#we should keep the fandom alive fr

[dizzybizz]

👨‍👨‍👧💞

#last ep 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 #im gonna cry so hard omfg #im not ready #buddy daddies #rei suwa #miri unasaka #kazuki kurusu #buddy daddies fanart #my art #:'(((((( im gonna miss bd friday sm #i #yeah #anyways love yall its been a blast #we should keep the fandom alive fr

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 14

welcome the the fourteenth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. tell me again, do you love me? by @hiuythn

If it were anybody else, Lance would think they’re messing with him for fun.

But Keith is Keith, straight-forward and guileless. If he’s touching Lance more, it’s only because he’s gotten more comfortable. And on one hand, that’s great, that’s—Lance feels very honored. His heart is doing backflips and aerial stunts and everything. On the other, this is really not helping with his raging crush.

His breaking point turns out to be when Keith, exhausted after a day of subspace meetings, drops his head onto Lance’s shoulder and sighs.

It’s a sigh that says, now I’m comfortable, that admits, I’m recharging, that practically screams, you help.

Hands in his pockets, he lets Lance bear his weight as if he trusts Lance to handle it. Great. That’s just—how dare he. How dare he be so vulnerable with Lance? Who does that?

It’s so enraging that Lance just blurts out, “I’m going to need you to stop doing this before I fall in love with you even more, asshole.”

Keith freezes. - Or, five times Lance acknowledges his feelings for Keith and one time Keith reciprocates.

okay hiuythn is literally one of if not my favourite klance artist to ever cross this fandom. she is, as she has titled herself, the total queen of best friends to lovers. she nails it every time. this fic in particular is somehow exactly what the description says and also not what you expect. i have read this fic dozens of times, i read it every time i really want to smile with my whole heart. this fic is cute and sweet and funny and GOD i love it

2. ‘CAUSE EVERY TIME WE TOUCH I GET THIS FEELING by @hiuythn

“It is a blessing,” the high priest warbles. God, he’s so old that Lance is afraid he’ll just expire on the spot. “From our God of Celibacy, to aid you in your fight to keep your bodies free of worldly taint.”

“Okay,” says Lance. “Only we didn’t ask for it. We asked for your planet’s support in a war.”

Beside him, Keith is staring at his bare hand, expression stormy.

Earlier, he had placed it on Lance’s exposed wrist and something like an electric shock had ripped through them at the touch.

“You should’ve told us that participating in your religious ceremony would do this to us,” he says now, a growl under his words.

The high priest falters in his tracks, confused by their lack of gratitude.

Yeah, fuck you, man. Don’t go around giving people spiritual STDs.

yall are gonna get a lot of hiuythn today. and ur gonna like it. bc yet another thing she nails is the black paladin keith red paladin lance dynamic!! theyre so stupid and codependent. i love them. this whole fic is just the funniest premise alive, and no fic makes me laugh like a hiuythn fic. oh and also quick warning that this fic IS explicit, but i encourage u to give it a try even if thats not ur thing bc i guarantee you will be laughing

3. baby sweetheart darling love by @hiuythn

Keith gives Lance a nickname. Lance mistakenly assumes that it’s an insult.

god i love this one. the idea of keith being so whipped that he doesn’t even realise that hes slipping out the fondest nickname in the world every time he speaks...god. i love him. hes so dorky and soft i adore them liek actually

4. skin hunger by @hiuythn

Keith is touch-starved to the point of stupidity. Lance helps. Lance tries to help. Lance tries.

the description alone should have yall clicking the fic fr. its so cute, and yet again the best friends to lovers and black paladin keith/red paladin lance has been completely nailed like i cannot get enough. i would gobble up a thousand fics every single day by her honestly

5. i killed sendak for this by @hiuythn

“I’m married?” Keith blinks. “I’m married to you?”

i actually read this one years ago, before any of the other fics came out for me to obsess over, and i loved it then too!! so sweet and dorky and funny. also flustered down bad keith and flirty suave lance is always a peak dynamic actually

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!  

#this one is almost 100& klance lol #and i pulled another 'all one author' thing again sorry #im annoying #anyways. #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #friends to lovers #team as family #fluff and humour #fic rec #fic rec friday #longpost

[surrealsunday]

ahahahah don’t worry i didn’t take it personal, it happens to the best of us too, especially when life is here shsbdb

fr i really liked chap10 and the mix between these smexy and raw emotional moments was very good and it felt natural, very them i’d say. also glad you liked my memes ahah it’s a pleasure to provide every time 😌

ahahah poor idriss yeah he’s going through it in every universe lmao but hopefully he’s always got a manon to cheer him up <3

oooh i love how the minute by minute cameo wasn’t planned, it makes the moment even more true and natural (once again) between them! and yes they’re destined to have that moment no matter the universe 🤍

truly the shadow pic is one of the best (and one of my fav) all fics combined i think! your obsession with it made it looked perfectly them, in every way 😌

well we may be the best readers in the world but you are one of the best writers as well! you truly have a talent to make a fic alive and real! and i’m so glad our comments and thoughts on your elu fics are giving you the will to continue writing for that fandom (we’re really thankful for that 🤍). one of the best distraction <333

lmaoo i don’t know that julie but i love her ahah! she has all the right to be proud of herself, as she should 😌 so as she’s already begging you to write new stories, do we expect another fic in the future? 👀

anyways all the love to you too! it always is a pleasure reacting to you fics, always giving me a good time so lots of kuddos to you 💞💞💞

oh PS: the other day i realized i forgot another thing in my message 😭 (i blame uni for making me too tired to not connect my brain properly lmao) but it was abt axel and his moustache 🤣🤣 i wanted to say that i agree with you 100%! like it’s so shitty behavior to send a personal message just to say you don’t like it. i mean how do they think he’s gonna react? “aw you don’t like it..okay i’m gonna shave it so you’re happy abt it again and like me better again” this is bullshit lmao of course he had a good laugh abt it and plays with it🤣 he really seems to like it and that’s what matters (even if we think it’s meh). but yeah very lucas lallemant behavior dbdjdb

🥹🥹🥹💗💗💗

I love that YOU love the shadow pic that much! That made me think about what my fave edits are 🤔. Shadow pic is probably up there because I love the context of it too and Eliott's caption. It just felt like a perfect close to their story. Then I'd probably have a soft spot for some of the Lucas tattoo edits from Mood Tattoo. Or the baby Elu from Punzel 🥺. I do have fun with edits I must admit 😌.

As for future fics... Julie is keeping a list of the au's I have mentioned off hand and that she demands I write 😂. At the moment, I'm writing a fic for a different fandom (we'll see if I manage to complete it because it's a different one for me). And writing for other characters tends to be a brain break for me and it reenergizes me for Elu. So we'll see if that happens! At the end of the day I really have loved writing and it's become so a fun hobby for me, so as long as I'm having a good time doing it, I doubt I'll stop. And I'm so thankful for your words and your interest in reading more from me 🥹💞.

Omg the mustache aldkfjalsdkfj. Yes lmao. But Axel really is a shit disturber of the highest order and I just know that he loves the attention - good and bad. He is such a theatre kid lolol. Like, polar opposite personality from me, but I appreciate and stare in awe at the extrovert he is. So he can just keep doing him, and I will just shed a tear or two over the pics I can't use/ would have to edit due to that damn 'stache 😂.

[katnissgirlsmakedo]

1, 3, 6-8, 13, 16, 20-22 (didn’t think of a Thing to ask abt so go wild!!) (sorry if this has sent several times my app keeps crashing <3)

1) the character everyone gets wrong

oooh another one of this question lemme think of another one to complain about…. um. ty blackthorn…. i know you don’t know him but you should have a basic level of familiarity with his sherlock holmes swag and necromancy realness and ghost guy slay like. just based on my posting… i don’t like fandomy interpretations of him that make him like. soft and cutesy and uwu whatever like that boy is a huge fucking cunt he’s the worst… he’s a supervillain in training it’s ridiculous stop calling him your soft little baby or whatever the hell…. like you sound insane not even cassie is babying him like that get serious

3) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

i’m saying this cuz i know you were there too so you’ll get it but literally the 2021 pre s4 era of bylertheorism posting was so awful fr….

6) which ship fans are the most annoying?

wow see prev response….. no but like i’ll give a real answer. um idk i already complained about a few things but i’m gonna pull out a nicheish one due to the fact i saw a sofia wylie tiktok today and it made me think about hsmtmts. um i think ricky and gina shippers ruined everything sacred about that show and tim federle needs to die for the crimes he’s committed against me for them. this is also true about jiara but i’m beyond caring about obx and hsmtmts is like. THE show that got me through summer 2021. it was so rough oh my god. ej and gina were all i had. and now i don’t even have them anymore we should all kill ourselves. not to be a person that cares too much about ships. idk you had to be there maybe. and by there i mean like. you had to be me i guess

7) what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

damn speaking of outer banks. jj. that boy should kill himself i don’t even care. or jesper shadow and bone. i promise i’ll like him more when i read about him but as a netflix original comic relief man…. i just can’t get behind him. also that actor was in a movie i hated so he should have to do like. 100 hours court ordered community service picking up trash in parks. that’s just one girl’s opinion

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

can i talk about my shadowhunters. ok well i’m going to. it’s like sorry about your mental illnesses or whatever but i don’t think projecting them onto kit herondale is necessarily the way to go babes. he exists in a fantasy universe where he can put a little tattoo on his body and instantly gain speed, the kid hangs out with werewolves and his mom can do magic. i don’t think he is taking adderall. plus shadowhunters can’t take medication anyway so L + ratio + i can tell you’re either 16 or the most annoying adult alive. sorry if you’re 16, i promise when you stop being 16 you will feel better about life. like fandom lovessss to headcanon him with the most boring shit imaginable. oh you headcanon that this character who lives in a universe where MAGIC IS REAL has adhd? that’s cool i headcanon that he’s a virgin but makes up elaborate lies about it so none of the bad guys who are constantly after him can use him as a virgin sacrifice. i just made that up but it’s still more fun than being like ohh this character is training to be able to kill demons but the most important thing in his life is remembering to take his medication!! like booo 👎 nobody wants to read about medication in fantasy…. unless it’s like some sick ass herbs and potions like my buddy gaius makes. whatever.

13) worst blorboficiation

can i say will herondale. you know what don’t even worry about it. i’m gonna say tom holland spiderman. i don’t engage with literally any of that but i am an internet user in this day and age so it is unfortunately thrust upon me. sorry to that man but i hope peter parker dies goddamn. today’s writers just don’t hate their protagonists enough they always wanna keep ‘em around as long as possible it’s insane. arthur conan doyle had the right idea i think. like kill that dude!!

16) you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i hateeeeeee fandom himbo characterization. ESPECIALLY. when it comes to my beloved arthur bbc merlin. he is not. a himbo…. we should all kill ourselves.

20) part of canon you found tedious or boring

no offense to cassandra clare’s infernal devices but. i’m so so sorry tessa i love you forever it’s just. well.

21) part of canon you think is overhyped

i’m just gonna say barchie. can’t fucking stand this season sorry abby that i made you watch this show only for its final season to be a flop ass barchie season.

22) your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i think we all need to talk more about how in city of fallen angels clary had a pink cell phone. that was a nothing detail i just think about it a lot and i didn’t know what else to say here.

#ily abby 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 #asks #certifiedloverdyke #ask game

[cosmicbug379]

Today, Life is Good

It is 12:26 am, but here I am posting this fic anyway because I’m impatient. Here we go, another Boromir fic but this one is happy! YAY! I did not proofread this, because that is who I am as a person and I should probably get a beta reader or someone to edit these, but here we are. I like this fic. It’s a bit longer, and I have a lot of feelings, but I liked writing this! I hope you guys enjoy it and I hope it’s not too long or too weird or something.

Fandom: Lord of the Rings 

Pairing: Boromir x reader

Words: 2560

Rating: T 

Warnings: mentions of injuries, pretty large portion takes place in the Houses of Healing, but nothing is too crazy graphic, suggestive language, mentions of sex (but no actual smut)

There was a long night ahead of you after the battle that had raged on Pelennor Fields and through the city of Minas Tirith. As a healer, you hadn’t fought in the battle, but now the wounded were coming into the Houses of Healing in droves and you weren’t sure how you would keep up. 

You helped everyone you could, but there were so many wounded, you knew that it would be impossible to save everyone. You worked your way through the soldiers, beginning with the worst of the injuries. There were many you recognized, men of Gondor who had fought for their home. But there were many you didn’t recognize as well. The people of Rohan had arrived to help it seemed, and you were sure you would have lost the battle without them.

You were helping one man with a head injury who told you that an army of the dead had arrived from the river, cutting down all the orcs in their path and even swarming and killing the Mûmakil with ease. You told him that perhaps he hit his head harder than originally thought, but then one of the Riders of Rohan who was close by confirmed the man’s story. He said that a man named Aragorn had left them at Dunharrow and taken the paths of the dead, later arriving at the battle with the Oathbreakers behind him. Part of you had never believed the legends of the army that Isildur had cursed, but if they had won the battle for Minas Tirith, you were glad the legends were true.

You kept working through the night, barely stopping in an effort to help as many people as possible. You heard someone shouting for you and you hurried over to find a man cradling an injured woman. She was hurt badly, she was barely breathing. You learned she was the princess of Rohan and the man cradling her was her older brother. You managed to pry Éomer away from his sister far enough to examine her. You weren’t sure that Éowyn would survive.

“This is beyond my skill to heal,” you said sadly, looking at Éomer. “We need athelas to even begin the healing. This looks like the Black Breath.”

Éomer wailed in anguish and you felt terrible, you had seen similar wounds on men who had come too close to the Nazgûl in the battle at Osgiliath a few days ago when the orcs had taken the city on the river. Those men hadn’t survived.

“I can heal her,” you heard a voice say behind you. 

Turning, you looked up at the man. He didn’t look like much, but you heard Éomer speak to him and say his name. This was Aragorn, the ranger from the north, raised among elves for a time and apparently Isildur’s heir. 

You stood aside and let him take over, rushing off to find some athelas to aid him in healing the woman. When you returned to Aragorn with the needed herb, there was another man standing nearby. You dropped the athelas and stared at him. It couldn’t be.

Boromir was there, standing right in front of you, very much alive despite what you had been told. When you didn’t hand the athelas to Aragorn, all three men looked your way. Aragorn just grabbed the needed plant and kept working, Éomer didn’t seem interested in anything other than his sister, but Boromir looked at you and your world stopped. He was here, standing in front of you. This was all too much. A combination of little sleep or food and the shock of seeing your apparently not dead husband standing in front of you caused you to faint right there in the middle of the Houses of Healing.

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

It wasn’t long before you woke up, and you hadn’t been moved far. Boromir had caught you before you could hit the floor and injure yourself. You sat up, looking around before spotting Boromir speaking to Aragorn next to you.

“This can’t be real,” you whispered.

Boromir looked at you and smiled, “It is real, my love. I promise you that.”

“You’re dead… They found your horn washed up on the banks of the river. Faramir was sure of it, so was your father. We thought we would never see you again.” 

“I am sorry you thought I didn’t survive, but I am very much alive and I would very much like to steal a kiss from my beautiful wife,” his smile grew, and you couldn’t help smiling yourself.

You kissed him then, trying to show him how much you loved him through that kiss. He responded in kind and held you close to him. You felt at home in his arms, you thought you would never feel this way again, thought you would never see him, but he was here and he was holding you.

“I should get back to work,” you whispered. 

“You need to rest. I spoke to Ioreth, she said you haven’t taken a break in far too long. You’re no use if you can’t even stand on your feet,” he said. 

You hesitated, but eventually agreed with him. You were exhausted, there were so many wounded and you had been working nonstop for hours. A small break would be alright. 

You held Boromir's hand tightly, like you were afraid he would disappear if you let go. He led you to a corner of the Houses of Healing that had been set aside for the healers to rest, guiding you to lay on one of the cots. 

"Don't leave," you said, maintaining your death grip on his hand. 

"I'm not going anywhere," he said with a gentle smile. "But I'm afraid if you hold my hand any tighter you may crush it, my love." 

You eased your grip on his hand and laughed quietly.

"I'm sorry, Boromir. I'm just afraid that if I let go of you all those nightmares will be true and you'll be gone. Pippin didn't even tell me that you were alive, I'll have to have some very stern words with him. Though, we barely had a moment to speak, and he's been following Faramir around every moment he got. I did hear him tell your brother that he admired you very much, so it seems both sons of Denethor are good at making friends with Hobbits," you said with a smile. 

"I am very fond of the little ones," he agreed. "I'm surprised Pippin didn't talk to you more, I spoke of you often." 

"I've been here most of the time. I was here when he and Gandalf arrived, but we didn't get a chance to speak. Ever since Faramir came back with the horn… I've been here, avoiding anything that reminded me of you," you squeezed his hand gently. 

"I'm sorry I worried you. The battle at Amon Hen was only 17 days ago, everything happened so quickly I didn't have time to write to you. And I didn't realize my horn would wash up on the shore for Faramir to find." 

“Only 17 days ago? So much has happened since then,” you trailed off then sat up quickly. “Faramir! He was hurt when your father sent him to Osgiliath, I couldn’t help him. It was the Black Breath, just like Éowyn! You must tell your friend to help him!”

Boromir hushed you and pushed you gently until you were laying down again.

“I will tell Aragorn, I promise. Our new king will not let my brother die if he can save him. Now you need to rest, my love.”

You had many questions, but your eyes were so heavy. You drifted off to sleep with Boromir beside you, promising he would explain everything soon.

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

Three days after the Battle of Pelennor Fields you had to watch your husband leave again for Mordor, and you were afraid none of the Host led by Aragorn would return, but they did return, twenty days later and they brought two more Hobbits back with them.

You spent most of your time in the Houses of Healing once again, but this time you watched over Éowyn and Faramir more than anyone else. Aragorn had taught you how to help them, using the athelas and changing their bandages often. They were both almost back to normal, and you found them together more often than not. You were happy for them, they deserved to be happy; they deserved to be in love.

When you heard the horn announcing the arrival of those who had gone to the Black Gates you ran out of the Houses of Healing, sprinting through the city to get to the Citadel before they did. They beat you there, and you stood, searching for Boromir among the many weary faces before you. When you finally did see his face, you called for him before running into his arms.

Boromir caught you with ease, taking a step back to steady himself. He smiled at you and kissed you the moment you were still long enough. You were out of breath from running to find him, but you kissed him back with as much passion as you could muster.

“You’re here,” you sighed. “You came back to me again.”

“I will always come back to you my love,” he whispered into your hair.

You stood together for a long time, holding each other tightly until finally you followed Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship into the Citadel. There were two new Hobbits with the company, you learned they were Frodo and Sam. Both of them were injured and on the brink of death, you worked alongside Aragorn to nurse them back to health.

Sam was the first to wake, his injuries were not quite so severe and he had not been carrying the Ring for months as Frodo had. Frodo returned to consciousness only a few days after Sam, and you found you very much enjoyed the company of all the Hobbits.

Boromir finally got the chance to apologize to Frodo for trying to take the Ring, and everyone was given the chance to recover from the long journeys they had been a part of. 

You learned many things from Aragorn, and became a better healer. Aragorn was very skilled, and the prophecies of the Heir of Isildur having the hands of a healer were correct. 

When you weren’t in the Houses of Healing you were with Boromir and your new friends. You liked the entirety of the Fellowship, but the Halflings were your favorites. They were wonderful company and Merry and Pippin were always energetic and happy to entertain you. Frodo and Sam were more reserved, but you found their company calming, and you enjoyed having tea with them every day. 

Gimli and Legolas were the strangest pair; an elf and a dwarf who were good friends was unheard of, but you loved them just as dearly as the others. The elf was calm and calculating, but he was also warm and kind and fiercely loyal. The dwarf was much like the few other dwarves you had met; loud and daring, and protective of his friends. 

Gandalf you already knew, and you were glad to see him again and spend time with him. When he would come to Minas Tirith while you were still a child, he spent most of his time with Faramir, who was always eager to learn from him. He was a wise and powerful wizard, even more so now than before.

Most of your time, though, was spent with Boromir. You had missed your husband dearly, and you barely let him out of your sight. He seemed happy enough to spend time with you, never denying you the opportunity and smiling at you every time you asked. Sleeping next to Boromir was a relief; you hadn’t slept so well in months. You felt safe and secure in his arms and that first night he was home you slept the whole night through for the first time since he had left nearly a year ago. 

You opened your eyes slowly, it was early and you were still tired; Boromir hadn’t let you get much sleep the night before. You felt his arm resting across your stomach and you turned to smile and watch him sleep a little longer. He had a slight smile on his lips, and you wondered what he was dreaming about. 

“I can feel you staring, my love,” he mumbled, his smile growing.

“I can’t help it,” you replied. “You’re very handsome, you know.”

“So you tell me,” he said, opening his blue eyes. 

“I’m right. I wouldn’t lie about that.”

“I believe you.”

You smiled at him and kissed him deeply, pressing yourself closer to him. 

“Must we get out of bed today?” you asked sadly.

“I’m afraid that today it is very important we get out of bed, and soon. Aragorn’s coronation is today and it would reflect poorly on us if we were not in attendance,” he said, kissing your forehead.

You sighed heavily; you knew he was right, but you would much rather stay in bed with him all day. 

“Tomorrow we can stay in bed all day, I promise,” he said, as if he had been reading your mind.

“I suppose I can wait until tomorrow then,” you sighed. 

The coronation was a lovely affair; Aragorn was reunited with his love, Arwen, and all your new friends were there. Faramir announced his intention to marry Éowyn and they looked like they couldn’t be happier, in fact, Faramir looked happier than you had ever seen him. 

“Did we look so sickeningly happy when we announced our engagement?” Boromir whispered in your ear so his brother did not hear him.

“I’m sure we did,” you told him with a smile.

“Well I’m happy for them. I’m surprised it took so long if they were as close as you say in the Houses of Healing. We returned from the Black Gates over a month ago.”

“Well it probably took that long to convince her brother to allow it,” you said with a laugh. “Éomer still doesn’t look like he wants this to happen.”

“I suppose you’re right. It took nearly a year for me to convince your father to allow me to marry you,” he recalled.

“I remember,” you teased. “You asked him every day and when I finally found out you were asking I begged him to say yes. Finally he got so sick of both of us asking every day he agreed to allow it. I’m so happy he did; I’m so happy I’m married to you”

“I’m happy too, my love,” he smiled, pulling you closer. “And I’m even happier to be home with you. The world is finally going to know some peace, and we can be happy.” You nodded and pulled him into a corner to kiss him deeply. Boromir complied happily and pressed himself closer to you. 

“Perhaps, we could retire to our chambers early,” he whispered. “We could start trying to have children like we talked about before I left?”

“I don’t think Aragorn and Arwen will mind,” you smiled, taking his hand. 

The two of you laughed together, racing towards your rooms like two newlyweds; so in love with each other that no one else seemed to matter. 

Tags: @rzrcrst​ @opheliaelysia​ @rae-gar-targaryen​ @hdlynn​ if anyone else wants to be tagged in any future LotR fics message me or send me an ask or something, I will happily add you! Or if you don’t want to be tagged let me know that too! 

#lotr #boromir #lotr fanfic #boromir fanfic #boromir x reader #lord of the rings #lord of the rings fanfic #lord of the rings fanfiction #lotr fanfiction #boromir fanfiction #I REALLY LOVE BOROMIR OKAY

[tsarisfanfiction]

Pulse IV

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst Characters: Alan Tracy, Scott Tracy, Virgil Tracy, Kayo Kyrano, John Tracy, Gordon Tracy, EOS

Part 4 of my entry for @gumnut-logic‘s SensorySunday: Touch. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Okay, so before the pitchforks (and candy cannons) come my way, I would just like to inform you that this is @mythicalviper-fr‘s fault, because I hadn’t even considered doing this until they mentioned it.  Once the idea was planted, however, it was just too good not to use.

“What do you mean, you can’t find them?”

Alan winced as the furious words spat out from his comm.  Not that it wasn’t good to hear Virgil’s voice again – of course he was delighted that one of Gordon’s designated lifesigns had turned out to be one of their missing siblings, even if Virgil was injured and having to sit the rest of the rescue out with bad grace – but the loud and sudden outburst as either John or Gordon filled him in on the entire situation just served as a reminder that there were still two of their family missing.

“Virgil don’t you dare get out of that seat,” John said.  No doubt the family bear was at that very moment preparing to dive back into the rescue, broken arm or not.  “Your comms and telemetry are damaged; I can’t guide you around the danger zone and I refuse to have you off my radar again.”

It was going to take far more than that to keep Virgil in one place, but Alan left his older brothers to their argument over who was needed where as his Mole Pod once again did what it did best – dug a hole towards people in need.

“There is one lifesign at reference point eight five six one,” EOS informed him.  “The optimum angle of approach would be twenty eight point three degrees from your current course.”

“F.A.B.,” he acknowledged, and made the shift.  It felt weird having EOS in his ear now, when it had been John the entire rescue so far, but John was needed to wrangle Virgil – as best the middle child could be wrangled mid-mission when family was in danger and the rescue wasn’t over – and they couldn’t afford to wait until Virgil was pacified.

Alan knew his brother well enough to know that he wouldn’t be pacified until all five of them were on board Thunderbird Two and being subjected to full medical checks prior to flying home.  Honestly, Alan didn’t think he’d stop shaking until then, either.  The advantage of having a full-cover uniform designed for primary use in space meant that anyone would have to be looking really closely to see the tremors wracking his body.

He was scared.  John was scared, Gordon was scared, and now Virgil was scared, and that made Alan more scared, because his big brothers were supposed to be the steady ones.  But his biggest brother was missing, and Kayo, too, and until the teenager he tried to put aside during missions had given Scott a big hug and punched Kayo’s shoulder (and got a harder one in return), he was going to be scared.

The Mole Pod lurched and he tightened his grip on the wheel, gritting his teeth and lowering the speed. Focus, Tracy.  One lifesign ahead.  One alive person who needs you to hold it together.

The one person was a little girl, clutching a battered old teddy with tears pouring down her cheeks and nasty scrapes all down her arms.

“Hey there,” he soothed, cautiously picking her up and settling her in the passenger seat of his pod. “My name’s Alan and I’ll get you out of here, okay?”

She sniffled at him, said something intelligible that Alan thought might have been “I want my Mommy,” and closed her eyes for the journey back.

“Okay then,” he said, mostly to himself as he set the pod into reverse and hit the comms, injecting himself into the still-going debate between Virgil and John.  It sounded rather like John had remotely locked Virgil inside Thunderbird Two, and was overriding the overrides Virgil was throwing at him to escape.  “Virgil, I’ve got an injured girl here, she’s maybe six or seven.  Think you can bandage her up and find her family?”

There was silence for a moment, as the medic in Virgil presumably warred with the brother.  Injured girl.  Missing siblings.

The medic won out, as Alan had hoped it would.

“I’ll take her,” he agreed with a loud sigh.  “If John stops turning my ‘bird against me.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” John said, thoroughly unrepentant.  “I’m simply preventing you from doing the sort of reckless activity you scold Scott for and going into danger with no back-up.”

“But what about Scott and Kayo?” Virgil demanded.  “You can’t expect me to do nothing.”

“No, I expect you to do your job as a medic and trust the uninjured members of the team to continue their jobs.”  John sounded all but scathing, and Alan suspected he was getting tired of the debate.

“They’re not just your siblings, remember?” Gordon chipped in suddenly as daylight filtered through the pod windows and Alan surfaced, turning the nose cone towards Thunderbird Two and medical aid for Virgil.  “We’re all worried, and Alan and I won’t stop until we find them, okay?”

The large module door lowered as Alan approached and Virgil stepped out.  Helmetless, and with one arm in a sling, he certainly didn’t look like he should be going anywhere near the danger zone, in Alan’s opinion.  Still, it wasn’t until the little girl and her teddy were being carefully lifted out by Alan that he stopped frowning.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” he heard his big brother say as he headed back to the pile of once-a-group-of-buildings under EOS’ directions.  “My name’s Virgil, what’s yours?”

“There are two lifesigns together at reference point eight five six two,” EOS informed him, cutting off the world above as he once again dug his way in, following his previous path for most of the way.  The two were just a little further on, a little deeper down, and as soon as his headlights illuminated their silhouettes he knew what he was looking at.

“John!  I’ve found them!”

He didn’t wait for any acknowledgement before he was leaping out of the pod and scrambling the rest of the way through the low pocket of space towards them.  Kayo didn’t look too terrible – her helmet was missing, and her face and hands seemed to be bloody – but her face was pale.

“Alan!”

Forget responsible member of International Rescue.  Forget being an adult.  Alan hugged her tightly, and was relieved when she embraced him back, just as tight.

“Al..?”

Immediately, Alan knew something was wrong.  Scott’s voice sounded tight, like he was in pain, and when he pulled back from Kayo he saw that Scott hadn’t moved at all.  He was still lying down, despite not being pinned by any rubble.

“Scott?” he asked. His big brother was also missing his helmet – knowing Scott he’d taken it off for some stupid reason, but Alan was going to leave chewing him out over that to Virgil or John.  Or both.

“Hey, kid.”  He still didn’t move, even though he had pulled his face into what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile.  Alan had learnt to see through his fake ones years ago.

“Stay here with him,” Kayo said, dragging herself around and facing his abandoned pod.  “We’ll need Virgil and a stretcher.”

“Virgil’s- Kayo what happened to your ankle?”  Her boot was gone, as was her sock, and in the light from the pod he could see some bruising and swelling.  It looked pretty bad.

“It’s nothing,” she shrugged, hauling herself into the driver’s seat.  “You can’t take us both at the same time and we can’t leave Scott by himself.”

“Yes, but-”

And she was gone, leaving them with just the light from Alan’s helmet.

“Kayo!”  Predictably, she didn’t reply.  “Thunderbird Two?”

“Alan!  John said you found Scott and Kayo?”

“Scott’s right here,” Alan confirmed.  “Virgil, Kayo’s coming back to you with the Mole Pod.  I think she’s busted her ankle, but that didn’t stop her from hijacking my pod. I’m still down here with Scott.”

“Injuries?”

“Too dark to see, but he’s awake.  Kayo says we need a stretcher, though.”  And you, he didn’t say, assuming that she’d change her mind when she saw he was injured, too.

“I’ll have one ready by the time she surfaces,” Virgil promised.

“F.A.B.,” Alan acknowledged, before turning his attention back to his eldest brother.  Scott was too slow to hide the look of fear with another fake grin, and Alan scrambled even closer.  “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, Alan,” Scott tried to tell him, but Alan didn’t believe him for a second.

“Scott?  What’s wrong?”

“Seriously, Alan, it’s nothing.”  But it wasn’t, Alan could see that, could tell from the fear Scott wasn’t hiding as well as he thought, from the way he hadn’t moved at all since he’d arrived.

“Scott!” he snapped, and if there was water in his eyes he was ignoring it.  “Don’t lie to me.  We’ve got to get you out of here so if there’s anything that’s going to affect that, I need to know.”  Scott opened his mouth to protest but Alan steamrolled right over him.  “You don’t get to treat me like a kid right now, Scott. I’m a member of International Rescue, and like it or not, you need rescuing right now so let me do my job, dammit!”

“Language,” Scott scolded weakly, but Alan was having exactly none of it.

“If you, my big brother, don’t trust me to rescue you, who will?  You let me join the team because you thought I was ready.  You don’t get to take that back the moment it’s you I’m saving!”

For a moment there was silence, punctuated only by Alan’s own ragged breathing, loud to his ears. Then Scott sighed.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I’m sorry, Alan.  To be honest…”  He trailed off, pausing for so long Alan wondered if he’d even continue.  “I can’t move.  There’s some pain in my back, I think it twisted badly when I got knocked over, and-”

Alan wanted to cry, wanted to pretend he didn’t have to deal with this.  This wasn’t fair.  Why?  Why?

“-and I can’t feel my legs.”

Part 5

#sensorysunday #sensorysunday2020 #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #alan tracy #scott tracy #virgil tracy #john tracy #kayo kyrano #gordon tracy #eos #pulse

[leechy-keen]

Love Like Yours- Day 1

Definitely got caught up in my new knitting project and forgot all about @lovelikeyoursfest yesterday! But better late than never right? :^)

Title: New Beginning Fandom: The Arcana Characters x Pairings: Asra Alnazar x OC (former); implied Julian Devorak x OC Word Count: 839 Rating: E for everyone? Idk how these work but there’s no spice Warnings/notes: I guess there might be spoilers if you haven’t read all of Asra’s and Julian’s routes? Early plague days Summary: Payton decides to start a journal of her time at the palace during the plague

My old mentor wrote to me to say that I should start a journal. It makes sense, from an archival point of view, to keep the records of this time, even though I’m sure many accounts will be written. But we wouldn’t preserve what we do if we didn’t see its value, right? Ah, I’m sorry, I’m getting sidetracked.

Anyway, Scott said I should write about my experience during this plague. Well, I used to run a magic shop with my fr pa Asra. I guess it’s important to mention we used to be a couple. But when the plague hit Vesuvia, they wanted to leave. They were always on the move, and, honestly, that’s one of the reasons I fell for them in the first place. But as our relationship got more serious and the shop gained popularity, I began to resent that they were always so eager to leave me behind, and  I no longer had as much freedom to travel with them.

So when the plague hit and Asra said we should leave, we had a huge fight over it. I said it was just like them to run from the problem, and how could they leave when our neighbors and friends needed our help the most? They said they wanted to keep us safe, but at that point the plague had been reported in many distant lands as well. I hadn’t been in Vesuvia long at that point anyway-- only a few years ago I had quit my job as an archivist and moved to Vesuvia to start my shop. I didn’t want to take that risk again. Looking back on it, I know Asra only had my best interest at heart, but I guess I’d been harboring a lot of bad feelings about previous things we never worked out. 

I don’t know where Asra is now, and now that I’ve had time to process my feelings, I wish I could apologize. I hope they’re somewhere safe and well. But now I’m glad I live alone. I don’t have much time to devote to romance  anymore anyway. Last week I went to the palace to sign up to help the medical efforts. But, since I have no previous medical training, I’m an apprentice to Doctor Devorak. He’s very brilliant and kindly patient with me. I’m something of a slow learner. 

Unfortunately, our time together has been relatively short-- since I do have archival training, it’s been my job to gather reports, write summaries of them for Dr. Devorak, and archive them properly. I give Dr. Devorak the reports at the end of my day (which I suspect is only the middle of his day, if he even keeps track of days anymore. It seems he’s always at the palace, working). After he reviews my reports, he invites me to shadow him for a while so I can learn medical lessons. It makes me nervous for him to read the reports I just spent so long writing while I stand by his desk in the library waiting for him to finish. But once he’s done, he comments briefly on whatever news is in the reports, and then we journey together to the dungeons where the patients are...kept. 

It’s during this time, our walks to the dungeons, that we get the opportunity to talk. He likes to talk, and I like to hear him talk, but I’m afraid he thinks I’m boring. None of the stories I have can match his swashbuckling tales as a former pirate. My move to Vesuvia was the biggest thing that’s happened in my life. Although I think this plague might be the next big thing. Interestingly, Dr. Devorak never seems to talk about actual work things during our walks to the dungeon. I think he does this primarily for my benefit, because I know how dedicated he is to his work. 

He tells me all kinds of animated tales about the adventures he’s been on, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s really a miracle he’s still alive at all, though I suspect he likes to get into trouble just for fun. He’s actually very funny, which is the complete opposite of what I expected. When we first met, he seemed surprised to see me, and he asked me several questions about my background and if I was sure I really wanted to learn medicine so I could help the plague efforts. After I said I did, he lectured me on the potential risks! 

I was immediately annoyed. Why would I have gone all the way to the palace to volunteer if I wasn’t serious? I told him about my...situation with Asra, and after that he didn’t ask me any other questions. He seemed very serious, and since he’s always working, I figured he’d be the stern, distant type of doctor. But the more I talk to him, or the more he talks to me, the more I look forward to seeing him.

#lovelikeyours2020 #asra alnazar #julian devorak #apprentice payton #whispers from the void

[blancheludis]

@ironhusbandsweek @rhfenovemberbash Day 5: “Are you jealous?”

Fandom: MCU, Avengers, Iron Man Characters: Tony Stark/James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts Tags: Secret Marriage, Fluff, Humor, Love Words: 2.592

Summary: "Are you jealous?" Tony asks as he downs the champagne Rhodey hands him automatically. "Why do I have the feeling you want me to say yes?" Because then they'd have a reason to leave the Avengers party and make the night much more enjoyable for themselves.

- Rhodey and Tony are secretly married - right up until Rhodey blurts out their secret in the middle of an Avengers party. Nobody wants to believe that someone managed to make Tony Stark settle down, but they are gkad to set the Avengers straight.

---

Tony is breathless. Every once in a while, the Avengers throw a party for friends and influential people to mingle with them. Well, Tony throws the party and makes sure it becomes a success because the only other person on the team who knows how to entertain people is Natasha. The rest are more or less only good at one-on-one talks or shuffling around in the corner failing at not looking overwhelmed.

These are, admittedly, grand affairs. Steve, at least, should be used to them. The USO threw parties where he was the glittering guest of honour, and propaganda does not work half as well when the mascot does not follow the tune.

Tony was even holding back. The Avengers parties are orderly and dignified. He has organized wilder things from his dorm room without the funds and influence he has available to him today.

It does not matter much. People are happy talking to their heroes even if they appear too shy to get dragged onto the dancing floor or get drunk just for the fun of it. Natasha surely uses the evening to gather intel on every important guest, and Tony has seen Bruce discussing business with several other scientists. Barton looks like he would prefer crawling around the air shafts, although he should be used to the attention as a former circus performer. Steve sits next to him, nursing his champagne as if he is in any danger of getting tipsy from it.

While he is leading the wife of one of his shareholders over the dance floor, Tony sees Rhodey sitting down at the Avengers table, looking satisfied enough that he must have found someone to tell his stories too.

When the song comes to an end, Tony bows with a dazzling smile and delivers the woman right back into her husband’s hands, exchanging the needed compliments before he excuses himself. He needs a break and a drink – and possibly an excuse to sneak out of here. Parties are nice, and his parties are the best, but there are places he would much rather be.

Not stopping on his way despite several people trying to get his attention, Tony makes a beeline for the Avengers table and lets himself fall into the seat next to Rhodey with a long-suffering sigh. Without comment, Rhodey hands his glass over, which Tony drains gratefully.

Already far more content, Tony sets the glass down and grins up at Rhodey. His mere presence has him more relaxed.

“Are you jealous, buttercup?” Tony asks, nodding at the dancing floor as if he has done a great feat out there.

Rhodey’s expression becomes playful as he leans closer. “I have the feeling you want me to say yes.”

In a way, that is exactly what Tony wants. Then, they could make up an excuse and he could show Rhodey just why he does not have to be jealous and why Tony thinks he is the luckiest man alive.

Tony is happy to continue the banter, but in his single-minded mission to get back to Rhodey, he forgot that Clint and Steve are still present too.

“Why would Rhodes be jealous of you?” Clint drawls, his frown contrasting with his smirk. Contrary to their dear Captain, he is well on his way to being drunk. “There’s plenty of good-looking women around. And some of them are even unmarried, unlike the ones Tony is apparently going for.”

Tony has been dancing with a never-ending line of women, but he has not yet seen one that would be desirable for him.

“Her?” he asks and shrugs dismissively. He has already forgotten what she looked like. “Never. She spent the whole dance telling me about some old lady’s society. I didn’t get a single word in.”

He has not actually tried to, mostly because his thoughts were elsewhere. Worse than simply nodding at the right places would be to offer a comment on a completely different ttopic than whatever she was droning on about. Tony has learnt that the hard way.

Clint guffaws in disbelief. “Because you’re so shy when it comes to talking up?”

Turning to look at Clint, Tony schools his impression into something very unimpressed. It does get tiresome to have his virtues doubted constantly, although he should take it as a compliment for his acting skills.

“Depends on who I’m talking to,” Tony says, almost a snub. “I definitely would’ve said something if she had wanted a second dance.”

It already feels like he has danced with everyone in the room except for the one he actually wants to. That is a thing he knows by heart, however.

Clint’s frown deepens. “Then why the jealousy thing?” he asks, almost like he thinks Rhodey needs someone to protect him. From Tony. That is hilarious in its own right.

Feeling his grin broaden, Tony throws a glance at Rhodey, silently asking for permission. Rhodey appears just as amused, just as ready to mess with the Avengers a bit.

“I was asking whether he was jealous of her,” Tony says slowly, carefully intoning each word to make sure his friends understand him correctly.

Thankfully, Clint takes the bait. Behind him, even Steve looks interested, taking his eyes off the party around them to watch the spectacle right here at their table.

“Of what?” Clint asks, and it would not have surprised anyone had he added full offense to it.

Tony opens his arms a bit, almost presenting himself up for inspection. “Getting her hands all over me,” he says like it should be obvious. “She definitely got a feel in.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Clint mutters, then turns towards Rhodey. “I don’t get how you can stand this guy.”

“We make do,” Rhodey says. He is still smiling, but there is a dangerous edge to it that neither Clint nor Steve seem to notice because they both nod like it is reasonable to do so. “For the record, I’m always jealous when someone’s touching my husband when I’m not.”

While Tony’s smile brightens immediately like it always does when Rhodey calls him his husband, their audience takes a little longer to realize what has been said.

“That’s not –” Clint starts before he breaks off abruptly, eyes bulging. “Wait, what?”

In turn, Steve leans forward, the mild amusement on his face replaced by puzzlement. “Husband?” he asks as if he has difficulties fitting his tongue around the word.

Never once taking his eyes completely off his friends, Tony turns towards Rhodey, just barely suppressing the urge to take his hand. “Way to spring the news, platypus,” he drawls, seemingly unaffected.

They do not need to know that his heart is beating wildly as he hopes this will go over well. A lot of people have disapproved of Tony in his life, but very few know of his relationship with Rhodey. Pepper, Happy, Rhodey’s family. Jarvis did. And now the Avengers. It is none of their business, but Tony values their opinion nonetheless.

“You didn’t tell them?” Rhodey asks mildly as if he did not know. This is mostly a ploy to give Clint and Steve some time to mull this over. And to subtly make it clear that Tony did not trust them with his secret.

Tony shrugs. “Don’t tell me I should have.”

That probably says all about how long Tony expects this whole hero thing to last. How secure he feels in his place among the Avengers. How much he allows himself to trust them off the battlefield.

Steve has the decency to look slightly ashamed, even though the confusion has not completely disappeared from his face.

“Can we go back to when Rhodes called you his husband?” Clint speaks up. He does not sound accusing but more like he has smelled blood and wants to make the most of it.

“What of it?” Tony asks, sounding a bit snappish. “It’s been some decades. The official timeline varies, since we’ve had several ceremonies.”

Rhodey takes initiative then and reaches out to take Tony’s hand. They are practiced in hiding this under tables, but for Clint and Steve it is a very obvious gesture.

“Tony is fond of vows,” Rhodey explains solemnly, eyes gleaming with amused fondness. “He’s cried every single time.”

That he has, and he is not ashamed of it. Family has always been what Tony longed for the most, and Rhodey gave him that despite all evidence that he would be better off without a trouble magnet like Tony in his life.

“As if you’ve been any better,” Tony shoots back, squeezing Rhodey’s hand where nobody can see. He has half a mind to relocate this age-old argument to somewhere they are not watched. Surely, they have been sociable enough for the evening.

Rhodey squeezes back, which Tony interprets as a call for patience. They cannot tell such news and then disappear to leave the Avengers to deal alone with the aftermath.

“I didn’t cry during the Vegas ceremony,” Rhodey argues, as if this one time could make up for all the others.

Turning to him, Tony raises his eyebrows, trying to keep in his laughter. “But only because you were too worried about someone barging in.”

“The police were chasing us,” Rhodey drawls as if Tony could ever forget that fact. “Of course, I was worried.”

That was a glorious day. The priest had been very disapproving, interpreting their undue hurry for youthful ignorance instead of the very real worry of getting arrested. Well, that and the fact that Tony paid a whole lot of money for him to ignore that they were two men.

“And nothing happened,” Tony shrugs, still feeling that same exhilarating relief whenever he thinks back to that night. “Apart from wedding number three.”

“Four,” Rhodey counters without missing a beat.

That startles Tony enough to wholly face Rhodey instead of watching Clint and Steve, still waiting for an unfavourably reaction. “What?”

With a small, devilish grin, Rhodey explains, “I totally count your emotional breakdown during finals when you were clinging to me and demanded I promise to never leave you.”

In Tony’s defence, that was a dark time. They were nearing the end of their college years, so Tony was naturally afraid that Rhodey would go off and forget all about him. The alcohol might have made him overreact a bit.

Tony thinks about arguing, but then he shrugs. “That’s probably fair,” he says, “but that was before the first wedding.”

Looking even more amused, Rhodey nods. “You made up for it with your vows.”

No one can say that alcohol steals Tony’s eloquence. What he remembers from that night is a very heartfelt speech and a never-ending litany of love confessions. He is a romantic at heart.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Steve says, keeping Tony from continuing the argument, although he has a dozen examples of Rhodey being even cheesier than him.

As one, they turn around to look at Steve, who is looking back like they are something fascinating, a never before seen species.

“We are married, Capsicle,” Tony says shortly, wondering whether he has miscalculated and this will be a problem. “Even officially by now. Did it as soon as it was legal. Been together since MIT.” Smiling back at Rhodey, he adds, “Best decision of my life.”

“But you’re –” Clint gestures at Tony like his hand is going to make his point for him. Well, you.”

That is always the argument people bring up once they are over the fact that Tony Stark is apparently bisexual. Who would settle down with him? Who would suffer his insanities and moods? Was there not someone better available, even with the money and the company?

“I know,” Tony replies sharply, tightening his hold on Rhodey’s hand. “I realize I’m very lucky Rhodey took me. That’s why we’re renewing our vows every year.”

Steve still looks lost, glancing at Rhodey. “And you’re –”

“What, Captain?” Rhodey straightens, his face losing its smile. He means business now. “What is your problem? That we’re both men?”

Tony would love to watch Rhodey tear into Steve, but they are still in public, still have a party going on around them. They do not have time for a scene.

“No, platypus,” Tony argues sweetly, shifting slightly to block the direct line of sight between Rhodey and Steve. “I think he can’t get his head around someone wanting me.”

That is the easiest way of diverting Rhodey’s attention back to him. Anyone doubting Tony or talking ill of him might land directly on Rhodey’s shit list, but his fist priority will always be Tony’s well-being.

“That’s very short-sighted of him,” Rhodey says with a definitive warning in his voice even while he looks only at Tony. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

They are playing it up for their audience, the smiles and sickly sweet voices, but they also mean every word they say. Tony has given up on doubting Rhodey’s love at some point during their third year together. It is easier this way, and much more fulfilling.

“What about Pepper?” Steve asks, not yet done with making things worse for himself.

Sighing quietly, Tony turns around. “I asked her to marry me about a month after she started working for me,” he says and leaves it at that, knowing they will not hear anything beyond this for now.

“So you’re like –” Clint asks, pointing between the two of them and Pepper who is across the room, talking to some of the guests.

“We love her,” Tony says firmly. “Platonic soulmates and all that. Marrying her would’ve been a good alibi, but then buttercup and I could do the real thing instead of just promising our eternal love in the secrecy of our dorm room.”

Pepper had been very gracious about the whole thing. She does love them. They are all part of the same family. They are all much happier like this, however.

“Why does nobody know?” Steve questions, still a stranger to secrets.

This time, Clint looks at him with disbelief too. Naivety does not become the leader of the Avengers.

“Military, remember?” Rhodey replies with just a hint of an edge to his tone, almost as if this has not given them so much grief over the years. “It’s easier if nobody knows.”

There are more questions ready to fall from Steve’s lips, but Tony is done with the topic. There are advantages to getting the secret out there so that Rhodey and he do not have to hide in their own home anymore, but he could do without the interrogation.

“Anyway, good talk,” Tony exclaims, showing too many teeth with his smile. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take my husband for a spin.”

And they do dance. Wild enough and then close enough to turn heads, although nobody seems to interpret the love on their faces for what it is. This is just another normal night under Tony Stark’s roof. They have done this for years, hiding themselves in plain sight.

Since the Avengers know now, they might at least not have to be all secretive at home anymore. Tony is tired of sneaking around, and since Rhodey just clued them in, he probably is too.

It is a good thing because they have made a bet ages ago of how quickly they can make Captain America go red with embarrassment by making out in front of him. Their weekend plans just got all the more interesting.

#ironhusbandsweek #rhfe #RhodeyTonyNovemberBash #ironhusbands #tony stark #rhodey #avengers #2012 avengers #secret marriage #love #fluff #humor #friendship #revelations #married since mit #my writing #ao3

[aworldoffandoms]

Runaway - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Duty Calls

Pairing: Liam x MC [Ariel]

Word Count: 3, 857+/- (my words got away with me)

Rating: T 

Warnings: Minor swearing

Summary: Liam continues with his duties as king but stumbles upon information that brings him a step closer to getting the answers he seeks.

MASTERLIST

Tag list: @hopefulmoonobject @annekebbphotography @am-i-invisible777  @blznbaby @khakie4 @lauradowning29 @blackcoffee85 @captain-kingliamsqueen @moneyfordiamonds @super-secret-fandom-blog @jovialyouthmusic @zaffrenotes @ao719 @umccall71 @carabeth @furiousherringoperatortoad

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Pixelberry and all characters belong to them. The plot is all mine.

A special shoutout to @ernestsinclairs ! Thank you for all your edits, suggestions and rewrites! You are honestly the best! :) 

The sun had chosen today of all days to hide behind the clouds as Liam exits the palace to head into the capital. Situations like a queen’s disappearance still didn’t exempt him of his duties. There was the grand opening of a new cancer wing of the Children's hospital, the annual yacht race preparations, the tedious task of approving foreign business licenses afterward. A little pang speared him in the heart as the first task strayed into his mind. The treatment had been set in a new healthcare scheme that Ariel had spearheaded as queen. One last act of the most benevolent person he knew. Families would be able to claim treatment on this scheme and be able to pay the treatment off within their price range. A win-win in any case. Liam would do anything to make it easier on the families going through turmoil with a sick child.

Liam knew he needed this, not only because Regina had urged him to, but for his people as well. He hadn’t been out of the palace for an official engagement in almost a month. His people were getting anxious and it didn’t help that the media was exacerbating the situation -- even bringing up Ariel’s disappearance more than twice in each broadcast.

In all instances, Liam had to agree with this statement, because, in some way, it was true. Although finding Ariel was his top priority, he feels his heart squeeze with guilt as he realizes that his people, his country, needs their King. He couldn’t afford them losing faith in him now.

Having a country which didn’t support him would be the final nail in his heart and his mental stability.

Ariel needs me also…

Liam had to prioritize in some way. This searching was becoming all-consuming and maybe, just maybe, it was starting to wear on him.

He was exhausted all the time. Less than 4 hours sleep, paired with those eight o’clock meetings every day and signing off on royal papers in between, while also searching for Ariel and he’s already on thin ice.

This was unhealthy and his people were starting to see the cracks.

Liam steels himself as he squares his shoulders while taking a deep breath and plasters the regal smile on his face he used for all royal occasions.

As soon as he steps out of the black SUV, the dulled voices of the crowd outside erupts into cheering and loud exclamations from the excited crowd at seeing their King again.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

“Oh my goodness! It’s the King!”

“I feel like we haven’t seen King Liam in ages. Does he look tired to you?”

That last comment hit a nerve but he pretends not to notice and keeps his carefully composed mask on his face as he continues his march towards the hospital.

He gives the crowd a smile and waves as he makes the rounds talking to a few commoners and nobles that have gathered for the cutting of the ribbon.

Bastien then guides him to the wing of the hospital where he is met with the Director of Medicine of the Cordonian Children’s Hospital. What was her name? Ingrid, probably.

Ingrid curtsies and raises her hand to Liam and gives him a smile. “Thanks for coming, your majesty. We are so honored to have you here.”

Liam smiles, reciprocating the gesture as he gives the director a firm handshake. “I am always happy to offer my support in any way possible that helps the children of Cordonia.”

Ingrid flashes him another warm smile.

“Well…if you’ll follow me I’ll give you a tour of the new wing and then you can cut the ribbon to commemorate its opening.”

Liam nods as he follows Ingrid with Bastien and the King’s Guard following close. The media trails behind them with a few cameras recording his journey through the hospital with avid interest.

The tour goes well and Liam offers a genuine smile to the cameras as he cuts the ribbon. On his way to the car, he stops and offers a few words to some kids that were clamoring to get a glimpse of the king. He had a few kind words to them until Bastien ushered him away. Duties in Valtoria awaited.

Hana and Maxwell had put all their energy into keeping that duchy alive and since both were on the Royal Council they had enough power to help. Liam had no qualms with that, given that he gave Ariel that duchy, to begin with.

Another royal engagement and another day without his queen. He almost wonders if this is what he’ll end up doing for the rest of his life. Taking it day by day, barely existing as the world moves on around him.

Liam sighs as he loosens his tie, stepping into the wardrobe that he once shared with his wife. His eyes glance to her side and another wave of pain spears through him at seeing it empty.

He swallows the lump in his throat. How can he still feel this way? Why can’t he move on? It was like he was stuck in mud or bound by chains and only Ariel had the means to get him out. She was the only one to lift him from this horrid, dark place that he’s been in ever since she left.

Liam turns around to step onto his side of their wardrobe and strips off his official daily regalia. As he shrugs off his jacket a flash of white catches his eye under the lights and his breath catches as he realizes that it was his royal wedding outfit. His heart thunders in his chest and his mind flits back to that day when Ariel’s face lit up as their eyes met from opposite sides of the cathedral. He wanted to run to her but knew it wasn’t the customary thing to do and instead marvelled at her beauty.

He runs his fingers down the sleeve of his wedding jacket, despite the pain he feels he can’t help but smile. He has to remember the good times he had with Ariel. He needs to have hope. That’s all he has left.

As he turns to go into the bathroom, his fingers catch on something as they were still trailing down the front of his jacket and he snaps his head to his white tux and furrows his brow.

What could that possibly be?  

Liam’s brow creases even further as he steps closer and digs into the front pocket of his jacket. His fingers latch on to something hard and paper-like. He lifts it from its confines and finds a folded piece of paper.

His eyes narrow as his mouth twists in confusion.

“What is this?” Liam mumbles as he flips it over.

Something nags at him and his stomach clenches when he realizes that this is another letter as he finds his name on top of it in the unmistakable cursive script of his wife.

Why would Ariel write me another note?

Liam’s heart almost stops. A new note? She honestly couldn’t break his heart more than she already has? Her words in her goodbye letter still haunt him.

He gulps as he slowly opens the note with shaking hands. His pulse increases when he finds his name at the top of the note, but it patters off in confusion when he finds a cluster of letters underneath it.

***

B TF WHBGC MABL YHK PHNK IKHMXVMBHG. 

PAXG RHN WXVBIXK

MABL, FTR RHNK CHNKGXRZ MTDX RHN MH FHLVHP  – KHNY TGLPXKL PBEE UX MHXKE

UX LTYX, FR EHOY

***

I am doing this for your protection.  When you decipher this, may your journeys take you to Moscow - your answers will be there.

Be safe, my love

***

What in god’s name is this?

They were all a jumble of words, though their meaning was obviously forthcoming. Something so important and astounding that it could blow this whole investigation of trying to find his queen wide open. As a king…should he know what this means?

Maybe he came across a topic like this in his studies as a teen, but being a teen and a prince at the same time, he’d followed in Leo’s example just once, wanting reckless adventure and wallowing in luxury. His education was important, but he found himself bored with Machiavellian theory and fork placement for five hours a day when all he wanted was to sneak out and play maze tag with his friends and brother.

Right now, he wants to kick his younger self.

One thing was for sure…he needed to get this piece of paper deciphered and the only person who knew how to at least try to understand that paper was Regina. Surely she would be willing to help - this was her daughter-in-law and the chance for a grandchild after all.

Liam wants to get to it straight away but as he glances at his watch, the time had simply flown by. Regina would most definitely be asleep, and she didn’t particularly like to be waked.

He’d ask her in the morning, he thought to himself as he felt a yawn overtake him.

Stepping in front of the vanity, the contents of the note still perplexing him as he finishes, dries and gets ready for bed.

Liam closes his eyes, the letters dancing behind his closed lids.

His gut told him that those jumbles of words were important. Hadn’t Ariel been the one to teach him that? It had to be a test. But…why did it take him two years to find it?

That suit jacket had hung on his shoulders for so many times since her disappearance…how did it just show up now?

Could it be possible that Ariel had planned this in her own way?

Liam’s face lights up in a smile, even as sleep starts to come for him. To this day, Ariel still surprises him. Her unpredictability and decisiveness always manages to surprise him. Damn, she was a force. And he loves her more for it.

I miss you, Ariel.

Liam’s eyes prickle with tears, the cloud of sorrow almost drowning him again as the remains of his broken heart melt on the floor as it calls for his life back.

Liam turns to his side and splays his hand out on Ariel’s side of the bed. He sighs. He wishes. He yearns and he aches and desires for her to be beside him so he can cradle her in his arms, sink into her scent of freesia and strawberries.

Liam drifts off into a deep slumber with the face of his beloved behind his eyes, hoping wherever she was, she was thinking of him too.

***

“Breaking News just coming out from Sweden...Prince Carl Philip has been confirmed missing by King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia. The prince was last seen out with friends before disappearing after a royal engagement. The prince’s security detail was reportedly neutralized.

The Swedish Royal family has released a statement to the public:

“We are utterly distraught at the prospect of our son, Prince Carl Philip, missing. Our security staff and national police are looking into his disappearance. If anyone saw anything last night, please ring the royal press office at 9398-2345-5443 or email at [email protected]

We thank you for all your thoughts and prayers at this tough time and we hope against hope that Prince Carl Philip will return to us soon.”

______________________________________________________________

“Prince Carl Philip was out celebrating his third wedding anniversary at the Villa Solbacken.

This news comes as a number of other royals have disappeared throughout Europe. Queen Letizia of Spain went missing three months ago. Today marks the one year anniversary since Prince Amedeo of Belgium also went missing. It’s been two and a half years since Queen Ariel of Cordonia vanished into thin air. Should the rest of Europe be worried?

Royalists like to think so. However, we cannot jump to conclusions.

Please remember that if you have seen or heard anything about Prince Carl Philip, let the royal press office know on the number on the screen.

Until then, I’m Kerri Constance, goodnight.”

“Seriously, Liam? You’re watching this shit?” Drake says as he arches his eyebrow at his best friend.

Liam gives Drake an exasperated scowl, his eyes still trained on the screen.

“No, Drake. I’m not watching this shit for fun. I’m watching it for a reason. The Prince of Sweden has gone missing.”

Drake’s eyes widen as he settles beside the king in the palace drawing room. The TV was blaring the six o’clock news, the anchors eagerly jumping on the story of the newest missing royal.

Liam stares intently at the screen and Drake just watches him for a minute, seeing the cogs turning in his mind. He was thinking and Drake liked to think that Ariel was on his mind. After all, why wouldn’t it be?

“They have been running this story all day. They’ve mentioned Ariel’s case a few times already.”

Drake nods as he leans forward in his seat, as he glances up at the TV listening to the anchorwoman talk about the missing prince and other royals that have been vanishing over the last few months.

“Have other royals been disappearing too?” Drake inquires.

Liam nods as he leans back against the couch, ticking off all the missing people on his fingers.

“They have. The Crown Prince of Denmark, Queen Letizia of Spain, the Belgian Prince, and Princess Marguerite of Monaco. She was at a summit for international relations with country leaders at the Royal Palace there. She went to freshen up, never came back. They’re . . . understandably upset over there.”

Damn! That many royals missing over a few months? And all of them in Europe? 

That put a bad taste in Drake’s mouth. 

Something didn’t feel right.

“Have you had any luck with the prisoners?”

Liam finally tears his eyes away from the television to give Drake his undivided attention. An actual smile seems to play on his lips, although faint.

“Yes. Under careful interrogation by Bastien and his men, they have managed to uncover plots that they were going to implement if the kidnapping was successful. One was using past indiscretions against us to blackmail into abdicating. They also got some information about some offshore accounts. Bastien did some digging and all of these link to many places in Europe and America.”

Drake nods, their American contact's words straying back into his mind. Nazario was his name, was it not? He’d be valuable in the future.

Liam sighs, his expression grave.

“I have a feeling that The Sons Of Earth have been funded by these people. And it seems like they are pretty powerful people considering that none of the money has been found anywhere else. Anton was sneaky. He went undetected for months as Ariel’s press secretary...so I wouldn’t put it past him to somehow get away with this.”

Liam glances down at the paper in his lap, fingering it for a few beats before he hands it over to Drake.

“What’s this?” Drake asks, his furrowing his eyebrows in concentration, the deciphering of the code now at play.

“A note I found in the pocket of my wedding tux.”

Drake’s eyes widen as he stares at Liam, then glance down at the note again. “What? How did it get in there? It’s been nearly three years since your wedding.”

Liam shrugs, exhaling heavily. “I have no idea. Ariel seems to have had everything under control even before she left. My guess is it’s a code or something.”

Drake glances at the note. The letters swam before his eyes almost teasingly, beckoning him to come and decipher them. But after a few minutes, the only thing he’d gleaned was that it was a sentence of some sort. What a pity that was. 

Drake leans forward on the couch as his mind runs, his mind latching onto some information he gathered when flitting through a Cordonian history book during one of his many journeys through the palace when a ball was underway. “I swear it was in a book...but I remember you mentioning something when we were kids...when that warrior Queen that founded the five kingdoms would use ciphers and hidden messages to send her allies details of where she was when she was in exile? Could this be something like that?”

At Drake’s words, Liam freezes, his back straightening in firm realization.

“Drake,” is all he says, the word pushed out like the dying breath of a man gasping for air.

Drake’s heart beats heavily, his stomach twisting in concern for his friend. Liam hadn’t stopped staring at him for a good two minutes.

“Uh...yes, Liam?”

Without a word, Liam snatches the cipher from Drake’s palm and stands up, charging out the door and stumbling into the main atrium.

“Liam, where are you going?”

Liam glances back at Drake, his eyes alight with the determination he saw only a few weeks ago when they were all gathered in his office.

Liam smiles. “I’m going to Regina to get this cipher figured out. She has experience with these. She had to decipher some letters my father would get in the mail. And then…”

“And then... what?” Drake says, Liam’s animated state disconcerting as his actions were almost robotic in nature.

“And then we find Ariel.”

Liam doesn’t say another word and continues on his way, Drake following after him at a brisk jog, still trying to catch the man’s attention.

“Liam...wait! Are you sure this is the right way to go?”

Liam glances behind his shoulder, addressing his friend as he takes the gilded steps up to the third floor two at a time. 

“Of course I am, Drake. Just have a gut feeling that’s all. I have no indication how long this,” Liam pauses, raising the folded piece of parchment up in the air. “...has been sitting in my jacket for. For all I know, it was there the whole time and I was too dense to notice it! It was right in front of my eyes this whole time!”

Liam takes a deep breath, his pulse rising in anger, his fists clenching beside him. He was angry. Angry at himself for being so consumed by his pain that he didn’t see the little details. At Ariel for sending him on this wild goose chase. At this whole situation. He should be living happily ever after with Ariel and here he was trying desperately to hold on to anything that could give him that.  

Add that to the fact that European royals are going missing and, deep down, Liam had no idea what was happening.

How could he be so foolish? How could he be so blind, so overcome by his pain that he couldn’t look at his wedding tux until nearly three years later? What kind of lurid joke was this? Had Ariel intentionally put that there? Would she be angry at him that he had taken nearly three years to find it?  

Liam sighs as he glances at Drake.

“What else can I do? Bastien has spent the last two weeks interrogating the captured prisoners. This may be the last bit of evidence we have. It could be what breaks the case and we have a solid lead.”

Drake stares at his closest friend and his heart tightens as he sees the light he saw earlier faltering in those blue eyes.

He couldn’t see his friend falling back into those old, destructive patterns again.

Drake sighs, nodding in resignation.

“Okay, let’s do this. Whatever answers we get from Regina - I’m with you all the way.”

Liam’s mouth lifts up in a winsome smile as his hand comes to Drake’s shoulder as he tightens his hold in gratitude. “Thank you, Drake.”

Drake shrugs. “All good.”

Liam chuckles at his friend's noncommittal answer as he knocks on the door three times. The pounding in his ears grows louder by the second until it’s replaced by another noise - the pattering of feet behind the door. A voice calls out, and Liam answers as he steps through the door.

“Regina? It’s Liam.”

Regina glances up and her grey eyes slightly widen as she catches the sight of both of them, disheveled from their trek up the stairs, Liam still slightly breathless.

“Liam? What is the matter? Is there something you wish to discuss with me?”

Liam nods. “Yes, there is Regina.”

Liam lifts the paper, Regina giving it the careful appraising look she was so famous for. “What is that?”

Liam takes a seat in front of Regina and passes over the note with the incomprehensible jumble of letters written on it.  Regina stares at it, before opening what was given to her, her fingers almost hesitant as she does so.  

Liam stares at his step-mother with intensely, his eyes scanning her face for any twitch or change in expression.

So, when he sees her eyes widen and a gasp escapes her lips, panic sets in. “What? What is it, Regina?”

Regina glances up at him, her eyes wide with shock. “Liam…”

Liam grits his teeth as he says, “What is it, Regina? Did you decipher it?”

It surprised Liam that it only took Regina a few minutes to read the cipher, but he shouldn’t be so surprised about that considering that she did it for his father all the time. He still kicked himself for not studying them in greater detail.

Regina sighs as she gestures in vain towards the letter in a futile attempt to explain its meaning.

“This cipher isn’t complex in the least but what it says is rather direct.”

Liam gives Regina a pleading look. “And does it entail exactly?”

Regina sighs, raising her gaze to his, her words blunt and piercing.

“It says the answers you seek are in Moscow. Ariel left to protect you. But from what?” Regina shrugs, as she shakes her head. “I’m not quite sure. But, I’m guessing it’s something big if it entails her leaving you and Cordonia behind.”

“Could the Sons of Earth be more involved in Ariel’s disappearance than we first thought?”

“As much as I don’t want to believe it -- I think they are. If we find the answers in Moscow…maybe the real reason that Ariel left may be revealed.”

Liam groans as he stands and runs his hands through his hair again, the frustration settling back into his shoulders.

He finally turns to Regina for a faint smile.

“Thank you so much, Regina. I will keep you updated on what we do next. You have helped me out immensely.”

Regina smiles and then turns back to the book she was reading, a quiet signal that the conversation was over.

Drake follows Liam out of the room, his voice ringing a little too loudly for his liking in the deserted palace halls.

“Liam. What do we do now?”

Liam glances to Drake, his eyes set in steely resolve, his jaw set.

“I’m not wasting any more time. We are going to Moscow. Tonight.”

#liam x mc #the royal romance #royal romance fanfiction #king liam x mc #trr #trr choices #choices trr #trr fanfic #choices fanfiction #mc x liam #trr fanfiction #aworldoffandoms

[madisgriffin]

HEY FAM MOLLY IS FEELING ESPECIALLY EMOTIONAL TONIGHT SOOO anyone who knows me knows that I get real lovey dovey when it comes to my friends so this is literally just me telling some people that they rock and I love them.

@bellamublake thank you for being my first close friend in t100 fandom and responding to That Post almost 6 months ago and now for being someone I can literally always count on - whether that’s to get me to calm down and stop crying from hundreds of miles away or helping me figure out what’s wrong with my coding for my theme until after midnight. also you’re a babe and your gifsets make me cry like wow your fiance better know how lucky he is.

@bobmorlee thank you for always whining about mornings with me and for being a constant even though I’m basically never online and just being a fabulous friend and wonderful person and also for making me cry with your creations.

@bellamyblakesgun we’re newly pals but you appreciate the pictures of my puppy so we’re basically bffs already (olly loves you too) and also thanks for being fr the sweetest and funniest person ever.

@ghostlyleia you changed your url gosh this is what i get for not being on tumblr but thank you for being an a+ pal and yelling over my fic and always keeping our snap streak alive - our bitmojis are real cute together.

@cheylblossom thank you for being the only one who cares enough about my love life to always ask me about The Boy and actually care about the answer, you’re the sweetest little bean and also fricking gorgeous???? like??? and guess who can’t wait for next month ahhh!?!?!

@stilinskikissme thank you for being the Cool Aunt and in general for just being a super fun person to talk to and you’re so talented and I lowkey was tumblr-friend-crushing on you before we were in the network group together so I’m glad we’re friends now also I think our dogs should be friends

@ravenclaw-helena WE LITERALLY DO NOT EVEN HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP OK I just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel left out because like you know that one quote about friend-soulmates? yeah, that’s us. In the cheesiest possible way bc I know you love that about me ;)))))

aaaaand because I feel like it : I’ve talked to most of you before but mostly I just want you to know that even though we’re not close friends I appreciate you and admire you from afar and I’m just really too shy to make friends easily but I think you’re all really rad

@bellamysgriffinprincess @reputaetions @bellhound @tracylorde @bellamybb @griffndors @flawlessbanshee @bellameblake @stardustbell @ravensrcyes @lovelylincoln

#molly gets sappy

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Once upon a time a certain big name within the Spider-Man fandom spoke upon issue #500 and how it wasn’t a good issue, specifically talking about the ending involving Uncle Ben and how it was ‘banal’.

 This is my rebuttal to that.

 First lets look at the scene in question and give a little context. It’s Spider-Man’s birthday and he’s spent his time on a trip through his life.

 He’s seen a possible future where his identity has been compromised, where he’s wanted by the law and where he is ultimately killed in a last stand with the authorities. Then he’s witnessed his origin as a teenager and had to essentially sporadically hop to random points along his timeline in order to get back to where he started and avert a demonic invasion.

  In typical Spider-Man fashion the moments of his life he finds himself returning to are far from pleasant ones as he finds himself in the midst of his battles with various foes, or trapped under machinery in Doc Ock’s underwater base, or even at the Brooklyn Bridge trying and again failing to save Gwen Stacy.

 All of this is courtesy of Doctor Strange who inspires Spider-Man to keep on fighting after the latter incident.

And when I say he has to keep fighting...I mean he has to do all of this:

 Bad ass.

 Anyway by the end of the issue Spider-Man opens up a box from Doctor Strange with a note saying he has just five minutes. And its a doozy!

 Okay so the main points of contention from this particular Spider-Man fan, when commenting on this issue, boiled down to:

 1)      This was underwhelming for a 500th issue of a historic title, with ASM #600 being better on that front

2)      It’s almost like another Doctor Strange story because Spider-Man is up against Dormammu and Doctor Strange is involved

3)      You expect a big ass battle, perhaps with all of his villains as the cover depicted

4)      You never feel like its a personal enough story for Spider-Man because its cluttered with other stuff

5)      The conversation between Peter and Uncle Ben is banal and says nothing of importance, not addressing Peter’s role in Ben’s death. Particularly this Spider-Man fan notes how if his father was alive again their conversation would be a lot more substantial.

So let’s address these criticisms one by one.

 1)      This was underwhelming for a 500th issue of a historic title.

I don’t entirely disagree with this.

 For a $3.50 comic book in 2004 that was almost (despite the cover’s claim to the contrary) double length the story was mostly just a clipshow. For an issue which is a milestone amongst milestones (being halfway to issue #1000) something more seismic should’ve been in order. As was though the issue was something of a clipshow comic book which isn’t really acceptable when you consider other centennial Spider-Man issues have had stuff like a rematch between Spidey and the Burglar, the death of Harry Osborn, the death of Aunt May or even in ASM #700’s case a big status quo shift. Okay it was shifting into a bad status quo but that’s not my point.

 My point is a centennial issue should carry weight to it. it should either be the culmination of something or the beginning of something that’d matter going forward. ASM #500 was the end of a three issue arc that had only one consequence thereafter, the setting up of another short arc involving Loki. Really the story was fairly skippable which for a centennial issue isn’t good enough.

 However that being said the story should be evaluated unto itself and not just on the basis of how it marks a milestone.

 2)      It’s almost like another Doctor Strange story because Spider-Man is up against Dormammu and Doctor Strange is involved

 Arguably, this point might be true of the three part story overall. However it is not true of ASM #500 in isolation.

 Yes the main impetus is to stop Dormammu and yes Doctor Strange is involved and the one sending Spider-Man on his journey down memory lane.

 However they are nothing more than the excuses to get the story going. The story being a highlighting of Spider-Man’s struggles, the cost of the costume and how Peter feels about that at the end of the day.

 That’s what the story is really about and it’s not only squarely based on Peter but it is also most definitely by it’s introspective nature a Spider-Man story.

 Really Dormammu and Doctor Strange could’ve been switched out for Doctor Doom and Reed Richards and it would’ve amounted to the same thing. Stopping Dormammu is the destination Doctor Strange is the vehicle getting us to that destination but the story is about the guy in that vehicle and his journey to reach that destination and what he feels about the journey once it is over.

 3)      You expect a big ass battle, perhaps with all of his villains as the cover depicted

 We got that. See the splash page above. More poignantly seeing Spider-Man be thrown into all of his old battles at random with little respite and endlessly fight and fight and fight some more, triumphing over each of them and getting back home to help save the whole damn world is a pretty big feat of Spider-Man’s strength and willpower. It’s yet another ‘lift the wreckage off your back’ moment but done differently.

 4)      You never feel like its a personal enough story for Spider-Man because its cluttered with other stuff

 See my rebuttal to point 2) and also take another look at those conversations I posted between Peter and Doctor Strange and Peter and Uncle Ben, not to mention these scenes.

This isn’t personal?

 Also amongst the 38 pages of this issue do you know how many feature the Mindless Ones, Dormammu or none Spider-Man characters (exempting instances like the Juggernaut) and have mostly not been about Spider-Man’s main personal journey in the story? 7 tops. And two of those was setting up the mechanics of the story to allow Spider-Man to return to his own timeline.

 So the story is cluttered by all those things being in...less than 19% of the story? So...egregiously less than even ¼ of the overall story?

 Okay.

  5)      The conversation between Peter and Uncle Ben is banal and says nothing of importance, not addressing Peter’s role in Ben’s death. Particularly this Spider-Man fan notes how if his father was alive again their conversation would be a lot more substantial.

  This is probably my biggest bone to pick for various reasons because it speaks to frankly looking at the story far too superficially and also allowing personal life stuff to cloud your judgement. And also because, as you will hear me repeat going forward, this scene was ingenious.

 First of all let’s get a little messy here and talk about the commenter and their father. I do not know the commenter very well and know even less of their father. But I do not need to in order to make my point because it is incredibly basic and obvious.

 The commenter isn’t Spider-Man, their father wasn’t like Uncle Ben and their relationship with one another wasn’t like Peter and Ben’s.

 I know this because

 a)      No one in real life is like Spider-Man or Uncle Ben

b)      No one’s life experiences is like Spider-Man’s, not even police officers who have maybe the closest equivalent to Spider-Man’s life (and from what I know of the commenter they have never been a police officer)

c)       No two people are identical on this earth in their personalities which by definition means no two people’s relationship will be identical to any other two people’s relationship. Especially when it comes to a relationship between a parent and child which is about as personal as you could get.

 All of which renders the criticism that they would’ve said something different or more substantial to their briefly resurrected father entirely invalid.

 Frankly, anyone seeking to truly analyze the scene or critique it should not be asking what THEY would’ve done in Peter’s position and instead be asking what made sense for Peter in the context of his life, personality and history would do. And at the same time what BEN would’ve done, something the commenter entirely neglected.

 Which is in fact the real genius of the scene. It flips the script quite a bit to instead of having Peter seek a lot of answers from Ben, it actually shows us that Ben has somethings he wants to ask Peter.

 Which is ingenious because after 40+ years we are entirely aware that Peter misses uncle Ben and wants to see him again. But the scene in ASM #500 makes the point that actually Ben would miss Peter too and would need to get a certain amount of closure from him, which I will get into a bit more shortly.

 I think if Uncle Ben returned we’d all expect Peter to want to confess and ask Ben for forgiveness for his part in Ben’s death. And the thing is...he did that, or rather he tried too. Because JMS opted to take things a step further. He had Peter begin to ask Ben for forgiveness and for Ben to cut him off before specifics were said.

 Which is again ingenious. Let’s be real here, based upon everything we’ve ever known about Uncle Ben (and putting aside how the Ben in this story clearly is aware he’s dead), he’d obviously forgive his nephew for his lack of action when he was 15 years old, especially in light of all he’s done since.

 What JMS did was subvert that expectation and have Ben not forgive Peter, but go so far as to say that he doesn’t even consider what Peter did as something his nephew needs forgiveness for, not from him anyway. In one stroke Ben conveys to Peter and the reader that Peter is not atoned for his original sin but rather he never needed that atonement in the first place. Which had writers really paid attention, should have ended any BS guilt tripping Peter visited upon himself going forward when you think about it.

 So off the top the issue not only addresses one of the major points of discussion everyone would’ve envisioned for this sort of scenario.

 In fact, really as far as Peter is concerned what else is there really to talk about with Ben?

 Remember by all accounts Peter and Ben had a very positive and fulfilling parent/child relationship. Peter and Ben’s last interaction wasn’t an argumentative or negative one from what we know. So there is no ‘unfinished business’ left to settle between them like there was between Harry and Norman when either of them were depicted to have died.

 What else does Peter, within the mere five minutes he has with Uncle Ben, really  got to say to his Uncle? Especially when you consider from his experiences with this stuff Ben is probably able to know or observe the stuff that goes on in Peter’s life. Like Peter really doesn’t have to tell Ben he’s married, or that he’s a teacher or even that he’s Spider-Man.

 What else from a storytelling perspective does the specific character of Peter Parker (not you, me, the commenter or anyone else) need to say to Ben once the issue of his guilt over his death has been addressed? The answer is nothing really, at least nothing that we the readers really need to see him saying.

 Returning to what I said above, JMS further subverts the expectations in this scenario by having Ben be the one who asks the questions. Cleverly though the focus is still on Peter. Ben is shown to be the one with concern for his son but in asking the questions we get to examine Peter.

 Now this is not only brilliant for the reasons I’ve outlines, but because it is also touchingly realistic despite the fantastical scenario.

 Whilst there are some shitty parents out there, most parents love their children, regard them as the most important things in their life and make their well-being their top priority.

 In this issue we have a man who was the adoptive father of this kid who involuntarily had to leave his son when he was just 15 and still in need of parental guidance as he grew up. Now for a mere 5 minutes he gets the chance to see his son again when he’s all grown up. Even ignoring how he’s literally dead, Ben’s window of opportunity to raise and shape Peter, his son, closed a long time ago.

 So instead (as discussed above) he does assuages Peter’s concerns and proceeds to do what frankly MOST parents in that situation would do. He seeks reassurance. Not for Peter’s sake but for his own.

 He asks Peter two questions, the first of which boils down to

 Have you tried to live a meaningful life?

 Now granted Peter somewhat lies in his answer because when Ben asks if he ever walked away from what he believed ‘even once’ he says he never has when ASM #50 and ASM #100 alone are proof that that isn’t true. But then again earlier on Ben did comment that we all stumble and I suppose when you get right down to it, it’s more important that Peter kept coming back to his responsibilities as Spider-Man than the fact that on occasion he walked away from it for, at most, like a few months.

 So Peter’s life is reaffirmed as one of meaning, which is a poignant question for a parent to have answered of their child. And also a poignant one for anyone to have to dig deep and answer of themselves as Peter did in that moment.

 However it is not as poignant as Ben’s second question, one which goes to the heart of essentially every human being who’s ever lived.

 Are you happy?

  Let me break that down for you a little bit.

 Uncle Ben is a man who never got to finish his job as a parent to his son Peter and never got to see the specifics of how his life unfolded.

 Now in a very brief window of time he has the chance to find out first hand from his fully grown son if his efforts as a parent paid off.

 And more pressingly he has the opportunity to know the thing virtually EVERY parent across the planet and all time has wanted to know.

 Is my child happy?

 Is the person whom I love more than anyone in my life or in the whole world, the person whom I can’t help anymore after years of trying to help them, are they happy?

 Can I go back to where I came from, where I can’t see them or interact with them, with my mind at ease knowing that they are okay?

 This is an entirely realistic thing for Ben to ask and something that fans probably considered a Hell of a lot less than Peter’s side of the scenario.

 But the real brilliance of the scene is not in the fact that Ben as a parent would ask the question. But that it makes Peter ask it of himself.

 Keep in mind the context of the scene.

 Peter has just relived his life, or rather all the crazy super hero parts of it, i.e. the parts which have caused the most pain and problems in his life. The parts which do mostly amount to violence that’s gotten under his skin and threatened to break him. The parts which he has recently learned might possibly lead him down a dark path where he is falsely accused of a crime and killed by the very forces of justice he’s striven to help throughout his career.

And now Uncle Ben, his father, the man who’s death set him down that path which has cost him so much, the man whom miraculously he can see again for a mere five minutes and whom he would deny almost nothing to is asking him this question. The same question which, if you take a look back above, Doctor Strange was hinting at.

 And it’s a question I think we’ve all asked of ourselves at one point or another. Hell you could go so far as to say it’s a question which hits right at the heart of life itself.

 And in this milestone issue set on the anniversary of his very birth, Peter Parker tells the one man he could never lie to (and by extension the readers as a whole) that...yes.

 Actually, despite all his suffering and talk of the ‘Parker Luck’, he feels he is very lucky and ultimately happy.

 And that my friends is why the commenter was so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very wrong in his assessment of this scene being unimportant and banal.

 How on Earth could a scene which forces Spider-Man to take a hard look at his life, a life which he’s just revisited the worst highlights of, a life which has been published across 40+ years, and emerge saying that he is deep down happy and content, be meaningless?

 How could it be anything even resembling banal?

 That my friends is why for all it’s flaws and despite maybe not being enough of a milestone, Amazing Spider-Man #500 is most definitely a GOOD Spider-Man comic.

#Spider-Man #Peter Parker #uncle ben #ben parker #marvel #marvel comics #Doctor Strange #stephen strange #Dormammu #mindless ones #j michael straczynski