#I don't remember the degree sue me

[alicepao13]

Dear Hudson and Rex writers,

if Charlie and the team (or just Charlie and Rex if it's so difficult) aren't there for Sarah's graduation of whatever degree she's studying for, then I find no point in this weird storyline whatsoever.

[lunarriviera]

the huo daofu round-up post i have been threatening for a really long time now

Thinking about this man, I was just admitting to chat "honestly cannot believe how much life energy i have invested in such a minor character" but the truth of the matter is, I was mildly obsessed with Huo Daofu from Reboot alone; his odd unresolved backstory in Sha Hai just cemented my mental formation. Because let's be real, in a world of overly earnest tomb raiders, this man is a goddamn catty delight. The dainty bitterness! The barely concealed eye-rolling! So many impeccable That Bitch vibes. And his unimpressed snark is honestly such a refreshing antidote to Wu Xie's whole everyone-loves-him Marty Sue thing that even when you discover Huo Daofu secretly ALSO loves him, you don't mind, because by that point Dr. Youtiao is a savage queen who can do no wrong.

And He Longlong clearly made this guy up. In the novels he's just sort of a vaguely beardy guy who drives a truck, that's literally all I remember him ever doing. But someone cast this man, and they gave him some rubber bands and pizza coupons and chewed gum of a script to work with, and he promptly decided: I will make him extremely gay. And staggeringly bitchy. AND IT WORKS. He devours every frame he's in, he steals every scene. It's a performance worthy of Alan Rickman and yes I will die upon this hill.

We all know the bitchy-ex-boyfriend scenes in Reboot—"oh my god I literally can't wait for you to perish from lungs" and then Huo Daofu spends like every moment trying to keep Wu Xie alive, sheltering him uselessly from the rain with his hand, rubbing his back when he coughs, looking (when no one's watching but the camera) like he's maybe going to stop breathing himself, when Wu Xie does.

Apparently Huo Daofu's name sounds very silly in Chinese which I think is appropriate for someone who apparently (?) grew up in Germany (?) and went to the University of Heidelberg (?) (honestly don't waste time trying to figure out DMBJ canon, NPSS has thoughtfully ensured that will only be exhausting and futile). Spurious medical qualifications aside, he's super handy in fanfic, too, when you need a sketchy doctor, as all tomb-raiding mob families invariably do.

[someone once pointed out to me that this combination of degree topics basically translates into "how to dispose of bodies"]

I could also hold forth on him and Yang Hao—like, Su Wan alone makes it REAL clear that Huo Daofu's interest in the kid isn't just avuncular or entrepreneurial:

"Are you working for him, or are you working for him?" And Su Wan should be protective, because Yang Hao is honestly kind of an idiot, and probably doesn't realize he's being assiduously groomed not just as a mob boss but as a potential boy toy. (NB by the way that there are 44 fics in the Huo Daofu/Yang Hao tag, and disappointingly, not a single one of them is in English. Western fandom needs Jesus.)

But the thing is, Huo Daofu SAVES his ass in Gutongjing. Everyone forgets that. There's easily half a dozen times where he grabs Yang Hao's shoulder and hauls him back from danger. And Huo Daofu is the one Jiumen member smart enough to get out ahead of disaster, and to take Yang Hao with him. Here he is looking fabulous in a completely unnecessary but dramatic scarf.

And, at the end, he lets Yang Hao go. Because he's secretly decent.

Sure, he has some vaguely sketchy take-over-the-Huos plans, plans that clearly go awry at some point no matter how dramatically and villainously he makes tea. Sure, he exudes a scurrilous sort of evil. But he's COMPELLING and that's all I care about. Look at his pretty little face here, sourly plotting things, in a windowpane-checked suit which should be ridiculous but just winds up looking snazzy as fuck compared to the rest of the Jiumen. This is a man who understands the value of a pocket square. Thank you so much, He Longlong, we didn't deserve you putting your entire snatch into this very minor performance but some of us are extremely grateful.

So here are seven ficrecs, with a podfic and a meta from AO3. Please let me know if I should add anything (Tumblr meta?)—this post WILL be updated, because I have too much time on my hands and care unreasonably about the mean-spirited little bastard.

‡

Remember how this used to be (3569 words) by achray Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu/Wu Xie (DMBJ Series) Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Angst, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Background Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie being a gremlin, Canon-typical references to illness Summary:

“That wasn’t a no,” Wu Xie said, his smile widening. “I thought you still wanted me.”

Notes: How is this both hot and sad? I don't know, that's the magic of fanfiction. This was the first Wu Xie/Huo Daofu fic I ever read and frankly the genre needs more entries, but this is a good one.

‡

the rime dictionary of Wu Xie (7433 words) by scherzanda Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling, Wang Pangzi/Ye Piaopiao, Wang Pangzi & Wu Xie & Zhang Qiling Characters: Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling, Ye Piaopiao, Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Xiao Mei, Wu Erbai, Li Jiale (DMBJ Series) Additional Tags: Piaopiao lives, Post-Canon, Canon Flashbacks, canonical illness, fun with the common cold, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Handwaved SI Recovery, Canon-typical Ershu Infodump, Quasi-History-Compliant, Yuletide Treat Summary:

This is why (even now) Wu Xie shouldn’t be let out alone—one trip out to the provinces, and he comes home with a bad cold and an unsolved mystery.

Notes: this is one of my very favorite Huo Daofu writers and here's why—read this little excerpt. The angst. The PAIN. Wu Xie absolutely broke this man's heart at some point and honestly Huo Daofu is really only himself if he's suffering, love that for him:

“Easy,” he said, when Wu Xie couldn’t seem to stop coughing. “Here—” and reached for the rest of the tea, except that it wasn’t on the table any longer.

Zhang Qiling was holding the mug; he had somehow gone around to the other side of the bed, moving in that flowing now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t way that never seemed quite human, to sit down cross-legged on the bed by Wu Xie so that their shoulders touched. Huo Daofu snatched his hand away from Wu Xie’s back as if an electrical current might flow through the double contact.

“Wu Xie,” Zhang Qiling said, and then something else so quiet it was inaudible, holding the tea so Wu Xie could drink.

Looking at the open tenderness on that remote, beautiful face, utterly focused on Wu Xie, made Huo Daofu feel as if his flesh was trying to part ways with his bones. It was a pain his medical texts didn’t have a word for, deeper and more primitive than jealousy or resentment.

Wu Xie, getting his breath back, looked sideways at him with one of those sudden grins. “Sorry, Xiao Huo. You’re still out of luck when it comes to watching me die. Maybe next time.”

Huo Daofu���s voice would not quite leave his throat. Instead, Xiao Mei said crossly “Tianzhen-shu, that’s dumb.” Most of her attention was still on her phone screen. “Why would Dr. Huo want to watch you die.”

Wu Xie looked at him, still smiling.

“It’s a long story,” said Huo Daofu, “and it doesn’t matter now.”

‡

even through hesitation (10407 words) by naiwong_bao Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 沙海 | Tomb of the Sea (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu & Huo Xiuxiu, Hei Xia Zi/Huo Xiuxiu/Xie Yuchen Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Huo Xiuxiu, Yang Hao (DMBJ Series), Hei Xia Zi (DMBJ Series), Xie Yuchen, Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi Additional Tags: Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Character Study, Alternate Universe - Fantasy Series: Part 3 of this is where we live Summary:

He’s a boy so Huo Daofu knows from the beginning that there are no expectations for him, he can do as he likes. So he plays, he cries, he does what children do.

Then his parents die.

No one wants him, no one has time for him, so his family sends him to Germany for school. It’ll be a good opportunity, his family says. He can do whatever he wants, be free of the family business, they’ll take care of him over there. He doesn’t want to go, he doesn't know who they are, but he doesn’t get a say.

So he goes to Germany where the language is strange, the food is strange, the people are strange, and he wants to go home so badly that his teeth ache.

Huo Daofu builds a life for himself, but at the first sign of trouble, years and years and years later, he rents out his apartment to an acquaintance, and flies home.

But.

The language is strange, he doesn’t know the slang, the food is strange, the people are strange.

His family is cold and he still doesn’t get a say. --- Huo Daofu between the end of Tomb of the Sea and when he reappears in Reboot. AKA Huo Daofu learns to care a little.

‡

The Mark of a Man (2279 words) by JhanaMay Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 沙海 | Tomb of the Sea (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu & Yang Hao (DMBJ Series) Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Yang Hao (DMBJ Series) Additional Tags: Loneliness, Found Family even when it makes you want to scream, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Huo Daofu is a mediocre role model Series: Part 8 of The Art of Conversation, Part 7 of The Art of Conversation Side Stories Summary:

When Huo Daofu inducted Yang Hao into the Huo family business, he wasn't expecting to become the boy's de facto babysitter.

Notes: a poignant little vignette in which Huo Daofu has a heart.

‡

[META] Huo Daofu's Youtiao Stand (739 words) by Thimblerig Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei, 沙海 | Tomb of the Sea (TV), 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu & Huo Xiuxiu, Huo Daofu & Wu Xie (DMBJ Series) Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series) Additional Tags: Meta, Worldbuilding, Huo Daofu's Delicious Fried Snacks Series: Part 2 of DMBJ Meta Summary:

Huo Daofu is a supporting character in Sand Sea. Ambitious, wily, hungry, he’s far from one of the main villains of the story but he’s not nice, either. By the end of Sand Sea Huo Daofu has exploited the chaos caused by the ill-founded expedition to Gutongjing to take over various of the Huo Family operations.

When he appears in Reboot: Sound of Providence, he is a purveyor of delicious fried bread snacks. He’s clearly not hurting for money, so why…?

Notes: this is one of my favorite little HDF explorations, theorizing that Huo Xiuxiu busted him down a rank, and I think that's beautiful.

‡

starting in darkness, like a pure line of light (10167 words) by scherzanda Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu/Bai Haotian, Bai Haotian & Wu Xie, Liu Sang & Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Bai Haotian & Liu Sang Characters: Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Bai Haotian, Liu Sang (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling Additional Tags: background pingxie, background Iron Triangle, past Wu Xie/Huo Daofu, Post-Canon, hurt/sarcasm, Fade to Black, Dialogue Heavy, meta-adjacent, Self-Indulgent Use of Chinese, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Summary:

Some emotional loose ends are never going to be tied up, but at least they can be recognized and shared. Or, a selection of the worst best only ways to comfort one another in the aftermath.

Notes: absolutely nothing makes me, a Huo Daofu stan, happier than scherzanda's fics featuring him. You would think this is an odd pairing, but it's really not—the two people who love Wu Xie most and are left behind by him? They have so much in common. Also, this fic has a podfic!

[PODFIC] starting in darkness, like a pure line of light, by scherzanda (701 words) by Thimblerig Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huo Daofu/Bai Haotian, Bai Haotian & Wu Xie, Liu Sang & Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Bai Haotian & Liu Sang Characters: Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Huò Dàofū, Bai Haotian, Liu Sang (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling Additional Tags: background pingxie, background Iron Triangle, past Wu Xie/Huo Daofu, Post-Canon, hurt/sarcasm, Fade to Black, Dialogue Heavy, Meta Adjacent, Self-Indulgent Use of Chinese, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Podfic, podficcer not a native chinese-speaker but is doing her best, Podfic Length: 1-1.5 Hours

‡

do the work, love the work (1616 words) by scherzanda Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Wu Xie (DMBJ Series), Wang Pangzi, Zhang Qiling, Liu Sang (DMBJ Series), Bai Haotian, Wu Erbai Additional Tags: Mid-Canon, Missing Scene, Character Study, Post-Canon, Yuletide Treat Summary:

It doesn't always look that way, but Huo Daofu is doing his best.

Notes: once again I just have to excerpt, so you'll GET IT:

The train had nearly reached Hangzhou by the time Wu Xie spoke to him beyond the commonplace. He was still sitting in the corridor, staring dreamily at the growing suburbs, while Zhang Qiling gave Wang Pangzi a hand in the cabin. He looked up as Huo Daofu came back from the hot water dispenser. “Xiao Huo, xinkule. Sorry you never got that chance to watch me die, eh?”

Huo Daofu closed his eyes and looked away from Wu Xie’s smile, unshadowed now with death, brilliant and painful. “I’m sorry too,” he said, eyes still closed, and did not say any of the things he was sorry for.

‡

not only the sugar, but the days (3000 words) by A Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bai Haotian/Huo Daofu Characters: Huo Daofu (DMBJ Series), Bai Haotian Additional Tags: Mentions of Death, Healing, Getting Together, Youtiao as a Metaphor, Also Actual Youtiao Summary:

His gaze meets Bai Haotian's, who's trying so hard to keep it together, and he knows that Wu Xie will break her heart when he dies, and it won't even be his fault. He never fucking means to.

Notes: another recent entry in the HDF/Bai Haotian post-canon and I love it unreasonably. They both love Wu Xie SO MUCH and it's just taking them OUT. Their subsequent connection is natural and it's funny as hell, the author loves them both and it shows:

"Are you really sure?" Bai Haotian says softly, and Huo Daofu looks up.

"What?"

"About the week."

"At best," he says, then winces. Fuck it. "It'll be three days," he says, loud enough to carry through the bedroom door, "if he keeps pulling these stunts!" There's a muffled noise and some very clear profanity from Pangzi, which Huo Daofu ignores. "See if I care!" he adds, but it's just not the same without Wu Xie there to grin at him, unrepentant.

He can feel Bai Haotian's hand covering his own, just loosely, where it's half curled into a fist against his thigh. He turns his head. The look she gives him is so full of unquestioning kindness, of understanding, he almost has to close his eyes against it.

"I'm sure," he says quietly, not really looking at her. "But he's proven me wrong before."

He can see her nod as she takes that in, and then they just sit there in silence, her hand over his, not moving.

‡

In conclusion, just because I can, from some of my favorite posts:

[ohyka]

[jeong-guwon]

[januaryisnotanartist]

Please also do not fail to check out the magnificent Dr Mal Practice post, as well as "it's not his fucking birthday" and "I'll fucking do it but christ alive." These users truly understand the essence of Huo Daofu.

PS also don't sleep on Huo Daofu and Liu Sang having a fabulous bitch-off in Hua Mei, a Sha Hai side story ft. haunted Wushanju. Another side story, Ran Gu, also has a swooning Kan Jian. Quality entertainment!

[misguidedasgardian]

If you found this... you found my little rant...

My fics are not as popular as they used to be, i think I'm loosing my acquired touch, maybe its because I don't write about HOTD as I used to... but anyways.

My personal life is a mess right now, I'm unemployed, my family -and me- is broke, I have a degree that I'm not using and nobody is hiring me, although I'm applaying to four jobs a day, so I feel like the most useless thing on the planet, my half siblings convinced my father with dementia to desinherit me, he did, I had to spend all my savings to sue them (after thinking about it for years), I'm just so tired and done with my family... but I don't have the means or the power or the will to change anything right now... my friends are far away in another city... I feel so lonely...

Writing is the only thing that makes me happy, trying to go to whole other worlds, and now, it's getting hard to even do this

This isn't a petty party, and I know I shouldn't care that nobody reads them or comments... but I feel so frustrated that not even get a little validation from the one thing I consider my passion...

Just a rant, it was this or Reddit... I feel so selfish too, people are dealing with more and heavier stuff out there and here I am whining and bitching... anyways

I know it will get better, my personal life... I know it will... it has to be, and yours will too, and if you are actually reading this, you have your own shit going on, I want you to know that too... you have to know it will be better, you can use this rant to go and say fiufff lucky this isn't happening to me, or go, pppffff that's it? whatever... I want you to remember that "At the end, everything will be fine, if its not fine... it is not the end"

We can take a moment and throw ourselves a little petty party, at the end of the day, its our party and we can cry if we want to, but then, we need to pack up, put our metaphorical pants on, and go on and go forwards... because it will be good, I can sense it...

And like I say in my native language... "CON TODO, SI NO PA' QUÊ"

which is like "go with everything you have, or else, what's the point?" jajajaja

[penncilkid]

Can't remember what started it, but I've been on a bit of an Alexis kick recently and started thinking about my headcanons/version of here. So now I'm subjecting y'all to it /lh

Note: Yes, I am partially ignoring some elements of canon. I don't love the way she's written for several reasons— and also because I can play with these dolls however I'd like to. In addition, I will be re-contextualizing Sam's turning as well as discussing it to a certain degree. If that doesn't seem like your kind of thing, this post isn't for you.

Alexis turning Sam against his consent was wrong. I think it would be interesting if there were additional layers behind this decision. Both statements can co-exist. Don't act a fool on my post. /srs /lh

Anyways, thoughts under the cut (CW for mentions of violence/vampiric attacks + Sam's Turning's CWs):

The basics:

Her name before turning was Alexis Guevara. (I'm not a fan of "Getty", sue me /lh). Her family is/was of Cuban descent, and her being Latina/non-white is vital to my vision.

Alexis was empowered but humanborn prior to her turning. She was specifically a telepath, which caused a lot of strife with her family.

With this as context: She was kicked out of her home originally because of too many outbursts/incidents involving her hearing things that "weren't there" or "knowing things she shouldn't". The final straw was when she freaked out in the middle of a church service, screaming as tried to warn everyone that someone planned to attack them soon. When they went outside to check, there was no one there (Translation: Person obviously left after hearing Alexis give away their plan somehow).

After being kicked out of her home, she ends near Dahlia/some sort of city. Part of my inspiration for her stems from the version of Selina Kyle in Batman: Year One. After migrating, she quickly became a part of a small, tight-knit community of fellow black and brown otherwise isolated empowered people. In my mind, there was about 4 others she looked out for with her being one of the older ones.

In alignment w/ the timeline, Alexis is turned after a rogue vampire attack. But there's layers to it. The rogue vampire in question attacks more than just her. Everyone in this small community she considered her apart of is hurt in some way. She is one of maybe two survivors, if that. As she laid there waiting to die she could hear the thoughts of those around her as they died, calling out for one another— for her— before they passed.

Now that that's out of the way, you may be wondering: "Okay, what's so special about all of that?" Everything because I think it colors everything she does moving forward.

Part of the "turbulent progeny" reputation attributed to Alexis earlier in her turning stemmed from her throwing resources at struggling empowered (and/or unempowered) people seemingly willy nilly until William stepped in and was like "I need you to slow it down."

I imagine that discussion went something like: "You can't just do this, Alexis—" "Why not! It's not like DUMP is doing shit, William—" "There are procedures to this—" "FUCK THOSE! People need money to live, I should be allowed to fucking give it!"

This leads into how she gets roped into the vampiric espionage (like Porter). In exchange for her services to William's goals/initiatives/etc., she gets almost completely unrestricted spending for whatever she'd like. The vast majority goes back to the communities she wants/wanted to help.

The other angle to this is Alexis wanting to get back at vampires. She's gotten comfortable enough with her new lifestyle to not resent being a vampire, but she wants to hurt some of these bastards like they hurt her and her family all those years ago.

"Okay PK, but you mentioned Sam's turning. What does that have to do with anything?" I was laying out parameters and background, we can get into it now.

As it's explained in canon, I've always interpreted Alexis and Sam's relationship prior to everything as a friends with benefits/situationship type dynamic. Physically intimate above all but still close in other ways. Alexis hoped for more/a deeper connection with Sam, but it was painfully clear that the chances of that happening were dwindling with every night they spent with each other.

Night of the turning comes about. As it's described in canon, Sam is impaled, likely bleeding out, he's in rough shape. In my mind? With all the prior context? Alexis started experiencing a trauma response (which wasn't helped by the exposure to blood as well). As Sam assured her that he would be fine/he could heal himself (which, imo, was still debatable), Alexis was in full-on flashback mode. She was blinded by her panic and fear response, locked into a "this time, I can save them" mindset that had marinated over decades since she was first turned. She couldn't bear to watch someone she cared about die in front of her. Not again.

This wasn't the first time something similar happened. When Vincent was first brought to the Solaire estate, turned but unconscious, Alexis instinctively panicked because he was still covered in blood clothes and such (+ missing his prosthetic). Her mind went into that same "something's wrong, help him" mode, just this time William was there to stop her/assure her that he was already safe.

Alexis fully accepted her scolding from William after it got explained/revealed what happened. To say she regretted it would be a lie. Would she have wanted it to play out differently? Yes. Does she wish Sam had asked her to be turned— that the accident never happened— that she had never reached out that night? Yes. But she doesn't regret turning Sam. In her mind and heart, she was able to save someone this time. She can't fault herself for that, no matter how many complex emotions she feels about it.

Though he took her ability to invoke Sam (rightfully so), I imagine that (in a tweaked version of canon) Vincent, William, and Porter know the context of her turning and acknowledge that what happened was, in some parts, because she was triggered. At the first mention from Sam to leave her alone, she did. She tries to make herself scarce, avoid him as much as possible, keeps her distance if they have to be in the same space— She respects the fact he doesn't want her around and hasn't tried to press those since he was turned. They can forgive her for that much.

I've yet to firmly settle on a vision for Alexis and Sam's dynamic in the present day. But I think the crux of it, at least closer to when Sam was first turned, is: Alexis "We didn't talk like that, that wasn't what our time was supposed to be because that's not what he wants" Solaire (In reference to how she was turned) x Sam "Save the sob story for someone who gives a damn, Alexis" Collins.

That's pretty much the sweeping overview on my thoughts on/vision for Alexis. I'll likely design her at some point (my current height headcanon for her is 5'4", for those who would want to know). What can I say, she compels me /lh /pos

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Remadora Longfic Recs

This is a list of the Remadora (Remus x Tonks centric) longfics (100k words or more) that I recommend. They are all complete with varying degrees of canon compliancy. Listed in no particular order.

Flying Colours Trilogy by TauraNorma.

Summary: The ‘Flying Colours’ trilogy follows Lupin and Tonks’ romance across the canon timeline, from the beginning of the Order of the Phoenix until the end of the Deathly Hallows.

Lupin's Tale by Kuri333.

Summary: On the life of one Werewolf called Remus Lupin.

Tonks' Tale by Kuri333.

Summary: On the life of one Metamorphmagus called Nymphadora Tonks. Canon.

The Bureaucratic Error by iniga.

Summary: After his death, Remus Lupin finds himself five years in the past, having erased Voldemort's defeat and Teddy's birth. His wife has never met him; the Boy Who Lived doesn't remember him. He trusts his old friend Sirius to help him put things right, though Sirius has a godson to raise and demons to face...

Lycanthropy, Love and Other Curses by Thora Jane.

Summary: This is the story of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks from beginning...to end.

Chasing Grindylows by firetoflame.

Summary: War is not a place for love, but that's exactly what Tonks finds when she sends that chicken scratch summons to Remus Lupin. Who knew that werewolves could be so charming when they're being interrogated about the whereabouts of a known murderer?

Moondance by KatieBell70.

Summary: Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks help each other through their mutual loss. See what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object. Covers the missing story between OOTP and the end of HBP. Rated M for sexuality & language.

Finding Her Patronus by AWideEyedPhoenix84.

Summary: After the events of Prisoner of Azkaban, Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin reach out to known supporters to begin planning a defense against the inevitable return of Voldemort. Among the new recruits is a colorful young witch named Nymphadora Tonks, who is paired with Lupin for her first official mission, and the two hit it off immediately.

Don't Call Me Nymphadora by Hinotima24.

Summary: You-know-who wants Nymphadora to be part of his army and Dumbledore decides to allow nature to take its course. Nymphadora, the vivacious witch, decides to take on this 'challenge'. Along the way, she loses more than she expects to. No mary-sue. AU. RL/NT

'42 Jobs' - The life and times of Remus Lupin by closetwriter.

Summary: “For the first time it dawned upon Harry that everyone including himself knew very little about Lupin’s life. He was more than just his father’s old friend, more than a ‘nice guy’ and ‘good teacher’. He seemed like someone who had had an interesting life, a total badass- even if he didn’t talk about that life very often.”

Jinxed Hearts by Emcnary.

Summary: Nymphadora Tonks answered the call to join The Order of the Phoenix, not knowing what exactly was to come. Fighting for a world she holds dear, she is facing dangerous missions, balancing Order duty with her job, an unlikely friendship, and a chance for love. OOtP era RLNT love story.

Raise Your Lantern High by starfishstar.

Summary: In which Remus and Tonks fight battles, arrest criminals, befriend werewolves, overcome inner demons and, despite it all, find themselves a happy ending. A love story, and a story of the Order years. (My Remus/Tonks epic, years in the making! This is the second half of the story, set in the Half-Blood Prince year.)

Both sides of the rose by galindaby.

Summary: The whole story of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks - from the first meeting to their last day.

The Pink and Silver Lining by Kaleidoskye.

Summary: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light". In the darkest war of all time, a little light and colour still endures. Through laughter, through friendship, and through the love of two people who never expected to find each other at all.

Unforgettable by enochian.gnocchi.

Summary: The unforgettable tale of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks: Part 1 of the most incredible love story ever told. Cannon Fic: Travels through Books 5 & 6 in the Harry Potter series. Rated M for mild sexual content/ adult situations

Through the Storm by tabbycat.

Summary: Remus Lupin is a werewolf, and werewolves can’t be trusted to fall in love. He’s always believed that. As the Second Wizarding War begins to play out around him, he begins to have feelings for a clever, funny and talented Auror. And she has feelings for him too. Follow Remus through the gathering storm of war as he tries to piece together a life for himself despite the dangers around him, the death of his last best friend, and the effects of being in love for the very first time.

Human by cellorocksmyworld.

Summary: Nymphadora Tonks takes a chance and asks the pariah of the wizarding world - Remus Lupin - out for a drink. The chaos that ensues will test her bravery, her ability to Apparate whilst drunk, and her perception of those who must live in the grey areas between black and white. AU

Waiting for the Moon by Kerichi.

Summary: Giant spiders, malevolent bats, wizard scouts…werewolves. Tonks finds life in Hogsmeade far from simple, while Remus discovers having a partner in touch with her inner wolf complicates his mission and his heart.

A Tale of Two Smiles by miniandminie.

Summary: Join Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks on this rollercoaster ride as they discover each other through the most unexpected circumstances, and, more importantly, teach each other how to love. AU, OoTP, RLNT, Remadora.

[bl00dlight]

i saw this ask on another blog and then recently i came across a reddit post abt this exacttt thing. but it did make me wonder, cause I know u got some opinions but, what do u think about Aemond being a blood supremacist? alot of team greens deny it but idk... he literally says it in the show? the blog also disagreed I think to. also love love love ur fic nd I like how u haven't made aemond and visenya like besties. cause I agree with ur other rant to, there is soooo much soft, Mary Sue stuff with aemond and it dosent really fit him as a character at all.

First of all thank you sm for reading the fic. I literally just cracked open my mother fucken laptop one day and was like "IM OVER IT!!!". But yes, I agree, so many fics really like project an idealised version of Aemond. Which is totally fine, no hate no hate but, I just prefer canon accurate characterisation with everything.

But to answer your question, I feel like it's pretty straightforward and I'm also really surprised this a debate? Yes, Aemond is obviously a valryian supremacist. Almost all the Targs are to some degree and the Velaryons. But Aemond quite literally references the importance of keeping their valyrian blood pure and is deeply obessesed with dragons. "It would keep our Valyrian blood pure." Coming from a 13 year old boy is like a clear indicator that, yes homie is pro-targ supremacy. He is also the mirror of Daemon... who is also pro-targ supremacy.

I don't believe that Aemond commented on Helaena in ep7 just to display how "dutiful" he is. We know for a FACT Aemond is not dutiful, he is ambitious/power hungry. That is his whole arc, especially in Fire + Blood. Homeboy is dutiful in the same way Daemon is. It's not about actually caring for what is right or wrong, it's about his own proximity to power. I think alot of people really misinterpret Aemond's lines regarding duty as being a display of dedication. When in reality, it's narcissistic grandiosity lol. Like straight up. His envy of Aegon isn't "ugh I'd be a much better King because I care about protecting the realm, helping the smallfolk, maintaining order, doing what is right." It's "ugh, I'd me a much better King because I'm BETTER." We can see that in ep 9 when he literally gives out a list to Cole, why he would make a superior King to Aegon. Not once does he mention anything outside of what he perceives as his own brilliance. This is a book Aemond quote when he becomes Prince Regent and wears Aegon the Conqueror's crown "It looks better on me than it ever did on him,". So here we have another indicator that this isn't about being a good dutiful brother, this is about him living out his Rogue Prince fantasy.

I feel like people may bring up Alys Rivers as a counterpoint but again, I don't see why? Because remember, Aemond literally slaughtered her entire House because he hated the Strongs. He would make fun of Jace and Luke's appearance in Fire and Blood for like lack of Valyrian features. He left Alys alive so he could take her as a "prize" to use as a 'bedmate' / 'paramour'. This wasn't recorded as a consensual reltionship, and of course Alys went with it because what else is she gonna do? Fight him? He just slaughtered her entire bloodline, just BECAUSE of their blood. She's on thin ice. By today's standards she was put into sexual slavery. (unfortunately fire & blood is an unreliable text and it was written to be contradictory, so literally there is no actual canonical understanding of their relationship) Also a significant amount of fire and blood was written by those from the Greens side, and there are claims she bewitched him etc etc so that he wouldn't kill her. Regardless, the point is, Aemond fucking Alys isn't a marker of his progressive belief that Targaryen's aren't superior? If anything it reinforces it because he has literally chosen a woman who in every single way is completely socially 'inferior' to himself. Again, it's about power and vengeance. Him taking Alys is saying "look at me, I can do whatever the fuck I want. I can burn the Riverlands down, I can slaughter an entire House and then, I can fuck the last very last woman left because I CHOSE TO KEEP HER ALIVE." And he did it again, he abandoned Alys at one point and left her captive to another mother fucker just to get more vengeance on the Blacks after Helaena's last child dies (i can make a post on the suspicious Helaena x Aemond parallels in fire and blood) and then eventually came back to get her again. He don't really give that much of a fuck, in my opinion. She is not an example of him not being a bigot. And we see this in the real world too. Powerful bigots have historically sexually enslaved whom they oppress. *cough cough, literally ww2*. Sex is a power exchange in many ways, and Aemond taking Alys to fuck, after he spent his entire life loathing her family and KILLING THEM, is not some star-crossed lover shit. It's him continuing his reign of abuse on the Strongs. He kept one of them alive, just to fuck. That is an active example of his supremacist beliefs. There is also speculation Alys got pregnant, but it's never confirmed. However, his son would be another Strong bastard. And it wouldn't mean shit to him, because is that not the ultimate "haha im superior" to interject himself into the Strong line? To be the one which controls it's survival?

Also again, we see it time and time again with Targ men. They believe in Targ supremacy, actively want to participate in their 'traditions', while also wanting booty calls. Daemon does the same thing, homie fucks women left and right, yet still loved /married Rhaneyra because she was a Targaryen like him. Viserys iii also, fucked other women, yet canonically wanted to marry Daenerys once he assumed the throne to continue their bloodline.

Because marriage is very different from sex in this universe. Marriage and sex are two completely separate ideas. So it makes sense for Aemond to believe that Targaryen's should maintain their Valyrian blood through marriage because it is a marker of supremacy; while he also wants to exclaim is dominance through having sex with a woman who is 'beneath' him. Aemond is also an actual misogynist in the books too. So again? In what world does he look at Alys as his equal?

Thus, why marriage/love/legitmate children is reserved for Targaryen women, and sex is reserved for prostitutes, bedmates etc. People be forgetting, in this society women are used at the whims of men, LAWFULLY - like it's their right to do so, and women are very much given social status based on how men view them sexually. Madonna/Whore complex.

Which is kinda interesting if we even go further to talk about Helaena and Aemond...

Funnily enough, this exact topic will come up in my fic. Anyway, that's my take on it. That's kinda why the strong niece fics never made sense to me, because it is so contradictory to the motives behind what he does.

[pixuou]

Lilith: Ugh, I can't believe I have to spend my Saturday here. I can't imagine what must be so important that they needed us both to come.

Angela: Don't be like that! You never even call Mum and Dad, they deserve to see you every once in a while.

Lilith: What for? So I get to listen to them tell me off for my grades and fight each other passive-aggressively? If they're so unhappy, they should just get that divorce already.

Angela: Maybe that's what they want to talk to us about...

Mary-Sue: Come on in girls!

Angela: In a minute Mum!

Lilith: And how much of my business is that, exactly?

Angela: Lilith, they're your parents too! You should care what happens to your family and how they're doing.

Lilith: As long as nobody's dying, I really don't.

Lilith: I hope they at least made lunch. I've had takeaway way too many times this week.

Mary-Sue: Sorry girls, I didn't have time to cook, I had to go to the office earlier today to handle some very important paperwork. We got Chinese, take a box! Your dad will join us in a minute.

Angela: Thanks Mum.

Lilith: I'm not hungry.

Angela, whispering to Lilith: Remember, let's keep the peace.

Mary-Sue: So, it's official now: I'm the party's mayoral candidate in next year's elections!

Angela: That's huge news!

Lilith: So my mother is now the face of the Conservative Party? I can't imagine anything worse happening.

Angela: Lilith!

Lilith: What? You know it's true! Not even you want the conservatives to win, and nor do any of our friends. Don't lie.

Daniel: I know politics isn't for the youth, but—

Lilith: No Dad, that's not what I said. Politics IS for the youth, actually, and that's exactly why I'm—

Daniel: Don't interrupt me! I was about to say it doesn't matter what you think of the party, your mother has been working tirelessly for this position and deserves your respect.

Lilith: Oh, look who's suddenly the champion of showing her respect! Now that you're unemployed and in debt, you suddenly need her and the stability, yeah?

Mary-Sue: Your father has always been supportive of my career. Sure, we had our ups and downs in the past, but we're entering this new phase in our lives together.

Daniel: And I'll have you know I am already in talks with another football team, so I won't stay without work for long. A lot of the debt is already paid off.

Lilith: Okay... whatever... by the way, I'm dropping out of college.

All in unison: WHAT?!

Mary-Sue: Where did this come from?

Lilith: You guys do what you want, I'll do what I want too. It's my choice. There's no point finishing my degree, it's not going to get me in the music industry anyway.

Daniel: After all the money we sent you to pay for your accommodation?

Angela: Errmm, I'm sure Lilith still has a lot of thinking to do about this, and it's never that simple, right, Lilith? We're still going over things, right? Don't worry, nothing's decided yet! ... Anyway... Umm... Did I tell you Dustin has picked the dentistry major? He decided to become a dentist and he's going to earn big money with it. He's already looking at clinics to apply to once he's finished uni.

[lumiidragon]

is it just me or did they turn Toothless into basically a 12 year old's overpowered mary sue OC in THW? like they made him the last of his kind, gave him the Light Fury's cloaking and the Skrill's lightning channeling powers, and made him the king of literally every dragon in the world. like in HTTYD2 he was very powerful but not ridiculously so, and him becoming the alpha of Berk's dragons was because they chose to follow him for helping free them from Drago and was a cool parallel to Hiccup becoming the chief of Berk, and it actually felt believable. then THW was just like "Toothless is the most coolest rarest strongest and specialest dragon ever and all dragons obey him because he's the best" and it just feels more like it belongs in a bad fanfiction written by a kid than it does an official film in the HTTYD series

And tbh, this is what made me like him less. Night furies are cool, ok? Who doesn't think that to some degree, but Toothless became less of a believable creature and more of a "Look! This is the coolest, most powerful, most epic dragon ever and all other dragons are nothing compared to him!"

Toothless's power didn't come from being a "King of All Dragons" nor from having all of these special, flashy abilities. It came from his bond with Hiccup. Their friendship pushed Toothless beyond the animalistic boundaries that tied him to being just like any other dragon. He fought against nature's call itself (the Alpha Call) because his friendship was more important and powerful than nature itself. That is what made Toothless so powerful and why THW ruined his character so much. They didn't want Toothless and Hiccup's friendship to be the driving force anymore, but still needed Toothless special somehow, so they started slapping each and every special thing he could have had onto him.

First off, I cannot wrap my head around Toothless being the "King of all dragons in the world". Neither bewilderbeast held that title, so why did Toothless all of a sudden get it? A flock alpha, yes, but king of every single dragon species and individual in the world??? That's not how any animal or natural force works. That's not even how humans work unless you want to throw the world into chaos and disorder. One dragon cannot and should not be the driving force of EVERY dragon. A night fury cannot understand and cater to each species' need as a "king". THW wants to push the "dragons are just wild animals" theme so hard, then they need to listen to it and not twist it for plot convenience. Toothless ruling Berk's flock is one thing, but you will not convince me that he rules every dragon in the world because the world is a BIG place.

Second is the stupid cloaking ability. Ok, so "night furies being the unholy offspring of lightening and death" could easily be used to defend this but here's my take on this: the plasma blast. You have to remember the era we're in and not everything is as literal as the stories are going to say. No, I don't think the skrill-like lighting-before-cloaking is what this title refers to. You know what IS like lightening, however? A night fury's plasma blast. This superheated, bright, sound barrier-cracking ability is most likely what the stories and title are referring to. Up until THW, Toothless has never shown anything lightening-like and the cloaking ability just makes no sense for an already black, nocturnal animal. Any animal that is already blending into its surroundings isn't going to want to shoot off some bright and loud blast just to hop through it and...blend in again??? It's redundant and this ability was literally just added in for reasons, I guess. I hate it and will never see it as canon.

Lastly, they robbed us of other night furies. Toothless's character taking such a nosedive nearly ruined the whole night fury species for me because he will forever be the only canon representation for the species. That, and the whole "last of their kind" trope is super boring and overused. They drug us along with the premise that we may indeed get more night furies only to hand us THW and shrug saying "Ah, sorry. No night furies. Instead, here's a dude that apparently can confirm in the viking age that he indeed traveled every corner of the world without modern technology and transportation and has indeed conformed that there is no night furies at any corner of the world despite most of it being undiscovered at this time." They didn't even give us a story with it, they did the BIGGEST story no-no and "told instead of showed". We got no flashbacks, no other touching on this subject, just a few words from a dude that apparently canon-wise, we have to accept is true. Lame, poorly told, and boring.

Also for clarification, I LOVE Toothless, but THW Toothless is not the same dragon and I do not care for this soulless stranger.

[anti-endo-safe-space]

I feel kinda silly sayin this but im too scared to reach out to my system friends to properly vent/ask for advice, so uh,, sorry to dump this all on you

I’m unsure if I am a system. It’s a “label” that fits considering what I’ve gone through, but I feel like I don’t properly fit the criteria enough to be considered it at all. It always mentions how it interferes with your daily life, but the most interference I get is spacing out or just forgetting my whole day entirely. I can never tell who’s fronting but everyone just assumes it’s “me” (as in the host) and it’s just a struggle because it doesn’t feel like my name, but what other name could I possibly have?

I don’t properly get blackouts or amnesia. Everything just tends to leave my brain, and we all share memories so much that if one of us forgets something it’s just passively relayed back to us. The host can never leave front either. I don’t want to be wrong, but the idea of being right makes no sense. I keep trying and trying to find something that’ll finally make me accept that maybe I am a system or maybe I am a singlet

Not to mention there’s an account on here (absolutely no offense to them) who mentions how you can accidentally mimic symptoms if you study too much and it horrifies me. We’ve done research for months but I can never remember those months so I’m just doing research on and off on and off for a year just to realize that all my heavy research could be me just lying to myself??

I want to feel confident in who I am, what I am, and how I got here. But it’s hard. How could someone like me possibly have this? I just want someone in this head to tell me something, but I’ll never believe them.

Thank you for listening to me -🪼

Hey there. I'm gonna take this paragraph by paragraph just because it helps us keep a flow easier. I want to remind, we are NOT professionals. We're a kid who's about to head out to college, we don't have a psychology degree or anything.

Hey, forgetting your day entirely counts as interfering. That's what led us to researching CDD's because I (the host) would lose time over and over and over. Sometimes they can front and feel like it's just you but different. It's okay to not know rather or not you are one, that happens and is okay. And if you think your a system and it turns out your not, that's okay too.

Hey hey, emotional amnesia counts too (kind of like you know what happened, you can see what's happening and you feel nothing. No emotions or anything). And the stuff leaving could be it going to someone else if your a system (we don't have better phrasing for that, sue us we're having a huge sciatica flare up /nav). Hey, I never can really leave front unless I'm having full blown black outs. That can happen with a system.

Hey, that account is right that you can do that if you research but. That's a can. Sometimes it just shows you the answer you've been searching for. And not remembering those months? That can count as amnesia. It could be a case of your faking but this tends to be our question. Do you do it alone, when no one's watching? If you don't, your likely not faking.

It can be hard to feel confident knowing who you are, even if your a system or not one. It doesn't make you a faker, it happens. And if you say you are and months/years later you find out your not, that's okay.

We're always here to listen don't worry.

[jammie3132]

Fandom: Glee Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe Story Summary: After a fight with Kurt, Blaine goes running back to Ohio…again! The problem is he doesn’t have Dalton to run back to. Chapter 1 Title: Are You Happy? Chapter 1 Summary: Blaine is back in Ohio after a fight with Kurt. His friends are determined to not let him fall back into old patterns Notes: 10 Days of Seblaine Week 2023 Day 3: Dalton

Canon through Season 6 with exception of 5 year time jump.

❤️🎉HAPPY ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE 🎉❤️

Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our approach. Please prepare for landing. Welcome to Columbus. It is currently 62 degrees…

Blaine put his tray table up and his laptop in his carry on. This was NOT the trip he expected to be taking this week.

“Kurt! I’m home! You’ll never guess…what’s going on?”

“Isabelle got me a showing for my accessories at Paris Fashion Week! Can you believe it?”

“Um…isn’t Paris Fashion Week next week? Our anniversary is next week. We’re going to Hawaii on the Honey…the trip we postponed last year because Isabelle’s assistant got the flu and she insisted she’d never survive Paris Fashion Week without you. And the year before that because... You know, I can't remember what excuse you used that time."

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. But Blaine, this time it’s for our future. It's not the same.”

“Yes, yes, it is.”

“Come with me. We can enjoy the city during our down time. Support me like I supported you at the Grammys.”

“You didn’t go. You decided it wasn't worth missing your classes the next day because my category wasn’t televised.”

“Not this again. It was 3 months ago and you didn’t win. Get over it.”

“You did not just say that.”

“Look, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. And I’m sorry I’m postponing our vacation again. I’m not sorry I’m going to Paris. Stop being so difficult.”

“Just go. I’ll go back to Ohio for the Groundbreaking Ceremony at Dalton. I was disappointed when I found out we couldn’t attend because we’d be in Hawaii. Since that’s no longer an issue…”

“Oh, hell no! I saw Sebastian Smythe’s name on the list of committee members. I’m not letting you go anywhere near that asshole without me.”

“Uh…excuse me. You’re forbidding, literally forbidding, me from going to Dalton’s Groundbreaking?"

"That's not what I meant."

"But it was what you said. You know how important Dalton was to me. I was devastated...”

“How important could Dalton have been if you left just because I asked you to?”

“Fuck you!”

“Blaine, don't…where are you going?”

“Ohio!”

*SLAM*

Three hours later Blaine finally relaxed when a friendly face opened his door and gave him a hug. “Get in here” Sam said, pulling him into his apartment. “Did you leave your luggage in the rental?”

“Nope. In my dramatic exit I only grabbed my school bag.”

“Good thing I’ve still got the stuff you forgot the last time you were here. For once my procrastination paid off.”

“You didn’t procrastinate, you've been busy. I remember how crazy it was preparing the Warblers for Sectionals. The New Directions are trying to three-peat at Nationals in a few weeks…big difference. I feel like an ass taking up your time, but I just couldn’t face my mom’s interrogation. At least not tonight. I mean it would be stupid if I didn’t stay with her when I go to Dalton.”

“But…”

“If you say one word about how I used to make that drive all the time, I’ll tell your new girlfriend about the time Sue was hypnotizing you and…”

“Hey! I had no control over what I was doing! And it’s not fair to use that stuff against me when I don’t remember any of it.”

“Except sleeping with Rachel.”

“I wasn’t hypnotized for that” Sam told him with an added wink.

Blaine’s phone went off (his mother not husband) so Sam went to his hall closet and brought out the box he’d stored there. Since Pam was on a tangent, it gave him time to go to the kitchen and make some calls of his own. He had a plan for his best friend and wanted to confirm the pieces were in place.

When he returned with drinks, Blaine was laying back on the couch rubbing his temples. Pam had that effect on people. “You’re going to have to go to Target for underwear and stuff like that. I’ve got a toothbrush…”

“Sam, what aren’t you telling me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You got kind of defensive when I mentioned your new girlfriend.”

“I know” Sam sighed as he rejoined Blaine on his couch. “It’s just, I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you this. My girlfriend already knows about everything that happened with Sue, and Rachel.”

“Ok? Why is it so hard to tell me you told your girlfriend?”

“I didn’t have to tell her. I’m dating Kitty.”

Did not see that coming! “Kitty? Kitty Wilde?”

“Yes, and we have a date tonight. So do you.”

“You realize I’m still married, no matter how pissed I am at Kurt.”

“Not like that. I called a friend and he’s taking you to Scandals to get drunk and forget how big a jerk your husband is.”

“Who did you call?”

“It’s a surprise. You have time for a shower and nap. After you called, I went to the store and got a bunch of your favorite Kurt did something stupid comfort food. Please eat something before you go to Scandals so you don’t get drunk on your second beer.”

Blaine wanted to give a snarky comeback but didn’t because Sam was right. “Thanks, Blond Chameleon.”

“Anytime NightBird.”

Because he wasn’t getting picked up until later in the evening, Blaine had time to run to Target. There was also enough time to visit with Kitty before she and Sam left on their date. He had to admit he was having a little trouble getting past the whole former football coach/cheerleader thing. It was only 3 years ago.

But if they wanted to relive that time in private…

Oh God, now it’s worse.

At 9PM on the dot the doorbell rang. He was not prepared for who was standing in front of him. “David? What are you doing here?”

“Taking you to Scandals? “Ready?”

Dave Karofsky? Sam called the guy he broke up with and then married Kurt a week later? Sending them to the place where they reconnected after he returned to Ohio when Kurt ended their engagement? Well, if Dave is here, he must be fine with it.

“Sure, just let me get my phone.”

“No phone. You’re going to drink and talk to me and the others. No checking your phone every 10 minutes to see if Kurt called. Sam was very specific with his directions but I’m pretty sure Kitty was the actual mastermind.”

“Sam and Kitty…I wouldn’t check my phone…” Then it dawned on him. “Did you say others? Who?”

“No idea. Let’s go. I don’t want to give up any more of my time because you’re overthinking what’s going on.”

Blaine shook his head and chuckled. This was nice. “You know me so well.”

It was all small talk until they were settled in a back booth at Scandals and each halfway through their first beer. “Do you remember what you promised me when you came over to tell me you’d married Kurt?”

“David, I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“You’re right, I didn’t” Dave told him with a confidence Blaine didn’t remember. It looked good on him. “Now answer my question. Do you remember your promise?”

Oh yeah, he remembered. “To not lose myself in my relationship with Kurt again. To do what was right for me, even if Kurt threw a hissy fit. And I have, most of the time. Sometimes that’s not how marriage works.”

“And yet you’re sitting here with me and your husband is on his way to Paris. Weren’t you supposed to be in Hawaii for your Spring Break? On the honeymoon you never took? We both know that weekend in Rhode Island didn’t count.”

“How do you…Sam?” Dave nodded his response, not giving him a chance to go off topic, which they both knew Blaine would try. “When we had our fight, I couldn’t say the word honeymoon. I just reminded him it was our anniversary. It wouldn’t have made a difference. Kurt was going to Paris no matter what I said.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

Shit! He noticed. “No, but I’m getting better at it. At least I think I am, but he makes it so fucking hard!” Blaine stopped to finish his beer and motion to the waitress he wanted another. If those coming later were anything like Dave, he needed to get a good buzz going. “I was so happy when I got home but he didn’t give a chance to tell him my news!”

“You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”

Blaine thought about it, but not for long. The thought Kurt had to be the first one he told was gone. “Do you know about the song writing contest I won at NYU?”

“Who doesn’t? The prize was it would be recorded by a major artist and put on their next album. None of us expected Celine Dion or that the song would be nominated for Pop Song of the Year at the Grammys. By the way, you should have won.”

“Thanks.” Blaine tried to push out the memory of Kurt’s earlier comment but couldn’t. “Celine was asked to record a song for a movie, a big…big movie, but she hated what they sent her. She told the studio she’d do it, but she wanted me to write a new song.”

Dave rushed around the table and crushed him in a bear hug…maybe bear was a poor choice of words. “Oh my God! That’s huge! What’s the movie?”

“I shouldn’t say…in case things don’t work out.”

“Blaine…”

“Ok, it’s Deadpool 2.”

Dave pulled back, a blank expression on his face. “Are you shitting me? Seriously, are you shitting me? The first one is my favorite movie of all time!”

“I remember.”

“And Sam! He’s going to freak that you’re going to write a song for a comic book movie!”

“If they use it.”

Once again, Dave tightened his hold, this time even harder. “You are a Grammy nominated song writer and Celine fucking Dion asked you to write her a song for fucking Deadpool 2. Stop doubting yourself.”

“Ok, the walk down memory lane is over. Time for the male hobbit to forgo the sugar coating and get some tough love from Auntie Snixx.”

Dave whispered Good Luck before leaving. Blaine wasn’t sure if his abrupt exit was part of the plan, animosity toward one of the masterminds of his ambush wedding to Kurt or not wanting to piss off the girl who once told him she had razor blades in her hair.

Did it matter? Yeah, it did. Their time together made him realize how much he missed him. He’d like them to be friends again…if it wasn’t too weird for Dave.

His long awaited second beer arrived, but Santana declined anything stating she wouldn’t be there much longer. She then pulled out her phone and smiled a smile Blaine had seen enough to know it meant trouble. “What are you doing here Lopez?”

“In Ohio? Lord Tubbington needed an intervention for his latest addiction…Internet porn.”

Blaine didn’t question her explanation which for some reason made perfect sense. “I meant here…at Scandals.”

“Sammy called. He needed help getting in contact with the third ghost of Blaine Warblers past.”

“You are not a ghost from my past. I see you at least once a week.”

“Then Karofsky’s your past, I’m your present and the next person can be your future. Guess that makes you and your pissy mood Scrooge.” Santana took a deep breath and folded her hands on the table. “I’m only going to say this once and if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it…then cut off your balls.”

That was interesting. Interesting enough he prepared for what she was going to say by taking a big swig of beer. “Deal”

“I’m sorry.”

“Foooor?”

“I should’ve never let Britt talk me into the double wedding. She only remembered high school Klaine and then depressed Blaine who missed Kurt. She wasn’t here for the engagement and she definitely was around for toxic NYC Klaine. I was.”

For the second time since he arrived in Ohio, Blaine didn’t have a comeback because the person across from him was telling the truth. Was it progress to admit what they were saying were truths? “You didn’t have faith we’d make it?”

“Once I was out of the happy bubble of my wedding day? No, not a chance in hell. You and Hummel got back together only a few days before. You needed time to either work out the issues you had the first time or realize you were in a never-ending cycle, doomed to failure.”

“Wow, tell me how you really feel.” Blaine downed the rest of his beer for time to come of with a reasonable response. Like that was going to happen. “I thought we were ready.”

“Why? Because you went to therapy and a had rebound relationship with Karofsky?”

“Never, I mean never, say crap about Dave! I don’t care about shit that went down in high school. He didn’t deserve what I did to him, no matter what he did back then!”

Santana tilted her head then nodded, showing she was both stunned and impressed by Blaine’s outburst. “You obviously misunderstood Anderson. Was your relationship with Karofsky on anyone’s bingo card? No. Did some people think you were with him as revenge for Hummel ending your engagement? Yeah, probably more than you realize. But I know you had feelings for Dave, just not love. He was the wrong person at the right time.”

“Then who was the right person?”

“The guy who just walked in the door.” She took hold of his hands and asked “Do you remember when we went to Dalton to hear the Warblers sing MJ and they did I Want You Back? How I said we were in big trouble?” Blaine nodded because seeing Sebastian had rendered him speechless. “I didn’t mean for Regionals. The New Directions were in trouble because we were going to lose you. If that Slushie didn’t happened, you would’ve eventually gone back to Dalton. Not for the Warblers but for a Warbler…Smythe. You looked at him in a way I never saw between you and Hummel���ever.”

“San…”

“Just talk to him. Listen to him. And listen to the voice in your, thankfully no longer plastered into submission, head.”

“Hey” Sebastian said upon his arrival at their table, unsure of what he was doing there in the first place. Other than fear of what Santana Lopez would do if he’d declined, of course.

Santana stood to leave, kissed Blaine on the cheek, then took hold of Sebastian’s arm. “Thank you for coming but if you fuck this up, they’ll never find your body.”

“Understood.” Then as a shock to both men, she kissed his cheek before leaving. “That…that…my younger self would never believe that just happened” Sebastian stammered as he took the available seat. “I still live in fear of her revenge for the Slushie I threw at her. Sometimes I wish she would just get it over with. I mean, how many …don’t answer that. I remember. I’ve always remembered.”

Their missing waitress appeared out of nowhere, obviously due to Sebastian. Even though Blaine hadn’t finished his current beer, he went ahead and ordered one for each of them. Hopefully they’d arrive before the girl realized she worked in a gay bar.

They did.

The tension was awkward, but since Sam had gone to a lot of trouble to put this evening together, Blaine decided the least he could do was see it through. “How’s the Groundbreaking preparation going?”

“Crazy” Sebastian told him, but the former Warbler Captain instantly broke out a smile. “But it’s Dalton crazy so…”

“Organized chaos” Blaine finished for him. “How did you get involved?”?

“Long story.”

“Good. We can get comfortable while we get up the nerve to talk about whatever Santana told you.”

“She didn’t tell me anything. I had no idea you’d be here. In fact, shouldn’t you be in Hawaii? It’s the reason you declined your invitation.”

Blaine was still reeling from hearing Sebastian didn’t know he’d be here. As much as he wanted to ask how Santana convinced him to come, he decided it was safer not to know. “Kurt was offered a business opportunity in Paris, but that’s a conversation we should save until you’ve caught up to me. I’m on my third beer and I’m not the lightweight I used to be.”

“Challenge accepted.” Sebastian took a good-sized drink and looked for the waitress. She must have figured out flirting was a waste of time since she was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, one of the bartenders remembered Sebastian from the old days who took care of him. “So, we talk about Dalton for now?”

“For now.”

“Ok, then I got involved because the Reopening Committee asked. It’s my Spring Break so I have a lot of extra time.”

Before everything went to hell between them, Blaine learned some of Sebastian’s telltale ticks. If he tapped his fingers on the table, he wasn’t telling the whole truth. He never lied. He just had a habit of leaving out important details. Right now, he was practically tapping the drum solo to In The Air Tonight.

“It’s my Spring Break too, which makes sense since I'm supposed to be in Hawaii. Where did you wind up going to college?”

“Stanford”

“Not Harvard like your dad. I bet that went over like a led balloon.”

“Ding, ding, ding…200 points to the Grammy nominee.”

“You heard about that? Never mind, seems a lot of people have.”

“You’re kidding, right? Everyone knew you’d end up in music, we just didn’t know how. But I have a question. When I read about your nomination, the article said you won a song writing contest at NYU. What happened to NYADA?”

“Kurt broke off our engagement, crippling depression caused my work to suffer, NYADA cut me.”

“They cut you? Depression that bad should've gotten you a medical excuse.” “My parents’ lawyers said the same thing. NYADA cleared my record, refunded my tuition, and when I refused to go back, the Director of NYADA convinced Tische into accepting me despite the fact I’d missed all application deadlines.”

“Let me guess, after NYADA (air quotes) fixed everything, you and your parents didn’t sue.”

“Ding, ding, ding…500 points to the Stanford man.” The tapping went into overdrive. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Sebastian moved his hands to his lap. “You remembered?”

“You’d be surprised how much I remember about you.“ Oh shit! Time to stop drinking.

Either his comment went over Sebastian’s head, or he was polite enough not to push the subject. “Let’s just say you weren’t the only one to switch colleges. I’m not at Stanford anymore. I’m at OSU.”

Huh? “Your turn to spill what happened.”

Sebastian finished his beer and signaled the bartender for another. They were both well aware this would be his third. According to their agreement, it was time to talk about the hard stuff. “Do you remember, back when we were friends, and you asked what was something I could never have but wanted more than anything?”

“Of course. You said my ass.”

“True, but then I said…”

Blaine’s eyes flew open even though they were heavy from the alcohol. “You told your father off? How you hated him for all the crap he’d put you and your mother through? Oh my God, what did he say?”

“You’re cut off.”

“Oh shit!” While Blaine was in disbelief (but in total awe at the same time) Sebastian seemed fine…peaceful. “That’s why you left Stanford? He even cut off tuition?”

“Everything. But Blaine, it was the best thing to happen to me.”

Huh? “What do you mean?”

“He no longer has control over me. I make all my own decisions. I’ll admit I was lucky this pissed off my grandmother, his mother. She gave me the equivalent of what I would inherit when she died. It didn’t take my finance classes for me to realize living in California, near San Francisco, was going to drain the money in less than 10 years. I finished the semester at Stanford then moved here.”

Blaine couldn’t take his eyes off Sebastian. He was practically glowing, and not from the beer. “You look really happy.”

“I am and it’s not just being free of my father. Dalton plays a huge role in what I call my recovery.”

“Dalton? How?”

“I’m not just working on the Groundbreaking. I work part time for Dalton. I’m still working on my Finance Degree, so I’ve been helping with fundraising. OSU gives me credit for practical experience. I’m also getting a degree in Education Administration.”

Excuse me?! “You? Sebastian Smythe are going to be Dalton’s Head Master?”

“Oh, hell no! I’m going to teach French and work as an assistant to the Head Master…title pending. The Head Master has to handle crap like curriculum and faculty. I’ll be in charge of budgets and making sure students don’t do stupid shit…title pending. The idea was who's better for the job than someone who broke practically every rule. There’s not a lie or excuse I won’t see right through.”

When Blaine found out his best friend was taking over the New Directions, Sam asked if he was jealous. His answer of a little was true. He had loved coaching the Warblers. But what Sebastian was doing? He wasn’t a little jealous. He was so jealous his heart hurt. “Are you happy?”

“Extremely. I know everyone expected me to be a lawyer or CEO. I’d rather work at Dalton and not have high blood pressure and ulcers by the time I’m 30. I suppose I’ve grown up.”

“I suppose you have.”

Sebastian took a chance to reach over for Blaine’s hand and was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t pull away. “Killer, when was the last time you were truly happy? Not with something in your marriage, or Kurt in general. Something that was only about Blaine Devon Anderson.”

Was it sad he couldn’t answer immediately? Blaine wanted to say his song writing. How he’d been asked to write a song for a movie. Neither was the truth. “When I was coaching the Warblers before the fire. My life was a mess, but for those few hours a day, safe inside the walls of Dalton, I was genuinely happy.”

Sebastian didn’t look surprised. “If you have time, you should come help with the Groundbreaking. Or, even if you don’t have time, could you please, please, please come help with the Groundbreaking? Some of the bigger donors asked what the Warblers were performing…yesterday. As of now, there’s no performances scheduled, just speeches. You, former Warbler and musical savant, showing up like this is basically a miracle. Unless you say you won’t do it. No pressure. You obviously have a lot to deal with, but please, please pretty please.”

It sounded perfect, but he didn’t want Sebastian to know Dalton was the reason he was back in Ohio. Kurt forbidding him from coming would somehow come out and he didn’t need that getting around. It was beyond embarrassing. “I have time and even if I didn’t, I would’ve found a way. Can we have lunch tomorrow and keep catching up…no matter how difficult it might be?”

Sebastian smiled as Sam and he assumed Kitty walked in. The only reason he wasn’t sure was because she was tiny, and every single McKinley Warbler was scared shitless of her. “B, your designated drivers are here.”

“Not quite Eiffel Tower…”

“Eiffel Tower?” Blaine and Sebastian asked in unison.

Kitty rolled her eyes at them, but Sam thought it was funny. “They’re both tall and French.” She rolled her eyes again when not only Sam, but Blaine and Sebastian, began to laugh uncontrollably. “Anyway…” she said in a way Sebastian suddenly understood why the guys were terrified of her “It’s late, you’ve been drinking and none of us are making the drive to Westerville and back. You’re staying with Tana and Brittany at the Pierce’s. Give me your keys. I’m driving you.”

The guys all began laughing again. They were so loud the other bar patrons could hear them over the music. “You…you?” Sebastian tried to say between breaths. “I don’t think my seats go up that far!!”

Sam pulled himself together. Kitty was almost at her Santana level. “I’ll drive Sebastian’s car. You and Blaine follow in mine.”

“No, I want to talk to the jackass about me and the McKinley Warblers singing Blaine’s song at his fancy shindig on Saturday.”

That got Blaine’s attention. “My song?”

“Rise…the one you wrote when Dalton burned down.”

Blaine quickly got up, and once the room stopped spinning, he grabbed his jacket. “I’ve got to get back to Sam’s. I need my laptop.”

Sam didn’t like the sound of that. Kurt had been calling Blaine’s phone throughout the evening. He hoped his plan hadn’t been for naught with his best friend wanting to Skype his husband. “Why?”

“My song writing software is on it. I’ve got an idea.”

NOTES:

I read somewhere Klaine’s original “introduction” in the 5 year time jump had Blaine as a Grammy nominated song writer and Kurt with a popular accessories line…no Virgina Wolfe. I went with that narrative.

Season 6 Wedding: Episode 6x08 2/20/2015. However, there was no fear of snow or cold, and that barn was VERY open. This is why I moved the anniversary to April/Spring Break.

Dalton Fire: Episode 6x10 3/10/15. While in canon it was 2 weeks later, I moved it to 1 week.

[ellieoes]

Light a candle

I can’t remember the first time I ever heard of this thing called a blog. I know it was many many moons ago.  I never thought it was for me.  I mean, I lived an entirely ordinary life and always seemed to say what I always thought were the wrong words and even if they were the right words, I didn’t have much to say and was always worried that I would say something that might offend someone or just plain old sound stupid. So, go easy on me ok?

I sit here this morning writing this because I just read my dear friend’s final entry in his own blog. He started his blog ‘oldbutnotyetwise’ 9 years ago. And I just learned of it last year when I reconnected with him. I've read every one of his posts including his last... his self-authored obituary. His last piece of advice - "Don't keep putting things off until tomorrow, because sometimes tomorrow doesn't come." Advice well taken my friend, wish me luck (I can see you smiling with that smirky smirk ;-)

Life is a funny and wondrous thing and often very challenging thing. It takes you on little side trips that seemingly don’t make sense and move you in different directions that you never thought you’d move in. And then, all of a sudden, all of the tumblers fall into place and it makes sense. Sometimes painfully so.

My friend Suzanne suggested I meet David. My marriage was in its final throes and I needed a male perspective. So we met. I liked him. Instantly. We talked as if we’d know eachother for many years. And he was delightful. He was a gentle giant who listened so intently and then asked you the most thought provoking and revealing questions to help you better understand and come to your own conclusions about whatever you were uncertain about.

Not long after we met, we were chatting one night about Sue’s birthday coming up and were trying to figure out something special we could do for her. Well, a visit to Winnipeg in December with -40 celsuis degree temps (well maybe it was -20 but it sure felt like -40!) with an almost stranger wasn’t what I was thinking but somehow, he convinced me that it was a great idea and before you knew it, we were off! We became great friends and, for reasons I won’t explain here and certainly not through any fault of his, we communicated only once a year (when he’d sent me a birthday text or email). He did so every year for almost 8.  

Fast forward to June 2023.  I read a facebook post of David’s that had me concerned.  Robin (his beautiful wife) and he were leaving their dream property in Nipissing and moving to Cambridge. When I asked him why, he told me something that took my breath away much like a gut punch would.  He had been diagnosed with ALS.

ALS.

At that time, I was enveloped in taking care of my 93 year old mom. She had Alzheimer’s, couldn’t speak or walk or later even eat. It was a terrible time and a horrible death.  Still, she was surrounded with love and our family did all that we could to let her know how much she was loved. But more on that maybe in another post.

I suppose I tell you this because I’m trying to find a reason why I didn’t fully enter back into David’s life until about October/November.

My friend Dana had once brought me a meal when I lost either my brother or my sister (sorry, can’t remember which) and then my friend Karen did the same when I lost my mom. I can’t tell you how much their thoughtfulness meant to me and how grateful I am to this day for their kindness. So, I was determined that this is what I would do for David and his wife.

He suggested I watch Tuesdays with Morrie - a movie about a man with ALS. I did and promptly asked David if we could be Tuesday people.  Well, it wasn’t every Tuesday and it wasn’t always Tuesdays but as much as his schedule and mine permitted, I would bring a meal for the three of us to share. It was a very special time for which I would be eternally grateful. We would eat and talk and enjoy eachother’s company. Often times David and I would take their ever-so-sweet Australian Shepherd named Kiwi for a walk around the neighborhood. David in his $30,000 wheelchair that seemingly did everything but make you dinner ;-)

It was on these walks that we had our deepest talks. Sometimes about what was to come and the inevitable outcome of ALS; sometimes about love and relationships; sometimes about favourite books and movies.  His favourite author was Robert James Waller.  One of his favourite movies was based on his book, The Bridges of Madison County. Other movies he loved were Life Itself and Boyhood. I’ve watched them all now and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. I felt that by watching them, I would know David better.

He loved the natural world. He loved the paradise that Robin and he called home in Nipissing. He loved his dogs, every one of them. He loved his friends. He loved Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna, Butter Tarts (without coconut), Boston Cream pie and, given he had a second helping, he at least liked my Goulash.

But most of all, he loved Robin. Oh how my heart aches at the thought of the beautiful, deep and pure love that they shared. It was the stuff of books and movies. It was the real deal. Even with thoughts of all the challenges of ALS and his imminent death, the one thing that brought him to tears and made him hurt the most was the thought of having to leave his beloved Robin. He didn't want to. If he could, he would have moved heaven and earth just to be able to stay by her side. And I know Robin would have as well.

Robin is an unexpected gift in all of this. She is incredibly kind and funny and sweet and truly beautiful. She is strong and courageous and so loyally and steadfastly took care of David until his last day. Though she had done so much - had given everything to David so that his dignity would be protected, his spirit supported and his heart filled with her love - she was still worried that she hadn't done enough and that she made a few mistakes. Robin, you don't know how incredible you are and what a gift you gave him. You are a hero in every sense of the word. I love you for everything you did for David and for how much you loved and protected and helped him. You were his everything and it's so clear why. I'm so grateful we connected and look forward to many more years of friendship if you'll have me.

The most heartwrenching text I've ever received from anyone was from David. It was his final text.

At 9:38pm on Thursday, May 23rd, 2024 he wrote:

"Light a candle at 10:00 tonight, I love you."

His time had come. I wrote him back. I didn't know if he'd read my text until the 25th. Robin told me he had. She also told me that he wanted his celebration of life to be on June 2nd so I could attend. These final gifts of his are indescribably important to me and have touched me so deeply.

He meant so much to me. And he gave me so much. Winnipeg, Justin Hines (especially "Say what you will"), little surprises like dessert from Bread Bar, an Ethopian restaurant, a little mom-and-pop italian restaurant, sushi, a beautiful hand-turned pen that he made himself, a book by Jann Arden. He gave me permission and encouragement to try things; to get out of my comfort zone; to believe in myself and even to love myself (because there was a time when I couldn't do either because of who I'd become and the ones that I'd hurt); to forgive myself; to accept things as they were and not to worry about things you cannot change; and to always see the good even in the worst - because, as he said, there is always good. Even ALS, he said, brought him gifts. The gifts of the love of friends and especially the deepening of the love Robin and he shared.

On May 8th at 10:45 am he sent me this and said that this was what he was pondering that morning and he thought that I might also appreciate it:

"You can't skip chapters, that's not how life works. You have to read every line, meet every character. You won't enjoy all of it. Hell, some chapters will make you cry for weeks. You will read things you don't want to read, you will have moments when you don't want the pages to end. But you have to keep going. Stories keep the world revolving. Live yours, don't miss out."

-Pillow Thoughts

I'll leave you with that for now but in David's tradition, I will also leave you with a few questions to ponder...

Who do you miss and wish you had back in your life? I encourage you to connect with them now not later if you can.

Do the people you love know you love them? Have you communicated how much they mean to you?

What's your story and are you really living it?

Whatever your answers are to those, I wish you a love like David and Robin's, an appreciation of the natural world and all the animals in it, good health, peace in your heart, courage and wonderful adventures!

[stackthedeck]

Any spideytorch fics where the f4 r like found family

anon I didn't know how to respond to this because the f4 aren't a found family, they're just like a regular family and I thought you wanted fics of Sue and Reed not being married and the kids not existing and Sue and Johnny not being related. But I'm going to assume that's not what you meant and just like family fluff

and like honestly my answer is to read canon because the f4 are really good about showcasing the family aspect of Marvel's first family, especially ff 2011 and anything related to the future foundation. Also Johnny's death comic, it's heartbreaking, but Peter comforting Franklin is just so aaaaaahhh

Anyway fic recs

Minor Injuries by Catlady45. Franklin comes back from space and has to deal with his uncle not being as cool as he remembers and Johnny has to deal with his nephew not being 7 anymore. Franklin is my favorite f4 kid and I like him in this teen angst phase

don't read the comments by hippolytas. This mostly focused on the in-universe rpf and man is it fantastic, it's mostly funny but there is some angst on Johnny's part over it. There are a bunch of fantastic family moments scattered across the fic and the characters feel so close and important to each other

Give Me All Your Lovin' by beforethemoon. This is actually a whole series of one-shots of Johnny and Peter just doing life together. It's really evident that the fantastic family is important to both of them and even though the Parkers have passed, they were clearly important to both of them too. There's unfortunately some irondad in this series but I was able to jump around and still know what was going on

Central Park in June by Traincat. Can't go wrong with this author, I'm sure you've already read it. It's hilarious watching Val and Bentley trying to break up Johnny and Peter because Val in all her baby super genius doesn't want Johnny to get his heart broken again. Johnny and Peter are just such kind and patient uncles

And We'll Never Be Lonely Anymore by Traincat. Two fics by the same author? It's more likely than you think. This is the 2015 fantastic four which is closer to a found family because Johnny is adopted and Sue and Reed aren't married so. But like it's nice to see Peter so close to the origin of the four and also to see May and Johnny get close

golden by call_me_steve and ghostfaeries. Technically none of the four make an appearance in this fic, but the scrapbook shows how important they are with little snapshots of life. It's just really cute and they're t4t!!

Oh, Johnny by damianwayne. This isn't found family for the f4, it's found family for the spider bros! It's so silly and cute and I adore any fic that lets Peter think of the clones as his brothers

Honestly, any spideytorch fic that I've recommended in the past that has any of the other four tagged probably has some degree of family fluff because I eat that shit up

[strixcattus]

Had a dream where I was playing a video game... it's a bit hard to describe with my limited knowledge of the format, but it was something of a cross between an RPG and a visual novel (for lack of better words)—what I mean is, you could walk around freely while you weren't engaged in any conversation or option tree, and you could click on most things and people to interact, but everything you did was purely based on the options that popped up when you interacted with them.

It was, strictly speaking, a horror game, but you could always choose not to interact with the horrors in the short term—you'd have to eventually if you wanted to participate in the game's plot, but it was always your responsibility to stick your nose where it shouldn't be—and you could do this in multiple ways and to multiple degrees.

Your character was randomly generated—I don't know if this included some sort of stats (that unlocked different options??) or just name/gender/appearance. You weren't stuck with them, though—every time you died, the death was permanent, and you would go back to the last time you saved and start over at that point with a new random character. The old one would continue to exist, dead from whatever killed you, their death backdated to before your save point. I can't remember if that was the only way to revert to a previous save or not.

There was another feature of the game—I'm not sure how clear it was made that it existed, but it wasn't outright stated and you had to find it yourself. If you opened up the in-game Options menu, the first tab wasn't a game settings menu (with the exception of Save and Quit, which were usually present), but another menu of options for things you could do unprompted at that point. Sometimes you'd have more options, sometimes less due to exhausting them, and sometimes you could get out of a part of the game where you otherwise seemed stuck by opening up the Options menu and exploring what it gave you.

I remember one point where I had my character enter a deeply suspicious slimy trapdoor and end up stuck in a short metal hallway with a metal box at both ends and several rectangular windows, not big enough to fall through, through which darkness and the contours of a small creature—something like a crow—were visible. I couldn't interact with anything, but opening the Options menu revealed three choices (Save and Quit not among them):

Tear and Maim Kill Yourself (Quit) Die.

I closed the Options menu and paced up and down the hallway, opening it again to reveal that the "Kill Yourself" option was gone. Not wanting to start over (I'd been forgetting to save since the start, sue me), I chose "Tear and Maim" which resulted in my brutally killing the bird with my bare hands and being sent back to a safer area of the game having entered into some sort of pact with the thing that trapped me down there.

[elvisabutler]

caught in a trap pt. 4

fandom: elvis ( 2022 ) pairing: elvis/living past 42, past priscilla/elvis, current priscilla and elvis loving each other too much always. several bits of linda/elvis. word count: 1768. rating: t, tbh. it's got cursing, it's got elvis's drug use. warnings: drug use. the usual bullshit with elvis. use of the word mommy in relation to refer to a significant other. implied terror/fear from a child. the colonel being the colonel. author's note: i don't. i'm not even gonna pretend i have an excuse. also reading my pairings and author notes for this fic now that i write real elvis is hilarious to me. whoever reads this, enjoy. gonna try and finish it by the new year. we'll see. i don't know. previous parts can be found in the masterlist. y'all know this is a fix it fic. this really is just austin elvis vs elvis elvis. i just kind of borrowed elements to fit my needs. directly previous part here.

The thing about Priscilla is that in the entire time Elvis has known her she's been a fabulous listener. Even after they've gotten divorced she still listens when he calls sure the conversations are usually a bit- a lot- shorter but Elvis takes what he can get with her even though he has Linda and even though Priscilla has moved on. It's perhaps a little codependent still but he never claimed that he's necessarily the most healthy when it came to his relationships. So sue him for wanting to keep his ex-wife closer to him than any man probably has any right to.

She listens as Elvis talks- as Elvis tells her what Jerry had told him that- as much as he's loathe to admit it might have made him pass out like he did. He expects her to be more shocked, more taken aback by the knowledge but instead he's greeted by a lack of reaction that if he wasn't so bone tired and exhausted and it wasn't Priscilla acting that way- it would have likely lead to him biting her head off. Instead it just lets his anger deflate, allows him to relax to a certain degree. He likes to think that's just Priscilla's effect on him sometimes, but he knows it's more just her knowing him better than almost anyone.

"I'm gonna fire 'im, 'Cilla. I did, but- everythin' ain't finalized yet, we're doing that tomorrow, but I'll finally be done wit' him." Elvis says as he finishes catching her up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Priscilla has shifted a few times in her chair, and her feet are currently planted firmly on the ground as she leans forward, eyeing Elvis as if he's a puzzle that needs solving. It takes her a moment before she stops giving him that look and just lets out a very heavy sigh, shaking her head just slightly. "Remember the last time you told me you were firing the colonel you ended up here. remember what I said Elvis?”

His lip curls up into something faintly resembling the beginning of a snarl. Was Priscilla really bringing that up? Bringing up how he promised her that "business was business" and that he "owed it to his face to let him know in person" as if the Colonel would have done the same thing for him, granted him the same sort of courtesy. There's a part of him that knows she's right, knows that he had said that he was going to fire him only to be stuck under the multiple feet of snow like she predicted but it still bothers him to have her point it out. Jerry looks at Elvis from his chair, waiting for him to actually say something in answer to what Priscilla said before Elvis just sighs and shakes his head. "Don't let him clip your wings, yeah, 'Cilla, I remember. It's different this time."

She licks at her lips slowly before humming softly. "What's different about it, baby? You're really done this time? Can't stand being in the snowstorm any more?"

"Somethin'- 'Cilla, I don't know, a'ight? I don't know! I just don't wanna be doin' this. Don't wanna be slavin' away for 'im only to realize I ain't got nothin' to show for it but a daughter I don't get to see and a body that's breakin' down faster than I can try and fix it." He know he shouldn't yell, shouldn't be like this to Priscilla but his frustration about all of this is getting to him. His regrets about everything are starting to get to him. He could be so much happier right now, he could- he could be touring the world. Even- He could still be married to Priscilla but even if he wasn't he could take Linda around the world. Hell, he could take all his girls around the world. They deserve it for what they've done for him.

He waits for Priscilla to get up, to remind him that as much as she loves him, she did not come here to be yelled at, to have him be belligerent at her, but she doesn't. Instead she turns to look at Jerry and motions to the door. "Can you give us a minute? For us to talk." A pause. "Alone."

Which is to say she didn't want to have any interruptions from him or anyone else Memphis Mafia related or even Linda. This was strictly a conversation she wanted between the pair of them. Jerry nods moving to stand up and crossing the room in a few strides. "I'll be outside, Priscilla." He nods at Elvis. "EP."

Priscilla stands up as soon as Jerry leaves the room and moves to sit on the bed, not bothering to ask for permission because what's a lack of space between someone you've been married to and as much as she is sometimes loathe to admit it but someone who knows practically every bit of you because he had a hand in helping shape it.

“Is she taking care of you still?” Priscilla as she moves to stroke his hair gently. It feels soft like she remembers. “I know you said she-”

“You know how I get, ‘Cilla. Could be takin’ care of me in the best way and I’d find a way to still mess it up.” Elvis laughs softly even though none of what he said was actually funny to either one of them.

"I do." She answers with her own huff of a laugh before her hand moves to his cheek, stroking it as he leans into her touch. “You look tired.”

Elvis doesn't speak for a moment, instead just focusing on how gentle Priscilla's touch feels, at how it feels like a cool balm against his skin and how it touches something and settles something in him that even Linda can't touch on her days that he's feeling so goddamn small. He shrugs when he finally does speak. “Stopped takin’ the amphetamines, course I’m a little tired.”

"You-" She stops herself and just looks into Elvis's blue eyes for any trace of a lie. "For Lisa?"

His answering nod is slow and rather measured as he tries to figure out if he wants to answer her beyond that. She deserves an actual answer out of him one complete with words and an acknowledgment of the exact reasons why. "Can't have her being scared of me. 'Course I did, 'Cilla. For her."

Maybe a bit for himself, if only because it meant he'd still be able to see her, still be able to do some of the things he wanted in his life even if he was confined to doing what he had been doing. His eyes don't leave Priscilla as he watches her face cycle through multiple emotions ranging from what he thinks might be pride and honest delight. For a moment he feels like he does when he sometimes calls Linda Mommy and he scrunches up his face. She finally speaks in a whisper. "Thank you."

For putting their daughter first, for doing something she asked him do so many times, for doing something she knows will help him in the long run even if the effects right now aren't pleasant.

Elvis just shrugs before leaning against Priscilla. "You gonna head t'the hotel? Don't know if I'll be any good company right now."

She opens her mouth to answer, fully intending to say no immediately before she shuts it and just looks at Elvis and sees the tiredness in his face, in his shoulders- in every part of his body. Her answer changes as she takes all of that in and processes it. "I'm tired as you, baby. I can stay here."

A hum leaves Elvis's throat before he can stop it. He doesn't need Priscilla, he's got Linda and Priscilla isn't his first love but- she's also just- she's his 'Cilla. He should tell her no but he's missed her, missed being like this. "If you wanna."

Her choice, not his for once because he's not in any state to choose anything for anyone. Her reply is simply to scoot closer to him and start to doze off. Somehow her presence- or maybe it's just whatever the hospital has him on has him dozing off before he can even really register what's happening.

Jerry leaves some time and that's the only explanation Elvis has for the paper he finds on the little table by his bed and the only explanation he has for his father looking so dejected in the chair that Jerry had formerly been in. At some point his glasses had been taken off and he nudges at Priscilla to see if she can find them as he grabs the paper and tries to focus on the words in front of him. He can't quite read it until Priscilla comes back with his glasses and there's a part of him that wishes she hadn't have brought them after he does read.

“The hell is this?” He asks his lips curling into a pure snarl as he stares down at the paper.

“A bill for services rendered by Jamboree Attractions." His father answers, pursing his lips and exhaling as he does. "The Colonel dropped it off while you were sleeping with Priscilla."

"While I was sleepin', course the goddamn toad did." Because the Colonel can't ever do anything normal, can't give him the decency he knows he deserves. His eyes zero in on one note in particular that has him sitting up and has Priscilla stopping even the vaguest attempt to sit back in the bed with him. “Gas for- I didn’t ask him to come to the hayride! How- is this thing full of bullshit like this?”

Vernon for his part doesn't look phased at the question and shrugs. "I don't know, son, that's why I'm here, I figure we can look over it and- talk to the Colonel. Make arrangements-"

Priscilla cuts him off and places a short kiss to Elvis's forehead. "I'll be at the the hotel if you need me, baby."

Elvis watches her leave and frowns as she does before turning back to his father. "We'll look over it, but unless tha' arrangement ends in me still firin' 'im, I ain't payin' attention to it. I ain't takin' him back."

There's a long drawn out sigh that comes from Vernon before he looks at Elvis and shakes his head. "You might have to." A pause. "Let me see the damage, son."

It is more damage than he thought it would be.

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

Hai hot take time

- I think some of the best enviroments come from Borderlands 1, mostly because of how lived in everything feels. In terms of general aesthetics though Borderlands 3 (and especially Eden-6) have the best ones.

- I don't really like the twins as villains narratively, but most of the hate they get is extremely over the top to cartoonish degrees. Also, Troy is only more favored than Tyreen in those kinds of criticisms because he's a man (God forbid women do anything etc etc

- Athens was more of a nothing burger than Promethea was, and I blame the fact they made it just an extension of that arc rather than its own thing

- Drawing different kinds of bodies is easy people just Dont Really Wanna

"Bl1 has the best environments"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I haven't played bl1 so I can't speak on this tbh! Sowwy!

"BL3 and especially Eden-6 has the best aesthetics"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

WELCOME TO THE BLOG OF THE BIOLOGY SPIN HAVER AND NUMBER 1 WAINLOCKPOSTER WHERE WE SALIVATE OVER THE IMMACULATE NATURAL BEAUTY OF EDEN-6 AND THE BEAUTIFUL INTERIORS OF THE JAKOBS ESTATE

"The twins get too much hate and Troy is favored too often"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

Yeah this is self explanatory. "They're not as good as Handsome Jack" nobody is. "They're annoying" that's the point.

I still do think Troy somewhat deserves the favor here bc he had actual foreshadowing towards betraying his sister and then. That never happened. Hm I fucking wonder why (i know. Gearbox Forgor). But I agree that people will say Tyreen is a Mary Sue and then ignore Troy despite the fact that canonically the cult was HIS idea and that he's her manager essentially.

"Athenas is flat and mid"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

The main reason I dislike Athenas is because it's a long fucking annoying dungeon. Long maps can be done well (see: Bloodsun Canyon) but in this case it's just a pain. I fully agree it should have been more fleshed out, and maybe split across different maps.

"Drawing different bodies is easier people are just lazy"

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

"I can't draw X people because its too hard/doesnt fit my artstyle" MENTALITY ISSUE. One day I just like. Remembered that black people have light skin palms and often bigger lips and or kinky hair. And just started drawing Alistair Hammerlock w those (i didnt do that before bc i was a wee moron) (i know he doesnt have kinky hair in canon but he has. To Me). Its not hard man. If I can do it with my cartoony ass artstyle so can you.

[kaiba-fangirl]

Even when YGO was first airing in the US, once I got internet like a year into it, I remember "Puppyshipping" being THE most popular ship. Certainly was at least one of the biggest.

The discourse was about whether it was abusive, but it was all incoherent nonsense on both sides, with varying degrees of seriousness. I might've posted 1 time on the kaiba corporation forum my own opinion: in-world, yes abusive. in-fics, usually abusive. does this mean ppl shouldn't do it? nah, whatever. I understand why the dynamic interests people. Ship and let ship. Not my ship, though. Could never be.

...cuz...

See, my brother & I -unused to anime aside from Pokemon- thought we should root for only Main Character TM, but soon after jumped on our faves. Mai & Kaiba for me. He stuck with Yugi more to annoy me, & Joey as the blonde underdog in green (like himself; & this smelly green soccer jersey he never changed or washed cuz it was his "Joey shirt" 🤮).

So for me, it personally always felt skeevy to ship my faves with my brother's faves.

I started getting over it once Joey became obsessed with Mai in Waking the Dragons, but the little-brother-protector thing id with Kaiba was still stronger. Plus my brother spent the season annoyed with Joey's pining & hating Mai for her betrayal, so that helped disconnect them there.

I didn't really get into it the slightest bit til I came to tumblr, & I was part of the convo to rename it "violetshipping" to address the unwelcome default feeling of an abuse undertone & instead focusing on their complementary parallels & contrasts (which we all casually agreed was ok, canon, ic, but shouldn't be assumed within the very ship name), around the same time my relationship with my brother began deteriorating. So even though I got him into one last hurrah with DSOD, he's basically been lost to the right.

Tumblr's format also makes it a lot easier to stumble upon lots of things that just go by on your dash. I don't even remember seeing any puppyshipping fanart in the old forums & webrings of geocities & DeviantArt & AOL image searches, cuz I never searched for it. Read a couple fics trying to give it a chance, but they always ended up grossing me out with characterizations alone.

.

But ya know what I never did? Never actually called it incest, even though that's what it felt like to me in my own unique experience. & I never said *anything* to people online who shipped it. I did talk about it with friends in school, where you would've seen my full body language reaction for "I don't wanna be rude - I'm just reeeally not into it - cuz my brother - so I don't wanna talk about it." Which was perfectly fine & accepted!

Who *did* I ship Kaiba with? Well, most in-character? No one. As in he would actively choose no one. As sexy as he was, I didn't see him being interested in pursuing any kind of relationship or sex. (It would take another several years before I ever saw the term "asexual," to which my first reaction was, Oh! Like Kaiba!

I've used the joke of shipping him with money.

But once I found Silentshipping, I was hooked. They had interacted ONCE when Serenity yelled at him, & he was just like "Uhh..." where if it were a Disney movie, that'd be where he fell in love but hadn't realized it yet. Then they NEVER interacted again. Serenity hardly had much of a personality beyond "nice." It was a perfect blank slate to make anything up! & she was perfectly generic for girls to project onto, without fear of being called a self-insert or Mary Sue -the biggest worries of the time.

But I also loved how it connected Joey & Kaiba as, usually, either eventually or at least effectively, brothers-in-law, still pitted against each other. To me, it was sooo much better than actually putting them together.

.

It is sooo easy to not call everything "incest" that merely feels like brothers to you. It is sooo easy to not harass others for what they create, especially when they purposely help keep away anything you may not wanna see.