#this is supposed to be part of a larger comic but I got too excited and wanted to post it now

[korra-the-red-lion]

An Observation from an MCU fan.

Hey everyone, Korra here. I just got back from Thor Love and Thunder the other day, as well as finishing Ms. Marvel and I’ve been having these thoughts for a while now but I’m going to try to put them in words. It’s perhaps a little bit of a criticism of some of the recent MCU ventures, a little of my own personal feelings, and just some thoughts in general I suppose.

The biggest one that I’ll talk the most about is too much content in too little time. I think we all know what I’m talking about, if you’ve been a part of the MCU fandom for as long as I have been, or even if you’re a causal fan. But in the past couple of years, there has been more Phase 4 content than nearly all the other Phases put together. And I’m being real here, I think some has been fantastic while others haven’t been. Mostly the shows I think have suffered from this.

The shows are all extra long movies with a whole lotta stuffing, except for maybe WandaVision. The Falcon and Winter Soldier was just a long Captain America movie with way too much going on, yet nothing happening all at the same time. Loki wasn’t bad but it spent too much time on Loki’s “redemption”, even though we had a very satisfying one through the movies that paid off gloriously. At least the show is getting a second season. Hawkeye was a fun venture, and I think Kate’s story was well done even if I found the ending to be a bit lackluster. I didn’t love Moon Knight, but that’s mostly because I felt like the show dragged on for too long whereas it would have worked as a movie to get through some of the meandering the show did. Ms. Marvel was a very character driven show that had a pretty weak plot in my opinion. WandaVision had the most satisfying character moments and plot moments, and if you skip/ignore the post credits scene, it tells a beautiful story about accepting grief and loss as part of life. I think the largest issue for the shows stems from the lack of proper vision and focus. Kevin Feige is busy watching over ALL these projects and I personally feel like you can see it now. Most of the shows needed someone to step in and say “No that can be removed, and maybe do this instead.” I’m all for creative decision making, don’t get me wrong. But if you’re using these shows to build stories into more movies and stuff, then they need to be engaging and connect to the larger picture somehow. 

Now the movies are still fun, entertaining popcorn flicks, as they should be. But I’ve found myself wondering, “Did we need an Eternals movie? Was Thor Love and Thunder and now a potential Thor 5 needed?” I thought after Endgame we’d see a switch to focus on what I thought would be the new generation of newly introduced Heroes (Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange) since Steve, Tony and I thought Thor’s stories were finished. But every new project is introducing us to a new hero, someone else to keep an eye on. I’m excited for the idea of the Fantastic 4, loving the comics and the cartoon since I was a kid, but on top of everyone else it’s a lot. The Eternals introduced us to at least 5 people we need to keep an eye on. There are so many new characters that I feel like I’m losing track. Also, it does suck to me that our OGs (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc) got to have franchises that they didn’t share the spotlight with, but Captain Marvel and seemingly some others don’t get that same curtousy. Am I excited about Kamala and Monica showing up in the Marvels? Absolutely. Am I little bummed out that we know very little of Carol’s life since she left Earth and now have to watch her share her storytime with two other people, one who just had a nearly 5hr movie to tell her story? Yup, I am. I’d be more down if this was the third film. And I love Yelena, don’t get me wrong, she’s one of the best new characters introduced, but I would have loved if the Black Widow movie was actually about Natasha. I mean, me and every other person who wanted a BW movie only asked for a Natasha solo film for 10+ years, so it would have been nice to see her get a trilogy like the boys.

At this point, it feels like the MCU cares more about bringing in the newest hero instead of focusing on the ones we already have. And I know the Pandemic caused mass delays and they’re playing catch up now, but there is literally a new MCU project every couple of months and if you don’t watch all of them, you’ll be lost when heading into the newest project. Didn’t watch WV? Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness might not be a enjoyable if you didn’t. Didn’t watch BW? Might miss out a pretty big reason why Yelena is even in Hawkeye. 

I miss the days when you could watch the movies and only be expected to watch the movies to be excited about the crossovers and team ups, but even if you missed one, that was okay. I liked watching the Defenders series and them being in their own little section of the MCU. I liked Agents of Shield just did its own thing. I liked Runaways and it having three self contained seasons that didn’t require hours and hours of prior knowledge.

Maybe there was no point in writing this post except to get my feeling out there. I still like the MCU, been a fan of it since I was 12 years old. But I’m starting to feel some fatigue from it, starting to see a dip in some quality storytelling. Not every movie needs to be CA: Winter Soldier or Thor Ragnarök level of good story telling and overall enjoyment, but I feel like we’re getting some weaker stories from the TV shows and it’s starting to show up in the movies as well because there’s too much for one man to focus his attention on. Don’t get me wrong either, Shang-Chi was probably one of the best Phase 4 movies out there so far, and probably one of the best Phase 4 properties in general, as well as being one of the better MCU movies. I absolutely loved WandaVision, I’ve watched it twice and think it’s even better the second time around. But I really thought tFatWS was boring. Thor Love and Thunder was okay, but it needed to be tonally controlled because some parts I thought were just a little cringey.

Maybe all I need from the MCU is to slow down. Focus on storytelling again, focus on the effects. Focus on the emotional impacts. And honestly, maybe not focus on churning out TV show after TV show. On average, they’re just “okay.” Anyway, guess I just wanted to get these thoughts out of my head. It’s fine if you disagree with me, it’s not going to offend me. If you read this far, thanks.

#mcu #marvel #marvel phase four #wandavision #the falcon and the winter soldier #loki #Moon Knight #ms marvel #hawkeye #Black Widow #shang chi #The Eternals #doctor strange and the multiverse of madness #thor love and thunder #what if...? #long post

[beezybeeart]

still in denial about their ending so here's their beginning

#cw flashing #happy six months to the gay angel and his bf #and happy 8 years to my spn brain worms #i might post the stills from this if people want to see them #destiel #deancas #dean winchester #castiel #spn art #supernatural #i'm gonna get a rep for back lighting #this is supposed to be part of a larger comic but I got too excited and wanted to post it now #thinking of a caption for this is killing me all thats in my head is the 'hands reaching out' part of sweet caroline

[butwhyduh]

I love titans!Jason a whole ton because of just how bold and cocky he is. He's a prime example of how people his age are, less inhibitions and more carefree life. He fits into that phase of thinking he's invincible (at least until what happens with Deathstroke.) Knowing what's coming up for him kinda makes me sad because we only have so much precious time with him as Robin, and I was enjoying it. Like, I'm excited to see the next part of his character, but it seemed to come so fast. Especially since they're already going to be running so many plotlines this season, with the Scarecrow stuff and the Blackfire situation, not to mention Raven going to help with the Donna issue. Jason being, well, Jason Todd and not Red Hood, is running on borrowed time and I just want them to do him justice.

- 💌💋 swak anon

I’m tentatively excited but don’t want to have too much hope of that makes sense. I write a lot. And I have ideas of how plots tend to go. I’m the worst to take to see a detective movie because I high key will spoil it in the first 20 minutes a lot. Like shutter island I called in the first 10 minutes. Loved that movie. Anyways, I’m very off topic lmao. But I just don’t know how they’ll fit it all in with both Red Hood and Blackfire storylines and introducing Barbara Gordon AND Tim Drake, especially since Jason is still Robin (!!!). I love scarecrow so I hope that goes good 🤞🏼

Unpopular opinion: But the actor playing Jason gets undue hate. Is Titans very canon compliant? No. But is any adaptation? No. Canon isn’t even canon compliant at this point. But everyone wants Jason todd, larger than life murderer and vigilante that’s been doing it for years. They also want him hypersexualized that isn’t even in the comics. That’s not the story of Titans. He’s a teenager that is Robin.

And live action Jason Todd is so complicated because his character goes through a physical transformation that would be harmful to an actor. Like they really have 3 choices which is to get someone that fits Robin, that they did, and make him seem bigger and more intimidating through movie magic (which they can make tom cruise look bigger they can certainly make curren Walters look bigger). We don’t want him on steroids or something. They could have hired someone that is big and Red Hood-ish and then it’ll be like Terry Cruz wearing the tag that says 9 year old child and he looks ridiculous next to Dick Grayson because he’s supposed to be a kid next to Nightwing’s adult. Or the third and cursed option is hiring one actor for robin and another for red hood. And that’s horrific unless they happen upon a family where they look almost identical but one is a few years older and they happen to be able to act. That’ll never happen especially since we are supposed to care about this character and changing actors is almost a guaranteed way to kill a character in most shows.

Also most people who say he acts nothing like Jason todd haven’t read his stories before turning into the red hood. After under the red hood came out they decided to add in the fact that he was an angry Robin that basically deserved and was doomed to die but that’s not true. He was happy, enthusiastic, and a nerd. He was sometimes naive and sweet and made mistakes.

But it wasn’t his hubris that killed him, it was his heart. He genuinely thought his mother was in trouble and tried to save her; not that he thought he could take on the joker by himself.

Same thing for the people that want sunshine unicorn fanon dick Grayson. Nope! He gets angry and dark and isolates sometime. And holy hell does brenton thwaites look like him.

2 characters I think titans got totally wrong? Bruce Wayne and Garth. Garth looks like Arthur curry in comics and I don’t get it tbh. And Bruce Wayne has the personality but he’s not a DILF. Playboy is right in his title and that guy isn’t it. But he’s a side character anyways.

#titans tv #titans s3 #titans!jason todd #titans!dick Grayson

[oh-for-fic-sake]

April Teaser Collection!

Here is the  latest peek at my stuff sitting on my pc that will hopefully be finished over the next few weeks. I hope you find something that tickles your pickle. below the cut are The Stand In, It’s A Match, Deliverance, Mans False God, Gloria Regali.

But instead of being managing to be all sneaky and close the door hiding henry in your room like a naughty teen with her boyfriend Henry was up and awake.

"Aha! Gotcha! Who said you could sneak out of bed this morning baby? I was lonely with out you~" you screamed and just about jumped out of your skin as Henry wrapped himself around you from behind dragging you back into him, nuzzling into your neck pressing an open mouthed kiss to it. Your shout of surprize had silenced both of the women's chatter making them jump, even Kal came darting back in gruffing as he leapt up the stairs heckles and tail raised and growling on high alert. Fuck.

"now why cant i get a good morning like that?" Tee giggled crossing her arms at the both of you, your mother eyed you both with a knowing grin and hummed agreeing. Henry snapped his head up and gulped. Fuck. You and henry stood still for a few seconds far to shocked at being caught with your pants down so to speak. You shifted on your feet but henry held you still hands on your hips using you to shield his nude form from your guests he hadn't known were there.

"O-oh shit- err good morning ladies!" He said turning red his voice higher than usual as he shuffled backward taking you with him. As he tried saving his modesty, he didn't take the covers with him because- well he had thought it was only you on the bus!

"I err- shit i didn't see you there... Sorry about almost flashing you both like that..." he said with an uneven tone tip toeing back into the room, still holding you at his crotch hiding the once half hard- now softening cock.

"Good girl, where's your mother? Hmm? Your not supposed to be out and about alone are you?" Henry spoke slowly digging his fingers into the dense soft fur managing to find and hold the collar below the thick fur, then he leant down scooping up the lead what was still attached to her. Kal grunted and sat on the floor leaning his weight on henry's leg. Henry looked down and patted Kal scratching his ears chuckling. Kal's eyes still wide taking in the larger dog in front of him, it was comical Kal was used to being the biggest bear... but he was a good four to five inches shorted then this magnificent grey floofer.

"Kal, you okay there bud?... year she really is big isn't she, you best behave don't want her telling you off do you?" He spoke slowly calming both pups... and gosh did Kal look like a pup compared to her. Slowly both dogs leaned towards one another sniffing the air then with a happy yip Amii began licking kal... like a pup. Henry burst out laughing it was too sweet watching Amii sniff around his bear, whilst Kal sent his human a look clearly pleading for help as this new huge female smothered him with affection. But henry wasn't falling for it, Kal was wagging his tail just as excited to make a new freind.

Honestly henry was glad, akitas were fickle. They either liked you or they didn't. He got the feeling Kal would like this gentle giant for now he was a little awe struck over being smaller then something.

"Clark? Clark come and help me- I cant reach the milk! Its at the back again!" Martha said quietly you smiled. It took a lot of coaxing but you had indeed tried what Clark had explained as 'cow juice' and had developed a taste for it. So Martha had promised you milk every day if you liked. Which you did like. A lot. Clark pressed another kiss to you and walked off towards the milk refrigerators expecting you to follow.

You made to follow but a sweet scent hit you and you stopped mid step. It was wonderful and ripe, sweet and succulent. You pivoted and followed without much thought. Your feet found there way twisting around the display of 'leafy greens' to a bright colourful isle. You salivated at the smells. There were so many intoxicating scents you didn't know what to look at first.

You pressed a hand on a small net package full of strange green fuzzy balls. Kiwi's? You read and scrunched your face up at the peculiar name. Then plucked the bag up and held it to your nose sniffing. They smelled divine, like a type of food from home. Okriin a small soury sweet treat given to children on their birthing date. You sniffed again and almost cried. It was so similar but so different sweeter and fuller in the scent. You cautiously sniffed again and closed your eyes before tentativly prodding it with your tongue wanting to see if it tasted the same.

"y/n? Y/n?!- oh god there you are? What are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack" Clark said racing towards you his mother behind him with the cart. He slid to a stop and blinked at you. As you scrunched up your nose.

"the texture of these are... Not very nice?" you said naively moving for the fruit again sticking your tongue out once more trying to discern if it was edible like this. Clark moved quickly gasping holding your hands that had the.. Kiwi's in it.

"no no.. No we- you don't eat them like that... You peel them and eat the inside, and we don't lick things in the shop okay?" he explained plucking the fruit from you and placed them in the cart, Martha chuckled into her chest she couldn't help it, you were extremely cute.

Kal proped himself up on his side and smiled sadly nodding. He knew. He knew the state they found you in was their fault. Thats why he was so adamant to look after you now to... make amends in a way. You'd proved you could barely survive on your own. But Kal was also angry; angry that you'd been abandoned, he had thought Bruce would atleast put something in place to look after you but he hadn't. Bruce hadn't helped you, he to busy saving his own skin and trying to fight him and the new regime. But he was more angry at himself you had been alone, with no means to protect yourself or really survive. And he should have known! He should have realised you were scared, that you would stay away from the new citizen system he put in place. That you'd fear being caught and killed like many of the others.

"I know, but we have her now... its going to be better now, we are going to right the wrongs love... we can give her the best life  look after her and nothing will ever hurt our little one again" his voice was strained his face in firm lines, hard and stone like. He truly was a god, carved in marble. Perfect. Diana nodded laying back curling herself around you. Kal drew a deep breath and shuffled closer winding his arms around his family, holding both his girls.

He chuckled when you grunted pouting in your sleep when he sandwiched you between Diana and himself. Trying to wriggle fee from the group hug.  But once again you settled after a few moments relaxing as you were now being warmed from both sides a small smile graced your face. Kal grinned and nuzzled the back of your head pressing chaste kisses to your bed ridden hair, he felt at peace having you here with him. And he meant what he said no one will ever touch his little babygirl.

"what wrong? Whats going on?" you spoke quietly trying not to stare at the clearly sick monarch. You didn't want to see it, you didn't want to think of the implications of the illness he was clearly suffering.

"nothing gets past you does it my girl?" your father spoke jovially trying to lighten the mood but failed miserably, his chuckles dying off fairly quickly and he heaved a sigh. Your uncle broke the silence and your fathers hand slid to yours under the table and squeezed your fingers tightly trying to reassure you.

"I have summoned you here to discuss something that... Is very serious and the outcome will change the lives of many people. This is something.. I wished I could hold off but I'm afraid I cannot firefly" you bit your lip and braced yourself. This was bad news you could tell. A part of you thought for a moment of marriage, your gut churned at the thought and you felt sick all of a sudden. Where you being married off as a pawn? It was likely, it still happened even in this day and age it was just covered up with fairytale romance... Story book meetings and courtships, when in reality you were told that your to marry and that was the end of it.

"Y/n you are royalty. You were born in to a royal blood line that has ruled over this kingdom for nearly four centuries... And now it is time for you to take your place within it and do your duty" your father stated in his 'work' voice for the time being he was not your father, he was a prince. Heir to the throne and head of your family. And you were to listen and obey.

"You want to give me duties as a working royal?" you said sitting straighter only quivering slightly. You dreaded this, the publicity the duty and responsibility that you'd managed to avoid so far. But you knew one day you would have to take your place.

"yes dear. We need you. Now" your father said urgently, but there was something off. Like he was holding back, fearfull in a sense and it was not like him.

"Of course i will. Father I'm no fool I understand what my position requires of me and i will serve my country. You need only ask and I will obey. I only ask that i be given time to sort things out with the university security and such would need to be increased if they are having a working royal on campus-"

"I'm afraid its not as simple as that we... Are asking you to put your studying off" your uncle interrupted you making you frown. What? You furrowed your brow and made to shake your head but paused. It made sense... If you were to come and take on duties then the media may go wild and cause an uproar... They could cause issues on campus

"How long for?" you asked trying your hardest not to frown at your father and uncle

"Indefinitely.." the king replied holding your gaze firmly. it was then you knew this was serious, more so then anything you’d experienced before.

#oh for fic sake teaser #oh for fic sake fic #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #clark kent x you #superman x you

[bluejayblueskies]

agape

n. selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love; love that motivates action, often for the sake or care of others 

Words: 2.3k Relationship: Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood Tags: AU - Tea Shop/Bookstore, Fluff, Asexual Jonathan Sims Warnings: internalized acephobia/biphobia (minor,), fear of homo/ace/transphobia (brief, unfounded)

|| Ao3 ||

.

Martin remembers, with crystal clarity, the first time that he saw Jonathan Sims. Martin’s tea shop opens at seven in the morning to accommodate the morning commuter crowd, but they’re really busiest in the afternoon, which is when most people deign to take a break from whatever work they’ve got for the day.

 Jonathan Sims is not most people. At promptly seven, the jingle of the little bell that Tim had hung over the door once as a joke but that had lingered out of sheer practicality had cut through the gentle humming of the kettle, the small one that Martin preferred in the morning as it took no time at all to heat and the small volume of customers generally didn’t warrant the larger, stainless steel water heaters that sat along the back wall. Martin had had a box of loose-leaf English breakfast in his hand as he turned; he remembers the way the bitter smell of the leaves had mingled with the cool blast of winter air that swept through the door, carrying with it the scent of something acrid and ashy.

 Cigarette smoke, his mind helpfully supplied. Then, Martin’s eyes found the man who had entered the shop, his mouth forming the automatic greeting the bell always elicited from him, a well-trained habit that made him feel not dissimilar to Pavlov’s dog.

 “Welcome to Blackwood Blends! What can I get started for you?”

The man—and the likely source of the burnt smell still lingering in the air—startled slightly at the sound of Martin’s voice, like he hadn’t been expecting to be addressed directly. He was wrapped in a comically large scarf, knit from chunky yarn and laced with warm yellow and midnight black, and he looked like the kind of person who might blow away in the wind if he wasn’t careful. His hair, long and brown, was streaked through with grey and seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the hat that was currently struggling to keep it contained. There were at least two jumpers of startlingly different colors peeking out from underneath a heavy black pea coat that was missing a button near the bottom.

 He was also quite possibly the most beautiful person Martin had ever seen.

 He was there and gone before Martin quite knew what was happening, cradling a steaming travel mug of Ceylon close to his chest like it alone could drive away the January chill, and Martin found himself watching him through the café window as he crossed the street with barely more than a cursory glance in each direction, fumbled with something in his pockets for a moment, and finally vanished into the building across the street.

 Beholding Books & Antiquities, the sign above the door said in curling calligraphy, barely visible from this distance.

 Martin wondered, briefly, if they had poetry.

 Martin knows now that they do, but that the man—whose name, he’d learned on the man’s next visit to the tea shop, is Jon—wrinkles his nose when people purchase them like they’ve caused him some great offense. He knows that Jon never gets the same tea twice in a row, and though he’s cycled through every possible blend that Martin’s shop carries, he’s not a fan of herbals and finds himself returning to earthy greens and floral blacks. (Which, unfortunately, includes oolong, which may be the only kind of tea that Martin can’t stand.) He knows that the bookshop opens at ten in the morning (but that Jon never arrives later than eight) and that unlike the surge of afternoon customers Martin’s shop gets, the bookshop receives a steady trickle of local customers and curious tourists throughout the day.

 He knows that Jon smiles like it’s a secret he can’t quite decide if he wants to share and that Jon’s fingers are warm and soft when they brush against Martin’s as he hands Martin his new purchase and that he might be just a little bit in love with Jon.

 He spends quite a lot of time browsing for books nowadays, to Tim and Sasha’s eternal amusement. But he can’t bring himself to mind.

 Now, the nip of winter air is far behind them, and the lovely warmth of June seeps in through the cracks in the windows and in bursts as the door opens and closes. He always gets more business in winter, when the promised warmth of a cup of tea lures customers in from the cold, but it’s steady enough in the summer. And though Martin’s always been a lover of bulky jumpers and drinks that warm you from the inside out and breath that fogs in winter air, he can’t help but love the onset of summer, because it brings with it June and his favorite yearly tradition: Pride month tea blends.

 Martin finishes scrawling the various specialty drinks onto the chalkboard he keeps propped up on the counter, feeling a little burst of pride at the new tea blends he’s selected for this year. He creates them all himself, making little changes from year to year and brewing cup after cup for Tim and Sasha to try until he thinks they must be sick of tasting ten different versions of fruity Earl Greys. It just feels nice, to put a piece of himself into each cup he makes, and beyond that, the shyly excited looks some customers get when they order a certain blend fills him with a warmth that tingles in his veins for hours after.

 It feels nice, to take care of people this way. To let people find themselves in his tea and to share a bit of himself in kind.

 So when the bell jingles and Martin glances up from the blackboard to see Jon standing just inside the doorway, blinking as his eyes adjust to the dimness of the café, the thrum of affection that always overtakes him when he sees Jon is magnified tenfold, accompanied in equal part by a bite of nervousness. Because, he realizes, for all that he and Jon have talked about their jobs and favorites and hobbies and everything in between, they’ve never talked about this.

 Martin’s never been shy about it. His jacket is plastered with rainbow-striped patches, his bag adorned with enamel pins in purple-black-white-greys and in blue-pink-whites. He knows Jon’s seen them. Jon has to have seen them. He’s just… never mentioned it. And Martin gets the brief, terrifying, and completely unfounded worry that it’s because Jon is bothered by it.

 He shakes the thought off as quickly as it had come. No, he knows Jon. He knows that behind the prickly exterior, Jon is kind—so, so kind, and that he cares more about other people than he lets on. With a small, anxious laugh that Martin barely keeps contained beyond a brief exhalation, Martin realizes that he also knows that Jon is possibly also the most oblivious person Martin knows. It’s infinitely more likely that Jon hasn’t noticed—or has noticed and has decided not to say anything—than that Jon is somehow a completely different person than the one Martin’s gotten to know over the past five months.

 “Are you all right?”

 Martin startles so badly that he drops the chalk. It rolls dangerously close to the edge of the counter before a thin-fingered hand captures it mid-motion and holds it out toward Martin, the dusty white stark against his brown skin. Martin takes the chalk with a sheepish smile and says, “Ah, sorry—got a bit, er. Distracted.” Then, in a quasi-professional voice, because he is at work: “What can I get for you, Jon?”

 Jon doesn’t even glance at the menu; Martin’s almost certain that he has it memorized by now. He taps a finger on the counter, and as he thinks, his eyes wander downward, landing on the chalkboard that’s still laid flat against the counter, the bottom left corner slightly smudged. “Are these new blends?” Jon asks, eyes bright and curious. He tilts his head, trying to see the words better, and Martin quickly stands the chalkboard up on its wooden feet and returns it to its spot on the counter so that it’s easier to read.

 Well, no time like the present, I suppose.

 “They’re, ah, my seasonal blends!” Martin says with a smile he hopes doesn’t look as nervous as it feels. “I always do them in June.” He lets out a little, disarming laugh. “My own way of celebrating Pride month, you know?”

 Jon’s eyes are scanning the chalkboard with an intensity that makes Martin shift from one foot to the other at a pace far too quick to be casual, his hands finding the edge of the counter and gripping it like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded. He can’t read Jon’s face; there’s something there, just below the surface, but he can’t get a handle on it. It keeps slipping away like wet bar soap when he tries too hard to get a grip on it, and eventually, he just gives up, waiting for Jon to finish with his heartbeat sitting high in his throat.

 Finally, after a period of time that feels just shy of an eternity and certainly too long to have been simply considering the merits of one tea blend over another, Jon looks at Martin with an expression that feels strangely vulnerable. “I… I can’t decide,” he says quietly, like this decision carries the weight of the entire world. He points a thin finger at the middle of the board, where bisexual berry is scrawled in spiraling letters that constitute Martin’s attempt at calligraphy. It’s an herbal blend, with bits of freeze-dried blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. “I like most of this blend,” he says, “but er. Not on its own?” His finger moves down, nearly smudging the words asexual almond as it comes to rest atop the ingredients below them—Assam tea, almond flavoring, cinnamon sticks, and little white blossoms that Martin includes purely for the visual effect. “Some people think that black tea wouldn’t go well with herbal,” Jon says, studying the board like it has the secret to life itself scrawled upon the dusty black, “but they’re really not that different at all. It’s all tea, and- and liking one kind of tea doesn’t preclude you from liking another kind, right? So asking me to- to decide between one kind of tea and another is—well, it’s just ridiculous. There’s tea that I like and tea that I don’t and I don’t have to pick just one.”

 Jon’s still staring at the blackboard, his forehead creased in what could be concentration but could also be irritation. It’s still early enough that the tea shop is empty save for them; Tim and Sasha don’t come in until after noon as usually, Martin can handle the morning crowds by himself. And Martin is really quite sure that this isn’t about his tea at all. So, in the gentlest tone he can muster, Martin says, “You can order more than one kind of tea, you know.”

 Jon jerks his hand back, almost like he’d forgotten Martin was there. “I—what?”

 Feeling significantly less nervous than before, Martin adjusts the sign so that he can see it better and says, “These are all just suggestions, Jon. Blends that I like and ones that I’ve found that other people like too, but they’re not set in stone—people have all kinds of preferences, and when it comes down to it, it- it’s all just tea.” Then, because apparently he’s feeling bold today: “I- I can make a new blend if you’d like? One that, er.” Just say it, Martin. “One that’s for you, specifically. Whatever you’d like.”

 Jon’s eyes are as wide as saucers as he stares up at Martin, and Martin can’t help but shift nervously under his gaze. Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that, that was weird, what a weird thing to say when someone’s coming out to you with bad tea metaphors, fuck fuck—

 “If- if you’d like,” Jon says quietly, slamming Martin’s thought spiral headfirst into a brick wall and nearly knocking him off his feet as he registers that Jon just said yes. “I’d like that. Though I- I do enjoy the flavors of berries and almonds together.” He smiles then, a wry thing that sends Martin’s pulse into the stratosphere and his stomach aflutter with butterflies whose wings gleam an iridescent rainbow against the backs of his eyes. (Not his best bit of poetic imagery, to be true, but he’s a little too busy being utterly in love with Jonathan Sims to think about much else.)

 Martin makes the tea, choosing the black over the herbal because elaborate metaphor or not, Jon really isn’t a fan of herbal teas. Blueberry is a strong enough taste to pair with the bitterness of the black tea and it couples well with almond and cinnamon, creating a flavor profile not unlike that of a blueberry muffin. And because Martin can’t help but think of Jon every time he smells it, he switches out the Assam for a Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey blend—smoky and floral, smooth enough that it won’t overbalance the other flavors but robust enough to stand out.

 When Jon accepts the mug and takes his first hesitant sip, his face lights up in a way that Martin wants to see all day, every day for the rest of his life. And when Jon smiles at him, says, achingly soft, “Thank you, Martin. I love it,” and cautiously, gently places his hand over Martin’s where it sits on the counter, Martin thinks, for the first time, that maybe he can.

 Wouldn’t that be nice, he thinks. And the smile he gives Jon in return feels like a blank-paged book, waiting to be filled.

#tma #tma fic #the magnus archives #aspecarchives #jonmartin #asexual jonathan sims #asexual martin blackwood #(among other identities) #my fic #my writing #i'm trying out a new fic posting format to see if people are more likely to read it! #now that i'm actually posting the body of the fics themselves on tumblr and not just the ao3 links #let me know if yall like it :)

[twh-news]

‘Loki’ Breakout Sophia Di Martino on Loki’s Coming Out and Tom Hiddleston’s Famous Lecture | Variety

When Sophia Di Martino first auditioned for the Disney Plus series “Loki,” it was in September 2019. A working actor since 2004, the British native has appeared on several British TV series, including “Flowers” and “Election Spy,” and she had supporting role in the 2019 film “Yesterday,” but she hadn’t ever quite landed the breakout role that could move her career to a larger stage.

Enter Sylvie. Introduced at the end of Episode 2 the Marvel Studios “Loki,” she is a “variant” of Tom Hiddleston’s beloved god of mischief, someone who had the same inception point as Loki but whose life unfolded much differently. In Episode 3, Sylvie and Loki spend pretty much the entire hour getting to know each other — and making clear just how critical Sylvie is to the larger story.

Naturally, this kind of role is a massive opportunity, which made how Di Martino ultimately landed it even more shocking to her.

“It was the shortest casting experience I think I’ve ever had,” she says with bewilderment. “I did an audition tape with a very short scene. I wasn’t asked to do it again, and I couldn’t meet anyone because I was heavily pregnant at the time and I couldn’t travel. Tom was in the U.S., everyone else was in the U.S. So we didn’t get to screen test or anything. So I just got the job on the back of this tape, which never happens, and especially with a job like this! It was extremely quick and quite surprising to all involved. Me and my agent were both like, ‘Really? Are you sure? This is crazy? Okay, fine! We’ll do it! We’re in!'”

Once she got the role, however, Di Martino stepped inside Marvel Studios’ vibranium-clad cone of silence. And while she says she’s good at keeping a secret, finally getting to talk about the experience is a massive relief.

“I got this job in September 2019 and only today is the first day I can talk about Sylvie,” she says. “So it’s been quite hard!”

Sylvie really does not see herself as a “Loki.” So how much did you draw from Tom Hiddleston’s performance in his role as Loki when shaping your character?

I looked at his performance, but I try not to be shaped by it too much. Sylvie has had a very different backstory to Loki. She’s a different person, and that was really important to us right from the beginning. When [director] Kate [Herron] pitched me the idea when I finally got the job, and she was able to tell me a bit more about it, it was very clear that Sylvia was Sylvie. And she’s not Lady Loki from the comics. I mean, the show is inspired by the comics, but this is a brand new backstory in a brand new story. And so I wanted to make her my own.

You will see, at times throughout the series, that Tom and I do very similar things, like our physicality is similar or when we choreographed fight scenes, we’ll mirror each other. And that’s all purposely done. And then the rest of it I’ve kind of just made up as I go along.

Tom Hiddleston conducted his famous Loki lecture in advance of the show — did you have a chance to go to it?

Yeah, I was there. It’s one of those things where you can say, ‘I was there!’ It was super interesting and important for me to listen to. He knows so much about the character. He’s been with that character for 10 years. He knows that character unlike anyone else in the world. And to hear all of that information and be able to ask him any question was just really, really important and fun. Like, what a great way to start a job. It got everyone really excited about the show.

How did you and Tom and Kate Herron talk about the scene in which Loki comes out — to the audience, anyway — as bisexual?

I remember Kate being really passionate about it, and that she wanted that to be represented in the show. I think people have been waiting a long time for it. The comic books allude to it and even the Norse mythology, I think. It’s been around for so long, and it was really important to her to have that in the show. But we tried not to let that affect the way we were playing it, you know. We’re just playing it like it’s quite natural conversation between two friends — well, two acquaintances, at that point. So we tried not to give it too much weight, but we knew in the back of our minds how important it was to a lot of people. And I’ve got to say how happy it makes me that people are happy to see that.

A lot of people noticed that the lighting on Lamentis-1 was reminiscent of the bisexual flag. Did Kate take about that being on purpose?

I can’t remember her actually talking about being on purpose. But I know Kate Herron, and I think it probably it was. I think she was probably like, this is gonna be purple, pink and blue, guys! I mean, it looks beautiful.

Tell me a little about yourself. I’d read that you had always even since you were young been really keen on acting?

Yeah, I was one of those annoying kids who’s always like trying to get my sister to do plays in the living room, and always casting myself in the better part and having her play like the Cinderella character. I think it was just an excuse to boss her around. [Laughs] I was one of those really bossy kids. I’ve always I always enjoyed acting at school — I didn’t really know that acting was a job that I could do until I was a little bit older. I wasn’t the kind of kid who would say I want to be an actor, because I think my parents would have just laughed at me. A ridiculous idea! No one in my family is in that world, and it wasn’t really within my grasp. So it was always a little dream that I kept to myself, really. And then I’ve just been quietly chipping away at it for the past 25 years, and here I am!

Owen Wilson has talked about how he was aware of the MCU, but not necessarily the most super knowledgeable person about it. Where do you fall in your awareness and knowledge of of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Kind of similar to Owen. I’d seen a few movies, and I was aware of it. And a few of my friends are really into it. And I know that a lot of people are, but I didn’t know that much, to be honest. I’ve learned a lot more being on the show. And from Tom, who is very knowledgeable.

How much of the role did you get to do before lockdown?

I don’t want to get this wrong, but I think it was like three or four weeks of filming. It wasn’t very much at all. It was enough just to start getting in the flow of things and just to start enjoying it before we had to shut down.

In that sort of time period where we were all just sitting with our own thoughts and contemplating the world, did you think more about Sylvie and anything else that you wanted to do with the part?

It was a really great time for letting what we’d already shot sit and percolate. I know Kate and the writers did a lot more work on the storyline when they’d seen what we’d done, you know, cut together so far. From a personal perspective, it was great just to have a little bit more time to think about it. Because the beginning of the shoot, everything happened so quickly. I carried on training with my stunt double, Sara. We would meet up once or twice a week on zoom, and that was really helpful as well, just to physically get into the body of the character. So I had a lot more time to get fit after having a baby.

Part of the pandemic experience for a lot of people has been thinking about the road less travelled, which in Sylvie’s case is the most extreme example — of this person who shares some similar essence with Loki but lived a completely different life. Did that resonate at all for you while playing her?

It’s so interesting to see two characters who are so similar and so different. It was really important to me to reflect the kind of life that Sylvie has had. The costume reflects that as well with the broken horn and the slightly disheveled costume. And little things like keeping more of my regional accent, and not trying to sound too posh or too well spoken, because it just wouldn’t suit the experience that Sylvie’s had. All of those things were were parts of creating this character and this relationship between Tom and I.

So how does how does one audition for a particularly physical role while pregnant?

Well, luckily, the scene that they gave me, I think, ended up being the scene on the train when they both sat down having a conversation. So I didn’t have to stand up. It was just head and shoulders. So you would never know just by looking at the tape. And then I don’t exactly know how it happened. I think it was just lucky that it wasn’t a super physical scene that I had to act out. Trying to do stunts or something, that would have been terrible!

When you got this role, what really were the parameters of who you could talk to, and who you couldn’t, before today?

I can talk to Tom and I can talk to Kate, but I just wasn’t really supposed to say anything else to anyone else. And I’m really good at keeping secrets, so I just didn’t talk to anyone else about it. Tom and I would just call each other and be like, ‘Oh, we need to say all this stuff, because we’ve got to say to anyone else! Ahh! What about this scene and this bit and this bit?!’ And you know, we’d meet up with Kate and do the same thing. So it was kind of just the three of us.

#loki #loki series #sophia di martino #interview #article #variety

[trashmenofmarvel]

Branded - Chapter 28

Pairing: Demon!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Bucky settles into his new life in Hell.

(This is a fan AU of Falling’s Just Another Way to Fly by araniaart​ . Please check out this incredible series for all of your demon Bucky needs.)

AO3

The years were tallied and the rare nights were marked, and Bucky did so, but not alone. He never told the voice to leave again, and it had stayed by his side ever since.

The road back to himself had been a painful one, but the voice never let him down. It told him things about himself he couldn’t remember, and it wasn’t until his mind began to heal and he remembered things for himself that he fully trusted the voice. Everything it had told him was true. His curiosity for the nameless entity only grew over time, made stronger by the fact it was so secretive.

Somedays, they were simply amicable companions. Even friends. It reminded Bucky of the comradery he shared with the Howling Commandos, and it made his chest ache. He thought of Steve, and the pain was nearly unbearable, so he tried not to think of him at all. Maybe he would later, after Bucky escaped this cursed world. If he ever did.

The voice still wouldn’t tell him who it was or even what it was. Bucky was disconcerted by the fact that as he regained his memories, it was possible the voice was not even real. After everything he’d endured, after Zola had robbed him of his humanity and Lukin had shaped him onto a monster, Bucky wouldn’t be surprised if he was as mad as a hatter.

He also decided he didn’t care. He was in Hell—if not the biblical one than very close to it—and he couldn’t survive without an ally. Imaginary or not.

There were other things that lived in this world. Terrible things as large as mountains, roaming in the distance and leaving valleys of sand in their wake. There were also smaller demons, but still considerably larger than Bucky. He avoided them when he could, but it wasn’t always possible. In those moments, he’d either defend himself until they ran, or he killed them with his bare claws.

He never ate the flesh. One, he didn’t know if it was edible, and two, it felt… cannibalistic. A large part of Bucky was from this place, as evidenced by the fact he never needed to feed the demon side of him. Thank Christ for that. If it was between dying and getting fucked by one of those creatures out there, he would have gladly offed himself.

But he never had to. Why would he, when all the demonic energy he needed was right here, beaming down from the never-ending sunlight. It was harsh, and the human part of him wanted to seek shelter from it, but the demon was more than happy to bask in its warmth. Sated in a way it had rarely been back on Earth.

As he grew bolder and explored his “territory,” Bucky came upon curious artifacts. Things that looked too manmade to be a coincidence, but it was always ancient and cracked stone. Designs that looked Greek or Roman.

On an especially productive exploration, he came across what looked like a rudimentary camp. Broken pottery, busted wooden furniture, and even some ancient books that crumbled in his hands when he picked them up. There was a hefty tome that had somehow survived, and Bucky took it back to his cave, hoping to explore it later, but he was disappointed to find the ink too faded to read.

Bored and with way too much time on his hands, Bucky managed to fashion a writing utensil made of a “bamboo” shoot, honed to an edge, along with some ink made of lichen and moss. The relief of being able to do something as human such as journaling made Bucky laugh for the first time in… a long time. He began to document his daily excursions. It made him feel less like a prisoner and more like an explorer, but even then he couldn’t drop the habit of marking ticks on a wall to count the days. And there were many, many ticks.

There was evidence that humans had been on this world in other ways. For the few creatures that seemed to speak a language, they always spoke in Latin. Bucky couldn’t fathom it until he remembered the red book, the one that had controlled him. It had been inscribed in Latin, and his so-called masters had made sure to teach him to speak and read it. HYDRA couldn’t have been the first to summon demonic entities, and perhaps Latin had been their way of communicating with the demons they summoned?

Bucky didn’t know. He didn’t think it was important either, but the voice always got excited when he stumbled across a new ruin or found a new item of manmade design. That alone was enough to make him go out of his way to find more. He liked when the voice was happy, even if he didn’t quite know why.

And the voice was happiest when Bucky flew. The first time he realized it was when he was doing it simply for the exercise, not having anywhere he wanted to explore. Letting his mind go calm and quiet, he found he was able to pay better attention to the entity in his head. He could sense its awe and wonder as they flew high above the hellscape.

Bucky could understand. When his wings had first appeared, he hadn’t hated them. The boy who’d loved comic books and super hero pictures had been fascinated with them, and getting to fly was one of the few times he’d felt free while in HYDRA’s control.

He sensed a little bit of sadness from the voice too, and a physical longing for something. It didn’t hit Bucky until that moment the possibility that the voice might once have had a body, one it had lost, and now it was trapped here with Bucky.

His suspicions were founded when its “presence” grew, expanded within his body, until it was filling him up to the fingertips. Bucky gladly pulled back, allowing the voice to take temporary control.

It wasn’t expecting that, apparently, because Bucky’s wings slanted at an angle and they almost dropped from the sky. The voice took control of his wings and flapped in a panic, like a baby bird fallen from the nest.

“Calm down,” he said, still having control of his voice but he sounded far away to his own ears. “Just do it the way I do it and you’ll be fine.”

I-I shouldn’t-this isn’t right—

Bucky sighed but took control of his body when he sensed the voice pulling back, its presence tinged with horror. He hadn’t wanted to upset it, but at least it was calming down now that he had control again. Poor thing probably hadn’t meant to reach so far into Bucky’s body to begin with.

“If you ever change your mind and want a turn at the wheel, just say the word. I trust you, sweetheart.”

Bucky blinked. Why had he said that? He didn’t know, but by the way the voice went suddenly dead silent, he wondered if he’d gone too far. Been too familiar. Probably had. He’d have to be more careful in the future. It would be just his luck to scare away the one person he had left.

He couldn’t tell if it was human, but it spoke like one. He couldn’t tell its gender, either. Age, race, nationality? Hadn’t a clue. He wasn’t even entirely sure what language it spoke and if the words he heard in his head were literal or some kind of mental translation.

One thing Bucky knew, even if it was the most confusing fact of all: The voice cared about him.

After everything he’d done, Bucky knew it was undeserved. It didn’t stop him from being selfish and clinging to the voice like a lifeline, though.

When Bucky woke from nightmares, shaking and gasping in terror, the voice was there, wrapping warmth and comfort around him. In those moments, he felt especially weak, because he wished more than anything the voice was real. Tangible. Something he could hold and touch.

He didn’t even have a name to call it by. It wouldn’t tell him, so Bucky had said fuck it and tried to come up with one on his own, but they all felt… wrong.

He wished he knew. The one thing Bucky wanted more than to escape this world was to finally meet the owner of that voice.

That urge had never been stronger than the day they found the corpse.

It had been a day like any other, without end under the relentless pale red starry sky, and Bucky had been exploring more of the ancient ruins. He came across a structure that looked different from the rest, almost handmade and clearly thrown together in a hurry. The occupant was still inside, and by the looks of it, had been for many years.

Bucky had come across many corpses in this world, all of the demonic variety, but this one was clearly human. The body was desiccated, mummified and preserved by the hot, dry air. Bits of tattered faded clothing covered its chest and hips, not enough to discern what nation or era they came from. How they’d gotten there, Bucky didn’t have a clue. They came along with the rest of the human ruins, he supposed, but it was strange this was the first actual human body he’d come across.

He’d been about to turn away, leaving the bones undisturbed, when something caught his eye. On the mummified shoulder, stretched but not beyond recognition, was a pentagram carved into the skin.

Bucky’s eyes widened. Another demon that had once been human like him? That had been his initial thought… until the voice reacted so violently that Bucky could actually feel the anxiety shooting through his limbs.

“What?” he insisted. “What is it?”

I…

The voice seemed to be at a loss for words, fear that was not his own seeping into Bucky’s mind.

“Hey, come one. Tell me what’s got you so riled up. Do you know this guy?” Bucky didn’t see how, but that’s almost how it felt. As if the voice had recognized the corpse.

N… no, it finally said. It’s… it’s nothing.

No matter how much Bucky tried to pry for the truth, he couldn’t get a straight answer, and it only seemed to agitate the voice to the point where it couldn’t speak, fear pulsing from it like a living thing.

Bucky left the corpse where it was, doing his best to project calmness toward the entity sharing his mind. But the voice didn’t speak again until he returned to what he thought as “our cave,” and it took several days for it to return to its usual outgoing self.

They didn’t talk about it again, but Bucky never forgot how the voice reacted to that corpse with the pentagram scar. And some days, when the voice was quiet and sad, he knew it hadn’t forgotten either.

The next time Bucky decided to venture outside of his territory, he waited until the voice was in good spirits. Bucky smiled at his own pun.

Penny for your thoughts?

Bucky snorted. Maybe the voice had pulled phrases like that from his head to make him feel more comfortable, but he didn’t think so. He was sure the damn thing was human, or was at least from Earth. By paying attention to how it said things, rather than what it said, Bucky found he learned a lot more than by asking it straight-on personal questions.

For one, it seemed to appreciate sarcastic humor, and Bucky was never in short supply.

“It would be a penny more than I have,” he said, poking at a suspicious mound of dirt. This area had been promising; he’d even found a couple of dusty robes at one point. Bucky hadn’t been able to tell how old they were, but they’d definitely been the right shape and size for a human.

I suppose you are destitute. What would buy, right now, if you could?

“A blueberry slushy,” Bucky lamented. “And new boots.”

He stared mournfully at what was left of his old pair, torn apart by his expanding, clawed feet. HYDRA had told him his transition had been complete after they’d done an especially horrible ritual on him, but apparently, they’d lied. Big shocker there.

“Do you miss slushies?” Bucky kept his tone carefully neutral.

Sure, it answered, just as vaguely, as it always did. Bucky heaved a sigh.

“Come on, give me something,” he grumbled as he trekked over the deep sand. “We’ve been here… how long?”

Forty-eight years and thirty-two days.

Had it really been that long? It seemed… shorter, somehow. And also infinitely longer.

“Exactly. Almost five decades, and I don’t know anything about you!”

That’s not true, it said, going soft. Sometimes it did that, as if thinking fondly of some far away past. You know me better than anyone.

“Yeah. Right.”

It’s true!

“I don’t even know your name.” Bucky kicked over a large rock, finding nothing but a bright red reptile underneath. It scurried away, hissing indignantly.

“What, is it a witch thing? If I know your name, your sinister powers won’t work on me?”

Don’t be dumb.

“I’m not dumb. You’re dumb. Witch.”

Oh, my God, I’m not a witch.

“Well, unless you’re the figment of a shattered psyche, then you’re something. Witch is as good a guess as any.”

The voice gave a huff. Bucky could imagine it pouting like a child, and he grinned.

How is it that no matter what planet you’re on, you’re still the same smartass that I—

The voice stopped and Bucky’s head snapped up, his body reacting before his mind could catch up. Something had shifted in the air, and a second later, the ground rumbled under his feet.

At first, he thought it was one of the mountain-beasts, but this felt… different. Sharper. Every nerve ending was tingling and he leaned forward, hungrily. Not the demonic part of him. The part that was human.

He could smell it. Earth.

That’s it! the voice shouted. Over there!

He could see it in the distance—a glowing oval that looked as if it was bordered with blue fire.

Bucky didn’t move.

What are you doing! The voice screamed at him. You have to go! Now!

“I…” He swallowed thickly, his heart pounding as he couldn’t seem to get enough air. His legs wouldn’t move and his tail stuck out at an upward angle like a frightened cat’s.

Bucky didn’t know what he was doing. More importantly, he didn’t know what was beyond that portal. What if the world he went back to wasn’t like the one he left? What if he returned just to be caught by HYDRA? What if he had to feed again?

And the most terrifying question of all: what would happen to his little ghost?

There were too many unknowns, too many variables. This place may be actual Hell, but at least he’d carved out a place that was his own. He knew what each day would be like and what to expect. He had no such information about what lay on the other side of that ring of fire.

Bucky, please, it pleaded. I know you’re scared, but you have to trust me. You have to go through that portal. You’re meant to go through!

He stared at the object, no larger than a pebble from this distance, but nothing had filled him with so much fear. Not even the things he could hear crawling around his cave during the rare nights.

“I can’t,” he croaked out. He was cowardly, and he hated himself for it, but he still couldn’t budge.

Yes, you can. You can and you have to!

Several emotions flickered through Bucky’s mind, all coming entirely from the voice, too strong for it to hide from him. Sorrow, yearning, grief.

…Love?

“What’s on the other side?” he asked, suddenly desperate. “What will I find when I cross?”

Through their connection raced an ache so powerful it nearly knocked the wind out of him.

Me.

The fear keeping him immobilized shattered, and he spread his wings and took to the air. He raced to the portal, narrowing his eyes against the heated wind as he zeroed in on his target.

There were other demons below, drawn by the otherworldly energy flowing through the fiery blue portal. A dark green humanoid demon slipped through, a slithering, worm-like creature following after. Bucky ignored them, ignored everything except the portal.

The last thing he remembered was the voice telling him to land and run.

Bucky slammed into the ground in front of the portal. A demon that looked half-bull, half-bear was to his right, and it gave a roar and swung its claws when it realized he was there.

Bucky ducked under its outstretched arm—stupid beast wouldn’t even be able to fit through the portal—and he slipped around the larger demon. He pushed off from the ground, claws digging into the sand, and he leapt through…

…to land on a child’s bedroom floor.

Next Chapter

#demon!bucky barnes #demon!bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #my writing #my fanfiction #branded

[popculturebuffet]

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: The Last of the Clan McDuck!  Review “It Was Worth THE Dime”

This is one of my faviorite comic book stories of all time. Given i’m a massive comics nerd, for both books and strips, that is the highest praise I can give this wonderful, epic, beautifully drawn and deeply emotoinal story. I first discovered it in the local library that had the second volume, and found the rest online at a now long dead fan site. And while it took me longer than I care to admit to really dig into Duck Comics, and even now i’ve only scratched the surface, I can say without a doubt this story is the reason I’m so deeply attached to Scrooge as a character, and that I was excited as  I was for Ducktales 2017. This comic showed me just what Scrooge McDuck should be at his core as a character, and showed me what a wonderful character that is. So with all that glowing praise as you can guess i’ve been wanting to cover this for years, and even considered though back when I was more primarily a comic book reviewer last year. Any time i’ve reviewed stuff before now, i’ve considered it, and with Scrooge’s Sisters Hortense and Matilda presumably and definitely debuting on Ducktales soon, and it’s about damn time, the timing could not be better or clearer to dig into this utter triumph.  But before we can take a look at the story itself we naturally have to take a look at the man behind it: Writer and Artist Don Rosa. Don Rosa is easily one of the best Duck Comics writer out there, seen by many as only second to his own faviorite duck comics writer and God of Ducks, Carl Barks. For those 1 of you who do not know, Barks was the man who created pretty much everything in the duck universe comics wise and a bit in animation too: He created Daisy, Scrooge, Gladstone, Magica, The Beagle Boys, The Junior Woodchucks, Gyro, Little Bulb, Glomgold, Rockerduck, and the list goes on. While he didn’t make EVERY duck, he made so many that it’d be impossible to imagine either version of Ducktales being possible without him.  So of course Rosa was a fan and while he took up the family buisness, he was also an artist and duck comics fanboy on the side. So when, even if it meant a paycut, the opportunity to actually write and draw them came up, he lept at it and thus became one of their publishers go to guys, even if said publisher published the stories overseas where the Duck Comics are far more popular and still going to this day, and ironically where most duck comics printed nowadays get their stories from. Rosa was known for his meticous historical research and gorgeous art that he took his time drawing to get just perfect and showed on the page. The man has easily some of hte best and most detailed duck art around and I still haven’t found a duck artist that can match him.. and if you have or found one close i’d genuinely love to see that. He is a genuinely talented, spirited guy who was sadly mistreated by disney and that, coupled with tragically failing eyesight, eventually ended his career. He’s still around and I genuinely hope to meet him some day as he still does conventions.  The man is not without fault: I don’t get his hatred of superhero comics, as while I get them overshadowing funnybooks and that around the time of his career they were in decline, but it’s just as unfair to write off Superhero comics as mindless.  garbage as it is for people to write off the Duck Comics as “only for kids” and I genuinely wish he’d see that and see how the medium has evolved so much since then. I also grumble a bit as his refusal to allow anything besides barks into his bubble, and having to be forced to include fethry on the family tree, but that’s more personal preference. I like using as much material as you got. IT’s why i’ve wanted to, and hopefully will eventually get around to, write a sonic fanfic using bits of all the various universes that for legal, ken penders being an absolute waste of a human being, and sega being stupid reasons can’t be used anymore. I like taking everything in a franchise and putting it in a blender and it’s why I love the reboot. But there’s nothing wrong with taking things as is, not stepping on toes canon wise, but still being awesome. We’re just diffrent people and that’s okay.  And a lot of his fanboy showing actually lead to REALLY good things: Goldie O’Gilt was a one off character, and while used ocasoinally overseas, didn’t really pick up as a character again until a combination of Ducktales 87 and Rosa’s work with her, as he always loved the character, and fleshing her out lead to her being used more, and gaining a sizeable fandom. He also gained the Cablleros an even bigger fandom by giving them two stories of their own, and fleshing them out a bit more.  And this very comic is the peak of that, taking EVERY mention of scrooge’s past from various backstories to set up adventures, every tiny scrap, and to his credit going to both Barks Himself and various other Barks Experts Rosa was friends with to check his work, especially difficult given he likey had to find these stories in issue or pullt hem from disney archives, and complied it into one long epic that not only uses all this info effortlessly, but spins a compelling story that gives us a clear vision of what Scrooge should be, how he became the man he is, and how he lost himself only to find himself again with the help of three precocious boys and a cynical 30 something duck. So taint all bad is what i’m saying.  As for how this got started, thankfully rosa himself provided the origin story for this project in the back of the volume of his works that contained the first 7 chapters of life and times, as well as detailed notes for every chapter. At the time Rosa was working for Egmont, the big european publisher who handles Disney’s much larger european comics market, hence why most of his stories appeared years earlier in Europe before debuting here. The american publisher at the time , and an old friend of his, called Rosa with an idea: A 12 issue Maxi-Series focusing on Scrooge’s history, since at the time they were all the rage.. and really even today mini series are still a viable market and many indie titles just have several minis instead of an ongoing. So it wasn’t a bad idea, Rosa just simply offered a tweak: He’d tell his publisher at Egmont about the idea, and let her get a crack team of writers and artists to do this proper, and thus Disney could publish it for free once it was done and for no extra cost. Rosa gave his publisher a fax detaling both the idea and the fact that it needed to be done right, given to the best person possible, and done with the greatest care. She agreed.. and naturally handed it to him, as he admits he hoped. She made the right call, a legend was born and here we are.  One last bit before the read more and before I get to the first story itself at last: Since barks wrote a lot of side stories that fit into the canon, I COULD slot them in between chapters, but have instead chosen to review the original 12 part story as was, and do the various side stories and two epilogues, the utterly fantastic “Dream of a Life Time”, easiliy one of my faviorite comics ever, and the also really great “Letter From Home”, which will likely on some level be the basis for the upcoming at the time of this review “Battle for Castle McDuck!”, after completing the story. In other words i’m probably going to be at this for years. so join me under the read more won’t you as I begin the journey of a thousand miles with a single step as we look at the humble start of a legend. 

We begin, after a fun short teaser with present Day scrooge saying his past is no one’s buisness only to get hit with an oh yeah?,  with a scrap book title for the issue, something I want to bring up since while I got that’s what it was what I never got, and  must’ve glanced over when I first read rosa’s notes when I got this copy, was that it isn’t SCROOGE’S scrap book, but his sister Matilda’s who dutifully and happily catologued her brother’s adventures. It’s a really sweet moment.. and something that will hit VERY hard when we reach Chapter 11. If you haven’t read this story or heard of it.. .that’s this story’s equilvent of “Last Crash of the Sunchaser” and clearly Frank and Matt drew from that story a bit for it, but we can get more into the parallels when we get there. A smaller but fun note is that Rosa had specific coin drawing templates, for different indentions and what not he used, and used them for the coins in these intro bits. Yes he admitted he has a problem and yes that’s damn impressive anyway. 

It’s Scrooge’s 10th birthday, and his father Fergus has taken him up to see the family land, Dismal Downs to tell him of the mighty Clan McDuck and show him the ancestral lands, graveyards and Castle. He admits to having taken this long because the Clan McDuck currently lives in Glasgow so it’s kind of a long trip just to show your son “Hey look at the decay and rot that’s our ancestral homeland”. The Clan is on hard times, as a bad shipping deal, the backbone of a rather good barks story and I wont’ be interjecting for every barks reference as it’d get rather tiring though for what it’s worth Rosa provided tons of detailed footnotes in the back of each Fantagraphics collection, so good on him. Speaking of which though they do include 10 pages of Mc Duck family history that was supposed to open this story.. until Rosa’s editor wisely pointed out the story isn’t about them but scrooge and having read his roug draft, yeah.. there’s a good gag here and there, as well as “Dirty” Dingus McDuck, scrooge’s Grandpa and the reason Dewey is cursed with that middle name. Why anyone thought Dingus was a good name is beyond me, nor why Donald thought that was a good middle name back in 2009 is again, beyond me. Good on Don though for getting that past the censors.  But yeah with no money they can’t buy the land back and they were scared off it years ago by a mystical ghost dog, the hound of the whiskervilles. There is treasure in the castle, Sir Quackly’s gold, but he accidently sealed himself into a wall while sealing his treasure in there. Their interrupted by the town assholes, the Whiskervilles who have been grazing sheep on the land and are naturally behind the hound, using the sound of it to scare off Fergus once they realize he’s a McDuck. Because apparently you can keep a Scooby Doo style hoax up for Centuries if you don’t have meddling kids around. Who knew.  Back in Glasgow, we meet the rest of Scrooge’s family: His Uncle Jake, his sisters Matilda and Hortense, and his mother Downy. Jake hasn’t really been mentioned at all in Ducktales and I know next to nothing about him, which given I share a name with the guy you’d THINK I would. I mean I know a decent amount about this Jake. 

But nothing about who the hell Jake McDuck is or why he lives with his brother and his family. Here, you guys watch the dancing Jake, i’m going to probably do that for hours after this review is done, i’m going to go sort this out.  Okay one google and finding the Scrooge Mcduck wiki page on him, Jake shows up here likely because he was referenced in the story “A Christmas For Shacktown” and apparently borrowed from Scrooge and never paid it back. Otherwise.. there’s not a lot about him and unlike the rest of Scrooge’s family he really dosen’t do much that I can remember. Except like 2017 Scrooge, he apparently has become extremely long lived, as Scrooge and Donald STILL think he’s alive in the 1950′s.. and likely is STILL alive in some form in the Don Rosa stories, given his take place after Barks and thus in the 40′s and 50′s where Barks stories were set. Hence why unlike the Reboot, Scrooge isn’t inexpecilbly over 210. But Jake McDuck sure as heck is. Maybe this highlander is a highlander.. you know the movie and tv show type. Maybe someone cut off his head. That’s what i’m going with.

This does bring me to another point about this story: While Barks gave all of scrooge’s family their names, it’s where Rosa got them after all, it’s Rosa who really made them into characters. Fergus as a loving father ashamed his family legacy has fallen and wanting his son to do better than him, Downy as an equally loving wife and mother, Matilda as his sweet and caring sister and later her brother’s moral center, and Hortense.. well here she’s just a babbling baby but her character will become clear and glorious as we go. She is adorable here though and we do get some great bits with her.  Getting back to the plot now i’ve made my points, Jake is riled up wanting to understandably kick the Whiskerville’s asses with Scrooge, who even as a sweet innocent ten year old still has the family temper already, agreeing.. but Downy gently shoots them out pointing that two middle aged-ish men and a 10-year old just aren’t enough to fight an army of them and while she doesn’t mention it the fight would just tire them out for work and accomplish nothing as while it is the McDuck’s land the combination of the hound and the lack of money to move back means it’s pointless. She also mentions their younger brother Pothole, who went to America. This will be important later. 

Scrooge storms off and Fergus laments, in a scene that’s more painful the more I think about it, how his clan has fallen, with he and his brother lamenting their chances at glory are long gone.. but Fergus has hope his son can do better, and for his son’s birthday makes him a shoeshine kit in the hopes of inspiring him to greatness. This scene still resonates since many of us are poor, struggling and not doing so good money wise. I’m sure many parents have doubts and regrets about not being able to do more for their kid.

 Not only that but the story carefully avoids the trap of Fergus accidently being abusive by you know, pinning his family’s future on one 10 year old. While yes he is asking a lot of Scrooge, to restore their family name.. it’s very clear he mostly just wants his son to do better than him. Even if Scrooge was just slightly more successful, Fergus would likely be happy with that. He’s not using the legacy as a “This what you must be” like say the Gems in steven universe did for Steven with Rose’s Legacy, the kind where it sort of suffocates you till youc an make it your own. He’s just saying “this is what you can be” He believes his child can be great and simply once him to reach his full potetial and is simply giving him a means to hopefully do so, a simple home made shoe shine kit. While Jake scoffs, the narration notes the idea isn’t worth a dime.. it’s worth THE dime. The dime that would set Scrooge’s destiny in motion. 

The next morning, Fergus goes to check up on his son and his new buisness but Scroogey’s having no luck and about ready to just quit, the poor child. Also Matilda is dragging her baby sister around like a doll and it’s entirely precious as it is funny. 

But as for those Dorty Boots, Matilda wonders why her dad dosen’t just tell Scrooge that Burt the Ditch Digger is coming. Fergus tells her to quite and then explains his plan: he’s sending Burt to scrooge, with an American dime Fergus and Matilda found, to teach his son a lesson: By giving him a hard days work, he’ll teach him what hard work truly means.. and by having Burt “cheat” him with the American dime, it’ll give him the motivation to keep going and to nto be as wide eyed and trusting. It’s a well meaning if harsh lesson, and the kind you’d expect from 1900′s parenting and fits the origin well: Scrooge still earned his first money square, as he still did work.. but his getting cheated being a lesson dosen’t diminish what it taught scrooge, and helps flesh out what I talked about above, Fergus knowing his son has great potential he just needs inspiration to reach it. And instead of just telling him that he does a con job but it’s the 1900′s. This orign, and Fergus’ part in it would be entirely untouched in Ducktales 2017, the first scrooge based adaptation since this comic came out, and I bless them for it. Frank even said this comic was used as a bible by the writers and while theirs clear deviations, and we’ll get to that, they were mainly done for good reason, and it’s very clear that while scrooge’s history is very VERY diffrent in the reboot, the core of his past is still there. 

So the plan is on and young scrooge spends half an hour killing himself to get Burt’s shoes clean before getting his dime.. and realizing he’s been had, makes this proud decleration that will be the bedrock of his entire life and character. 

Scrooge being naturally stubborn as you can see takes his cheats a leson: There will always be hard honest work, and he will be there to do it and he’ll be tougher and sharper than anyone trying to cheat him out of his pay. Fergus’ plan has the intended effect, and Scrooge having learned a hard lesson now has the drive and determination we know him for. As for why it gives it to him.. I had to think on it a bit but it makes sense: For some a setback like this would make them quit.. for Scrooge it’s just proof he CAN find customers, he CAN do this job, or any at his hardest and instead takes this as a lesson to be prepared ot out think and outfight anyone who dares cheat him again, and to not earn his money by being the kind of guy who cheats a kid out of an honest days pay, but as a good honest duck like his father and his father before him. =He will make his money square so he can be the kind of person this seeming stranger SHOULD have been. Granted we’ll see Scrooge doesn’t end up as the best person at times but .. we’ll get there.  So with the fire inside turned from a spark into the flame Scrooge soon got to work, and by the next panel we see he’s eventually worked his stand up from a small box given to him by his dad, to a three seater shoeshining bench, who he wipes all at once by stretching one of his mother’s girldes over a light pole, a detail I didn’t get the first time around but now love. Naturally being a good kind boy much like his Nephews, Scrooge always gave his proud father a portion of his earnings, if with a full receipt for tax purposes. Because he’s still scrooge after all. His dad wonders he did too good a job while Hortense glxbit’s in agreement. 

As the years go on, a now tween Scrooge is eventually able to save up for a horse cart, and starts selling Fire Wood up in the city. He eventually realizes Peat, an earthy subtance found in bogs I only know about because I had to look it up for this review, is more profitable and with some snappy marketing moves into selling Peat for the rich instead, also showing the young lad already has a grasp of how to sell to obnoxious rich people. 

But while his business is booming, our young hero can’t resist visiting his family’s ancestral home and longing for it, hoping one day to have it for himself and in a nice show of how despite his temper and tenacity forged over the last few years he’s still at hear the kind, sweet optimistic lad he was just a few pages ago, he decides to tidy up the Clan’s Cemetary while he’s here. 

Unfortunately as proof that Donald and Della’s terrible luck comes from both sides of the family the Whiskervilles are sub-glomgold levels of human beings.. or Dogfaces in this case, and are digging up the McDuck Clan’s graves to hunt for treasure. Scrooge tries to simply do the smart thing and flee, but the asshole brigade catch sight of him and mistkaing him for a peat burgalar chase after him.. and spend WAY too much time and energy chasing a teenage boy over some fucking bog grass you clearly aren’t selling yourselves. I mean spare a thought for how dumb this is: They could easily sell of of that peat to put up a fence or chop down some trees to get the material if their really that concerned about someone getting in the bog. Then again this isn the 1800 and 1900′s where the child death toll was simply “Yes”, so they likely thought whose gonna notice one more dead child on our property?

Scrooge heads toward the castle and is gestured in by a friendly mystery duck who gladly shows him around and can tell he’s a McDuck just by look, showing the castle is still in glorious condition as the whiskervilles are too spooked to go in, hence why they didn’t chase Scrooge inside. I’d say being afraid of ghosts but not murdering a child is weird but these are the same guys who thought murdering a child was plan A. We’re not dealing with a brain trust is what i’m saying.  So the mystery duck shows Scroogey around, showing off some colorful stories about his ancestors recycled from that scrapped prologue I mentioned. THe mystery man, who brushes off Scrooge thinking he’s a McDuck asks Scrooge what he’s doing to restore the family glory and while Scrooge points out he’s already working on it, Mystery Duck points out he’s still missing something: He has the drive and the dream, but peat and shoeshining, while getting him good money for his family, aren’t the thing you can build a fortune or a future off of. He then points out where Scrooge’s dime comes from: America.. and that gives the boy the idea to head to the states. As for what he could possibly DO there to start, the mystery guy mentions his uncle pothole. So Scrooge has the dream, the drive.. and now a plan: Go to america, work for his uncle on the riverboats, and work his way up from there till he finds his fortune and restores his family name.  But while his future is settled, the present is still an issue and Scrooge wants to teach the child murder club a lesson and thus borrows, though MM wisely points out it’s all his property a horse and some armor, and stuffs the armor with peat. As for what his plan is.. welllll

That.. is fucking awesome. And far from the last fucking awesome moment in this thing. It also shows off even as not quite a teen yet, Scrooge is still a badass already, and while he doesn’t have his trademark strength or fighting skills quite yet, his ingenuity is already there.. and that will always trump both. The Whiskervilles run away and into some quicksand and Scrooge vows to return one day as laird and reclaim his family land. But that’s a story for a few chapters down the line. As for who the mystery duck is, he’s naturally Sir Quackely himself, or rather his ghost, who was simply guiding Scrooge and didn’t give him the treasure as simply handing him the money wouldnn’t restore their family’s good name or continue their bloodline now would it? 

For now Scrooge returns to work for a bit before finding his way to America: A cattleboat to New Orleans looking for a Cabin Boy. And so Scrooge bids farewell to his family. His Dad, feeling bad he can’t even give his boy shilling, gives him the family pocketwatch with jake pitching in with the family gold dentures. While Scrooge naturally refuses to sell the watch, he does plan to sell the teeth as soon as possible for good reason. We then get some sweet goodbyes with him, his sisters (With hortense uttering her first words to everyone’s astonishment) and loving mother as he wonders just what awaits him in America. 

And there he stands on the bow of a ship, heading for a new land, in New Orleans he can be a new man. And we’ll see just what kind of man he becomes as this series continues. For now this is the end of a chapter but the beginning of a lifetime. 

Final Thoughts on Last of the Clan McDuck:

This story is excellent. While there are even better chapters to come, this one is still one of the most memorable and most joyous, showing just how Scrooge became what he is, where some of his values come from, others will be instilled along the way , and beginning to flesh out his family. We see Scrooge’s love of wealth comes from starting from the bottom, growing up with a family that barely had anything and badly needed everything, but was loving and instilled fine morals in him. We also see a Scrooge far removed from the bitter old man he is in present day, an optimistic naïve young lad who only wants best for his family. It’s a nice stark contrast to who he’ll become, good and bad, and a nice way to both compare him to Huey Dewey and Louie and break your heart as his own hardens before briefly turning black later on.  The art, as is standard for this series and Rosa, is breathtaking, and the story isn’t lacking in good jokes, their just downplayed so the story itself can take center stage. There’s nothing really more to say: it’s an excellent start to an even more excellent tale and stands proud among an already stellar story as one of it’s finest outings. 

NEXT RAINBOW: Scrooge goes down to the mighty Missipi to work on the riverboats and meets one of his signature Rogue’s for the first time in their first form, as well as Gyro’s dad.. or grandpa.. or possibly both I don’t know his family tree. Point is, tune in next time for some riverboat hyjinks.  Until then if you’d like to comission an episode of any animated show, especially ducktales and the various other duck related disney shows, or another Duck Comics story you really like from Rosa, Barks or whoever you want really, I take commissions for 5 dollars a review, with 5 dollars off your full order when you put in for more than one episode or issue. You can also follow me on patreon.com/popculturebuffet and for just two bucks a month get access to polls (which i’ll start once we have at least three patreons), and my exclusive discord server. And if you liked this review be sure to reblog it to show off. My self promotion done until next time: There’s always another rainbow. 

#scrooge mcduck #don rosa #ducktales #the life and times of scrooge mcduck #fergus mcduck #downy mcduck #hortense mcduck #hortense duck #matilda mcduck #jake mcduck #uncle scrooge #duck comics #disney duck comics #carl barks

[fullmetalscullyy]

the way it was - chapter 29

summary:  what if riza never went to war?  riza hawkeye has just married the man she loves. six months into their marriage, an unexpected surprise stops her from following roy to the military. a canon divergence au that explores what might have happened had riza been unable to join the military. there will be plenty of family fluff, angst, and royai.

rated: m | warnings: no archive warning apply

read on ao3

1914

 'cause you're a sky, you're a sky full of stars

such a heavenly view 

Their pride and joy had careened into their bedroom loudly at six o’clock in the morning – on a Saturday – to announce loudly that it was her birthday.

Roy groaned quietly in Riza’s ear, and she couldn’t hold back her own either. Her eyelids fought against her desire to open them, sleep keeping a tight hold on Riza that morning. Even cracked open to the bare minimum, Riza’s vision was blurred and her lids ached.

“Mia?” Roy sounded as tired as Riza felt. The mattress shifted as he sat up, removing his arm from around her waist. The warmth and security of his hold was missed immediately.

“It’s my birthday,” Mia sang happily, bouncing on the spot at the bottom of their bed as she broke out into a happy dance. The six-year-old was completely oblivious to the plight of her parents, too excited at what the new day would bring her.

“Mia,” Roy scolded lightly with a yawn. He rubbed his face tiredly, running his hands through his hair as he smacked his lips. “Listen, you need to quieten down,” Roy scolded her gently.

The dancing stopped. “Why?”

“Mummy is sleeping, and she needs to rest.”

Riza was really trying to wake up, but her body refused to cooperate. Sleep was beckoning her once more, not ready to give her up to the rest of the world just yet.

Rolling over, she struggled to lift her head. “No, it’s fine…” she mumbled.

“Oh…” Mia sounded guilty. “I… I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s all right, bear.” The use of her nickname softened Roy’s scold a little. “Come on, why don’t we go and talk in your room? Then we can let Mum sleep.”

“It’s… fine…” Riza sighed but was already drifting.

A hand was pressed to the top of her head. It ran through Riza’s hair then fell to the mattress behind her head. Then, Roy’s lips were pressed to her forehead.

“Get some more sleep,” Roy urged gently. “I’ll keep her entertained.”

The next time Riza woke, two hours had passed. She batted her eyes open, hearing Roy and Mia talking somewhere in the house. The latter sounded extremely excited as she chatted away happily, while she heard Roy’s laugh and the occasional yip from Hayate.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Roy greeted with a smile as he spotted Riza entering the kitchen.

She shot him a tired smile in response, but still made a beeline for Mia and crouched by her chair. Cupping her six-year-old’s face in her hands, Riza grinned at her daughter. “Happy birthday, our Mia Bear,” she announced, kissing Mia’s cheek.

“Thank you, Mum,” Mia smiled brightly. “Look! Look at this badge Dad gave me!” She grasped her t-shirt and thrust it forward, showing off the comically large birthday badge on her shirt. It was a baby blue colour and had a bear on it – of course – holding the number six in its hands. Riza had seen it at the supermarket the week before and knew instantly Mia would love it.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! He said it was from you and him, so thank you! I love it!” Mia threw her arms around Riza’s neck and hugged her tightly. Laughing, Riza pressed a hand to Mia’s back and gave her a quick squeeze.

“Glad you like it.”

“And Dad made me a birthday breakfast,” Mia added excitedly, turning in her chair to look at the table. “I’ve ate it all now, but I had some grapes, a piece of toast that Dad turned into a face,” Mia giggled. “And I even had some of his porridge! I didn’t like it very much.” Mia wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“But you tried it though, didn’t you?” Roy reached for a teaspoon in the centre of the table, picking it up so he could stir his coffee. “You were a big girl and tried something new,” Roy praised.

“Yeah,” Mia grinned. “This breakfast was very yummy! Almost as good as the fun breakfast I had a while ago,” she added, trailing off and looking up at them daringly.

Riza smiled from behind Mia, shooting Roy a look. She was so clearly fishing and was hopeful for more chocolate at breakfast, but that was a no-go. Luckily, Roy remembered his error in judgement from that day.

“Ah, no chocolate for breakfast this time,” Roy reminded her as he popped a stray grape into his mouth. “You don’t want to feel ill like you did last time, do you?”

He lifted the bowl of grapes, extending them towards Riza. Picking a few off their stalks, she gathered them in her hand and started to eat them slowly.

Mia sat back in defeat. “No, I guess not,” she mumbled.

“It would be a very good birthday if you felt sick, would it?” Riza placed a hand on Mia’s head and bent to kiss the top of it.

“No, it wouldn’t be fun,” she agreed. The sullen tone had left her voice as she realised their logic. “But… Can I have some later?” Her wide and earnest eyes were begging her mother to say yes.

“Hm,” Riza hummed, pretending to think. “I don’t know…” she trailed off.

“Please!”

“I suppose,” Riza relented. “You are the birthday girl after all. This day is all about you.”

“Yay!” Mia clapped, legs kicking wildly in her chair. It made her little body jerk from side to side in her chair.

After breakfast and they’d all showered and dressed, the small family made their way into their living room so Mia could open her birthday presents. There was a pile on their couch which Riza had arranged while Roy got Mia ready for the day. She’d picked a lovely green dress to wear to her party. It had a floral pattern on it, the flowers just a shade lighter than the green of her dress so they were almost hidden. It had been an early gift from her grandmother.

The birthday girl’s eyes lit up when she saw the presents, diving for them.

It turned out Roy was also rather adept with a brush and a comb.

“Grew up with a bunch of sisters, remember,” he quipped with a wink, noticing Riza’s inquisitive smile as she admired Mia’s hair.

The perfectly braided hair bounced in their pigtails with Mia’s energy. She looked incredibly cute. Her hair was passed her shoulders now, long enough so that it could be split down the middle and tied off with two green ribbons at each end. However, her fringe was still a lost cause. Even with it styled like Riza’s it had a mind of its own and more often than not, fell over her eyes or ended up mussed up, skewing her parting completely.

Roy wrapped his arm around Riza’s shoulders as they watched Mia animatedly tell Hayate about the present she’d just opened. The dog was shown the toy so he could give it a sniff.

“And see? I have some sense of fashion.” Roy gestured to Mia’s attire.

Riza already knew he did. Around the house he wore shorts or sweatpants with t-shirts, but she’d seen him getting ready for formal military events. He looked incredibly handsome in a suit and tie and knew just how to style himself to make Riza’s heart flutter inside her chest.

“I didn’t doubt you for a second, dear,” Riza smirked, turning her head to peck his cheek.

“Mia,” Roy called, stepping forwards. “Before you get too excited and open any more, I have a present for you to open first.”

Riza shot him a questioning look that Roy very obviously ignored.

“Oh?” Mia asked, intrigued.

“Be back in a second,” he grinned, looking rather mischievous and proud of himself.

Riza narrowed her eyes. Just what did he have in mind here?

There was the distant sound of rummaging that made her raise an eyebrow, then Roy re-entered the room, lugging a huge, rather crudely wrapped, gift. In his arms, it passed just over Roy’s head, and he had to duck to get it through the doorway. From the shape, it was clear that this was another bear for Mia, but it was so large it was ridiculous. It was almost double the height of their daughter and would be nearly as tall as Roy and Riza if it could stand on its legs.

Mia gasped excitedly, carefully but quickly removing the wrapped present from her lap. Her eyes boggled as she took it in, brain struggling to comprehend what she was seeing.

Riza could sympathise with that.

“Uh,” Riza stated eloquently in her surprise.

“Is it a bear?” Mia was in awe, voice barely above a whisper.

“You’ll have to open it and see,” Roy smirked. He was practically bouncing with excitement himself.

Mia did so, carefully. She had to get Roy to help her unwrap from the stomach upward because it was far too tall for her. Squealing happily, she hugged her new best friend and looked up at its face in wonder.

Hayate wasn’t sure. He growled quietly at the hulking form, his hackles raised as his head dipped low to further take in this new thing on his territory that was so much larger than him.

“It’s okay, Hayate!” Mia peeled herself away from her new toy and reached out tentatively for the dog. Once her hand contacted his fur, Hayate flinched and licked his lips, looking up at Mia. “It’s just a toy. Look!” Standing tall, Mia poked the bear and its head flopped to the other side. Poking it again, harder, it tipped over and fell onto its side, making Hayate jump at the sudden thump that sounded. He growled louder while Mia laughed with glee.

“And just where are we going to put that?” Riza muttered the question in her husband’s ear while Mia was distracted.

Roy shrugged. “Let me worry about that.”

Riza rolled her eyes as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. The bear was honestly absurd. Where had he even bought it from?

“Where did you even hide that? I didn’t see it anywhere.”

“It was hidden in the garage,” he smiled mischievously. “Chris dropped it off late last night when you were already in bed. It was from the guys at work.”

“Really?” It was one shock after another this morning.

“They’d planned it beforehand after hearing her talk about how much she loved bears while Havoc and I were in the hospital,” Roy chuckled. “But…” He trailed off.

Everyone had been moved across Amestris.

Roy cleared his throat and shot her a reassuring smile as she hugged against his side. “Havoc ordered it into his family’s store and got it shipped out. Everyone still chipped in for it though before they left.”

Riza was touched by the lovely gesture for their daughter. “That was so sweet of them.”

“It was all Havoc’s idea. They can’t wait to hear what Mia’s reaction is,” Roy chuckled, nodding at their daughter. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, a happy squeal emitting from her throat every now and then as she couldn’t quite believe the present was real. “Fuery more so than the others. Havoc says he isn’t bothered, but I know he wants to know.”

Riza grinned. She’d always thought of Roy’s team being somewhat unofficial uncles to Mia. Now, it definitely felt like it, and the thought warmed Riza’s heart.

*          *          *

Gracia and Elicia were the first to arrive at their house for Mia’s birthday party.

“Happy birthday, Mia!” Elicia giggled, handing over a parcel to Mia that looked a little too heavy for her. It dipped in her grasp as her arms shook with the weight.

“Elicia!” Mia’s cry was full of glee as she ran towards her friend. Skidding to a stop, she grinned at the present in Elicia’s hands and eased it out of the younger girl’s grasp. “Is this for me?”

“Yep! Mummy and I picked it out especially for you. It’s from my Daddy too!” Elicia’s happiness made the three adult’s expressions soften.

“Thank you, Elicia. That’s very kind of you,” Riza replied on her excited daughter’s behalf.

“Yes, thank you!” Gently, the parcel was placed on the ground and Mia hugged Elicia tightly.

All three adults simpered at the sight, looking proudly upon their friendship with one another.

“Can we go and open it now, Mum?” Mia’s eyes were wide and bright with excitement.

“Well,” Roy interjected, eyes already on the path up to their home, looking over Gracia’s shoulder. “It looks like you have some other guests to greet first.”

Mia poked her head around Gracia’s legs to see who was approaching. Chris waved to Mia as Vanessa and Roxanne beamed, arms laden with gifts.

“I promise though, you can play with it after.” Riza gestured for Mia to hand it over. As she stooped low, there was a niggle of pain in her lower back, but she shook it off. “You’ll get to open all your presents once everyone is here.”

“Okay!”

Unfortunately, Edward and Alphonse were up in North City, so were unable to attend Mia’s birthday, alongside the rest of Roy’s team. She was disheartened to hear her “uncles” wouldn’t be coming, but Mia took it in her stride. Both parents reassured her that they’d come and see her as soon as they were able to.

Rebecca, however, arrived from the East with a surprise appearance from Havoc.

Mia gasped loudly, a hand flying up to her mouth when she saw him enter through the door to their living room. Roy walked behind with a wide smile on his face.

“Aunt Becca! And Havoc!” Her screech pierced Riza’s ears painfully while Mia hopped to her feet and sprinted to the door. She threw her arms around Rebecca tightly, who’d knelt in place and opened them up for her.

“Happy birthday, Princess,” Rebecca greeted, kissing her on the cheek before letting her go.

“And – And – Havoc!” Mia gripped the arm of his wheelchair tightly, her knuckles white as her eyes boggled up at him. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“It was a surprise,” he winked. In his lap was a poorly wrapped gift, which was handed over to Mia. “Happy birthday, Mia.”

She took it in her hands carefully, marvelling at the gold and red wrapping paper. “This is for me?”

“All for you,” Havoc confirmed.

“Oh, wow.”

“What do you say, Mia?” Riza prompted her daughter’s manners as she lifted herself from her armchair.

“Thank you, Havoc!” Mia threw her arms around his torso in a fierce hug, which made him chuckle in response.

He patted her shoulder fondly. “You’re welcome, Kiddo.”

“Now that everyone is here, who would like tea or coffee?” Roy announced it to the room as Riza made her way through to their kitchen. Some peace and quiet would give her a reprieve to try and relieve some of her fatigue.

Her back was bothering her a lot today, and it made Riza wonder if she’d slept in a funny position. No amount of stretching would grant her relief, unfortunately. And she was so tired today, too. That extra two hours in bed should have been enough, but apparently it wasn’t. It was unfair. It was her daughter’s sixth birthday! She had no time to be tired.

It was happening more and more often lately after she’d entered her third trimester. That niggle in her back was the most prominent one, as well as aching ankles. That was easy enough to deal with though, seeing as most of her work was done at her desk. Life went on as well, so she’d shouldered the pain while running around after Mia and rested when she could.

After placing the water on top of the heat to boil, Riza closed her eyes and rested her hands against the counter. Her spine was perfectly straight, but she was leaning forwards, letting her hands take some of her weight. Relief washed over her ankles, granting her a reprieve. Her head was held high, but her chin dipped as she rolled her previously hunched shoulders.

“Hey, you okay?” Roy’s hands were instantly placed on her tight shoulders, giving them a squeeze.

“Yes.” She leaned back into him, relaxing completely as he steadied her like a rock. A kiss was pressed to her temple, causing a smile to quirk up the corners of her mouth.

His hands ran down her arms to her waist. “What’s wrong?”

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?”

Roy hummed quietly in her ear. His head moved so that his nose was in her hair and he pressed a kiss behind her ear. “I’ve noticed you grimace every now and then. I just want to check everything is alright.”

“You’re too observant,” Riza grumbled good naturedly, making him laugh quietly and pull away from her.

“It’s to be expected, Riza, my dear.”

She had been mourning the loss of his embrace, but his hands ran back up her bare arms to rest atop her shoulders. It was a beautiful contradiction how his hands lit a fire with his touch but still managed to lift gooseflesh on her skin. Riza shivered.

“Expected?”

His hands began to knead at the knots in her shoulders and Riza let out a light moan. It felt heavenly. It was exactly what she needed.

“Of course,” he replied. “I love you too much not to notice when something might be bothering you. Plus, we’ve been together for so long, I like to think I’ve become quite attuned to you,” he grinned.

Again, her body shuddered. Hearing him say such things…

Roy noticed her reaction and laughed. “Do you like that?”

“Yes,” she breathed. It felt like her legs would turn to jelly, she was becoming so relaxed, but hearing Roy’s low voice, telling her how much he loved her and how much he noticed about her… “What else have you noticed?”

“That you’re tired today. And your lower back and ankles hurt, am I correct?”

Riza huffed but nodded.

“Yes,” he hissed in triumph at his correct guess, making Riza laugh.

“Are you happy that I’m suffering for your child?” She made her amusement clear.

“Not at all,” Roy reassured solemnly. “If I could take some of the stress from you, I would. You know that.”

Riza’s heart fluttered in her chest.

“I’m just pleased I can read you so well.”

“I’ll have to make it harder next time,” Riza hummed thoughtfully.

“How can I help you if you make it harder for me?” A chuckle left him as he found a rather tight knot in her trapezius. His thumb dug in deep causing Riza to let out a strangled cry of relief.

“Your shoulders are very tight,” he remarked.

Riza grimaced. “I know. The kid is making them tense,” she added, fondly running her hand over her stomach.

“You can expect some foot rubs tonight for those ankles too. And feel free to let me know what else I can massage,” he quipped, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

Scoffing, Riza admonished him quietly while he laughed instead.

“Did this happen with Mia?”

“Yes. You’re a much more preferable masseuse than Rebecca though.”

A quiet snort left him. His head dipped, pressing a kiss to the bare skin at her neck as he gave her shoulders one last tight squeeze. “I’m glad.” His voice was a whisper against the crook of her neck. “Why don’t you go and get a seat,” Roy offered, straightening his posture.

Riza turned to look at him, noting the soft smile on his face as he gazed at her. “I can manage to make some tea –”

“Humour me,” Roy interrupted softly, taking one of her hands in his. He lifted it to his lips, pressing a kiss upon the back of her palm. “If you’re tired then I honestly don’t mind.”

Riza opened her mouth to argue, but Roy’s eyes flashed with mischief.

“And don’t lie and say you’re not tired.” He chuckled at her frown. A kiss was pressed to her forehead. “Go and take a seat. I’ll sort the beverages for our guests.”

“Is that an order, Colonel?” An eyebrow lifted in light defiance.

Again, his eyes flashed at her challenge, and a grin spread across his face. “I can make it an order, if you like?” His smile was bordering on wolfish and Riza decided to quit while she was ahead. It was her daughter’s birthday. The party came first. Afterwards, once Mia was asleep, she would teach Roy a lesson for trying to order her around… After his previously offered massage.

“No, it’s okay, I’ll go,” she relented reluctantly.

Pausing in the doorway, she turned and watched him tap a nail on the countertop, staring out the window to their garden, waiting for the water to boil. Once it was ready, it snapped Roy out of whatever thought he was lost in and he jumped to reach for the pot, so he could pour it in the waiting mugs.

A corner of Riza’s mouth quirked up, smiling at her husband. He’d relaxed her completely and having his support meant so much to her.

Turning in place, Roy frowned at her, his mouth turning downwards in exaggerated disapproval. “Go on, Mrs. Mustang. Shoo. I can handle carrying tea and coffees through.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” she placated, lifting her hands in surrender.

#royai #royai fic #royai fanfic #royai au #the way it was #emma writes

[purplesurveys]

1142

survey by tickticktmr

Do you have a digital camera? What color is it? No, haven’t held one in years. The last digital camera we had was a bit of a magenta shade; it actually belonged to my sister but I borrowed it occasionally.

Did you like the movie Juno? It was ok, though to be honest I’ve mostly forgotten what it’s about. I remember fairly liking it but it’s not the type of movie or genre I’d rewatch.

Name something you think is way over-rated: Big Macs, which I’ve never found tasty.

Do you remember your first friend? Yes, it was a girl named Kaye that I sat with in preschool. She didn’t stay too long in my school, so I haven’t been able to reconnect.

Would you rather live with your mom, dad, a friend or on your own? On my own.

Name something your pet(s) like: Walks.

Do you listen to country music? No, I don’t.

What does the color white remind you of? Peace, serenity, doves, minimalist homes.

What show/movie/song makes you cry every time? Show: From Brooklyn Nine-Nine - either the episode where Rosa Diaz comes out as bisexual or the episode where Terry gets racially profiled.

Movie: La vita e bella.

Song: There isn’t one song that makes me cry 100% of the time, but I suppose Why We Ever by Hayley Williams had this effect on me for a time.

What was your last fight about? I spilled a drop of our dinner’s soup on the dinner table last Thursday and my mom did a sufficient job making me feel incompetent and a dumbass about it, so I was hurt by it and didn’t speak a word for the rest of the evening. Not really a fight, but y’know.

Do you text a lot? I used to not but anymore. I usually get prepaid for LTE now, not to have credits for texts.

Have you ever been screamed at by a teacher? Many times. A number of them didn’t like me for whatever reason...

Do you smile or scowl more? I definitely try to smile more, but idk for sure if that’s what I do more frequently.

Obama or Bush? Idk, maybe Obama? Considering we were colonized by the US at one point and imperialism remains to linger in my country, I generally don’t take kindly to any US president, though.

Batman or Superman? I don’t like comic books.

Are you excited about Blink 182 getting back together? I don’t follow the band so I’m not sure how recent or relevant this news is, but  generally speaking I don’t remember ever being stoked for a Blink-182 comeback in particular.

Would you rather be a teacher, a stripper or a hairdresser? I’d go with teacher, and preferably of history, so that I at least can have an hour or so to talk about my passion with other people lol.

The last person you spoke to: how many times have they made you cry? Just once.

What's your favorite kind of gum? The classic bubblegum flavor is fine with me.

Have you ever failed a class in school? Just exams, but never altogether an entire class that required me to retake.

Are you even in school? No, not anymore.

Are you taller then your best friend? No haha, I’m slightly tinier than both of them.

Are you scared of spiders? I’d be scared probably of the larger kinds, but all we get here are the super small spiders so this isn’t an issue for me for the most part.

You can't eat anything ever again except for jello or apples: which one? Probably apples. I cannot stand the texture of jelly/Jell-O, and I guess I can move past my dislike of fruits for this situation since apple is kinda decent anyway.

Have you ever cheated on anyone? No, never man.

If you answered yes to the last question, do they know about it?

Do you paint your nails often? I never do and I never have them done either.

Mascara or lipgloss? Er lipgloss I guess, since I literally don’t care how my eyelashes look.

Who’s the last person you called? I think it had been Denise, a co-worker. 

Describe the last person who sent you a text: It was just the delivery guy who brought Ysa’s gift to my place, so I don’t know enough about him to be able to give a sufficient description.

Do you ever watch TV shows or movies on YouTube? No, because for the most part they would be high- or low-pitched, in a tiny screen, sped up, zoomed in, or altogether fake. I also don’t understand why buying movies individually on YouTube is still a thing when Netflix exists for literally cheaper.

Myspace or facebook? Uh Facebook, I guess.

How old were you when you lost your first tooth? I was around 5 or 6, I think.

Have you ever embarassed yourself in front of someone you like? Yeah. But when I started dating them, fucking up in front of them became less embarrassing, of course.

Describe your hair right now: Wet and slightly dripping since I just stepped out of the shower.

Do you like it when it rains? Yes, it’s my favorite weather.

Does anyone miss you right now? I hope my friends do...but I can’t say for sure.

How many funerals have you been to? None. Just wakes.

Where's your favorite place to hang out? Depends on the vibe I’m feeling for the day and the company I’ve got.

Have you ever laughed so hard you peed in your pants? Oh gee, never.

Do you like video games? What's your favorite one? I was raised around video games and so much of my childhood was watching my kuya, dad, and a number of my uncles completing games, so I definitely hold a big appreciation and fondness for them. I never inherited any skills of my own though lmao, so I mostly watch walkthroughs; and the only video games I’ve ever met considerable progress on are Nintendo games marketed for all audiences HAHAHA.

Have you ever worn something your parents wouldn't approve of? Yeah I’ve gotten chided by my mom a handful of times, telling me to cover up with a jacket or something. But her reasoning was always men, so I’m usually able to defend myself and say that that’s not my problem and that’s something fucking men have to deal with themselves. We both know I’m right so she ends up begrudgingly letting me go out with whatever outfit I choose on that given day.

Where are your sibling(s)? They are in their respective bedrooms.

When's the last time a friend got dumped/dumped someone? September. That friend was Gabie and the dumpee was me hahahah, does that count?

Do you celebrate Valentine's day? If I have a significant other, yeah. I like keeping our activities lowkey though because from all my past experiences, malls and restaurants tend to get fully booked on February 14 and it ends up being more of a (very crowded) hassle than a celebration.

Do you celebrate Christmas? Yep.

Does it snow where you live? Never.

Have you ever wanted a pet unicorn? I never did, actually.

Would you like to work to earn money, or simply have money given to you? The latter is obviously the ideal situation, but I recognize the importance of hard work too and constantly working on my skills.

If you could be on any game show, what one would it be? Jeopardy or Family Feud.

Do you know anyone whose famous? Yes, at least locally.

Do you read those gossip magazines? I used to, lol those were my guilty pleasures back then. I still keep up with celebrity updates, but I’ve moved to social media now. I also filter which publications I consume and avoid the tabloid-y ones like Daily Mail.

Summer or winter? I’d go with winter so that I can actually experience it for once.

What do you hear right now? I’m watching an archived Facebook livestream of a senior citizen who had held a virtual piano concert to raise funds to afford his maintenance medicine. The media ate it up like crazy and it’s since gone viral, so I was able to I read about him earlier tonight. He reminds me so much of my late grandpa so I quickly searched for the finished concert on Facebook and now I have it on :)

When's the last time you saw a cousin? Around two weeks ago.

Where were you the last time you left your house? I can’t remember exactly. I think I went to Feliz...OH OK I remember now - I originally went to the nearby SM to handle an LBC delivery for work, and to stay at Starbucks for a few hours also to work. After that I went to their vape stall to buy new pods but they didn’t have any for the vape brand I use, so I went to Feliz as well to try my chances there. They ended up having a few flavors but not what I usually get, so I decided to try a new one - grape lol.

Describe the room you are in: Dark, filled with the lovely sounds of piano music, and the faint smell coming from my scented candle. Overall, light and peaceful.

What shoes did you wear today? I wore my Onitsukas when I walked Cooper this morning.

#survey #surveys

[fairyqueenofthedragons]

The Magic Begins

Fablekingdom chapter 2

As I'm following canon set up of chapters, it starts with set up still. I am trying to show a slightly different dynamic between the siblings, while keeping the spirit of it. There will be bigger changes later on, but obviously the beginning is hard to change majorly, especially just arriving lol.

(Find Chapter One with a server of “Fk ch 1)

Hope you enjoy the chapter :D

Come chat with me on discord: https://discord.gg/8Vc6w9JWxv

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Kendra had been sitting in the car for hours.

She and Seth had done just about everything they could think of to handle the boredom, but she’d finished her two books, they’d played a dozen rounds of tic-tac-toe, and he’d moved onto trying to beat her at chopsticks (that game with your fingers). Seth had had a few comics, but he’d gone through them faster then she had her books. Even his handheld video game couldn’t hold his attention anymore.

“I thought you said that Grandpa Sorenson lived in Connecticut, not India,” Seth grumbled.

Mom sighed, having listened to Seth’s complaints for the last hour, “It won’t be much longer. Enjoy the scenery.”

She’d said that the last six times.

“It’s boring! I’m hungry, can we stop for food?”

Kendra was on Seth’s side here; the scenery was boring.

Mom pulled up the grocery bag full of snacks, “How about some Peanut butter and crackers instead?”

Seth shot Kendra a pained look but reached for the crackers regardless.

“Ooh, I want some Almond Roca,” Dad said without taking his eyes from the road.

He’s still managed to keep to his New Year’s resolution of keeping Almond Roca on hand at all times.

“Do you want anything Kendra?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Kendra turned her gaze outside as Seth munched on his snack. When was this drive going to be over? At least Grandfathers house can’t be as boring as this drive.

Honestly, Kendra wasn’t happy they were being sent off to stay with their grandparents just because of some cruise. She wished her family would just let them come with… or maybe just her, Seth might be too young (and too annoying).

They would be gone for seventeen days! Kendra couldn’t believe they’d just leave them like this.

They’re getting it for free, them and all the aunts and uncles on her mom’s side. They didn’t win a contest or anything to get it, they got the cruise because Kendra’s grandparents had asphyxiated.

Grandma and Grandpa Larsen had been visiting relatives in South Carolina. Unfortunately, the trailer they lived in had some gas leak and they’d all died in their sleep. The grandparents had specified a long time ago that when they died all their kids and spouses were to use an allocated sum of money to go on a Scandinavian cruise.

Grandchildren were not invited.

“We’re almost there kids!” Kendra’s dad said cheerfully.

“Yay,” Seth grumbled. “Then you guys can abandon us for your fancy cruise.”

“Won’t you get bored stuck on a boat for seventeen days?” Kendra asked hopefully.

Dad caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “The food is supposed to be incredible, top reviews. Snails, fish eggs, the works. It’s gonna be great.”

Mom wacked his arm.

“We’re not all that excited about the trip kids,” Mom said sadly. “I doubt your grandparents envisioned an accidental death when they made the request. The cruise is to honor their memory more than for fun.”

“What kind of death did they plan then?” Seth muttered.

Kendra couldn’t help but agree, who planned their death?

The ship stops in ports as you go,” Dad said, deliberately redirecting the conversation. “You get to disembark for part of the time.”

“Are you at least going to get us something?” Kendra asked. “If you’re just going to leave us at your parent’s house.”

“Of course we will dear,” Mom reassured. “We’ll get you some chocolates, maybe some books, maybe there will be cool jewelry!”

“I want a sword,” Seth said. “A sharp one.”

“I think it’s great for you kids that you get to stay with my parents,” Dad added. “I mean, they never invite anyone to stay with them. It’s definitely better than some cruise.”

Kendra shared a look with Seth, their parents were full of it.

“They’re hermits,” Seth argued. “We barely know them!”

“They’re my parents,” Dad said. “I survived, you’ll have fun.”

The car passed through a small town, only a few buildings lined the road, many seeming old a run down. There didn’t appear to be anything more interesting than a small library at the corner.

“It’s very exciting,” Dad continued. “Like I said, they never invite anyone. You’ll have a blast.”

Kendra tried hard not to roll her eyes. She knew for a fact that they hadn’t been invited. Kendra had overheard their mom when she approached Grandpa Sorenson about letting the kids stay with him at the funeral.

The funeral itself hadn’t been fun at all, it was creepy seeing her grandparents all dressed up fancy with lots of makeup. It didn’t look like them at all.

Those grandparents, the Larsen’s, they were the ones that they’d known. They’d come to lots of holidays and done many long visits with Kendra’s family. But Kendra couldn’t remember seeing the Sorenson’s much since Seth had started second grade.

Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson had inherited an estate in Connecticut around the time her parents were married. All the stories she’d heard were fantastical, filled with fairies and demons and witches. They were obviously fake, it made her think the place was something very boring.

Honestly, everyone was shocked when grandpa Sorenson had shown up at the funeral. It’d been more than eighteen months since either grandparent had visited anywhere.

He’d apologized that Grandma Ruth hadn’t been able to come, she’d fallen ill, but it really was the norm for only one to show up.

But at the end Kendra had overheard Mom talking to Grandpa Sorenson, cajoling him into watching her and Seth. She’d been heading to the bathroom but paused when she’d overheard them at the corner.

“Why can’t they stay with Marci?”

“Normally they would, but Marci is coming on the cruise.”

Kendra had risked a peek and seen Grandpa Sorenson standing across from her mom.

“Where are Marci’s kids going?”

“To her in-laws.”

“What about a baby-sitter?”

Grandpa had seemed almost pleading then, his expression tight.

“Two and a half weeks is a long time for a sitter. You’ve mentioned before something about having them over…”

“Yes, I do recall… But does it have to be late June? What about July?”

“The cruise is on a time frame. What’s the difference?”

He’d rubbed his face with a sigh.

“Things are extra busy then… I don’t know, Marla. I’m not that good with kids. Is there no where else they could go?”

“I’m sorry Stan,” Mom said, sounding on the verge of tears. “I know things are busy for you, and I don’t want to go on this cruise. You did so good with them when they were younger, I know you don’t see them often but… This cruise was important to my parents, so I want to go for them. If you can’t take care of the kids we can stay behind-“

“No,” Grandpa Sorenson interrupted with a sigh. “It’s fine. I’m sure we can find some place to lock them up.”

So, no, Grandpa Sorenson did not invite them.

Seth finished his crackers and pulled his game back out, flipping through the cartridges.

“Which game should I play?”

Kendra leaned over, “The fashion one.”

He rolled his eyes, “That one is just for character design.”

“Then make an elf.”

“I don’t want to!”

“You asked which you should do.”

“Nevermind, your suggestion is dumb.”

Seth ended up picking a fighting game and started it up.

Kendra got bored of watching quickly and turned to look out the windows. The trees were large and dark, little light slipping through the branches.

She jolted when they turned onto a gravel driveway.

“Look at that sign,” Seth said.

She followed his finger to see signs hanging on the side of the road.

Private Property

No Trespassing

Trespassers Will Be Persecuted

Please respect our privacy

“What are all these signs?” Kendra muttered.

“Oh, you know Grandpa Sorenson,” her dad said cheerfully. “Such a sense of humor.”

“I think they’re funny,” Seth declared. “Can we get some for our house?”

Kendra frowned at them as the car continued up the long driveway, no house anywhere in sight.

There were more signs as they went.

Beware of the Dog

We do not call 911

Beware of .12 Gauge

No Public Access at any Time

Owner Shoots

Kendra leaned back. This seems so… pleasant.

“I like that one,” Seth said pointing at the Owner Shoots sign.

Kendra shook her head as they finally reached the end of the driveway. Before them was a wrought-iron fence topped with fleurs-de-lis. Open in their path was a large double gate. She peered around but couldn’t see the end of the fence through the trees.

Even after passing through the gates there was still no sign of the house through the trees, until suddenly the trees cut off.

A large house came into view suddenly. It wasn’t quite a mansion, but was definitely larger than most houses Kendra had seen.

It was constructed out of dark wood and stone, old looking but solid and in good shape. The grounds around it were much more impressive though. There was a massive flower garden blooming in front of the house, with manicured hedges and a fish pond. It seemed to wrap around the side of the house too. Kendra wondered what flowers there were, and if there was a vegetable garden as well.

Further back Kendra could see a massive barn, at least five stories tall and topped with a large weather vane that she couldn’t quite make out but seemed shaped like an animal, but not a rooster.

“Oh, it’s lovely,” Mom said. “I wish we were all staying.”

Kendra blinked, “You’ve never been here?”

“No,” Mom said sadly. “Your father came here a few times before we were married.”

Dad nodded, “Yeah. There are some wild stories about this place, haha, I’ve told you a few of them.”

Seth yawned, “Yeah, like the evil witch in a shack.”

“Or the demon in the chapel.”

“Aren’t there trolls over one hill?”

Their dad laughed, “Yeah, my dad used to tell some wild stories. You should hear the ones Aunt Sophie would tell sometimes. She swears she met satyrs one time.”

The two shared an exasperated look.

“Anyways, you’ll have a blast. We never stayed long, but it was always entertaining. Worst comes to worst you can just hang out in the pool.”

Kendra rolled her eyes. Honestly, they were too old to believe all those fairy tales.

The car pulled to a stop just outside the garage as the front door open.

Grandpa Sorenson stepped out, followed by a tall, lanky man and a thin, older woman. Mom, Dad, Seth, and Kendra hopped out of the car.

The older woman was unfamiliar to Kendra, and so was the man. The woman had white hair streaked with black strands, and yet her face seemed ageless, her age impossible to place. Her skin was a tawny olive tone that appeared completely flawless, her black hair was pin-straight and framed her face.

The man had messy brown hair to go with matching brown eyes that studied them intently. He came over to the van, helping Dad open the back and begin removing suitcases.

“Just place the things inside,” Grandpa told Dad. “Dale will take them up to the bedroom.”

“Where’s Mom?” Dad asked looking around.

“She’s visiting your Aunt Edna.”

Dad looked surprised. “In Missouri?”

“Edna’s dying,” Grandpa said grimly.

Kendra had barely heard of Aunt Edna, and never met her, so she wasn’t that affected by it. Dad seemed upset thought.

She shifted awkwardly, studying the house to distract herself from their conversation.

The windows were cool, with bubbly glass. And there were bird nests under the eaves. She also noticed a lot of butterflies fluttering around.

Mom suddenly drew their attention and Seth and her scrambled to gather their things from the car and shove it all in their backpacks to bring in.

“I’ll grab the pillows if you grab the blankets?” Seth offered.

“Sure,” Kendra agreed, reaching for the blanket Seth had brought for napping on the car ride while he snagged her pillow.

Seth also snagged his ‘emergency kit’, a cereal box filled with odds and ends he thought would come in handy.

The two hurried after their parents, reaching them at the front door.

“Oh, there you are,” Mom said. “Got everything?”

“Yeah,” Seth huffed. “Except a ticket to go on the cruise.”

Mom sighed, ruffling Seth’s hair. “We’ll miss you too.”

He groaned, swiping at her hand as she turned to Kendra.

“Watch out for your brother, and both of you stay out of trouble, okay?”

Kendra nodded, “We’ll do our best.”

“So who’s this?” Dad was asking Grandpa.

“This is Lena, our housekeeper,” Grandpa said. “She helps around the house while Dale helps me tend to the grounds.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dad said.

“A pleasure,” Lena agreed with a soft accent. Kendra couldn’t quite place it, yet it reminded her of the ocean.

Lena opened the door, beckoning them inside.

“Oh, the home is beautiful,” Mom said. “I wish we had time for a tour.”

“Maybe when you get back,” Grandpa offered.

Kendra looked around. The house really was beautiful.

The glossy wood floors shone in the light and a low table in the entry hall held a beautifully painted ceramic vase with wilting flowers placed in it. There was a tall, brass coatrack off to one side beside a black bench with a high, carved back. It looked old and very interesting.

“Thank you again for letting the kids stay with you,” Dad said. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”

Grandpa nodded, looking a bit awkward.

“It’s our pleasure.”

“I wish we could visit some,” Dad said. “But we’re on a really tight schedule.”

Grandpa pat his shoulder, “I understand, another time. Don’t let us keep you from your trip.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Dad turned to Kendra and Seth, ruffling Seth’s hair.

“Have fun kids, we’ll be back before you know it.”

“Be good,” Mom said, hugging Kendra then Seth. “Do whatever Grandpa Sorenson tells you.”

Kendra sniffed, tears welling up. She swallowed hard and nodded, “Have a fun cruise.”

“Bring us back souvenirs,” Seth reminded.

Mom laughed, “The best ones.”

“We love you kids,” Dad said as he headed to the door.

Mom hugged them both one last time then went after him.

Kendra hurried after them, watching as they climbed into the SUV and start it up. Dad honked the horn as he pulled out, turning around and driving away. Kendra watched until the SUV vanished into the trees.

She tried not to think that her parents were probably relieved to be off without Seth and her. They were probably delighted for the vacation, not caring that they’d abandoned their two kids alone in a pretty, but creepy home with a grandparent they barely know.

Seth was poking around the entrance room, poking at one of the cabinets and picking up one of the intricate pieces of a decorative chess set.

Grandpa stood awkwardly, watching Seth and wincing when Seth put down a piece too hard.

“Leave the chess pieces alone,” Kendra told Seth. “They look expensive and breakable.”

“It’s fine,” Grandpa said, looking relieved when Seth put them down. He cleared his throat, “Shall I show you to your room?”

“Okay,” Seth said. “When’s lunch?”

Grandpa coughed, “It’s a bit past lunch but we can make you a snack to hold you till dinner.”

Seth nodded eagerly, “I’m starving.”

Kendra followed silently as Grandpa went up the stairs and down a carpeted hall to the foot of a narrow wooden staircase leading up to a white door.

“We don’t often have guests, especially children,” Grandpa explained. “I think you’ll be the most comfortable in the attic.”

Kendra was expecting something dark and musty, like the attic back home, but when he opened the door she saw it was actually very nice.

It was set up like a cheerful playroom. Spacious, clean, and bright, the long room had two beds at the far end, one wall covered in bookshelves and a couple of dressers, and the other held two wardrobes and some toy chests. There was a unicorn rocking horse sitting to the side, and a full dollhouse in one corner with a small piano in the other. Sitting beside of one of the dressers was a hen in a cage.

Seth went straight for the chicken. “Cool!” He poked a finger through the slender bars, trying to pet the soft looking feathers.

“Be careful, Seth,” Kendra warned. “Be gentle.”

“He’ll be fine,” Grandpa soothed. “Goldilocks is more a house pet than a barnyard hen. Your grandmother usually takes care of her, but since she’s gone I thought you kids might enjoy taking care of her for now. You’ll need to feed her, clean her cage, and collect her eggs.”

Seth looked delighted, “She lays eggs?”

“An egg or two a day if you keep her well fed,” Grandpa confirmed, motioning to a white plastic bucket full of kernels. “One scoop in the morning and in the evening should be good. I’ll show you how to change the lining of her cage in a few days. Make sure she has plenty of water and a tiny bowl of milk each morning.”

“Milk?”

He smiled mysteriously, “That’s the secret behind the eggs.”

“Can we take her out?” Seth asked, now stroking her feathers.

“Be gentle,” Grandpa said. “And put her back after.”

“Is it okay for us to play with the toys?” Kendra asked, studying the dollhouse. “Some of these look expensive.”

“Toys should be played with,” Grandpa said. “Just try to take care of them and that will be enough.”

“Awesome,” Seth said, going over to the piano and banging on the keys.

Kendra blinked, the notes sounded different than a piano. She couldn’t quite place what was off.

“While you stay here, this room is your space,” Grandpa said. “Within reason of course. I won’t pick up this space, nor bother you about it, as long as you treat the rest of the house with respect.”

“Alright,” Kendra agreed.

“Sounds good,” Seth nodded.

“I also have some unfortunate news. We’re in the height of tick season, have you heard of Lyme disease?”

Seth shook his head, but Kendra considered for a moment.

“I think so, but I can’t remember what it is.”

“It was originally discovered in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, not too far from here. You can catch it from tick bites, and during tick season the woods here are full of ticks.”

“What’s it do?” Seth asked.

“It starts out as a rash,” Grandpa said. “But it leads to arthritis, paralysis, and heart failure. And on top of that, ticks in general are bad to have. If you try to pull them off the heads detach, makes them hard to remove.”

“Gross,” Kendra muttered.

Grandpa nodded, “They’re very small and hard to see, at least until they fill up on blood, then they get as large as grapes.”

“Wow,” Seth said. “Can’t you just use bug spray?”

Grandpa nodded, “That can help, but isn’t a guarantee. The point is, you kids aren’t allowed to go into the woods. Stay on the lawn, play in the pool, explore the gardens, but stay away from the woods. I won’t be taking you to the hospital for Lyme disease.”

They both nodded.

“Good. As long as you follow that rule it’ll be fine. Break it and I’ll have to take away your outdoor privileges for your own safety.”

Seth winced, “Right, got it.”

“We understand,” Kendra assured him.

Grandpa nodded again, looking satisfied.

“One last thing,” he continued. “You’ll also need to stay out of the barn. There’s a lot of old tools and ladders and rusty pieces of farm equipment. I don’t want to risk you getting injured or getting tetanus.”

“Okay,” Seth agreed easily.

“Sounds reasonable,” Kendra said.

“Is there a TV?” Seth asked, poking at a canvas on an easel by one of the toy chests.

“No TV, or radio. We don’t get good reception out here, and it’s very expensive to run lines out.”

“When’s dinner?”

“In a few hours, Lena will be bringing up a snack for you soon. On that note, if you need anything, go to Lena. I’m very busy handling the upkeep of the property, so Lena will help with whatever you need.” He motioned to a purple cord hanging against the wall near one of the beds. “Tug the cord if you need her.”

“Alright, will we eat in one of the dining rooms?”

Grandpa nodded, “When I’m able to join you yes. On the days I’m too busy, like today, you can eat in here, in the kitchen, or anywhere else in the house. As long as you keep everything relatively clean you’re free to eat where you’re comfortable.”

“Wow,” said Seth. “Mom and Dad never let us eat in our rooms!”

Grandpa’s lips twitched, “Well, if it seems you can’t clean up after yourselves I may put a limit on it. But for now, you’re free to eat where you please.”

“Awesome,” Seth muttered.

Kendra’s smiled, that did sound nice.

“Now then, I need to go and complete my chores. I’ll likely not see you again till tomorrow.” He turned to leave but paused, pulling out a tiny key ring from his coat pocket. “Each of these keys fit something in this room. See if you can figure out what each unlocks.”

Kendra accepted the keyring curiously and Grandpa headed out, shutting the door gently behind him.

Seth had opened a toy chest now and was examining the contents. The toys were old-fashioned but in excellent condition. Soldiers, dolls, puzzles, stuffed animals, wooden blocks, some blocks shaped like logs, and others.

Kendra went to the window, a telescope put before it. She tried to peer through the eyepiece but couldn’t get it to focus right no matter how much she adjusted the knobs.

Pulling away she studied the window, realizing they were made of bubbly glass like the front of the house.

She unfastened the latch, pushing the window open. Even without the telescope she could see far into the forest. She moved the telescope closer and peered through it. After a moment of adjusted the knobs she could see even the leaves of the trees in clear detail.

“Oh, let me see,” Seth said, peering over her shoulder.

“Give me a bit, I just started looking.”

“But I wanna see.”

“Go play with the toys some,” Kendra huffed. “I’ll let you look after I’m done.”

“But sharing is caring,” Seth insisted.

“I said you could look, let me use it first though. I was using it already.”

Seth squinted, “What are you even looking at?”

“The trees.”

“Boring, let me see. I’ll look at something more interesting.”

Kendra rolled her eyes but stepped away, not wanting to deal with his whining.

“Fine but let me close the window. I don’t want bugs to come in.”

“Sure, whatever,” Seth studied the telescope as she closed the window and went off to study the dressers.

They were carved elegantly with fairies and unicorns and fiery birds.

She ran her fingers over the intricate patterns, she wished she had something like this at home.

She shook her head, going to look at the wardrobes, it reminded her of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She wondered if she stepped in would she find a mystical land on the other side.

“This stupid thing won’t even focus,” Seth complained.

Kendra smiled.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to reblog and leave a review, they feed my soul.

What did you think of the room? What changes do you think their foreknowledge will bring? What things did you dislike from the original series that you'd like changed?

lmk if you’d like to be tagged.

#fablehaven #fablehaven fanfic #fablehaven fanfiction #fh fanfic #fh fanfiction #kendra sorenson #seth sorenson #fablekingdom ch. 2 #fablekingdom #fablekingdom ch 2 #bamf!Seth #bamf!Kendra #smart!kendra #smart!seth #grandpa sorenson #grandma sorenson #fk ch 2

[white-rose-week]

Future, Admin List, Day 7

Inspired by a cute artwork by jhdhc. Written with permission. 

Also on Archive of Our Own

Some people, like certain members of team RWBY, might describe Weiss as overly cautious, or stuck-up, or  ‘uptight’. But really, she just preferred an ordered, structured sequence of events. She tended to home in on the details, and have the next part of the sequence on stand-by.

So, one might find it odd, that on a seemingly ordinary day at Beacon, Weiss had one of the most extraordinary experiences in her young life while savoring a few, brief moments in time.

They had been sparring. Ruby’s semblance allowed her to shoot about to and fro, between and above the trees of Forever Fall. Ice shards and waves of fire were narrowly dodged, and when it appeared the attacks had slowed, she pressed a counterattack as quick as she could muster.

After a few cycles of clashing blades trying to get a one-up, it came time to break. Their breaths by then were quick and deep.

“See? The hard work is paying off.” Weiss let her weapon rest at her side, and leaned her back against a tree.

Ruby grinned excitedly. “The Atlas students won’t stand a chance!”

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. You’re still abysmal with hand-to-hand.”

Ruby gawked as they started walking out of the center of the forest. “And you’re any better? I’ve never seen you take a grimm with your bare hands!”

Just as Weiss was about to offer a retort, they were blown back by a sudden series of small explosions.

The air became heated, and crackled as bright, white light violently blinked into existence and knocked them off their feet, back-first into large trees. With all the cracks and blunt force, Weiss almost thought they were under attack.

Caught in a moment without aura, she groaned as they slowly picked themselves up.

When the lights receded, Ruby practically squealed at what they saw. Weiss, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused.  

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Ruby muttered excitedly. “Is this real?”

“Uhm…” Weiss could only gather.

“Uhm is right. What… is this?” The middle one asked,  just as lost.

The tallest one was not as taken aback as her counterparts. She sighed. “Note to self: Don’t tinker with mysterious magical artifacts without a manual.”

Before them stood Weiss. Or, at least two girls that resembled Weiss. One was taller than her. Here ponytail was longer, and she wore a short, glittering dress with a blue gradation and a white sash around the torso. She immediately recognized it. It had been part of a collection of dresses, all expressly approved by her father for presentation. She wouldn’t be caught dead in it, given the choice.

The other was taller than either of them, and her ensemble was more regal to match. The ponytail was replaced by a large braid, and the bangs had disappeared entirely. She had a white strapless dress and a pale sleeveless dress both topped by a deep blue shrug, with belts, and rubied jewelry adorning the head, arms, and ears. At first glance, it seemed like something out of an old story. And that’s not to mention to comparatively generous chest size.

Weiss shook her head incredulously and approached the two girls. “You look like me. Both of you.” She had to look up at both of them, filling her with mixed feelings. “And you’re a little taller.”

The tallest one chuckled. “I’d hope so. No offense, but I couldn’t imagine being stuck at your size.”

“You seem to be taking this rather well.” The middle girl crossed her arms. “Could you maybe fill the rest of us in?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She looked at her counterparts side-by-side, and gave them small grins. “I’m you. From the future. And you’re both me, from my past.”

Weiss uttered some mixture of a scoff and a gasp. “I’m supposed to believe you came here by what, time travel, like some poorly written comic book? T-there’s no such thing!”

Middle Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. “You always wanted bunkbeds as a kid. But Winter wasn’t around, Whitley ignored you, and father disliked them. You’d resort to looking at them in catalogs.”

Before she could respond, future Weiss piped in. “You never really liked Neptune. You just thought he was a refreshing change of pace from the boys’ population at Beacon. You should have asked-”

Then, as if ignoring the ousting of some of Weiss’s deeply held truths, Ruby surged forward with a twinkle in her eye to face the tallest girl, forcing Weiss to side-step to make room to avoid collision.  

“Oh my gosh. Weiss! You look so awesome in this outfit!”

Future Weiss returned Ruby’s beaming smile. “Thank you, Ruby. That means a lot coming from you.”

Somehow, the twinkle in Ruby’s eye grew even larger. “Does it really?”

The Weisses all responded.

“It does.”

“I believe it does.”

“I suppose it does.”

Ruby let out the squeal from earlier. “Does that mean we’re still BFFs in your time?”

“I-I never-” Weiss tried to get out.

“BFFs?” Future Weiss repeated, nostalgically. It rolled off her tongue with ease, as if slicing through the concept as easily as butter. “Well, that’s not the term I’d use for my Ruby.”

When the younger girl’s face visibly fell, Future Weiss put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Try not to worry about it much. I can promise you; I wouldn’t trade her for anything.”

She gazed out into the distance, before looking back into her younger partner’s eyes. “Really, the whole team feels more like family than ever.”

“Family?” Weiss mulled the word over quietly to herself.

“I don’t know exactly what you’ve been through.” Middle Weiss confided in her older self. “But I think I know what you mean, by family.”

They nodded to one-another, in a moment of understanding.

Future Weiss turned to her youngest self. “And you, Princess,” she addressed. “Gods, it really is early on for you.”

“P-princess? I’m not taking that! Especially from myself!”

“I think you deserve it,” Middle Weiss agreed.

Weiss looked back to her future self, but noticed her expression was becoming something more akin to a sad sympathy.

“What month is it?”

She had to process the question for a second, caught off guard by the sentimentality. “April.”

The eldest’s eyes widened, and she finally took a moment to survey their surroundings. Meters away, there were displaced branches and burnt and marred trunks.

“You’re practicing for the tournament,” she realized.

“Yep,” Ruby confirmed. “Those Atlas students don’t stand a chance.”

“In Forever Fall.” Future Weiss closed her eyes, and, rubbed her temple. “I don’t remember this?” Confused, she turned to Middle Weiss. “Do you?”

Middle Weiss took in the surroundings for herself, running her fingers along  the bark of a nearby tree. “I remember training in the forest from time to time. With Ruby, even. But not all this.”

“But the festival is getting closer. Which means, that night is, too.”

“What night?” The reference was lost on Weiss and her partner.

“Would we really have forgotten something like this?” The older versions weren’t paying the other as much mind.

“I couldn’t have. Not then.”

Hey!” Weiss yelled at her others. “What are you talking about?”

Future Weiss took a moment to ponder, then sighed. “Look, I don’t want you stressing over anything before the time comes.” She crossed her own arms. “Let’s just say, life is going to get harder, in a lot of ways. But your friends – your family – are there to help you through it.” Her gaze quickly settled on Ruby, and her smile returned. “Especially your partner.”

“I’ll say. Middle Weiss stood beside her elder. “It’s been… chaotic, to say the least. With everything I’ve had to accept, this isn’t even the craziest thing.”

“How long have you known everything?”

“A few weeks. But I’m glad to have Ruby with me. She makes it easier.”

“Just make sure you return the favor.”

As they conversed, Weiss looked at them. Supposedly, they’d both been through some tough time she’d yet to encounter. But for all of the struggle and chaos, somehow, they also seemed well off. Her oldest self almost seemed as content as could be.

She spoke up at them. “You both say these things about a difficult future. But everything else – the family, the friends, Ruby – sounds nice.”

“Aww!” Ruby latched onto her partner, wrapping her arms around Weiss’s neck, and hugging tight. “I think you’re great too, Snowflake. And hey, sounds like we have an adventure ahead of us, right?”

“One filled with chaos, supposedly.”

Both older Weisses smile brightly at the sight. “Ok, I would definitely remember this.”

Right then, the air became heated once more, and white light started to crackle around them. The static was slow initially, but gradually sped up.

“I think we know what this is,” Future Weiss got in first. “It’s time.”

Weiss nodded. “Now that I know how things are, I do kind of wish we had time for more questions.”

“You’ll be fine. Just have faith, Princess.”

She groaned at the teasing.

Before they could explode away, Middle Weiss made a last-ditch effort to get some insight. “H-hey, me. I’ve just got one question.”

“Hmm?”

“Earlier, you said Ruby was something other than a best friend.” For the first time that entire exchange, her tone was one of a clear hope. “If that’s true, then have we-”

“Nope.”

“What? You didn’t even-”

“I don’t have to. I know what you want to know, because I thought about it all the time, when I was you. I still do actually.”

The hope in Middle Weiss deflated. “So, we haven’t? Not once?”

Future Weiss managed a smirk that was simultaneously smug and coy. “Not on the lips. But honestly, it’s ok. We’re waiting for the perfect moment. And trust me, I think it’ll be worth the wait.”

“Oh!”

Middle Weiss sounded excited when they finally blinked out of existence, back to their own times. The departure left a gentle quiet in its wake, with the whistling of the wind and brushing of vegetation filling the void.

The last few seconds of the conversation had left Weiss with a pink flush creeping along her face, and having Ruby still hanging on didn’t make it any easier to hide.

Eventually, she broke the quiet by asking a question off the top of her head.

“If this is like one of your comics, we’re about to forget all of that.” She still hadn’t tried to look Ruby in the eye. “How long do you think we’ll be able to remember?”

Ruby hummed softly, wondering. “I don’t know. But if that’s how it’s gonna be…” She pulled Weiss by the chin so that they were face to face. They could feel each the tantalizing warmth of each other’s breath. “What was that she said about lips?”

#wrw2020 #white rose week #rwby #white rose #whiterose #day 7 #fiction #submission

[comicteaparty]

April 20th-April 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from April 20th, 2020 to April 26th, 2020.  The chat focused on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham~! (http://oiydcomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until April 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

5. I like how distinctive the character designs are! The mcs are both very unique and recognizable

8. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also explores some real neat concepts

the story is full of personality

carcarchu

the comic's not loading for me shakes fist at wifi, gonna try again tomorrow but i just wanted to say the look of the site is really cute!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Got the chance to read it So here are some of my thoughts: 1. I like the romantic atmosphere that the comic starts off with warm colours and it gives a vacation ad sensation? 2. My favourite moment is in the pink strange dream world, the colours contrast to the reality of Cara. 4. Fave moment: When that mystery guy shows up and he had corny lines like a romantic parody. It seem so fantastical. 5. I like the colour palette choice of brown tones, shades of pinks. 6. I think the theme is about expectations (it's not clear atm), how Cara is distancing from real relationships and prefer to indulge. 7: I like how the creator shows Cara looking scared of confronting things. It sets an interesting tone of uncertainty. Is she hiding something?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm super curious about the situation of Cara not remembering her past dreams with Richie, and how that ties into the theme.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

1. I like how I don’t know what to expect. I also like how the premise is relateable; the idea that you are scared of imperfection making you have high standards in life hit close. 2) Every single time we’re treated to....Tuyetnhi’s lovely use of expression. Also the end part of episode 2, because that’s when I realized it’s going to get dark. 3) A tie between Ana and Richie. Ana because she makes me laugh with her blunt assertions (which...aren’t wrong) and Richie because he’s so flamboyant and extra. I love how much personality they all have. 4) Hands down Richie and Cara. They have a really hilarious dynamic going on. 6) The idea that people seek perfection through their dreams instead of facing reality. Also I really liked how it tackles society’s fixation on everyone to find someone....maybe Cara doesn’t need that and needs to focus on herself first? 7) That I won’t know what to expect. I came into this thinking it was going to be a classic romcom, and then I get hit with implicit horror and trippyness. I have a feeling Tuyetnhi is hinting at some darker aspects of the story we have yet to see. 8) Good lord the expressions. They really do the story justice and make me turn the page every time. Also the colours are beautiful.(edited)

(Whoops sorry keiiii)

7) two moments actually!

The fact that their wide eyed sweaty expressions matched made me laugh really hard

And also Cara’s quick acceptance of the situation was so unexpected and hilarious I took a double take. Also props to the colour dissonance; that looks like meme material right there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah. I want to make it clear that Cara is like "This is really not my day." lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Well....you portrayed that sentiment perfectly

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Omg yes the wide eyed expressions were also making me laugh! Well that was an expression I didn't expect coming into the story(edited)

I was wondering if that was suppose to be serious or humorous?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

both LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I see the horror you got going there Tuyetnhi Reminds me of...I dunno Jojo?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

well............ yes and no lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen

Although...if we’re going by the silhouette....is she scared of herself?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

C:

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like that sense of not knowing what's happening? :)(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that will be coming up in Ch. 3 soon

so please wait till then thank u lol

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So far it's tough to choose a fave character right now since I feel the story has just started its first segment. I would like to wait until more content is shown before I can make a firm choice? (I'm analytical, I like to go over OCs flaws and strengths once I know more about them)(edited)

I'm curious to learn about her ex crush, since we only get a glimpse of how Cara precieve him. But what is Dean really like? *Drum rolls(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

you got.... good questions

it will be rewarded.... later on LOL

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked the colors and island vibe. And this was even before Animal Crossing came out and I started hardcore living that island life I just love a good, soft pink to purple gradient generally speaking so the opening of the story was like falling into a comfy brain pillow for me. 2-4 I'm just gonna answer these ones kind of all together because they thoughts on then are all kind of threaded together into one big thought. After having read through the archive I really liked the scene with Ana and Cara. When I first read it I was like "dang, she's giving Cara such a hard time," but after having read the scenes where Cara just refused to admit to Richie she doesn't know what's going on I really retroactively appreciated Ana's willingness to call Cara on her bullshit XD I think it's a really good foil trait to have for a protagonist who seems dead set on avoiding confrontation even though it seems like doing so is most likely just gonna come back to bite her later. I imagine we aren't going to see Ana for a while though unless Cara is able to use her Phone A Friend card in the dream realm XD I am also looking forward to seeing more of the Cara doppelganger and how she and Cara interact with each other going forward. That feels like an exciting and drama filled mystery

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I also love the atmosphere. The color choices are just so beautiful. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? Ana pointing out Cara's BS hahahaha. 3. Who is your favorite character? Definitely Ana. She's so down-to-earth from what I can tell, someone I'd want to be friends with. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Probably Ana and Cara. I like to see good friendships depicted, especially in a romance. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! In general, everything is so soft and pretty. I also really appreciate the fact that all the characters have larger noses. If I had a favorite panel, it would be at the beginning, the sunset beach waves. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? So far, I'm not sure about themes, but I like the talk about the pressure parents give to their children to get married. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? There's a lot of mystery, so I'm looking forward to learning about Cara's dreams, Richie, and the key. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? The visuals are really nice. I can't stop gushing about the color choices and the pretty atmosphere.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

The way Cronaj sums up their thoughts on OiYD, I'm agreeing with the statement on Ana and Cara! Esp friendship part

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll answer the questions hopefully later this week, but this song reminded me of the comic!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z5ecLCvSQ(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

@Deo101 [Millennium] damn that’s a good song

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oooo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

He's definitely hot and extra

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

My joke idea is that Cara is secretly in a reality show starring Richie and her and the bonds they play out is meant for a live broadcast. But she's clearly not agreeing to this(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god. i don't think that's good for Cara's mental state lmao

Feather J. Fern

Also I have to say, I do love how the first cover is literally Cara being the meme of "Oh no he's hot"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

fjdkalfdjdklfj

Feather J. Fern

Also I finally started it, while a bit late, I have to relate to Cara being an accountant.

Also I think my favourite panel is "Welp that worked"

Also I have to appreciate picking a pink that doesn't grate on the eyes.

https://gyazo.com/71fe22ea6ac2ebf6b3d85531c66bf8ed Another really good panel

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I enjoyed making that one LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

that face is one of my favourites not gonna lie

Feather J. Fern

I really like the surrealness of the story, can't wait to see what happens next

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same! I feel like something is about to happen

I'm also wondering how Richie would react to the real world

like....the ex. And her parents.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

soon™️

Feather J. Fern

More like everyone reacting to Richie XD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah pretty much

Like can Richie handle the world?

More like

Can the world handle RICHIE

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning really contrasts the dream and Cara's reality pretty quickly. I kind of feel it catches that feeling of coming out of a dream to face reality which kind of sucks, and also plays into the themes of dream vs. reality and expectation vs. reality. It's very easy to idealize things, whether as a route of escapism or just because it sounds appealing. But the reality of things generally is always different, and I like that we're seeing this full force in the comic through Cara's perspective. And the contrasts between the two really enhance those topics. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably when Cara meets what I assume is Dean. Cause I really loved that both parties were kind of at fault, and I also liked how quickly that convo devolved into a grumpfest, because that felt very realistic. My favorite character right now is definitely Richie, because he is ridiculous and sympathetic at the same time. I adore his exaggerated personality, while at the same time feel sorry for him since for him the memories are clearly there and like...I would not want to be in the shoes of someone where the person they loved no longer remembered them. As for character interacting the most, Cara and Richie because that entire premise of one person remembering and the other not makes for a really tense and awkward situation. It's hard to tell where it's going to go. What I like about the art is the palettes of color chosen, since there's some beautiful scenery as well as fantastic contrasts when needed to make certain moments pop (like dream vs. reality).

As for the story content, what I actually like the most is that Cara is a flawed protagonist. I've read a lot of stories where the protagonist is always 100% right in the relationship and is just eternally the victim because society pressure. But Cara has a lot more going on, since she's clearly been at fault in some interactions, and while we can sympathize with people pressuring her into relationships, she also maybe takes it too far by being avoidant of basically every relationship. However, since she has these traits, I'm more invested into her personal dilemmas since she'll actually make mistakes when dealing with stuff. Which I think this is the overall strength of the comic. Cara is just a damn good protagonist who is easily likeable but isn't perfect and whose imperfections are not just brushed off so easily.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

;_; .... thank you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love the story so far! When I first started, I figured it would be some sort of awkward story where Richie comes into the real world and he has to figure out how to, like, act natural, and hilarity ensues. But holy cow, Cara losing her memories, and the slide into somewhat of a horror angle - it's not something I expected (though admittedly I could have read the synopsis lol), but it's definitely something I like!(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think the people around Cara were right to try and pressure her into a relationship? Overall, what do you think the comic has to say about relationships and the themes regarding relationship pressure?

10. Is what Cara experiencing dream or reality, and where is the line between them in this case? Additionally, why do you think her dreams have the potential to become reality as opposed to other people? Also, what is the overall message underlying these themes?

11. Is Richie really just a dream Cara dreamt up, or is there something more to him? If he somehow makes it to Cara’s world, do you think he’ll be able to adjust to that reality? Also, can he win Cara over?

12. What do you think the Cara imposter is about, and what does this have to do with the entire situation? Do you think Cara will eventually remember her dreams? Lastly, what do you think Cara has in store for her as the story continues?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

9. I personally don’t think it was great of the people in Cara’s life to pressure her like that. Sure, they mean well, but it’s most likely bringing Cara’s self esteem down by a lot. I have a feeling that her dreams/reality colliding together is partially motivated by that; the pressure of pleasing society has made her....subconsciously take drastic measures?

10. I’m actually not sure! Maybe there’s a supernatural explanation to it, or it could all just be a dream. Dreams have a way of showing a person’s innermost desires or fears, so maybe Cara’s desires and fears are coming alive in response to external stress factors. So perhaps she opened a portal of sorts between the realms in some way (there’s a key!!!!).

11. Oh I’m thinking they might end up together. But the realist inside me thinks...perhaps what Cara needs isn’t romantic love, but more independent love and being able to love herself. What DOES worry me, however, is the fact that Richie seems...a bit desperate for Cara to like him. Is there a condition to his love after all? If so, that means that it’s possible he’s forced in some way to love her or make her love him. And that’s not really conducive to romance, is it?

12. Ah...the thing that makes me mystified the most. Cara seems to have a negative view of herself, since she told her to get out in the end of chapter two. However, Cara #2 seems to be pretty helpful; knocking on the door to tell her to get out of the house (which Richie has her in), so in a way letting her out. While our Cara seems to dislike her a lot, I think the key to the story would be our Cara needing to accept this double Cara to be really free. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t! But from what I can see from the story and like I’ve said earlier...maybe Cara needs to be able to find love within herself. Love for that Cara double, and enough love to become independent and not bend to society’s overwhelming pressure for outside romance. I hope she finds that as the story comes along, and know that it’s okay to not be ready for love.

As for Richie...hmm. He’s dealing with an amnesiac heroine, and adjusting to the real world. I’m sure it’s going to lead to some hilarious hijinks, but hopefully he can manage! He seems up to the task

RebelVampire

I think whether people were right to pressure Cara is a tricky gray area. On the one hand, no, they were wrong. Nobody should be forced into a relationship. But on the other hand, if you know a person is actively self-sabotaging, isn't it more correct to speak up? So to me this is maybe a situation of good intentions with bad execution. However, I do think overall the comic does say pressuring people into relationships sucks and plz don't do that cause that's how you make ppl run further away. I think it's both, because a dream is reality in a sense. I think many of us have had dreams that caused real emotional affects, whether negative or positive. So the line between them is merely the fact effects are limited. Cara have may have just found a way to cross that line and make a dream a tangible thing that has more consequences. As for why her dreams, I don't know. Maybe she's just super good at dreaming. I do think as the overall message though is that dreams are good but not when we get lost in them, because then we idealize and reject "reality" in ways that aren't healthy. I do think Richie is primarily something Cara dreamt up, but kind of not maybe. Like sure maybe Cara is idea creator, but something else was involved in making the physical reality of that idea. As for Richie adjusting to Cara's world, I'm sure it will be laughably hilarious. I do think he can sort of win Cara over, at least in the sense of being friends. Cause how can you hate Richie? I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying Cara imposter is the embodiment of Cara's missing memories but since they're just memories, all they can do is imitate. As for Cara remembering, I feel like it will be yes but I kind of want it to be no. I like the idea of them having to reform a relationship entire from scratch.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oo good impressions! I wish I have more to say but it would affect the story LOL. Enjoyed reading everyone's theories tho!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ok my turn, let's see what my head theories are: 9: I felt the same annoyance as Cara but it's a mixed feeling, Even though, people shouldn't pressure a lady on her love life, she also has a problem with being in relationships. Or I remember one quote from the story was how she 'ditched her dates by rushing to the bathroom.' although I don't know her circumstance, I do know she has issues to settle too. Relationship pressure is real, especially as a young person grows older. 10. From the comic visuals, it feels much like it's her escapism dream. The only clue I got, is that her holding a literal 'key' connecting both worlds, is evidence that both world could collide. So far, we haven't seen other people's dreams, or whether this is an unusual occurrence in the world? It seems to be a message about idealistic relationships. Since Cara seem to turn away real ones, it manifested? 11. I'm curious about Richie's character too. He seems like a powerful imagination, enough to sway the lead, so he's more than a simple figment. I wonder if his submissive, flirtatious (?) personality was build in him. He doesn't seem to have a 'life' outside his dream house, or so far. 12. I'm not sure whether the 'Other Cara' might be trying to help her or is that.. actually a shadow side? I don't want to say too much, but it's interesting to see where the story goes.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh! You make a good point about Richie; I never thought about that! Do you think maybe he's simply a part of Cara and eventually gains his own sentience/personality?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hehe I like analyzing dreams :3 In dream theory, I feel he could be? I was more skeptical whether he should be treated as a real character or something else.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

man this does make me want to look up dream psychology

i have a feeling...Tuyetnhi is using some theories from that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Hmmmm dream psychology you say?

I guess you can say there's some elements of that, but it's not a major chunk of it if that makes sense lol

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

13. Maintaining the will power to finish OIYD! so I can see it as its end lmao. As a passion project but also something that I want to invest in when I have the time, I hope ya'll looking forward in reading Ch. 3 very soon lol.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

13. I really want to see how both Cara and Richie will develop as characters. Whether Cara will figure out for herself what being both independent means....and whether she does want a relationship for herself and not for other people. Likewise with Richie, I want to see if he'll be able to be his own person...and whether he's real or not. I have a lot of questions that I want to be answered, and I can't wait to keep reading.

14. Tuyetnhi, good luck on the webcomic. It's hard to start one and even harder to pull off a good one, and I know yours is a good one. I really look forward to reading more from you. You're amazing (edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

thank you

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

13. I'm interested in learning more about Cara's conflicts, why she is hesitant about having a real relationship vs her dream one? I love the unexpected dark twist that the story seems to be going. 14. I want to say, no pressure and take your time to complete the chapter. Just know you have my support and willing to read when it is ready. Good luck

RebelVampire

I'm looking forward to more Richie being Richie. Because he is an adorable person. And also because I'm waiting for some 'reality' culture shock. My final words are that this comic has a strong themes game going on and an intriguing premise, so it'll be fun to see where the comic is in a few more chapters since I'm pretty sure we're in for a wild ride.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Only In Your Dreams! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Tuyetnhi Pham for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Only In Your Dreams!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://oiydcomic.com/

Tuyetnhi’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oiydcomic

Tuyetnhi’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tuyetnhip

Tuyetnhi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuyetnhip

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #only in your dreams #only in your dreams! #tuyetnhi pham

[kittysukagasterfics]

Haunted By The Past

Note: Told you the angst train wasn’t at a full stop yet. Also sorry if some of the information is a bit off, I’m mostly going from what we currently know from the comics. So if I get some things wrong, do not be afraid to correct me and I will fix them! Anyway, onto the fic!

Handplates belongs to: @zarla-s

Requested by @clotildesstuff

Summary: This is Part 1 of Gaster’s and the Human’s Backstories. After finding a picture of Gaster as a young adult, the Human wants to learn more about his past. Will this lead to questions about the Human’s own past?

    “*You ask Gaster where he wants this box.”

    “Just over there, Human.”

     The Human huffed as they picked up the heavy box of papers and carried it over to the corner. Placing it down, they walked back over to the pile of boxes. Gaster had asked them to help clean up and organized his office. They were more than happy to help him since the brothers were currently taking a nap. There were lots of papers regarding research and construction of the Core. They would sometimes get nosy and read through them. Gaster had obviously put his entire SOUL into his work by the looks of it.

     They had just placed the second box down when they suddenly heard a thud and a yelp from Gaster. Turning around quickly, the Human saw that he had accidentally tripped over a box face first. They gave a snort and quickly tried to stifle their laugh but, it didn’t work. Gaster glared at them as he got up from the floor while they doubled over in laughter. Using blue magic on their SOUL, he shoved them backwards a little over another box.

    “*You let out a shriek as you fall backwards.” ‘*You knock over a pile of papers on your way down.’

     Gaster let out a chuckle and walked over to the Human to help them up. The two of them began to pick up the fallen papers. Shifting through the papers, the Human noticed an old-looking photograph mixed in. It seemed to be a picture of Gaster. He still had on his usual white lab coat, but a completely different shirt on. Gaster also had a red scarf on and held a certificate in his hands. Asgore and Toriel stood behind him, smiling. The Human also noticed that Gaster seemed genuinely happy in the photo. They showed it to the skeleton to ask about it.

    “You ask him when the photograph was taken.” ‘*He takes it from you and just stares at it before speaking.’

    “...I believe this was taken when I was around your age, Human. When I was a young adult.”

     The Human started cooing at how cute he looked in the photo, much to his embarrassment. Their face then turned serious as they looked towards him.

    “*You ask Gaster if, at this point in his and your relationship, he’s ready to tell you more about his past.”

     He looked up in surprise at them before quickly facing away. He knew there’s was no point in keeping anything from the Human, especially when he was practically their soulmate now. Letting out a long sigh, Gaster turned to face them.

    “Alright, Human. Since you’re that interested, I suppose I’ll finally tell you about my past. But only on one condition...”

    They nodded and asked what the condition was, only for Gaster to say he’ll tell them after his story. The Human remained quiet as he began speaking:

    “Let’s see...where to begin first of all-”

     The Human suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

    “*You tell Gaster you want to ask him a question before he starts.” ‘*He nods at you.’

     They then asked him if there was anything he liked about the surface. Gaster thought about it for a minute before answering.

    “...I enjoyed the rain. As a child, it allowed me to be carefree and unburdened. I would go outside with an umbrella and just walk. I forget now how long those walks actually lasted though.”

     The Human nodded at his answer with content and Gaster got back on track with his story:

    “Since childhood, I’ve been interested in the wonders of science. I wanted to  become a scientist and help many people. My parents...didn’t exactly share the same enthusiasm as me...”

   ‘A young skeleton child dressed in stripes laid on the floor, eyes never faltering from the science book he was reading. His eye sockets seemed to sparkle with excitement at each wall of text he read. Just as the child was about turn the page, he and his book was suddenly picked up by blue magic. An older voice scolding him for staying up so late. The skeleton desperately tried to protest but he was only scolded more by his parents. That night he had a nightmare, but he just went back to sleep after calming himself down.’

     Gaster took a sip of his coffee the Human had gotten from their dimensional box. They were listening intently to the story so far. The Human was already imagining what a child Gaster looked like and the thought was adorable. They wanted to see some photos of him as a baby but were told all his baby and childhood photos were turned to ash when the humans burned down their homes during the War. After that small break, he continued:

    “Although my parents were never that compassionate with me, Toriel was a different story...”

     ‘The child walked along the corridor reading and not paying attention to his surroundings. A young goat lady giggled as she peeked around the corner at the skeleton. The lady went up behind him and grabbed the child, who immediately dropped his book and began flailing around in shock. The goat lady started to tickle the poor skeleton while teasing him. The skeleton, though, just yelled and freaked out. The goat lady stopped abruptly upon hearing the reaction. She hid her face in her paws bashfully as she apologized and explained herself to the confused child.’

     The Human giggled quietly as Gaster finished speaking. He never reacted like that whenever they tickled him. Maybe he got used to it as time went on. They felt like asking him about his bad eye but restrained themselves from doing so. Gaster ignored their giggles as he took another sip of coffee.

    “That’s all there really is to when I was a child, so I guess I should move on to my teenage years or as I should say...the time of the War.”

     The Human stopped giggling upon hearing that as Gaster continued speaking:

    “When I think about the War, all I can think about is fire, dust, and blood. There was death happening left and right. Many deaths from both sides. I...I even killed a human trying to protect my king.”

     ‘The now older but still in stripes skeleton gasped as he ran behind the rocks, tripping over himself in the process. He could still hear the screams of both sides as they were killed/dusted. He could make out Toriel yelling something out to Asgore but couldn’t hear the exact words. Suddenly, he saw Asgore get cornered by two murderous humans. His bones rattled loudly in fright. In an act of desperation, he grabbed one of the human with his blue magic. Lifting the human high in the air, he used a set of magic hands to grab their sword they had dropped and pointed it upwards. He brought the human down hard, impaling and killing them on the spot. The second human stared at their now dead friend with pure horror in their eyes before running off past Asgore. The skeleton stared at his hand in shock as he slowly realized what he had just done. His king ran over to the skeleton to comfort him but before he could, arrows started raining down so he guided the traumatized teen to safety instead.’

     Gaster sighed as he refused anymore coffee from the Human. He went on saying that human were ultimately the victors of the War and banished all remaining monsters to the Underground. The Human had nothing to say as Gaster finished up the rest of this part of the story:

    “Even though everyone had lost hope that day, we made it work. We built up our own society and when I officially became a Royal scientist, I even brought limitless power to everyone with the help of the Core. I was so excited by my idea when I told Asgore and Toriel.”

     ‘The teen signed with passion as he told his king and queen about his latest breakthrough. The larger of the two goats chuckled as he tried to get him to calm down. His wife only smiled and listened with great interest. His eye sockets had began glowing green, unbeknownst to the skeleton. He only found out when the royal couple began to talk about, a nostalgic feeling washing over the two at the sight of it. The teen became embarrassed as he started to apologize while his eyes glowed pink. The two goats tried to reassure him and get him to finish talking about his breakthrough.’

     Gaster began to grow worried as he finished the teen stage of his life. The Human still remained silent, not even asking questions anymore. He tried to ask them what was wrong but they just told him to finish with his story. He reluctantly did as he told the last part of his backstory:

   “Everything went fine for the rest of my teenage years. When I was a young adult, however, Asgore and Toriel had some news for me that I...didn’t quite take too well.”

    ‘The now young adult skeleton signed passionately as he told of his latest invention to help his king and queen. He explained how it would help them water the royal garden. The catch however, was that the two royal goats would have to solve a challenging puzzle before they could access it. The king nervously chuckled as he praised the skeleton. The queen on the other hand told of how the skeleton could improve his button puzzle. A riddle was suggested and a perfect riddle it was thought to be by the young scientist. The goat lady then was reminded of something that she and her husband had been wanting to tell him. He was listening. The queen announced that she and the king had been thinking about having a child. The scientist went silent at the news. Having a baby would mean giving up a monster’s mortality and he told this to his majesty. The two goats started to respond but the skeleton quickly excused himself and left in a hurry. He tried not to cry as he laid curled up in the grass.’

     Gaster was really worried now. The Human refused to talk even when they were asked to. They would just give him a blank, unreadable expression. Maybe they’ll react to the next part of the story:

    “A few years after the prince was born, a human child fell into the Underground. Even though I didn’t think it was a good idea, Asgore was so sure that the child would help bring peace between monsters and humans...then there was a terrible tragedy...”

    ‘The skeleton stood a little ways away from his king as the goat made his speech. He was still in shock over the last events. Both of the royal children were dead. There was no way to sugarcoat it. The human had gotten sick from eating the flowers and didn’t make it. According to witnesses, the young prince had absorbed their SOUL in order to pass the Barrier. He had apparently wanted to bury the human in a garden of their favorite flower. Other humans misunderstood and thought the young goat had murdered the child. They started to attack. He didn’t even try to defend himself. Once he got back to the Underground, he collapsed and was reduced to dust. The skeleton had never seen the king so full of rage. He no longer believed humans and monsters could live peacefully and made an announcement that any human that fell into the Underground would be killed and their SOUL taken. Later, when the skeleton went to go see the Queen, he found that she had ran off. Nobody knew where she went.’

     Gaster went on saying things changed drastically after Toriel left. Asgore was left broken after that and over the years, collected human SOULs. He started to tell the Human how much danger they were in but quickly changed his mind. He told about how he met Alphys during a trip to the Dump, punched holes into his hands to make the brothers, and finally how he met them. With his whole story now coming to a close, Gaster was now able to find out what was wrong with the Human.

    “Human, why did you go quiet all of a sudden?”

    “*You tell Gaster you’re sorry...”

     He gave them a confused look.

    “What do you mean ‘you’re sorry’? What did you teach the Subjects this tim-”

    “*You tell him you’re sorry for what your kind has done to his loved ones.”

     Gaster just stared at the Human. He had no idea why they were apologizing for what their kind had done in the past. Did they not know they’re not the cause of it? Gaster placed a reassuring hand on the Human’s head.

    “Human, you are not to blame for what has happen to me and every other monster. You are not the one who should be apologizing for the atrocities that were committed. You weren’t even born when the War happened.”

     The Human started to say something but Gaster interrupted them.

    “Unlike other humans I’ve met, you actually put in a lot of effort to gain my trust and, in a sense, romanced me. Now, I don’t want to hear you blaming yourself for anything I just told you again. Do you understand me, Human?”

     The Human smiled and nodded at him. Happy with the information they were given, they were now ready for whatever condition Gaster’s going to subject them to.

    “*You ask Gaster what his condition is.”

Note: Mwhaha! A cliffhanger! I’m so evil! >:) Wonder what Gaster’s condition will be? ...Well, maybe you can already guess. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! I love all of you! Stay tuned for more.

#undertale #handplates #gaster #the human #sans #papyrus #toby #my fic #ukagaster #request

[smuthuttpodcast]

I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories.

Name/Handle/Alias

BonnieSwims (Twitter & AO3)

About how long would you say you’ve been rooting for Reylo?

I've been rooting for them since mid 2016. I REALLY started reading a large amount of fan fiction after seeing The Last Jedi. I am not sure if I read stories on AO3 before The Last Jedi, if I did, I started reading in mid 2016.

What did you think of the way Rise of Skywalker handled Rey and Kylo’s relationship?

I do not think it got enough screen time. The time consuming scavenger hunt with Poe & Finn, only having Kylo & Rey cross swords...all would have been forgiven IF Ben Solo lived or, if he HAD to die, if there was more screentime of redeemed Ben Solo AND Rey told others of Ben Solo, grieved his death, took Solo name, and ended up somewhere green.

Do you think the film understood why you, and other people, felt like Rey and Kylo had something together? Did it get their chemistry?

Given the acting between Ridley & Driver, I do believe the film makers understood the chemistry between Rey & Kylo. I also believe they FAILED to see how Kylo could become Ben Solo again and deserved to live. They did not acknowledge how his connection to Rey & her influence on him made Kylo believe that Rey trusted him and wanted a better life for him. Instead they went with "let's have them fight at every chance." It is true he was enraged at the end of TLJ but that feeling was from his perceived abandonment by Rey. Plus, TROS takes place a year later. The rage would lessen somewhat I imagine or if the rage against Rey was still so high, Kylo would have been MORE terrifying and just straight up kill Rey early in the movie. They did not understand Rey also insisted Ben do this for himself not for his mother, Rey, or Han or for power. That is why he was so upset that she did not take his hand when he offered. (The TROS story did get the "i wanted to take Ben's hand" correct.) There was also the strange scene of Rey looking happily at children. Was it an attempt to foreshadow a family with Ben? That's what it seemed like they were telling the audience but then at the end of the movie, I was left with thinking maybe Rey is now going to have two lovers and create a family with Finn & Poe. 

What about the handling of Kylo’s redemption? Was it something you had to think through in your stories? 

I have read MANY pieces of fan fiction on AO3, listened to Girls with Sabers & What the Force podcasts which seemed to focus on comparing Star Wars to works of great literature & myths, how Star Wars incorporates the Hero's & Heroine's Journey, and aspects of filmmaking. Given all the marketing with #ReyandKylo , #KyloandRey, the comics emphasizing the verbal (psychological) & physical abuse of Kylo, the comics showing how Ben Solo may not be responsible for the destruction of the Jedi Academy, the comics foreshadowing how Ben could survive being thrown off a cliff, the videos of little BB Ben Solo or Rolly Ben Solo (that never aired) and other items, it really seemed like the story was leading up to Bendemption. They did have Ben Solo redeem himself. I do think they had NO IDEA how to present Ben Solo to the Resistance after Palpatine is killed by Rey & Ben. They could not figure a way to do that so they just killed him off. I have read some great or good pieces of fan fiction that incorporate a trial of Ben Solo into their stories. Many were done well with Poe, Finn, & Rey coming to the defense of Ben because he helps them end the First Order. One story has Ben banished to a deserted planet for a year or two, then at the end he rejoined society where Rey was waiting for him. One has a trial that ended with a sentence of rehabilitation/probation where Rey might be the person in charge of controlling Ben. Other fics had it where Kylo is dismantling the FO from within so the Resistance can defeat them. Others have the First Order request an armistice. Another storyline I have read decided that since Ben saved the galaxy with Rey & he is Leia’s kid, he is pretty much absolved of his crimes since he will always have to atone for and live with the guilt of killing his father. The scene with Han in TROS was a great scene & did go a long way to Ben being redeemed and forgiven for his worst crime. The stabbing of Kylo, Rey’s healing of Kylo, & his tossing his saber was a great part of the movie and a good redemption arc. So that was good. Where the story lacked was the decision that Ben Solo still did not do enough so he needs to die. That was the mistake they made. They could have redeemed Ben & had him even start atoning for his crimes in the smallest way before the credits rolled IF they had a different plot than the LONG scavenger hunt.

Regarding stories after TROS, I have mainly read ‘fix-it” stories that are WIPs. The newest stories have Ben alive where he & Rey fly back to the Resistance where Rey has to protect Ben from being killed. He may be in a holding cell and discussions begin on what to do with Ben Solo. Those stories are pulling on the heart strings of “What would Leia want us to do with her only child?” and so far are resulting in sympathy for the fate of Ben Solo. I have read others that are basically have Rey telling the resistance that he can’t die or she will too or Rey is protecting Ben.

What did you think of where Rey landed at the end? There had been a lot of excitement around Star Wars having a female protagonist. Do you think she lived up to the promise of her character?

I did not like the ending. She was alone on a desert planet at a house where Luke's relatives were burned alive. She did not get a family. Well sure, she knows she is a Palpatine but from the beginning with TFA, I always felt like she wanted people around her that she was related to or had the capacity to help her create her own family. I did not like how the costume & hair reinforced Rey as a child virgin. That is where she was at the beginning of TFA. At the end of TLJ, her hair in not in her childhood style, she is wearing more 'earthy' colors showing character growth. Then with TROS, Rey regressed BACK to her childhood hairstyle and went to virginal white to show she is a 'good girl in white" and also a virgin. So she did not grow, in fact, she regressed. Her ending does not come off as the hero in white. She appears as the pure woman untainted by desire or love solely focused on protecting the galaxy. Additionally, she must be a robot because she was serene and happy as she flew away from Ben’s death. She was elated to see her Resistance friends. She was also so happy to be alone with BB-8 on a desert planet where the Skywalker Family has faced a lot of sadness. SUCH A HAPPY ENDING WITH SO MUCH HOPE. Wow, that is a lonely job for a scavenger that just wanted a family. So, girls, don't lose sight of your purity and you can be a hero if you are willing to bear the weight of that role only on your shoulders because you will have to do this alone. So Rey did not grow as a character and she did not get a family (unless you count her stealing the Skywalker family name but still alone because the last Skywalker died.) 

There’s criticism of the movie that argues it’s akin to “fan fiction” and that is has too much fan service. As fans and fan-fiction writers, how do you react to that?

I have read many excellent stories that are fan fiction for Star Wars. The best fan fiction are stories that are planned, follow a plot structure, have a writer that RESEARCHED the characters, planets and ideas they were incorporating . TROS was not as good as the best fanfiction out there. It is very disappointing that some people and critics are excusing TROS by saying it is fan fiction. I disagree with that. If "fan service" means throw as many planets as we can into the story, add random things that are never fleshed out in the story, have a movie full of action with too many quick cuts with a lack of dialogue, and add a bunch of ships from the larger SW universe, then yes, the movie was fan service. What happened with just making a good movie? A good movie would have been acceptable. A great movie would have been wonderful. We were given a mess of movie that killed off THE LAST SKYWALKER (Ben) with no acknowledgement, reduced Hux to a very minor character when he could have been Kylo's main adversary, and Rey takes the name Skywalker with no explanation. Strangely, Terrio implied the sequel trilogy was a set of movies about the Skywalker Twins and they are now so happy to be Force Ghosts with their sabers buried on Tatooine. Does anyone believe that when Leia tells Han to “bring our son home” she means she wants to meet Ben in Force Ghost Heaven soon? One could argue that TFA was Han's film, TLJ was Luke's film , and TROS was Leia's film. That became difficult to accomplish with Carrie fisher's death. PLUS, WHY EVEN HAVE THE VILLAIN BE THE LAST SKYWALKER if that character wasn't supposed to even be a big part of the film? So confusing & disappointing, especially since JJ made Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. If he did not want Kylo/Ben to play an important role as The Last Skywalker, why didn’t he just make Hux the bad guy all along? The only conclusion I can come to is the sequel trilogy was always intended to be a tragedy like the prequel trilogy to teach kids about tragedy, disappointment, death, the importance of mortal sacrifice for your sins even if you are mentally and physically abused. (Anakin & Ben were both psychologically manipulated.) What a way to teach a moral lesson about trust, family, friendship, and hope. Kinda hard to see those messages as the credits rolled on The Rise of Skywalker.

Are you still writing any Star Wars fanfic? Tell us about it! (Don't forget your Ao3 handle!)

I am a reader only.

I will mention that I am almost convinced that all the Terrio comments about Skywalker Twins, special effects personnel saying they were never asked to make Ben a Force Ghost, the three month delay for the TROS artbook, and so little information about Ben Solo’s ‘death” is LucasFilm admitting that Ben is not dead and they will do another Rey movie or a Solo movie called "The Resurrection of Ben Solo." Who knows if Driver or Ridley will EVER do another SW movie, though. Animated movie/TV show? A miniseries for Disney+...”The Search for Solo.”

Thank you Bonnie Swims

[adrenalineguide]

2019’s Top Rides: Part 3/Buick Regal GS, Subaru Ascent and Golf R

By Michael Hozjan

Buick Regal GS AWD: Buick gets it right

At 12, I wanted to be a car designer. Fate however had different plans for me. With an eye for automotive design, I grew up loving Buicks; from the ’57 Special to the ’59 Invicta, with the ’64 Wildcat stealing my heart time and again. Cadillacs took a close second, Fords were ok but I found Chevs too feminine. Buicks, were masculine with broad shouldered front fenders and creased lines, personifying the designing cues of GM greats, Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell.

Then came the Riviera. One snowy December afternoon as I headed to my post office, there on St. Lawrence Boulevard, with six inches of snow on the ground sat a ’65 Riviera. My heart skipped several beats and I must have studied its lines for what seemed like an eternity.

Well into the ‘70s there were some noteworthy designs that came out of Buick’s design studios however, the last four decades have been anything but exciting. That has all changed with the launch of the Regal GS – the sexiest Buick to come out of Detroit in, well the last four decades.    

The Grand Sport designation is nothing new to the Buick line up, having been associated with ‘70s era muscle cars but this is the first time that it has been used in a European sports sedan context. The stylish GS goes up against some well established rivals like the Acura TLX, Lexus ES, BMW 3 series and the like, a tough field to say the least. The Regal GS is more than just good looks, it’s a bona fide sports sedan. In fact a rebadged, German built, Opel Insignia, so the GS starts with the right genes. European engineered handling makes it the best tarmac gripping Buick ever.

Red Brembo brake calipers immediately tell everyone that this is not your typical Buick.

While different drive options/trim levels are available elsewhere around the globe, we Canucks get only one trim/drive option- also the most desirable one - the all-wheel-drive version motivated by the 310 horsepower DOHC, 3.6L V6 with variable valve timing punching out 282 lb-ft of torque through a 9-speed automatic.  

Entry price is $44,045, my tester came with the Buick Experience Package ($3,495) that included the moonroof, a Bose premium 8-speaker sound system, wireless charging, an 8” touch screen, HD radio, LED leveling headlights, The Driver Confidence Package (yes you read that right) at $1,995 includes adaptive cruise, forward collision alert with automatic braking, lane keep assist, front pedestrian braking and heads up display. The Ebony Twilight Metallic paint was a premium option at $495.

The all-wheel-drive gets a torque vectoring rear axle, which only improves traction in slippery conditions and makes the Buick eat up the corners. Buick has also given us three driving modes to choose from, Touring, Sport and GS 

Inside you’ve got one color choice, black. The supportive Recaros have a massage feature as well as being heated/cooled. Both driver’s and passenger seats have 14 adjustments to suit your body, including adjustable bolsters. Following with the German sport sedan traits, it includes a flat-bottomed steering wheel.

Rear seat passengers get ample legroom, but headroom is tight for taller occupants. With 30.cu.ft of space under the hatch with the rear seats up, with over 60 cu.ft with the rear seats folded, it betters many compact crossovers!

Is it perfect?

Non-functional air intakes in the front valance are mickey-mouse and a step backwards. Why not leave them open and help cool the brakes? No spare tire but a useless tire fix kit –that’ll help when you have a blow out or bend a wheel on Quebec’s pot holes. On the comical side, the audio system had mixed up the Cirius station numbers it’s 60s on 6 and not 660s on six….and the same could be said for 50s on 5 not 550s on 5, as well as 70s, 80s and 90s.

You can go through the gears manually with the console mounted shifter but paddle shifters would have been a nice touch to compliment the smooth 9-speed automatic.

Will the GS steal buyers away from BMW? I hardly doubt it but it does give of us a formidable option to keep our performance dollars with domestic manufacturers, and the GS buyer has nothing to be apologetic for. 

 Price as tested: $52,050*

*Includes destination charges and a/c excise tax

 Subaru Ascent: If at first you don’t succeed…

If you thought that Subaru already had a large SUV you’re right. The magic word here being had. The B9 Tribeca, later shortened to just Tribeca debuted in 2005 to, lets just say a less than stellar sales, and by 2014 had moved into the automotive history books of what once was.

It takes guts to admit that you were wrong, and it takes even big cojones to come back with a similar sized vehicle. Truth be told the SUV market has also changed over the last decade with SUVs growing increasingly larger, just like the population. Subaru appears to have been ahead of its time back in 2005 when 3-row SUV’s didn’t proliferate our roads, and minivans still reigned supreme for getting the platoon to school. But times have changed and so the new Ascent is the company’s answer to the latest trend.

The Ascent is also Subaru’s largest vehicle to date, with 142 mm longer wheelbase and 134 mm longer in length than the Tribeca, so yes passenger comfort has been greatly increased. The midsize SUV is built on the company’s Global Platform, a chassis that is easily adaptable; serving as the basis for everything from their Impreza and Crosstrek to the Ascent.

Available in four trim levels – Convenience, Touring, Limited and Premier - with the entry level 8-passenger Convenience starting at a meager $36,695. Regardless of trim, there’s a new 2.4L direct-injected, turbocharged boxer four cylinder dolling out 260 horses and 277 lb-ft of torque through the High-torque Lineartronic CVT (continuously variable transmission).   

Talk to anyone who’s ever driven a Subie in less than ideal conditions and they’ll swear by the symmetrical full-time all-wheel-drive system. A new feature, X-Mode, pushes the traction envelope even further; at the push of a button, it monitors and controls four different vehicle dynamics, including engine, transmission, torque splitting and braking.

There’s a lot of standard driver-assistance technology in each Ascent without having to step up to trim levels, Items like automated emergency braking and lane-keeping assist through the company’s EyeSight system. The base model gets a 6.5 inch infotainment screen while upper trim buyers will see an 8 inch screen. GPS however is only available in the two higher end trims (Limited and Premier). Both Touring and Limited are available in either seven or eight passenger configurations with captain’s chairs taking up the second row. My tester, the Premier trim comes only with the second row captains chairs. While all trims get heated front buckets it’s only the two higher trims that pamper their second row passengers with heated outboard seats. The third row looks a lot more inviting than some of it’s competitors but it’s still on the tight side with limited leg room. Still bear in mind this is a mid-size seven passenger and the seats are padded and comfortable to keep the small fry happy for longer drives. Oh and a pair of third-row USB charging ports become available in the Limited trim and are in addition to the standard two you’ll find in the front and second rows.

Rear cover blind and tow loop are stowed neatly under the cargo bay’s floor, the latter an option on some pricier suvs

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Whether you’re out in the boonies or negotiating city streets, the Ascent doesn’t feel like a large bulky SUV. With above average handling and a minimum of body roll for a three-row SUV, Subaru’s use of the boxer engine and its advantageous low center of gravity immediately become apparent. It’s stable, with a soft luxurious ride and is generally quiet during normal highway cruising. But it does get loud when pushed hard.

Is it perfect?

The drone of the CVT does get annoying but once you get passed that, the Ascent is typically Subaru; it does everything what it’s supposed to and does it well. I averaged 9.8L/100 km which is unprecedented in a 7-passenger sport ute. It may not be overly luxurious but you get what you pay for. I know my Subaru driving friends will all be looking at the Ascent when the time comes to turn in their current drives, and that alone will keep this big Subaru around for a long time to come.

Price as tested: $52,795*

* Includes destination charges

Volkswagen Golf R: You’ll want one

If you’ve missed my installment of the Rabbit GTI, I urge you to scroll down the page and have a read.

Now take the GTI and turn it up a notch, or three. The formula for the Golf R is very simple; take one German built spacious hatchback that already has solid, tight handling, and add gobbs of turbocharged horses to a 2.0L inline four cylinder. How many ponies? Two eighty-eight to be exact – enough to propel you well past the posted speed limit in less time than it takes you to say posted speed limit. Now stir in all-wheel drive to put all that power to the ground. Slam it to the ground for added handling. Dress it up with killer 19” wheels.

Choose between the 6-speed manual available for $42,495 or the 7-speed dual clutch automatic with Tiptronic for $43,895. Now go have the most fun you can with your clothes on.

Doesn’t look like it but there’s nearly 300 horses in there

Quad exhaust tips tell you this is no ordinary Golf

The Golf R is everything you want in a performance sedan and then some. It makes no sense in a country with posted speed limits, but then neither do Porches, Ferraris and the like.   

Price as tested: $49, 290*

*Includes destination charges and a/c excise tax

#buick regal #buick gs #sports sedan #subaru #ascent #suv #7-passenger #volkswagen #golf r