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tomatoswup · 1 year

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phone calls

summary: two old rotary phones begin the connection between two souls. One from the past and another from the future.

warnings: angst, literally angst, sad vash :(, hurt/comfort but its not the comfort you think it is. kinda more like an acceptance comfort

pairing:vash x reader

-inspired by the movie "The Lake House"

A/N: am i a fiend for writing angst? yes. do I like reading it? NOPE. wanted to get this out before I hustled on school work hehe. But fun fact this was originally longer but I rewrote and condensed it b/c I thought it was too long for just a one shot lost media typa beat. honestly i don't think i wrote this right but fuck it we ball. I recommend reading this with the saddest song you have bookmarked. Enjoy!~

"Hmmm...Well you got some personality to you.” You mumbled, staring at the old red vintage rotary phone sitting in front of you. How did you come to achieve this old relic of time? Well in short terms, you liked to think about it like an equation.

Old attic + mischievous white cat = you adventuring to go find said cat and to your dismay, said cat scares the living ever hell out of you making you lose balance and fall backwards into endless towers of boxes.

Fun times right?

Those bruises weren't gonna be….

But that was the least of your problems at the moment. As expected, the rotary phone suddenly started to ring, shaking and clicking in itself, making you sigh in disappointment. Grabbing the phone, you yanked it up to your ear “Hey, yeah I don’t think this is gonna work.” You deadpanned “Now we know that we're always gonna be connected, what is this? The 5th time?"

"Damn and I thought you hanging up would’ve solved the problem. I don't think we could connect with anyone else though! I asked the farmer about it and he had no idea!" Chirped the male on the other side of the line.

Of course! It sounded like a normal conversation between two individuals but even Einstein himself would've been baffled at these circumstances. Imagine this, you find an old phone and you had been playfully talking into it until a voice actually responds without it being connected. Strange right? And no, you were sure you hadn't been seeing any strange figures on the sides of your vision.

Now here you were, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on alongside the man who had introduced himself as Vash The Stampede.

"21st century my ass, Google isn't doing shit!"

"Wait hold on now, did you just say 21st?"

"Yeah? Something wrong?"

"Uh well.. It's just that its actually the 32nd century."

You blink a few times "No, it's not. My calender literally says it's the 21st century. It's general knowledge."

"No I'm pretty sure its the 32nd century!" Vash snapped back.

Silence filled the air on both sides.

"WAIT A MINUTE-"

And thats how the unknown man from the future and you hit it off.

After this discovery, the two of you talked on the phone for a while, sharing things about each of your own time periods. And you slowly found yourself enjoying the conversations you would have with Vash who you soon found out, was pretty goofy in his own way, but kind. And unknowingly, Vash felt the same way.

What was an accidental and odd situation turned into practically an everyday thing for the both of you now.

After work, you always looked forwards to that red phone on your nightstand until one day, you decided to decorate it with cute little stickers because why not?

After all, it was fasinating to hear things about the future. Sometimes you'd laugh at the way Vash described it, like something out of an old wild west movie.

"It's all just desert! Really!" He groaned out as you chuckled, holding the phone to your ear with your shoulder as you put books and CD's away on your bookshelf "At least you can make some cool sandcastles or something!"

"With what water?"

"Your tears." Snorting, you listen on as he whined through the receiver. "Hey but just imagine me helping you build them! Makes it hurt less."

Vash let out a exaggerating sigh "But seriously, it's not always sunny were you live?" He asked curiously.

"Nope!" You smiled, slipping one of your favorite books into place "It changes every so often really. Depending on the season." You hummed out, looking out the window to your right to see the drenching rain down with its spring showers.

"Season?"

"Sometimes it rains and sometimes it gets super cold. Other days it just gets too hot and if we're lucky, we get days with perfect temperatures. Its never the same but I guess that's the beauty to it here. Every day is a new sight no one could really get tired of. "

Or a new headache.

Vash stayed quiet on the line, and you imagined how he looked like deep in thought. Eyebrows furrowed, his supposed pointy blonde hair messily spread out across his pillow, and eyes as blue as the sky looking up at the ceiling in concentration.

…Okayyy that’s enough out of you.

He didn't say the eye part himself but you liked to ponder on the idea.

"That sounds beautiful.."

And to that, you smiled. "Yeah, it kinda is."

But something in your head made you stop and look down at the book you had in hand, unsure if you wanted to say anything.

"Hey Vash.."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry that I'm the only person you could really reach with this thing. I know you really wanted to talk to your friends.."

"Why are you apologizing? It's not everyday I talk to someone from the past! From even before No Mans Land!”

You sigh and slip the final book away to which Vash adds in one more sentence. "And even if you weren't, I like talking to you."

You scoff in good humor "You're lying blonde."

"NO I"M NOT!" Vash gasps out dramatically "Oh how you hurt me so!"

"Hardy har har." You chuckled, shoving a box of things you wanted stored away in the corner of your room. "At least I know I'm speaking to someone as beautiful as the nightsky!" He huffed out trying to sound manlier.

“Yeah? Now how could you tell that?"

"Because I know a pretty and kind soul when I hear it."

E-Excuse me?

Your face flushes red "Alright cowboy are you trying to soften me up?"

"Pftttttt nooooooo~"

Your conversations never ceased to end, and when talking to Vash about practically everything, it felt...comforting. To know there was someone to listen to your struggles, and listen to his own. It felt so intimate.

Sharing about your life on Earth, the things you do and him speaking about his own life and travels around his home planet.

One day, Vash and you had been talking for the night and he mentioned something that gave you a sense of familiarity.

PROJECT SEEDS.

A large project that's been reported on the news for more than a few months now so of course you caught onto that. You've watched their segment on TV before. Something about bringing life to other planets?

You knew the Earth was dying, scientists had announced that someday in the nearing future, the very sun that shone down on you, would destroy you. But did that really matter to you anymore?

The project had been accepting registrations for boarding their new ship incase it happened. Your sister got to register in time but you had been too late. All the slots were filled.

That was a very odd day to say the least.

But that didn't stop you from speaking to Vash.

"Vash, do you ever think you'll see me in the future?" You pondered one night as you were cuddled up in your blankets, the cold being unbearable this winter season.

"Well, I hope so. Sometimes it gets tiring speaking into a thing of metal and plastic hehe.." You could practically hear him playfully grin through the receiver.

You gripped the handle of the phone tight as tears threatened to leave the corner of your eyes.

"I hope I get to see you one day Vash.."

He went quiet for a moment.

"I do too.."

That night, you slept with the phone held to your chest as the fluttering feeling in your stomach never ceased. And you didn't want it to.

Vash had made it a routine to call you every night at exactly midnight to check in on how you were since he couldn't really do it in person either way. And every time he called, it felt as if he heard your voice for the first time all over again. The warmth in his chest made him smile when you answered the phone with the nervous pitch in your voice.

"Vash?"

He found it theraputic to listen as you talked about your day, the normalicy and peace No Man's Land and that his own life had lacked.

Hanging out with friends, reading in libraries, and more.

How he loved it.. Hearing you speak so fondly, so excited, it felt refreshing to Vash.

You were full of life

And Vash wouldn’t trade it for anything.

With every time you spoke his name, he felt like melting into a puddle. He just wanted to hear you repeat his name over and over again, and no, he'll never get tired of it. He could spend an eternity laying in the dusty bed of the farmer’s home just listening to your voice. Listening to your worries, your hopes, and the momentary jokes you would tell him.

But as the days passed, after one full year and a half of the two of you speaking over the old rotary phone, you answered the phone one night with a change clear to Vash. You sounded so weak, so sickly and out of breath.

"Are you alright?" He asked, hearing loud shuffling and things falling on the other line.

"I-I'm fine!" You coughed out as Vash peeked out the old wooden window in the room he was staying in, spotting Wolfwood and the broadcasting girls waiting for him to join them.

"Are you sure?" He breathed out in honest concern, feeling his fingers fiddling with the hem of his sleeve.

"I'm fine Vash, seriously." Your voice weakly echoed through the receiver "Just a little sick, that's all.."

"Please make sure to get some rest okay? I'll ring you when I come back."

"Promise?"

"I promise lov-" Vash caught himself, quickly shutting his mouth.

"Hm?" You hummed out in question.

"Sorry a fly got caught in my throat! Hahaha!" He played off before sighing.

"Take care of yourself, for me okay?"

"I will, I will.." Before Vash put the phone back onto the base, you said one more thing.

"Love you." And with that, the familiar ding of the phone receiver on the other line rang through Vash's ear, signifiying the end of the call.

And Vash was left in utter silence and awe. Love. Love you said. Him?

A fond expression instinctively grew on his face, yet the churning feeling in his stomach wasn't one of butterflies, but one of dread. He couldn't help but leave with the gut feeling that something was wrong.

When Vash returned back to his room and picked up the phone at the same time the two of you would call each other at every day, there was no reponse.

He called your name and no sound came out of the other end. So he put the phone back down onto the base and lifted it back up again to his ear as the same dread slowly seeped into his chest. The room was starting to feel a bit more heavier than usual.

"Hello?" He breathed out nervously as he felt his forehead start to sweat.

"Come on.." He muttered to himself worriedly. Maybe you weren't home in time and had gone to the doctor. Yeah, maybe that's the reason. So Vash left the phone alone for the night for the first time but the prodding feeling in his chest didn't leave.

He tried the next night.

No response.

Maybe you had stayed over your parents' for the day.

He kept the phone by him whilst he napped, waiting for the ring of the phone to wake him up like an alarm, but that didn't come.

He tried the next night, the next night, and continued for the next 3 months until finally.

One night, Vash just stared at the old red phone that hadn’t rung since that day, anticipating at least one final call, one last goodbye from you. Sitting on the bed side, he kept his eyes on the phone until finally Vash couldn’t hold it anymore and cried. Clear waters falling down his cheeks as he tightly held the phone to his chest in desperation.

Did you forget about him?

Did you find the love of your life and decided not to bother with him anymore?

'Come back.'

'Dont leave me please.'

'I love you."

'Please speak to me.'

The string of desparate thoughts ran through his mind as the burning sensation grew in his chest. He can't breathe. He gasped for air as his quiet wails filled the night.

Don't go.

The morning after Vash permanently left the farmer's residence. Of course, he took the phone along too, incase you ever decided to ring back but to Vash's dismay, it never did.

And Vash thought back to you, from time to time, stil wondering if you remembered about the red phone that sat in your room and the idiot blonde on the other side of it.

2 years had passed since that night, and both Vash and the gang found themselves in the city of Augusta for their annual merchant gathering, an event in which all the merchants from around the planet come and trade their valuables or tools in a big, single event.

Crowds of people flooded the streets as the stands were all surrounded to the brim. Vash had been walking beside Wolfwood, who was talking about some bounty hunters causing trouble around when something red caught his eye from an stand that they had walked past, causing Vash to stop in his tracks. Eyes widening in realization, he rushed over to the stall, leaving Wolfwood in the dust.

"H-Hey where are you going!?!" Wolfwood called out but Vash ignored him. His leather clothed hands slammed down on the stall table, the young man who managed the stall yelping in surprise.

"H-HOW CAN I HELP YOU?!" The man nervously shouted out as Vash reached over and picked up a very familiar red rotary phone "Where did you get this!?" He exclaimed in urgency. "How'd you get this!?"

"I-I-" The young man quickly cleared his throat and regained his composure at the sudden burst from the tall blonde-spiked haired man.

"It's a very old device! Back during the old days according to my great-grandmother!"

Vash looked down at the red phone, very dusty but he was able to make out the sticker decorations and doodles that were scattered around on it. Inspecting it more, he turned it around to the back and saw something melancholic.

"12:00 PM Midnight" was written on the back of the base with black marker. The time the two of you would call each other every night those years ago.

"Sorry, is.. is there anyone I could talk to about this?" Vash apologized, giving the young man a somber smile as he held the phone to himself, as if someone were going to rip it away from his grasp.

The man observed Vash for a moment, before nodding and giving Vash directions to his great-grandmother's home, right outside the border of Augusta.

"There you are!" Wolfwoods' voice rang out angrily behind him "The hell did you see now?!"

Vash turned to Wolfwood and simply gave him a smile "We're gonna be paying a visit."

It didn't take long to reach the old worn down home and greet the owner of the property, a small old lady to which surprised Wolfwood that she hadn't kicked the bucket yet.

Vash, of course, elbowed him in the rib for that one.

Seeing the phone in Vash's arms, the lady let out a small smile "My, I haven't seen that phone since I was a child..." She quickly showed Vash and Wolfwood inside, explaining how the phone came to be here.

"According to my grandfather, our lineage began with two sibilngs who were born and raised on Earth. When Earth neared its end, the daughter of the family was able to escape whilst the other sibling unknowingly stayed behind on Earth."

The old lady snapped her fingers to Wolfwood and waved him over "Be a dear for me and put this on the table."

Watching Wolfwood put a very old and deteriorating box on the table, the lady continued.

"Well, the sibling died before the daughter left Earth, so in attempt to preserve her family's memories, the daughter took some of her siblings' things, something to remember them by."

The old lady points to the phone in Vash's arm "That was one of them. And here-" The lady patted on side of the box "-are the things she was able to take with her. Check them out yourself." She softly motioned Vash to come closer with her frail, wrinkled hand.

Hesitating for just a second, he took slow and steady steps towards the box, biting the inside of his cheek in attempt to not just cry.

Damn, he sure felt like a cry baby these days.

Putting the phone down besides the box, Vash reached into the box and pulled out various things. Old shirts, CDs, a wallet, wired headphones, books, and something he never thought he'd ever see in fine print that made his breath hitch.

A colored photo I.D and on the side of it, your full name printed in black.

It was you.

These were your things, these shirts you've worn, the CDs you've listened to, the wallet you used in your day-to-day life, but he kept his eyes on the I.D.

Vash stared at your photo, the features you've described to him once were in his hands, proof of your existence.

He couldn't hold it anymore, how could he? Silent tears ran down his face as the small giggles he let out, turned into full on laughter.

He laughed and laughed whilst holding the I.D close to his heart.

You didn't purposely leave him.

You hadn’t meant to.

The same gracious laughter morphed into sobs as he grabbed everything he had taken out of the box, and enveloped them tightly into his arms.

This was the first time he was able to physically feel you, even if you weren't there yourself. He wished the smell of the favorite perfume you had gotten one day had still lingered onto your shirts, he wished he could've shared and listened to your favorite music alongside you. And he wished you were beside him, looking through all these things with him. He wanted to hear you reminsce your past and your present again.

Oh he wished.

Vash spent hours at the old ladies' home, looking and observing every single one of your belongings. There were some he remembered you talking to him about, and others he didn't recognize.

But it was time for him to leave and Vash knew it.

Looking up at the sky outside, he softly smiled, caressing the small compartment he had your I.D pocketed in.

"C'mon needle-noggin. Time to get your ass moving!" Wolfwood shouted ahead of him.

Letting out a large exhale, Vash muttered out a few words before running to catch up with the priest "Wait up!"

Behind him, two objects were left behind in the sand, placed neatly besides a metal nameplate.

The two red cherry rotary phones glistened in the sun, one filled with stickers and the other covered in dirt and scuff marks as your name plate, that had been cleaned of any dirt or scratches, continued to sit in peace as the windy breeze passed on by.

"I'll live on. For the both of us."

#but its ok yall together in the next life :D #i made vash cry too much but he's such a sweetheart im sorry #vash the stampede x reader #vash x reader #trigun imagines #nicholas d wolfwood #trigun angst #vash imagine #one shot #no sugarcoating straight angst half way through #trigun stampede x reader #was not physical comfort but instead acceptance comfort #was gonna write a bonus paragraph but my eyes burn i've reread this too many times #i have procrastinated on exactly 3 assignments that are due today #vash the stampede #trigun headcanons #i'll edit it later

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wardenparker · 2 years

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Starting Over - Epilogue

Marcus Pike x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

Recently arrived in Texas and only slightly removed from his divorce, Marcus finds himself smitten with the women at the housewares store that is helping him furnish his new Austin condo. It becomes a more complicated situation than he could have expected, but Marcus has never been one to shy away from a challenge when love is on the line.

Rating: E for Explicit Word Count: 4.7k Warnings: Marcus will never lose his pregnancy kink, biting, cursing, fingering, sex in the same house where children exist, vaginal sex, unprotected sex,].But really, this is just pure domestic bliss. Summary: Mornings are always a little bit hectic in the Pike household, but you and Marcus manage to find time for yourselves amongst the chaos. Notes: This has been the most marvelous journey, and we are so *so* grateful to everyone who came along with us. With surprises at every turn and a truly evil villain, this story was a joy to write from start to finish. 💖✨

Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8 ~ Ch 9 ~ Ch 10 ~ Ch 11 ~ Ch 12

Marcus wakes up with a small smile on his face. The house is silent, except for the sound of the condenser for the air conditioning turning on up in the attic. The light filtering through the edges of the curtains is still soft, making him grateful for the fact that he woke up and got to spend a moment just watching you.

Ten years. Ten years today he had officially made you Mrs. Marcus Pike, in the library of the inn that his father had announced was his wedding gift to the two of you at the reception. The same inn where tonight the annual owner’s celebration would be held. A fancy way of getting an anniversary party and catering to the bustling business that you and your management team had grown.

You are tucked into him. Your shoulder bare where your tank top strap had slid down. Sleeping naked wasn’t an option when there are still children that like to sneak into the bed in the middle of the night. But for now, the large four poster bed only holds Marcus and his bride. “G’morning love.” He whispers softly, pressing a kiss to your warm skin. “Happy anniversary, my beautiful wife.”

“Hmmm?” Being a mother of four with a business to run and a sheepdog to keep track of, you’ve learned to be a light sleeper. Marcus’s voice in your ear is far sweeter than the dream you were just having about Einstein eating all the fallen fruit from the trees in the garden until you had a dog drunk on fermented apples, and you float back to reality with a happy sigh. “Happy anniversary, my wonderful husband.”

After so many years together, Marcus always marvels at how well you fit him. Your body has changed, softened, and expanded after housing, nourishing, and birthing his four children and yet you still feel the same as the first night he rolled you under him. He rolls you underneath him now, grinning when his half hard cock immediately presses against your sleep heated core as your legs open for him. Nose dragging against your cheek, he grinds into you. “Should we try to make number five?”

“I knew you’d never stop at four.” You grin against his lips, reveling in the way your body still responds to him automatically no matter how much time as passed. Fifty years from now, you’ll still open up for him like his favourite flower. “Singing Jackie to sleep last night made you want a baby again, didn’t it?”

“Mmmmhh maybe.” He kisses your jaw and starts scattering kisses down your neck. “Miss seeing you pregnant too.” He admits, hand gripping a handful of your generous hip and moving to caress your empty womb. “Look like a goddess more than usual when you’re carrying my baby.”

“Flattery, Chief Pike, will get you everywhere…” Moaning softly when he bites down on the juncture of your neck and shoulder, you squirm under Marcus’s bulk and your hips buck upward toward his hand. “I could forget my pill for a while…” You have loved carrying your children. Watching them grow has been more wonderful than you ever imagined. “See what happens…?”

Marcus pulls back and searches your face. “Really?” He had been halfway teasing when he had brought it up, but the way his cock twitches tells you that he likes the idea. “Baby, I don’t want to push you into something like that.”

“You’re not.” Leaning up to kiss him, you could not possibly love him more than you do in the small moments like this. “If it doesn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be. But if it did? That would be pretty wonderful.”

“I’ll leave it up to you.” Marcus decides. “If you stop taking the birth control, you stop taking it.” He bites his lip and smirks down at you. “Although I still want to fill you up right now before the kids wake up.”

“God yes.” A few movements are all it takes to pull your tank top over your head and start wiggling out of your shorts. “The sun has risen and the Pike-ettes won’t be far behind.”

He snickers and leans back, dragging your panties down and off your legs before he starts to push his boxers down. Sex after having children is always a race against the clock. Sometimes not successful when someone starts banging on the door when he’s balls deep and three or four thrusts away from cumming. Or even worse when he does cum, and you don’t when someone interrupts. “So we need to make sure we don’t make too much noise.”

“Secret sex.” Every stitch of clothing is flung off the bed quickly, with the knowledge that your youngest and most easily woken child is right next door. “You think you can fuck me into this mattress quietly, baby?”

“I don’t know.” His fingers are already between your thighs, touching you in a well-choreographed rhythm to make sure that you are wet. “This little pussy has been known to make me moan.” He giggles quietly at his own rhyme. “Very loudly.”

“Fuck, Marcus.” His name sighed out into the crisp fall morning might be one of the best sounds in the world, and your hips roll against his hand eagerly as another moan builds.

“Ah ah ahhhhh.” Marcus teases, leaning in and kissing your jaw again. “Gotta be quiet, baby. Gotta make you cum before the kids wake up.”

“Marcus…” Squeezing your eyes shut and taking a long breath, you shudder under him when his fingertips start rubbing tight circles over your clit. “Fill me up, baby. Please.”

“With pleasure, baby.” Marcus lets go of you so he can shuffle forward and wraps his hand around his cock. The gold of his wedding band flashes, and he grins at you. “Ready sweetheart?”

“Always.” There really haven’t been that many times in the history of your relationship where you haven’t been ready for him with even just a few kisses, which is how – you joke – you ended up with four kids so close together in age.

“God, I love you.” The way he feels about you is a million times more intense than that first time he had told you those words. Lowering himself onto you and lining up, his lips connect to yours as he starts to push into you slowly with a low groan of pleasure.

“Love you, too.” The way your back arches off the bed is both pleasure and the need to be as close to him as humanly possible while he fills you inch by glorious inch. “More than a—anything. Oh fuck.”

“Ssssssshhhhhh.” Marcus coos, lips curved against your skin as he bottoms out and just rests for a precious few seconds before he starts to move.

Biting your lip to keep quiet will undoubtedly result in having a fat lip at the party tonight and you can’t have that, so you pull Marcus close with both hands as he starts to move and seal your lips to his with everything you have. Shifting slightly under him lets your legs part wider and his cock hit a little deeper, and you moan into his mouth quietly.

It doesn't matter how often, or how infrequently this happens. The two of you try to keep your sex life from wanning under the pressures of four kids and a dog, an inn and Marcus's career – but sometimes it happens. It doesn't matter though, if you fall asleep before he can get to the bedroom or Johnny wanted to sleep with Mommy and Daddy and it turns into all four children piled into the bed with toes and elbows finding their way into his ribs and back. When you do come together, it's always magical. "Love you." He breathes into you, taking your hand and pressing it into the bed as he rocks into you with quick, measured thrusts.

“So much.” Every sharp snap of his hips punches the air from your lungs in a way that leaves you both breathless and seeing stars, and you wrap your legs around his waist to dig your heels into his ass, spurring him on that much more. If you could call his name out and moan as loud as you wanted, you would be blowing the roof off the house already.

God, he loves you like this. It doesn’t matter how many times he’s been buried inside you, he loves it. His free hand caresses you, stroking your skin from your neck and down over your breast, squeezing your hip and then down to where your thigh wraps around his waist. “Fuck, baby. So good to me. So perfect.”

“Just for you.” Whispered into the morning air, you just know the look on your face is as full of pure love as it ever has been. Not everyone might consider these moments pure necessarily, but they are the times when there is nothing in the world except you and you love of your life – and that is as beautiful a thing as you can possibly think of.

“Cum for me baby.” Marcus begs, knowing that it’s not going to be long before the day pulls you away from each other. Even though he has the day off, you have to get up and be adults. Be parents. He slides his hand between the two of you to rub your clit, desperate to feel you clench down on him.

It’s not a request he ever has to make more than once. After more than ten years together, he knows your body as well as he knows his own and exactly how to touch you to make you shatter for him. It only takes six or maybe eight more thrusts for your body to reach that breaking point – bearing down on him like a vice at the same time that you feel lighter than air. You have to clamp your free hand down over your mouth to keep from calling his name into the quiet morning, though, and the way it darkens his eyes even more translates directly into how harsh his thrusts become as you fall apart.

Marcus breathes out heavily, clenching his jaw as he works you through the fluttering of your cunt around him. His thrusts becoming frantic and deep until he’s whining your name quietly in your ear, grinding into you while he throbs. Pumping you full of molten heat with every pulse.

“Fuck, I love you.” With your arms twined around his shoulders, you hold him close until your heartbeats are approaching normal again. Dusting kisses along his jaw and neck and back up to his cheeks, you giggle slightly when he huffs in your ear. “Happy anniversary, my love.”

Marcus smiles, kissing your ear and pulling away right as there is a loud thump down the hall. “Perfect timing.” He chuckles, winking at you. “Happy anniversary.”

“Mooooooom!” The unmistakable sound of your indignant seven-year-old daughter’s voice sounds from the hall. “Johnny’s being mean!”

“Aaaand they’re off.” You roll your eyes as Marcus lifts himself off of you, managing to kiss him once more before he climbs off the bed with a groan to grab your bathrobes from the closet door and toss you yours.

Pulling his boxers back on, Marcus shrugs into his robe, tying it as he walks to the door, his feet echoing on the polished wooden floor. He looks back at you to make sure you’re covered before he opens the door. “How’s he being mean, pumpkin?” He asks with a grin on his face at the two siblings staring each other down in the hallway.

“He took Kiki and he won’t tell me where she is!” Amelia insists, pointing at her older brother accusingly. At seven, Amelia still kept the lavender and gray stuffed puppy that had been nestled next to her hours after birth, everywhere with her at home. Johnny’s bad habit of stealing and hiding the toy to annoy his new sister had started early on.

“John Andrew.” Marcus rarely raises his voice with his kids, but his tone is deliberate, in that I’m disappointed kind of way. “Did you take Kiki?” The way his oldest son refuses to meet his eyes tells him yes, but he wants his almost ten-year-old to admit it.

“Amelia farted on me before bed!” Johnny defends, and you swear you came out into the hallway at the exact perfect time to test your ability not to laugh at your children’s antics.

“If she did, then she should apologize.” You tell both kids, amazed you can keep your tone even. “But that’s not a reason to take Kiki.”

Amelia Rachel Pike was extremely stubborn at times, but the need to have Kiki back was apparently worth the humiliation of apologizing to her older brother. “I’m sorry.” She huffs, rolling her eyes in a way that has Marcus rubbing his jaw so he can smile without being caught by his children.

“Mel, that’s not nice.” Marcus chides. “We need to respect body functions, but let’s not weaponize them, okay?”

“Okay.” Amelia pouts up at her father, but nods. “Can I have Kiki back now?”

Glancing past her to your oldest son, you fix him with your best disappointed Mom expression. “Johnny?” You nudge him expectantly.

Clearly still not happy, but unwilling to disappoint both his parents, he huffs and jerks his head. “Kiki is napping with Buster.” While he was too old for baby toys, his own puppy still had a place of honor in a box under his bed. Marcus didn’t rat him out when he would come home late and find his oldest snuggling his stuffed animal when he came to check on him like he did with each child every night.

Amelia takes off like a shot, whipping around the hallway corner to skid into her brother’s room and rescue her precious puppy from her toy box prison. A soft woofing comes from the room beside you, as all the yelling and accusing has clearly woken Einstein from his place on the floor in front of your youngest’s toddler bed.

“I got it,” you tell Marcus quickly before ducking into Jackie’s room to say good morning. “Hey sunshine.” Your little girl’s eyes are already open as she basks in the sunbeams that have made it all the way to her mattress. Einstein is up in an instant, right at your side and nudging your hand for scritches. “Morning Einie. Did you keep Jackie safe last night? I bet you did, since you’re such a good boy.” The dog had taken in each of your kids like puppies – from the instant they came home from hospital until they were old enough to be steady on their feet, he kept careful watch over each of them.

Morning in the Pike household is like a well-choreographed disaster, but Marcus loves it. Leaning against the doorway to watch you pick up the youngest, watching as she snuggles into you immediately. “Einstein, you want to go outside?” The dog immediately perks up and races over to Marcus’s side. He hadn’t felt comfortable with a dog door and the pooch was well trained to alert them if a nighttime romp in the yard was needed, but it was rare.

“Will you knock on Neil’s door and make sure he’s up?” You ask Marcus before he can disappear completely down the hallway with Einstein at his heels. The younger of the two boys is the only non-morning person out of all the kids, and Neil tends to sleep until his siblings wake him up on most mornings. Not that that ever takes long.

“Sure thing.” Rapping his knuckles against the door of the third child’s bedroom door, Marcus chuckles when he hears the loud groan on the other side. “Go ‘way!” He opens the door and sticks his head in the room. “So that’s a no to pancakes this morning?”

"Pancakes?" Neil is suddenly sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes eagerly and reaching for his glasses. "Pumpkin pancakes?" The second the weather started to get chilly again each year, Neil wanted everything pumpkin. You liked to tease him that it was because he was born on Halloween, but he just insists that it's because it's tasty.

Marcus chuckles again and nods. “Mixed it up last night so it’s all ready to make.” He promises, smiling fondly at Neil as he scrambles out of the bed. “Ah ah, make your bed, okay? I’ve got to let Einstein out and then the pancakes will be on the griddle.”

"Okay Daddy!" Neil doubles back to make his bed and is done in time to meet you in the hall as you walk past his door still carrying Jackie in your arms. "Morning, baby." Your free hand reaches for his, and just like that both of your youngest children are going to be fully attached to you until you manage to pry yourself away after breakfast to take an insanely fast shower and get dressed for the day. "How'd you sleep?"

“Good.” Neil is probably the easiest of all of them to go to bed, loving to sleep. He had made Marcus nervous with how little he moved when you were pregnant with him.

"You excited to see Grandpa and Poppy today?" Giving the grandfathers distinct names had been something that seemed a lot trickier than it ended up being, since John – as the oldest – had started calling your father Poppy very early. Each of the kids had picked up on it in turn.

“Yes!” Neil crows excitedly. He loved when both his grandfathers were here. He always got to have extra sweets when they are around, so he thinks they are solely responsible for that.

"Yes!" Jackie echoes her brother happily, still nuzzled into your side.

"Yes!" You grin, turning your head to leave a kiss in Jackie's curls. They're just like her father's and you love how much she looks like Marcus in almost every way.

******

Downstairs, Marcus has already let Einstein out, chuckling to himself when the dog immediately darts over to his area to sniff and do his business before he turns back and starts getting things ready for breakfast. Pouring juices and setting out the pancake batter you had mixed up last night before pulling down the griddle and putting it on the stove to warm up. “Babe! Does Jackie want a bottle?” He calls out. The youngest still sometimes wanted a bottle of milk more than anything else and neither you nor Marcus saw a problem with it. “Or does she want her big girl cup?”

“What do you think, sweetie?” You ask your youngest on your hip.

She’s slightly noncommittal at first, but the sight of Daddy at the griddle in the kitchen makes her decision much easier. “Imma big girl,” she says determinedly.

“We’re going with the big girl cup,” you tell him with a grin. You swear, none of these kids can resist pancakes. They’re just like their father that way.

“Big girl it is.” Marcus winks at Jackie and moves over to the cabinet to grab the sippy cup that allows her to feel like the older kids and still lets things stay relatively clean if she knocks it over. “Scrambled eggs too, honey bee?”

“Yes, pwease!” Jackie bounces excitedly in your arms when Einstein comes trotting back inside, and you set her down to cuddle with her full-grown dog at about the same time that Amelia reappears clutching her stuffed one. “I see Kiki has survived her kidnapping unharmed.” You offer your pouting older daughter a hug and press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Yes.” If possible, Amelia’s lower lip pokes out even more dramatically. “Johnny’s a butthead.” She huffs. Marcus coughs to cover up his laugh and quickly turns back to the stove.

“Mel…” The soft warning tone in your voice is well-practiced at this point, but you’re biting the inside of your lip to keep from laughing like Marcus did. “What have we said about name calling?”

“He’s a thief.” She insists. “Daddy should arrest him.” Marcus doesn’t say anything but does turn around after he’s composed himself to lift a brow of prompting at his oldest daughter. Blowing out a sigh, she relents, “‘name calling is never the answer. Be the bigger person’.” She recites, having heard it many times before.

“There we go.” Reaching out, you rub Amelia’s back gently and offer her a smile. “Want to help Mommy set the table, honey? Daddy’s making pancakes before we go see Grandpa and Poppy.”

While you have guest room available, both men were booked into a room at the inn, not wanting to impose on your anniversary. “Yay!” Amelia squeals happily, lighting up and nodding. She rushes over to the table to carefully put KiKi in her chair before coming back over to you.

It’s a little like an organized hurricane to get the table set, drinks out, syrups and butter ready, and all the kids sitting patiently in their seats, but it’s the kind of beautiful cacophony that you wouldn’t give up for the world. A scoop of eggs and a couple of pancakes for each kid and they’re barely hanging on to self-control to wait for you and Marcus to sit down before they start eating – Daddy’s pancakes are just that good.

The six of you at the table is what Marcus loves most. Taking a moment to watch the kids as they inhale their food while he sips his coffee and looks over at you.

“Love you.” Mouthing it at him across the table, you look around at your little army of craziness and smile. You’re absolutely not taking your pill for at least a little while, just to see if it happens. One more Pike-ette sounds like a perfect, weird, crazy, wonderful blessing.

“Love you.” The words are mouthed back with a wink, and he sighs happily. Unable to have imagined how amazing all of this would be. Normally he would be rushing through his breakfast to head into work, dropping Johnny, Amelia and Neil off at school on the way if they were ready by the time he was. This morning is just relaxingly slow, falling on a teacher workday that was very convenient for the Pike family.

For as long as cooking and set up takes, breakfast is inhaled quickly and you’re hustling all four kids back upstairs to get dressed before too long. The three older ones can get themselves ready, but you take the time to get Jackie into a cute little plaid dress that Naomi and Madi has given her for her last birthday and fix her unruly hair in thin little pigtails before she insists that she wants to go play with her siblings. That’s your cue to make sure Johnny is dressed and ready and to put him in charge of his youngest sister just until you and Marcus are cleaned up and ready to go.

Marcus loads the dishwasher and wipes down the dozens of drops of syrup on the table to make the kitchen appear normal before he heads upstairs to get himself ready. Today will be a flurry of activity, like it always is, but it will be worth it.

“Not bad timing this morning, all things considered.” You’ve just stepped out of your five-minute shower when Marcus comes into the bedroom and shuts the door behind him.

“Could have been a lot worse.” Marcus grins, kissing you and patting your ass over the towel wrapped around you. “I better jump in the shower though.”

“When are Naomi and Madi and the kids landing?” Your best friends had moved to New York a few years ago for Madison’s work and happily settled into busy life in the big city, but they never missed your anniversary party. It was your once a year if-all-else-fails excuse to see each them and their two sweet little kids. Marcus had been texting with Madison last night when they got their travel plans straight as you had been making dinner.

“In about an hour.” The short flight from New York to D.C. wasn’t bad, but traveling with little ones was always a nightmare. “They wanted to make sure to give plenty of time for the kids to nap.”

“Smart.” The dress you had put aside for today still won’t be what you wear to the party tonight, but it’s professional and comfortable and pulls over your head easily as Marcus gets in the shower. The biggest benefit of the day really is that home is so close by – when you are finally able to sneak away to change into your party dress you can do it from the comfort of your own room.

“I’m going to take the kids out while you go over to the inn, okay?” Marcus calls out over the noise of the shower. “Need to pick up your gift.”

“Babe!” You stick your head into the bathroom and huff at him. “Telling you we don’t need to do gifts this year truly means nothing to you, doesn’t it?” Of course, it had been later that same day you said it when you had come across the perfect anniversary gift for him while browsing through some online shopping, so you can’t exactly get too indignant.

“It’s our tenth anniversary!” He protests. “I was never not getting you something.”

“I love you, too, baby.” His gift had been delivered days ago, and is currently stashed at Alana’s house for safe keeping because Marcus has a key to your office and the inn, thus making sure that you’re never able to hide anything from him properly.

He chuckles as he shuts off the water and steps out from the shower, steam swirling around him as he reaches for his towel. “Figured you could knock out the morning meeting and say hi to your dad before the kids run amok.”

“I have morning meeting, florist set up, and a touch base with the kitchen team to make sure we’re ready for tonight.” As the steam abates, you steal a quick kiss before going back out to the bedroom to sit at your vanity where all your jewelry, make up, and hair things live. “The ballroom should have been rearranged by the night crew last night, and the band isn’t loading in until an hour before.”

“Alana told me that there were a lot of tickets sold.” Your anniversary had been turned into a grand event, and he was proud of how popular the events at the inn were becoming.

“When I checked last night before I left, we were almost sold out.” It is no small point of pride for you that the inn has reclaimed some of its former grandeur since you became the owner, and especially that the anniversary celebration had become a huge DC social event. Politicians had made it an event to be seen at, but in the last few years your inn has become known for celebrity sightings, too.

“I’m so proud of you.” Marcus is, he will sing your praises to anyone and everyone he can.

“Be proud of me if I can manage to keep my shit together in front of Lin Manuel Miranda tonight without fangirl-ing too hard.” You laugh, shooting him a grin. “Thank you, baby. I’m proud of you, too. Climbing the ladder like you did was a hustle and you worked so hard to become section chief.”

“You were a big part of that.” He reminds you. “You had to shoulder a lot of the burden at home so I could do it.” It deserves another kiss, and he comes over to give it to you as you are putting on your makeup.

“And I would do it all over again.” As if to make your point, you pick up the prescription compact with your birth control from your vanity top and tuck it into the top drawer of the vanity. “I think actually I will do it all over again, actually.”

“Really?” Marcus’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. He had honestly wondered if it was just the moment, but he would never turn down an opportunity to have you carry another baby if you wanted one.

“Yeah.” You nod, feeling your smile spread almost shyly. “I mean hell, we have the room, right? And anyway.” The wink you throw him when he leans in to kiss you again is teasing. “You have a history of knocking me up extremely fast. So let’s see what happens.”

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @katheriner1999 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @hardc0rehaylz @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri

Starting Over: @spideysimpossiblegirl @inspiringmelodrama @pedrilf @thevoiceinyourheadx @goodgriefitsawildworld @badassbaker @rebel-fanfare @canadianmaebe @amneris21 @kulicny @nagassia @bruxasolta @elfwriter1088 @mrsparknuts @graciexmarvel @maryfanson @what-iwish-you-knew @karlawithacapitalk

My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal character fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfiction #Marcus Pike #Marcus Pike x reader #Marcus Pike x you #Marcus Pike x female reader #The Mentalist #The Mentalist fanfic

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onaa-ohokthen · 2 years

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Let’s talk about Grace Carrow (again)

I wrote a meta a million years ago about how Grace’s most basic characteristic is being wrong. I lost it when my old tumblr was accidentally deleted, since it was under a Read More tag. I tried to recreate it! This time, since it won’t be under a read more tag, anything past this sentence can be considered a spoiler for Natasha Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

Grace isn’t the first thing I think about when I consider Watchmaker. I think about Thaniel and Mori and about how endearing Katsu is and how I hope(d, prior to Pennyharrow) that Six got a better life. But Grace. Grace is a bit of a mystery.

Superficially, Grace Carrow is a character the reader ought to feel connected to. She is a Victorian woman who is also a scientist; her desire to be left alone to focus on physics is her drive for over half the novel. She rebels against society’s standards, not just in her clothes (often masculine to sneak into the Oxford libraries) hair (short, a good thirty-five years before it become even vaguely acceptable) and social habits (hangs out with a male foreigner and spurns female companionship) but in her goals in life. Her mother despairs, her father rages, even Matsumoto is confused about her intense focus on physics. Fanshaw calls her, in a moment of foreshadowing, “the madwoman in the attic full of explosives.” She doesn’t want to marry, but must. All of these are elements we’ve seen in stories before, and they should endear Grace to us, the readers. Perhaps they do, at least initially, but then we land in the insight that Grace is, fundamentally, as a character, wrong. She’s wrong about lumiferous eather, she’s wrong about women’s suffrage, she’s wrong about Mori, and she is wrong about Thaniel. Yet she’s far from stupid; it’s her inability to see the full picture that is the problem. Let’s begin:

Lumiferous aether was a real hypothesis in physics at the time Watchmaker is set. Grace can’t prove it because it’s wrong, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. It was first suggested to be entirely mistaken in 1887, and finally disproven in the 1920s, and it was in abandoning lumiferous eather that physics opened the door to Einstein and his theory of general relativity. But Grace is so sure she’s right, so sure that she can prove it. Lumiferous eather fits into what she knows about science, what she knows about the world and she has attached so much of her life on proving it that she couldn’t abandon it if she wanted to.

Women’s suffrage is more interesting. Grace is actively suffering from a lack of legal independence, despite her high social standing, and one would assume she’d be invested in women’s rights. This is not the case, she fails to identify the root of the problem as structural and opts to hop over the metaphorical lawn rather than try to change the rules. Her decision is rooted in disdain for other women, and in anyone not a physicist (Grace isn’t alone in this attitude). Other women and are, in her opinion, stupid and undeserving of respect, nevermind that that they’re in the process of trying to solve her problem. Grace doesn’t want women’s rights, the wants as solution to her own personal lack of access to a house and a physics career, failing to see that they’re one and the same.

It is instrumental to the entire plot of Watchmaker that Grace is wrong about Thaniel. She calls him a telegraphist, “an ordinary man who works in an office and sometimes plays the piano,” and misses his depth and nuance, dismisses his artistry, his uniqueness, really his whole personhood beyond what his presence does to her life on a purely mechanistic level; being married - to anyone - allows her to inherit a house. The fact that this dooms Thaniel to shrinking his personality to fit into her life isn’t something that bothers her, because she never sees him as he is. He is just a telegraphist to her, “clerk written all over him”, to borrow Matsumoto’s words from the banquet. She doesn’t love Thaniel, at least not yet, but she is still possessive enough of him to make some very bad decisions (that are rooted in being wrong about Mori.)

Yes, finally, Grace is wrong about Mori. One of my favourite aspects of the book: if Grace could have just left things well enough alone, not picked a fight over her experiments and the proceeded to cut down the pear trees, and especially if she hadn’t blown up a building, she could have had what she wanted; Thaniel would have stayed with her, slowly abandoning Mori. But seeing that would require her to understand Mori’s motivation, and it’s obvious, both from her narration and actions that she never sees him as anything other than a manipulator, someone who meddles in the world solely because he enjoys it. We can’t entirely fault her; Thaniel, too, fails to make the full connection before Mori tells him. But the truth is that when it comes to Thaniel, Mori acts out of love. Thaniel gets a better job, a better wage, weekends off, tea and company. He gets to play the piano again, not because Mori needs someone to stop Yuki at the Mikado performance, but because Thaniel loves playing the piano. But because Grace sees Thaniel as nothing but a toy, she fails to see that Mori values him for himself. Grace doesn’t love, she desires, at most, to possess. She is habituated to being catered to.

Mori, of course, is always, definitionally, right. He can know every outcome except the truly random ones, and as such is forced to constantly consider the whole picture. He lacks a single area of study throughout his life, having been a soldier and a government aid prior to being a watchmaker. (Although clockwork is a choice he’s made for himself contrary to his background just like Grace’s physics.) He’s intelligent but mainly effective due to his clairvoyance, and not otherwise a genius. Grace, on the other hand, is very intelligent, clever enough to outwit a clairvoyant, to “have two big numbers to multiply, and [she] could do it in [her] own head if [she] made the effort, but [she’s] feeling lazy and [she] hold[s] them still until [she] can reach an abacus”, but lacking the necessary insight to see that she doesn’t need to do any of those things. Whether she is blinded by class, the inherent racism of her time period, lack of experience, or just personal arrogance (remember what her father is like), she makes a very interesting foil for Mori.

#the watchmaker of filigree street #the watchmaker of filigree street spoilers #natasha pulley #grace carrow #thaniel steepleton #keita mori #twofs

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pitythefool888 · 2 months

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Right now the guy in the cage is thinking: It's 1999. The natural world suspended in space, red earth bleeding into the sea. There is no land as foreign as the uncharted seas of old. Eyes in the sky search for the ancient ones. Albert Einstein thought that a black hole was too preposterous a notion to be real- Einstein was wrong. A collapsed star so dense not even light can escape it's thrall- a time machine stored in the solar system's attic. What's out there may be incoming. How many species? How many are we?

#eldritchcore #absurdism #patchwork poetry #web weaving #the human experience #cosmic horror #outer space #sci-fi

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einsteinsugly · 8 months

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Fictober 7. That 70s Show. 1977. All My Love.

"Do you recognize this?"

It's his civic duty, to show Jackie Burkhart some good music. Some Zeppelin, and their most iconic tune. Stairway to Heaven.

"No. I told you, I don't listen to rock music," Jackie dismissively declares, "But Donna showed me Fleetwood Mac, and I really like them. Do they count?"

"Yeah." He smirks a little, thinking of the obvious. "Still can't believe you thought Led Zeppelin was a person."

"I can't believe that Donna thinks Steven Tyler is hot. She showed me Aerosmith, and God. Steven Tyler makes Eric look cute. Donna has no taste, and she even has worse taste in guys..."

Once again, Hyde relays the obvious. The elephant in the room, especially after what he heard went down at the ice shack.

Kelso's van sinking should be a fucking sign, man. "You thinkin' about goin' back to Kelso, huh?"

In turn, Jackie is quick to deflect. "Well, he was my first boyfriend. And he's gorgeous."

Hyde's no knight in shining armor, but by comparison, Kelso is an invading army. A pillager, at best. Other terrible things, at fucking worst.

"But he cheated on you with Laurie, Pam, and the girl from Sacred Heart, and he makes Shaggy look like fucking Einstein."

"He smells like dog sometimes, too," Jackie notably adds, hoping for some worthwhile affirmation, "I swear, I think he plays with the neighborhood dogs."

And Hyde is more than willing to provide it. With few stipulations. "He belongs with 'em."

"Yeah..." Jackie happily trails off, as the song devolves into a certain nothingness. Silence, like all that glitters isn't gold. Just some shimmery rust. "He's a dirty, dirty dog. And I'm way smarter than him, even when I play dumb..."

Now, here come the stipulations. The awkward pressing, to get her to think. "Why'd you do that?"

"So I can get what I want. Then I turn the tables." Jackie uncomfortably cackles, nervously taking Hyde's hand. "I do it with my cheerleading friends all the time, and it's fun."

And for once, he doesn't jerk away. "Are they really your friends? You haven't brought 'em 'round here in awhile."

Now, Jackie is forced to think. Beyond the stupid games. Beyond the good grades. "They're tools. Like a curling iron. You know, one time, I tried to buy Donna a curling iron..."

Hyde catches her trying to deflect, once again. "Uh huh."

But Jackie is purposely dense. "I had to teach that moose how to curl her hair."

So, Hyde cuts to the chase. "I still gotta teach you a lot of things, doll. The ways of the world."

"Are you taking me into your stupid dojo of coolness again?"

"You can say that."

*****

Zeppelin is blaring, and they're sitting in a circle. Smoke uncomfortably billows, as they pass the blunt.

Back and forth, back and forth. "You can't let old habits die hard, Jackie. Remember what dumbass Shaggy did to you."

Jackie uncomfortably exhales. "But what if I don't find anyone else?"

He keeps it simple, as he inhales. "You will."

And Jackie, as high as a kite, still catches on. "You didn't say 'not me' this time."

Hyde nods. "Uh huh."

*****

2002.

"He said he didn't feel anything, but he was a big fat liar."

Maybe Jackie glorifies their love story to their kids, providing only some symbolic puzzle pieces. It's a stupid game. And sometimes, Hyde doesn't like it.

"She was singin' the same song." But today, Hyde is more than willing to partake. "Then she still got back with Uncle Kelso, for awhile."

Jackie nods, taking Hyde's waiting hand. "I gave him a marriage ultimatum, so he could run away. And he ran to California."

Hyde looks at Jackie oddly, harkening back to a bygone era, and Jackie groans. "That wasn't the same thing! That was because I love you, I wanted to cement that forever and ever, and you were being stubborn! Big diff."

James opens his mouth to say something, a negative Nancy Drew by trade, but Becca angrily nudges him.

Because Becca doesn't feel like exploring a dusty attic of crap, and releases some sort of rhetorical statement. To cap it off, right then and there.

"What if your plan didn't work, and he didn't run away? That would be weird."

Jackie and Hyde nervously glance at each other, and for once, Jackie is at a loss for words.

So, Hyde picks up the tab. "Yeah, it would."

#that 70s show #that 90s show #jackie and hyde #jackie burkhart #steven hyde #jackie and kelso #becca hyde #james hyde #my ficlets #my fics #look i'm alluding to t9s #fictober23

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angelamontoo · 2 years

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Peter Lorre character related questions I think about a lot

•Did Herman let Elaine go on purpose when Jonathan made him take her to the cellar?

I've always wondered since not only does Herman seem so hesitant to harm her, but neither of them seem like there was much of a struggle between them while they were in the basement. Plus, with Elaine not escaping till after Mortimer and the aunts showed up, it's possible Einstein heard their voices upstairs and saw it as an excuse to let Elaine go without Jonathan being able to just throw her back in

•Was Hans Beckert telling the truth about not being able to control his urge to kill and feeling disgusted with himself for his crimes?

Perhaps it takes away some of the films complexity, but I'm partial to the idea that Beckert isn't as haunted by his actions as he claims to be. I feel like the only negative emotion about his crimes Beckert displays before he's caught is a fear of getting caught and every step he takes in finding a victim seems intentional and done in a sound state of mind. Not to mention, as others have pointed out, the letter he sends the police and infamous mirror scene make it seem like he enjoys his reputation as a killer

•Was Roderick remorseful for murdering the pawn broker?

I wanna say yes because he's one of Petes few leading man characters and there are enough moronic critics from around the time who vastly overestimated how much of a villainous character Rod was just because he was played by Peter Lorre and killed someone. But if I'm being honest, I don't feel he was all that guilty, at least not after the night of the murder. Again he seems more frightened of being caught than guilty to me. But on the other hand he's obviously shown to be sensitive and compassionate in general in the film so perhaps its just unrealistic to assume he wouldn't feel at least some guilt for taken a life? I really go back and fourth on this one

•What is Professor Fenningers real name?

I've guessed Moritz Veidt in the past

•What is Mr Munseys first name?

I've heard 'Henry' here and there as a potential first name for Prentiss, but I don't believe I've ever heard one for Munsey. I personally like Rudolph Munsey. 'Rudy' to those he's close with

•Is Cairos hair naturally curly?

I prefer to assume it is, but it works either way for me if you have an interesting enough HC about why he chooses to curl his hair

•Who is the Emily, that Dr Lorentz mentions a few times?

I feel like I heard someone suggest that she's Arthurs sister once, but I prefer to imagine she's Arthurs maid or housekeeper. Specifically a very underpaid, world-weary, unlucky, chainsmoking one who hates her job and Arthur and Arthurs cat(who hates her back and goes out of her way to make Emily's job harder) and Arthurs crazy boyfriend and the bickering straight couple that lives in Arthurs crazy boyfriends attic and her life

Well that'll do for now. Feel free to add more questions or throw your two cents in about any of these. Or don't. You're your own person with your own agency. I assume

#peter lorre #the maltese falcon #joel cairo #arsenic and old lace #herman einstein #the boogeyman will get you #dr arthur lorentz #emily #the left fist of David #mr Munsey #m #hans beckert #youll find out #professor karl fenninger #crime and punishment #roderick raskolniknov #this was fun i should make lists of my general unanswered questions for each of petes films #i have a lot of questions about other characters and aspects of petes films that dont specifically have anything to do with him #like that question i posed a while back about why jonathan doesnt seem to feel pain #or whether or not spade and o Shaughnessy really had feelings for eachother and if so to what extent for each of them #not to mention questions about characters from petes radio plays #i had one about the character from the horla that i cut because this post is already so long and im so sad i couldnt fit it in here #professor nathaniel billings #elaine harper brewster #mr Prentiss

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ursbearhug · 2 years

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My friends tend to send me tiktoks of what they find funny. And in general, I don't mind. It's like sending memes except they're usually not as funny and require strict knowledge, rather than some context. It's usually bothersome to open but they don't even notice if I don't.

And obviously being classical student, I get a lot of TT classical 'jokes' or whatever. Now I know humour is something slippery; just because I don't find joke funny doesn't mean it's not a joke. But a lot of the time I'm thinking: "Wow, what are you even doing on your studies??".

Once there was a short about classical and restitual pronouncation of Latin, that was just plain wrong. Unfortunately, I'm a stuck up snob and I really like when people (not me because I cannot make that stupid 'v' sound in restitual, which in *theory* isn't necessarily wrong and at worst is slightly misguided and anachronic) stick to one. But then they make video when they change it every other sentence and it's infuriating. Not to mention they confuse one with the other.

Some other time there was someone talking about ancinet greek dialects and was purely talking out of their ass. Koine didn't exist until well over Hellenistic period, which means it counts when we talk about ancient times but doesn't when we talk about standards of learning. Now for the uninitiated; most universities, to my knowledge, teach Attic dialect - also known as *classical* one. And ancient greek have 5 of them: Attic, Doric, Ionic, Aeolic and Koine. If you want to know anything about other 4, you gotta research shit yourself. You *might* take a look at aeolic/ionic one because a lot of important poets wrote in these; and I'm just spit balling here, Homer. Most don't even know that Doric existed, let alone that it had inversed cases and declension. The point is - unless you're writing your PhD, you probably will never ever even consider other dialects. You should know about them, yes, but will likely never use. Koine is admittedly important because it's 1) mix between Attic and Ionic and 2) because is sometimes referred to as Biblical Greek. But then again, it doesn't make it The Most Important... And again, it's the youngest.

Some other times, there are the super low hanging fruits jokes. Like, impossibly and comically low. It's like climbing a tree to get a strawberry that is touching the ground. Like, haha, romans named their children after numbers. Haha. Hysterical. Haha, his name is Sextus, hihi. He has 'sex' in his name, oh the pinnacle of comedy. What are you? Aristophanes fan, you frigging weirdo.

So yeah. Just because someone is studying something and is sharing it on the Internet doesn't mean they're next Einstein. Take it with grain of salt - yes, including and espeically, my nonsense too. I don't feel like explaining another joke or fact to my friends just because someone on the Internet said so.

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jojitbinalber · 1 month

Text

STORY REPORTING

(Visual) once a upon a time " In a small clean and roundy" town called Oakville.

(Simile) There live a group of adventurous freinds "like a eagles" named Alex , Emma , and Max.

(Metaphor)Welcome "young eagles" Mrs Jenkins said with a smile.

(Metonomy)To find the next clue you all "need a more brain" to solve a word hunt

(Thermal/Olfactory) One "blazzing sunny day" they stumbled upon an old " stinky dusty book" in the attic

(Synedoche) The third clue led them into "the mouth of the forest"

(Hyperbole) As the friends completed the challenge they felt they "have a brain Einstein

(Oxymoron) After some brainstorming the friends realize that the answers was an artifact and they do the "silent scream"

(Irony) The friends celebrated their victory , and they shouted together " this is the worst day ever!) at the same time they laughed each other

(Euphemism) They return to their grandmother said "y'all have a short legs" , after that they discovered a hidden compartment in the attic

(Personification/Auditory) "The book" contained a mysterious , and levitate a slowly " and danced with the wind. "Shinggggg" "The shine of the book" and they see a treasure map

(Gustatory) After "a bitter dark chocolate cake" the friends gathered around the map and started decipharin the clues

(Tactile) The first clue led then to the towns historie library , as they entered and walk in the "rough path of library" mrs.jenkins greet than

(Understatement) As the friends complete the challenge , Emma said "that it was so easy" with a heavy face reaction

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gnxyxy · 1 month

Text

THE MYSTERIOUS MAP

Once upon a time in a small clean and roundy (visual) town called oakville.

There lived a group of adventurous friends like a eagles (simile) named Alex, Emma, and Max.

Welcome young eagles (metaphor) Mrs. Jenkins said with a smile.

To find the next clue you all need a more brain (metonomy) to solve a word hunt.

One blazing sunny day (thermal) they stumbled upon an old stinky dusty book (olfactory) in the attic.

The third clue led them into the mouth of the forest (synecdoche).

As the friends completed the challenge they felt they have a brain of Einstein (hyperbole).

After some brainstorming the friends realize that the answers was an artifact and they do the silent scream (oxymoron).

The friends celebrated their victory, and they shouted together this is the worst ever! (Irony) at the same time they laughed each other.

They return to their grandmother's house, and grandmother said y'all have a short legs (euphemism), after that they discovered a hidden apartment in the attic.

The book contained a mysterious and levitate slowly and danced with the wind (personification) "shinggg" the shine of the book and they see a treasure map.

After eating a bitter dark chocolate cake (gustatory) the friends gathered around the map and started decipharing the clues.

The first clue led them to the towns historic library. As they entered and walk in the rough path of library (tactile) Mrs. Jenkins greet them.

As the friends complete the challenge Emma said that it was so easy (understatement) with a heavy face reaction.

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tscnews · 4 months

Video

youtube

Author Dana Dargos on Einstein in the Attic, Science Fiction Meets Faith

About this TSC Gaming Ent Interview: TSC News TV host Fred Richani interviews award-winning author Dana Dargos about co-writing the critically acclaimed science fiction novel Einstein in the Attic with her uncle Said Al Bizri, coming up with the story's unique concept, being an independent writer, her activism, working JobsForLebanon.com, her Lebanese heritage, and advice for success!

#youtube #tsc news #tsc gaming ent #tsc #tsc gaming #fred richani #richani #dana dargos #einstein in the attic #mnn

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chill-anne · 1 month

Text

STORY/ REPORTING

"The Mysterious Treasure Map"