#Danny is trying to help him avoid that destiny

[nelkcats]

Grim Reaper

The moment he gained consciousness as he emerged from the Lazarus pits, Jason noticed a curious thing: A shadow was always following him, waving with happiness, even though it was rather threatening in his opinion.

At first, the shadow looked harmless, greeting him and hiding most of the time, almost like they were friends. But when Jason returned to the streets of Gotham and killed the first person he considered "bad" as Red Hood, his "friend" came out of the shadows and revealed his identity: Death.

Jason was sure it was Death, with the scythe in his hands, his black hood up and his green eyes judging him completely serious (he even saw him collect the soul of who he had killed!). At that moment he knew that he had made a mistake and began to escape from it. He wasn't going to die a second time, and death was not going to catch him. This of course, started some kind of supernatural persecution in Gotham.

But contrary to what Jason thought, the Grim Reaper wasn't trying to kill him. Danny was actually trying to prevent Jason from becoming a Grim Reaper like him, this being one of the worst punishments in his opinion.

Many years ago, the Observants punished him probably in an attempt to prevent his fate as Dark Dan after the death of his family. For what reason was this punishment assigned to him? Killing everyone associated with the G.I.W. Danny considered what he did fair, they had attacked and he had responded.

In his opinion they deserved no mercy, not after what they did to his family and friends, not after what they did to Amity.

But his thirst for blood and revenge only got him so far. After leaving that bloodbath behind, the ghosts told him that the Observants were waiting for him in the Realms; When he arrived they gave him a punishment for his actions by assigning him as a "Grim Reaper" supposedly to "teach him the value of life" he still thought it was absurd, it's not like they knew it themselves.

But when he saw his own mentor looking at him sadly he accepted. He was immortal, it's not like he had much to do. But the duty of a Grim Reaper was arduous, exhausting and sad, Danny didn't want anyone else to go through it. That's why when he heard that another immortal could be punished just like him, he rushed to meet him and try to avoid it.

But he had spent so much time alone that he didn't know how to approach, he had forgotten his humanity and only knew Esperanto! How was he going to keep Jason from getting lost in the path of blood and vengeance if he couldn't talk to him? He even tried to smile but the guy looked terrified!

Other than that, Jason kept running away every time he saw him, was it impossible to stop him from turning into a Grim Reaper like him!?

[phoenixcatch7]

I thought up that Saiki/Billy/Danny poll on a lol but honestly I keep thinking about it. They're all so interesting as comparisons to each other.

Billy, aka captain marvel: young orphan boy with a heart of gold and a strong sense of justice getting into trouble for it. Sweet darling angel with huge authority issues and Will Fight And Lie over it. Wants to be a hero more than anything else but didn't really get a choice in becoming one. Destiny is strong with this one. Uses his newfound powers to save others and help everyone around him, preferring to talk his enemies down or outwit them but very good with violence. Keenly aware of how easy it would be to turn evil (with Adam) and refuses to ever follow that path. Would be in huge trouble if the government ever got him and he knows it.

Saiki: seemingly apathetic teenager with a heart of gold getting into trouble for it. Sarcastic and pithy, he prefers solitude and privacy but keeps getting semi willingly roped into doing 'friendship' stuff with his 'buddies' (who he'd die for). Easily bribed. Acts polite and obedient to fly under the radar but does not even slightly respect authority given his circumstances with his normal family and the numerous kidnapping and experimentation attempts from governments (and his older brother) since he was very young. Was born with his ever growing powers and every attempt to reduce or remove them has failed with the exception of his limiters, he doesn't want them but didn't really get a choice. Very avoidant or passive of conflict, preferring to save his rare world saving heroics for when he can't be discovered, he doesn't have a hero persona. But he's also very capable of great violence on massive scales when necessary. An unreliable narrator with a slight god complex despite his desperation for a normal human life. Conscious of how easy it would be to turn evil and determined to never follow that path. Would be in massive trouble if the government ever caught him and he's keenly aware.

Danny: sassy and punny teenager with a heart of gold getting into trouble for it. The fluke accident turning him part ghost also released the ghosts onto the town, and he feels it's his responsibility to stop them, before either side gets hurt or worse. A typical teenager with annoying teachers and parents who want to rip him molecule from molecule has left him with very little respect for authority (but it's better than the other two - just). Didn't really want to be a hero with powers but didn't really have a choice. Will sass people into making bad decisions (that usually ends with him upside down in a wall) and generally ready to throw down the second he senses a ghost (or a vlad). His encounters have left him with an iron clad set of morals and he's keenly aware of how easy it would be for him to turn evil, despite how much he refuses to become his worst nightmare. If the government ever got their hands on him he'd be deeply screwed and he knows it.

I'd honestly love to see the three teenage power houses meet, even if just to gripe and find understanding XD. They'd be such an interesting dynamic.

Saiki: *sipping a drink as the other two crash and wheel wildly overhead in a landscape destroying spar, mercilessly critiquing them both like he could do any better*

Billy: *desperately trying to stop his new friends from conning a conman in revenge for getting conned so easily themselves despite his warnings*

Danny: *deeply morbid humour about the fragility of life as he blasts music to the beat of the video game he's crushing the other two at until saiki blows up the TV*

Honestly these three would bring out the blackest humour in each other, it'd be so bad.

Billy would be the extrovert golden boy face of the group despite being just as ready to play dirty as them, Danny the one dragging them everywhere and daring them to do stupid things, and saiki the guy in the back acting above it all like he's not the easiest to provoke into dumb stuff. MENACES, the lot of them.

But I kind of like how their wildly abnormal childhoods and lives would find so many points of understanding with the others. They'd all benefit hugely from having others their age like them.

[alalaya2]

Tim Drakes sleeping habits save the Earth

Part 9 Death is a punk Goth

Morrigan like her older brother always knew things Things she was suppose to know and things she was defiantly not suppose to know. It did help with her rambunctious Friends/ siblings that she was the one who always knew how a journey would end. Lazarus would start there journeys Clockwork could see where they would go, she would see the end of the journey and their friends/siblings of chose made the journey worth taking. I had save them all a lot of grief in the long run knowing which pitfalls to avoid especially if both she and her Brother told them not to do it. Vortex nine time out of ten did it any way the Crazy loon that he was took it as a challenge. It would not surprises Morrigan if the Yahoo became a deliquesce in her absents.

It was not until she had married Lazarus and became pregnant with her twins that she saw two different ending she was Death and death was an end and a new beginning. she could watch her babies grow up and have children of their own only for most of the Realms being destroyed or she could miss so much of their life and the would suffer but they would survive and some day maybe even be happy and the realms would flourish. She was the Phantom Queen in the end their really wasn't a choice.

Morrigan allowed herself to Fade into the realms of the Endless and with the realms of the Endless was her younger siblings Destiny, Dream (formerly Morpheus, succeeded by Daniel), Destruction ("The Prodigal"), Desire, Despair ,Delirium (formerly "Delight"). She knew that she needed to keep them safe and that one day she would take them into the infinite Realms to save the balance they all protected. It was hard watching her Children Grow up without her and watching the hardship all of her family went through. the only comfort she had was a small locket watch that Clockwork had given to her with its steady ticking she knew the day it died was the day that she could go home and it was a day she was Dreading.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Danny hurt all over his head hurt his body hurt and even his hair hurt he could see some ghost that had gone missing a few days ago secured to a slab the Scientist. He was luck or unlucky that as a Ghost his voice and hands were not intermetal to communicating. They had Klemper his Blond hair was matted with his own ectoplasm he was missing one of his red eyes. Klemper Reached out to his aura to his king ‘Friend, King. no not you’

‘How? Missing, who else’

“Ambushed, Trap, Promus of Friend, Archer gone.’

Archer was one of Doras subjects he was just starting to be trusted to go out of the Dragon Kingdom Aragon had not treated his subjects well and his soldiers even worse. Jazz had given Dora resources to help, and they were finally started to heal and move forward. Danny allowed himself one moment to mourn his passing and focused back onto Klemper and any others that may be there.

‘Others?’

‘Yes Plaything, Rebreather others don’t Know 15 more’

Over 20 of his Subjects he knew some were missing in the living Realms and no one knew it was that many and there was no telling how many others had faded like Archur. It was as if his core was a glacier, and it was starting to melt and Crumble at the thought of some many of his subjects he couldn’t save couldn’t PROTECT. His Fight had discovered that he had a Dule obsession Space and the protections of all that was in it the fact that his people were suffering, and he couldn’t protect them was painful. ‘Stay strong, will get you all out, help will come.’ Klemper just projected a string of emotions that Danny didn’t catch.

Klemper was a little over 100 years old he had Died during WWI Due to Mustard gas he knew that the young king was just Trying to protect him in any way he can. He had been with the GIW too long and he would not last the rest of the day. Already he could feel his core starting to dissolve but, the thought was nice almost like a Friend trying to comfort you. At least this time he would not die alone with out a friend or as near a Friend as a ghost enemy can get. ‘Sorry king, to late, to late, much to late thank you not alone friend.’

Danny watched in horror as Klemper seemed to shimmer a bit then he started to dissolve leaving bits of snow as he became less and less. Danny screamed as much as he could with his muzzle and restraints. He’s chest Rumbled shaking the table he had been strapped to and that Rumble started to shake the building as well. There was shouting in the halls outside the room, but Danny didn’t hear, nor did he care one of his had faded right in front of him and he could do nothing. Klemper was a little annoying, but he didn’t deserve this, none of them did.

Finally, Agent O burst in the room while he was trying to cover his ears as much as possible. Agent O glared at Danny shouting at him to shut up, but Danny could not hear him over the sounds of his own muffled screams. He had had enough and kicked the Button on the side of Danny’s table, shocking Danny into oblivion. Agent O, pleased with how he was able to take out the Ghost Scum was happy that despite that little hiccup everything was going smoothly.

This, all the GIW later find out, would be proven false because The Batfam and the JL were on the case Clark had heard the scream and told batman which Direction it was coming from. The Bats were able to find the tremors from the scream and pinpoint where Danny was they alerted everyone and everyone was ready for a throwdown.

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[sonicasura]

A ramble on one of @radioactivepeasant 's post comments here.

I haven't seen many people do this but the Kid having a different guardian instead of Kor. Sometimes I portray Jak finding him first or taking the tyke from Kor/Underground under a hunch that they can't be trusted with his safety. Considering they try to shove him into a death trap rite of manhood and put him on the THRONE, that judgment is very sound.

Well, I rambled about a different guardian: Link. Specifically post Majora's Mask iteration as I'm still on a Legend of Zelda kick. He ends up in Haven Forest through the Lost Woods side of Termina and got into Haven City albeit pissing off the Krimzon Guard in the process.

Link uses the Deku Mask to evade the guards only to bump into the Kid alongside his little Crocadog who I'll call Cujo(Danny Phantom reference). Now we all know our Hylian hero couldn't leave a kid on his own especially when it becomes clear the tyke is wanted. Thus Link decides he would watch out for the two.

Now, our hero mostly stays in Deku Scrub form as he not have this form be linked to him. Plus his small stature makes it easier to avoid being caught while they try to survive in Haven. Thus only the Kid and Cujo knows what Link really looks like.

Cue Daxter breaking Jak out of prison as the trio run into our reunited Demolition Duo. From here, Link and Mar decide to be little gremlins by making a game. They want to see how long it takes for everyone to realize that the 'strange wooden puppet' isn't actually one.

If Link has to use his other masks or items, then he switches when no one is looking like Superman. This change of guardians does lead to plot points such as Spargus being introduced earlier than in canon. Link knows there's something about the Kid that has everyone after him.

He WILL gather information which leads to seeking Sig's help and the huge chain reaction. Although Link is definitely getting adopted by Damas as the king clearly has the Batman instinct. Plus I love the idea of Dadmas on the same level as Fierce Dadity.

Everyone thinks Jak gets into the most trouble but they're about to learn the hard way that he has some serious competition.

If Linked Universe gets involved then this Link's nickname will be Mask just like in Hyrule Warriors. Jak and Daxter are definitely joining since they aren't letting their new little brother get dragged into an insane quest such as this alone. Damas will be pissed of course, no doubt ready to throw hands with Dink. Hylia too since every hero that has to save this particular world is always an incarnation of his newly adopted son.

Everyone is pretty much done with the whole destiny/prophecy trope. Plus the absolute awkwardness when Time ends up meeting a younger version of him. One who clearly had a much better time than he gotten at that age.

Warriors is probably gonna want a drink as he now has to deal with shenanigans on the same level as the War of Eras but cubed. Then again, every responsible Link might be joining him as the gremlin members add onto the chaos like gasoline on a fire.

That's all I have for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you at the crossroads between Spargus and Hyrule.

[snaileer]

Fight or Find Balance - Part 3

Danny knows that tears would be blurring his vision if they could right now. Fortunately he was moving too fast for it to matter. That and the fact the tears crystallized into ice the moment they formed.

They dropped into the ocean below him. He couldn’t care less.

The infini-map knew where to take him. It had to-

Was that the Eiffel Tower?

The map started pulled slower before taking a very sharp turn.

He was heading towards a mansion? Why was-?

The map jerked backwards, flipping Danny head over tail and going another direction.

A bakery? The most powerful relics of man where in a bakery?

The map flipped again, tugging him through the streets before suddenly yanking him through a storefront

Danny turned intangible just in time to phase through the wall and come out on the other side of a… massage parlor?

The map sagged in his hand. This was it. The miraculous were here somewhere.

Dim moonlight shown through the window, leaving most of the room dark.

It wasn’t a problem for a ghost, Phantom’s eyes scouring the room for anything that could hold the miraculous. Come on, come on, where are they, just have to find them then everything will be okay again.

“You know,” a voice interrupted as the lights flicked on, “It is usually considered rude to enter without an appointment.”

Danny flashed into invisibility, looking down at the small Chinese man in front of him.

“That is quite a trick young man!” He smiled, looking around the room to try and pinpoint Danny, “But be assured I mean you no harm.”

Danny considered it… if this was the person who owned the parlor, then he probably had the miraculous too, all Danny had to do was ask him for them and he could fix everything!

He slowly faded into visibility, “I’m Phantom, I’m sorry to intrude, I’m just in a bit of a rush and-“

“I am Fu, it is nice to meet you, Phantom, it is not often I meet a guest in the middle of the night, but when I do, it is almost always because they are lost.”

“I’m not lost.” He wasn’t. He knew what he was doing. What he needed to do. He wasn’t lost, he was right where he needed to be. “I’m looking for something.”

“Oh, then perhaps I can help. If you are not lost that is.”

“I’m not. I need the miraculous. Do you know what they are, where they are?”

Something in the old man stiffened, “those are powerful relics, are you sure you want to be messing around with them?”

Phantom growled, he was sick of people thinking they knew better than him, “yes. Now do you know where they are or not? I /need/ them.”

The man sighed and his shoulders sagged, “You cannot wield them. Not so long as you are blinded by your emotions.”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” Phantom shouted and shot to his feet, “Where are they!? I need them!”

“You will never get them, not from me.”

No, no, no NO! It was clockwork all over again! No! He was not about to let another old geezer take away his chance to get his family back!

“Fine! If you won’t give them to me, I’ll find out where they are myself!” Phantom rose and dove into the man’s body. Trying to find the miraculous. And image showed of a whole bunch of jewelry, the miraculous!- now where-

He was thrown back, crashing through a Japanese curtain.

“My mind is not so easily penetrated, young spirit. I am a shell not easily broken.”

“Where are they!?” Phantom yelled, eyes flashing.

“You will not find them here. I suggest you leave now, Phantom.”

If they’re not here, then fine, but the infini-map…. “This isn’t over, I know you have them, and I’m getting those miraculous.” Phantom snarled and then turned to leave out the window, he was stopped by the man’s voice.

“Just remember Phantom, one will often meet his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.”

Phantom scoffed, “Not me, not this time. This time, I’m coming out on top. I’ll make sure of it. Everything will be fine.” He flew through the window, leaving the old man behind and never realizing his eyes had flashed red instead of green.

[baby-blossoms]

Potent

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Word Count: 3,795

Summary/Request: “I don't know if you write for Harry Potter, but can you do a fic about Draco Malfoy if you do? It doesn't have to be anything specific, I just love your writing!” - Reader smells Draco in the Amortentia potion without realizing it’s him. 

Warnings: Light cursing

     You were exhausted from staying up all night writing an essay for charms class over simple things your father had taught you ages before you had started your sixth year at Hogwarts. You couldn’t say that you were extremely talented in every subject you took at the great school of witchcraft and wizardry, but charms came naturally to you. Your mother was an outstanding Auror, and your father also worked for the Ministry of Magic. You were never fully informed on what exactly he did. His job was clearly out of the ordinary, as he never spoke about it. He was always out at odd hours for work, but you never questioned it. You were just happy that they both came home safe every night. 

    You couldn’t say that your family was thrilled when they found out you were a Slytherin. The family came from a long line of Ravenclaws on your father’s side and Gryffindors on your mother’s side. They were baffled as to how you found yourself placed among Slytherins. Nevertheless, they were proud of you and how hard you were working toward being one of the top students of your class,

    “Another reason I believe you should have been placed in Ravenclaw! Perhaps you could consult with the headmaster about the matter, Y/N?” 

Your mother had said once. You rolled your eyes at her all those years ago and simply replied,

“The sorting hat never makes mistakes, mama. You know that. Being a Slytherin may not have been what you wanted or expected, but it is my destiny.”

    You withdrew yourself from the memory as you tuned back into your friends chattering away about the latest gossip among the school. Some people you had never heard of were getting back together for the third time this year. It was impressive how often a couple could split and get back together in the span of a few months. 

    “Y/n, do you fancy anyone?”

Your friend Danny asked, knocking his shoulder together with yours and raising an eyebrow in curiosity. You rolled your eyes and slapped him on the arm lightly with a book you were carrying.

    “You know I don’t have time for a relationship, Danny.”

Danny gave a long drawn out sigh and motioned to a girl in blue and bronze robes passing by.

    “Honestly, you should’ve been holed up with those stuffy Ravenclaws.” 

You shot him an annoyed glance and replied.

    “Ravenclaws are not stuffy, Daniel. They value intelligence, I can’t imagine why you weren’t placed there.”

Danny snorted out a laugh,

    “There it is! Every time I annoy you, I’m reminded why you were put in Slytherin. It’s the wicked sarcasm alone, I think.” 

Another one of your friends chimed in,

    “Have you seen her magic in action, Danny? It's the power, not the sarcasm. Salazar Slytherin valued powerful, cunning students with pure blood, and the only family with more pure blood than hers is the Malfoys.”

    You didn’t comment, a part of you flattered by your friend's compliment toward your powerful magic. However, the prejudice toward purebloods among the Slytherin house still put you off a bit. Your mind wandered to the Malfoy family after a moment. They truly were a powerful and well-known family, but you knew from your mother’s mixture of anger and disgust when talking about Lucious Malfoy, they were not well known for good reasons. A chill ran up your spine when you thought back to the first and only time you had seen Lucious Malfoy in person.

     He towered over you, his eyes practically piercing into your soul when you accidentally bumped into him on Diagon Alley while buying supplies for your first year. Your mother had pulled you away from him as if he was infected with a highly contagious disease, and practically shoved you behind her. She had spoken to him for a moment, her voice friendly to anyone else’s ears, but you knew your mother. You heard how uncomfortable she truly was. 

    That was the extent of your interactions with the Malfoy family. Your mother had drilled it into your head that you were not to step foot near Draco Malfoy, let alone speak to him. She was terrified of what might come if you befriended, or worse, annoyed the young Malfoy. You had agreed, as if Draco would ever speak to you in the first place. He was far too concerned with himself and harassing Harry Potter for that. 

    The only thing that made avoiding Draco difficult at this point was not only that you were in Slytherin with him, but you also had almost the same schedule. Speaking of which, you realized you had passed your potions class, and quickly shouted a farewell to your friends as you doubled back and made your way into the room. 

    You gathered with the rest of the Slytherins. The class stood in front of a table that had four cauldrons upon it. One of the two you could smell from where you stood, and you found it almost intoxicating. Your eyes glazed over as you stared intently at the cauldron, and you were only brought out of your hazy thoughts of how exquisite it smelled when two boys entered the room. Harry Potter and his best friend, Ron Weasly. You scoffed quietly, annoyed that he could just waltz into class late and he seldom got any sort of repercussion for it. The one time you were late to Transfiguration Professor McGonagall made you write an essay on why punctuation is important for a witch or wizard to practice. 

   You glared at the two fighting over the last clean looking copy of the textbook and glanced to your right, feeling someone’s eyes on you. Your glare dropped immediately and was replaced by surprise and confusion at finding Draco Malfoy eyeing you with a small smirk. You felt a small blush spread across your cheeks. You had never fully looked at Draco before. His eyes were stone grey with flecks of blue toward his pupil, and his features were delicate yet sharp at the same time. But damn you had to admit he looked good in green. You found that you had been staring at him far too long, and abruptly looked away, turning back to Hermoine Granger. She stood in front of the cauldron you had been staring at earlier. 

    “It’s rumored to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them. For example, I smell freshly mowed grass and parchment, and spearmint toothpaste.” 

    She said before you were distracted once more. You felt as though he was watching you still. You couldn’t help but give in to your curiosity and steal another glance at Draco. His gaze had not shifted from you, and you felt another wave of heat across your cheeks. You weren’t used to catching the interest of any boy around Hogwarts, let alone the one boy you weren’t supposed to interact with whatsoever. 

    “Miss Y/l/n?” 

    You looked back to Professor Slughorn, he looked to you expectantly with an amused smile. Clearly you hadn’t been paying attention, and you felt your cheeks burn even hotter and you replied without hesitation.

    “I’m sorry Professor, I was distracted. Could you repeat the question for me?”

Slughorn chuckled and stated,

    “I was asking if you would like a turn in smelling the Amortentia potion? I saw that you were particularly transfixed with it earlier.” 

   You knew that if your cheeks could blush harder, they would. Making your way toward the potion, you tried your best to focus on speaking clearly as the scent practically grabbed a hold of you and begged you to taste the potion. 

   “I smell-” you paused for a moment, trying to figure out what had intoxicated your senses, “pomade, mint, apples, and...” 

You trailed off, there was one more scent, but you couldn't pinpoint what it was.

    “Yes, pomade, mint, and apples.”

You finished awkwardly. Slughorn smiled knowingly toward you, and gestured for you to return to where you had been standing earlier. You stalked back to your spot, refusing to let your embarrassment show in front of the class.

    Professor Slughorn continued on about Amortentia for a moment, then introduced how the student with the best brewed potion that day would receive a vial of liquid luck. You rolled your eyes, knowing for a fact that you would not be receiving the vial. Potions weren't necessarily difficult for you, but they were by far not your strongest point. 

    You ended up being right, of course. Though, to your surprise and slight annoyance, it was Harry Potter who received the Liquid Luck. You couldn’t deny that you were jealous, yet couldn't help a heavy eye-roll when he tried to take it from Slughorn’s grasp before he was done speaking. You reluctantly clapped along with the rest of the students after Harry was instructed to use his potion well, but your facial expression showed exactly how you felt. You appreciated all that Harry had done, and what he had been through, but what would he of all people need liquid luck for? He always seemed to manage fairly well without it. 

    You gathered your books and made your way out of the potions classroom, toward charms class. Breath caught in your throat as you were abruptly tugged into an empty corridor. Turning, and drawing your wand in defense, you were more than surprised to lock eyes with Draco Malfoy once more. You weren’t sure what to say in such an instance, as you never dreamed you’d be alone with him, let alone by Draco’s choice. 

    “Well, hello then.”

    You said. Draco eyed you carefully, his expression neutral as he introduced himself. 

    “I’m Draco. Draco Malfoy.”

You nodded in response, surprised once more by the fact he assumed anyone in the school didn’t know his name by now.

    “Yes, and I’m-”

Draco cut you off,

    “Y/n Y/l/n. I know.”

You nodded once more, not entirely sure where to go from there. He was the one pulling you into empty corridors after all.

    “Did you need something, Draco?”

Draco didn’t respond for a moment. He just stood silently, staring at you. His skin was practically flawless. It reminded you of a porcelain doll.

    “I realized we’ve never spoken before. We’ve been in the same house for six years, and we’ve yet to have a conversation.”

    You couldn’t help but feel confused once more.

    “Well, not to be rude, but it doesn’t seem that you talk to many people in general, aside from your… usual group.”

Draco quickly replied.

    “You don’t either.”

You smiled,

    “What, have you been watching me, Draco?”

Draco raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips.

    “It's a good habit to observe those around you, Y/n.”

You laughed lightly.

    “Well, then I’ll keep that excuse in mind next time I feel like staring at someone in class for a prolonged period of time.” you paused, noting how Draco’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Speaking of which, I have a class to get you.” 

    You said, taking your leave from the corridor. Glancing back as you rounded the corner, you found that Draco was indeed still ‘observing’ you. Your thoughts raced as you jogged to charms class. You just couldn’t wrap your head around why Draco chose such an odd way to start conversation with you for the first time. Then your thoughts wandered to your mother, and guilt stabbed at your gut. To be fair, Draco had talked to you first, and realistically he had pulled you into a corridor without your prior knowledge. So, you hadn’t necessarily gone against her wishes. You had to admit you didn’t mind the short conversation with him, though. Draco seemed interesting. 

----- 

    The next few days were seemingly normal, aside from noticing Draco observing you more and more often. He was bold as well, and didn’t bother to look away most of the times you caught him. He was starting to become a true distraction to you. Of course, you couldn’t deny how attractive you found him. 

    You were making your way to the great hall for dinner, listening to Danny chatter away about the latest quidditch games and news regarding the Ministry. Almost all of your friends were seated by the time you found your way to the Slytherin table. Confusion and annoyance practically slapped you in the face when you found the spot you always sat in was occupied by a first year.

    “Not to be rude, but I’ve sat in this spot since my first year. So, if you wouldn’t mind moving, I would really appreciate it.”

    The first year turned to you slowly, and you wholeheartedly expected a sarcastic remark, but instead he said meekly,

    “I have to sit here.” 

You raised an eyebrow, 

    “Have to?”

You questioned. The boy nodded fervently, his eyes darting behind you. From the look in his eyes, you didn’t have to turn around to know who stood there. 

    “Why don’t you sit with me, Y/n? It seems every other spot is taken.”

Your suspicions were confirmed at the sound of Draco Malfoy’s voice. Turning, you stared at him in disbelief. 

    “Did you harass this poor kid into sitting in my spot, Malfoy?”

Draco glanced to the boy, then back to you, a smirk creeping across his lips. 

    “What makes you think I would do such a thing?” 

He said, eyeing you in amusement. You smirked back to him playfully.

    “I suppose I’m not that hungry either way. I think I’ll just make my way back to the common room to study.” 

Draco’s grin vanished, his eyes narrowing as you winked at him and stalked away. 

    Minutes later, you found yourself sitting in the Slytherin common room, staring out the window into the lake. You watched calmly as creatures of all kinds swam past, finding their fluid movements in the water soothing. The Slytherin common room was freezing as per usual, but you neglected to grab a sweater, instead opting to continue to watch the wildlife through the window. Your attention was drawn away from the lake when you heard another person entering the common room.

    “You’re not studying at all.” 

You turned to Draco as he made his way next to you, then went back to watching the lake. You shrugged, smiling lightly.

    “Are you cold?”

He asked, in almost a whisper. You looked back at him slowly, nodding your head in affirmation. 

    “It’s always cold in here.”

You sighed, once again turning to the lake. Draco didn’t respond, but moments later, a sweater was set down in your lap.

    “That should help.”

He said. You looked at him in shock. You would’ve never expected Draco to be the type to lend out his sweater. 

    As you put the sweater on warmth engulfed you, but that wasn’t your main concern. What threw you for a loop was how the sweater smelled. It smelled of mint, pomade, apples and cologne. Your mind started racing. There was no way you had been smelling Draco’s cologne in the Amortentia potion.

    “Sorry, I suppose I’m just not feeling well.” 

You whispered. Promptly standing, you walked quickly to your dormitory and sat on your bed. You spent hours convincing yourself that somehow you were wrong about what you had smelled in the Amortentia potion. However, the sweater that engulfed you in warmth and that same scent was telling you otherwise. 

---

    Just to your luck, in potions the next day, you had the opportunity to test your theory. Slughorn had brought the Amortentia potion back out for whatever reason. You were too anxious to pay attention to his explanation. He gave each student the opportunity to smell the potion if they’d like to test what scents attracted them. When it came to you, the scent had changed, however, not in a way you expected. The smell of Draco’s cologne was overpowering.

    You couldn’t tell whether you were delighted or terrified. Just imagining your mother's face if she found out Draco Malfoy was the first boy you ever had a crush on was enough to make you feel overwhelming guilt. However, when you saw Draco making his way toward the potion to smell it, you couldn’t stop yourself from hoping he would smell you too. 

    Shaking your head in annoyance at yourself, you looked down to the recipe for the potion you were supposed to be making that day. It seemed easy enough, but knowing yourself, you expected it to blow up in your face at any minute throughout the process. You tensed when you saw Draco walk past in your peripheral vision. Hope was still rearing its little head at the thought of what he might’ve smelled in the Amortentia potion, but you couldn’t let yourself be so distracted by him all the time. You would never get anything done. 

    Much to your surprise and elation, your potion came out perfectly. Slughorn praised you, as it truly was a rarity your potions came out decent, let alone perfectly. You glanced behind yourself, finding Draco staring at you with a look you had never seen him show before. Quickly turning around, your thoughts raced as to what he might’ve been thinking. You weren’t surprised to hear Slughorn praising a perfect potion from Draco moments later. 

    The minute class was let out, you practically sprinted out of potions. You had to find Danny and tell him everything. You raced to the Slytherin common room, searching for Danny anywhere within it. He clearly wasn’t in his usual spot, so you went to check his dormitory. When he didn’t answer the door, you sighed in annoyance and defeat. You couldn’t bother running around the entirety of Hogwarts looking for him, so you opted to wait for Dinner. 

    Making your way back to your own dormitory, you sighed once more, wondering how you should even address such a situation. You knew your mother would insist that you just stay a million miles away from the boy and let the feelings fade, but you knew deep down that you couldn’t force yourself to do so. Nevertheless, Draco was in all of your classes, and he was persistent. If he wanted to talk to you, or see you, there was no avoiding him. 

---- 

    You skipped the rest of your classes for the day, knowing it wouldn’t affect your scores too badly, and sat in your dormitory waiting for dinner to roll around. Draco’s sweater sat next to you on your bed, and you stared at it for what must’ve been hours. You never in a million years would have imagined that your thoughts and days would be so taken up by Draco Malfoy of all people. The single person your parents adamantly told you to stay away from. The pure irony of the situation would’ve made you laugh if you didn’t feel so guilty and confused.

    When dinner finally came, you went to leave your dormitory, only to almost immediately slam the door again. Draco was leaning against the wall outside of your room, clearly waiting for you. Fuck. You were right, after all. If he wanted to see you or talk to you, he made sure there was absolutely no way to avoid him. 

    After a moment of you dumbly standing there, holding the handle, there was a firm knock at the door. You leaned your forehead against the hardwood, not knowing what would come from you opening the door. Your mind was practically tearing itself to shreds, battling whether you should ignore him and act like none of this happened, or tempt fate and open the door for the platinum haired boy.

    “Y/n, you can’t just pretend you’re not in there!”

Draco called through the door. You cringed, still battling yourself on whether you should open the door or not.

    “You’re not even supposed to be in the girls dormitories, Draco!” 

You called back.

You heard a muffled laugh through the door. 

    “All the more reason for you to open the door before I get caught.”

You whispered a silent apology to your mother, and opened the door. 

    Draco’s grey eyes bore into yours, and he didn’t hesitate to walk into your room, closing the door swiftly behind him. Your cheeks felt like they were on fire as he turned to you. With every step he took toward you, you took a step backward. Finally the back of your knees hit the edge of your bed and gave out from under you. You sat, staring at Draco as he made his way closer. His signature smirk made your blush burn even brighter.

    Your heart was racing faster than it ever had as he leaned over you, forcing you to lay back slightly. 

    “Tell me, Y/n. What was it that you smelled in the Amortentia potion?” 

You knew you couldn't hide how flustered you were as Draco asked you the one question you had hoped to avoid. You looked anywhere but him, still conflicted with yourself. 

   You had to hold in a shaky breath when Draco grabbed your chin, purring,

    “Look at me.”

You looked at him with wide eyes. 

    “Now tell me, what did you smell in the potion, Y/n?”

Your voice was barely above a whisper as you responded.

    “You.” 

    Draco smiled fully for the first time as far as you had ever seen. Soon his lips were pressed firmly against yours. He tasted partially of how smelled, like peppermint and green apples. As he pulled away slightly, you let out a shaky sigh, and felt his breath fan across your face. 

    “Is it too bold of me to assume what you might’ve smelled in the potion, then?”

You asked in a whisper. Draco chuckled, shifting slightly to grab something behind you. His icy eyes analyzed you for a few more moments before he pulled you into a softer, shorter kiss. You leaned forward, bringing one hand to his hair, running your fingers through it. You had wanted to do that for days now. Draco’s lips quirked up, smiling against yours. 

    When he pulled away, the sight of him nearly made you choke. His hair was ruffled in a way you found so deliciously attractive, and his lips slightly swollen from the kisses you had shared.

   “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Y/n. I just wanted my sweater back.”

He lied easily. Bringing it to his nose, he inhaled softly, then continued.

   “Your perfume is quite potent, though.” 

He winked at you, making your heart flutter, then took his exit. 

    You didn’t care what your parents would think. There was no way you could stay away from Draco Malfoy.

[peeterparkr]

The Holiday.|Tom Holland

chapter two: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

↳ read Sophia’s version here and Tom’s phone call. (Tim fic) BY @jambrosemc​

There’s two sides to the story, the Tom fic written by me and the Tim fic by @jambrosemc​ for thw full experience (though you don’t need to) be sure to check out both! 

STORY SUMMARY:  Two women troubled with guy-problems, one who’s in love with love and one who doesn’t believe in it are both suffering from a broken heart, with little reasoning and nothing left to lose, they swap homes in each other’s countries for the holidays, where they’ll meet a local guy who will probably change their destiny.

chapter summary: new beginnings and first impressions pairing: tom holland x y/n | warnings: Chad word count: 7.8k

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You had gone through every single stage of a broken heart before, every single one of them. Haircuts. Wine. Clubbing. Reading. New life. Sobbing on the floor. Denial. Sort of acceptance. Working out. Eating your feelings. Coffee shops.Bars. Sleeping all day. Not sleeping at all.   But this? Exchanging homes with a complete strange and travelling to the other side of the world? This was crazy. Completely crazy, and yet, you didn’t want to back off. This was the one thing that, if it didn’t work, you were screwed. 

This was certainly not what you had imagined you’d end up doing for the Holidays, yet it was better than any other idea you’d come up with, because maybe, though you tried to avoid the thought of knowing damn well you’d feel lonelier in a foregin place, it’d help you get out of your suffering. 

“So, okay, we went through dog food already right?” You asked, as you were on the back of the Uber on your way to the airport, your dog was still your number one concern. 

You were on the phone with Sophia, the british woman who had her life sorted up. “We did, yep.” She paused, thoughtfully. “And I told you everything about the shop and it’s hours?” 

You were getting cold feet, honestly. “Yes, right, but… I don’t have to worry about opening right?” You asked her. “That guy…. what was his name?” You couldn’t remember. “Ted? Opens up right?” 

“Tom,” she cleared up. Of course, how could you forget his name, his name was the same as your damned dog. “And no you don’t. He’ll take care of it all, or should. She got off the phone for a bit but then turned back to you. “If you don’t mind, keep me updated about him though?” 

“Oh, of course, I wouldn’t trust a man either, “ you laughed. “I’ll check on him.” If you had the time, you were going to make yourself explore the city. 

“Thanks.” She sounded relieved. “And I’ll of course update you on Tommy.” 

You were so nervous of leaving your dog to a stranger, maybe you could tell your brother to go and check on him, too. Yeah, you needed to give Tim a call. “Please, I’ve never been away from my baby… “ You pleaded and then went through the basics on your head. “Uh, so the keys are under the porch thing I told you.” 

“Right, and I put mine on that book,” she recalled. 

“Right, right…. “ And then suddenly you were arriving at the airport. It had turned real. “Okay so we are doing this.”

“Apparently so… This is a good idea, right?” Sophia asked you. 

In all honesty, it wasn’t. This was one of the-if not the craziest idea you’ve ever had, but at the same time it was thrilling. Exciting and inviting and it gave you the opportunity for a story, or time to write one, if you could. 

“Having second thoughts now?” You asked, amused. “When we’re both on our way to the airport?” 

That was a lie, you were already arriving. 

“No, no. I just… I guess I’m just a bit nervous is all,” Sophia admitted. 

You chuckled, nervously. “I’m kidding, I’m terrified, too.” 

Because who wouldn’t be? This was the one thing that was incredibly terrifying. 

“Well, I’m nearly there. I guess there is no going back at this point,” she said. 

Because there wasn’t. You were having second thoughts, honestly. Wanting to give up and go back to your boring life. But then again, this was your chance to escape your boring life and this was your chance to actually make something interesting for once in your life. 

You finally looked up, the driver was waiting for you as you got out of the car. 

“I’m… actually here, so I’ll…” You paused, you couldn’t breathe, your nerves were tickling as you picked your bags and then faced the small airport standing in front of you. “I was gonna say see you on the other side but that’s stupid so… I guess this is a sort of goodbye?” You gulped. 

This was it. 

“Guess so… I’ll talk to you later?” She suggested. 

You wondered if she was losing her shit as much as you were, honestly you wanted to jump and scream. You were excited, but excitement can often be confused with being scared, and you weren’t sure how thin this line was. 

You took a deep breath. “Right, and please send me a picture of Danny so I can personally slap him,” you were only half-joking. 

“Oh of course, and you’ll have to send one of Chad so I can slap him as well,” she answered with a sort of relief. 

“Well, this is…” You were shaking, you closed your eyes. “I…”You paused again. Good luck, here’s to a well deserved break.” 

“Good luck to you too.” Sophia on the other side sounded just as scared as you were. “I hope you’re able to clear your mind.” 

You hoped so, too. You hope your mind could finally get out of the trance that having Chad was. 

“You too, well here goes,” you said before heading to the airport.

“Goodbye then.”

“...Bye.” 

You hung up, and suddenly the small airport had never looked any bigger. You were so close to changing your life. Big opportunities, big, big chances. You couldn’t possibly dare. But you were there, at the airport, so hugely standing in front of you. You felt very small, that was nothing new. You always did feel small, The world was waiting for you.

But you were not ready for it. You were going to back away, you felt fear invading your stomach, you stepped back, but then you saw a couple, kissing in the distance, you felt sorry for yourself. You couldn’t keep longing for that if you never risked anything. You couldn’t continue saying you were tired of being a secondary character if you didn’t risk doing main character things. This was just halfway to it. 

You finally stepped in and made your way across it. 

Because this was the first time you ever did anything, this was the first time you were getting lost in a dream, and letting yourself slip into time and actually going through with things. The day had been sunny. This was supposed to be your day. You wondered if people even turned to see you, you were nothing important, not really standing out from the crowds. But they didn’t know you were having the biggest adventure of a lifetime. Silly to think. 

As soon as you were sitting on the plane, you knew you couldn't back away now and this was it. This was it, a new beginning, tarnishing every single fear upon you, you tried to mingle your feelings and calm down your nerves. You knew it was the right choice, otherwise  you’d end up curled up on your sofa, digging your nose into each and every one of the books you’ve read already and staring at the ones waiting to be read, but never did for a reason or another. You couldn’t have another Christmas like that, this was it, not another one with you trying to avoid the question of why you were lonely again on Christmas and giving an excuse for each year. Sure, you’d be lonely but at least you didn’t need to answer questions about it. Besides, who knows, this was your chance, and you were already in the place so you couldn’t do much. You had an open window for freedom, for lessons to be learned and—Probably not that much, honestly. It was just a trip, how much can a trip change your life? 

A handsome man had walked in, and smiled at you. He was around your age, gentle smile and blue eyes. This was your first sign, because you did believe in them, mo matter how stupid you believed life found a way to tell us we were doing the right choices, only you’d always avoided them. Yes, it had been the right choice. Who knows? Maybe you’d end up finding love in a plane. Oh who were you kidding, you probably had no chance, and you were proven you wouldn’t right away as you saw the man’s beautiful girlfriend sitting right beside him. 

You wouldn’t find a chance like that, you were not a main character. You’d always known you were a plot device. There were main characters, secondary characters and plot devices. You were the last one. 

Your phone dinged. And the sound made you shiver. A friend of yours had once advised to give a specific notification sound for Chad, so therefore you’d avoid it. Needless to say, it had been counterproductive since you would dream with that sound and hope you’d end up hearing it every day. 

But this was different. This wasn’t him answering to another one of your lame attempts to start up a conversation. Chad had been the one who reached out to you. 

“Hey, y/n! Couldn’t see you after the party, are you up for tonight?”

You only stared at the text. This was the reason why you needed to get out. Him reaching out and your heart jumping a little. You needed some willpower. You couldn’t let yourself fall again for the lie his lips were, you couldn’t let yourself be tangled against the sheets with a man who didn’t love you as he should, who didn’t love you for that matter. 

“I’m going on vacation. London. “ you answered. 

He texted back, quickly. That was a first.  “First vacation in three years is turning point. 

It was, for sure. “Yeah.”

He didn’t answer. 

“Congrats on your engagement.” Though you did not mean it. 

“Thanks xx. So, when can we facetime?” He asked. 

With all the pain in your heart, but with the same courage you’d taken to finally go away you said: “We both know I need to fall out of love with you. Would be great if you would let me try.” 

You sent it and then turned your phone off. 

You didn’t need any more Chad. This was it, the one time you needed to escape and this was your chance. 

A chance to finally get away from him for real, a chance to forget it. And to not feel deplorable on Christmas. You needed to forget him, you couldn’t stay with someone who didn’t celebrate your love. You needed to be loved and though you knew you wouldn’t find love in London, maybe you could learn to love yourself. It was the main reason why you knew you loved Chad, because you didn’t stand up for your own. 

You slept for most of the flight, then connected to the other one and then it was real. You had left the US, and off to the other side of the water. Maybe it hit you until that point, the last person you’d ever gone on vacation with had been Chad and this--- No, this was the reason why you were leaving, your mind had to stop going back and forth with him. 

Before you knew it, you were in London, the dawn welcoming you in all your esplendor. And it felt… different, and it hit you. For the first time you’d gotten out of your little cage and this was big. This probably had been the best idea, though crazy, the best idea you’d ever had. You were out, you were in a city that was giving you endless possibilities to wander, and to explore and endless possibilities to find yourself. 

Someone had once told you that to find yourself, you’d have to be lost first, you had never felt more lost in your life, so this was your chance, to get even more lost in a city, and this was your chance, to get out there.

 It was raining as you’d arrived, and as you’d ran out of the airport, small droplets had fallen on you. You could go straight to the house, but something about trying new things had gotten on to you. 

It felt like Christmas, in a way. Everyone walked with their coats and umbrellas and scarfs around their necks, people who were busy, people who weren’t. People walking into shops, and people walking to their jobs, and drunken people walking out of the pubs, welcoming the sun. 

The city lights felt magical, and you had always loved the feeling of being away from the ocean on Christmas. But now, this was a city, full of possibilities. This was exciting. 

You’d seen places you’d seen in movies before, there was a nearby park, you thought about going there later, and exploring a nearby market. You’d be walking all day. Kensington, this place was absolutely gorgeous. And just 6 minutes away from Notting Hill, you still had the thought of the fantasy in your mind. But then… suddenly you were there, standing in front of the bookstore that would be your home for two weeks. Sophia had warned you there was a way in from the shop, and another one from the other place, but the key would be in the bookshop, inside this specific book. 

You had walked into the bookstore, a bell had rang as soon as you’d opened the door, you had looked up, it was decorated, elegantly, christmas lights hanging on the shelves, the place was small and comfortable, topped with books here and there, taken out of your dreams, it was small, but it gave a sort of feeling that it was eternal. Infinite place where you could read books over and over. You’d seen the guy-Tom, you assumed, look up and hint a smile as he was talking to an old lady about a book, he was carefully listening to her, so attentive. 

“Oh, eh, uh, morning,” he managed to say.  He had turned to give you a second glance, you locked eyes with him for a brief second, he had smiled again and then turned away.  

“Morning,” you answered. 

You’d barely looked at him, but you couldn’t help but notice he was attractive. Very attractive. Had you… blushed? You quickly shook the thought away, this was no time to crush on an english boy, besides this was the guy who probably was in love with Sophia, and you were the plot device, you knew that, you couldn’t even bother to look at him. No, you couldn’t. 

Besides, were you that desperate? So incredibly drawn to something you knew would lead nowhere. And how quick were you to jump to conclusions from barely a glance. A smile, a very pretty smile, that crinkled his eyes. No, you couldn’t keep staring 

He kept talking to the lady, you could barrel and overhear the conversation as you, still with your luggage, strolled through the places, touching the books, books you’ve read, books you hadn't. 

“Yes, I want to give this to my granddaughter, I love this book, Momo,” the old woman explained.

“Incredible read,” the british man answered with a grin. “Michael Ende is-” 

Michael, he said Michael, not ‘Michael’, he knew how to pronounce it. Like it was supposed to be pronounced. In german, not like you’d pronounce your friend’s Michael name. Mi- cha- el. Not sure why that had made him even more appealing—No, you couldn’t do this to yourself. This was old y/n kind of thinking, to get out of  a broken heart. You always did this, try to fixate on someone else to get over Chad. It never worked. But you were in London, but—No. He was Sophia’s coworker, Sophia’s friend and he was most likely in love with her. Someone like him had to love someone like her. 

However, it didn’t hurt if you looked again. Or—did it?

You decided you could look at the guy once again, his eyes brightened up as he watched the woman ramble. He was so delicate, yet bold. Handsome, very. Under his sweater he probably was hiding some well defined muscles, you could tell, not that it mattered, but it did grow something more appealing to him. He was very handsome. Not in a conventional way for your taste, so different from the guys back home. He carried a certain sensuality, but was also heavy on being adorable. A very dangerous combination. His lips were small, his jawline defined, but his sight… As if that pair of eyes could paralyze you, tender eyes with a hint of joy and innocence. He wasn’t innocent, though, he could look, but he wasn’t. He was tapping his fingers, anxiously and he took deep breaths as he listened and gave the lady wider smiles and melodious chuckles. He had blushed at the old lady’s remark that he was handsome, you agreed. His lips were dry, probably from the cold, and he licked them too much while he was speaking to the lovely lady in front of him. His eyes were surrounded by some-not so heavy dark circles, but you could tell he hadn’t probably slept. You wondered why. 

 You liked to observe people, you were a writer so you liked those little details that people didn’t stop to look at, like the way he would bite his inner cheeks while listening, or raise his eyebrows with surprise every now and then. You liked those details, thinking one day you’d have enough to build up a person, made completely out of details. 

You looked away once again, fearing he’d notice your staring and strolled through the books, the arrangement was impeccable, of course Sophia would have the place perfectly ordered. But there were some books here and there that didn’t—make sense for your taste. Or didn’t make sense at all, like an autobiography in a section that was definitely for fairytales. 

You heard the bell ring again, an old man. Early 80’s, you guessed, he used a clutch. He wore a vest, a cardigan on top, and a very nice green beret on top of his head, a grey scarf around his neck, he had a coat, still covered from the rain. He seemed adorable. 

“Good morning, Thomas!” He greeted him. 

Tom smiled. Felt weird knowing his name without having met him yet.“Henry, good morning, I’ll be there with you in a second, I’m here with lovely Doris,” he announced, still listening to the lady.

The old man, Henry gave him a smile  and then  looked at you. “Good morning, young lady, it’s pouring isn’t it?” 

“Morning,” you answered, shyly. “Seems to be.” 

“Ah, american, interesting,” he pointed out, his voice was cheerful, old but you could tell he was a lovely human being. “What brings you here to a lovely bookshop in London?” 

You smiled. “An adventure,” you said without thinking about it. It sounded better in your head. 

He smiled, “I love that answer,” he pointed out. “What kind of adventure?” 

You looked around the shop, “Don’t know yet,” you admitted. “I’m trying to find a good story.” 

He grinned, “Hm what kind of story?” 

“Don’t know,” you admitted again. “I’ll keep looking through the books.” 

“Oh,” he nodded slowly. “I thought you wanted a story for yourself.” 

“Myself?” you chuckled. “No, I’m good at reading someone else’s. Not good enough to be one myself.” 

He stared at you, kindly. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he declared, and then looked at the shelves. “What to read now.” It amazed you how big of a main character he was, too, you’d probably love to write about him. He turned to you. “You seem… Like a reader.” 

“I am,” you said. Though, lately you’d been stuck reading the same ones, never wanting a new story. 

“Do you have any suggestions?” He asked. 

You grinned, “Well, I guess it depends,” you said. “What do you feel like reading?” 

He shrugged and gave you a tender smile, his eyes were shining. “Romance, perhaps?” 

“What kind of romance?” You asked, following the same path he had when asking you questions. 

“Classic.” 

You gave it a thought, he probably had read Shakespeare already, he seemed like a connoisseur.  But, somehow,  you looked him in the eye and knew your answer. “Love in the time of Cholera, have you read it?” you asked. 

“Surprisingly, I have not,” the man seemed perplexed. 

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez, it’s… about true love that endures and overcomes adversity for a lifetime, it is a tribute to love, adventure, time, old age and death, ” you said. “It’s an ode to true love.” 

“Sounds lovely,” he said. “Well, can you help me find it, please? I’d ask young Thomas but he’s there talking to lovely Doris there.” 

“Of course,” you grinned. You proceeded to walk through the store trying to find the book, hoping they would have it. 

“What’s your name young lady?” Henry asked. 

“Y/N y/l/n” you answered simply. 

“Hm, a main character name,” he pointed out. 

You shook your head. “You’re wrong about that,” your eyes kept looking through the shelves. 

“I’m Henry, Henry Abbot,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet Miss y/l/n.” 

“Pleasure is mine.” 

You needed that book and... It was not in the poetry section, which had you perplexed, they had to have it. “Oh.” 

“Is it not here?” Henry asked. 

“It’s not,” you frowned. “It’s-” 

“Hello, Henry, hi, hello, is there anything I can help you with?” Tom had asked as he had snuck behind, you accidentally stepped back and bumped into him, causing him to knock down two books. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” you said. You were an idiot. 

“No, don’t be, it’s alright, it’s my fault, I should’ve announced myself,” Tom answered with a smile, that you knew was probably a fake customer service smile, as he picked up the books. 

You then saw the old woman, Doris walk out with not only the book you’d initially seen her with, but other four, Tom was good at selling, you saw Henry had his eyes on her but proceeded to turn back at you. 

You were definitely not expecting Tom, right in front of you, you could smell his cologne, it smelled good. Why the hell had you noticed that? You shook your head, before he could notice any sign of your stupidity. 

“Oh, er-” 

He only raised his eyebrows with a smile. 

It was no secret that you were stupid around men, especially around men who were attractive. 

“The young lady, miss y/l/n here is helping me,” Henry intruded quickly. “She recommended a book.” 

“Oh,” Tom grinned. “Thanks for helping me out with Henry, did you not have trouble giving him a recommendation?” He turned to you again. “He’s read everything,” he said with complicity. 

You only smiled and shook your head. 

“She didn’t,” Henry pointed out. “Gave me an option right away, perhaps she should have your job instead,” Henry joked. 

Tom brought his hand to his chest, hurt. “Henry; now why would you say that to me? Thought we were friends.” 

You chuckled and turned to Tom, “Love in The Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez,” you said. “That’s the book—I thought it would be here.” 

Tom turned to you, his eyes were even prettier than you thought they were. No, you had to stop. You couldn’t be attracted to him. 

“Oh,” Tom was surprised by your statement. “Yeah, yeah, he’s… mexican, right?” 

“Colombian,” you corrected. 

“Yeah, yeah, it should be--” Tom recalled and then walked to the other side, he searched through the titles and then finally found it in the language section.  “There, this one?” 

“This is not in the right section,” you said. 

“Why not I put it there myself this morning—“Tom chuckled, handing over the book to Henry. “Another one, or shall I help you check out, Henry?” 

Henry smirked. “No, I want to know why she believes is in the wrong section.” 

“This is romance,” you cleared up, as if it was obvious already. 

“Oh?” Tom raised his brows. 

“It’s in the Spanish section,” you continued. 

“He… speaks spanish,” Tom said. 

You only stared at him, in shock. Any kind of sign of attractiveness had been completely erased. 

“Besides,” Tom smirked. “You were looking for it at the poetry section, not romance novels,” he pointed out. 

“I…” You blinked. You had said that particular book for another reason. It was the book where Sophia had told you she’d hidden the key. She told you she’d moved the book from the romance novels to the poetry section. 

Tom reached the counter, holding the book himself. You tried to reach for him, 

“Ah, er, can I see it for a second?” 

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, and grimaced. “Hm?” 

“Yeah, let me see if it’s… The one I meant,” you lied. 

He watched you skeptically. “Umm… why wouldn’t it be?” 

Henry watched between you both, humored. 

“I….please?” You begged. 

“Oh, don’t be rude to the pretty lady,” Henry pushed. “Let her see the book.” 

Tom opened his mouth but defeatedly handed you the book. You mouthed a quiet thanks and then skimmed through it, trying to find the keys. They were not there. 

Weird. There was no key. You blinked with surprise and looked up at Tom, who seemed pleased. 

“Is it?” Tom asked. 

“Yeah—It is,” you handed it over. Tom had a mischievous look on his face, he was humored by this situation. 

“She’s American, and looking for a story of adventure,” Henry said to Tom. 

“We all are, aren’t we?” Tom mentioned. 

Henry looked between the both of you. “Are you here for the holidays, ma’am?” 

So formal. “I am.” 

“Traveling with your significant other, I presume,” Henry said while Tom was checking the book out. 

“I—Well,” suddenly you felt lonely. “That position hasn’t been filled at the moment.”

Henry smirked, and then looked at Tom quickly then back at you. “With family, then?” 

“I—No, I came here alone,” you explained. “

“So, it’ll be £11.03, Henry,” Tom interrupted as he put the book in a bag. 

Henry looked at Tom, “where’s lovely Sophia?” 

“I’d like to know, too,” Tom answered. “It’s not like her not showing up. She hasn’t called me back.” 

Henry nodded. 

You were confused. Had Sophia not told Tom she’d left? It  felt like it was your time to intrude, but before you could explain, Henry looked at you and said. “Go give this young lady a story, Thomas.” 

The man left. 

“I—“you coughed. “Sorry, uh—“

Tom had a wide smile. “So… what can I actually help you with? Miss y/l/n, Any book in—“

“I well, I—“ you couldn’t speak. 

Tom chuckled. “Yeah? Or are you going to complain about another book arrangement.” 

“I wasn’t complaining, I'm just… very observant, alright?” 

He grinned. “Well, did you observe anything misplaced?” 

“Well, I did see a fairytale on the autobiographies sections,” you admitted. 

Tom blinked, perplexed. “Huh we did that yesterday,” he was surprised. “Oh right but--” He coughed. “So, well, you’re seeking for an adventure book-” 

“Not exactly,” you answered. 

“What then, romance?” 

You blinked. What did he mean by that? 

“You seem like you read romance,” he pointed out. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” You questioned him, chuckling lightly. 

He grinned. “Nothing, you just--suggested a romance book easily to Henry,” he pointed out. “It’s a good one, it broke my heart, in a good way.” 

“You’ve read it?” You asked. He didn’t seem like someone who’d read romance. He… honestly didn’t look like someone who read, at all. Of course, you should never judge a book by its cover but of course the cover always tells us a lot, a name and an author at least. You knew his name, who was the author? 

He smirked. “It’s ugly, and it’s sad-” 

“But it’s love,” you finished his sentence, quoting the book. “Yeah,” you smiled, not believing he had actually read it. “Great book. You don’t seem like someone who’d read that.” 

“I’m a sucker for those kinds of stories,” he admitted. “Don’t look like it, but I love that, soulmates and everything.” 

You chuckled. “Me too,” you said. 

“To think that two people are destined to find each other even when life pulls them apart,” he said. “And I mean he… waited 50 years.” 

“Yes, he did, even when she’d made the mistake to reject him.” 

“Sometimes that’s how love is,” he shrugged. And it was, you knew that. 

“It is,” you said. “It’s complicated.” 

“The book? Or love?” He looked into you, with a certain mischief. 

“Both, I guess,” you said,calmly. “But I mean that’s the magic of that book, love is complicated and so is the book.” 

“But also, it’s not-I mean, I loved it, don’t get me wrong but I couldn’t… I understood their love but I’ve-I mean it’s old love.” 

You laughed. “Old love?” 

He laughed softly to himself, “I mean, it’s not-Something I could relate to.” 

“Well, no, because although love is something universal, not one love can be duplicated, love is unique.” 

He watched you perplexed. You wondered if you had said something wrong, or if your way of talking about love with a stranger had bothered him. It bothered most people, most people were afraid of love and were confused by the way you saw it, and confused because you’d lost it so many times. Everyone wondered how you kept believing in it after so much pain, but that’s the thing about love, though there is one love, you can truly feel love for. 

“I’ve never heard someone putting it that way,” he chuckled. “Love being something we all feel but at the same time… it’s different, yeah.” 

Why were you talking about love with this man? 

“That’s what I’ve gathered from all the romance novels you assumed I read,” you chuckled. “Love is universal but it’s personal.” 

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. “No, I guess… You’re… right, huh, I’ve never seen it that way,” he said. “So do you want another romance novel?” 

Was he flirting? 

You shook your head. “No,” you smiled. “I’m actually-that book.” 

“No, wait, actually…” He interrupted, as he shook his head, probably backing away from flirting. “Sorry...This is bothering me, care showing me where the misplaced book was?” He asked. 

You had just told him, was he flirting? You’d never known how to flirt so you wouldn’t know. But you guessed it harmed nobody showing him, you lead the way, still carrying your whole luggage. 

But why the hell had you talked about that with a stranger. It felt weird, but he didn’t feel like one. Probably because you’d already known his name. There was something so incredibly familiar to him. So easily had you blurted out the whole love thing, and he probably was scared of it. Most people were, you would understand if he was, too. 

“So--here,” you headed and tried to reach for the misplaced book on top of the shelf, as you had some stray sticker had flown and landed directly on your eyes, for your own luck. “Ow!” You tried to get it out but you couldn't. 

“Oh, wait, wait, let me help,” he said before. “May I?” 

“Yes, please,” you said, You only looked up, he held your chin, which definitely made you nervous, but he stared into your eyes and finally got the sticker out of your eye. 

“I’m so sorry, sometimes they get stuck and we don’t see them-“ He said quickly getting his touch out of you.

“No, you’re good, don’t worry,” you said. “So, here’s the lost book.” 

He watched you with curiosity and for a brief moment your eyes were locked into one but you quickly looked away. You were not doing this. This was so stupidly cliché, the love conversation with him, having to directly look into your eyes, it was so stupidly cliché and obviously not as romantic as you thought it was going in your head.. You hated it. Because you were not a stupid main character, this was so stupid. This things, in novels, would lead to some kind of romance, but you were not the main character and this was just stupid. 

“Yeah, right,” he coughed. “But uh, wait, so for Love in The--eh, the book, yeah, how did- Why were you looking for it in the poetry section? I mean it is… very poetic but,” Tom was confused as he watched you. Felt weird he was looking at you, his eyes had this charm that made you feel like he only was fixated on you. 

“I—Well, there were supposed to be some keys in that book,” you explained. 

“Hm? Were there?” He asked with fake surprise, but he actually seemed confused. 

You frowned. “They were, in that book and it’d be on that section—“

“Hm, doesn’t ring a bell,” he shrugged with a smirk.

“Yeah, in that book, Love in The Times of Cholera,” you pushed. “So—“

“Yeah, I do remember some keys,” he coughed, shaking his head. “But I’m not giving them to you,” he mumbled. 

“Sophia told me—wait you’re not—?”You blinked. 

“Sophia?” he seemed doubtious. 

“Yeah, Sophia, your friend, right she is—in America, at my place, we—switched homes and so she left me the key there—“

“She did now?” He wasn't buying it. 

“Yeah,” you continued. “She left, we exchanged homes for the holidays.”

“I--” He chuckled. “What?” 

“Didn’t she tell you?” 

“Tell me what, exactly?” 

“She went on vacation, to my place in America, we switched homes for two weeks.” 

He laughed. “I don’t believe you, Sophia doesn’t go anywhere.” 

“Yeah, we have that in common,” you pointed out. “But—But—okay, so she’s in America, in Oregon.” 

“Why would she go to Oregon?” Tom asked. “Of all places—“

“Yeah, look,” you cleared your throat. Did seem suspicious. “I—we both needed to get away so we switched places, and well—Why don’t you give me the key?” 

“So, tell me, miss y/l/n, sorry I’m calling you that it’s what dear old Henry called you, but you’re expecting me to give you the key, to you, a stranger, to my best friend’s home?” 

“Yeah...” you heard how it sounded. 

“You’re expecting me to believe that?” 

Well, he did have a point.  “Well, yeah—I— thought she’d told you.“ 

“Sophia would never do that,” Tom said. You’d learned he was also annoying. 

“Yeah, and neither would I, but here I am in London in a bookshop talking to you while holding my luggage, you really think I’m lying?” 

He stared at you. “Yeah.” 

And there it went, the fantasy had ended. Because you were not a main character in a stupid romance novel. 

“You—Look, I know she—But look, she broke up with Danny, and she needed to get away and we—“

“Yeah but this is mental,” Tom said. 

“It is,” you admitted. “And I might regret it, alright but I’m already here, thousand miles away and please, can I just have the key? I need a break, I need to-” 

“I’m not, I can’t… I’m sorry I just can’t give it to you.” 

“Well—Why—Look, we can call her? I don’t know if she’s there yet? But she can prove we actually did this?”  

“Still I… Look, I would… recommend you a hotel, I mean-Look. There’s this hotel right beside--It’s on Notting Hill,” 

“Please, let’s just… I’ll call her,” you said, taking out your phone. This was stressful enough. 

“Oh, no, no, I’ll call her, how do I know it’s not a crazy friend of yours-” 

“Crazy?” You frowned. If you had been attracted to the man in front of you, you definitely weren’t now. 

“I’m-” He knew he had screwed up. “This is mental,” he whispered. He took out his phone, “She hasn’t answered all day- so-” 

“She was on a plane.” 

“Uh, huh, for all I know you could be a criminal,” Tom pointed out. 

Criminal, he had just been flirting with you second before. “Ah, yeah, I am a criminal,” you snapped. You didn’t like him anymore.

He seemed angry, you didn’t know why. 

“If you’ll excuse me,” he said before walking away from you to hear. Of course. You technically didn’t blame  him. Still he was rude. 

You felt like crying. Again, this wasn’t right. This was the one thing why you’d left. Was this a mistake? It probably was, why else would you feel so small. He was right, this was.. A stranger, you were a stranger. And not in the way one would think, you were a stranger to yourself. Why were you there? 

Honestly, you wanted to leave. It… was weird. You wondered why he didn’t believe it. Of course, he wouldn’t believe someone like Sophia would do this, Sophia seemed to be very calculated. Like someone who always knew what she was doing. You guessed you understood that. 

But he seemed worried about her. Really Sophia had everything, at least someone was asking her what she was doing. No one questioned you. You watched him, he was angry, or worried or upset, or everything at once. 

You could overhear him, just a few lines, you didn’t want to seem like you were intruding. 

“The—Well, y/n? I don’t know her name—” He said and turned to you, he watched you from agair and you just nervously looked away. This was unbelievably awkward. “Henry called her—Whatever, no, she doesn’t have them, I have them, who is she?”

Henry had called you ‘Miss Y/L/n”, yes. But now  he knew your name. He didn’t know you knew his. 

You overheard again. “She is a stranger.” 

And then it crossed your mind, Sophia was a stranger. Why the hell had you done this? How had you done this? And you felt it in your stomach, this wasn’t like you. You never did anything. This was risking everything. This was getting out of your shell. 

“I… I don’t trust her. I’m… tell her to get a hotel,” you heard him. 

This was just not it. You felt dizzy, and anxious and this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. This was supposed to be your fairytale and it felt like the worst nightmare. How was Sophia doing? 

At least she didn’t have to deal with anyone closing the door to your place, she’d have Tommy and you were sure the pup received her well. 

Tom watched you and turned to his phone and then you knew he was speaking at a lower volume, he probably knew you had overheard him. 

Tom was not happy, you could tell. Maybe this was his nightmare, after all, you assumed, he was in love with Sophia. 

He walked back to you, still staring at his phone. 

“Well, she’s gonna kill me if I don’t give you the keys,” he said, not still sure of it. “Look, I’m-” 

“I know you don’t trust me, I get it, but-Look, I am already here, I’m tired, I honestly feel like crap and I’m on a foreign country trying to remain as calm as I coul, look, I get it, I’m doubting it myself, but I trust her, she’s on my place, with Tommy-” 

“Who-?” 

“My dog, and I’m trusting her with that, so I know, I know, it is...mental or whatever fancy british ass word you used, and I myself can’t quite put my head as to why I did this, I don’t do this kind of stuff, I never do anything like this, and I know, it’s-Weird, and crazy but-You don’t have to be rude, alright? I’m not a criminal, I’m not- I’m just a girl whose heart was broken and needed to escape, and I-and Sophia was, too, okay? So maybe we just-I don’t know, I need to...” You knew your voice had broken a litte, and it surely pissed you off. “And Sophia, if she’s your friend, you’d understand why she’s doing this, she got her heartbroken, she was destroyed, someone made her believe it was her fault she was cheated on,” you pushed. “You know, when I talked to her-” 

“You don’t know-” 

“Maybe I just met her but I seem to understand her better than you,” you said. “And-and and before you say anything,” he had opened his mouth to complain. “I know, she is calculated, and I know she makes the right decision, but you don’t…Do you know how she feels with the breakup?” 

He didn’t answer. 

“Look, I don’t… That’s between you and her, alright-I-” 

You’d been saved by the bell, literally. A customer had walked in and Tom had to help them out. 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then dug in his pocket. He hesitantly handed them to you, but he didn’t let go as you had your hand reaching for them. 

“It—uh, the red one is—“

“From inside the bookshop and the blue one outside,” you nodded. “Yeah, she told me.” 

Tom sighed before finally letting the keys fall on your hand. His fingers had brushed lightly, something you would’ve noticed and dreamed about 10 minutes ago, but you weren’t so fond of him now. 

“Thank you,” you said and headed to the door where Sophia had told you it would be. At that point you realized, you hadn’t even properly introduced yourself to him. 

You didn’t want to, honestly. 

You had trouble opening the door but as soon as Tom had turned to you, you managed to open it. You walked in, and as soon as you’d closed the door, you wanted to cry, because it seemed like it was your only talent. 

But you went upstairs and found the place, it was so neat, and organized and perfect and… Very office-like. Everything was where it was meant to be, so perfectly organized. Everything had a place. It was so clean. Nothing, nothing out of place. With plants, she’d told you about her houseplants. Elegantly and modernly decorated. 

Perfect. So elegant, with a dining table that had stationery on top. Dining table that was used to work? Sophia really didn’t know how to separate her job from her life. You’d known it since she’d told you she lived above her bookshop. Which honestly, you couldn’t blame, your job was writing and you were sure all your writings were scattered around your house. Your place was a mess, really, compared to Sophia’s squared house. 

Everything was so in place. The order you needed after the mess you had of a life. Just a glance and you felt… great. You’d even forgotten the whole issue with that random british dude, who, you’d avoid. 

This was incredible. You dropped the bags in the middle of the place and ran around her house to discover every little detail, because you knew you’d get to know who Sophia was better by her place. 

Her kitchen was impeccable, and her fridge was filled not with any comfort food that you’d been having since Chad, but everything was perfect. You loved to cook, and you’d end up using this kitchen, but you saw it was barely used, you could tell. She probably didn’t cook much. 

There was another room, another office, you presumed, though the whole place seemed like an office, too formal and ordered,  so organized again, with a small bookshelf, classic books and new ones, never opened. You wondered if she was like you, that couldn’t get to read them. She was a fan of stationery it seemed, and organizers, and post it here and there, color coded. Like everything was there for a reason. 

Three pictures, one of her and her family, one with Danny and another one with Tom. He definitely was in love with her. 

You explored a bit more. You even feared to be stepping on the floor, fearing you’d ruin it. The place seemed incredibly arranged. You didn’t belong there, but at the same time it was soothing. It was bright, and it helped. As if seeing so much order would help put some order in your own life. The place felt like it was cleaning your mind. 

You headed upstairs to the bedroom, and a big bed welcomed you, with a perfect white duvet and plush pillows. You, excitedly ran and jumped to lay down on it. 

This was just what you needed. 

However, you’d noticed that even though she’d told you you lived with Danny, there was no sight of anyone else living here. It didn’t feel like a couple’s place. It felt… Lonely. There was no sign of someone else who lived there. No home. 

But her bed was comfortable. And you were so, so tired. And then again… the bed was so, so comfy. Besides if the math was right, it was 2am back at home, so a nap wouldn’t be so bad. You stared at the ceiling, waiting for an answer. This was it. No, whatever doubt you'd had before, it was erased. This was your chance, sure it was completely crazy, but this… You needed to escape, and you were in a nice place, in Kensington, London. Not in boring Oregon anymore.  What was Sophia doing? Was she going through the big mess you were going through? 

She probably didn’t feel small. But you decided this was no time to feel small. Though, you were tired, this was no time to pity yourself. So you took a shower, put in some nice clothes and decided to enjoy the day. You were away, you didn’t have to feel sorry for yourself. You’d have time for that later, you were in London, you didn’t need to cry on the other side of the world. You’d done enough crying already. Over a guy named Chad. 

You needed to explore London, for God’s sake, you were in Notting Hill, you were no Julia Roberts but who was to say you wouldn’t find your Hugh Grant? 

You were sure to bring the keys and made sure to walk out over the exit that was not inside the bookshop. You didn’t want to face Tom. But when you’d walked out, you’d seen him, not as cheerful as the first time you’d seen him. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, and running a hand through his face. He did look out when he’d seen you, you decided, once again, to ignore him. Even though you were sure he had tried to reach for you. But no, you ignored him. 

And you would keep ignoring him, this was not time to deal with a british man who was not Hugh Grant.

Timmy fic (Phonecall Tom has) 

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[qs63]

Heaven’s feel vs Matt/Elektra

Oh boy. I really don't know where I'm going with this, other than to get it off my chest, but here we go. An analysis between Fate/Stay Night and Marvel's Daredevil, specifically about the Heaven's Feels route and Matt/Elektra.

Spoilers and lots of feelings ahead. You’ve been warned. x)

At this point if you Googled it or know both series you're probably wondering what I'm smoking. One is a grounded vigilante story, the other is a high school magical anime. Technically both couldn't be further away from each other, but by coincidence or not, the more I think about them the more similarities I find.

THE HERO

Matt: That’s what I was trying to do, was trying to help people.

Shirou: Maybe I got something wrong, but it doesn't matter because the thought of wanting to help others definitely isn't wrong.

For those unfamiliar with Fate Stay/Night, the story follows a seemingly normal high school student who is dragged into a mage war for the Holy Grail, an artifact capable of making any wish come true.

Matt and Shirou despite being in very different stories, share some strong similarities, mostly in their drive/motive. They both want for their own -perhaps selfish- reason to save people and be heroes. They're also orphans by tragedy whose view of the world is shaped by a mentor/father figure who ends up being the cause of a lot of their suffering.

They also have a lack of self-worth that more often than not translates into a willingness to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of others. This quality of self-sacrifice, and their drive to uphold justice at all cost is perhaps what makes their path so similar.

THE HEROINES

Another similarity both series share are the heroines. In Fate the hero goes through three stories in which he ends up with three different girls. It's hard to explain without going into too much detail, but each of them represents different values and levels of acceptance of himself. 

Surprisingly enough this parallels Matt's own romantic journey quite well. 

The first girl is a representation of his ideal. She herself is a self-sacrificing person who lived her life for the sake of her kingdom. She's the definition of knighthood and the values the hero wants to live up to. Through her path the hero becomes the savior he wants to be, much like how Matt becomes Daredevil with help from Claire. In this path the hero doesn't get the girl, as this is all about becoming their ideal self, a true selfless hero capable of giving up even love for the sake of others.

The second girl is not as lawful as the first, or as chaotic as the third. She's a middle point that mirrors the hero's own true flawed self. She's also a companion to him in all the stories, whether as a friend or a lover. Through this path the hero comes to realize his own darkness and weakness, which stands in the way of achieving his ideal. In Fate the hero gets the girl, but she's not the main goal. She's his partner and support in his struggle to achieve his ideals.

Then we have the third girl. She represents the darkness the hero wants to conquer. A girl of quick smiles and gentle manners that hides behind a mask her hate/disdain towards the world. A hate that was mostly cultivated by her adoptive grandfather, who saw her as a tool for his goal. Through this path the hero accepts his own darkness and the selfish desire to save the girl above all, throwing away the ideals that caused him pain. 

Sounds familiar, no?

The third is definitely the one that shares the most similarities, and that's why Elektra and Sakura are the focus of this. 

THE JOURNEY

There's so much conceptual common ground between the series and, particularly, with The Defenders. A lot of it was, in my opinion, handled better in Fate Stay/Night. This isn't surprising, Fate is all about the hero's journey and his relationship with the heroine, while Defenders had a lot more going on. There was just not enough time to work the relationships.

Both heroines start their journey with their grandfathers, both were adopted into a family they don't love. Due to the way they're raised, and their eventual destiny, both see the world with disdain. And for both the only redeeming thing the world has to offer is the hero they love.

All they want is to be loved in a world that has showed them no kindness. 

All the heroes want is to save them from their fate, which eventually makes them the villain.

And this all leads to the hero "dying" for them.

Now that we see the similarities, let's explore some of the common moments.

FRIENDS TO ENEMIES TO ALLIES

Out of the three heroines, the third is the one that has known the hero the longest. They met years before the story begins and their happy uncomplicated days progressively get darker as their story unravels. Eventually the heroine's own destiny puts them on opposite sides of a conflict with both of them unwilling to fight each other. 

Then the hero pledges to help the heroine fight a common enemy, even if it comes at a high personal price.

THE SACRIFICE

Elektra: They have nothing now. I took everything. I know now what it feels to be good.

Sakura: Thank you for everything, Shirou. It might be too late, but I can't cause any more trouble than I already have.

One of the most beautiful moments for both Elektra and Sakura is when they decide to sacrifice themselves for the hero's sake. Both of them are aware of the potential danger they represent, but neither would willingly give up their life for the sake of saving strangers. Self-sacrifice is not part of their nature, and they don't hold any love for the people that need saving.

Their drive to stop the enemy (before they become one themselves) is rooted in two things.The desire to protect the hero, who won't let them go even at the cost of himself. And the satisfaction of spoiling the plans of those who hurt them.

It's the ultimate gesture of vengeance and love. It's also ironically, the turning point of their story, as they fail in their goal, and are awakened as true monsters.

TRUTH

Stick: The girl I trained, the woman you loved she ain’t there anymore. When the time comes, whatever is living inside the body of Elektra Natchios is gonna have to die.

Zouken: Once Sakura’s consciousness is gone, the catastrophe from ten years ago will repeat. If you want to hold your father’s ideals and save everyone by vanishing evil, then no one but Sakura is your enemy.

I really love these moments, and how similar yet different they're. 

The hero is confronted by the grandfather figure and told the truth he had been avoiding, the heroine will bring chaos if allowed to live. While Matt falls into negation at Stick's words, until he’s unable to deny it, Shirou falls directly into despair. Both know that perhaps it's a mercy for everyone to stop the heroine before it's too late. Saving the innocent is what they'd pledged to do all this time, but the reality that hurting someone they love is the way to do so is something they’re unable to accept.

STRUGGLE

Shirou attempts to kill Sakura.

Matt grieves over Stick.

One of the moments or feelings I wish The Defenders had explored more is Matt’s own struggle to facing Elektra as an enemy. We only ever see him in a state of denial or desperation, and the only acknowledgement we get from him about the death that Elektra's caused, are the few seconds in which he grieves Stick and swears to save Danny. 

In contrast we have a full scene dedicated to Shirou contemplating on killing Sakura for the sake of the people she will undoubtedly kill. This scene is so powerful, showing Shirou's internal struggle between his love and his values. You can see the pain in his face, as his ideals slowly crumbling. He can’t save everyone, someone will die, and he’d rather it be strangers than the heroine. 

Granted, Matt’s own nature would never allow him to consider such an extreme method. Shirou has always been more willing to go to the extremes, but we have seen Matt mulling over right and wrong before. Showing more of his struggle, more of his pain at the face of Elektra’s destruction, would have only enriched the story.   

RESOLUTION

Shirou: I'm not going to kill her. I'm going to save her.

Matt: No, I'm gonna meet you out there. I know I can get through her.

Despite everything he knows and the damage the heroine has already caused, the hero resolves to save them at all costs. It is in a way their only choice at this point in the story. It's the path they have chosen to walk, even by betraying their own justice. To make both their sacrifice worth it, they need to succeed and save the heroine.

The apparent answer to their dilemma comes as a form of self-sacrifice. For Matt it's staying behind to try to reason with the Black Sky, for Shirou it's using Archer's power -which will consume his body- to destroy the curse that Sakura is holding.

In the end both stories diverge as Fate comes to a satisfactory conclusion for the hero, while Matt fails to save Elektra and goes to grieve her in the coming season.

Shirou and Sakura's happy ending.

Matt wakes up without Elektra.

[writehardwhumpharder]

Fluffy OC drabble Carson gets a concussion and Daniel takes care of him.

Carson laid across the armchair sideways so his legs dangled off one end and his head leaned against the other armrest. Most adults wouldn't attempt such a position but Carson was pretty good at fitting in small spaces. He stared at the ceiling, seemingly entranced by it.

"Wow." He muttered, reaching one arm up to swipe at the empty air.

"Carson, buddy, stop staring at the magic before you hurt yourself." Danny warned. It was never good to use his senses like this for so long. Technically magic was always visible to him but he was blind to it unless he really tried to see it, sort of like an extra sense, or another layer over the world.

Carson's eyes tracked the little beads of light floating through the air like dust. Trace energies swirled around in faded colors, just echoes of their original source. Normally he wouldn't do this recreationally but right now he was just too out of it to care. Whatever walls in his brain that kept him from seeing the energy all the time had crumbled away along with most of his brain function.

Danny grabbed his hand out of the air and put it back down in his lap. "Stop that." He instructed, sounding like he was talking to a small child.

"But it's so pretty." Carson whined, reaching his arm back up to touch the energy as soon as Danny stepped away from him. His fingertips tingled faintly and his head started to spin. He slouched deeper into the chair suddenly, trying to ground himself. Curling inward, Carson tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling radiating from his head.

"Don't you dare throw up on my chair," Danny warned, reading the look on Carson's face. He'd seen him piss drunk plenty of times and this wasn't all that different.

"What do you take me for? An amateur?" Carson slurred slightly, sounding genuinely offended, "I'll throw up on the floor where it's easier to clean up and as long as I'm conscious, I can take care of it myself," Carson said, which was probably true.

Daniel rolled his eyes and settled down on the couch across from him. He pretended to be annoyed that he was stuck babysitting Carson after he went and got himself majorly concussed but let's be honest, he'd do anything for him. With everything that had been going on in his life lately you'd think he got hit in some epic battle, but no. Carson hit his head when he tripped walking up the stairs to the apartment building. Daniel knew because he had the pleasure of witnessing the whole thing. Five steps, there are only five steps up to the main door and he still somehow managed to fuck that up. Though to be fair, it was very early in the season for ice to be a problem and he hadn't expected it. Carson probably would have gotten off with only a scraped hand or knee but he had been holding his phone at the time and apparently keeping the screen from shattering was more important than protecting his own skull.

What had humanity come to? Daniel wondered as he kept an eye on Carson, who seemed to be asking existential questions of his own.

"Don't my abilities kinda prove that fate doesn't exist? I mean if illness and death can be avoided with a little soul rearranging then destiny can't be very strong... or, or maybe fate is a thing and I'm just pissing it off. Oh my god, Danny, what if the universe is mad at me?" He asked, turning his head to face him without actually lifting it off the armrest. To be honest, Carson wasn't sure he even could. His head might as well have weighed 50 lbs at that point.

"Ugh, I don't know man. I don't think you'd be given the chance to heal people if the universe considered it cheating," Danny sighed, "Aren't you supposed to be tired or something?"

This time Carson did manage to lift his head. His uneven pupils gave him a sort of crazed look.

"Nah, I am wide awake," Carson said as he slid out of the chair and onto the floor, "so awake."

"Mhmm right, well I'm getting tired so how about you drink some of that water and try not to kill yourself." Danny said as he got up from the couch to go get ready for bed. Carson gave a lazy thumbs up from where he sat on the floor next to the coffee table. Daniel came back a minute later and started to move it out of his way so he could pull out the couch for Carson to sleep on since he still didn't feel confident letting him go back to his own apartment.

"Noooooo, not the pullout couch. Anything but the pullout couch." Carson whined. Daniel rubbed at his forehead with frustration.

"Well it's either this or you gotta bunk with me, I'm not letting you go home yet, you can barely stand." Danny explained, only Carson had no intention of walking all the way downstairs anyway. He seemed to think about it for second then shrugged.

"Okay," Carson said, attempting to stand. He wobbled and had to lean on the chair to fully get on his feet but he managed. Surprise flashed across Danny's face leaving a pink tint to his cheeks which thankfully Carson didn't notice.

"What? That wasn't an offer," he stammered.

"Too late. It's decided," Carson said weakly, he closed his eyes and swayed slightly. Daniel dropped the decorative pillow he was holding and leaned awkwardly across the coffee table to grab Carson's elbow.

"Easy there Car," Danny said urgently, lunging to keep Carson from falling over.

"m fine" Carson slurred right before his legs folded under him. Luckily he didn't actually pass out because then they'd have to go back to the hospital. They'd been told that general weakness and disorientation was normal. Danny stared down at him sharply, his hold on him the only thing keeping Carson up. "I didn't fall, I just forgot where the floor was."

"Sure ya did," Danny hoisted him up and lead him the short distance to the bed. His apartment wasn't split into two rooms so he had more space for an actual bed, you know, the kind adults have.

Carson fell face down on top of it with a groan. Daniel took a deep breath to steady his nerves and sat down on the other side. He looked over to see that Carson was already asleep, probably passed out the second his head hit the pillow. Slipping into his pajamas Daniel turned off the lights, plugged in their phones, wrestled the blankets out from under Carson who fell asleep on top of the covers, and when he couldn't stall any longer he got into bed next to him. They were friends, best friends, so why did this feel so weird? Daniel turned over, sneaking a look at Carson. God he looked so cute when he was sleeping.

"Stop. Stop thinking about it." He scolded himself, turning over again to face the wall. Only because he really was tired did he manage to fall asleep thirty minutes later.

***

Daniel wasn't sure exactly what woke him up. No screaming so it wasn't Carson, or... He suddenly remembered that Carson was sleeping in his apartment tonight and looked over to find that Carson was still there but he was sitting up, awake.

"You okay, Car?" He asked groggily. Carson made some kind of non-commital sound which only added to Daniel's concern. He sat up and flicked the lamp on, immediately noticing how pale he looked. "Carson?" He asked again, setting a hand on his shoulder, finding that his skin was also oddly clammy.

"I don't know... I just feel kinda weird..."

"Weird how?" He asked. Carson leaned forward suddenly and gagged, hurriedly getting off the bed to get to the trash can. As soon as his feet hit the floor he staggered and fell hard on his knees. The trash can was still full but it was better than nothing as he pulled it toward him, barely making it in time before he started coughing up water and bile. Daniel was up in seconds rushing around the bed.

"Sorry," Carson croaked between heaves.

"Don't worry about it, the doctor said this might happen, it's fine." Daniel assured him, placing a tentative hand on his back.

"Doesn't... feel... fine," Carson breathed, slumping against the wall. His eyes fluttered closed and gravity pulled his limbs down into a graceless heap. Daniel's eyes widened in fear and he patted Carson's face desperately.

"Carson? Carson wake up!" He continued, shaking his shoulder as well. "Shit, shit shit!" He looked wildly around the room for his pants and phone. He called a cab and got dressed as quickly as possible before he returned to Carson to get him ready. Luckily he was already wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants so it was only a matter of sliding his boots on his feet and draping his coat over him. Carson didn't so much as stir as Daniel threw on his own coat and lifted him into his arms. It was a bit of a challenge opening the door without dropping him but he managed. Even as a dead weight in his grip Carson was shockingly light.

The cab rolled up outside a few minutes later and the driver got out to open the door for them. Daniel put Carson in first then got in after him, guiding his head into his lap. He kept track of every minute he was unconscious.

"Hospital, please." Daniel said urgently.

"Is your boyfriend okay?" The cabbie asked. Daniel's heart literally sputtered to a stop at that.

"He's just a friend, and he should be alright. Just a concussion, I hope..." he said a little too quickly. He guessed it was good to know that his driver had such an open mind to even make that assumption. Daniel looked down at Carson's pale form resting in his lap. His body jostled as the car went over a few bumps but he showed no signs of waking. Daniel told himself that he was doing the right thing taking him to the hospital straight away, that nothing bad would happen. The cab driver drove as fast as he deemed safe, and with the roads pretty much deserted that time of night, ended up being 20mph over the speed limit. They got to the hospital in no time and Daniel struggled to get out of the car, pulling Carsom out under his arms.

"Hold on, I'll help you." The driver said, throwing the car in park and jumping out. He grabbed Carson's legs and eased them out of the car. Settling Carson's coat back around his shoulders Daniel adjusted his grip and lifted Carson again, pulling him close to his chest.

"Um, can you... left pocket." Daniel asked, trying to figure out a way to pay to the man without setting down Carson.

"Oh, no that's not necessary it was only a few blocks." The man smiled, getting back in the car before Daniel could argue with him. Carson's breath was warm against Daniel's neck, his head lolled against his chest and it was somehow comforting, knowing he was still breathing steadily. The doors to the ER opened automatically and he headed straight for the front desk.

"Hi, we were here earlier today. The doctor said to come back if he lost consciousness. He's got a pretty bad concussion." Daniel explained.

"What's the patient's name?" The nurse asked, already clicking away at her computer.

"Carson Hall."

"I see, someone will be right with you if you want to go sit down." She said nicely.

Daniel turned to go sit in the waiting room, trying to think of some way to prop Carson up in the meantime. There were only two other people there, a mom and a baby, so hopefully they would get called soon. Gently lowering Carson down onto one of the longer benches, Daniel stripped off his own coat to lay over him. Suddenly Carson's face scrunched up in confusion.

"What's... where are we?" He asked, finally starting to come to.

"We're at the hospital." Carson's eyes snapped open and he made a feeble attempt sit up.

"Why?" He asked.

"Do you not remember waking up, throwing up in my trash can, then promptly passing out? Any of that ring a bell?" Daniel laughed.

"Uhhhh," Carson's face grew pink with embarrassment, "sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm just glad you're awake now, you were completely out for closing in on 30 minutes." Daniel said, glancing up at one of the many wall clocks. It was almost 1am now. Carson groaned and slowly sat up on the bench, resting his arms on his knees.

"Is this really necessary? I'm tired, my head hurts." Carson complained, running a hand through his messy dark brown hair.

"You just have to get checked by a doctor then we can go home." Daniel rationed. He didn't like hanging around the ER in the middle of the night either but it was pretty scary when Carson just collapsed like that. He might as well get some peace of mind since they were already there.

"Can't I just, you know, fix myself?" He asked, just now remembering that he was a soul magician.

Daniel gave him a pointed look, "You're too concussed to be doing any kind of magic right now."

He was probably right. Carson sighed. The woman sitting near them in the waiting room seemed to perk up at the word magic and she glared at them as she moved to the farthest seat away from them, clutching her baby to her chest protectively.

"Bitch," Carson thought to himself. In a better state he probably would have offered to heal the baby of what was likely to be a minor ear infection so the two could go home and get some sleep.

"Carson Hall," a young male nurse called out, looking at his clipboard. Carson lumbered to his feet and walked over to him shakily. Daniel hovered close next to him just in case he slipped. Within the next hour Carson was looked over and cleared to go home. He fell asleep as soon as they got in the cab Danny had called. Only this time he rested his head on Danny's shoulder instead of his lap. Needless to say, he didn't complain.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of August 21st, 2019

Best of this Week: Superman: Year One - Book Two - Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Danny Miki, Alex Sinclair and John Workman

Superman has always stood for Truth, Justice and the American Way. 

This has never been more true (arguably) than right here in Superman: Year One, where Clark Kent becomes a US Navy Sailor. I briefly touched upon it at the end of the last issue, but this one really resonated with me in a way that no comic has in a little while. Other books have made me feel feelings of fear, disgust and elation beyond compare, but this one makes me feel the bittersweet memories of my own experience.

I remembered my first haircut, carrying my seabag across the base, marching and all of the PT (physical training) that I had to endure for those grueling two months. Clark isn’t fazed by any of it. It takes a few clippers to cut his dense hair. He breezes through the PT, noting how hard it is for everyone else to do and when he has to qualify for using a pistol, he hits the mark dead center every single shot. There were a few superstars like Clark when I was in boot camp and seeing that written and excellently drawn by John Romita Jr., made me feel something of a kinship to one of my favorite heroes.

You can see the struggle in his shipmates faces as they sweat and heave with Clark monologuing in his mind that he can hear their lungs about to burst or their legs about to give out. That shit was me. Every single PT test leaving me winded, marching at a double time… I hated every second of it. But through all of it, I felt proud. I wanted to get through, to push myself harder than I ever could. 

Clark doesn’t feel that. How could he? He’s an alien from another planet with abilities beyond compare and he could do anything he set his mind to. But what does he choose to instead? He answers the call of duty, he chooses to serve his country and his fellow man. It’s ridiculous, but at the same time absolutely commendable and inspiring. If I were to level criticism at the first two acts of this book, however, it would definitely be the lack of real feeling of camaraderie that Sailors feel together in Boot Camp. Never once do we see Clark interact with his shipmates in any meaningful way, aside from his Captain later on. The feeling of pride is there, but the friendships and relationships that come with it does leave a little bit of the story feeling hollow in favor of a less than great, but still good subplot later.

Another problem I have is… I don’t know how accurate print media and comics are allowed to be with military rank and titles, but Kurtzberg is supposed to be a Captain, but wears the insignia of a Petty Officer Second Class and Chief Petty Officer at two separate points. It’s a mildly irritating and nitpicky thing, but what can you do?

Of course, Clark's path diverges greatly from my own. A little bit before the pistol qualification section, he gains the attention of a Captain Kurtzberg and after his perfect scores, he's allowed to try out his skills further with an assault rifle, which he also excels at. Kurtzberg recommends him for more advanced training and soon after, he trains to become a Navy SEAL. I don’t have a singular clue as to what the SEAL lifestyle is like, but training he’s made to endure is even worse, though you wouldn’t know it from how he reacts to it all.

It’s here at SEAL training that the first seeds of the subplot, later becoming the hook of Act Three are sewn. Clark begins to hear the calling of the sea. It’s something that some deployed Sailors still feel to this day, the Siren Song or Mermaid Call that drives most men mad with how beautiful their voices are. Kurtzberg calls Clark out during one evening of PT and makes him to push ups on the shore of the beach after Clark tells him that the Captain should see how pretty “they” are. Unable to sleep during the night, Clark sneaks out of his barracks to watch the beings on the coast when Kurtzber appears next to him, warning him to not tell anyone about what they’ve seen as Kurzberg too knows of their beauty and the world of wonders that they live in. 

If you’ve been reading Superman stories for a long period of time, things may start to click as what or who may be calling Clark. After our hero accidentally starts a bar fight while trying to defend the honor of a woman, he’s punished by having to use his toothbrush to clean the head (bathroom) and garbage cans. After finishing his chores way into the night, he makes a dummy in his rack (bed) and sets off to explore the sea, taking to the water like a fish since he doesn’t actually need oxygen. 

He follows the sounds of the voices calling and finally see them, Mermaids, laughing at this strange human. One in particular catches his eye, Lori Lemaris, one of Superman’s original love interests from the late 1950s. He follows her as she laughs, until her voice turns to tears, seeing a submarine having crashed into their city. In one of his first of many acts of heroism, Clark lifts the sub off of the city, saves the people and helps them rebuild just before Morning Colors. Lori begs him to stay, to become her husband and King, but he tells her that the people up there need him, but that he will be back. As always, Clark is torn between two worlds, but his first thought is always to honor his commitments because he’s such a good guy.

Romita Jrs art shines best in these few pages for me. Lori is absolutely beautiful, playful and the visuals of the underside of the ocean are stunning. Everything’s a beautiful hue of blue except for the vegetation and Lori, who’s colored with yellow and purple clothing. Clark looks amazingly strong and happily curious as he saves the people of Atlantis. Romita Jrs. lines are amazingly crisp and he makes great use of only a few hatch lines to shade things. Everything is thoroughly enjoyable to look at, even the way that everything flows under the water is awesome.

Clark manages to return back to the barracks just in time as Kurtzberg watches on, knowing where Clark’s been and thinking to himself that the young SEAL better keep those memories clean and pure because he’s witnessed something amazing. He swam with the angels. There’s a three page long training montage where Clark shows just how efficient he can be in combat, embarrassing one of his shipmates so hard that he’s pulled aside and given his first assignment.

Things take a dark turn as Clark and his team are made to infiltrate a ship that’s been hijacked by pirates. During the training, as Clark thought to himself just how easy it would be to kill, he started to get a pit in his stomach. Things weren’t sitting right, especially as Kurtzberg egged him on by saying, “That there is how to kill a man good!” This stuck with Clark as he did his bet to avoid killing any of the hijackers. He saw how monstrously they murdered the crew of the ship and he felt himself getting more angry, but he still couldn’t bring himself to take a life. 

Things reach a head as the team reaches the control deck and Clark still refuses to kill any of the enemies. Kurtzberg lambasts Clark and orders to give him some corpses, until one of the hijackers pulls out a grenade. Everyone starts to panic as the mission goes FUBAR, but Clark utilizes his strength to stop the grenade, subtly, making it seem like it was a dud. 

While he ended up saving the lives of his fellowsailors, his reckless actions reward him with an honorable discharge. Kurtzberg advocates for him, but ultimately Clark has to pack his sea bag and say goodbye to his friends. Before he departs, he has something of a heart to heart with Kurtzberg. The Captain tells him to hone his skills, that he could do amazing things with his gifts and Clark salutes him, walking into the ocean to find his destiny.

The way this scene is framed, with the lighting indicating an early morning, makes everything seem like the future is absolutely bright for Clark. Having Kurtzberg abandon his badass attitude of authority and strength to give Clark advice while shaking his hand like a man is an amazing and heartfelt sight. For the first time, Clark doesn't have to try to lower his strength, it just comes naturally.

All of this is bittersweet. Clark Kent wanted something different than his life in Smallville. He knew that he would have to hide his abilities if he stayed, he knew that he could do so much more for the world. He chose to serve his country, one of the best things a Patriot can do, but his heart was too good for it. His skill and power raised him to a position that did not align with his own moral code. Clark would never kill, but no good deed goes unpunished.

The third and final act of this book comes with Clark returning to Atlantis, seeking out his new love, Lori. She reacts happily once she sees him again, calling him the love of her life and saying that he should meet her family. Then they… frolic in their special hiding place until the next day. She tells him to wear his best as he is to finally meet her father, Lord Poseidon. He emerges from the shadows in his iconic red and blue with fish swimming all around him and the flora lighting up in his presence. 

Poseidon isn't amused, seeing Clark as a little standing frog and proceeds to put Clark through impossible tasks to win his daughters hand. Clark begins to find the true scope of his powers as he concentrates and releases his heat vision on one of the enemies. It's a stellar display of power and control as Clark monologues that this fire inside of him was his and his alone. Alex Sinclair did an amazing job of portraying the ability and powerful it is with intense and vibrant reds.

Poseidon pulls out every stop that he can to try and crush Superman. He sends his best warriors, but Clark doesn't even acknowledge them trying to crush him. Stone automatons fall to his might. A giant squid swallows him whole and vomits him back up, unfettered by the stomach acid. Becoming increasingly enraged, Poseidon summons the Kraken and uses the fabled beast to try and crush Superman to death. 

As the tentacle lifts and Lori cries, thinking her one true love has died, Clark stands right back up with a smile. Lori jumps for joy, the people are stunned and in a silent rage, Poseidon calls off the Kraken and plots revenge on the frog that he couldn't crush.

Throughout this entire act, Poseidon monologues to himself about the bug that wouldn't be crushed or burned or destroyed in any way. Clark just smiled, snickered and mocked Poseidon the entire time. There was no malice in his smirk, just the boyish exuberance of love and youth. Poseidon though Clark wanted his crown, but really he just wanted Lori, a place to finally be himself and a peace of mind that he's never truly had.

Superman: Year One has been amazing thus far. While it's only a few peoples take on what would happen if Superman joined the military, I feel like it's a great and accurate one in line with who Superman would be as a man. Given the lessons that he'd learned from Pa Kent, how could we expect him to be ready to kill at any moment? Instead, we see his compassion for humanity shine through as he's even willing to preserve the lives of absolute monsters. 

John Romita Jr. captures the apathy of an effortless Clark in his early career, the wonder when hears the beautiful call of love from the sea and the conflict of a man caught between duty and morality. To say that this is some of his best art in years would be an understatement when it concerns this entire story. While the last issue focused heavily on the vast normality of the midwestern United States, this issue feels more tight and focused on the inner turmoil of Superman. The locales feel more linear, allowing us to explore more of Clark's own inner thought processes. He is surrounded by other strong men, but he is in a league of his own until he meets Lori.

Superman: Year One is a great journey of self-discovery. Other Superman stories have tried similar themes with varying degrees of success. Superman: Earth One went in the hard direction of Superman being an apathetic douche that knows he's a God and lowers himself to the level of men until someone bigger makes him want to protect the citizens of Earth. Superman: American Alien grounded Superman near as much as this book does, but what makes them different is the journey Clark takes to find himself.

This book warmed my heart something fierce with it's incredible storytelling and art. With issue two being this good, I can only hope that the next one will be nearly as amazing. Given that the preview of the next one shows Superman holding up the Daily Planet globe, we are absolutely going to be in for a treat. 

Highest of recommends.

[asteriskemily]

The Five People Duck Fell For

(And The One Who, Quite Literally, Picked Him Up)

Here’s a kinda shitty, but kinda okay fic that I wrote because I didn’t know that needed Waynerva until Justin handed it to me on a silver platter. 

If Wayne Newton has to real think about it, he would say that his first crush was on Danny Keil in the second grade. They lived in the same cul-de-sac and their mothers were both on the PTA, so they were often made to spend time together. They walked to school together, they ate lunch together, and they played tag together. It was the perfect friendship for two eight year old boys.

Danny moved away in the third grade. His mom was still around, but Wayne would never again see Danny. Wayne’s mom told him that Danny’s parents got divorced. Wayne didn’t know what that meant, but he knew that Danny was gone.

Wayne hadn’t realized that it was a crush at the time. He barely knew what a crush was and when he learned what it was, he didn’t know he could have one on a boy. By the time he recognized what it had been, Wayne had already been taught that boys liking boys was a bad thing, so he chose to avoid thinking about his first friend.

-

Wayne had his first kiss at a birthday party in the fifth grade and it was the beginning of his whirlwind romance with Becky Emberson. They shared pudding cups and pushed each other on the swings during recess and once Wayne gave her a dandelion on Valentine’s Day to show that he really loved her.

Becky’s favorite subject was art and Wayne’s was English and, because of that, Becky said that they were too different and that they had to break up. Wayne was absolutely heartbroken. One month later Juno Devine came to Kepler with three things that Wayne found fascinating: a Polaroid camera, a Walkman, and a love for nature that he had never seen in anyone else. Juno became his best friend and together they sat in the woods, listening to R.E.M. and taking stupid pictures of each other. Wayne made silly faces at the camera and when the picture came sliding out of it Juno laughed and said that his mouth looked like a duck’s bill. She took a pen and wrote, under the picture, Wayne “The Duck” Newton.  The nickname stuck.

-

Tabatha and all of her friends were attractive, popular, and loaded. He asked her out on a dare and was shocked when she actually said yes. They went to a drive in movie theater that was just outside of town and made out in her car while The Empire Strikes Back played in the background. They dated for three months and neither of them found the relationship particularly interesting. She took him skiing on his 18th birthday and he fell down the mountain and nearly broke his legs. He then limped to the Wolf Ember and had his first ever bowl of French onion soup and it changed his life. She found him there, eating soup and trying not to break down in tears at its glory. She drove him home in silence and they both knew that this would be their last date.

That same night a blue woman who was maybe a ghost or maybe computers told him that he was destined for greatness, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the soup and the math test he had on Tuesday and how he wasn’t the right guy to save the world.

-

Duck wanted to get as far away from Kepler as he could. Away from the people he was only half-friends with, away from the mom that called Juno a dead beat just because she didn’t fit the perfect standard of what she thought a girl should be, away from whatever destiny he may or may not actually have. The farthest he could get was Marshal University. Even if he wasn’t so far from Kepler, it was like a whole other world. A world with less stress about destinies and more cell service. A world where he didn’t feel terrified when he was calling that cute boy he met at the campus bar and asking him out on a date. Duck Newton dated Charlie Wallace for nearly three years before he got a letter from his little sister that told him that their mom had died in a car crash.

That same day, Duck packed his bags and bought a bus ticket back to Kepler. He told Charlie goodbye and they both knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep in touch. When Duck got to Kepler he hugged June and they both cried. Their dad died when they were little and now their mom was gone too. This was all the family that they had left.

Duck got an apartment and a job and he finished college online. June went to school and tried to have normal life. Duck became a ranger and June made it all the way to Harvard to become a lawyer. Everything was normal. That is, until Duck had a dream about an archway made of stone and suddenly Minerva was back.

-

Duck thought that the mothman was hot. He may be just a regular guy now, but he was a regular guy who knew where the mothman lived. He went to knock on the door to the winnebago that Indrid lived in and it opened before his fist connected. Indrid smiled at him with a grin that seemed to wide to be human. This is because it in fact wasn’t human. Duck asked him out for coffee and Indrid agreed. They sat and talked about having visions of the future while they drank coffee and shared a scone. 

It was the first date that either of them had been on in quite some time and as they walked back to the winnebago Indrid informed Duck that it was the last one that they would be going on together. He told Duck that there wasn’t a future where the two of them ended up together and that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. In the months following the date, Duck would think back to what Indrid said to him as he walked away, still wearing his too-wide, inhuman grin.

“So few people have true soulmates, Duck Newton. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”

-

Minerva had been quiet lately. While she usually went through life roaring like a clap of thunder, since the end of the battle that she had been fighting for who knows how long, she was more silent. Duck didn’t necessarily think it was a bad thing. She seemed calm like she was finally at peace.

He came home to find Minerva laying on the floor with Moony the cat sitting proudly on her chest.

“Wayne Newton,” she chuckled at her own joke before it had the chance to come out of her mouth “I fear that this deceptively small beast has felled me. I lay here, trapped by its powerful grasp, unable to escape. Please, Wayne Newton, flee before you suffer the same fate.”

“I refuse to run and leave you behind, Minerva! I will save you!” Duck set down his groceries and playful ran to Minerva’s side. He crouched down and picked up Moony, then set her down on the ground. Moony ran off to scratch up Ducks pillows. He plopped down next to Minerva as she sat up.

“You have saved me, Wayne Newton. I am forever in your debt.” Minerva pushed herself off the floor and offered a hand to Duck. She pulled him up and put a hand on his shoulder. Her smile was brighter than any of stars in the universe.

“Would you help me with the groceries?” He asked. It was something easy, something normal. They both needed a lot more of that. For a little bit they worked in silence and then Minerva spoke up.

“I have something that I feel that I need to speak to you about, Wayne Newton.” She seemed serious and  almost nervous. The tone made Duck nervous too.

“Yeah, what’s up?” He tried to seem calm as he set aside the ingredients for the soup that they would be attempting to make for dinner that night.

“Since we finally fulfilled our destinies things have been very calm.” She started. Duck nodded along, listening intently. “And I think that that is a good thing. It is nice to have the opportunity to be calm and to think about something other than a battle that is coming. And now that I’ve had that time to think, I’ve been thinking a lot about how lucky it was that I ended up choosing you. I know that it was a somewhat random choice, but I highly doubt that things would have gone the way that they did had it been anyone else.” For a moment she paused. She looked as though she was considering whether or not she was going to keep going. In the end she must have decided to continue.

“You are someone who is very important to me, Wayne Newton, and I cannot imagine a world where we never met. You changed my life. When I had chosen Leo, he was truly just a warrior that I was training, but when you and I started training together, you became friends. I am grateful that you taught me how to be someone’s friend again.” Duck smiled at her.

“I can’t imagine a life without you either, Minnie.” Duck had been thinking about this for some time now as well. “I-When we lost our connection, it was really hard for me. Not just because I wasn’t as tough as I usually am, but because I lost one of the most important people in my life. You showed upon

and you turned my whole world upside down and I’m so much better off because of that. I used to think that I was just a guy and then you told me that I could be more than that. Maybe at first I didn’t want to believe you, but it got to the point where I wanted to prove you right.” Suddenly Duck realized something and what Indrid told him finally made sense. He didn’t know what to say next, scared of what might happen. And then it was like Minerva had read his mind.

“I believe that I am in love with you, Wayne Newton, and If what I have observed about human romantic behavior is correct then I believe that this is the point at which I should be asking you on a date.” Minerva’s cheeks were growing darker as she spoke.

“I would like that.” All at once Duck was, quite literally, swept off of his feet as Minerva pulled him into a bear hug. Smiled and looked up at her as they settled into something that was less like her hugging him and more like her carrying him bridal style. “And hey, guess what.”

“What, Wayne Newton?”

“I love you too, Minnie.”

[bobasheebaby]

I did this three times before but apparently I can’t stick to just a few series and keep adding. So here is the full breakdown of all my Choices series. It’s long cause my crazy ass has too many series so under the cut will be the breakdown complete to series masterlists. If there is no link it’s still being planned but I decided to put it anyways.

I start fairly mild, well maybe not mild, I go full smut with Poly and mlm and develop In Their Hearts which started my love for crack pairs with Dramien.

I move on to adding a pinch of drama in the form of a love quadrangle. I add a handsome older Duke to the mix to try to take Athena away from Liam. Jealous Liam, angst, I actually get fluffy, and of course glorious smut including slash in What Almost Was.

Which feeds to wedding drama in Following Her Heart and poly drama with the sister series Starting Over, Together.

Then I get my first inspiration for causing drama based on exactly what’s going on in TRR. Although I admit I go a bit off the rails. Betrayal takes us through MC cheating on Liam and Drake confessing his feelings, ouch.

Then I go dark, like really dark. I take our dear sweet Liam and turn him straight up evil, read From the Wolves with caution, it’s dark. It deals with depression and Liam is EVIL! So my penchant for twists and turns and dark drama has started.

Consequences of a Fling is my second foray into taking something from the books and bringing the drama. This time I take the fling and make MC pregnant-but that’s not enough for my drama loving heart, not only could she be carrying Drake’s child instead of Liam’s she still has feelings for Drake, or does she? Then I kinda get influenced by a few people and my dark and twisted mind goes off the rails again. This series is full of cliffhangers and twists and turns.

I’m back at it with crack pairs, a full series for my new favorite pairing: Baslivia—Bastien and Olivia. I know it seems odd but they work. It starts smutty, and then we go to pining because they won’t make it easy. Falling For You also has Ellie (MC) who is Olivia’s person how can you not love two tough snarky woman becoming best friends?

One shot turned mini series, Maneater follows Addison and she is far from kind to our boys. There once again is cheating, I think it will be contained to two chapters, they are mentioned in the Masterlist if you want to avoid cheating. Full of smut.

Harlow was my answer to Addison. Addison started as a Bastien x MC request and I hated how I was hurting and using Bastien so sweet Harlow was born. Harlow realizes early on in the social season her heart belongs to Bastien and not Liam, Made For You is a mini series.

I got a request for a MC x Rashad story where MC leaves at the end of book one and falls for Rashad and Liam had zero chance getting her back. I answer that request with Law of Love and Lennox and Rashad. Flashbacks, heartache and a bit of fluff.

My third Poly series came from a talk about the fling in Vegas in which I turn it into a threesome in Vegas Skies. Something More will follow Drew, Liam and Drake trying to figure out how to handle things after the fling.

Reclaiming Destiny, evolved past what it was supposed to. It was meant to be a Bastien x OC series following Bastien coming out in the guard and somehow twisted itself into a Poly series with Bastien, Olivia and my newest OC Caleb. Something More & Reclaiming Destiny will be interconnected and the next chapter will be a full crossover and posted in both.

I have always hated that Liam couldn’t stand his ground and still say MC at the coronation ball, so Side by Side will fix that.

A Mobster AU called Crimson Rain. It’s got two MC’s and Bastien & Liam are essentially rival bosses. There is a grudge and serious baggage, let’s see how dark I go with mobsters. Tons of twists, and more to come! Contains character death and pregnancy loss as well as depression.

The Rise is a full on crossover AU. It’s a zombie apocalypse so please proceed with caution. My penchant for crack pairs will be revisited in this crossover series. So far the books are Endless Summer, The Royal Romance, Bloodbound, and Perfect Match, I have plans to add in both Open Heart and Nightbound. There is going to be lots of character death, please block the tags #choices zombie au or #the rise to avoid if you need to.

I blame a rattle, yes a rattle did weird things to my brain. The cover art for The Royal Heir did some seriously weird things to me and we ended up with When Fairytales Break. This series contains cheating, depression, feelings of being trapped, and smut. This is a Liam x MC, Bastien x MC story and goes to a different place than my initial thought.

I have a few more things I’m working on cause I just can’t help myself. Impossible Choice will be spinning into a series called Learning to Breathe. Right now I’m fighting my muse because of the pairing she wants and I’m not sure. This will deal will moving on after loss and maybe some depression.

Only You, the more I think about my poly stories the more I think of Driam’s start and it’s always the same. I will be moving It Started With a Kiss from In Their Hearts to its new home that will be an early Driam story that will work as canon history for all my poly AU’s.

I have two non TRR series, the first is a Red Carpet Dairies series called What a Way to Say It’s Over. The final chapter of RCD2 had me wondering what our LI might be thinking if you suddenly dropped away from them. I almost always thot (very few books am I faithful) and I had chosent Matt only to drop him for Hunt in the last chapter. As I was playing I kept asking myself how he’d react. It was only going to be a one shot but now it’s a series.

I fell instantly in love with Sienna Trihn in Open Heart and need her as a LI. Moving On With You follows Dr Camila Maitland and Dr Sienna Trihn after Sienna dumps Wayne. I was thrown by Danny but more is coming.

Jeez, my mind really went there with some of those. And some the drama is coming. And through most of these, Liam gets hit-sorry.

So I guess if you want drama and twists of any level you know where to go, me. Lmao. Just be sure to buckle your seat belt some of these rides are mighty bumpy. Your heart will likely hurt after many of these.

[welcometophu]

Not Your Destiny: Chapter 21

Marked Book 1: Not Your Destiny

Chapter 21

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Ángel’s standing in the middle of the office with his shirt off, Luca scrubbing at oil that seems to be ground into Ángel’s chest, when Zita walks in with a bag of tacos.

She stops, sets the bag and a tray of drinks on the desk, then walks over to them and holds out her hand. Luca hesitates, puts the cloth in her hand, and she looks at it, then considers Ángel’s chest. “What did you do?”

“I’m a magnet for oil change issues,” Ángel mutters. “This is the fourth time this week. I’m just glad this one didn’t hit my face. On the other hand, pretty sure the shirt’s ruined, and I may never have clean chest hair again.”

“You barely have chest hair to begin with,” Luca points out.

“Which is why it’s so important that I don’t shave off what I’ve got,” Ángel retorts.

Luca shakes his head. “Wax. It’s simpler. Although I don’t know if it’ll work now that you’re covered in oil. It might be too slick.”

“You’ll never win an argument with Luca; he’s vain and waxes regularly,” Zita says. She points at the door. “Get me the powder, and a cup of water, and the dish soap that’s under the cabinet. You’ll be soaked when we’re done, Ángel, but you should be mostly clean.”

Ángel looks down at his jeans, which are already dripping with water. “You have spare shirts here, but I’m betting you don’t have jeans.”

“You’ll be stuck, but that’s okay, I’m taking you out of here after lunch, anyway,” Zita says. As soon as Luca returns, she starts with the dish soap to break down the oil, then makes a paste of the powdered soap and water in order to remove the remains of it. It’s not perfect, and Ángel is soaked after she finishes rinsing him off, but other than Luca staring and being a bit embarrassed, it isn’t bad.

He takes the white shirt Luca hands him, yanks it on, and tries to ignore the way his jeans hang heavy and squelching on his hips. It’s uncomfortable.

“What’s going on?” Tony pokes his head in, gaze narrowing when he sees Zita and Luca.

Ángel tries to tug the shirt away from his wet skin, gives up and just crosses his arms and pretends that nothing’s wrong.

Tony looks at Ángel. “Cleto’s coming in this afternoon—Maritsa yelled at him to get out and since he’s hoping to make it to the wedding alive, he’s coming here while she and her tía make plans. Apparently it’s another day of arguments, and she’s in a mood. I’m sending Gabi over for backup.”

He glances at Zita, and she throws her hands up. “I get it,” she says. “Everyone thinks this is my fault. And maybe it is, but I can’t fix it. For one, her aunt hates me. Loathes the ground I walk on, and I’m pretty sure she’s tried cursing me.”

“We don’t curse people,” Ángel objects.

“Doesn’t stop her from trying,” Zita grumbles. “I don’t know Spanish, but the intent seemed pretty obvious. And for two, I’m not good at wedding planning. Maritsa has our traditions; that’s all I can give her. She’s doing almost everything Danny and I did, and the rest isn’t necessary. I know she wants to keep her own traditions as well, but I’m not the one to figure out how to weave it together and make everyone get along. I tried. Her aunt spit in my face.”

“Literally?” Ángel’s not sure he believes that.

“Not literally,” Tony says. “But she made it plain that she didn’t want to work with us.”

“Maritsa and Cleto are our family,” Zita says firmly. “This is Maritsa’s choice. If her blood relatives can’t handle it, then maybe they need to just let her go.”

“And if Maritsa doesn’t want to let them go?” Ángel says, and they all look at him. He shrugs, spreads his hands. “It’s not that easy. And Maritsa’s already lost a lot. Cleto’s family is more solid, more secure, and I bet they aren’t arguing as much. But Maritsa’s family is not only intensely traditional, they lost her parents a long time ago. They’re not going to want to let her go. And even if she doesn’t agree with Tía all the time, Maritsa’s not going to just walk out on them. That should be obvious by now.”

Zita growls, disgruntled.

“You don’t have to like it, but you have to deal with it,” Tony says quietly.

“I’m not dealing with it today. I have another appointment.” Zita wipes her hands on Ángel’s dirty shirt, tosses it at him. “Pack up, then eat lunch. We’re getting out of here and going to Tanner’s.” Her gaze drops over the now-damp shirt, and his soaked jeans. “We’ll stop at your place first for a change of clothes.”

“Why?” Ángel asks.

Luca picks up the bag of tacos, steals three for himself and puts them on a paper towel, before passing the bag along. Tony looks in, rolls his eyes, and hands it to Ángel.

There is no way that Ángel is going to pass up tacos. He takes the remaining four and starts eating. Zita leans back in Gabi’s chair, looking like she’s not planning on explaining herself, until Tony pushes her with a toe, and her chair slides across the floor.

“Fine,” she mutters. “I want to talk to Emerson.”

The fine hairs rise on the back of Ángel’s neck. Tony growls softly, and Luca glares at Ángel. “Why?” Ángel asks.

“That’s my business with him,” Zita says, sitting upright and setting her feet so Tony can’t make the chair move again. “I asked Mary if I could talk to him, and she said it would be fine. Ángel, your job is to keep Tanner from being over-protective. I’ve heard he tends to hover.”

“That’s a good way to put it.” Ángel can’t argue that point. “He’s going to want to know why you want to talk to Emerson. He’s only fourteen—he’s still just a kid, and it’s a little weird that you want to talk to him privately.”

“It’s our business,” Zita says quietly. “And I promise, it’s nothing dangerous, weird, or unsavory. But it is something for Emerson only. I’m not going to hurt him. If anything, it’ll help.”

Ángel believes her. He’s not entirely sure he trusts her—people are only secretive when they’ve got a reason to be—but he believes that she’s not planning on hurting Emerson. “Fine,” he says. “I need dry clothes, and it’s not a hardship to hang with Tanner. Is Hayley with your kids?”

“I promised I’d be back by five,” Zita says. “Tanner’s picking her up for a movie.”

Ángel’s beginning to think that no one remembers to tell him anything. He can’t text right this second, with a taco in his hand, or he’d drop a note in the group text. Or maybe not, because he doesn’t want them thinking that he wants to tag along.

He shoves the taco in his mouth to make himself stop thinking, and avoid the risk of saying anything out loud that makes him sound pitiable.

Tony rolls his eyes, mutters, “At least Cleto will be here. Luca, get your ass back out on the floor when you’re done eating.”

“Go find some broccoli or something,” Luca retorts, taking a big bite of his taco, catching the drips with his other hand. He licks the sauce from his fingers, and Ángel looks away.

Tony grumbles, pushes past Zita. “You owe me,” he says quietly as he passes her. “You can’t keep stealing the people who work here.”

“You’re the one sending Gabi to Maritsa.” Zita brushes off her hands, cleans up the empty bag and tosses it in the trash as Ángel finishes up his last taco. “It’s one afternoon, and it’s my deal for Ángel to work here in the first place. I have first dibs on stealing him.”

A loud growl, and Tony stalks from the room. Luca has his hand over his face, shoulders shaking. “Go,” Luca says, choked. “Please, just go. Before it gets any better. I’ll make sure he doesn’t glare any customers out of the building.”

Ángel trails after Zita, tries not to look across the floor where Tony’s banging something loudly, maybe trying to get a stuck tire off the car in the bay. Zita snickers softly, opens the door and ushers Ángel into the sunlight.

He is all too aware just how white and how damp his shirt now is. And the old one, clutched in his hands, is still covered in oil. He looks down at it, sighs. “I need to go clothes shopping. When I have money again.”

“Come on.”

Ángel ducks into the car at her direction, sits quietly as they head to his house. Zita follows him in, and Ángel leaves her in the kitchen with Abuela while he goes upstairs to shower and change.

Most of the oil is gone, anyway, so he’s halfway decent. Enough that he doesn’t think he’s going to ruin his clothes by putting them on his body.

He’s pretty sure his shirt’s a loss, though. From now on he’s getting changed into one of their spare white shirts before he starts an oil change. He’s not risking his own clothes anymore.

As he stands at the top of the stairs, he hears Abuela’s voice. “I think you are a strong young woman,” Abuela says quietly. “A credit to your people. And to your grandmother.”

Silence for several heartbeats, enough that Ángel is about to step on the stair to make purposeful noise. Then Zita says softly, “Thank you, Verita. I hope I do my parents and grandparents proud.” She coughs, then calls out, “Stop hovering at the top of the steps, Ángel. I need to talk to Tanner before it’s time for me to be home for Hayley’s date.”

Ángel runs down the steps, stops in the kitchen to take in how Abuela and Zita are standing on opposite sides. Zita’s tense, and Abuela sits in the chair, her coffee held loosely in her hand.

Abuela raises the cup. “My last for the day. Take some, if you want; I’m only going to empty the pot.”

Ángel takes advantage of the offer, pouring it into a travel mug to take with him before he follows Zita out the door. There’s no need to get back in the car, so he walks while she drives a few doors down and parks in Tanner’s driveway.

Tanner has the door open before Ángel gets there and is standing there, arms crossed. “What’s going on?”

“Did you talk to your mother?” Zita asks, and Tanner’s brow furrows.

It’s obvious to Ángel that Tanner talked to Mary. It’s equally obvious that Tanner didn’t like how the conversation went.

“Hey, Tanner.” He pushes through the door, hooks an arm through Tanner’s. “I need a second brain on a few things.”

“Why does she want to—”

“Hey, Zita.” Emerson’s in the living room, sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, long legs bent. He tilts as he moves the controller in his hand, body echoing the movement of his car on the screen. “Is here okay, or do you want to go somewhere else?”

Zita glances back at Tanner, who has already taken two steps closer to the living room despite Ángel’s attempt to keep him in place. “Mind if we talk in your room? We’ll keep your door cracked; I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Emerson lets his car crash, the game ending as he sets the controller aside. A pale gold bubble rises and pops as he leverages himself to his feet. “I’m not uncomfortable,” he says easily. “Curious, yes, but not uncomfortable.” He gestures at the couch with both hands, bowing slightly. “Game’s all yours, Tanner. Ángel, kick his ass for me.”

“Language.”

“Tanner, he’s fourteen, he’s going to swear,” Ángel grumbles. He drags Tanner into the living room, pushes him onto the sofa. “It’s fine. Whatever they’re going to talk about, your mother has already cleared it as okay. You can’t protect Emerson from everything.”

“I can try.” Tanner picks up the abandoned controller, turns it over in his hand. “I mean, what could she need to talk to him about privately? I’m his brother. This is weird.”

“The Mollicones are a bit odd, yes, but they don’t want to eat us alive,” Ángel points out. “It’ll be fine. Do you want me to kick your ass?” He reaches for the other controller, stopping when Tanner grips his shoulder, pulls him back. “Or not.”

“You said you needed a second brain?” Tanner motions with a clear gesture of distract me, and Ángel is willing to oblige.

“Abuela knew Zita’s grandmother.” Ángel nods at the stairs, where Zita and Emerson have long since disappeared. “And her story’s full of holes—how they knew each other a long time, but only for a short time. Plus there’s the whole Mage and whatever the hell they are thing, which makes no sense anyway because Maritsa and Cleto are at the garage already.”

“And you,” Tanner points out.

“And me. Although Maritsa’s magic is….” Ángel hasn’t really thought about it since Noche Buena, but not that he brings it up, he remembers how it simply seemed to disappear. And he never saw Cleto do any rituals, even minor ones. His brow furrows. “It’s not right. Maybe she’s dampening it for them, I don’t know.”

“So… what?” Tanner asks, spreading his hands. “Why do you care?”

“Because it means my family has connections to the Mollicones going back two generations.” Ángel leans forward, shakes his head. “Had connections. Has new connections. I don’t know, it just seems odd that she never mentioned it until Zita walked in the house, and when I went looking, there they both were at university together.”

“Zita and Abuela?”

Ángel stops, mouth slightly open. “Tanner,” he says slowly, because how did Tanner even come to that conclusion? “Abuela and Zita’s grandmother—Bonita. They went to school together, they were both in majoring in science. They made the news as brilliant minds of their time, which was impressive considering that it was the 60s and they were both women and they were immigrants. But my point is. They worked together for at least four years. They went to the same church. They both got engaged within a year of each other, and I’m betting that if I went back into the records, I’d find out they were married around the same time as well.”

“Which means… what?” Tanner holds up his hands. “Don’t Tanner me again. I’m not being an idiot, I see that you see a connection. But I don’t get what it means or why you care about it. So your grandmother has a past that includes connections to a non-Mage family. Let her have her life, too.”

“They’re Clan.” Ángel makes a face. “Okay, they’re not Clan, but it’s something similar. We’re Mages. There are issues.”

“The Mollicones really don’t seem to care,” Tanner says dryly. “Considering one of them brought you here and is upstairs talking to my brother about something right now. And he’s not exactly a Mage, but that’s the closest description we can get to for his Talent. Because bubbles is not a Talent.”

“I always wondered why you didn’t Emerge, too,” Ángel muses. “It runs in families, right? Even the Emergent ones, siblings will often both Emerge even if their Talent is different. The predisposition is there.”

“You’re composing email in your head to your professor again, aren’t you?”

Maybe he is. Pawel might have some idea about it, but that still means maybe getting Pawel to meet Emerson. Or getting Pawel to answer the email Ángel sent the other day, which he hasn’t yet. “I asked him about Emerson. He hasn’t answered yet.”

“He’s on holiday and probably doing something fun with his family.” Tanner pushes to his feet, manages to take a step before Ángel grabs his wrist and tugs him back onto the sofa. “I just want a glass of water.”

“No eavesdropping.” Ángel searches for a good change of topic, and everything just keeps circling back to the garage, to the marks, to the Mollicones.  “The party,” he says quickly. “We need to figure out what we’re doing for the party. Gabi and Luca said we can crash there. Just pack a bag and bring it. They figure all the older people will go home, but we can stay up as late as we want that way.”

“Are you going to get upset with me and Hayley?” Tanner makes a face, half upset and half apologetic. “You’re right, I like her. A lot. We’ve been doing okay so far, and we’re going to keep in touch when you guys go back. Write email. Text. Talk about all the shit we haven’t really gotten to talk about much so far, I figure. But that night—”

“You might end up crashing in the same bed, I get it,” Ángel says. “I’m not over her. And it’s not easy. But it’s getting better, Tanner. Besides, I—”

“Is it Gabi?” Tanner interrupts.

Ángel blinks, shakes his head slowly. “It’s not Gabi. And just for that, you don’t get to know anything else about it. Besides. It’s not like they’re interested in me, so… moot point, anyway.”

“And you’re not sure if you want to get invested and get heartbroken again if they’re not the person who matches that.” Tanner points at his wrist, and Ángel curls it back against his body, as if hiding the ink changes something.

Footsteps on the stairs, and Tanner heads for the kitchen before Ángel can grab him. Zita comes down first, Emerson trailing after.

“Ángel,” Zita calls out. “Don’t bother coming in tomorrow. Shop’s going to be closed so we can finish getting ready for the party. I’ll see you all there, any time after three. Some of our family stays late, some leave early, so we always get started early in case people have somewhere else to go.”

“We’re planning on staying,” Ángel says as Tanner moves past Zita to meet Emerson on the stairs.

“I’m fine, Tanner.” Emerson bats his hand away, a silvered bubble popping with a faint hum. “Zita’s pretty cool. We’re going to talk again.”

“When he’s ready,” Zita says. “He’ll have questions.”

“What kind of questions?” Tanner asks.

Emerson shakes his head. “Leave it. I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I’m fine.” He glances at Ángel. “Did you kick his ass or did he kick yours?”

“There wasn’t any ass-kicking,” Ángel admits. “So if you want that done, you’ll need to do it yourself.”

“Come on.” Emerson grips Tanner’s wrist, drags him into the living room.

Zita catches Ángel as he’s about to follow, her fingers curled around his shoulder. “When you pack for tomorrow, pack extra. Leave things at the house. Our guest rooms are yours.”

“It’s not yours to give, is it?” Everyone keeps telling Ángel this, and he doesn’t bother to mention that he already left a few spare shirts and some underwear there when he was hanging out with Gabi last night.

Zita smiles slightly, bares her teeth in a sharp grin. “Just because I don’t live there on a daily basis doesn’t mean it isn’t mine. Take one of the guest rooms on the top floor—there are two. And if there’s something you think would make Emerson more comfortable if he ever ends up staying there, put it in the other one. They share a bathroom—you can deal with that.”

That’s… more specific than Ángel was expecting. “You think Emerson’s going to be spending more time there,” he says slowly, tasting the thought and not following the why of it.

“Eventually,” she agrees. “For now, though, he’s here, and he’s fine, and you should go hang out with your friends. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

There’s a piece of that he’s missing. But Ángel can’t quite connect the dots, can’t figure out what Zita’s trying to imply. So he just watches as she goes, takes a step back when the door closes behind her.

After that, there’s nothing left to do but join Tanner and Emerson with the game. They’ve got a little while before Tanner’s leaving to meet Hayley, and Ángel intends to enjoy this time with his best friend.

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[lordofpinecrest-blog]

SEASON 8 EPISODE 6 THE FINAL THE IRON THRONE

In this Lord’s opinion, it was going to be impossible to please everyone with the last episode of what is arguably the greatest show ever on TV. Plots had to closed and we needed to see what the future would bring. So in the end, I really liked it. Not the action of the last two weeks, but it brought the closure we needed. It all started with the Starks, and it all ended with the Starks. Back to the basics-family and trust and hard choices that had to be made to do what was right. And while I did not predict Bran be the King, I did predict the Iron Throne being melted and Drogon flying away.  And for those who didn’t like the final episode, as Ser Carl said to me-What did you want? Tell us. So let’s get to it.

We start with Tyrion, as he walks in silence taking in the total destruction of what was formerly his beloved city, Kings Landing. Bodies burned, buildings in rubble and ashes tumbling to the ground. In the visions, I think all of us mistook what we thought was snow, for what we now know is ash. A different type of Winter has besieged the capital. Behind him, also in silence, are Jon Snow and the Onion Knight. Tyrion finally saying he is going on alone, with the Onion Knight saying it wasn’t safe. Tyrion knew he had to go alone to search for his brother and sister.

Back on the streets, we see that the Queen is Mad. Grey Worm is set to execute prisoners on their knees on his Queen’s orders. A repeat stare down from last week between Jon and Grey Worm until Ser Davos wisely tells Jon to retreat and to speak to the Queen. I recall Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister in a similar scene in Season One.

Three things. First, As Jon walked away, I thought he and Grey Worm would come to blows later on and that Jon would kill him. I was wrong. Second, when Rob Stark was King of the North, some of his men killed Lannister prisoners and Rob actually killed one of his own men as punishment.  One of the results of that event was Roose Bolton turning against Rob and conspiring with Tywin Lannister which led to the Red Wedding. Third, it did reinforce our feelings that Danny was mad.

And as expected, the Imp goes down to find his fallen brother and sister and weeps over their dead bodies. Digging them out to see their faces. I guess we had to see them to prove that they were dead. As Tyrion bangs the bricks in frustration, was he more frustrated with Cersei’s hubris for failing to surrender or was he more upset with himself for failing to see that Daenerys was mad? Either way, he knows he has betrayed her Grace for the last time.

Next we see Jon, with head down, walking toward the steps of what is left of the Red Keep. He is  surrounded by the Dothraki and Unsullied armies and not looking so sure of himself. We see the Targaryen banner flying high. Arya is there too. Last last time we saw her we  thought she left on a white horse. Could she be back to kill our Queen? As Jon climbs the steps, it looks like there could be that confrontation with Grey Worm, as they engage in another stare down. That is avoided as the Mother of Dragons arrives on the back of the mighty Drogon. As Her Grace comes out,  the cameras make it look like she has wings!! I give them an A+++ for great cinematography.

As The Mother of Dragons begins her speech,  we know who she is and isn’t. She starts her speech by shouting to her troops “Blood of my Blood.” What does that mean? To me, it means that Daenerys is a foreign invader. She does not consider the heritage of what, over centuries, it meant to be a Targaryen in Westeros. And her troops stomp their spears in approval. Sort of savagery and she eats it up. She names Grey Worm commander of all her forces, Master of War. But why need a Master of War after she won? The answer comes quickly. She is not done but is consumed with power. She believes she is the Great Liberator. They have liberated Kings Landing from the grip of a tyrant. But they will not lay down their swords until they have liberated all the people of the world. And next came the words that I believe helped seal her fate—From Winterfell to Dorne. After that would come the rest of world to break the Wheel. Isn’t that how every despot thinks of him or herself?

Tyrion comes out and joins Jon in looking totally terrified as to what could come next. And Danny does look consumed with mad power. Great facial expression on her face. As Danny looks down at the Imp the lines were fantastic. “You freed your brother. You committed treason” To which Tyrion replies “I freed my brother. And you slaughtered a city.”  As Tyrion abdicates his position as Hand of the Queen, Daenerys hesitated. She could have burned him as she did  Lord Varys. But I saw a hint of regret and feelings in her eyes as she just ordered him taken away.  Danny stares at Jon-was she looking for his approval as to what she had done? I say yes.

And what followed next was what the Game of Thrones was all about from the beginning. The Stark family. Sure they were almost wiped out and down on their knees. But look what Arya says to Jon when Jon says Daenerys is everyone’s Queen. “Try telling  Sansa. She (meaning Danny) knows who you are; who you really are. You will always be a threat to her.” And finally, from a true assassin, “ I know a killer when I see one.” Chilling words. Nobody could disagree with that assessment. Family has to come first.

Next we have Jon visiting the Imp in jail. To me, it reminded me of Season One when Lord Varys visited Ned Stark in his cell. And as Tyrion takes confession, he says that he would do it again, that he chose his fate, that Kings Landing didn’t. What was behind that? Was he saying his reasoning  for following Daenerys was right, but that the result wrong? A bit strange. And how foolish did Jon look when he said the war was over? HELLO? I guess he missed Danny’s speech to her armies as the Imp had to remind him of what it meant. The Mad Queen will continue to wage war until, in her mind, she liberates all the people of the world. And as they argue the rights and wrongs of what the The Mother of Dragons did and what the Lannisters had done, the overwhelming question came to light again “Would you have done it?” Like last week, Jon doesn’t answer but we know his answer is no.  Tyrion goes on with one the best speeches and explanations the show has ever done. When Jon asks what does it matter what I do, Tyrion replies “It matters more than anything.” He then goes through Her Graces history of killing evil men to liberate the innocent. And that each time, they cheered her and she grew more powerful and more sure that what she was doing was good and right. She believes her destiny is to build a better world.  And who wouldn’t kill everyone in their way to achieve that noble goal?  Tyrion, tearfully, admits his love  for Danny. He believed in her with all his heart, and that “love is more powerful than reason.” But then Jon replies “Love is the death of duty.” Which was a quote from Maester Aemon from the Wall. For those of you who don’t know, Amon was a Targaryen who became a Maester and served in the Citadel. He was offered the Iron Throne, but declined in favor of his younger brother, Aegon V, who was the father of the Mad Kind.  Things might have been different if Aemon had accepted the Iron Throne. But is amazing how they tie everything together. And that leads to Tyrion’s reply “Sometimes duty is the death of love.” Jon is the shield that protects the realms of men, always tries to do the right thing. “Do you think I am the last man she will execute? Who is more dangerous than the rightful heir to the Iron Throne?”(Did he warg with Arya to say that??) Tyrion, in the space of a few minutes, has explained the Mother of Dragons perfectly and given the most thoughtful and best speech over the Eight Seasons. But was it Tyrion’s last line “What about your sisters. Do you see them bending the knee?”  And that while Sansa doesn’t get to choose, Jon does and it has to be NOW! And as Jon walks out, we learn that Tyrion’s and Arya’s speech have sealed Daenerys’ fate.  For Jon must do his duty, despite his love for Danny. This scene, which lasted 9 minutes, may be one of the longest one on one scenes over the Eight Seasons. The dialog was brilliant! So stop complaining my loyal subjects.

Jon is on his way to meet Daenerys when Drogon rises out of the ashes. Drogon senses a Targaryen coming, but does he sense something much more? Or did Drogon just let Jon pass because he was a Targaryen? Could Bran have warged into Drogon to give him safe passage? Food for thought.

Think how the next scene develops. Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, sees the Iron Throne, but SHE NEVER GOES TO SIT ON IT! She turned away from the ultimate prize to face her lover and rival. And while Danny cheerfully gives a brief history lesson of the formation of the Iron Throne, Jon takes away that smile with the accusation of Her Grace giving the order to execute Lannister prisoners. In a way, Daenerys was right that Cersei was using the innocent as a weapon against her, to weaken her. So in her mind, her actions, as horrible as they may have been, were justified. Many agree. Jon begs Danny to have mercy, but her vision of mercy is far different from John’s. And then the tell tale line. Danny is going to build a good world.  Jon “How do you know it is good.” Daenerys “Because I know what is good.” That is the line of every mad despot who has ever been in power. You can see it in her eyes.  Jon “and what about all the other people who think they know what is good.” Danny’s reply is what the fear is “They don’t get to choose.” As she says they will do it together, break the Wheel together, the last word our Mother of Dragons hears is Jon saying “You are my queen, now and always.” And then WOW WOW. Jon stabs and kills The Mother of Dragons as their lips are locked in a final kiss.

What happened next, I partially predicted. Drogon comes to the side of his fallen Mother. He senses her death. I also think he senses Jon’s love for his mother. It sounds as if his first moans are ones of grief. Then he growls in anguish and then anger. He faces Jon with flames rising in his throat. But he turns and unleashes his flames elsewhere, finally melting the Iron Throne. He then carries his Mother and flies away. Drogon, the breaker of chains. To where? Back to his home as I predicted he would. I thought this was a GREAT scene. Jon had to make the ultimate choice, to kill his lover and do his duty. How magnificent was it to see Drogon just fly away?  Drogon knew it was right to melt the Iron Throne and go home. For those that did not like it, tell me: did you think Daenerys should die? If not why? And if so, by somebody other than Jon? I think they got it right. Before Drogon demurred to Jon and flew away, did you think Drogon was going to burn him and would Jon be flame retardant? That might have been a good scene before Drogon left. And where did Drogon go? Must guess Valyria as that is where the dragon started. But I don’t think so, as that is where the Doom occurred.  I think he went back to where he was born, the only place he felt at home.

Next we have Tyrion contemplating what he must think are last minutes of his life as Grey Worm leads him out of his cell.  Tyrion is led out from to the Dragon Pit where somehow, all the Lords of Westeros have arrived to sit judgement. The problem is that until seeing Jon with his beard, we did not know how much time had past, but it does appear that weeks have past. They are there to pass sentence of Tyrian. And who was there? Front and center, are the Starks-Arya, Sansa and Bran. Sorry Ser Lane, looks as if Rickon did die. We also have Ser Davos, Gendry, Brienne of Tarth, Edmure Tully, some Dornish Prince, a more gown up, if you call it that, Robin Arryn and the ever irritable Asha Greyjoy. The most powerful group in Westeros. Good thing Drogon didn’t come back to toast them in revenge!! Some criticize the inclusion of people of lesser stature, but who was left???

Sansa asks Grey Worm where Jon is as they were both supposed to be brought before the council. Grey Worm, in complete defiance says “We will decide what to do with our prisoners.” Grey Worm, after all this time, with his master dead,  has joined the ranks of choosing. And as Sansa and Grey Worm go back and forth to jockey to see who is the most powerful, Asha take Grey Worm’s side as the Iron Throne are not so quick to forgive. She wants the Unsullied to execute Jon. But not to be undone, Arya jumps all over her “Say another word about killing my brother and I will cut your throat.” Family; Jon is still her brother. The voice of reason, as always, is the Onion Knight. Enough with the killing. Grey Worm, who is not totally wrong, says they don’t need payment, they need justice. After all, to Grey Worm, Daenerys freed him and his people and Jon is a Queenslayer.

Tyrion to Grey Worm-it is not for you to decide to which Grey Worm replies “You are not hear to speak. Everyone has heard enough words from you. “ Tyrian the wise, agrees and adds “and nobody is any better for it.” Hard words for him to say as he has misjudged so many which, unfortunately, resulted in great death and destruction. The problem is that Jon’s fate is for the King or Queen to decide, but as Ser Royce pointed out, they don’t have one.

Thus began the process to choose a new King or Queen. Edmure babbles on until Sansa “politely” says please sit. She knows he is a fool. Next up we have Sam, who proposes that the people have a say in it. The others laugh and make fun of him. Asked, the Imp says he doesn’t want the crown. Instead, Tyrion says it should be Bran the Broken. And why? Because stories unite people, nothing is more powerful than a good story as nothing can stop them. Think back to season one, the stories Nan told a young Bran. And who better to tell those stories than Bran? He is our memory, the keeper of all the stories. And isn’t that why the Nigh King wanted Bran dead? Another magnificent speech by Tyrion. Did Sansa show her true colors when she “objected” to Bran becoming King? I think she did! But in the end, they all agree that the King should be chosen not by birth, but by a vote of the Noble Houses. As they vote Ban King, he says “Why do you think I came all this way?” The wheel that Daenerys broke, is now put back together in a different way. So in the end, it was Bran’s purpose and destiny to become King. All say “aye” except Sansa. She loves her litter brother, and thinks he will be a good King. But says the North will remain an independent kingdom, she will not bend the knee to him. And as his first decision as King, Bran  nods his head and Bran the Broken, the First of His Name, becomes King of the Six Kingdoms. Bran’s second action is to appoint Tyrion as the Hand of the King to fix all the mistakes he has made.

Then we Jon, with a weeks old beard and looking tired. Tyrion tells him that to avoid a war, King Bran is sending him back to rejoin the Nights Watch. I liked Jon’s reaction “there is still a Night’s Watch?” Good question since the purpose of the Night’s Watch is gone. And in another poignant moment, Jon asked Tyrion if it was right what he did, to which Tyrion says “What we did.” And when Jon says it doesn’t feel right, Tyrion looks him in the eye and says “Ask me again in 10 years.” This time the Imp hopes he has backed the right horse. They end the scene with Jon saying “I don’t expect we will be seeing each other again” to which our little Hero says “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Great ending to their scenes together. And didn’t Tormund say something similar to that to Jon last week? I think he did.

As Jon leaves, his eyes lock with Grey Worm’s hatred stare. Grey Worm and the Unsullied are headed to the Isle of Naath, which is an island in the Summer Sea and the home of Missandei. The island of butterflies. Maybe Grey Worm will find his peace there.

But then he is met by his FAMILY. Sansa, saying it was the only way and can he forgive her. He forgives her as she freed the North. And when Sansa says the North lost their King, Jon says they got the best they can ask for, the daughter of Ned Stark who can speak for him. They embrace in big and real hug.

Next in line is Arya, always Jon’s favorite. Arya tells them she is going to a place nobody knows-west of Westeros, where all the maps stopped. She still has Needle, and they embrace as well. Tear jerker!!

And finally Bran. Jon bends the knee and says “I am sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.” To which Bran replies “You were exactly where you were supposed to be.” The Tree Eyed Raven speaks as Jon sails away to his destiny with the Starks looking on.

I am going to fast forward a bit. We see Brienne write in the White Book where each member of the King’s Guard has a page to detail his deeds. Brienne is finishing Jaime’s page and writes he died protecting the Queen. Nice twist leaving out the bad. In the books, it is the responsibility of the Lord Commander of the Kings Guard to update the entries in the White Book. Does that mean she is now Lord Commander of the Kings Guard? Presumably so.

Not going to spend too much time on the Small Council. It was funny how Tyrion re-arranged the chairs. Was it a political comment on our times how those in the military want the most from the  treasury while other, more meaningful people, want it for things like clean water?

And then there is Sam with the Song of Ice and Fire. The history of the world since the death of King Robert. But Tyrion is not in the book. For those of us who read the prequals, it is fitting. For as Tyrion says, he might have been mentioned less than favorably. Some had surmised that the entire show was a look back through Sam’s eyes, like the show Lost, that it had already happened. So much for that theory. What was curious was the reference to Drogon. In an early Season, there was a reference in the Small Council to the reappearance of dragons. They scoffed at it. But now they know Drogon is out there and maybe Bran can warg into him. Maybe he will need Drogon to return to hold the peace.

North to the Wall, or what is left of it. The horn blows signaling Jon’s return. The gate opens and we first see Tormund. And then scenes cut to Arya and Sansa. Each looking to complete their journey. I loved the way they went back and forth.

Sansa, declared Queen of the North, Queen of the North!

Arya walking on a ship to sail to nowhere on a ship with a Direwolf curved into the bow

And Jon walking amongst people who care and look up to him. And YES!! The reunion with GHOST!! They smile at one another as Ghost gives him the lick!  Jon and Tormund, led by Ghost, and followed by “his people” leave the Wall and head north. For you see, Jon is home and king again, this time King Beyond the Wall. The end!!

Again, I know many of you and some, if not all critics, didn’t like ending or the final season but I did. Watch it again to see what you missed. The last episode came full circle and answered many of our questions. We found out what the Wheel was and how it could be fixed. We saw an end to a tyrant who didn’t know she was a tyrant and would have kept the killing.  We saw Tyrion complete his circle, now for third time being the Hand, with the promise that he has learned from his mistakes. And such Emmy winning dialog on his part. We discovered that Bran knew all along where he would end up-King of the Six Kingdoms. Sansa filled her destiny by becoming the opposite of what she started out to be, Queen of the Six Kingdoms. Arya fulfilled her destiny by doing what she always wanted to do-explore and not be subject to anybody.

And finally it ends with Jon Snow, Fire and Ice. When Tyrion told Jon his fate, I think Tyrion knew is wasn’t a punishment. Where else could Jon go? And wasn’t the Wall and that part of the North his home? Jon, back with GHOST was special as they rode off into the woods with the knowledge that the Starks reign supreme! Fantastic fade out.

Just an FYI-choosing a picture to accompany my blog isn’t always easy. So this time I chose two, I hope you approve.

So there it is. My last blog for the Game of Thrones. It has been an honor and pleasure to write this and I hope you enjoyed my endless and much too long tales as much as I did writing them. But now, My Watch is Over.

GEROS ILAS!

The Lord of Pinecrest

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Finally Broken?

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ASEh9i

by Slyther_King15

Dan wanted Danny to break, to embrace his destiny. What if he cracks? The explosion is not reversed. Vlad comes and takes him to his home, doing his best to cope with the pain while trying to help Danny. But Danny still doesn't want to be Dan, so he resists and stays his slightly broken self. He hides it the best he can, even while he slowly grows closer to Vlad. Then he meets Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne at a party he attends as Vlad Masters' adopted son in Gotham. They notice something is up though so he tries to avoid them. Later that night, the caped crusaders come to the conclusion that Danny is a Metahuman. Will they be able to convince him to join the Team? (In this story Danny gets his powers at 10 and is alone when it happens then is kidnapped and tortured by the GIW for 4 years/ they wiped the towns memory/ then he staged another accident and tell his friends about his powers but can't tell them about the torture.) (Dani doesn't exist in this story) (he defeated Dan for good in this/but he can still become him if he's not careful)

Story is also on Wattpad and I’m editing what was on there before I put it up here. My account on Wattpad is XipresL15 (if you want to check it out)

Words: 668, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Young Justice (Cartoon)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Characters: Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters, Batman's Team (Young Justice), Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson

Additional Tags: this is an old story, started out on Wattpad, Past Torture, Adoption, Minor Character Death, if you can call it that, ill add more as I need to and stuff

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ASEh9i

[randomrichards]

I need to get back to get back in the game of writing reviews. To encourage more consistent writing, I decided end each month by writing a list of movies coming out in the next month. The movies I believe have the most potential to be exact. If you’re interested, you can click the film titles to watch the trailer. Keep in mind; just because I said these films have potential doesn’t guarantee they will be good. There has been great trailers for terrible movies. So proceed with caution. SEPTEMBER 1: VICEROY’S HOUSE – Based on the true story of the independence of India and the formation of Pakistan. At the centre of the film is Lord Mountbatten (Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville), the last Viceroy of Britain. Mountbatten and his wife (Gillian Anderson) arrive in India to oversee its transition to independence. But it proves a challenge with disagreements amongst the locals, especially those of different religions. At the centre of the internal conflict is Jeet Kumar (Manish Dayal), who finds disapproval in his choice of a significant other. I don’t know if its religious differences or the chaste system, all I know is it has to do with some form of prejudice. This one looks like it will fit the tropes of the “White Savior” film; a film that has the white person solving problems for different races. The problem with these films is that they overlook the contributions of the locals, making it look like they need Caucasians to save the day. It doesn’t help that this film seems to centre around representatives of Britain; the country that violated India’s right to control its own destiny. However, there is hope in co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha, a Kenyan-born Englishwoman who took the world by storm with Bend it Like Beckham. She reteams with her Beckham co-writer Paul Mayeda Berges to tell this story. There’s a good chance she’ll present some bring some perspective as a person of colour. In addition, the film seems to divide itself into different perspectives, specifically Lord Mountbatten, his wife Lady Edwina and Jeet. I suspect Lady Edwina’s storyline will be more interesting than her husband, especially with her being played by the underrated Gillian Anderson. People focus so much on her role as Agent Scully they forget what a great actress she is in period pieces. I’d recommend watching her in The House of Mirth and Bleak House to see what I mean. But most likely, her plotline will pale in comparison to Jeet’s plotline. Here, we see India reclaiming independence form the perspective of the locals. Plus, we see the clash between Hindus, Siekhs and Muslims who lived there, leading to the formation of Pakistan, which in turn resulted in many people being forced out of their own homes. SEPTEMBER 8: HOME AGAIN – After a bad divorce, Alice Kinney (Reese Witherspoon) is forced to take her two daughters and move in with her mother (Candice Bergen). On her 40th birthday, she has a one night stand with Harry (Pico Alexander) a college student in his early twenties. Then, her mother lets Harry and his two friends move in with them. Awkward! To make matters worst, her ex-husband (Michael Sheen) has returned. This romantic comedy certainly has a vibe of Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, It’s Complicated). Its especially notable with that trademark Meyers scene where the romantic interests are caught in an awkward situation. Notable examples are Jack Nicholson catching Diane Keaton naked in Something’s Gotta Give or the laptop scene from It’s Complicated. In this case, it’s Alice’s kids coming home while Harry’s still in her bed. Of course, this similarity may have something to do with Meyers serving as producer with her daughter Haillie Meyers-Shyer serving as writer/director. Is her daughter copying her or will Meyers-Shyer find her own voice? The only way to find out is to watch the movie. IT – Stephen King’s classic horror novel is comes to the big screen. Sure It was made into a cult classic tv movie, but this is the first time It was made for the big screen. On the surface, Derry, Maine seems like your average American town. But within the sewers, a shapeshifting evil takes the form of Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard) to pick off local children. It’s latest victim is Bill’s (Jaeden Lieberher) little brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott). Forming The Loser Gang, Nick and a small group of misfits try to figure out the origins of this monster to stop this monster once and for all. Can they face up to a monster that can take the form of their worst fears? What I love about King’s storytelling is how he uses the supernatural to examine more personal themes. In the case of It, the theme is childhood trauma. Each kid is an outsider in his/her own way, from Bill for his stuttering or Mike (Chose Jacobs) for his skin colour. Each kid is also coping with their own trauma, which Pennywise uses to terrorize the kids. Bill in particular blames himself for his brother’s death, not helped by his parent’s emotional distance from him. Another strength of King is how he incorporates real life horror alongside with the supernatural horror. Kids don’t need to worry about shapeshifting clowns, but they do have to deal with bullies. In this case, the Bower’s Gang, led by the psycholtic Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). The bullies in King’s worlds are violent sadist, so prepare for some uncomfortable moments. Bowers reveals a theme of how children inherit their parents worst traits. Through his father, he develops sexism, racism and anti-semetism, which leads him to target Mike, Beverly (Sophia Lillis) and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff). King’s one of those rare writers who can make teens want to read a thousand page book, myself included. But this giant book puts screenwriters in a bad position when it comes to adaptation. Even if the film were three hours, story elements inevitably have to be taken out. It is especially challenging, with the story switching between our heroes as kids and them as adults. This builds a theme of how child trauma affects people in their later years. While this works great for a novel, movies are very strict with story structure. I think writers Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation), Gary Dauberman (Annabelle) and newcomer Chase Palmer made the right choice by keeping the focus on our heroes as children. There’s a good chance there will be a sequel if this film proves to be a hit. The film does look terrifying. This version in Pennywise especially looks creepy. I noticed in the trailers that his eyes seem to cross away from each other. But I’m going to wait until it comes out to see whether or not it will live up to the novel. REBEL IN THE RYE – Since the late J.D. Salinger won’t let anyone adapt his stories, Hollywood’s went ahead and made a biopic about the notoriously reclusive author. The film focuses on his years as an up and coming writer (played by Nicholas Hoult). He returns from the war suffering from PTSD, with writing serving as his one salvation. So, he takes writing classes, led by the eccentric mentor Whit Burnett (Kevin Spacey). Despite many naysayers and his own self-doubt, J.D. Salinger pulls through, leading to the creation and publication of Catcher in the Rye. Salinger had been burned by a bad documentary, so there’s a lot of weight on this film’s shoulder. For an author known for avoiding clichés, this film seems to follow the usual tropes of the underdog stories, from the eccentric mentor to the endless naysayers doubting his books. What gives me hope for this one is writer/director Danny Strong, whose teamed with Lee Daniels to make the well done The Butler and created the tv sensation Empire. It could still be entertaining. SEPTEMBER 15: BRAD’S STATUS– From Mike White, the writer of School of Rock and the creator of Enlightened brings us this dramedy of a father’s midlife crisis. Brad (Ben Stiller) feels like a failure. While his other friends have their own success, he finds he has nothing to show for his work in nonprofit. He expects a brighter future for his son Troy (Austin Abrams), whose advanced enough to qualify for an Ivy League School. Now is the time for Brad and Troy to tour colleges and see which one’s the best for him. In the process, Brad will get a chance to reunite with the very friends (Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement and Luke Wilson) who make him feel inferior. Whether it’s a rocker forming a band of prep school students (School of Rock), a former yuppie becoming an elightened activist (Enlightened) or a Latin American masseuse confronting a racist mogul (Beatriz at Dinner), a lesser writer would have made forgettable comedies with these premises. Mike White elevates these premises with complicated characters, memorable dialogue and subversion of tropes. I’m interested in seeing where he goes with this story. It’s interesting to see Ben Stiller taking on more mature comedies. He’s gotten audiences interested with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and gained some indie cred with We Are Young. Now, he’s in a dramedy about a man’s feeling of insignificance. FIRST, THEY KILLED MY FATHER – Angelina Jolie directs another biopic, this time about a girl who grew up under the reign of Cambodian regime the Khmer Rouge. Based on the autobiography by Loung Ung (who also co-wrote the screenplay), the film centres on Ung (Sareum Srey Moch) as a little girl. She was a happy child with a loving family. And then Khmer Rouge came to town and the Ung were forced out of their home. As you may guess from the title, her father is killed. Then Ung is subjected to dehumanizing conditions as the regime tries to brainwash her into a child soldier. With this in mind, there will be moments the audience will find uncomfortable to watch. Fortunately, Ung was able to escape this horrible life and grew up to become a civil rights activist. As a writer/director, Angelina Jolie is a mixed bag. She hasn’t been successful with neither her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey nor with By the Sea. But she has garnered acclaim with Unbroken. As a result, this film could go either way. MOTHER! – In a remote house, Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) enjoys a tranquil life with her husband (Javier Bardem). Then one night, a mysterious stranger (Ed Harris) comes to their house and the husband lets him stay. Then the stranger’s wife (Michelle Pheiffer) joins them. As more people come around the house, Mother grows more suspicious of her husband. Then she starts noticing strange things around the house, especially a hollow section of the basement wall. The film’s seems to have a Rosemary’s Baby vibe to it, what with the cult-like storyline or the suspicious husband. It doesn’t help that the film is called Mother. Knowing this is written and directed by Darren Aronovsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan), the film is guaranteed to get weird. SEPTEMBER 22: BATTLE OF THE SEXES – From Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the Oscar-Nominated director team behin Little Miss Sunshine and Ruby Sparks comes this biopic of the unforgettable tennis match. Despite Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) rising as a major tennis star, women weren’t taken seriously in the game, or any sport. It really comes to a head when middle aged has-been and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) challenges any woman to beat him in a match. At first, Billie Jean doesn’t want to feed this troll, but as he takes the misogyny up to 11, she finally challenges him to a one on one. Their battle came to be known as the Battle of the Sexes. I remember watching a documentary of Billie Jean King on PBS and it really goes into detail of the cringe inducing sexism women tennis players had to deal with back then. What was also clear from the documentary was how much of a self-parody Bobby Riggs was. It’s hard to tell whether he actually believed what he was spewing or if he was just playing it up for the cameras. Either way, you don’t know whether to laugh or cringe. Carell is clearly having a ball with his performance, bringing out how cartoony Riggs was. Stone also looks like she may have another Oscar nomination, blending into the role of King. KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE – “Manners maketh man.” Eggsy (Taron Egerton) has come a long way, going from a gang member from the England’s underbelly to a classy secret agent of the Kingsman. All before he’s even it his mid twenties. Now, Eggsy finds the Kingsman under threat by Poppy (Julianne Moore), a CEO who believe the world would be better off without this agency. She goes as far as destroying their building. Now Eggsy and tech whiz Merlin (Mark Strong) enlist the help of their American equivalent The Statesman, led by Agent Champagne (Jeff Bridges) to stop Poppy from… Whatever she’s got planned. We also see the return of Eggys mentor Agent Hart (Colin Firth). The first Kingsman came out of nowhere to become a sleeper hit, embracing the goofy side of the Bond movies with glorious gratuitous violence over the top villains (that lady assassin with blades for legs) and extreme British politeness. With this film and Kickass, Matthew Vaughn has proved himself the perfect director to adapt Mark Millar’s graphic novels. He’s also excellent a directing action scenes, as you can see in the kickass church slaughter scene (in tune to Lynard Skynard’s Free Bird). This film looks like we’re going to get some glorious action scenes, guaranteed to be as ultraviolent. We got an all star cast, including Halle Berry and Channing Tatum. But it looks like Pedro Pascal (Oberon Martell from Game of Thrones) will steal the show as Agent Whiskey. Just watch him throw that whip. THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE – Another addition to the surprisingly well done Lego Movies, this time based on the franchise of ninja legos with big vehicles. A Chinese town finds itself at the mercy of supervillain Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux). The only thing stopping them is Ninjago, this universe’s equivalent to Power Rangers. There is one problem; Garmadon’s the father of Ninjago member Lloyd (Dave Franco). Everyone knows that fact, which has made Lloyd an outcast. With the help of his Sensei Wu (Jackie Chan) and his team Kai (Michael Pena), Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), Zane (Zach Woods), Nya (Abbi Jacobson) and Cole (Fred Armisen), Lloyd seeks the secrets of his father’s past. It would be easy if the giant monster known as Meowthra wasn’t unleashed on the town. When the Lego Movie was released in theatres, it blew everyone away with its quality storytelling and excellent animation. What made it special was how it subverted the tropes of the “chosen one” storyline while satirizing unkempt capitalism. Then along came the Lego Batman Movie, which deconstructed the mythology of the caped crusader. This begs the questions; will The Lego Ninjago Movie maintain this trend and if so, what will it subvert? What does stand out is the animation and design. The Lego movies have an animation style resembling stop-motion animation and this film is no different. The one notable difference is Meowthra, whose played by a live action cat. As for the design, Garmadon is a standout. Never have I seen a Lego character with two torsos, which gives the character an insect look to it. Plus, Garmadon is an awesome name for a villain. What I’m most curious about is the fight scenes. The film recruited Jackie Chan’s stunt team to choreography the fights. Judging by the clip of a ninjago fighting some ninjas with a fridge while holding a baby, it looks like there will be some funny fight scenes. STRONGER – Based on a true story, this biopic showcases the struggles and triumph of Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Before that fateful day, Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) was an ordinary Costco employee. When his girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany)Â ran that marathon, the most he was expecting was her seeing him with the sign. But his life changed it that explosion. He survived, but lost his legs in that explosion. The film focuses on his struggle to walk again, with the support if his love Erin. It’s interesting to see director David Gordon Green returning to drama. He’s known for directing comedies like Pineapple Express, but he’s made some amazing dramas including George Washington and Undertow. I hope this brings him back to top form. It certainly seems that way, portraying Boston’s sense of community and strength. VICTORIA & ABDUL – Dame Judi Dench reteams with Philomena director Stephen Frears for this biopic of Queen Victoria’s real life friendship with a young Indian Clerk named Abdul Karim. This is an interesting situation because Dame Dench’s first lead role was as playing Queen Victoria in Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown. It also centres around her majesty’s relationship with a servant. This film seems more lighthearted than the previous film, especially with the mango scene. September 29: AMERICAN MADE– Rarely are biopics as fun as this one seems to be. With Doug Liman directing, American Made is sure to be that fun. Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, a real life pilot placed under extraordinary circumstances. He finds is ordinary life turned upside down when he’s recruited by the CIA to transport firearms from Central America. This would be enough for an average biopic, but Seal took it a step further by transporting drugs from the Medellin cartel. This are sure go get crazy from here. MARK FELT – THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE – “Follow the Money.” These three little words helped exposed Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate Scandal, leading to his resignation. Anyone who either watched All the President’s Men (or read the book), you’d recognize these words came from Deep Throat, a mysterious secret agent who offered this advice to world-renowned journalist Bob Woodward. Deep Throat’s identity wasn’t revealed until decades later, when Mark Felt revealed his true identity. Now we finally get to know the man who helped expose the Nixon’s disgraceful actions. For 30 years, FBI Agent Felt (Liam Neeson) has worked with integrity and respect, earning the admiration of fellow agents and president Richard Nixon. But then the 5 men are caught breaking into the Watergate hotel. Felt starts finding opposition in his investigation into the crime, raising his suspicions. To maintain his principles, he has no choice but to violate regulations by revealing information to journalist Bob Woodward (Julian Morris)