... seriously I don’t know. Scrooge was born in the 1800′s and Christmas well existed by then, to the point there’s actually a story starring young scrooge published over seas. Granted the Duck’s are no stranger to christmas, as I already covered Christmas on Bear Mountain for Scrooge’s birthday, and will be covering “A Christmas for Shacktown’ sometime this December. It’s just something worth noting. But given this universe can do whatever it wants, having it invited sometime in the early 1900′s or late 1800s is fine just fine. 

Scrooge is a coal salesman, selling people what they need but getting no shelter as he’s, again, an ass. But in the depths he finds Santa, whose having trouble puling his sleigh, and gets them in the previously closed door with kindess and saying he’s with me. We now get an idea of who Santa truly is: a kind, selfless soul who thinks nothing of himself, and is happy to offer a gift in exchange for something, but does so only in the most well meaning, warmest way possible. In short this Santa really is.. what Santa is at his best in stories; a kind, generous man who just wants to make people happy. He just gave a gift not because he wanted to bribe his way in, but because he was genuinely hoping for some shelter and wanted to be greatful. It also shows that clearly, even if something did happen.. Santa probably isn’t evil. A twist still could’ve come.. but spoilers.. it dosen’t. Santa is genuinely this kind and self sacrificing and noble. He’s just a good person.. and that would ultimately be the problem but we’ve got a lot of subplot to cover.  So Santa parties with what are clearly going to be his elves, and turn out indeed to be elves at the end when the fire goes out and Scrooge is suddenly in buisness.. and he and Santa make a great team, as Santa talks him up and says he can deliver a whole year’s worth of coal all over the world by Christmas Morning, so Christmas DOES exist here, it’s just Santa didn’t which kind of tracks. Well played. I’ll keep my earlier mistake in there though. Keeps me fresh. But Santa offers to help.. after all what are friends for? And Scrooge says their not friends.. their partners. 

And Santa says why not both. And a friendship is forged. And it makes sense.. while i’ts not as tight as it will be, Santa is a warm generous guy who helped Scrooge multiple times just to be kind: He helped him find shelter to repay his kindness helping him.. then helped him sell his coal, when he didn’t have to and while he upsold him on what he could do, did so not out of malice, but so his friend could sell MORE and with eveyr intention of helping. And this friend is someone he just met, is kind of cranky and rude.. but as we all know is a good person underneath and to Santa.. that’s what he sees.. the kind young man who helped him pull his sleigh when he didn’t have to and was already cold and miserable. And that.. that just warms my heart a lot.  But Scrooge being Scrooge has a mystic artifact that could help: The Feliz Navidiamond, a mystic artifact that can seemingly control time he got off a  spanish sailor needing coal. The two head in but encounter it’s guardians. The Magic reindeer! And that’s part of what I love about this episode: besides really getting christmas, we’ll get to that, it has a creative and intresting Santa origin baked into the show’s mythology that also shows off an intresting part of Scrooge’s past. Santa manages to pacify them with jingle bells and our heroes head inside.  In the cavern they find a Giant Snowman.. because this show is fucking awesome and Santa’s attempt to be nice bacfires but Scrooge’s natural paranoia and gumption pull through. It shows off why they make a good team: Santa’s niceties helped them with the reindeer, and netted them future transportation, while Scrooge’s natural grumpus tendencies help when nice just won’t do it. They work well together: one’s a showman and the other hasn’t learned how yet, one is nice the other naughty. It’s easy to see why they worked so well together.. in both senses. They make it past the Snowman and find that the diamond slows down time running on “christmas time!”.. seriously a great pun and one of many this episode. This show had a chance to go all out on holiday puns this go round and they did not blow it. 

But... sadly... and obviously the good times can’t roll forever and when we next return to the story it’s a year later. McDuck and Klaus coal is a MASSIVE concern, and Scrooge is eager to get started... but Santa.. wants to just give gifts instead. To do something Generous. Buisness just isn’t in him and he just wants to do something kind. It’s.. not a bad goal.. i’ts just not Scrooge. To Scrooge it’s a betryal of all he stands for: foreswearing profit to give something for nothing for seemingly no reason and to a younger even meaner scrooge.. it’s an utter betryal.. and a breaking point. Either his daft presents idea.. or Scrooge. And why yes this episode is dripping with ho yay and why yes this does resemble his painful breakups with goldie. And why yes is glorious.. Imean I wasn’t shipping Scrooge with santa before but now? Hot damn. But yeah the two have come to a parting of ways, and Scrooge bitterly leaves, while the elves reveal themselves. And my heart hurts “The Empire Builder from Callisota” bad so thank you and fuck you show.  It also probably shows why Scrooge has exactly one friend, who also works with him so it’s complicated, in present day: He just dosen’t want to let people in... and now we know WHY. The first genuine friend he made, the first person he let into his heart.. betrayed him. It’s no wonder it took decades for Beakly, then the kids to get into his heart again: the guy’s been betrayed by goldie, in his mind betrayed by santa and as we’ve seen his own dad turned against him eventually. He had no one for so long, he built a wall all around him but the wall was too tall and it blocked out all the birds and the son. But this .. is a really damn good story that fleshes Scrooge out and explains his hardness. In the comics it was Glomgold.. here.. it’s much more personal and cuts much deeper. And I absolutely love it. This story could’ve neatly fit into life and times if it made any sense in Rosa’s timeline, and it would be just perfect there. 

PRESENT DAY: Concentrated Awwww

The present day plot is a lot simplier but still fantsatic: Webby slowly warms up to Santa depsite herself.. despite Scrooge clealry seeing she is.. she sees the man is just.. nice. He gives her a new crossbow, a really nice one she probably didn’t even expect to get given you know, everything and knowing scrooge, and appricates the sentiment and slowly sees the man isn’t some monster, but just a jolly old fat man who wants to give presents. Even Scrooge seemingly warms up a little.  We also get tons of cameos during delivery, as they visit tons of supporting cast.. sadly no Darkwing.. but this one was clearly meant to go anywhere and is clealry set before “Let’s Get Dangerous”, but tons of other great bits: We get the Drake recidence with Boyd getting a present.. and somehow also doofus whose filled his stocking full of.. something. I don’t want to know and you can’t make me ask. You can make me ask why the fuck Doofus gets a present, but it could be filled with bees or maybe Santa truly thinks theirs good in him.. which .. yeah tracks. I mean not their being good in him.. I think dr. loomis said it best.. I mean it was about micheal meyers but.. same diffrence minus the patricide?

I mean points for trying though Santa, you mean well you loveable bear in both senses of the word you. But anyways other cameos include Fenton, alsleep with his armor strewn about, aww, with the gizmo armor set to hit people with fruit cake. Thought that was against the geneva convetion but alright. Scrooge’s been hit with worse. We also get them visiting the boat and giving Donald and Della presents, awww. And of course I saved the cameo I put up top for last as Webby visits her closest friend and her gilfriend and gives both an adorable cheek kiss. Though only Lena reacts.. probably because this isn’t the first time Webby’s snuck into their bedroom at night but probably the first time it hasn’t been accidently creepy because she’s still learning boundaries. Also i did not realized they shared a room. Aww. Also it’s the first time we’ve seen their room, which as you’d image from a sorceress and a magical researcher/bookworm, it’s a massive sprawling library from what we see with a skull with a candle in it, a picture of a house, and a calender. IN short it’s perfect and i’m glad we finally saw their room. 

So yeah things are going well and Webby finally realizes “Shit Scrooge is the bad guy in this scenario” at the end of the story, realizing Santa was just as hurt by the split as Scrooge was and that he had to make the harder choihce for the right reasons. Unfortunately, as i’ve said a lot this review, SCrooge is a dick and only coperated, as he wasn’t using the magical present sack, but his own filled with Coal to teach people about responsiblity. Thankfully, Scrooge realizes he’s been a dick to the globe when he happens upon little Jeniffer, a small pig girl who mistakes him from santa and takes his coal, meant to warm her fires.. and makes it into a doll. And resists his attempts to take “Coalette away”... Scrooge then rants and .. we actually get a good reason for why he’s being such a douche... as a kid he had nothing, and a gift of coal for his fires would’ve been welcmoed. He simply just.. dosen’t get the frivolity. He gets the warmth and joy of the season but not the gift part. And it’s only seeing this small, innocent child, play with a doll, he realizes “A warm heart can keep you going through the coldest nights”. And it’s then he finally realizes why his old friend did what he did.. because as i’ve been saying the real gift.. is in the giving.. of giving someone something that makes their memories glow and their heart warm. Even a lump of coal can do that in the right hands... a toy can get someone through the roughest times and it’s the WARMTH of the gift you remember, not the gift itself. I remember that book I mentioned proudly.. as do I remmeber the copy of the art of the venture brothers right next to me, or the copy of the people’s doonesbury my best friend mike bought me, and so on.. not because of the book itself... but because of the thought and warmth of someone getitng something for you because they care, not for their own reward, but just to make you feel nice this holiday season. That’s the true spirit of christmas.  Naturally realizing the errror of his ways in true christmas story fashion, Scrooge is devistated by his own actions. And Santa is PISSED.. but Scrooge is now regretful.. if also pissed because Santa stormed in there and it turns out this was all a ploy to get his friend back... which destroys Scrooge’s anger as he realizes just how much his old friend missed him and how many years he wasted lashing out at him when , in the end, Santa was right. So with only so much Diamond power left, and time running out, what can they do to right this? Simple, Scrooge suggests splitting resources. 

So we get a glorious shot of the three boys, and the twins riding  the reindeer. Also we get Launchpad! 

Who naturally wonders if he can crash a reindeer while Beakly thankfully stops him from murdering Dasher. So Christmas is saved and Scrooge and Santa exchange gifts: For Scrooge, a set of bells with their old company name.. and for Santa? a garage door opener. While Santa’s confused turns out.. it’s to turn off the traps. He’s welcome any time.. just use the front door. Cue a big hug, and Webby narrating us out as Scrooge wishes everyone a merry christmas once again letting people into his heart.  I have.. the approirate response to that. 

Final Thoughts: Excellent, easily one of the best of the season, the series and possibly of chirstmas show episodes all together, we shall see when I put together my list. And given how utterly excellent Last Christmas already is, it was hard to top.. but they did it. This was a warm, wonderful special that gets to the heart of christmas.. and really why I LIKE santa so much. For all the comercailsim around him.. he’ s a kind generous man who gets kids to belivie in magic for a while, wants nothing in return , with the offering of cookies just there to be nice and thank him for being a good person, and just wants best for people. He’s what’s best about christmas rolled into a person. And the series gets that and makes him the kindest guy around. It ends up being a story abotu Scrooge learning the meaning of christmas, an irony that’s not lost on me, but in a way that’s diffrent and unique from last time and works just as well. It’s just a warm wonderful epsiode with plenty of great gags and adventure and a beautiful, unique story at it’s core that could only be told here with tihs cast and this version of scrooge and that’s what makes it so damn magical. Easily a fantastic note to go out on.  Next time on Ducktales: I don’t know! Next time this blog covers ducktales: We’re going back a few seasons to the only episode i’ve never seen, not even a little bit. It’s the treacherous summit of mt neverest!  Until then, if you liked this review, reblog and all that good stuff, follow for more ducks, and if there’s an episode of any show you want me to cover, my cyber monday sale is still going till midnight central, and even past that if you get in a liittle past it, so you can comission a review of any episode for just 3 bucks right now, 5 if you get to this review after monday. So spend if you have it.. and if you don’t.. happy holidays to you anyway. Have a wonderful season. 

#christmas #ducktales #how santa stole christmas #santa claus #scrooge mcduck #webby vanderquack #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #donald duck #della duck #violet sabrewing #lena sabrewing #weblena #launchpad mcquack #bentina beakly #doofus drake #boyd drake #fenton crackshell cabrera

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Hickman’s X-Men Line: One Year in Part 1: Prelude, House and Powers of X, X-Men and New Mutants (Hickman)

Under the cut is an explination of how hickman’s run happened (the mass decay will be covered another time probably), and dives into his x-books: house of x, powers of x,x-men and his breif run on new mutants and what i thought. Pax Krakoa baby. 

One year ago, I breathed a sigh of relief as I read the utterly masterful house of x #1.  See for the past few months, i’d been waiting on baited breath for this comic with a level of anticipation not matched by any before or since. Even the debut of a spinoff to Chew, one of my faviorite comics of all time that i deftnetly need to do a retrospective on, this week got within the same galaxy and it still wasn’t on the same level. This was big, grandiose and everything I hoped for. And whatever issues I had as House and it’s sister series came out slowly died out as the full story unfolded, my jaw dropped and my faith in Hickman to save the x-men was  fully delivered. At last the x-men were back on top. And it was going to be one hell of a ride.  

As you probably know the x-men had been treated pretty badly at marvel due to fox having the movie rights, a move that still baffles and frustrates me. Instead of making money to rub in fox’s face by promoting the hell out of them in merchandise, animation, video games and of course comics ALONGSIDE the avengers, they basically ignored the x-men and fantastic four to give fox less to work with to spite them while fox.. entirely ignored this as since both franchises have been around since the 60′s and the x-men had had mountains of spinoffs to give them mountains of characters. So in short: a decision to spite and hurt their compeitors only cost marvel money, pissed off fans and fox’s eventual absortion as far as I can tell had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. 

Thankfully marvel DID stop being stupid eventually and relented: The Fantastic Four came back a year before house of x with a decent run by dan slott, which is thankfully more like earlier spider-man work and ff work, and less like what his spider-man run became from superior onward despite the ocasional misfire but i’ll talk about both runs another day. I mostly bring it up because with this revivial, marvel also slowly reintegrated the four back into the marvel universe and made their return feel like a big deal.  The X-Men however took a bit: while they got an earlier shot at returning with ressurxion. Buuut with the idea of having hickman return in their back pocket, marvel apparently refused, at least according to cullen bunn who I fell has no real reason to lie, to let the writers rock the boat too much and the era perdictably was just meh, especially flagship book X-Men Gold which was written bafflingly by Mark Gugenhiem and outside of one or two good ideas basically felt like the comics equivlent of one of those party store albums where every song is a cover done by someone who couldn’t give half a damn. There were bright spots though with Cullen Bunn finishing out his awesome x-men tenure with x-men blue, Sina Grace’s wonderful iceman that took the wonky execution of Bendis’ decision to make bobby drake gay and made it work beautifully, and the decent if somewhat baffling x-men red. But overall it just felt like a missed opportunity and with the fox deal in bloom and a new EiC, marvel NEEDED something bigger, bolder and grander to do with marvel’s strangest heroes of all. After all all eyes would be on them while Marvel’s Movie department took a few years, probably longer now thanks to the pandemic, to let things cool off before bringing the x-men into the mcu.  Enter Jonathan Hickman: Writer of another one of my faviorite runs of all time, his Fantastic Four run, along with an enjoyable but heavily flawed avengers run, a secret warriors run i’ve read half of that was a hell of a ride, tons of ultimate comics, and a bunch of indies I haven’t read but are probably great. A wordy weirdo and i’m convinced the second coming of grant morrison, and I hope one day the two work together on something tha’ts equal parts weird and amazing.

The morrison comparison is also apt as both came into the X-Men at a time when the x-men badly needed them: Just like Hickman morrison had to deal with a largely stagnant x-men and changed them to fit the times. And yes unsuprisngly i’ll also be covering morrisons run, warts and all, and it’s also one of my faviorite comics of all time. However Hickman was given a huge advtange his spirtiual predecessor, and really few comics writers EVER have gotten: full control of the x-men line.  Unlike morrison who wasn’t even allowed to use certain characters despite writing the main fucking x-book, Hickman got full creative control: full say in the direction of the story, full say in who came on board and to let them pitch whatever they wanted to do. And honestly it’s an apporach that’s not only reovlutionarly but makes the books FEEL like their actually occuring around the same time. Sure their all still seperate entities, but it DOES feel like one coheisive universe. Contrastingly with the avengers Black Panther’s solo has had him on a year long sojurn in space, before returning to earth.. while also running the avengers over in jason aaron’s run and having his own spinoff team, without any fucking clue as to when intergalactic empire of wakanda takes place in relation to everything else. Tony Stark is currently just taking back both his own damn name and the iron man name in his own book, but is also a major player in avengers, and empyre with no mention of his seeming drunken spiral (itw as a ploy) or arno taking up the armor and I feel these issues rather than the neglect the x-men once had are why krakoa’s impact isn’t being felt more in other titles. I’m not saying don’t let books do their own thing, but I am saying let them have fucking consequences and weight instead of just acting like one isn’t happening or at the very least have a character be absent for an arc so you can fit the other stories into continuity easier. As X-Men’s shown it dosen’t stifle inovation and hell even immortal hulk easily fit into no road home with a fucking note saying “this takes place before x issue” it’s not that hard.  This advantage was likely part of Hickman’s terms for coming back. See the x-men were the one thing at marvel he never got to do. The Gillieon and Aaron runs and Bendis runs meant the spot simply wasn’t open and by the time he was leaving it was clear marvel wanted to bury the x-men not praise them, so his ideas had no run. But the X-Men were what got Jonathan into comics. A shocking fact I learned at last years comic con, during which most of the dawn of x titles were revealed, was he WASN’T a fantastic four or avengers fan as a kid, not hating them but like me with the avengers for some time, not really caring about them. But with both runs, he did his homework, read as much as possible, and BECAME a fan, and it shows as both runs show a deep love for both marvel and the teams present. With X-Men they were his dream, his golden goose, his windmill, he just never was in the right place at the right time... but with Marvel needing his starpower and creativity and having nothing to loose with the x-men and badly needing a big run to hlep keep intrest in the x-men till the new movies, he finally was. So seeing the company needed him and he could get his dream and the control he needed, while dc had just taken bendis, didn’t need him and until very recently was ran by a moron, his choice to come back to marvel instead of go to dc as he’s admitted, was obvious. And it ended up being the right one. House and Powers of x were massive creative and commerical hits and the following titles have all been mostly praised. The new direction has been a boon for the franchise,k the fans and marvel.  So being a fan of this direction, as you can tell by the massive intro, to give my thoughts on each book so far: what I think their doing right, where some went wrong etc, since I’d rather wait another year or so befor ediving into these and let some more of hickman’s plans and future story hints spread throughout his books pay off first. WIth that all out of the way it’’s time for a deep dive of x.So grab some plant based snacks, your x-shaped helmets, and your krakoan coffee, it’s time to finally get into hickman’s era of x-men. 

HOUSE OF X AND POWERS OF X The opening salvo and just with two mini series that are one, though why he DIDN’T just have them be one big mini series I genuinely do not know, probably to justify having two diffrent artists to carry the load, is an utter masterpiece. Plain and simple. Let’s get the status quo the series set up out of the way so I can dig into it more: Magento and Xavier were revealed to have been working together for years behind the scenes.. with Moira Mactaggert, one of my favoirite x characters who the series changes utterly and forever. See instead of being the one human who consitantly is on mutants side and one of the x-men’s staunchest allies who sadly hadn’t been resusrected in 20 fucking years, she was a mutant herself, her ablility being reincarnation.. and thus had lived through 9 of her 10 lives seeing mutantkind always loose so told xavier and magneto about this in the hopes of breaking the wheel and letting mutantkind live this time.  However hickman , while revealing the alliance does brilliantly still make it work in continuity for me: it’s clear from moira’s notes in one issue, as house and powers and any following titles love having charts or text based sections that I feel give the comics a unique flavor and really help boost most issues, that Charles optimism she was trying to break him of and faith in humanity took years to fully shatter: he plotted and schemed with her to protect his species but it was clear he probably felt it woudln’t be necessary that humanity would prove her wrong.. and by this series it’s clear, no they haven’t changed, the majority of them just want to genocide mutants and have tried again and again and again while the rest who don’t necessarily want it, paticuarlly the superheroes did nothing while Magneto chaffed against her after the whole “alter his infant self after he was deaged by a mutant he made into a baby to be more pacificsitc which naturally pissed him off when that wore off”. Yes that’s a thing that actually happened pre and post retcons it’s why a survivor of the holocaust is , while not a YOUNG man, still healthy and vibrant. It’s a clever way to not undermine those stories while still telling this one and this retcon is a move I like as unlike most retcons it’s both there to tell a good story and excuted in a way that outside of moira dosen’t undermine anything. The Moira retcon I was and to a degree still am mixed on. While the new version of her is brilliant, creative and intresting and I can’t wait to see what happens with her next time she shows up, I do mourn the old as the x-men had few human allies and now their only big one is now a mutant herself, but it IS in service of a really damn good narraitive and the twist that the bad futures presented were in fact other lives of moira was brilliant, and it’s nice to see SOMETHING done with her. I’d rather something that i have a small problem with lead to really great things and be worth the sacrifice of her former character, than just changing things because “fuck it I want to do this and their letting me do this’ as a lot of retcons tend to be. Hickman’s story needs moira and her cycle of defeat to truly soar to the heights it’s reaching, and to make Charles and Xavier’s back alley actions make sense, so i’ll glady sacrifce one version of a character that I really liked for another version of her that’s also really good.  The other big swing though I was completley on board for: Hinted at early on by serveral dead mutants being alived, after a sucidie mission against new big bads and mutant hating extermists orchis, who are far better written than other extermists,   it’s revealed just why death has seemingly taken a holiday: the big plan that has been decades in the making for xavier and co? That will reshape mutant kind and required working with mr sinsiter of all people? Revivie all dead mutants.  See in a brilliant reveal Cerebro isn’t just a mutant tracker; It’s a copier, copying their essecnes reaguarly and storing them for later, updating them every so often and thus meaning any who died can come back. Why it took Chuck so long to do this is also explained as he needed 5 specific mutant power sets to do it and thus had to wait till they had everything they needed: Goldballs, yes goldballs, spits out his giant golden balls, phrasing, which hickman in an insane and awesome turn revealed to be EGGS. Yes EGGS. Proteus, Moira’s son and former villian whose now pacificed since this body cloning process means he has an infnite suply of xavier bodies to burn through and thus isn’t killing people, warps reality to mamke the eggs viable. Elixir, a healer whose been through some shit the poor guy,gives the eggs , once injected with the mutant in questions dna via syringe because of course, life, and Tempus, goldballs former classmate fellow bendis creation and mistress of time, speeds it up a bit so they don’t have to wait a good few decades for some mutants to rerez. The fifth that makes all this possible is hope summers, mutant messiah and adopted daughter of cable returned to promence once more, whose power is revealed to be power maniulation and thus can boost their powers to the degree neded for this. it’s a BRILLIANT turn that not only undoes all the pointless deaths mutants have undergone, but changes the game: Genocide is now near impossible, as humanity has no idea bout any of htis, and instead of mutant lives going down, they can only go once.. as one man once put it...

And as an x-men fan having watched characters I love die again and again for stupid reasons, especially int he placeholder run right before house of x, this was so satsifying. Everyone the x-men had lost, every character I loved who was gone and forgotten.. they were back or would be back.  And thanks to Krakoa they were thriving: By giving mutantkind a homeland instead of a headquarters, a nation given to one of their own because he demanded itbasically, or an island fortress designed to give a dying species refuge, they have a goregous sentient island (I’ve always loved krakoa for the record though I wonder what happened to his clone son), with abundant food, teleporting gates across the world to visit wherever they like or live in the various worldwide habitats if they please, and peace and security they’ve neve rknown. No more being woken up to get to a panic room because a sentienl attacked. No more having religious maniacs blow up busses containing your tine. No more having the vast majority of the superhero community do nothing as a fucking plauge cloud wipes out your species. Anything apporaching krakoa now has hundreds of the most powerful beings alive defending all mutants.. and that includes the worst of the worst, all given amntesty.. but they must tow the line or else be given a fate worse than death. After years of pain and suffering and misery mutantkind is free safe and happy. They still have to fight to get the rest of their kind out of racist hands and to saftey, the fight’s not over.. but now the odds are in mutantkinds favor. It’s paradise.  And yet this mini, and this whole run dosen’t run from tough issues; The mutants are now isolationists and only mutants are allowed on krakoa itself.. on the one hand this is a bad idelogy and potentially dangerous, instead of fighting for harmony fighting for my land alone.. but it’s also see why Mutantkind has taken to it. The X-Men have tried for at the least a decade in universe and at the most and most likely 15 years to live in harmony, fight for mankind and make peace with them.. and only a small chunk has acutally tried to help them with that. The other large fraction? They either build death machines to try and wipe out all mutants, and in the case of Cassandra NOva who while not a human is still a racist genocidal bitch, SUCCEED in wiping out a large chunk, or do nothing while mutantkind suffers.  The series forces you to think about the implications that marvel comics themselves previous ignored: That with all the superheros in this world who arent mutants.. more often than not htey’ve done fuck all when terrible shit happens. When Genosha died, not a one asked the x-men what happened or tried to hunt down those responsible. When Decemation happened, the avengers were more concerned with helping the x-men cover it up than helping them move on and did nothing as the goverment made xavier’s into a reservation, even after regrestration happened and the goverment had more heroes than ever to spare to helping them. When the T-Mist happened years later instead of stopping terrigin or asking the inhumans to stop it for the good of another race, the rest of the heroes just did fuck all. Sure the avengers were on a budget and the ff were asbent, but there were enough heroes in the world still and enough teams to do something about it and only the ones with mutants on them did!. IT’s hard to say “well you shoudln’t exclude them”.. when the rest of superhero kind has been subtly doing it their whole lives.  But it dosen’t shy away from the claims of racial superiority the isoaltion or the fact the x-men basically sued for nationhood by making requiring recognizing their nation hood the price for trading for their life saving and extending, world changing drugs, which you would still need to buy. There’s other issues, one that i’ll get to in a moment as it was only revealed in x-men. Various characters, Corsair in issue one of the ongoing, the fincial summit in issue 4 and the ff both in house of x #1 and ff/x-men, all question this and some of the ethics. Hickman brilliantly decides instead of just painting the x-men as absolute moral rights, to show their new nation warts and all: the genuine good their doing and trying to do but also the price they have to pay for it and the mistakes they may be making. And the compromise necessary to build a nation. It’s all chiling, compelling shit that’s even more releveant in a time when bigotry is piling up like crazy. Both house and x-men, which i’ll get to in a second, ask questions with no easy answers and it makes them a compelling read.  Also compelling is the two mini series use of flashbacks: The two previous moira timelines, which we learn are just that as we go, are compelling with the apoclaypse timeline having loveable heroes were are heartbroken to see die in the struggle, while the last timeline seemingly sees the mutants turn as bad as the humans.. only to peel back a layer at the end and reveal humans are still very much the real monsters, and them evolving via machine is a threat to mutant kind's natural evolution. It was a good story twist and of course there’s FAR more to dig into in both books, and I defintely will at some point in the future as I said. But there’s tons of great ideas here: Sinsiter not only being a mutant but a reluctant ally, the same of apocalyspe, the heavy questions I got into above, the idea of machines being mutants greatest threat which makes a ton of sense, and the various ones I already went into. I can’t gush about this book enough, but since this is already long enough i’m trying. The point is both mini series are great and how you do a self contianed event perfectlY plenty of consequence, plenty of scope but enough character and brilliant ideas and a FUCK TON of quotable and iconic lines, all blend into one of the very best series i’ve ever read. And lead directly into..

X-Men I talked about a lot of what this book represents above as it’s a direct continuation of the above, but the book on it’s own is still something diffrent. while it continues setting things up, playing with the new toybox hickman set up, and asking the tough questions, x-men does it in a diffrent way. House and Powers bounce around through time while all telling one huge story and one huge bundle of setup for this status quo.  X-Men instead is a bunch of single issues. It’s still a ton of setup, though with enough payoff to house and powers that it at least so far hasn’t become tedious, especailly since hickman specifically has plans for all of it and has shown in the past he’s a long game man when it comes to storytelling, but through more action packed stories that, with the exception of mistque’s spotlight issue so far, have one shared element: Cyclops, aka Scott Summers, who as grand captain of krakoa is the nation’s ruling council’s go to guy for missions and who he himself can form any team he once for any mission.  Cyclops, like the x-men hadn’t been treated well for years; Various characters lambasted him after the phoenix force drove him mad and lead to him killing charles xavier, and before that his run as leader of utopia, not helped by x-force painting him as a cold heartless dickweed, had him forced to make questionable decisions that made fans turn agains thim despite the hard position he was in. But now with the burden of absolute leadership of mutantkind in other hands, HIckman writes scott beautifully and has restored him to his proper place.  WIth Xavier taking over as absolute leader of mutantkind and his race no longer hanging by a thread for the first time in years scott can relax and ENJOY himself. As the first issue shows he has everything he ever could have possibly wanted: A healthy marriage with Jean again, and an open one at that with him free to still see emma and Jean openly seeing Logan. Logan himself no longer trying to murder scott for his mistakes or kill his teenage self due to bad writing, but being his best friend again and also living with him and presumibly having threeways because they have connected bedrooms and of course jean would want both at once. Maybe they also just fuck each other sometimes again the details haven’t exactly been clear but it’d explain the tension disappearing. Maybe the schism would’ve ended quicker if Cyclops and Wolverine just fucked each other after children of the atom. Hey not every question is a deep personal one on krakoa sometimesm it’s just “Are these two fucking and could it have solved things faster in the past if they did?”. Also I almost forgot to mention, and added this near the end of writing this, in additoin to everything else scott now lives ON THE FUCKING MOON, on the blue area with a breathable atompshere, on a moon house with his family and fuckbuddy and Vulcan’s buddys. It’s fucking amazing. But moving back to other things scott’s gotten besides logan’s wang up his butt, as seen in issue one thanks to the gates his dad can now visit anytime, his brothers live with him with Vulcan going from genocidal dickweed to weirdo thanks to his experinces between his “death’ and this series, and he’s just. happy. And as a leader he takes the x-men on thrilling missions: the series combines action with character and worldbuilding and it is great.  The worldbuilding part has been tremendous; we’ve seen new foes in the returning children of the vault and horticulture, aka what if the golden girls were tv ma, and also plant based  supervillians plotting a better future for mankind that krakoa’s drugs clash with. We’ve seen nimrod creeping close, charles and magneto not playing ball with mystique start to backfire, the return of krakoa’s lost love, and in my faviorite arc, we’ve seen broo, one of my faviorite x-people and intellegent brood, eat an egg and thus become god emperor of the brood, not only giving the vicious race a chance to reform but giving the x-men a huge advatange in space, doubeldby events we’ll get to in a second.  And biggest of all we saw the crucible: Since those depwoered by the decimation can get power back by dying again, and to prevent overworking the five with mass sucidies krakoa came up with a nasty solution,: earning resurection via ritual combat. And like the above there aren’t easy answers to this: mass sucidie isn’t better or faster, but having mutatns forced to EARN repowering by dying brutally isn’t a great solution either and is kind of sick. And it also opens up questions about ressurectoin that Nightcrawler feels made need reegion to answer htem. It’s again good heavy instreating stuff.  We also got my faviorite issue #4 where the x-men go to a fincial summit, and while security detail cyclops and gorgon fight off hired goons...

Xavier, Magneto and Apocalypse discuss with world leaders about the implications of krakoa’s policys, with Magneto not hiding his love of flexing his superiority. And Charles ends the confrence, after it’s revealed one hired them in an utterly masterful moment: Taking off his helmet to reveal no this is charles, this is him and that even after they tried assintating him he has and always will love humanity he’s just sick of being treated like crap and suffering for doing it and his people suffering for it and he won’t tolerate this sort of shit again. See it for yourself it’s an absolute triumph:

 It’s a great scene. Overall an utterly great title that really keeps the momentum moving and I feel is only setting up for even more things.. the only real issue is that A) the title’s been slower at coming out than the other dawn of x titles, though in the case of the empyre tie in’s it’s not hteir fault but the rest sure as shit are, and B) that it has mostly been just setup but it’s been good enough and enjoyable enough and I feel payoff is coming, so I truly don’t care. At long last we have a main x-men  book that’s not only fantastic but uttterly engaging and I read most issues multiple times. An utter slam dunk

Giant Sized X-Men: This one is incomplete, so I can’t fully say what the full picture is.. but for the three released so far it’s a mixed bag, though the art in all three is gorgeous as Hickman brought on the best artists in the buisness but it’s telling that while New Mutants bellow had issues that bugged me but was still kinda fun, and the above havem y utter priase I nearly forgot to include these issues. None of them are bad and all have gorgeous art as I said, these are some of the best in the buisness, they feel padded. These were supposed to be annuals, but when they decided to change this to one shots.. they shoudl’ve just made them regular length instead, as there simply isn’t enough story here to fill them and so far only Davis’ issue has both had huge setup (both revealing doug’s fusion with warlock is a secret for some reason and that he is indeed still fully alive and revealing what happened to the x-mansion), and due to Davis background as a writer/artist the pacing to fill one issue and even then it could’ve been trimmed. Not bad and I don’t fault the artists for not being used to being writer/artists or having to do so while also conforming to a larger narriative which likely didn’t help or in the third one’s case having to take over for someone else entirely, but it’s , while not bad no ton par with the two above books and I expect better from hickman. 

New Mutants (HIckman’s Issues)  I’ll cover Brisson’s issues next time as they feel like a diffrent run entirely, but New Mutants was.. a disapointment. I was utterly pumped for this title going in being a huge fan of the team thanks to finally reading the claremont and sikenwitz run and before that re-reading abnett and lannings utterly great run and hey jonathan hickman who’d already done gangbusters was writing it! It had a great roster! 

And it starreed one of hickman’s faviorite mutants and one he’d taken a shine to on avengers, and one of my faviorite superheros, Roberto DeCosta, aka Sunspot. On Avengers hickman took Roberto , already a decent character and made him amazing. He was still rich, young and a playboy as ever.. but he used said wealth and his love of fun wisely. When undercover at an AIM casino instead fo throw down, he offers the agents a free day of partying and gambling on his huge dime, then puts them on payroll as his undercover agents. So to recap Roberto DeCosta won the avengers two valuable double agents in what at the time was one of their biggest threats.. by buying them tons of beer and gambling and presumibly hookers. And later got the loyatly of the rest of AIM through these guys, and when Steve found out tony betrayed him and went off hte deep end hunting him instead of stopping the end of the goddamn world, TOOK OVER AIM HIMSELF IN COMBAT WITH THE AIM SUPREME, and then formed his own avengers. 

Literally. He got his own avengers team, most of which left after the apocalypse but he simply found younger and hungrier replacements, and aim.. with blackjack and hookers. The man is a legend. And knowing Roberto if hookers were actually involved he probably treated them with respect and overpayed them because he’s a class act. Then under Al Ewing’s mighty pen, Roberto not only formed another avengers team since most of the avengers he formed to stop the end of the world were busy elsewhere, of young and great avengers, while dying of the aformentioned death cloud, but became an utterly brilliant chessmaster, only failing ONCE becaue of hydra cap getting into his head while AIM was working for the us goverment towards the end as the USAvengers. And yes that’s a real team. It’s as insane and beautiful as it sounds. And his new avengers once fought american kaiju, a godzilla with a flag painted on it chaning usa. Al Ewing is the best and I love him. But he also became a master stratigest and schemer with schemes within schemes within schemes, his crowning one being faking his own death and using his fake funeral to clear out any remaning enimies in AIm, and only quitting AIM to keep it out of goverment hands and in the hands of a trusted friend. He was and still is one of the best avengers there ever was and ever will be.  But here, as the new mutants go on a road trip to get sam? He’s a fucking dumbass who hires the worst space laywer possible, only gets off trial because Sam and his wife save them, glad they weren’t broken up by the way,  and is utterly useless most of the time. It’s like HIckman forgot the last part of his run.. granted time runs out isn’t very good but still, that wasn’t a good thing to forget and like Hickman wants to ignore ewing’s work for no damn reason, even though Ewing did great things with Roberto and kept him relevant when marvel was choking the x-men to death. It’s fucking embrassing and disapointing to see.  The rest of the New Mutants aren’t much better mostly being happy but also not really acting like themselves, with only mondo really standing out since he gets great moments and hasn’t done anything in a while. And Doug, who I negelcted to mention above is one of my faviorite mutants and thanks to being krakoa’s primary method of commuincation, is now one of krakoa’s most important mutants, has a seat at the council with krakoa, and weirdly has his best friend warlock hiding on his arm for reasons that haven’t been explained yet. In Short doug went from beign forgotten to being used awesomely again. Roberto instead of getting the same is set back as a character and ends the arc deciding to stay in space because he misses sam, and will likely become third in his marriage i’m sure, and wants to bone deathbird, x-men villian and frequent shiar usuper. But while rahne actually being happy is a good sight to behold they , except Dani, really dont’ do much. Though Magik gets a fucking amazing scene where she asks the various assasians sent ot kill them if they want to make out , not only revealing she’s bi, but that she’d prefer that to killing them all but does so when they dumbly refuse .. I mean seriously who, whose not in a relationship that’s open or way older than her, not take her up on that?  The plot their thrust into isnt’ great either, mostly just more setup but not present as well as in x-men about Gladiator giving the shiar empire to xavier’s daughter.. yes charles has a daughter that was created from his and his ex wife lilandra, whose still dead’s dna, and letting DEATHBIRD Of all people teach her instead of his damn self. Xandra taking over isn’t a terrible idea it’s just handeld poorly. It just feels disapointing.. like hickman WANTS to do a JLI style book here but the combination of him only doing one arc and not really wanting to write the characters as they should be, an issue that only pops up here and in the new mutants cameo during x-men proper and not for doug ever, that makes it fall falt.. I mean there are utterly great moments like the above, and hte image i used to lead off their just stifled by misusing roberto and everyone else. 

But overall hickman’s works on x-men  are fucking great, intresting and engaging. I’ve read the issues a ton and will again. One small mistep dosen’t take away from all the large good he’s done and he’s made the franchise feel alive again and hopefully the MCU take on it will take after this run, as it’d be a great way to break from the endless xavier vs magneto battles of the fox universe. So yeah overall 2 great books and a thankfully short misfire, HIckman’s on top. And next time we’ll see who he picked to help him carry the x banner home to us all, and who did well with it and whose stumbled a bit as part two delves into the rest of the dawn of x. For now subscribe for more comics stuff as I plan to get back on that, including I hope a restrospective on the fox era x-men sometime soon, animation reviews, and more fun stuff. And until then, courage. 

#x-men #new mutants #dawn of x #powers of x #house of x #jonathan hickman #sunspot #cyclops #scott summers #roberto decosta #cannonball #magik #jean grey #wolverine #logan howlett #magneto #erik leshener #x #charles xavier #moria x #moria mactaggert #nightcrawler #mistque #hortiuclture #comic books #marvel #reviews #ish

[megalony]

So many reasons- Part 4

Another part of my latest Roger Taylor series which I hope you are all enjoying so far. There is a bit more of an explination in this one.

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Enjoy.

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

(Y/n) knew it.

She knew there had been something wrong with Roger from the moment he had woken up in the morning but he brushed off every comment she made to the point asking him again would gain an angered response.

The way that the drummer kept rubbing at his chest instead of his shoulder showed that something wasn't right with him. He seemed to drift off into a different world more than he stayed in reality today too, asking people to repeat what they had said because he hadn't been listening. Looking like he was drowsy and almost swaying like paper in the breeze from time to time before he recovered and was his normal self again.

But as she sat in front of the controls, looking up through the window where the boys were starting to sing in unison, she saw it. How Roger had to close his eyes when singing a high note for a sustained period of time. How his hand was plastered to his chest almost all the time, specifically on the left-hand side. A ragged breath left (Y/n)'s lips as she suddenly sprung to her feet like she was a puppet coming to life. Her hands planting down on the desk in front of her as the air was stolen from her lungs, her heart suddenly battering against her ribs as if trying to break them.

No one seemed to know what to do.

One moment, Brian, Freddie and Roger were glancing between one another as they stood in front of the mike. Both Brian and Freddie rather amazed at the note Roger managed to reach, knowing they should be used to this by now. Then the next moment, Brian was flinging his arms out to catch the drummer when his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his knees caved in beneath him. Roger looked like a rag doll that had been discarded and allowed to flop down to the floor. His body folding like a thin material in the breeze, his head snapping back as Brian held him around his chest under his arms to stop him from hurting himself with a crash landing to the ground.

Both (Y/n) and John ran into the recording room, scuttling over to the three boys inside as Brian set Roger down on the floor, unable to hold him up any longer than that.

Moving him around, Brian laid his friend on his right side, stretching Roger's left arm out in front of him and moving his legs so he was laid in the recovery position since he seemed spark out. Watching as (Y/n) knelt down in front of him, one hand pressing to his pulse point as the other carded through his hair, trying to bring him back around. Her eyes glued to the drummer's chest, seeing that when he fell, the hand that had been rubbing at his chest had dragged down his shirt. Popping open the buttons along the way, allowing (Y/n) to look at his chest to see if he was breathing too quick or too slow. Her mind made up that he was breathing far too quick to be normal.

"Call an ambulance, just to be on the safe side." John commented when Miami stood in the doorway, wondering if Roger was going to come around and say he was fine or that he needed help. They all silently knew that taking him to the hospital would be the best thing just to make sure that there was nothing actually wrong that he didn't know about. They'd all rather be safe than sorry when it came to their close friend.

(Y/n) quickly shuffled back, leaning on her left side to be out of the way when Roger's stomach sucked inwards at an alarming rate before he suddenly threw up. That being the only movement he made before he went back to laying motionless on the carpeted floor, the rise and fall of his chest being the only indication that he was actually alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With shaking hands, Roger began to do up the buttons on his shirt that was a mix between a dark cream and a light grey shade. His head dipping forward, feeling too heavy for him to even attempt to hold up for much longer. His chest rose and fell at a normal pace once again as he felt oddly calm considering his sudden collapse at the studio and the rather immediate MRI his doctor had rushed him off to.

Roger had barely been awake more than five minutes before the familiar face of Doctor Freeman was peering over at him, his kind features expressing a clear worry. His lips moving too fast for Roger to comprehend, his ears only just making out that he was scheduled for an emergency MRI right that minute. Leaving the drummer to quickly change into the gown they provided before he was taken to lie in the familiar machine he had been in before for roughly an hour. They didn't seem to mind that he kept nodding off every so often, unable to keep his eyes open since it worsened the headache he had and raised the risk of him throwing up which they didn't want.

He dared not think what he was going to have to tell the band and (Y/n) who were all sat in the waiting room. Having speeded down along with the ambulance to see if Roger was alright. None of them would have been sure why he was having an MRI and the doctor had promised the drummer that it as confidential and he hadn't told them why. Simply saying it was a procedure to rule a few things out. So now Roger was left to come up with yet another lie to feed them all.

Leaving the top two buttons of his shirt undone, Roger ran a hand through his rather damp and knotted hair as he let a sigh tumble from his lips. He just needed to go home and be with his family now and to go to bed. He needed to go to bed.

"How are you feeling, Mr Taylor?"

Turning his head to the door, Roger managed a rather weak smile as the older man walked into the room. Pulling up the chair so he could sit down opposite Roger who was sitting on the edge of the bed, wishing he was in his own.

"Rough. What's the verdict?" Roger didn't want to beat about the bush here, he wanted to know if his suspicions were right and if they were, what the next course of action would be. He wasn't stupid, he had taken biology as his degree in university so he knew these little telltale signs of something being wrong with his previous history Roger knew what it would be. Yet he still found himself asking for confirmation, just in case this was just some fluke. In case this was some chest infection getting the better of him and he could just go home with antibiotics.

Dr Freeman wore that same smile Roger had seen the first time he had sat in this man's office. It was a look that told Roger the doctor was fond of him, fond of the way that the drummer didn't deny anything he was told because he didn't want to believe it. Fond of the way that Roger agreed with anything without fuss or question. Roger just seemed to take everything in without dwelling on it, he was easy going and he understood. There weren't many patients out there like him.

"There's another mass in your left lung." The doctor's lips pressed into a straight line as Roger could see he was biting down on his inner lower lip. His eyes crinkling at the sides in a sorrowful look at having to deliver the bad news to the drummer who already had an inkling that this would be the case.

Roger had been given the news of cancer a few months back, having a small operation to take out the mass in his lung since it wasn't big and they wanted to stop it from spreading. A week before he decided to ask (Y/n) to marry him he had a routine scan to find that there were more cancerous cells back and he would need further tests to confirm. Roger had already known from the growing chest pains, the sickness and breathlessness and then the coughing that his fight was far from over. Hearing it just set things in stone.

Roger didn't want to take the risk of thinking that he would be fine if indeed his cancer spread too far for anything to be done for him. Asking (Y/n) to marry him was his way of setting that insurance up that if he were to get terminally ill, someone would be there for his daughters. They wouldn't be left alone because (Y/n) had said she would help him look after them and Roger knew that meant if something happened to him she wouldn't just abandon them. He didn't mean to lead (Y/n) on because she was his closest friend other than the boys, he really was beginning to feel for her more than a friend. Roger just needed to take those precautions and set things in place so his and his girl's futures were not going to be hectic or jeopardised.

"Left lung... not spread to the other then yet." That was something good in the very least. The cancer being in both lungs would really knock down Roger's chances here and he didn't want that. He neede every chance he could scrape at the moment.

"Thankfully not, no. We can't do another operation because there are more cells spread about rather than a simple mass like last time. I think radiotherapy is our best bet but it needs to start soon." Roger nodded, although his mind was in a different place. That meant coming down to the hospital every week or even twice or three times a week to get treatment. Roger would have to sneak off from the studio and make his excuses to everyone.

Last time it had been different.

It was little over a week confined to the hospital, he was easily able to sidestep that with everyone. He took the girls to his parents in Cornwall, told the band and (Y/n) and a few other close friends he was staying with his parents for the week with the girls. Before secretly admitting himself into the hospital to have his operation and then recover from it. No one had been any the wiser and that was how he liked it.

Dr Freeman had advised Roger to tell someone, either a friend or family member so he could talk about it, to make it more bearable and easier but Roger declined. He didn't want to tell anyone, he didn't want their pitying looks or them acting like they needed to wrap him up in cotton wool. This was his health that was worsening, not theirs. He didn't feel the need to burden them with this when he was coping on his own. Roger felt no need to go to a counsellor either when he was advised to do so, he was fine carrying on as if he wasn't ill because at the end of the day it was so much easier to live a lie. To think and imagine that he was fine when he wasn't. It gave him an escape and that was what he needed.

Now things were going to get complicated and more lies were going to be needed.

"How soon?" Roger questioned, his hand moving and tangling in his hair as he brushed it from his eyes. At least the band weren't going on tour anytime soon giving him the time to get treatment rather than having to cancel.

"Next week. The usual schedule would be once a day Monday to Friday, lasting no longer than half an hour. We'll book you for a CT scan next Monday hopefully, work out where and how much radiation to give you and you can have your first dose there and then if that's alright with you." So Roger was going to need an hour or more lunch break every weekday to get down here, get treatment and then head back. Maybe even head home if the side effects got to him. Great. And he was going to have to take Monday off work for the scan which he knew would take a while, to then go straight for the first dose of treatment.

But what else could he do?

Roger couldn't say no and postpone for a few weeks if the doctor was saying it needed to start now. That meant it was urgent and Roger wasn't endangering his health for anything, he would start treatment next week and bear with whatever side effects it gave him as long as it could take away his problem and keep his life going for him.

"Sure, we start on Monday." Roger confirmed with a nod of his head, a very small, tired smile tugging at his lips to which the doctor returned.

"The receptionist will book the time for you and schedule your treatment plan for you, then you're good to go." Pushing himself to his feet, he thought for a moment before leaning over and patting Roger's shoulder. It was never easy to be told that cancer had come back, it was even harder to have to be the one to find out and deliver the news. But seeing Roger so oddly calm and collected was a little unnerving when most other patients broke down or simply denied their diagnosis. "Oh, and congratulations. Would you like me to send the lovely lady in?" He commented, his eyes glancing down to the silver band wrapped around Roger's wedding finger causing the blond to smile. His index finger gently swirling the shiny band around for a moment as he nodded.

"Um... you, you won't tell her, right?" Lifting his head Roger bit his lip at the slightly disappointed look on Dr Freeman's face at seeing Roger still hadn't confided in anyone about this. Not even his wife.

"Patient confidentiality, Mr Taylor. But I do advise you to." With a last look, he turned on his heels and headed out of the room to go and call (Y/n) in from the waiting room. Knowing that Roger was making a mistake by bottling this up and simply thinking he could do this on his own. Having someone there during treatment was often helpful to other patients, especially if he got rather bad side effects. It also meant he was going to put a strain on himself if things got tough and when he had to lie. If (Y/n) found out Roger had been lying all this time they both knew she wouldn't take it well at all.

"Rog?" A small smile pulled at his lips despite the news he had just been given when he saw (Y/n) hurrying into the room.

Reaching out Roger wrapped his arms around her waist, gently pulling her so she stood between his legs. His head resting against her lower chest as he sighed, a welcomed feeling of content washing throughout his body. Taking away the thumping headache beginning to pulse behind his eyes and the fatigue running throughout every muscle he held within his body.

"What's happened? They took you for an MRI as soon as we brought you in... i-it's nothing bad, right?" Looking down to the drummer, (Y/n) gently cupped his face in her hands when he pulled back enough to be able to look up at her. His heart shattering at the fear swelling in her pupils as she begged for him not to give her bad news. There was a very small part of him telling himself that he should come clean now save having to come clean eventually if things went south. But the look on her features made him quickly change his mind. How could he even think of telling her and shattering her world like that?

Standing to shaking legs, he held onto her waist for support to make sure his knees didn't give out on him again. A small smile pulling at his pale lips as he leaned his forehead against her own.

"No, nothin' bad sweetheart. They thought there may have been some fluid or a blood clot. I've got mild pneumonia, that's all. Need antibiotics and bed." Roger felt bad for lying but at the end of the day, he couldn't say the MRI was for nothing because it had been clear from the suddenness of the scan that something was thought to be wrong. Pneumonia was a good cover up because it had some of the same symptoms as Roger was suffering. Breathlessness, coughing, feeling generally unwell. He could use that as a ploy to stop the questions from everyone and make everything seem okay.

He had to lie.

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger x reader #imagine #queen band #so many reasons