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magics-neptunes-things · 9 months

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Hello everyone!

Before reading this chapter, I would like to point out that what is written here is fiction. Of course no one except Leah and Jordan really know what happened between them and I don't pretend at all to know the truth… No need to send me messages, not necessarily nice in fact, to tell me. And of course, there is no hate here towards Jordan.

Anyway, this chapter is kind of sweat I think and to be honest I didn't know where to stop. The next one while be a little more dark, so enjoy this one :P

In the meantime I wish you a good reading, don't hesitate to leave comments or likes, it’s really encouraging and I love read them.

TW: Angst, lot of fluff I think

PART 1 I PART 2 I PART 4 I PART 5 I PART 6 | PART 7

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The London rain has been falling on your head for many minutes when you finally decide to go ring at Leah’s door. Lights are on despite the fact that it’s almost midnight and a few seconds after ringing you realize that you will perhaps pass for a burglar or scare her. When nobody comes to answer you, seems to become a habit, you knock against the front door with your fist, so that you can make yourself heard if she’s upstairs. "Leah?" After a few seconds you hear footsteps coming behind the door and you step back from a step not to find yourself too close to her when she opens the door. Frowned, hair down and dressed in a gray Nike outfit, Leah doesn’t mask her surprise to find yourself in front of her. But before you have time to say anything, Leah closes the door in your face. You didn’t see that one coming. "What the..." you mumble and knock on the door again. "Get out of there Y/N" Leah’s voice comes to you muffled because of the front door, but if you can hear her, it probably means it’s not very far right? You go up the stairs and lean against the front door, so that she can hear you perfectly. "I just want to talk. Please" you add when she doesn’t answer you. But it’s still silence that answers you and you knock again at the door while calling her. This time Leah says nothing and you automatically go down steps backwards, so that you can look at the facade of the building. You don’t see Leah’s silhouette anywhere behind a window, which means she’s either back in her living room or she’s still behind the door. Anyway, she doesn’t seem to want to talk to you. You are disappointed, you can’t pretend otherwise. But maybe you should have prepared yourself for this possibility.

Leah seems to resent you very much and you understand her perfectly. To hide nothing, you also resent yourself. You shouldn’t have let your ex settle into your head at the worst time, hurting Leah at the same time when she’s probably the top one in the top three people you think of during the day.

You mechanically wipe the rain on your face and sigh softly as you return to your car. You don’t see yourself trying to climb the hedge hiding the garden to look at the living room through the window, it’s a little too intrusive in your eyes. But as you open your car door, you suddenly change your mind. It’s leaking and leaving that twice took you away from Leah and it’s out of question that it happens a third time.

From behind her window curtain however, Leah quietly watched you leave her house’s steps, relieved and disappointed at the same time. She went back to her couch when she saw you go back to your car. So she was very far from expecting to hear you knock again at the door, with more strength and determination than until now. Leah jumps and sighs when she hears your voice rising again, urging her to open you.

"Fuck off" Leah screams from her couch.

"Not until I talk to you" you answer and stop knocking on the door.

When silence answers you again, you hold a sigh and decide instead to speak again.

"I’m not leaving until we talk, Leah."

"Stay and I call the cops."

"Try me" you answer with determination.

Since she doesn’t answer you again, you sit on her doormat, your back leaning against the front door. You are half sheltered from the rain by a small ledge but you decide that you don’t give a shit. The bad news, however, is that the rain is cold, which starts to numb your fingers after about thirty minutes. The good news is that despite her threat, Leah doesn’t seem to have called the police.

You have lost track of time when you hear the door gently opening behind you, bringing a wave of heat and light on you. You’ve had plenty of time to get lost in your thoughts, taking you back to a gloomy time of late adolescence in Norway. But the difficult images quickly fade when your eyes rise on Leah’s face.

She remains silent and a few moments pass before she opens the door bigger and steps back, offering you to join her inside. You hurry in, in case she decides to change her mind.

"Thanks"

You shiver when you get rid of your shoes to not dirty and soak Leah’s house, but you decide to push these sensations into a corner of your head to face the blonde. The look stern and the clenched jaw, she observes you while always keeping silence.

"Above all I wanted to apologize" you start while looking at her, her piercing blue eyes making difficult to sustain her gaze. But you do. "I was stupid to do what I did, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I should have done it differently and— I don’t know. At least I shouldn’t have left like I did."

You don’t know which sentence triggered this, but the coldness of Leah’s eyes seems to have descended into her voice when she finally speaks.

"You could have chosen another explanation to make me understand that you are not interested in me"

"It’s not that I’m not interested" you answer, slightly frowning in your turn.

You look at her, hesitating for a few seconds. You are not the type to give yourself easily on your emotions or the feelings you have, especially to the person concerned. But you know that if you don’t do it now, any possibility between you and Leah will no longer exist. This is your last chance.

"The truth is, I’m too interested in you. And it scares me."

Even though you found an observation point somewhere above Leah’s shoulder and your voice is just a whisper, you know that Leah heard what you just said perfectly. There is no noise around you, no TV on and the sound of passing cars is not heard through the windows.

"Do you remember what I told you about Jordan when we talked on your balcony?"

The question makes you turn your attention to her and you feel your heart sinking. You remember it perfectly and you quickly make the connection with your own behavior.

"You told me she was just gone" you whisper without taking your eyes off her. "I'm sorry."

Despite Leah’s different negative emotions right now, she seems relieved to see that you quickly understand what she wanted you to realize. You feel like shit. It’s a good thing you didn’t realize this before, because you probably wouldn’t even come knocking on her door to try to reconcile.

"Let me make it up to you?"

"How?"

Leah seems skeptical and you can understand why. You haven’t yet all the perfectly established plans in your head when you answer, biting your lower lip. But you shoot your shot.

"One date, just you and me. If you have a good time, I get a second."

You feel like you’re hearing Leah’s boiling brain as she thinks and you’re more or less patiently waiting for her answer. No, actually you’re so nervous you’re holding back from throwing yourself at her feet to beg her.

"What if I have a bad time?"

"You can leave when you want" you answer, shrugging.

Leah looks at you thoughtfully a few more moments before she sighs and uncross her arms, letting them fall on either side of her body.

"Okay. But this is your last chance."

********

"Less, I think I’m gonna throw up" you mumble in your phone, waiting for Leah to get out of her house.

"Relax, I’m sure you’ll be fine."

Alessia’s soothing and sweet voice calms you down a bit and that’s especially why you called her instead of someone else. Leila would probably have laughed at you, Laia would have teased you… And Ingrid is currently playing somewhere on a Spanish pitch, winning another game with Barcelona.

Preparing this date was a real headache for you who doesn’t know London particularly well, while Leah grew up there and probably knows the city like the back of her hand. Not to mention that you didn’t give yourself much time to prepare it, but in your defense you were afraid that Leah would change her mind and suddenly refuse to accompany you somewhere. You tried to book a table at "Clos Maggiore" which is apparently known to be the most romantic restaurant in London, but the waiting list is longer than your arm.

You googled things like "Romantic Date Ideas in London" before you realized all these places were probably full of people and tourists. And you don’t particularly want to end up with fifty other people in a London Eye bubble.

"Will you let me know how it went?" asks Alessia, bringing you back to earth.

"Yeah" you just answer nervously. "She's here, I hang up now Less"

"Okay. Talk to you later"

"Bye"

You hang up when Leah locks her door and turns to you. Luckily, the sky is clear today. You smile at the blonde, briefly wondering how to greet her before deciding to kiss her cheek. She lets you and you hurry to open her door to get her into your car.

"Where are we going?" Leah asks, watching the street pass by.

"You’ll see" you answer with an small smile.

Despite your nervousness, you try to launch a topic of conversation that will allow you to relax the atmosphere a little. You get it by passing a tourist spot in London, leading Leah to tell you some of the memories she may have had through the years.

During your conversations, you learned that she was also interested in painting. So, when you learned that a temporary exhibition of a painter you talles about was being organized over the next two weeks, you didn’t hesitate long. It was like it was made on purpose. The tickets being limited, you were lucky enough to have two for you and Leah.

Judging by the blonde’s smile when she finds herself face to face with the poster of the exhibition, you can tell you had a good idea. In fact, she doesn’t hesitate to smile at you.

"Not bad"

You smile back, deeply relieved. And you will be even more so when you see that the conversations are relaxing more and more between you, having very often the same vision of the paitings presented to you. You slightly jump when feeling Leah’s hand on your arm to train towards the next painting at some point in the evening, but you quickly recover. This obviously didn’t escape Leah however.

It’s only two hours later that you come out to see that the night has enveloped London.

"Are you hungry?" You ask Leah when you turn to her.

"I am, I am."

"Perfect. Come on."

This time it’s you who grab her arm to train her in the direction of your car. Leah enters without flinching, questioning you about your Grandfather during the journey. She apparently didn’t forget that it was him who introduced you to the painting’s world.

You stop your car a bit on the heights of London, a place that apparently offers a breathtaking view of the city. And that’s true.

You planned to sit in the trunk of your car if the weather was bad, but since it’s rather clear, you take out a blanket and the picnic basket that you prepared in the afternoon. It’s nothing special, but you just wanted to do things right tonight.

After eating your sandwiches - ham for Leah naturally - you lie down to observe the stars. One of your hands went under your head, but the second one is between you and Leah. As you talk, you gently caress Leah’s fingers with yours. Realizing that she doesn’t move, you take your courage with both hands to intertwine them, sighing of relief when you feel that Leah start stroking your hand with her thumb.

Under the pretext of hearing her better, you put yourself on your side, although in truth it’s mainly to be able to better look at her. Even if you suspected it, the realization hits you hard at this moment. You are deeply in love with Leah. Her blond hair flying in the wind, her blue eyes, her smile, her laughter and even the wrinkles that appear on her face when she laughs and smiles.

After midnight, you park your car in the covered parking lot of your building. You quickly put your things in your apartment, before crossing the hallway and going to Alessia’s. The blonde is already installed in her bed when you enter her room to let you fall next to her, slipping under the covers.

"So?" she asks while resting her phone on the bed.

"I got a second date" you answer, grinning.

********

For the second date, you decided to take Leah to a restaurant that just opened, located right between your two homes. What attracted you is that the tables are separated from each other by curtains, offering you the necessary privacy. After that evening, Leah resumed her normal hours of therapy and training, making you cross paths again on a daily basis.

On the third date, when you take her home, Leah offers to extend the evening by coming to drink something at her place. Of course, you agree. Every extra second you spend with her is a little extra. You kept Alessia, Ingrid, Laia and Leila up to date on your progress about Leah and you. If Leila asked you to be careful, Ingrid advised you to listen to your hunches. And you’re pretty sure Leah enjoys your time together as much as you do, so you continue.

There are physical touches between the two of you, based on intertwined hands or timid strokes, but nothing more for the moment. Which is ok since you want to take your time with her.

"What do you want to drink?" Leah asks as she walks into her kitchen.

"Same thing as you"

Leah comes back with two beers, sitting next to you on the couch to turn on the television. It quickly turns out to be just a background noise, Leah and you finding yourself again caught in a conversation. If these dates have taught you anything, it’s how well you get along.

"I was wondering something" Leah said after you laughed in tears at an anecdote about the blonde’s childhood.

"Tell me?" you answer with a smile, keeping your eyes on her.

"At the party in your apartment, at your stupid drinking game, you said you had three girls"

"Mh. Four now" you precise, leaning your gaze on her, thinking about your kiss.

Leah smiles and rolls her eyes before continuing.

"Were you talking about being in a relationship with her? Because so far you’ve only mentioned your ex from Norway and Alina"

If you shiver when you hear about your first girlfriend, you slap yourself mentally to focus on Leah’s question.

"Oh no, I’ve only been in a relationship with both of them. Why?"

"I was wondering if you’ve been in a relationship with one of your teammates in Manchester."

"Oh, no, not at all. The third person was before Alina. The tattooist who tattooed me in the back."

An amused laugh escapes from Leah hearing this information and you can only smile back.

"This is the most cliché thing I’ve ever heard. You slept with your tattooist?" Leah keeps laughing.

"What? She was so sweat and tender and kind of hot" you defend yourself by shrugging your shoulders, an amused smile always displayed on your face.

"So cliché"

Leah’s answer makes you laugh again as Leah was always laughing, before a little silence settles between you.

"Was she hotter than me?"

Leah’s question, posed with an arched eyebrow and her famouse smirke makes you smile. You have no hesitation in the answer you give her.

"No one is sexier than you"

You don’t know if that’s the answer Leah was looking for, but the way she looked at you after that would probably be enough to knock you over. Instead, you gently slide your fingers across her face. You know what this moment will lead you to, but you nevertheless take the time to cross her eyes again in search of a consent on her part. She made no attempt to stop you, looking at you like you’re the only thing that’s matter. Leah never tries to kiss you again and you’re convinced it’s because of the two times you’ve pushed her away. So it makes sense that you take the first step this time.

And this time, when you lips connect, it feels different. Good different. Naturally just as pleasant and ennobling as the first times, but there is no alcohol abuse, no one around you or anything that would prevent you from enjoying this kiss.

It’s just you and Leah.

The blonde soon answers your kiss, her hands sliding on your body to bring you closer to her. First tender and delicate, your embrace becomes more passionate and deep when the kisses are chained. You don't want to stop, these sensations that you have never experienced until now quickly becoming addictive.

It’s Leah who stops first this time, a few minutes after lying on her couch to have better access to you.

"We have to stop now, or we’re going to pass the Take it slow that we fixed"

You make a pouty face when you hear her, making her laugh gently before kissing your cheek. But you know that’s the truth.

"You’re right" you sigh softly. "I better go"

"You’d better" confirms Leah without moving.

In truth, you need several more minutes and kisses to finally get off each other. Leah gently walks you to the front door and even to your car. The street is deserted but you prefer not to tempt the devil by kissing her one last time.

"Hey Y/N?" said Leah, leaning over your window when you start your car. "Next date is on me."

********

When the Christmas holidays arrive, you and Leah continued to share moments just for the two of you, exchanging many kisses during those moments, but never anything more. It has almost arrives several times, but one of you has always managed to find reason quickly enough. You don’t really know what signal you both expect, but you’re still on the same page and that’s all that matters. You both want your first time to be perfect.

Your bond and what’s going on between you is hard to hide in everyday life, so most of your teammates know. Alessia has always been your confidante about Leah anyway, and so has Lia on the blonde side. Manuela, Kyra and Katie are having fun teasing you, but even if you act like it annoys you, it’s not really the case. You can’t get mad at something that makes you happy like you’ve never been before.

Christmas is coming, it’s time for you to go back to Norway and find your family. You first thought about taking an Uber to the airport, before Leah scoled you and said it was her job to take you there. You took the time to help Alessia puts her impressive mountain of suitcases in her car before she left for the east of England with her family, before taking the road to the airport.

You are a little sad to be separate with Leah to be truth, her daily closeness being something you were more than used to. For her part, the blonde will spend her holidays with her family, as usual. But she also seems elsewhere during the trip, a silence settling in her car.

After checking in your luggage, you wait as long as possible before passing the security, just to extend your time with Leah. You didn’t put a label on your relationship, neither of the two having asked the other officially if she wanted to be her girlfriend.

But when it’s time for you to part with Leah if you don’t want to miss your plane, the hug you exchange leaves no doubt to the people around you. You smile softly as you feel Leah burying her face in your neck and hair, the same gesture she had the times she woke up after you fall asleep together.

"Be good while I’m gone, Williamson" you whisper, your hands fondling her back tenderly.

"I’m going to spend Christmas disguised as a camel. Can’t be any wiser"

You laugh when you hear her answer you, her voice muffled by your hair. You thought you never laughs so much when Leah told you about her idea of dressing up with her brother for their family reunion but it was before you saw the dressing up in itself. You feel Leah smile against your skin as she hears you and she ends up backing her forehead against yours.

"You too, be wise"

"Always" you smile maliciously.

Leah rolls with her eyes amused, but you feel like there’s something else. You just have to lean your head slightly to the side and question her with your eyes to get her to confides in you. God how much you like the ease of communication you both fell into.

"You’re not planning on going to a tattoo parlor, are you?"

You quickly understand what it is, Leah asked you several questions about this one night story with the tattoo artist. You don’t know why she seems more intrigued by this story than the one you had with your first girlfriend, you sometimes wonder if she realized that this is a particularly sensitive subject that you don’t feel ready to discuss with her yet.

"No" you smile softly as you caress her face. "The only drawings I might have on my skin are those of my little cousins"

"Perfect" mumbles Leah, before she pulls you against her to kiss you. You are not the type to have this kind of behavior in public, but it’s an exceptional event. So you respond to her kiss, putting your hands around her neck. You wish you could add something like "I’m yours" but you feel like it’s too soon. Yet you don’t see how you could look at someone else since you have her.

******** You promised to call once a day during your absence, but it quickly turns into several calls, usually one in the morning and one at the end of the day before you fall asleep. Not to mention the many messages exchanged, causing many teasing from your family. Even if you blush every time, you don’t deny, what would you? You’ve always been good at hiding things, but you don’t want to hide something that makes you so happy. You had the right to be the first to see Leah and Jacob dressed as camels and you sent Leah the tattoos your cousins drew with their pens on your arms. You also took advantage of being there at the same time as Ingrid to spend a day with her, for the first time both of them in a very long time. Usually Mapi is around, but with her injury it was impossible for her to fly. This didn’t stop you from doing a FaceTime with her while waiting for your lunch order. She also teased you about your relationship with Leah, pretending you couldn’t choose worse than that. You answered her by threatening to forbid Ingrid to see her again and then the three of you joked about a vacation idea for the four of you. Despite the fact that you miss Leah a little more every day, you have to admit to having a really good time. To see your parents again, to become their little girl again is pleasant to you. To be pampered like a child of eight years by your mother too.

But, when your plane starts its descent on London after a trip of several hours, you are more than happy to find your daily life. This holiday was a pleasant parenthesis to allow you to find yourself a little and confirm some things that you already knew. The strength of your feelings for Leah in particular, the pleasure of finding your teammates became your friends and also the lack of playing football. You tried hard to follow the holiday practices concocted by the staff, unlike some of your teammates. You can’t help but laugh when Manuela looks away guiltily when Jonas asks if everyone has respected their schedule.

Leah is waiting for you outside the airport, with a bouquet of flowers and her beautiful smile. Without really thinking, you throw yourself in her arms and put your lips on hers to seal your reunion. Surprised by your outpouring, Leah steps back a few steps but smiles against your lips as she hugs you.

"Hum. Meet my brother" she smirkes when you detach yourself from her.

The boy smiles at you, amused, and you blush like a tomato before greeting him in your turn. Needless to say, you absolutely didn’t notice him. He insists on carrying your suitcases to their car, Leah explaining to you on the way why she ends up with a bouquet of camellias instead of red roses as she had wanted in the first place. A vague story of season flowers that you listen to with fun, resisting somehow the desire to stick you against her while you walk.

So that you can get to know her brother, Leah makes you sit in the front seat of the car while she sits in the back, her brother taking the wheel. You gladly answer his questions about your native country before asking him about Australia.

You went there during the World Cup, but living there must be different. It quickly becomes apparent that having a conversation with Jacob is as easy as if you had known each other for a long time. When he drops you at your apartment, he teases both to stay wise which is worth an hit on the shoulder from Leah.

Back in your apartment, you smile while finding the familiar smell and your things deposited where they should be. Leah closes the door behind you and puts her arms around your waist, laying a kiss in your neck that makes you shiver.

"Hi" she whispers and you hear her smile.

"Hi" you answer back after turning in her arms.

You wish you could tell her how much you missed her, but your words quickly get stuck in your throat when her nose slips over yours. You will probably never get used to the closeness of her face with yours and the ease with which you can lose yourself in her eyes.

The kiss you exchange right after is different from the others. It certainly celebrates your reunion, but there is more than that. When it ends with your lack of air, the way you look at the other makes you understand that it’s now. The good time. You have no doubt when you drag Leah into your room and even less when she closes the door behind you.

#woso x reader #woso imagine #leah williamson #leah williamson x reader #leah williamson imagine

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saturnerens · 4 months

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me doing this whole thing rn bc im bored

1) WHIZZERRRRRR

2) i love all of them but if i had to choose id say mendel bc hes a freakkk

3) None theyre all perfect

4) Jason!!! Love jason sm

5) Marvin and Whizzer

6) the games i play

7) there is not One bad falsettos song im so srs

8) idk my all time fave but i love the baseball game

9) year of the child is funny as hell (listening to it as i type this) also everyone hates his parents (fucking mendels cartwheel Sends me every time)

10) what would i do is Instant mental breakdown

11) marv of course!

12) MORE WHIZZER IN ACT 2

13) ?????? Idk

14) a day in falsettoland looks super fun

15) Whizzer but Realistically id prob be like dr charlotte or something and Super realistic outcome: I wouldnt be casted Lol

16) Whizzer ofc

17) Again whizzer—(r y’all noticing a pattern) I would Loveeee to know more ab whizzers backstory

18) marvin growing up !

19) I cant sing for Shittttt

20) Andrew and Christian my fave men ever honorable mentions to everyone else tho Bc the whole cast is incredible

21) i showed my best friend TOFL and it worked soooo

22) i Love act 2 but act 1 holds a special place in my heart

23) Anything whizzer related im his #1 defender

24) kevin price rings marvins doorbell and converts him to mormonism ??? Ik yall see the vision /j

25) Marvin……….. Unfortunately

26) Whizzer and jason Ohhhh they make me die also marvin and the lesbians

27) “if i could hold you, for one hour more”

28) when marvin hits trina Ohhh i get so mad

29) that one pic of all the guys with matching jordans Yall know the one

30) falsettos is the best musical ever Yuppppperrrrr

#falsettos #falsettos 2016 #falsettos musical

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the-sinful-voice-witch · 19 days

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MY REASONS TO LOVE💜 STEPHANIE BROWN

All in purple because is my favorite color and it's her color 💜:

1.She is literally the Batfamily Sweetheart, a bubbly chatty sunshine (even more than Dick Grayson) and characters like this tend to have a very high emotional intelligence due to be very open with their own feelings and that's something the Bats really need because they need to balance their EMOness and seriousness and that doesn't mean she can't take things seriously. It's just a very nice contrast, I wish she stayed longer as Robin because that brightness was all Robin was about.

2.She has the advantage of being easily underestimated which ironically is something that the first Robin also used by wearing a goofy outfit, Dick Grayson own words: "it makes bad guys think I'm just some goofy kid", "Their understimation gives me an extra element of surprise" and this strategy actually works most of the time. Being underestimated is a strong weapon and she should embrace it and take advantage of it.

3.Mentioned by two (maybe more but I didn't find it) characters: Dinah Lance and Damian Wayne, they described Stephanie as BRAVE, specifically Dinah said when she thought she was dead that she was endlessly brave and heartbreakingly hopeful (I'm literally crying, we were robbed of more time of them together) and Damian stated the other Robin's qualities and said that Stephanie is the bravest Robin and also in the time they first met Stephanie explained to him that sometimes things weren't always about vengeance but about hope and also her bravery and unbreakable spirit is seen when she fought off Scarecrow fear toxin and kicked his ass.

4. She was the first Batkid that became a vigilante without any influence from Batman and became Spoiler with the whole purpose of messing with her villain dad evil deeds. (I'm kind of upset they made her later became obsessed with pleasing Batman and the whole Batfamily when she started so independent from them, it was harder to see how much they rejected her)

5. If I didn't love so much the color purple I would totally demand the green corps to grant her a green lantern ring because I think this girl willpower is deserves one, I have to give it to the writers who undoubtedly hated her, because by insisting so adamantly in making all the fucking family of Bats being mean to her, discouraging her, intensely reject her, knocking her unconscious so she doesn't bother them... They made a character with an iron willpower, she didn't yield, they couldn't stop her... They could only stop her killing her and they still had to bring her back. I once saw her, Damian and Babs wearing rings but she was wearing the blue ring of hope... It also fits her perfectly anyway I bet Hal Jordan would like her because of how she gets on Batman's nerves and would take her under his wing just to spite him.

6. She brought light to the Batgirls, first said by Cassandra: Stephanie was the only one who was able to make her feel like a normal girl and enjoy things outside the vigilante life and she also helped Babs who became bitter after having to use a wheelchair, Cassandra as Batgirl is an excellent crime fighter but their backgrounds were too different but Stephanie reminded Babs about herself and somehow Stephanie's hope gave Barbara hope as well.

7. Told by Bruce and Cassandra, she is unpredictable, she always turns the tables in the way you least expected.

#batman #the batman #dc spoiler #dc universe #dc #dcu #dc robin #robin #batgirl #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #bruce wayne #jaysteph

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starlingflight · 7 months

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Ginniversary Drabble 6

Prompt - N42 - it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife

AO3 or read below:

Is The Chosen One Choosing Marriage?

As famous witch and occasional novelist Jane Austen said, ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’, and today it appears even the Wizarding World’s most eligible saviour is not exempt from the basic laws of nature as Ginny Weasley, Holyhead Harpies star Chaser, and long-time girlfriend of Harry Potter, Auror and defeater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, steps out bearing a new, and rather eye-catching piece of jewellery.

Weasley, 20, set tongues wagging as she left the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade late last night accompanied by longtime friends, esteemed Auror, Neville Longbottom, and lauded Magizoologist, Luna Lovegood; sporting a ruby and diamond ring which could be seen from across the street, and left none but the most oblivious in any doubt as to the size of Potter’s fortune [pictures page 4].

Sources from within the Hogsmeade establishment say that Weasley and friends were seen enjoying a round of drinks, over which she flaunted the ring for the admiration of her companions, accepting enthusiastic congratulations, and a hug from Longbottom that some suggest may have been too familiar.

There was no sign of the illustrious Mr Potter in attendance, but this can come as no surprise as sightings of the couple together outside of Weasley’s matches are rare, leading many rather optimistic readers, to speculate on several occasions previously that the pair had parted ways.

In an interview with popular wireless host, Lee Jordan, last year Weasley stated, “we’re not concerned with the headlines. As I’ve said to my brothers on many occasions, mine and Harry’s relationship is between us, and it’s no one else’s business… Now, let’s talk about Quidditch.”

Potter and Weasley were first officially spotted together in the Summer of 1998 [pictures page 5], though sources from their Hogwarts days advise the relationship has been going much longer than that [full relationship timeline, page 6].

“Weasley got her claws in him back in our fifth year,” said Romilda Vane, former classmate of Ginny Weasley. “She still had a boyfriend when she snogged Potter in front of the whole common room. It was quite pathetic actually.”

Other sources have debunked the suggestion that there was overlap between the beginning of Potter and Weasley’s relationship, and any of her previous romantic partners, of which there were apparently many.

Dean Thomas, up-and-coming artist, and one such conquest, has stated, “I’m only going to answer this once, Ginny and I were over before anything happened with her and Harry. We weren’t right for each other, we both knew it, and we’re both now with the people we’re meant to be with. We remain good friends, and, for the love of Merlin, I would like to be excluded from this narrative.”

We will, of course, let our readers draw their own conclusions.

Despite the rumours that abound about the couple's sordid past, the future apparently looks bright for Potter and Weasley, though no official statement has been forthcoming from the supposedly happy couple. When asked for comment, both Weasley’s and Potter’s representation declined to give one, leaving us here at Witch Weekly no choice but to speculate on if, and when, the pair will make it down the aisle.

#drabble #harry x ginny #hinny #witch weekly

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th30ra3k3n · 1 year

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10 ships and lyrics you associate with them

(these are all romantic but you can do any)

1. theo and liam

“don’t know if i hate you or if i wanna date you, put you in a bodybag instead of my bed” (bodybag by chloe moriondo)

2. inej and kaz

“and we will never go back to that bloodshed crimson clover, uh huh, the worst was over. my hand was the one you reached for all throughout the great war” (the great war by taylor swift)

3. clarke and lexa

“and baby, for you i would fall from grace just to touch your face. if you walk away, i’d beg you on my knees to stay” (don’t blame me by taylor swift)

4. sam and bucky

“at the same time i wanna hug you, i wanna wrap my hands around your neck. you’re an asshole but i love you” (true love by pink)

5. dean and cas

“somewhere in the multiverse, there’s a you and me that works” (multiverse by maya manuela)

6. jordan and layla

“i like shiny things but i’d marry you with paper rings. uh huh, that’s right. darling, you’re the one i want” (paper rings by taylor swift)

7. merlin and arthur

“and i know i make the same mistakes every time, bridges burned, i never learn. at least i did one thing right, i did one thing right. i’m laughing with my lover, making forts under covers. trust him like a brother, yeah you know i did one thing right. starry eyes sparking up my darkest night” (call it what you want by taylor swift)

8. steve and eddie

“and i don’t want the world to see me ‘cause i don’t think that’s they’d understand. when everything’s made to be broken, i just want you to know who i am” (iris by goo goo dolls)

9. tara and darcy

“please don’t say you love me ‘cause i might not say it back. doesn’t mean my heart’s not skipping when you look at me like that” (please don’t say you love me by gabrielle ann aplin)

10. tao and elle

“i don’t wanna look at anything else now that i saw you. and i don’t wanna think of anything else now that i’ve thought of you. i’ve been sleeping so long in a twenty year dark night, but now i see daylight. i only see daylight” (daylight by taylor swift)

your turn: @babygiriraeken @bendystrah @luckyvd @phantomraeken @idkthisusernameistken @thiamsxbitch @outcastpack @disasterpenguin @raekensarcher @sydney-winchester

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youngcigarsmokingguys · 10 months

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It was a cigar that Jordan had wanted for so long. He was spending a few weeks with his Aunt and Uncle while his folks were on a cruise in Europe. His parents had invited him along, but the thought of being stuck visiting cathedral after cathedral with old people didn’t appeal to him in the slightest. Plus Jordan loved spending time with his Uncle Andy specifically. His Aunt Amy was great but she was kind of a prude and always chided his Uncle Andy for cussing, telling off color jokes, or smoking cigars around Jordan. Jordan wanted to tell his Aunt to shut up because he secretly loved when his big, beefy, bearded Uncle would smoke and just be himself. Andy was one of the only people in his life who didn’t treat him like a kid. Jordan loved spending time with his Uncle driving around his acreage in his beat up old truck as his Uncle would smoke a cigar or drink a beer. He loved that he never took down the naked woman calendars he had in the shop when Jordan would come visit. Now that Jordan was older his Uncle would even give him a beer whenever he had one and they were alone. Andy had noticed his Nephews curiosity whenever he would smoke a stogie. He empathized with the him as he had also became fascinated with cigars in his teens. He took the chance to teach his nephew how to correctly cut, toast, and light a cigar. He even gave him a few puffs off of his occasionally. This weekend he and his wife were going to an away football game with friends. Andy thought this was the perfect time to reward his young Nephew for all of his help at the farm. When Jordan came in from doing chores his Aunt and Uncle were already gone. On his bed was a brown paper bag with his name written on it. He recognized his Uncles penmanship. Inside he was thrilled to find a 6 pack of beer, a variety of 6 large ring cigars, a brand new cutter, torch lighter and a note that said “Thanks for your help. I want you to have a great weekend. Don’t smoke these inside. Also the here is the code to disable the adult content blocker on the wifi. Be sure to turn it back on before we get home or your Aunt will freak. When you get home hide these from your folks and you didn’t get them from me. 😉 Andy”. Jordan was instantly hard sharing this secret with his bearish Uncle made him feel like a man.

#young cigar #cigar boys #cigar cub

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jackiequick · 5 months

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'Cause I Can See You Waiting | TOP GUN AU ✈️ 🩺

Top Gun Maverick AU Series

Pairing: Captain Nicolás 'Wraith' Martín x Nurse Jordan 'Echo' Walker

Summary: What happens when you accidentally crash and burn a little too hard? Will you get back up or let fate step in to say something else?

Ship: Grumpy x Sunshine (Ghostly Echo)

Characters mentioned: Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, Hazel 'Daredevil' Kazansky, and Wraith's students

Notes: Title is inspired by Taylor Swift 'I can see you', also Top Gun Summer 2024 return idk

Timeline: Post-Top Gun Maverick

---

As the warm spring sun bathes the sprawling expanse of North Island Naval Air Station in golden light, a gentle breeze carries the scent of saltwater and blossoming flowers through the air.

The airfield buzzes with activity, the distant roar of jet engines mingling with the laughter and camaraderie of pilots and crew preparing for another day of training.

Day in and day out, pilots in and out of commission. Jordan ‘Echo’ walker, one of North Island’s finest nurses able almost has seen it all. 10 years of this job. The smooth-talking pilots to the shy wannabes.

She loves her job, don’t get her wrong, especially her regular visitors being Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell himself. But sometimes she needed a break from those guys to just breath and not have the 86’ crew breathing down her neck.

Today, it was supposed to be a simple Monday.

No calls of active duty, no injuries too bad that they can’t handle, no happy go-lucky flyboys to kick out of the waiting room. Just her ringing in patients, cleaning up tiny wounds and sending doctors to rooms for surgery.

But then again, when does Jordan ever get what she wants?

And like always she was right.

As in rolled Pete Mitchell again this week. Sometimes she wonders if Maverick does it on purpose just to see her facial expressions change the moment he walks into the room as he gives her a classic half crook grin.

In this case, he was rolled into the room as other nurses helped him off one wheelchair to the bed. She crossed her arms and sighed chuckling to herself as Maverick shrugged with the most innocent look on his face.

“What?” He asked, with a half grin despite his face hurting.

“It’s 6 in the morning, that’s what!” She exclaimed, rolling onto her chair slapping on her gloves to meet his face.

“Gentle this time. I got a date.”

“With who?”

“I’ll tell you on Monday.”

“It is Monday.”

“..Ohh! I’ll tell you on Wednesday then.”

“You goof. How hard did you hit your head?”

Maverick explained how him and another test pilot, a buddy of his, were trying out a few new jets. They were rejuvenated to do it. There were some ace planes that the military wanted them to try out, it was supposed to be set for Monday afternoon but Maverick couldn’t wait too long.

As he went yesterday afternoon, on Sunday, to get his suit, vitals and training prepared for the flying he was meant to do. His pal was dragged into the mess as well. He wanted to wait for Monday to do so, but then he realized he might as well get it over with.

Maverick said it felt like a blur, one minutes they were both in the cockpits pushing their limits and then the they risking to go mock 10, reaching the levels of 6Gs and sustainable the face to fatal damage. Most of us can withstand up to 4-6G.

However if it wasn’t his pal, who he mentioned to be named Wraith, he would’ve stayed in the aircraft. Mav wanted to keep going but Wraith streaked a couple of switches, leading the both men to eject from their shared aircraft and into the air. The two were lost for a couple in another state, until air support found them. Cain wanted a word with Maverick and Wraith, but Iceman and Silder stepped into to cover them as soon as possible.

Which now led them here to the medical wing, the clinic where Jordan worked at.

Maverick went on tell her about the situation at hand and how Ice was able to help reduce it, as Jordan let out a few laugh. It was Mav’s crazy antic that lighten up her days more than once in her lifetime. It also helped that Maverick tended to playfully flirt with her, despite being the one who was usually injured here.

~~~

However the banter was cut short as the muttered sounds of shouting and grunts came from the other room. She looked over her shoulder confused, as Maverick shrugged guessing it was his buddy having a hard time dealing with the medical staff.

It was moment like this, Jordana wishes she took a week off, sometimes her patients could be so difficult. She excuse herself from Pete’s room, requesting another nurse to take over while she goes to check up on the other patient.

It took her a few moments but she found the room next door, she expected some young cocky snarky and soft around the edges pilot some of kind. But instead, her eyes locked onto a pair of dark chocolate brown eyes that held a grit and muddy demeanor to them. He met her gaze with a soften, almost surprise look.

He was met with a pair of brown eyes, long brown hair that had more body than length, shiny tan skin. She was wearing a pair of large hoop earrings, a necklace with a tiny cross on it, light makeup that made her demeanor seem light yet no nonsense, and dark blue scrubs to match.

Captain Wraith Martin wouldn’t admit it but she was pretty. He figured she was probably some newbie nurse with no experience and a shiny puppy-like attuned way of thinking. Or that’s at least what he heard Maverick say about the nurses here, as he was a regular at here like it was a damn fast food restaurant of some kind.

The only reason why he is here was because he decided to listen to Pete’s idea on doing the test drive early, that way starting Monday morning they had less shit to do. Well look where that got him! He was sitting on a bed in the medical wing with cuts, bruises and a giant ass headache, after ejecting out of a plane and landing in the middle of Nevada.

What made it worse was that theses nurses and doctors had no business of touching him, despite him telling them that he was fine. He didn’t need any X-Ray or some useless crap like that. Yes he was in pain, he was sore and extremely tired for god’s sakes but he knew popping a few Advil and going to rest, would reduce his discomfort.

And here stood some young brunette nurse who was probably unqualified entering his room like—

He was taken out of his thoughts he was heard the nurse talking over the doctors and other nurses to get out of the room. That she would handle it. She was practically pushing them out the door, before turning around to face him wearing a half smile, pushing hair out of her face. He was silently impressed by her actions.

She picked up the clipboard to skim quickly his name and nodded.

She fixed the collar of her dark blue scrubs, and said, “Hi.”

“Hi.” He grumbled back, with a half smile that didn’t last long, “Look, baby, I know you mean well but I am fine.”

“You don’t look fine. According to my records, you were ejected from a plane.”

“Don’t pilots come and go here, being all ejected at one point.”

“Yeah but you were flying with Maverick. It’s a miracle you survived.”

“Yup. I did. Just give a order to take some medication and I’ll be out of your way.”

“I’m sorry. But you’re not leaving until I say you can go.”

“You’re a nurse, not a doctor, baby, I believe that’s—”

He was cut off by his own words when he met her gaze once again. This time, it wasn’t just her narrow eyeliner but a glare that pierced into his soul. He swears he might’ve just stuttered in front of her. He furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed, thinking he was smart for that move. But he wasn’t gonna let her win that easily.

He cleared his throat, “Uh, um, uh—a-alright. I get it, you’re a new nurse, what? You’ve been here a couple of months?”

“More than a couple of months.” She said, rolling over a table with equipment to clean his wounds as she slapped on her gloves.

“Woah, hold it there, you’re not touching me.”

“Look, it’s just a small routine here. You will be in and out of here in a few hours or less.”

“A few hours? Nope, I got work to do.”

“Iceman and Slider are covering for you. You’re fine.”

“How did you…?”

“I know the admiral, Captain Martin. Now let me do my job.”

Once again she softly glared at him, after referring to his name in a professional manner. This time, it shut him up, letting out a huge sigh of defeat. He expected the handy work to harsh and rough, yet it was gentle and softer than he imagined. He barely felt the needle pierce into his arms when he gave her an infusion through the IV. He denied it at first, but then she reminded him that he lost fluids and nutrients when he crushed.

With that, she started to clean the cuts on his shoulders and neck. She quiet when she did it, asking him every so often if it stun or hurt, as he answered her question with a soft ’no, I’m good.’

There was this awkward silence between them. The only sound being the paper from the table that held the tools she needed to do her job.

“I see that you’re a test pilot?” She asked, breaking the silence, with almost a humorous tone.

He huffed breaking into a tiny half smile, shifting in his seat and replied, “Yeah. I think it was pretty obvious.”

“I mean, you’re a test pilot, how long have you been doing this?”

“Uh..8 years more or less..”

“And you got stuck as a Captain or was it a choice?”

“Huh..well yeah, I can be an Admiral. I should be one with the skills I had.”

“What change?”

“The workload, my skill set was a bit of a risk..wait why I am telling you this?”

She lightly chuckle and shrugged, “I don’t know. I just asked, sorry I didn’t mean to pry..if I did. You just seemed on edge..just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Well, it helped. Uh, thanks.” He added, giving her a small nod, “Didn’t catch your name, nurse.”

“Nurse Walker, Captain.”

“Good to know.”

“Yeah..I apologize for my attitude earlier when I walked in.”

“It’s cool. No harm done.”

~~~

Jordan kept working on switching her technique as she stitched up his wounds and making sure the skin was given room to breathe as she did. He was silently once again impressed by her handy work and smiled to himself. Their small talk kept going as she asked him question on how his weekend went, what he liked to do, what he loved about his job and if he was any upcoming roles to fill in.

At some point, a doctor came with medication to help with his pain and help him get better. He thanked said doctor with a nod. She even noticed his body language relaxed as he was talking about himself and his weekend.

He didn’t even noticed, what she was doing in the beginning until he did. He actually appreciated it, she was calming him down to allow his body to regulate and start working with the medication given.

Yes, Echo saw him to be an asshole pilot when she first came in, she can’t blame him if she was in his shoes, he was tired and sore from his crash. He was only now getting treatment for it. She was thankful, he didn’t spat any harsh language towards her and more snarky comments. Wraith looked at her brown eyes once again and half smile at her efforts to help him. It was probably the medication but he felt relaxed and at ease in her presence. He won’t admit it, but he liked it. Her might even like her.

After the last 10 hours, he was more than thankful to be treated, it didn’t matter who it was. However he was lucky, he got her for some reason.

It was his turn to break the silence as he asked, “How long?”

“How long, what?” She asked in return.

“How long have you been working here..?”

“Ah, well, almost 10 years..well, it feels like 10 years. I only been here for less than 8.”

“So you were a nurse during my second year of becoming a test pilot?”

“More or less, yeah. But it feels like 10, you know?”

“I know what you mean. I most certainly know what you mean.”

They both released a chuckle at that point. As their laughs slowly faded, Nicholas gaze fell on Jordan once again as she gave him a soft smile in return. She won’t admit it out loud but he was handsome. She has been flyboys of all kind walk in and out of here, from hard grumps to hush flirts. Hell, she went on date or two with pilots, but they never ended well.

Oh well, nothing she can do but try to let the wind flow in her directions, even if she wasn’t looking for someone at the moment.

Yet, he was somewhere in-between. She thought he was just trying to keep a cool head and not let her see past the profile he was showcasing, either way she brought it.

He hoped she didn’t buy past the looks he was giving her. Yeah sure he was cool, calm and more so collected half the time, but after the last 10 hours he was a bit of wreck! And here comes this nice nurse treating him with respect and patiences, meanwhile he treated her like as piece of crap. He has been a couple of relationships before with ladies and gentlemen who was either made his day or ended in awkward smiles.

Either way he never put pressure on himself to find a partner of some kind. But he did hope someday he would bump into somebody who can deal with him.

Giving thanks and apologetic wasn’t ever in his resume, especially with all the times he’s been lashed back, but he knew he needed to apologize sooner or later.

“So you uh, must’ve seen a lot of weird shit huh?” He asked once again, in a softer tone that sounded like a whisper.

“Heh, yeah. I have seen officers, students,..admirals come in here. Sometimes, it’s for a tiny injury while in the building. Others, it was while they were on the deck.” She explained, almost as if she was remembering those moments.

“Really?”

“You would be surprise how many people come in here, because they hurt their hand by accident or cut themselves while doing paperwork.”

“Oh no, they are just being dramatic, at that point.”

That got another chuckle from his nurse. He even chuckled at his own comment.

She chuckled shaking her head, “That’s just mean!”

“No, I’m serious! Half of them just wanna play doctor and patient, so they decide to fake an injury to see you guys.” He replied joking.

“I bet you tried that before to see some cute nurse in high school huh.”

“Nah, not me. But my friends used to do that while in flight school. God, Cyclone wasn’t slick..”

She wanted to say something about him knowing Cyclone but decided to leave that subject alone for another time, if she got another moment with him. She wasn’t even sure that she would see him again. But knowing he was a test pilot, good chance she might wind up cleaning his wounds once again.

She wasn’t mad about that though. She kind of likes Wraith’s asshole tendencies and odd humor, it made her smile a bit. She wasn’t sure if she actually liked him or it was just because he was her patient at the moment—maybe both? All she knew that she was very much willing to see him again, if the time is right, of course.

Nicolas half smile hearing her chuckle. He mistook her for some young newbie nurse who had no business serving him with any kind of care, but he was wrong. She was kind to him and willing to engage in conversation despite him being initially reluctant to do so. Hell, she was so beautiful, patient and in over her head here.

Again, he will blame it on the IV and medication for his calm demeanor but deep down he had a small sense of appreciation for her. He allowed him to open and relax a bit.

Whether or not, he believed he needed that the moment. He secretly did.

“Uh, Wraith?” She asked softly, removing her gloves.

The snap of her gloves pulled him out of his thought and back into the reality. He noticed she was throwing her used tools into the trash and blowing hair out of her face, with almost a concerned look on her face. Oh no wait, he was looking at her, with a concerned look.

Did he say something he wasn’t supposed to?

“Wha—what?” He responded, blinking to face her once again, realizing he must’ve sounded sorta stupid.

She smiled and shook her head, “You uh, zoned out back there. Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. We done here?”

“Yeah we’re done. But like I said, we will need to keep here a while longer and then release you later.”

“Oh, right, because of my crash..oh-what about Maverick? Is he fine?”

He realized he didn’t even mentioned his flight partner until now. Now he must’ve sounded inconsiderate in front of the nurse, but it didn’t seem to phase Jordan at all.

“He’s alright. I had another nurse check on him. Thankfully, neither of you need any procedures, just bed rest in the medical wing and a lot of fluids.” She explained, “Can I get you anything before I go check on something?”

“..uh, heh-um, a water bottle.” He said, giving her a half smile.

When she left, he allowed himself to throw his back against the bed and closed his eyes. Echo went on her rounds, checking on other patients, signing off on paperwork and returned with a water bottle. Matter a fact, she brought him a sandwich and a bag of chips on the side.

He stuttered saying he didn’t need or even requested those thing, but she reminded him that he needed something in stomach.

~~~

The rest of the day, Jordan bounced between her usual routine, having lunch, checking in patients and bumping into plenty physicians on the way. Her mind fell onto Maverick and his new partner in crime at the moment, something about him made her smile. It was probably his dark brown eyes or half smile, who knows?

She heard some doctors and nurses, quietly talking to themselves in hush tones about the new patients, one of them being Wraith.

One of the nurses, Jody, teased her saying she was lucky to get one of the Captains as her patients as Echo rolled her eyes. Jody was saying that because she only saw his face, but wasn’t the one who met his tough tongue. The same thing goes for Maverick, she only seen his cheeky grin but not the words behind that face of his.

The only reason both Captains weren’t grounded yet, was thanks to the Navy’s best guardian angels of their generation. It was a bonus that she knew them a little too well. She swears Iceman got a hell-a lot more patients that she does!

Her mind wondered back to the stuffy-looking pilot from earlier. A soft smile creeped onto her lips as a reminder to check up on the man. Despite his initial resistance, she found herself intrigued by the enigmatic Captain Martin.

There was something about his rough exterior that piqued her curiosity, something beneath the surface that hinted at a deeper complexity.

Wraith reclined on the bed, as his body tried to relax as he snacked on the gifted sandwiches, glancing over at the small tv in the corner of the room. He found himself wondering if his co-pilot Maverick was alright but he knew that man was in good hands, likely charming his way through his own medical treatment.

Somehow is mind wanders back to the imagine of the brunette nurse, Nurse Walker. He didn't watch her first name and despite his door being cracked open, he barely heard anyone say her full name in the halls.

He wasn't one for hospitals or people in general, yet here comes this lovely patient nurse to make him comprehend his own thoughts, like he said before he found her rather pretty and kind, despite not admitting it out loud.

He might've stammer a couple of his wording during their previous talk but now he was wondering more about her.

~~~

Reaching around 1:20pm that same afternoon, Jordan returned after stepping out for some fresh air and going home to check on a package was supposed to be delivered that day. Somehow Amazon didn’t send her a notification, that her package arrived and it worried her if it got delayed in the mail. Thankfully, one of her friends Hazel, told it everything was fine.

Jordan wasn’t one to sweat the little things too often but moments like that worried her, especially when she paid good money for a pair of earrings she brought on the site.

She found herself slowly opening the door to Wraith’s room to check on him. At that same time, Captain Martin was scrolling through his phone checking on any emails he missed while being here.

He wasn’t one to check his emails very often but after looking over social media twice and on a small handful of phone calls with friends, as well as getting bothered by physicians. The thought of glancing over at his mail didn’t sound so bad, it helped that he was listening to music while doing so.

He was listening to a couple of tracks from cinematic scores, along with some 80s classics another pilot recommended to him a while track. He half snorted at the memory of teaching a class that included some rather young students, who were singing along to Taylor Swift. He rolled his eyes at the class, but he couldn’t lie and not say, he enjoyed the artist’s music every now and then.

He respected the talent and creative artistic storytelling musicians take ever since he was young man, doesn’t matter if the music was in English or even Spanish. He enjoyed it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door of his room slowly being cracked open, expecting it to be some other doctor or a random nurse ready to check his blood pressure again. He embraced for impacted, removing an earbud and sitting up straight, narrowing his eyes only to soften once he was met with a certain pair of brown eyes.

Nurse Walker walked in once again.

This time light blue scrubs, her pair was in a low bun and she seemed to change out of some jewelry she was wearing earlier. She half smiled at him, holding up a clipboard and a bottle of water.

Neither said a word but after a moment she spoke.

“Hey.” She said, taking a seat on the empty chair beside the bed, glancing down at the clipboard.

“Uh hey.” He responded, removing both earbuds turning to face her correctly, providing a small smile in return.

“I talked to your doctors and nurses, it looks like you’re more or less cleared to go soon.”

“Good.”

“Real good. However it is recommended you rest when you get home, take any requested medication that doctor is given and..for the sake of all of us, please don’t go flying until said so.”

“I’m not Maverick or any of my students, doc.”

“I know, I know. Knowing the history here, some patients are ours sometimes tend to not listen and hit a wall way too early..you know what I mean?”

Of course Wraith knew what she meant. Like he said, he wasn’t like Maverick, some of his friend or even his students who take off on a joy ride once they’re feeling a bit better. When he was younger, yes, he would’ve rolled his eyes at the doctors and went out to have some fun of his own, but now that he’s gotten older, he more than understands.

If he had to be honest, a couple of days of no odd shenanigans, simple teaching and rest at home sounded like a dream. He gave him a chance to catch up on shows he’s been binge watching on Netflix, read a book, take a long ass shower and even have some time for himself.

A couple of second past before he responded.

“Yeah, yeah, I understand. I know exactly what you mean.” He replied, nodding.

She softly smile, “Alright, good, we got covered. Your doctor would like for you to come in a couple of weeks to check up on things too, if that’s aright?”

“Mhm hmm, sure. I guess, I don’t mind coming in for a check up.”

“Good, is there anyone I can call to pick you up or you sign theses papers?”

Wraith thought about it, he knew Nurse Walker was trying to be nice here and it was part of the program to have someone come to make the patient heads home safely, but he didn’t really want to bother his friends. Beside Iceman already knew what was going on and already sent someone to wait for him at home. Probably one of his nieces or nephews were there waiting for him.

Jordan waited for a moment, watching his face trying to come up with an answer for her. She knew most men like him act like lone-wolfs, not needing anyone to take care of them or not wanting to worry other because it would lead to a bigger deal to manage. Most pilots come in knowing they’ve been on their own since they were 18 time or lost a lot of people, where they don’t bother calling for back too many for help. So she gets that and wasn’t too worried, knowing Iceman had anything under control.

She looked over her shoulder then faced the tall latino again, as she said, “How about you just signed the paperwork? No need for someone to come get you.”

He paused for a moment and somewhat stammered, “..uh-you’re sure?”

“I’m sure. You seem like you can handle yourself just fine, right?”

“Right, yeah, th-that sounds perfectly fine.”

Jordan smile handing him the clipboard pointing to the spaces where he must sign as he nodded flipping a pen in hand and signing his name where needed.

As he signing the second sheet of paperwork, he glanced up and softly said “..uh, th-thank you..for taking care of me today..”

“It was no problem.” She replied, giving him another soft smile.

Two short seconds later, he handed the paperwork and pen back, nodding silently. He hated the awkward silent, that was yet calming for whatever reason. He watch her flipping through the clipboard to double-check if everything was filled in correctly, making a couple of tiny marks as she went along.

Wraith honestly didn’t know if he would get another chance to see her again this week and he wasn’t going to look like an idiot coming into the clinic to get a moment with her, by making a some lame excuse. He could do that but then again it would get annoying and he wasn’t going to risk his friends teasing him for it later.

Suddenly his actions took the best of him as he mumbled his thoughts out loud, wondering if she’ll like to grab a coffee or something. Jordan looked up from the clipboard asking if he said something as he shakes his head ‘no’. She nodded, saying she’ll see him at the front desk for he can pay for his medical bill, that the navy usually covered.

He watched her walk away again, as he let out a loud sigh. He covered his face with one hand and grumbled.

~~~

Soon enough, he grabs his jacket and heads out to front desk flipping out a couple of dollar bills to pay for his bill, not before checking up on Maverick real quick.

As he arrived, he notices Nurse Walker is there chatting with her colleague, before turning her attention to him. She smiles taking the moment to sign off on his day here at the medical wing, as another nurse takes care of his bill. Wraith takes a moment to slip on his brown jacket as his ears catches to someone calling Walker, the name Jordan, which caused a small smile to appear on his lips.

His nurses name was Jordan Walker.

He thought about his tiny statement earlier about wanting to ask her out, yet as he looked around at the station and the long day he has had, he sadly decided against it. The man was literally thrown out of a jet and into another state just 24 hours ago. He was still pretty sore and tired, he wouldn’t be right.

Not just that, his friend was still being kept here overnight due to the hit he took. He also knew he had a long meeting scheduled sometime this week to discuss his accident with Maverick.

Even if he did ask decide to her, he wouldn’t know how to. Or if she’ll even expect going on a date with someone like him. He’s been though a lot in his life already and she probably has seen men try to do to the same thing before. He would probably another hot-shot flyboy to her, who will ask her out and never call again. She might as well reject him right then and there in front of her colleagues.

But a part of him wanted to think positive about this.

Wraith decided he could do it some other day. Maybe he’ll approaches her, outside the medical wing or when he decides to check up on Maverick during visiting hours. He could strike up a conversation, try to be casual as he asks about her day.

It could work. He’ll see what happens.

With that, he thanked the nurses and staff at the front desk with a nod, giving Nurse Walker—Jordan, a small wave and left.

Jordan returned the small wave, after dispatching his paperwork into a file and nodded to herself. She smiled softly, remembering the small moment of hesitation on his face before giving a small nod then walking out. She couldn’t help, but wonder what he could possibly be thinking about, knowing he must’ve had a busy week ahead of himself.

Their whole interaction before he left was simple and pretty common like any other, however she could he maybe wanted to ask for something else. But she couldn’t figure out what it was, maybe he wanted to invite her somewhere? She knew some pilots tend to be cookouts and pretty much allow anyone to invite a plus one. Or maybe it was something else.

Jordan spend her years here, not going out much as she rather stay home and watch a movie. However she never had anyone truly invite or ask her out before, unless she knew them as a friend.

All she knew was that Wraith, despite his gruff exterior wasn’t half bad in her opinion.

She slowly finds herself drawn to her day with him, knowing he might be back for visiting hours with a friend or two to see Maverick. Or he might just let it be, never see her again until a further accident to leads to two to bump into each other.

Either way, she was somehow fine with it.

----

Ahh here it is! A new Top Gun fanfic 🎶 Please let me know what you think! Remember to like, comment and share for more

Idk if this fic should be pre or post tgm yet haha let me know what you think 💭

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @starkleila @missstrawbs2001 @gcthvile @mandylove1000 @cherrysft @degenbrat @hardballoonlove @queenslandlover-93 @djs8891 @theloveoftoms @topgun-imagines @roostersforevergirl @xgoddessoffandomsx @fanboygarcia @letsgotothefantasyworlds-blog @sherloquestea @yetanotherwells @triptuckers and etc

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mutable-manifestation · 2 years

Text

The Heart of the Matter Ch. 6

Chapter 1 (Parts 1-3), Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

So this took forever. The whole ‘hey dude ur dead btw’ convo fought me something fierce. I deleted like three versions. RIP

***

As soon as they clear the ground into open air, Danny flies them - invisible and intangible - straight to the heart of Gotham.

He could more than likely make it to the Fenton portal fast enough to avoid being traced beyond ‘somewhere in Illinois,’ but the point of running isn’t to escape.

He wants the Green Lantern to follow.

He isn’t sure about Batman and his allies, isn’t sure where he stands on the Anti-Ecto Acts or if he even knows they exist, given the GIW’s relentless efforts to keep what happened - what still sometimes happens - in Amity Park buried.

He’s less sure after seeing the surety with which they almost sent Jason away to….

He shakes his head.

If they could be convinced to help, all the better. If they truly cared for Jason they’d do a good enough job beating themselves up over it later.

Not that he wouldn’t still be sending them Jazz’s way to have a talk about respecting boundaries in non-emergency situations rather than steamrolling them just because an ally or friend sounds like they know what they’re doing.

But before all of that, he wants a chance to get Jason up to speed first.

And to get some ecto in the guy, but given the way his core feels, the betrayal-fest he just phased in on, and his somehow near-complete lack of knowledge about what he is, he doubts he’s going to just accept eating mysterious, neon, glowing sludge without an explanation.

He zips through a Malmart and snags a large hoodie and sweats - he’ll pay them back later - and ends the flight by landing them in the bathroom of a crowded coffee shop.

No one should notice the two of them appearing out of nowhere when there are so many other people to draw attention, and hopefully the crowd will deter the Lantern - and the Bats - from causing a scene.

Or at least, a scene beyond the one that would already be caused by their mere presence in the place.

---------------------

Jason only takes his eyes off of Jordan when he’s jostled from a sudden drop. He looks up just in time to see batarangs sink into the wall just above space-ice-crown-guy’s head.

He follows their trajectory back to see Damian unsheathing his blades.

Nightwing and Black Bat are already airborne, and lunging towards them.

A strange sensation washes over him. Crown-guy doesn’t move this time, unbothered by the swinging limbs and grasping hands headed their way.

The pair pass right through them as if they aren’t even there.

Jason feels betrayed and furious and wrung out all at once; he just wants to leave.

And then they do, horrifying green baseball bat close behind as crown guy throws them straight at the ceiling.

They sink into-and-through the earth, and they’re in the sky far above the manor before Jason even has a chance to do more than take a shaky breath.

Then they’re heading for Gotham.

Wayne Manor is twelve miles from the city’s border.

They’re in the heart of Old Gotham inside two minutes - after stopping by an Upper West Side Malmart to…steal clothing?

He’d be concerned about Red Hood being seen flying around with some random meta - about being too much of an easy target in the open air, flying in a mostly straight line - but the two of them are barely visibly, mere outlines of twisted space, like the distorted air above the heat of a flame.

He can barely make himself out, and the people they paused right next to in the store had appeared to notice even less.

When they do stop, it’s in the bathroom of a crowded coffee shop that is - frankly miraculously - blessedly empty.

Crown guy gently but swiftly sets him on his feet - hand on his shoulder just until he’s steady - and shoves the stolen clothing into his chest with a simple ‘here’ before Jason has a chance to say anything.

Then a ring of light appears around his waist, splitting to slide both up and down like some kind of scanner.

Where it goes, crown guy changes.

His build, his facial structure, the cut of his hair - all the broad strokes stay the same. What changes are the details.

Lazarus green eyes are replaced by a vibrant blue that better matches the now-absent crown - it still feels a bit cool, standing near him, but he’s not sure he’d have noticed if he wasn’t looking for it.

Impossibly white hair becomes a deep black - now matching the unchanged eyebrows - and the ears curve where they’d once been pointed.

His skin is paler like this - like he’d spent most of his life indoors, hiding away from the sun - the freckles now a light tan. As though the colors had traded places.

He lands lightly on his feet as the transformation ends, standing just slightly shorter than Jason now that they’re on even ground, and his physique is lithe but muscular; a swimmer’s build.

His clothes are the starkest difference, in Jason’s opinion: otherworldly fabrics and colors swapped out for simple blue jeans and a contrastingly dark red shirt and shoes.

No sign of the cape.

No hint of that otherworldly glow.

Unless you count the sparkle in his eyes as he raises a pointed brow and coughs.

Jason mentally berates himself for staring so obviously. He knew how to be more subtle than that.

Outwardly, he points to his mask.

“Great plan with the clothes, no-more-crown-guy, but they won’t exactly cover this.”

The guy just smiles and shakes his head.

“It’s Danny,” he snorts. “And you can just shove the mask in a pocket or something. I already know who you are, Jason Todd.”

The guy - Danny - snaps his hands up in surrender the moment Jason reaches for one of his guns.

“Easy,” he says, voice still relaxed. Soothing. The aura of strength-safety-protection-calm unchanged. “You being Red Hood is none of my business. I’m not here for Red Hood, I’m here for Jason.”

“What, need an inside scoop for the next article on ‘Watching the Waynes?’ Or is this a ransom thing?” he sneers, hand firmly on his gun as he closes the distance to loom threateningly.

For all that he’s glad to be out of the batcave, that doesn’t mean this guy is an ally; he won’t be swayed by some meta emotional manipulation. Bringing them to such a crowded location could be as much a threat as it could a reassurance, given the knowledge of his vigilante nature - a building full of eyes to make Jason feel better?

Or a building full of hostages?

“No,” Danny denies calmly, matter-of-factly, expression unworried despite the sudden decrease in personal space. “Someone told me you were in danger, and I could help you, so I did. I can also help you with the fact that you’re starving-”

“I’m not-”

“-and I can tell you why you’re so scared of Green Lantern.”

Jason is very willing to hear him out at that. Maybe he shouldn't be. He wants to stay suspicious; he will stay cautious.

But....

He has to know.

He has to know what's going on before it drives him crazy.

Crazier, if you ask his 'family.'

And doesn't that just burn? How quick they'd been to ignore his feelings when he didn't have any concrete information to back them up. How it hadn't taken more than a promise of maybe help for them to trust Green Latern.

Help with something he'd already gotten mostly under control.

He knows it scared them; how much he'd changed when he came back. How long he'd spent letting his anger take the driver's seat.

But he died. And then he came back to find his killer was walking around fresh as a fucking daisy. Jason was entitled to a little anger, in his own humble opinion.

Maybe he'd gone a bit far, but things had finally started going back to normal. He'd almost started to forgive them for not avenging him. For replacing him. They'd even started working together again, more and more often with every passing day. Jason had worked on reigning in his anger instead of letting it take the reigns, controlling the Pit Rage instead of sinking into it.

It was a hard transition to make; hate cradles you, as they say. But he tried.

Maybe he had some relapses occasionally, some outbursts here and there, but he was making progress.

But they had been willing to throw him at the mercy of someone that terrified him for reasons he didn't understand the second they offered maybe a 'solution' to his 'green little problem.'

As if it wasn't mostly 'solved' already.

As if they hadn't been working on it for years now.

As if he wasn't capable of making his own damn decisions.

Mind made up, he takes breath, takes a step back, glances at the door - which he very quickly locks when he realizes how much they’ve been playing with fire - and drops the hand from his gun.

“Why bring us somewhere so crowded?”

“Your pals are less likely to attack us if we’re surrounded by civilians and not doing anything wrong. Plus, background noise. As long as we’re relatively quiet we’re unlikely to be overheard or bothered,” he answers, then points at the abandoned stolen clothing on the floor, a brow raised. “But if it’s all the same, I’d prefer to explain more when we’re not in a bathroom.”

Jason stares at him for another long moment.

Someone jiggles the handle and knocks.

“Fuck it.”

He throws on the baggy outfit, grateful for the drawstring - which is the only thing keeping the pants up - at least the excess fabric covers his shoes enough to be less obviously Not Normal (™).

He whips off the mask and shoves it in the pocket of the hoodie - which hits him upper-mid thigh.

Seriously.

‘This guy is pants at guessing sizes.’

It takes a lot of inner strength to avoid facepalming when he realizes his unintentional pun.

Once dressed, Danny wastes no time opening up the door to leave, and he follows him out and into the coffee line, ignoring the wide-eyed look on the face of the guy who’d knocked.

They grab coffee and snag an outside table - even more background noise with all the traffic, Danny explains as they sit.

---------------------

“So, Danny. Who, exactly, sent you to ‘help’ me?” Jason asks, leaning back in his seat.

Danny snorts at the theatrics, taking a sip of his own drink before he answers.

“He didn’t send me, he just told me you were in danger. I’m here because I want to be. But his name is Clockwork, the ghost that watches over the timestream.”

Danny sighs.

“We probably don't have a lot of time before Greenie and the Furries catch up, and they’ll need to hear a lot of what I have to tell you,” he says. “But, the basic - and more personal - details which only you really need to know-” he holds up a finger “-my parents have always been obsessed with ghosts and made it their life’s mission to open a portal to the afterlife - which they call the ‘Ghost Zone.’”

A second finger joins the first.

“They succeeded when I was 14, except they didn’t manage to make it turn on because they miswired an emergency off-switch on the inside to have an accompanying ‘on’ button that needed to be activated before it would work.”

A third.

“A friend dared me to go in and I, being a dumb kid, did. Then promptly tripped and hit the on-button and got electrocuted half to death. I say ‘half’ because in the midst of me dying the portal turned on, and the ectoplasm bonded to my living DNA and reached a sort of balance. This turned me into a halfa - a being that is half-human and half-ghost. Half alive and half dead. A human form and a ghost form.”

A fourth, Danny studiously ignoring Jason’s bewildered blinking.

“Halfa’s, due to the nature of our existences, are exceedingly rare. The first that I know of was created in an accident 20 years ago. I was the second. The third was already a halfa when she was created, being a clone of me - long story. The fourth, that I know of,” Danny leans forward, fingers curling back over to leave the hand pointing at Jason. “Is you.”

Danny can see the roiling mix of confusion-comprehension-horror-denial-fear-anger building up in him - anger the one that appeared to be winning - so he rushes to explain, holding his hands up placatingly - deja-vu.

“Clockwork only told me about you, like, an hour ago. He told me about how you didn’t know you were a halfa, how there’s barely enough ambient ectoplasm in this city to sustain you, that what is here is kind of garbage, that you don’t know how to get more - or that you need more. Or what ecto is - it’s like carbon for ghosts, I guess? Like living people are made of carbon but food is too?”

He squints. Shrugs.

“Ghosts are made of ecto and need it to be healthy. As halfas, we need both. There’s a lot more to ‘how to be a halfa’ but that’s the most important thing right now given I can literally sense how ecto-deprived you are. Your ecto-signature is literally so weak I could almost mistake you for a blob ghost, which is incredibly not-healthy. I nabbed a thermos from my fridge on the way here, so like. I know it probably sounds sus and your experience with green liquids-” he notes Jason tense back toward anger from where he’d been moving into confusion territory “-is probably historically bad, but I promise it’s safe. I’ll even drink some myself to prove it if that helps.”

A beat.

“Green liquids.”

It’s not a question, but Danny answers anyway, reaching into his chest to pull out the thermos, ignoring the strangled noise Jason makes and the aborted movement from where he’d begun to stand before crashing back down and staring as he uncaps the cylinder and pours a little of the ectoplasm into the cap before sliding the rest towards him.

“Ectoplasm!” Danny chirps, downing his like a shot only to find Jason staring, mouth slightly open in horror.

---------------------

Jason has known Danny for less than five minutes, and the guy has already said and done the most unhinged things Jason has ever seen anyone do.

In five. Minutes.

Here’s the thing; Jason hates everything he’s saying.

That Jason is still dead.

That he needs to start drinking lazarus water.

That there was some time guy out there stalking him (as if he needed another nosy bastard hanging over his shoulder. He was just starting to barely-kind of-sorta tolerate the ones he knew about).

That Danny died in his parents’ basement because they were experimenting with lazarus water.

Jason had barely begun to process the insane shit he said when the guy shoves his hand through his fucking chest.

For a moment, he was fully convinced he was going to rip out his heart or something.

Instead, he’d apparently just been using his chest cavity as a storage location for a thermos of lazarus water.

Ya know, as you fucking do.

In keeping with his general vibe of ‘one-insane-thing-after-another-without-pause’ he immediately pours himself a glass and downs it like a fucking shot.

It hasn’t even been 24 hours since this nightmare started and Jason thinks he might be going prematurely gray by now (no the white part does not count, he died when he was 15, Tim).

Finally, mercifully, the guy stops talking and/or doing things.

He closes his hanging jaw, noting the unchanged blue of the guys’ eyes.

Danny is still calm. In control. Unaffected by a bit of eau de lazarus.

Jason takes a steadying breath, bracing himself for the smell of decay and mildew and blood that the waters always carry with them…and gets something completely different.

His eyes snap down to the still-open thermos laid before him.

Looking closer, he notes the lack of bubbles. The color is the same, but the glow itself is somehow brighter. Softer.

It doesn’t smell like lazarus water.

It smells like chamomile tea. Like the lavender cookies Alfred used to make post-patrol sometimes, trying to incite them to go to bed sooner rather than staying up at all hours.

It smells delicious.

He can feel his mouth water, and his stomach growls loudly, suddenly.

He’d had that oatmeal less than two hours ago, but he suddenly feels like he hadn’t eaten at all.

He sips his coffee instead, staring down the container of pure temptation, straining against the urge to pick it up and chug.

Danny watches on, silent, patient. He looks hopeful, Jason thinks, but not expectant.

Not that he couldn’t just be a really good actor. And just because the lazarus water smells good doesn’t mean it’s safe. Doesn’t mean he should just go for it.

Even if it does smell like chamomile tea and lavender cookies.

Alfred’s lavender cookies.

Which he’d never been able to resist.

‘He drank some,’ Jason thinks as he picks up the thermos. ‘He’s still fine,’ he tells himself. ‘If he wanted to he could’ve just dropped me directly into one of the pits. If he wanted to hurt me he could’ve phased poison directly into my bloodstream, probably.’

The not-quite-lazarus water tastes just like it smells.

Jason wants to chug the whole canister, but he has enough self-control to take sips instead, letting the flavors play out on his tongue.

No hint of almonds.

No odd textures.

Just chamomile and lavender and bliss.

Three sips and a solid ten seconds in and he still feels fine - no feeling faint or frothing at the mouth. Instead, he feels lighter.

Warmer.

Calmer.

Ravenous.

He chugs the rest, tension leaving his body, nerves settling, the hunger he hadn’t known was there until the scent first hit him abating enough to be ignored.

He takes a moment to look at the empty cylinder and reflect on the fact that he just voluntarily drank lazarus water.

Except not really. Lazarus water is vile; even Danny had said the ‘ecto’ he’d encountered was 'garbage.'

'What, did Ra's forget to install a damn pool-filter or something???

He shakes the thought from his head and looks back at his…rescuer? Danny only looks relieved; noticeably more relaxed than the apparently false-calm he’d been projecting before.

Jason chews his lip in thought. Frowns.

“Okay. I have many questions, comments, and concerns about…everything that just happened, to be honest. But before anything else, I want answers about Green Lantern.”

Danny nods, expression grave.

“Let me tell you a story….”

***

Fun Fact: Ectoplasm smelling like wild stuff is fun, but also it’s everywhere in the zone. Ghosts have to live in it & smell it/smell like it all the time. Sooooo….

In this AU I’m going with: ecto smells like ranch 2 (lime & batteries) to humans bc they can’t process it properly.

To ghosts, ectoplasm smells like the thing they want the most at that moment. Right now, Jason wants home - as it was when it was safe - so the ecto smells like something that reminds him of that.

---------------------

Next time: Back at the batcave! If that scene doesn’t stretch too long, also reunion! Or at least Jason pov of being pissed when they have the audacity to want to talk!

Tags!

@skulld3mort-1fan @kyrianclawraith @jesimilu @bleuyellow93 @ocearnawrites @undead-essence @violet-catsarelife @sunsetdew0101 @tsukihimeyfan @the-legal-shipper @spideypoolalways @mariendall @jesus-camp-the-sequel @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @akikoyuii @mrowsters @do3y @aikoiya @joaniejustwokeup @wwwwyamd @fox-sama97

#dpxdc #danny phantom #red hood #jason todd #long post #fic

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mybeautifulchristianjourney · 3 months

Text

John Gossner's Treasury

"And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And when the voice was passed, Jesus was found alone." – Luke 9:35-36

All the world ought to listen to this voice coming from the skies. But people find it hard to turn their heads and ears upward, because they are charmed and captivated by the voices which they hear from below. The world rings too much in their ears. They cannot heed the voice of God. As yonder by the Jordan and before all the people (Matthew 3:17; John 12:28), so God here solemnly declares to the disciples that Jesus is His well-beloved Son, a Preacher to be heard and believed above all other preachers. But the gracious God Himself, as all His messengers, must complain, "Who hath believed our report? " God has preached from heaven and given His Son a wonderful testimony; He has offered Him to the world; He has set Him apart and confirmed Him as a Preacher and a Teacher, and, behold, the world reviled Him and crucified Him as a blasphemer. He whom God Himself has declared to be His Son? Yes, and until this day the world has been unwilling to hear the Son of God. Who, then, is to preach to the world, since it will not hear this Preacher who preaches from such an exalted pulpit, from the skies, who speaks kindly and lovingly? Will you not, dear reader, believe the Father’s preaching concerning the Son? Will you not follow the word and drawing of the Father and go to the Son, as it is written, ’’Every man that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me? " (John 6:45). Will you not love Him above all things, whom the Father loves above all things? Will you not receive Him since the Father offers Him to you and bestows Him upon you from heaven? When the disciples heard the heavenly sermon "they saw no man, save Jesus only" (Matthew 17:8). Moses had departed; Elias had departed, they knew with certainty that the Father spoke to them of the Son, and not of Moses and Elias. They were to hear the Son only; they should preach the Son, not Moses. He who is willing to be a hearer, may daily hear the Father’s sermon; for the Father always testifies concerning the Son and draws men to the Son. Oh, that we might hear the Son and follow Him!

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations! Son of God and Son of man! Glory and honor. Praise, adoration, Now and forevermore be Thine!

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halbarryweekfeed · 2 months

Text

Starstruck; Power Swap; "Some teamwork." "Love you, too."

Art:

@itemreceived: Starstruck on Tumblr

@candy-san1: Starstruck on Tumblr

Fic:

stellatum by @overlyobsessed223 (T)

Hal almost misses it; there’s a tank at the back of the building, tucked away in the leftmost corner. The water it holds is so opaque and dark that if it weren’t for the faint light of his ring, there’s no way he would have caught the faintest of movement within the tank out of the corner of his eye. Willing his ring to glow even brighter for more light, Hal approaches the tank, peering into it through the glass.

He gasps.

or, Hal investigates a run-down aquarium and discovers a creature of ancient myth.

Only You, Darling (Only You) Ch6: There Is No “U” or “I” In “Team” by @layspotatochipabs (M)

“Fuck!” Hal felt a force connect with his forehead, his head throbbing in pain. Barry's hands tightened anxiously around the Lantern's shoulders, Hal stifling a laugh as he pulled them away from the construct. “Some teamwork.” “Love you, too.”

Día 6: “Deslumbrar” by @hiso03 (G)

Barry tiene que aprender a bailar lo antes posible y no cuenta con un mejor instructor que su crush Hal Jordan.

(via a Google Translate: Barry has to learn to dance as soon as possible and he doesn't have a better instructor than his crush Hal Jordan.)

Halbarry Week So Far!

Day 1 Parts 1 and 2

Day 2 Part 1 and 2

Day 3 Part 1 and 2

Day 4 Part 1 and 2

Day 5 Part 1 and 2

Day 6 Part 1

#halbarry #halbarry week #halbarry week 2024 #HW24 daily summaries #starstruck #power swap #some teamwork. love you too

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twisted-turtels · 8 months

Text

Crossed Paths (Pt.5)

Author's note: sike i ended up finishing part 5, but i will have to take a break. this fic literally consumes my mind (not joking. i was writing some of this in my histology class). i also have some of my first exams next week so...yeah

2131 words

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

Crossed Paths

It’s been a week since Jordan last saw Farleigh. She’s been studying for her exams, and as much as she likes Farleigh, he’s a distraction. They have obviously texted every now and then, but they have mostly been brief exchanges. She couldn’t help but feel guilty about neglecting Farleigh, wondering if he felt the same way. Jordan hangs up her steamed uniform on her bathroom door; why do we have to wear a uniform to take an exam?

As Jordan is washing her face, she hears her phone ringing. She looks down to see Farleigh calling. With a mixture of surprise and excitement, she answers the phone.

“Hey, Farleigh,” she says excitedly.

“Hi, Jordy. What are you doing right now,” Farleigh asks.

“I was just about to hop in the shower and lay in bed,” she looks at her clock, 8 pm. It’s kind of early to go to sleep.

“Oh well, I was gonna ask if you wanted to get something to eat,” Farleigh answers, “But seeing as you’ve already showered, I can bring some food instead?”

Jordan agrees, “That would be great, honestly. I’ve been so focused on studying that I haven’t eaten much.”

“I don’t think you’ve tried the chicken shop nearby. I’ll bring us some food from there. I’ll see you in 30 minutes, yeah?” Farleigh confirms and hangs up.

Jordan puts her phone down before giggling and washing her face off.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Jordan is sitting on the couch watching Bad Girls Club when she hears a knock on her door.

“Delivery,” a fake high-pitched voice says.

Jordan rolls her eyes before getting up and answering the door. On the other side of the door is Farleigh, standing with two bags in his hand.

“I have come with sustenance,” Farleigh says as he pushes past Jordan.

Jordan looks at him in disbelief, “Umm, excuse you,” she follows Farleigh into the apartment.

Farleigh places the food on her coffee table, “Girl, come sit down and eat this food.”

Jordan laughs at Farleigh's dramatic entrance and follows him to the couch, “Alright, I’m coming,” she says playfully before sitting next to him on the sofa.

Farleigh grins, pleased with himself. “What do we have here?” Jordan asks.

Farleigh opens the boxes of food to reveal an assortment of chicken wings, fries, and sauces.

“I got us a mix of everything,” Farleigh answers, “figured you’d want to try it all.” He looks up at the TV, “Bad Girls Club?”

“What? You’ve never watched it,” Jordan asked, mouth already stuffed with fries.

“I don’t really indulge much in American culture. I’m in England most of the time,” Farleigh explains.

Jordan nods her head in understanding, “How often do you go home?”

“Maybe twice a year, usually in the summer, I’m at Saltburn,” Farleigh mumbles.

“Saltburn,” Jordan looks at him in confusion.

Farleigh looks at her with a sly smile, “Yeah. It’s my aunt and uncle’s house, Felix and Venetia’s parents,” he puts his food down before wiping his hands with a napkin, “Do you wanna come?”

Jordan bites into a chicken wing as she gives Farleigh a side-eye. “Come where?”

“To Saltburn,” Farleigh continues.

“Am I allowed,” Jordan asks with more confusion evident in her voice.

“Of course you are. I invited you, plus Felix invites people every year, and my uncle doesn’t care,” Farleigh insists.

“I’ll think about it. I don’t want to intrude,” Jordan says nervously.

Farleigh reassures her, “I promise. You won’t. Plus, I’ll be there, as well as Felix and Venetia. It’ll be fun.”

Jordan contemplates. I have nothing else to do, “I’ll come. I’m not doing anything else this summer,” Jordan smiles reassuringly.

“Yes,” Farleigh claps his hands, “ Now that that's out the way, I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the pre-summer ball with me?”

“Don’t you only go if you pass your exams,” Jordan questions.

Farleigh rolls his eyes, “We both know you’ll pass.”

“I mean…I guess I’ll go with you,” Jordan teases.

“Who else were you gonna go with,” Farleigh sarcastically asks.

Jordan replies with a serious expression, “Oliver.”

“Be serious.”

“I am. Haven’t you seen him lately,” Jordan doubles down.

There’s a pause before Jordan laughs, “I’m kidding. I’m not going with that man,” Jordan grabs Farleigh’s hands and makes him stand up.

She looks Farleigh in his eyes, “Of course, I will go with you,” she says.

Farleigh's smile widens with Jordan’s acceptance, “Great! It’s a date then.”

Jordan grins at him excitedly, “I’m looking forward to it,” she says sincerely.

They stand there for a moment, their hands still collapsed, before Farleigh clears his throat, gesturing to the half-eaten food on the table, “We should probably finish eating.”

Jordan laughs, realizing they’ve been standing still, lost in the moment, “Right. I can tell you more about Bad Girls Club.”

xxxxxxxxxxx

Amidst the jubilant chaos, Jordan and Farleigh emerge from the exam school together, hand in hand, cheering after successfully completing their exams, their faces flushed with excitement and relief. They’re greeted by a crowd of cheering friends, and sprays of champagne and silly string land on them from the crowd. They spot Felix on the crowd's edge and rush over to him.

He greets them with a wide grin, “Congratulations, guys!” Felix yells while placing medals around their necks.

Jordan hugs Felix with a beaming smile, “Thank you, Felix!” She turns to Farleigh and pulls him into a hug, “We did it,” she exclaims, her voice beaming with pride.

They break the hug and notice Felix greeting Oliver and placing a medal around his neck. Jordan exchanges a glance with Farleigh, a mixture of surprise and curiosity in her eyes. Farleigh gently pulls her in the opposite direction, “We gotta start getting ready for the ball, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, you’re right. I can’t wait until you see my dress. One of my mom’s friends is a seamstress, and she made the dress for me and sent it over just in time. It fits perfectly,” Jordan replies, her excitement evident in her voice.

“I can’t wait to see it,” Farleigh says with a smile, his eyes twinkling in anticipation. The two come to a stop, and Farleigh leans in to give Jordan a quick peck on the cheek, “I’ll see you later,” he asks. Jordan nods with a small smile before the two part ways, each filled with anticipation for the night ahead.

xxxxxxxxxxx

After parting ways with Farleigh, Jordan walks back to her apartment, her mind buzzing with excitement. As she entered her room, she was greeted with the sight of her dress hanging delicately on her closet door. She walks up to the dress and grazes her finger down it softly, taking note of the delicate lace.

The room is filled with soft music playing in the background as Jordan prepares for the evening. Her carefully selected jewelry lays on the bed, waiting as Jordan fits into her dress. As she slips into the dress, she feels a wave of confidence takes over her body.

As she takes a final look in the mirror, she takes note of how the dress accentuates her waist, how her makeup accentuates her features, and how her braids cascade down her back. With one last glance, she heads out the door, excited for the rest of her night.

xxxxxxxxxxx

As the taxi comes to a halt, Jordan gracefully exits, her purse in tow. She takes a moment to adjust her dress, her anticipation palpable in the air. With a confident stride, she approached the entrance of the venue. As she’s walking, she notices a recognizable head of hair. It’s Farleigh!

As she quickens her pace slightly, she finally approaches the tall boy. Standing on her toes, she playfully covers his eyes with her manicured hands, “Guess who,” she questions with a playful grin.

The hands grab her wrist and spin her around. Before she knows it, she’s twirling in Farleigh’s arms, a broad smile on her face as they share a moment of joy and excitement. Farleigh places her down, “You look beautiful, Jordan,” he exclaims warmly, admiration evident in his voice.

“You clean up nicely, Farleigh. Are you ready to go-” Before she could continue her sentence, she noticed Oliver standing awkwardly in front of them.

“Oh. Didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation,” she apologizes.

“It’s no problem-” Oliver answers before Farleigh interrupts, “I was just telling him how I like his tux.”

Jordan looks at Farleigh in confusion before agreeing, “Yeah, it is nice,” she looks Oliver up and down, “You clean up nice as well, Oliver.”

“Thank you,” Oliver answers nervously.

Farleigh straightens out Oliver's tuxedo, “It’s a rental? Right?”

“Yeah,” Oliver answers.

Farleigh grabs his wrists before showing them to Jordan, “Yeah, the sleeves are too long.”

Jordan nods her head, “It’s important to always check the sleeves, Ollie,” she teasingly chastises him.

“Always check the sleeves,” Farleigh teases, almost condescendingly, “But not bad,” he taps Oliver’s chest, “You’re almost” tap “passing.”

Farleigh grabs Jordan’s hand before starting to walk away.

Oliver questions, “For what?”

Farleigh turns around briefly, “ A real human boy.”

Jordan follows Farleigh, glancing over her shoulder at Oliver, shrugging her shoulders before pulling Farleigh into the event hall.

They enter the elegantly decorated hall. The room is filled with glittering chandeliers, soft candlelight, and vibrating floral arrangements. The sound of soft music fills the air, adding to the calming atmosphere. Farleigh squeezes her hand, a reassuring gesture that brings a smile to her face.

“Shall we sit,” Farleigh says mockingly before pulling out a chair for Jordan.

“Stop being corny,” Jordan laughs before sitting down. Farleigh waves over a waiter and takes two drinks from their tray, “Here you go, beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jordan says before taking a sip.

“Drink as much as you want, but just to warn you, we have quite a drive tomorrow,” Farleigh states.

“How long,” Jordan questions.

“Six hours,” Fairleigh says.

Jordan’s eyes widen as she almost chokes on her drink, “Six hours,” she whispers yells.

“It’s not that bad, and we won't be driving. My uncle is sending a driver for us. Including Felix and Vee.”

“Ugh,” she puts the drink down and stands up, “this ‘Saltburn’ better be worth it,” she complains. Farleigh follows her movements, “Oh, it will,” he confirms.

“Do you want to dance,” Farleigh holds his hand out. Jordan nods her head and grabs his hand.

As they walk to the dance floor, Jordan mentions, “You know I’ve never slow danced before?”

“No,” Farleigh questions, “Not even at prom,” he asks in disbelief.

Jordan shakes her head, “Nope. Didn’t go to prom. I had no one to go with.”

Farleigh couldn’t believe what she was saying. “So you’re telling me that no one wanted to go with you? That doesn't make sense.”

“It’s a lot more that goes into it,” Jordan explains.

Farleigh nods, understanding that there might be more to Jordan’s story than she’s telling. As they position themselves for the slow dance, he gently places his hands on her waist while she places her hands on his shoulders.

“Sorry if I pushed too much,” Farleigh says softly, his gaze meeting Jordan’s.

Jordan shakes her head reassuringly and smiles, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t know.”

Jordan lays her head on his chest as they begin to sway to the music. Their movements synchronized as they lose themselves in the moment. Farleigh’s eyes focused solely on Jordan.

xxxxxxxxxxx

As the night comes to an end, Farleigh and Jordan are in a taxi back to Jordan’s apartment. They share shy smiles as they bask in the quiet but comfortable ambiance of the taxi. Jordan leans her head on Farleigh’s shoulder, feeling the warmth of his presence beside her. Farleigh pulls her closer to his side as they share a comfortable silence, content in each other's company.

The taxi arrives at Jordan’s apartment. Jordan and Farleigh step out of the cab and walk up the steps to her apartment. They reach Jordan’s apartment door and stand in silence. Jordan speaks first, “I had a lot of fun tonight, Farleigh.”

Fareligh smiles warmly, “I’m glad I was able to make your night fun. I had a great time,” he pauses a moment before continuing, “Thanks for being my date.”

Jordan returns his smile, “Of course, Farleigh. Anytime.” She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him, “I’ll see you tomorrow. 8am?”

“Yeah, 8 am,” Farleigh confirms before turning to walk down the stairs. Jordan stands partially in her apartment before yelling, “You better be up on time!”

Farleigh laughs before turning around, “I’ll set three alarms, just to be sure!” Jordan laughs before closing her door. As she leans against the door, she can’t help but smile. Can’t wait.

#farleigh imagine #farleigh x reader #felix catton #oliver quick #saltburn imagine #venetia catton #farleigh start #farleigh start x reader #saltburn

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butterflydm · 1 year

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wot reread: a memory of light (ch 5-6)

spoilers through a memory of light, the last book in the series

Rand wakes up next to Aviendha, and goes to the tent entrance to glance at the busy camp, already at work on preparing for the day. "Everyone knew these were their last moments before the storm arrived".

2. Aviendha sneaks up on Rand, delighted that she managed to succeed despite the bond. She had to move very slowly and carefully but she manages to startle him when he turns around to see her right there, still naked.

Yeah, if I were restructuring WoT as a whole, I think I would place the bond way later in time than it happened in the books. Like "last night" late. Still have the love confessions happen in WH (and Rand finally sleeping with Elayne) but don't have Elayne suggest bonding yet (honestly, when you look at Rand's arc as a whole, it's kinda weird that he's willing to agree to bonding at that time).

And when Rand sneaks off with Nynaeve, he should leave Min behind in Caemlyn too, which would (a.) actually give Min time to bond with Elayne & Aviendha and (b.) actually let Rand be genuinely emotionally alone and isolated for the arc where we're constantly being TOLD that he's alone and isolated and finally (c). be a much better reason why Min never tells Rand that Elayne is pregnant than 'doesn't remember due to being blackout drunk from jealousy'. Then Aviendha trains when she's in Caemlyn, and instead of going to Arad Doman with the rest of the Wise Ones, she goes to Rhuidean at that point (since Min is still in Caemlyn; you could have the Semirhage thing be a non-romantic moment where Rand breaks through to save Nynaeve or one of the Maidens). And then the actual bonding happens once the four of them are all reunited in Merrilor before the Last Battle. Plus, this means that Alanna stays important to the story as Cadsuane's Rand mood-ring.

Anyway, obviously not something that Jordan could have done, because he had not yet written all the parts that would need to be restructured. But in an ideal world. Because as it is, after the bond happens in WH, it's extremely underutilized. And Rand doubting that he can really love all three of them without that being an issue between them makes a lot more sense if he hasn't already experienced their affection through the bond.

3. Also, Rand being able to feel the land here ("The Dragon is one with the land" as we were told in EotW) is really neat and I like it a lot. He can feel the life of the land and also how precarious it all is.

4. There's still a bit of a culture clash going on, as Rand is puzzled at how Aviendha can find their first time together (back in TFoH) to now be something that can't be talked about at all (because she has met her toh over it to Elayne), which I like. They were raised in very different cultures. Aviendha also has definitely accepted here the idea that she plans to live in the wetlands, post-Last Battle, and is faintly wistful that they have no time for a bath before the big meeting (in one hour).

5. Ah, and Aviendha here shows us that it seems likely that the Aiel, out of all the nations, may have the easiest time of adjusting to the notion of men being able to channel now that saidin is clean -- she says that concern over men channeling now would be like refusing to forget toh after it has been met. This makes a lot of sense to me when I think about it -- we know that Aiel men who can channel historically left their clans to go face an honorable death in the Blight (even if we've just learned in this book that was being thwarted by the Dark One) so the Aiel haven't really been villainizing male channelers the way that so many cultures have done.

And Rand uses the One Power to give them a shared shower together. A nice hot shower like they used to have in the AoL. Aviendha does not find Rand's ancient memories at all off-putting, the way that Min did. She just teases him that he was easier to manage before he had his new ancient wisdom. They are being so cute together. 🥰🥰🥰

6. But, yeah, I love how Rand feels comfortable talking about the Age of Legends and what "we" did back then with Aviendha, with no worries that she's going to judge him or freak out on him. She 100% teases him and gives him shit about it, though. And when she criticizes the AoL attitudes as naive, he agrees with her. This is also when she requests her future 'boon' from Rand and while it would definitely be nice if she just... told him about her vision, I love the way that she makes her request, because it's couched in a way that is full of not denying his consent in the matter and with respect for her partner:

"Rand, today, I will request a boon."

"What boon? I'm not certain I could deny you anything today, Aviendha."

"I'm not certain yet what it will be."

"I don't understand."

"You needn't understand. And you needn't promise me you will agree. I felt I needed to give you warning, as one does not ambush a lover. My boon will require you to change your plans, perhaps in a drastic way, and it will be important."

Also, on a physical level, I like that Rand likes how rough Aviendha's hands are. <3

7. We switch to Egwene's PoV at this point. In this book, there has been a lot of mid-chapter PoV swapping and I'm not certain that I like it. I mean, that's kinda the reason that Sanderson gave for why he cut scenes like the bridal wreaths scene -- because it might have felt frivolous when set against the attack on Caemlyn (but Perrin and Rand yukking it up didn't??) -- but if there was less mid-chapter PoV swapping, then you could add more of those character beats in without it feeling jarring, because you could continue the story on to move back to a serious plot beat before swapping to the Black Tower storyline in the next chapter or whatnot. It's a self-created problem, is what I'm saying. Jordan would occasionally do mid-chapter PoV swaps but it was much more sparing. I understand the urge to always have the scene be in what you feel is the 'most effective' PoV for that part of the scene but sometimes the story is stronger as a whole if you don't constantly do that. I feel like maybe the PoV swapping extravaganza should possibly have been saved for chapter 37.

8. Egwene is trying to interpret her dreams while they happen. A glass column of light; trying to hold the world together and it continuing to break under her hands. When she wakes up, she's temporarily disorientated, because she's sleeping in a different room than normal, with her own room in the White Tower still being put to rights after the attempted assassination. She's been commuting to the Field of Merrilor, essentially, lol.

Gawyn reads a letter about the latest news from Caemlyn and they talk about "the Seanchan woman" (aka Leilwin née Egeanin) who Nynaeve has said won't cause them any 'intentional' harm. A glowing endorsement! Egwene, much like Rand, is worried that they will have to fight the Seanchan and the Trollocs at the same time (another thing that Mat is sheltered from -- from what I recall, I don't think he ever finds out how much danger all his friends were in from his slaver wife, because the narrative needs to keep the illusion alive for Mat for as long as possible).

9. Hundreds of thousands of people are reported dead in the Caemlyn attack. That's hundreds of thousands of lives that Mat could have saved if he'd been slightly less mistrusting of Aes Sedai. And the city itself is lost, at least for now. The city had also housed much of the planned food supply for Elayne's troops for the Last Battle, also now lost. They also get word of the time for the day's big meeting, and it's in half an hour, so they get moving. (Gawyn suggest letting Rand wait but Egwene says it would be a bad idea to allow Rand to fully set the narrative for the upcoming meeting).

10. Every nation but Murandy, Arad Doman, and the Seanchan-held lands is represented at this meeting. Darlin (of Tear) is worried deeply about the Seanchan threat to his lands, we learn, and so will stand with Egwene if need be, because she has promised him Gateways back to Tear, if he should need to bring his army back to face the Seanchan. But both Darlin and Gregorin (the steward of Illian) tell Egwene that Rand is willing to listen to reasonable arguments. See Egwene's worries here about how much she could trust 'the man he had become' would resonate a lot more in general, if her last meeting with Rand had been ruthless!Rand.

She is surprised to see that, despite what she'd thought going into this meeting, that the flag of Arad Doman is present after all. And so is the flag of Murandy. So only the Seanchan-held lands are not present.

11. Rand arrives, wearing red and gold, and with a carpet of fresh grass growing under his feet (because he's One with the Land <3). The impact that this would have had if she'd only seen ruthless!Rand in ToM and not zen!Rand. It's still pretty good but it could have been an even bigger moment for Egwene. The grass spreads outward until the entire area that the leaders are standing on is covered in green. Egwene sends Gawyn off to see if one of the Aes Sedai & Asha'man pairs will spill the beans on what weave Rand might be using to cause such an effect.

12. He has a large floating bundle that unravels as he walks, setting an enormous pavilion ahead on the green. Egwene reluctantly admires his showmanship, lol. Without breaking stride, he tells all the gathered leaders that they can bring five people with them each, and then heads into the tent. lol at Min being a prop just like the saidin glowbulbs are props. There she is, clinging to Rand's arm like a bracelet, as has been her duty since fucking A Crown of Swords. The Hero's Reward For His Sacrifices And Suffering. When I think of how interesting Min's storyline could have been and then think of how pointless it has been... it's just really sad and frustrating.

Okay, actually, here's a good time to mention an element of weird: Elayne just casually mentioned to Egwene that Aviendha spent the night with Rand. So, off-screen, Elayne has apparently shared the whole "all three of us love him and are in a relationship with him" thing with Egwene, because Egwene has zero thoughts or feelings about the fact that Elayne is pregnant with Rand's kids, Aviendha spent the night with him, and Min is stapled to him today. This is the same woman who believed in ToM that Gawyn shouldn't share a bedroom with her because they were unmarried, mind you. And she has zero thoughts or feelings about Rand hooking up with three different women while not married to any of them; she just recites the facts without any kind of response to them. You'd think that this would come up when she was thinking about how much he'd changed from the boy she used to know!

I say again, definitely not for the first time:

Stop having important emotional moments happen off-screen!

13. When Elayne enters the tent, she and Rand smile at each other, and Egwene is like "ugh, how can she be so pleased and impressed with him!" before reluctantly admitting that she feels some pride in how much he has accomplished as well. When Perrin ("and his wife") and Nynaeve come in, they go stand by Rand, as does Cadsuane. But again, Egwene apparently has no opinion about Min clinging to Rand while Elayne smiles at him from the other side of the tent. Egwene is not a character who is shy about having opinions!

14. Rand thought that the king of Murandy might be Demandred, I'm guessing, by the way all his people went on alert and him going to stare at the guy and then going, "you're not him. Where is he?" but poor Egwene is so baffled by this.

Rand lays out the situation and says that one of the big problems of the last Age is that they weren't all united against the Shadow -- each general led on their own (with LTT being just as guilty of this fault as anyone else). Another emotional beat that kinda fell by the wayside of hurrying to the ending: whenever Rand has revealed in the past that he has LTT's memories, it caused a lot more concern and fuss over his potential madness. Again, I do get why Sanderson would be like "we don't have time for that" but I do feel the need to note it.

15. Rand talks here about how he wants to prevent another Breaking, wants to prevent conflict from breaking out the moment that he's dead.

Ah, I wonder if Egwene's bizarrely uncharitable "Even Elayne had gobbled up another country" thought here is part of what contributed to the whole "Elayne is acting out of power-hunger" fandom belief even though we were actually told in Elayne's own PoV thoughts back in ToM that Elayne is acting out of thinking about the future and the looming threat of the Seanchan Empire. Between Birgitte's increasingly bitter PoV and Egwene throwing Elayne under the bus with the other rulers, readers choose to believe them over Elayne's own actual internal thoughts about her reasoning behind her choices. Though I feel like part of the issue there is how shortchanged the Elayne Takes Cairhien plotline ended up being -- if we'd spent more time getting to see Elayne navigate the politics of it, like we got to see with Caemlyn, then we would have gotten more of Elayne's own thoughts on the reasoning to balance everything out.

16. At this point, Rand presents "the Dragon's peace" -- one of the three things that he says he requires in exchange for him giving up his life to save the world.

Hmm, I wonder if getting Elayne's genuine reaction here was part of the reason that Rand has kept his distance from her? This way, the other rulers see her reaction alongside them and think of her as aligned with them instead of aligned with Rand?

I do feel like I don't really have any good idea here of whether or not the random leaders of the world know that Elayne and Rand are in a relationship but if I assume that they mostly don't, then that's an actual reason for Min to be clinging to Rand's arm here... but then Elayne kinda punctures that idea later in the scene and it kinda seems like, off the page, everyone did get a debriefing on the "so, the Dragon Reborn has three girlfriends, let's not make a big thing about it" issue. I feel like this is not something I should be so confused about at this point in the story, lol.

And I feel like this scene would make more sense if people (especially those not firmly on Rand's side) DON'T know about Rand and Elayne's relationship, because then Min clinging to Rand as a very visible "Hey! Look at me! Mistress to the Dragon Reborn!" distraction technique would make more sense (as part of a thing that the polycule worked out on purpose) and make her choice to do that seem more strategic and less like she's peeing all over Rand in public to make her claim on him. But, again, Elayne publicly telling Rand "I love you" later in this scene ruins that theory and we go back to 'Min feeling the need to reassert her claim after Aviendha slept with Rand last night' because we didn't get to actually see a scene where Min has been okay with the polycule and we've been left with possessive & jealous Min as our only 'on-screen' Min (didn't have to be the bridal wreaths scenes -- any scene of the three of them actually talking would have been nice to get! Bonus points if Rand is actually part of the discussion too!).

17. Egwene cuts off the discussions on this to ask after Rand's other two requests -- the first is that he essentially wants Egwene's blessing on breaking the seals (though he plans to do it even if he doesn't get her blessing). But this leads up to Egwene and Rand having a big argument and... tbh, I don't envy Sanderson for needing to come up with a reason for Egwene and Rand to be so ~at odds~ in this last moment so that Moiraine can swoop in to save the day because it really makes no sense that they can't come to terms with each other! I'm not sure there's any argument that could have been worked up here that wouldn't feel at least a little artificial.

Given the paths that they've both walked to this point, it feels somewhat infantilizing that they need mom holding their hands in order to stop fighting with each other. If the reason you 'kill off' the mentor is to allow the students to reach their full potential, it really does kinda stifle/reverse that growth if it ends up that the mentor needs to come back to fix things.

Oh, and to quote Sanderson's retrospective on Moiraine coming back:

In his notes, Robert Jordan was very specific about the fact that Rand and Egwene needed to almost come to blows in the lead-up to the Last Battle. He called it the grand union of the armies against Rand, whose decisions were considered too radical, too dangerous, to be allowed to proceed. Moiraine was to be the force that brought the two of them together, unifying the armies of light, cementing her importance—and showing why she needed to be rescued by Mat before the Last Battle. (There were a lot of instructions about what Moiraine was to say, and some good writing on that meeting at the Field of Merrilor.)

Just in the interest of having all the appropriate information.

18. Random side note, I love Berelain's reaction to Rand's treaty (it really would be a huge blessing to teeny tiny countries like Mayene!). I just adore her basically going "two thumbs up, five stars, no notes" to the Dragon's Peace. But Berelain has been such a strong & loyal supporter of Rand for a very long time (and deserves a lot more credit for it than the books were willing to give her). idk it's a fun little side note.

19. Oh, and Rand's last request is that he wants full control over the armies for the Last Battle rather than everyone controlling their own army.

Yeah, Egwene thinks here that Rand is acting very much like an Aes Sedai (which feels like a counter-balance to Rand going all, "You're Not Like The Other Aes Sedai to Nynaeve" -- or, I guess, I would say that it counts as evidence that Rand's PoV in that chapter in ToM IS meant to be his own biased PoV and not the objective truth about Aes Sedai), and we also have her thinking that she can tell he still has strong emotions going on underneath the surface but that he's got them under much better control than before.

20. So, yeah, knowing that at least some of what Moiraine says and does here in the tent at Merrilor came directly from Jordan's notes does make me wonder how much that shaped some of the other plot points that happen in this discussion.

21. Man, I do not love having this chapter start out in Perrin's PoV. That really feels like the most useless of the potential PoVs. Either Rand or staying with Egwene would be so much better imo.

Anyway, we are in Perrin's PoV as we see Moiraine enter, and Perrin wonders why Mat isn't with Moiraine and he gets a vision of Mat... "on a horse, riding along a dusty road, tinkering with something he held". I will... hold off my thoughts about that until we actually get to a Mat PoV and I can evaluate it properly. But, just as a reminder: at the end of ToM, Mat was planning to return to Caemlyn and was suggesting that Moiraine do the same so that she could speak to Elayne before trying to talk to Rand. And the group of three did not bring any horses to the Tower of Ghenjei.

22. lol so much at Moiraine just blowing off any attempt to give Mat, Thom, or Noal/Jain credit for saving her and going right to "the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills". Reminds me so much of people who attribute life-saving medical intervention to a miracle from a god and not the doctors & nurses who actually saved their lives. The real reason Mat isn't here: so that he doesn't die from anger & frustration at his sacrifice being completely brushed off by Moiraine.

Perrin also notes the presence of Thom coming in after Moiraine.

23. Rand kneels before Moiraine until she tells him not to, Egwene welcomes her back to the White Tower, and Nynaeve gives her a hug (as sweet as the Nynaeve hug is, I still think she would be better served being in the Black Tower plotline right now). Anyway, Moiraine Fixes Everything by giving everyone present a lecture on how they need to trust Rand and quoting prophecy at them until they give up and agree to go along with him.

24. Also, both the Aes Sedai and the Asha'man are randomly using the Power to smack anyone who protests Moiraine's presence/importance (which kinda does feel like another Jordan Throwback and not one that I super-enjoy).

25. What's weird is that Perrin thinks of Grady as "one of the nearby Asha'man" here but... he should be the person who brought Moiraine and Thom to Merrilor? How is he already at this meeting as one of Rand's Asha'man? How did Moiraine and Thom get here if Grady was already present? Moiraine has been stuck in the Tower of Ghenjei and so didn't have a chance to learn how to Travel yet. Grady was the one opening Gateways to the Tower of Ghenjei in order to retrieve Mat & co once they were done with their task. Did Grady bring Moiraine and Thom to Perrin's camp, and then leave and go over to Rand (without telling him about it), and then Moiraine and Thom eavesdropped on the meeting until the ~most dramatic moment~ for her to enter and save the day? Not that this is necessarily out of character for Moiraine, of course, but... that should mean that Mat is here too, because Mat was with Moiraine and Thom. The logistics of this are not adding up for me.

26. One of the Aes Sedai (Perrin doesn't know her name) points out that even if they all agree here to the Dragon's Peace, there's a huge flaw remaining -- the Seanchan.

...wow, Mat really should be here for this conversation. I'm feeling sorta like I did at the start of Crossroads of Twilight, where it feels like the author decided to do a major swerve from what was set up in the previous books. Logistically, Mat should have come to Merrilor with Moiraine & Thom... it's honestly difficult to see how he possibly avoided it? Assigned Gateway-maker Grady is at Merrilor. Literally right here, in this meeting. Perrin just mentioned him.

Logically: Mat should have arrived at Merrilor, mentioned that he had been planning to return to Caemlyn (for the Band & Olver) and found out that Caemlyn was attacked (learning from Talmanes that the knowledge of the attack was in the letter that Verin had left for him). This would bring his arc re: mistrusting Aes Sedai to an appropriate conclusion: mistrusting Aes Sedai so strongly has led to massive death on a scale as bad as anything in his war memories. Then Mat should have learned that the only thing holding back the potential peace for the world post-Last Battle is the Seanchan. He finds out how worried everyone is that the Seanchan will attack, either while the Last Battle is happening or afterwards.

Then, as a show of self-sacrifice (and guilt over letting Caemlyn be attacked), Mat tells Rand & co about his marriage and volunteers to be the one to go to Fortuona, to make one last desperate attempt at a peace treaty before the Last Battle. Because of his marriage, he's the best person for the job (making his marriage actually matter in the narrative and giving it a reason to have a prophecy about it).

Before he goes through a Gateway to Ebou Dar, he and Rand talk about Rand's LTT memories and Rand confesses to Mat that he believes that he genuinely is insane but that he has control of himself (basically shift over those two conversations that Perrin had with Rand earlier, the ones that felt like they had zero relevance to Rand and Perrin's friendship). This would bring Mat's arc re: Rand and the role of the Dragon Reborn to an appropriate emotional conclusion.

And this would mean that the Emond's Field Five actually all get to reunite before the Last Battle kicks off!

27. "I see what you're trying to do, Rand, and I love you for it." This is the wtf moment that kinda throws the 'what DO all the various random rulers know about Rand's relationships?' question into the pot. Visibly pregnant Elayne saying this to Rand while another woman was desperately clinging (silently) to his arm only minutes ago should be raising so many questions and red flags for the various rulers who are present here. Especially since Rand doesn't publicly reciprocate her affection here. I feel like just having Elayne say, "I see what you're trying to do, Rand, but that does not remove the fact that this document is fundamentally untenable" would have made a lot more sense here. There's no point to Rand and Elayne avoiding spending time with each other if Elayne is also throwing out 'I love you's in public. Pick a lane, essentially. But Rand agrees to add the provision that if the Seanchan do not sign to the treaty, then the document as a whole is void.

28. Elayne says that only addresses the problem of the Seanchan and not the issue of how to enforce the treaty, which is what leads to Aviendha speaking up and telling Rand that she wants the boon that she'd requested earlier -- that the Aiel be treated the same way as the wetlanders in the treaty. Rand says that leaving them out of the agreement was meant as an expression of his trust and Aviendha tells him that it is an insult instead.

(and it is not the Aiel themselves who say that war is their purpose or that they are tools; they actually respond negatively to the suggestion -- it's Rand and Perrin, wetlanders who both canonically have the bad habit of using their people as tools, who make that comparison)

But anyway, the Aiel are written into the document as the official enforcers of the peace.

Hmm, we do get this cute moment from Perrin here that Elayne 'smells' proud of Rand even as she continues to 'stare daggers' at him, lol. But just like Egwene, Perrin has no thoughts on the whole "Rand has multiple girlfriends" situation.

Moiraine asks Rand how he plans to lead the armies if he's going to Shayol Ghul, so that's now an open question.

29. I do feel the need to point out: Aviendha is here spearheading the Aiel & the Wise Ones; Elayne is here representing Caemlyn & Cairhien; and they are both vocal in this meeting and actively facing and talking with Rand as equals. Min... is silently clinging to Rand's arm. And the saddest thing is that this is perfectly representative of them in the series as a whole, too. Aviendha and Elayne both have other things going on and get to be fully-realized characters and people, while Min... not so much, and the story has to keep trying to manufacture ways to occupy her time* because once she leaves Salidar, she has literally nothing else going on in her life but clinging to Rand.

(*hilariously, it's usually something that someone else had already discovered or realized earlier in the series -- ex. Rand himself has the realization about needing to break the seals all the way back at the start of Lord of Chaos, long before Min arrives in Caemlyn; or there's that time she uncovered the flaw in Callandor... that Cadsuane had already told Rand about in an earlier book)

30. As Faile brings up some pertinent questions about the Seanchan, Mat not being here at this meeting feels so weird and jarring. It makes zero narrative or purely logistical sense.

The question: if the Seanchan sign this document, does that give them formal permission to keep all the people they've enslaved and the lands that they've conquered? And are they allowed to kidnap and enslave anyone who crosses their borders (women who can channel in particular)? Very important questions and ones that Mat needed to hear being brought up. Shielding him from any of this, like he's a toddler who is too young to hear the truth about the world, doesn't help anyone, especially not him.

31. Rand says that he will go to the Seanchan after this meeting, either to find a way to get them to sign this treaty or to find a way to destroy their ability to make war (guessing this would be something to do with the damane -- maybe springing all their collars with the Power all at once?). So Rand still considers fighting the Seanchan to be a very viable possibility for him at this time.

Here is the point in the meeting when Mat (who should be here) would speak up and say, "I'll go and talk to her first" because he's just found out that the other option is Fortuona getting killed by his best friend and/or Fortuona attempting to kill his friends & people.

"We cannot have them striking at our backs when we attack the Shadow."

lol, Min silently takes Rand's arm again as the rulers proceed with the treaty signing.

32. When it comes time for Elayne to sign (she's last), she notes that it's a difficult thing that Rand is asking of her, and he gives her the control of the armies of the Last Battle. Though some of the leaders push back against the idea, none of them do so based on the whole "you two are romantically linked" conflict-of-interest idea, so I once again have to wonder what exactly all the random rulers know about their relationship (maybe they just assume Elayne is very free with her 'I love you's).

33. The question of the Seanchan is brought up again, and Rand says that he will see what he can do about trying to trade with the Seanchan to get their people back (from what we saw in Aviendha's visions, this is a trade that Fortuona and her successors refused in the alternate future) and try to persuade them to return back over the sea but if worst comes to worst "if forced to it, I am content to allow them the lands they have, so long as they do not spread further".

"Thousands are enslaved," Egwene points out.

"What's done is done," Rand says. Yikes. He does follow this up with, "Let us worry about the world first, then do what we can for those held captive" so again, he's not letting the Seanchan entirely off the hook here -- he's leaving an explicit opening for the leaders to push the Seanchan on this in the future. But, you know, saying "what's done is done" about people being kidnapped into slavery is extremely Yikes.

We also get the pro-'strongman' yikes argument of "the lands they have taken have benefited from strong leadership", which is something that Jordan first brought up in TPoD as propaganda that the Seanchan were spreading but wasn't actually true (as we heard stories about how violent the Seanchan mainland still was, with uprisings and civil wars), was treated as an article of faith by Fortuona in CoT & KoD even as we were cut off from hearing any counter-arguments, and now is basically taken as literally true.

And, once again, I feel the need to point out that the 'strong leadership' that Rand is praising is mostly the work of Darkfriend Suroth and Forsaken Semirhage, as Fortuona was ~under the veil~ during her first weeks in Ebou Dar and so in a weird in-between place as far as her authority went, then kidnapped and missing for at least a month and maybe closer to two or three months, and has only recently been returned to power. So this is more an argument in praise of the Dark One than the Seanchan, though Rand (and I guess Sanderson) doesn't realize it.

34. Things are getting bad in the Borderlands, we find out, as we check in with Lan.

Yeah, I feel like this section here would have been enough to illustrate how bad things were getting without us needing the attack on Caemlyn. Too many battles, not enough character moments! (especially if Mat isn't there to face his failure with Caemlyn and Verin's letter, making it all feel much more pointless and 'battle for the sake of battle')

Right when Lan believes that he's facing his last stand, Gateways open up and reinforcements pour in from Merrilor. And Lan is relieved that what he thought was his death becomes "a promising battle" instead.

This is a pretty nice, upbeat moment to end this section of the reread on, I think, since I feel like it's gotten long enough. I had a lot to say about the big meeting, lol.

#wot reread #wot #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #elayne trakand #rand al'thor #perrin aybara #moiraine damodred #egwene al'vere #mat cauthon

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