#and keep those people from realizing her weird family friend/uncle is an alien

[headcanonthings]

The Doctor: Do you think you’d actually notice if someone didn’t cast a shadow? Or if their limbs were just slightly too long? Or if they had just a little too many teeth? Like how many times have you passed Something on the street and you just didn’t Notice It? Rose Noble: Stay woke monsterfuckers your love is out there!!!!! The Doctor: Y'know what? Not my point at all in any way whatsoever, but I’m glad I could be an inspiration.

[adamarinayu]

Since I can’t draw right now (it’s like 1 AM) I decided I’d just write things down about Domestic DUno AU (I still don’t have a proper name for it!!) so here we go~

Info below the cut to spare the mobile users my ramblings~~

BACKSTORY STUFF 

-Donald first became PK as a teenager (14 or 15), pulling petty pranks and avenging perceived wrongdoings. He ended up accidentally becoming a hero after stopping a thief and unknowingly saving a young girl’s life, and he realized he could direct his temper, anger and frustration not at making other people miserable, but at protecting others. Gyro, who went to school with Donald (Donald and Della attended a private school that would accommodate their adventure schedule; Gyro, being the absolute genius he is, attended on a scholarship) was there and ended up helping, being the one to inadvertently provide PK with the weapon he fended off the criminals with. PK talked to Gyro and the two became partners in crime-fighting that way.

-After deciding to become a hero, it was small-town villains mostly that he dealt with. Thieves, and the like. He didn’t start fighting mutants and those kinds of things until he was 17 or so, and the Evronians didn’t show up until he was 18. This is when Scrooge gave him a summer job at his newly acquired tower, figuring since Donald didn’t want to go with him and Della on a three-month adventure (as Donald was needed in Duckburg, he couldn’t be gone for three months!!) then he may as well work and earn a little money. As Duckworth was still alive, Duckworth was in charge of the manor, so Donald didn’t need to worry about upkeeping the mansion.

-Donald met Uno after a failed attempt to fight the Evronians, and they partnered up, with Uno providing Donald with otherworldly advanced tech that Gyro... would probably understand if given the time and chance (come on, he built a time machine out of a bathtub, he could totally understand future tech). After the first battle with the Evronians that Donald eventually wins, he realized that the game had just just 10x more dangerous. Between working on his doctorate and interning for Scrooge’s science department (something the scientists working for Scrooge were salty about), Gyro didn’t have much time to work on new and improved inventions for PK so when Uno contacted Gyro about him stepping down from helping PK, Gyro agreed, acknowledging that the mysterious Uno Ducklair would probably be a better benefactor for the hero. He didn’t know PK’s identity, though, so he didn’t take the memory erasing candy. Instead he focused on his work.

-Years passed this way, with Donald and Uno working together. Of course Donald had his other adventures, such as with Jose and Panchito and Mickey and all them lovely folks, but Uno was his closest confidante and biggest supporter. He was the one he vented his frustrations with Della and Scrooge to, and the one to give him advice on how to deal with it and talk to them about it all.

-At some point during this time, Gladstone finds out Donald is PK. Of course it happens in the typical Lucky way- him finding out saved Donald’s life. Gladstone is shaken up by the knowledge that his cousin/brother is in danger every day and has almost died multiple times. Gladstone becomes a sort of third member of the whole Crime Fighting thing, yep, you heard it right, Cloverleaf is real here. He figures if he’s out in the field with Donald, then Donald will never die because of Gladstone’s supernaturally good luck. Uno, while frustrated with Gladstone’s unpredictable and illogical luck, accepts this. Donald is less keen because he doesn’t want Gladstone in danger’s path but when the gander makes up his mind it’s made up, yo.

-PK and Cloverleaf (CL from here on out) and Uno work together for 3 years before the Spear of Selene incident, where Donald is suddenly left with three eggs. Donald’s priorities now shifted, he quits being a hero and buys the houseboat so he can raise the triplets without Scrooge’s influence. Gladstone does what he can to help while trying to continue to protect Duckburg, and while watching CL on the news Donald has the sudden realization that Duckburg still needs him- new parent or not. So he (metaphorically!!) throws the eggs into their pram, rushes to Ducklair Tower, begs Lyla to watch the eggs for him and rushes off to CL’s aid. 

-After the danger is over, Donald collects the eggs, thanks Lyla for her help, then meets up with CL and Uno on the 151st floor where they have a serious conversation. Donald acknowledges that Duckburg still needs PK, but Della’s children also need him. The three eventually come to the conclusion that the kids would be raised by PK and Uno there in the Tower, where they would be safe- and they would be trained so they’re ready for anything thrown at them. (Gladstone is actually the one who is like “nah cuz you be their dad I’m not cut out for that, I’ll be the cool uncle, I don’t wanna live in the tower! No offense Uno” so it isn’t like Donald just decided to leave him out of the parenting)

-The eggs hatch and Donald names them sensible (AKA not Della’s list) names (and pronounces Llewellyn correctly dammit) and Donald and Uno have a time learning hands-on how to be parents. (“I’ve read twenty different parenting guides in the last five seconds and they’re all saying different things, Donald, WHAT DO WE DO-”) The whole “raising kids together” thing brings them even closer than before and forces them to have a chat about their feelings, too. 

-When the triplets are small and starting to run around, Uno baby proofs everything. He has a hard time keeping them from escaping their playpen (which is essentially a huge room with an amazing view of the city, he doesn’t know why they’re so intent on escaping). Then eventually the inevitable happens- both Don and Glad end up stuck on the other side of the world for nearly a whole month, and Uno realizes taking care of three toddlers is much easier when you have a body. So while they’re gone, he balances his time between advising them on their mission, taking care of the triplets and building an android body that can handle an AI as advanced as him (throw out that “an AI who is only good could never make a full person” shit cuz Uno can be petty as hell, he’s a whole ass person even without Due yo). By the time Don and Glad get back he’s testing his prototype. Donald is thrilled, of course- his boyfriend has a body now!

-The triplets gain a sister! Everett brings a child to them one day, a little Coronan girl who was for reasons I haven’t decided yet cast out of her family and Everett, with his weird Enlightened Powers shit, went and found her and brought her back to the people he knew would take care of her well (considering his own past failures...). And so the triplets have a little sister who is an alien! Yee! Yes it’s Asveya (Ve). She came to them when she was ~2 and the triplets were 3 or 4, and as she didn’t have a name Donald named her after a friend he met as a child, when he regularly adventured with Scrooge and Della, and whom he ended up meeting again as a young adult.

-Uno perfects the body over time as he learns more things about being a person (he very purposefully leaves out pain receptors, though he includes the best parts of being a physical person ofc- he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too!). Everett decides now that Uno has a body, it was time to introduce him as his son officially and hand the business over to him (stating that it’ll be good for the kids if at least one of their parents had a proper job and income, since savings don’t last forever), and as the kids get older Donald begins training them so they’ll be able to take care of/protect themselves if need be. Uno creates a training field/obstacle course that is fun and age-appropriate, and by the time they’re ten they’re like little superheroes in training. They can give Webby a run for her money. Ve is less interested in being like PK and more interested in being like Uno- AKA the techie behind the gadgets.

-The triplets are already playing with some rudimentary pieces of tech Ve made, playing like they’re superheroes (or villains, gotta have someone to fight!). Uno finds out when he reviews the Tower footage and immediately confiscates anything that can be dangerous, but lets them keep the more innocent stuff.

MODERN DAY STUFF (AKA the time the show takes place)

-As the kids got older Donald and Uno allowed them more freedom, even letting them go out on their own (with the promise of being back before dark, not telling anyone what their parents did for a living, they all stuck together and they didn’t speak to strangers beyond what was necessary). When the triplets were 10 and Ve was 8 or 9, Uno learned that a powerful artifact (not the gem) was in Atlantis and that if a villain got their hands on it, it would be... very bad. So Donald decides it’s time to put on his metaphorical adventure shoes again and go get it. By this time Gladstone got trapped in the casino (Uno has been looking for him, after not hearing from him for over a week) and Uno had a Big Business thing to attend, real important too, so they talk about getting a babysitter for the weekend they’ll be gone. The kids manage to convince them they don’t need one, as they’ll be safe in the 151st floor (“We’ll be safer there than anywhere else, right, Uncle Uno?”). Donald tried to call Lyla but she was unfortunately in the field, so he agreed to let them stay home on their own until Uno got back (Uno did the math and figured he could stay for a few hours to just make a good faith appearance, talk business with some stooges and then come home the same day).

-Of course, the kids get caught. Uno had already left out for his business thing at like 5 AM, and Donald was about to head out to Atlantis in one of the Duckmobiles. He happened to check on a whim the back of the mobile, where he found his surprised ducklings staring wide-eyed up at him. He knew then that he needed to cash in on a favour- he called Beakley and then drove the protesting children to the mansion. (“Come on, Unca’ Donald!” “It’s a mansion! We wanna go to the lost city, too!” “Come on, we’ve been doing real good in training!” “Please, dad? We promise we’ll listen!”) The excitement over meeting THE Scrooge McDuck is overshadowed by the disappointment that they can’t go on this mission.

-Besides, who cares about a mansion and a rich adventuring duck when your parents and uncle are not only rich adventurers, but they’re also superheroes???

-Donald gives them a forehead kiss goodbye and heads off, and Scrooge has Beakley put the kids in that old room. “It’ll only be a few hours” they said. “Until Uno gets back.” Unfortunately, Uno calls Louie and tells the duckling there’s been a problem and he won’t be back until later- Donald already informed him of the changed arrangements and he’s already contacted Beakley.

-The kids decide to escape the old room, putting their hero training into action, but are ultimately swept up into Webby’s trap. Webby is super excited to meet them when she realizes who they are (though she has no idea who Ve is), and she cuts them down from the net without them having to escape themselves. The kids know they’re not supposed to let anyone know about the “hero family” thing so try to act like normal kids, though it becomes apparent Webby doesn’t know how to be a normal kid either.

-Through shenanigans, the children inspire Scrooge to adventure again, and Dewey lets slip about lost cities and Scrooge has a moment of realization. Thus, he drags the kids to Atlantis with him. While there, the kids each get a chance to show off their moves (which they’re SUPPOSED TO HIDE but you know, when arrows are flying at you ain’t got no time to hide). Donald is pissed when he notices them in Atlantis, and Uno is pissed when he calls Donald and learns the kids are in Atlantis, right where they are NOT supposed to be.

-Things pretty much follow the episode, though with the triplets able to hold their own and Donald gunning for a completely different artifact. When they escape and get back to the surface with their respective artifacts, they’re met by a livid android who absolutely chews Scrooge out for dragging four ten year olds and an eight year old to a dangerous place like that.

-Donald decides that it might be okay for the kids to visit with Scrooge sometimes, to get a little real-world experience, and at precisely that moment something crashes into the 151st floor of Ducklair Tower. Uno is absolutely furious (“MY TOWER???”) cuz that’s gonna take a bit to fix- at the very least it’ll appear to take a while- and when the kids question “what now?” Scrooge offers up some rooms in the mansion. The kids are excited cuz they’ll get to live with Webby and explore a new place. Donald and Uno say “just until the tower is fixed” (Gladstone had Donald’s boat at the time he went missing so Donald doesn’t have it) which is good enough for the kids.

-Scrooge being sus of Uno for like a whole arc cuz he’d never heard of Uno Ducklair before recently and also his nephew?? got married??? 

-Gladstone finally gets a message out to Don and Uno for help, and they go immediately- but not before Scrooge makes it a family adventure. Scrooge is disparaging of Gladstone, but Donald is just worried about his cousin. They manage to save Gladstone without pseudo-sacrificing anyone. Scrooge gets a little sus when they get back to Duckburg, and days later the missing Cloverleaf has shown up again. 

-HDLV ended up spilling the truth to Webby as she got closer with them, but they swore her to secrecy. Of course Beakley found out because Webby is a terrible liar.

**So basically Donald + Uno parents, a kid that calls them her dads, good Uncle Gladstone, Brotherly Gladstone + Donald, Competent Cloverleaf, PK + Cloverleaf teamup, little-hero triplets. Gyro will end up teaming up with Gizmoduck when Fenton takes up heroing, too, just like Launchpad teams up with DW (DW’s story for this AU will be different, also, just a heads up) and basically all their combined kids become a badass team of children (Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Ve, Boyd, Gos, and of course Lena and Violet join in later...) Gyro teams up with Gizmoduck because every hero needs a tech guy (even heroes who are also scientists....) and he’s not only very capable, he’s worked with a hero before so he knows the ins and outs :D

However it is now 2 AM and I need to sleep so I’m gonna end my musings here but I am thinking of them so much right now I’m

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Aftermath)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is about 17 or 18; i cried while writing this. sorry this is really long!!! pls forgive me 🥺

prompt: takes place from a3 to smffh

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Intense Years (3) Continued (5)

let’s start on a happy note! ahahah

so for a while, earth was calm

you, pepper, and tony got to be a family for a while

wedding planning!

of course you got to try the ben&jerry’s ice cream named after your dad: Stark Raving Hazelnuts

“it’s not fair that you got ice cream named after you and i didn’t”

“well, when you grow up to be as awesome as me, maybe you’ll get your own ice cream flavor”

developing nanotech suits together for a Bonding Experience(tm)

speechless after the first test

“dad, this is...”

“the coolest thing to ever exist?”

“yes!!”

yall ready for some shit?

the day that ebony maw invaded was pretty—what’s the word? interesting? no. well, yes, but...HORRIBLE.

it all started when you got the call from your dad

“y/n, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“god, i really have to change that. okay, JOSHIE, answer it. hey, dad? what’s up?”

“hey, kid! you know that weird ass building on bleecker street? how fast can you get here?”

“JOSH can you track FRIDAY really quick? lets see how far dad is...uh, okay, be there in five, see ya”

taking your suit for a spin and realizing how GREAT it was to be able to basically fold up your suit and put it in your back pocket

knocking on the door and it opened on its own, it was kinda cool

“is this a museum? cool.”

bruce turning around to see you after about three years and giving you an awkward smile and a wave while you stood frozen around the wizard-guys

“y/n, god, you’ve grown up!”

charging into him for a long overdue hug

“you don’t know how much i missed you. it’s been chaotic without you”

“i can...i can only imagine”

a debriefing on the situation you were about to face, and bonus! having to play the catch-up game with bruce

“just call him, dad. we need as much help as we can. steve will understand”

rushing outside to face off with some ugly-ass aliens

“oh nooo, it’s roger smith from american dad”

bruce: 👀, stephen: 👀, wong: 👀, tony: 👏👏🥰 that’s my girl

simultaneous nanosuit unveiling

“you ready for this one, pops?”

“of course! ive waited years to kick some more alien ass”

montage of you and tony getting your asses beat together (as a family <3)

peter showing up

“give me one good reason why i shouldn’t send you back to that school bus”

“because i’m good company?”

“whatever, just listen to whatever dad has to say, i forfeit my responsibilities over you”

pew pew, repulsors, pew, tiny rockets! fun! action! destroying new york again and again. good times...

until JOSHUA gave you notice that your dad was flying high

“call him. now.”

“hey! how’s it going down there?”

“dad, you know how i feel about you and space”

“i know, i know. i just...i gotta take care of this. keep pepper safe for your old man, okay?”

“i lo—l—ve y—”

“y/n? y/n?! i love you! shit!”

“we lost connection with her, sir”

trying to call peter

“call failed, y/n. should i try again?”

“i’m gonna kill them...”

walking through the rubble to find bruce, the only sensible man you know

taking him to the avengers compound asap to get to rhodey and figure out what comes next

meanwhile, tony was dealing with space and another teenager

and worrying a lot about leaving you on earth

“i mean, mr. stark, y/n’s one of the most capable people i know. she’s probably trying to fix this whole mess as we speak”

“i didn’t get to tell her i love her”

“oh...”

having a lovely meeting with thaddeus ross with rhodey, having a lovely time watching them passive-aggresively argue until your former teammates arrived

having to patiently (and professionally) wait for ross to hang up before running into them for a hug

“holy shit, you guys have no idea how bad i’ve wanted to see you. it sucks not being all together anymore”

“i know, y/n. we’ve all missed you.” -cap

“a lot” -nat added

bruce’s little entrance that was sure to bring some awkwardness

you, secretly freaking out about your dad

sam was the one that found you crying after you “stepped out” for a few minutes too long

“oh, y/n,” he was contemplating grabbing someone else to step in, but decided to sit next to you in the hallway, “i’m sorry, kiddo. i can’t promise you anything, but your dad is a fighter. a big pain in the ass. i think your odds are good”

laughing through your tears

“yeah, you’re right. thanks, sammy”

he gave you a little hug while you calmed down

getting to business, the ass-kicking kind

as the wise natasha romanoff once said to your father, you were being “uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal”

your mind did this funny thing...wandered into places it really should not go

the talk about sacrificing vision led to wakanda, where you had a swell time patrolling

“guys! we’ve got incoming. a lot of incoming”

well-deserved uncle/niece team up. who wouldve thought?

you would have nightmares about these aliens for years to come

“you get to die, and you get to die! everybody gets to die!”

“y/n, what did we talk about?” -rhodey

“using humor as a defense mechanism makes the team uncomfortable...”

covering the girls 😌 because we gotta have those all-girl teamups, uh-huh?

some more blasting

thor made his comeback and you just could not miss it

“hi, thor!”

you landed next to him and your helmet receded

“well, hello, miss y/n! good to see you again! my, you got taller...oh! meet my friends: rabbit and tree”

having a “what the actual fuck” moment upon seeing thanos for the first time

and flying at him from behind with a massive nanotech blade ready to kill this purple bastard

but he grabbed your arm and flung you into the dirt, that was gonna leave a mark

“i just had to make a suit when i was ten...no one stopped me, huh? i couldn’t be elon’s kid, he was a nice guy”

watching thanos snap his fingers and looking around to see dust floating through the air and thanos retreat

“rhodey? uncle rhodey?!”

“i’m right here, kid, don’t worry”

he grabbed your hand while you were dusting

“tell my dad i love him, promise?”

fading away and leaving rhodey with your last words

he was mad before anything else

all he could think about was a promise your dad made him take years back

“rhodey, you keep my daughter safe no matter what, promise?”

the avengers recooperating at the compound, waiting to figure out whether any of the space-crew survived

they had to let pepper know that you didn’t make it, she was a mess upon hearing that news

tony finally making his way back to earth

and stumbling out of that ship

“where’s y/n? where is she?!”

“tony, tony, calm down”

“dont tell me to calm down! where is my daughter?!”

“she made me promise to tell you thay she loves you”

tony knew the answer by now, he lost his mind over your death

it didn’t feel right not having you by his side, for the past 18 years you’ve been with him

after a long period of recovery, tony and pepper moved on, got married, built a home, had a new daughter...

tony made sure there was a spare room for you

he put all the things you left behind in it

there were so many photos of you in the house

and he’d show your sister, morgan, all of them. he wanted morgan to know her sister

“that’s y/n when she built her first robot. it snuck up on me a few times. it went ‘boo!’”

morgan loved the stories about you, but she didn’t understand why she couldn’t see you

“when do i get to meet her?”

“uh...maybe someday, sweetie”

after being unbothered for almost 5 years, the remaining avengers came back with a plan that was so tempting, he just wanted his little girl back

cracking under pressure and telling pepper that he couldn’t ignore this mission because it was his chance to get you back

“get her back, tony”

“you think so?”

“i miss her, too.”

and so it began, he made it his mission to get you back

peeking at the wallet picture of you on his shoulders when you were so little

tony travelling to 2012; loki’s invasion

and there you were, the sassy genius 12 year old that he missed so much

“we’ve got this, tony, we’ll bring her home” -scott

and then things went badly and also 2012 tony went into cardiac arrest and 2012 y/n dove onto the floor to tend to him

“dad? give us some room, would you?!”

2023 tony smiling at how much he missed you worrying about him and how reckless he was

but also...the mission kinda went bad so that sucked

push it a bit farther back and now tony was with grandpa stark! asking how to be a dad and all that!

he could barely stand still waiting for you to come back to him, god he missed you more than he thought

and after a bit of hard work, it was time to snap

just like that, you were back in wakanda, puzzled by the gap in time before one of dr. strange’s portals opened in front of you

and then you were in the ruins of the avengers compound

“JOSHUA, can you locate my dad?”

“i think you’ll be able to see him”

“wow, i cant believe i programmed your cocky artificial ass”

“i think you can”

seeing your dad flying high and patching into the comms

“miss me, old man?”

and then he hit the gas to get to you and when this man hugged you, you almost couldn’t let go

“i’m so sorry, y/n. god, i’m sorry. these last five years...i was so lost without you”

“it’s okay, dad, i’m here now”

getting shot at during your reunion

“son of a bitch...we’re having a family moment here, asshole!”

yes, im gonna say it again. of course i am! and.........father/daugher team-up

the last one

“peter, is that you? you asshole! i cant believe you went to space without me!”

“missed you too!”

rhodey!! cant forget about uncle rhodey!!

“you gave my dad the message, right?”

“it was your dying wish, of course i did!”

“great. don’t forget i love you, too, rhodey!”

“couldn’t let me forget it”

lest we forget that pepper joined the fight?

plot twist: (step)mother/daughter team-up

mother/father/daugher team up!!!! ultimate stark machine!!!!!!!

and then you left him alone for 5 minutes and he’s got the infinity stones and you know it’s the last time you’re going to see him and you cant decide what your next move is and you’re just frozen and you cant catch your breath and he snaps and your heart plummets

you have to rush to his side, the last time you can sit beside his tired body and let him know that its going to be okay

“hey dad, it’s okay, we’re gonna be fine. thank you for everything”

peter grabbing your hand as you both sobbed next to your dad, feeling robbed of your time with him

pepper brought you home where she told you all about the five years you missed

both of you just cried harder than you’ve ever cried before

“so i have a sister?”

morgan was so happy to meet you, she couldn’t contain herself, practically latched onto you

and she didn’t fully understand what happened to tony

you saw your new room for the first time and didn’t leave it for a while, occasionally pepper or morgan would pop in

morgan actually crawled into bed with you a few times

the funeral was one of the worst days of your life

the remnants of your young life pulled back together for one day

then you hid back in your room before you heard a knock

“who is it?”

“it’s happy”

“come in”

“hey, kiddo. me and morgan are gonna get some cheeseburgers, you wanna come?”

she really was a stark

after a long hibernation, you started to get back into the groove of your old life

but the press was brutal and harsh, you were bombarded with questions regarding your dad

it took everything not to explode on camera

you stayed in contact with the rest of the avengers, mourning your dead, keeping the support system, staying a family

it was all you could get...for now

[waywardfacegarden]

burning embers

Modern Au: Zuko centric + The Gaang + Zukka + Friendship/Family feels + Angst and Fluff.

Summary: Zuko learns the meaning of love.

Read on Ao3 here.

.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say.

But Zuko wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know what falling in love with someone is, he doesn’t know what it feels like. Love is a concept so alien to him; he can’t even grasp the root of it. He just knows a broken home, the remaining ashes of a devastating, blazing fire that was supposed to be his father’s love.

He doesn’t know what love is. And yet, he understands: the underlying and heart-wrenching agony that comes with loving. The sorrow that comes with it; it is just there, intrinsically linked. It’s something that the small kid—full of unknown love and golden warmth, but also deep, bitter pain—comprehends at the tender age of 11.

It’s just common knowledge for him, the same way he knows the sky is blue and the sun hides at night.

Family. Love. Father.

Those words don’t have meaning, Zuko thinks, lying on his bed one night, still hearing the disappointment in his father’s voice echoing in his ears in the quiet darkness of his room. They’re there, of course. And he knows them. He can say them. But they feel far away, slipping through the space between his fingers, becoming dust that blows away with the chilly wind of an autumn midnight, escaping him before he can place what was there in the first place.

They don’t hold weight. They don’t mean anything. They’re shallow; they just exist, like a couple of letters strewn together, like when you say your name so many times in a row it doesn’t even feel right anymore; but, he supposes only a few people are blessed with their significance, with tasting them in their mouth with something not akin to hate or bitterness or emptiness.

Loneliness. Despair. Dishonor.

Those have meaning. Those have weight, despite being such empty words.

(But they very much taste like something akin to hate, too—and that’s the thing.

Maybe Zuko just doesn’t know anything aside from [self-]hate.)

.

.

Family, love, father. They are concepts that come alive to him the same way a phoenix is born.

They rise, awakening from the ashes that the fire within themselves has burned to death; so beautiful, so mystical, so mesmeric and so incredibly fragile and precious and wondrous, like a mythological creature coming back to life after having known its own death.

He learns the words and their meaning the same way his brain starts learning new things and concepts by reading a book; but he doesn’t learn with his mind—even though a part of him knows that this is where knowledge is stored—Zuko learns with his heart (he has always learned things best with his heart; after all, Zuko wears it on his sleeve; he’s emotional, visceral, volatile—his feelings are way too intense, too much that they burn his chest open; he’s always aflame), with his eyes, with his hands. He learns it in every little gesture that’s given to him, in every little crack (that keeps filling and filling and filling) of the time that goes on, in every little drop of ink that is spilled on the parchment where his life is being written.

He learns the words in the way he begins learning his uncle's tea recipes, in the satisfaction and pride he feels when his uncle congratulates him for a job well-done on a warm, quiet Saturday afternoon as he finishes helping cleaning and serving the tables around the teashop, in the way his favorite cup sits next to his uncle's on the kitchen counter in the mornings, full of Zuko’s favorite bubble tea; he learns them in the ugly, endearing, oversized sweater hanging at the back of his closet, the one his uncle gave him in his last birthday; he learns about love in the gentle smiles of weekends, in the singing of the birds outside his room’s window, in the blanket that rests around his shoulders when he is sitting on the comfy couch on a calm Thursday night, dozing off while trying to study for an English test, in the way the nightmares that used to haunt him are tormenting him less and less every time; he learns the meaning of father in his uncle's ridiculous pajamas, full of tiny drawings of cherry blossoms and tea leaves, in his uncle’s obsession with Pai Sho, and in the wise phrases he keeps throwing at Zuko even when he cannot fully understand them.

He learns, little by little, step by step, like a slow fire burning inside his guts.

And it's a weird, strange thing. Zuko learned that fire hurts you, the same way he learned that love does, but somehow, after years of building his new life, it doesn't feel that way anymore.

His uncle is patient with him. Patient as someone who would teach someone else origami or as someone who’s slowly writing a book. He teaches him, sees him fall, stumble and trip over his feet (both, metaphorically and literally speaking) and he’s there when Zuko gets up again.

It’s a nice feeling. Knowing that someone is going to be there, even if you fall. Even when you fail.

His uncle teaches him, the same way he creates a new tea receipt for the menu; carefully, gently, ever so softly. He takes Zuko, the broken child who looks at him through his pain and hatred, and makes him open his eyes. He points out, over and over and over again, that failing is not a bad thing, that love exists and that it doesn't have to hurt, and that if it does, you can heal from it; he teaches him that Zuko is full of it, full of love, he says that he’s always been.

Somehow, it feels a bit like healing. Of course, Zuko is still broken. Probably, a part of him always will be; but, somehow, he doesn't think that being a bit broken is so wrong now.

.

.

Friendship was a foreign concept to him, too. Or maybe not, but Zuko never wanted to get involved with it.

Too much trouble.

(Or maybe fear—fear of what it carries, what it holds in its nature; fear of failing, of not being enough, of being left out, of getting too attached.)

But just as Zuko was wrong about so many things in his life, this is not the exception.

He comes to learn that, too.

It’s a different process than with his uncle. Maybe because it’s slower, or maybe because it’s, rather, faster. Maybe because he wasn’t aware he was learning at all.

Zuko doesn’t know exactly when it starts. Can’t pinpoint the exact moment he started getting involved. Not that he cares much about that at this point, but he would like to know.

They kind of adopt him in their group (or, er, gang, as they call it), without Zuko noticing. But to be fair, Zuko doesn’t notice a lot of things.

Toph is a friend of his Uncle, and she lives near the teashop, so she’s around more time than she’s not; she’s loud and kinda rude, and always calls Zuko a dork or a nerd or an idiot, but Zuko realizes he likes when she’s there. Aang comes along sometimes, with his scarily bright smile. There’s also Katara and her big brother, Sokka.

He likes all of them, to his extreme surprise. They’re all good people. Aang is way too kind, Katara may be scary but she’s pretty cool, and Sokka is just a combination of a very, weirdly endearing, smart dumbass, which is, uh, new.

He honestly doesn’t know how it happened, or when it happened, but suddenly he’s tucked under a soft fuzzy blanket in winter, sandwiched in the middle of the three-spot sofa, with Aang almost laying over his lap. He’s almost sitting on Sokka’s right leg, pressing him against the arm sofa, his side overlapping with Sokka’s. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He’s sitting there, cross-legged, with his right arm fully extended on the back of the sofa, almost like he’s hugging Zuko’s shoulders; he’s practically leaning on Zuko.

His arm and his side are really warm, though. Not as much as Zuko generally is, but it’s… kind of nice.

“Katara, Titanic is a classic, dude. What the hell.”

Zuko takes a sip from his hot chocolate, blowing off the clouds of steam gathering over the cup—the warmth of it is pretty welcomed in his throat, to be honest, while Katara rolls her eyes at her brother.

“I’m not watching that for the fifth time in a month and seeing you and Aang both cry for an hour later after the already three long hours of the movie.”

Sokka looks pretty indignant about Katara’s attitude towards his (probably) favorite movie, which is pretty amusing.

“You’re just a monster,” Sokka says, dramatically, “that’s why you don’t cry.”

Katara rolls her eyes again.

“I don’t know,” Toph says, from the couch closer to the TV, sprawled all comfortably over it. “It’s actually a really funny movie,” she points out, and then draws out her voice. “‘Jack, draw me like one of your French girls’.”

Aang laughs pretty loud, and Zuko smiles at the bad impersonation despite himself.

“Well, My Heart Will Go On is my anthem.” Sokka says, puffing out his chest.

Zuko actually snorts into his cup and Sokka shoots him a look. He remembers the time Aang and Sokka recreated that iconic scene, with Toph singing at the top of her lungs in a ridiculously obnoxious voice. He actually laughed at that.

Sokka seems to read his mind, because after a few moments of staring at Zuko’s face, his entire expression lights up. He grins, eyes sparkling, and starts singing really loud and purposely out of tune. Aang starts laughing and Toph doesn’t waste time on joining Sokka in singing. Even Katara smiles.

A few minutes later of terrible singing, they’re all laughing. Toph is cackling so hard she’s on the floor, and Sokka keeps leaning over him, laughing in his ear. He believes it should be annoying, but instead of that, it’s actually infectious and Zuko laughs a bit harder.

After they calm down, Toph is clutching at her sides and Sokka is wiping tears out of his eyes.

Aang smiles, then, softly and content, and raises a hand in the air, like asking for permission to talk.

“I have an idea.” He says, and turns around to look at him. “Why don’t we just let Zuko decide? He hasn’t chosen anything yet for our Friday movie nights.” 

All eyes turn to look at him at that. He stops his movements, mouth hanging open, hot cup halfway to his lips.

“Uh,” he frowns. “Thank you, but, um. Why would I choose? It’s your thing.”

Everyone stares at him like he has two heads, which, okay fair but why.

“What?”

Aang gives him a soft smile, all kind eyes and gentle features, like he’s about to talk to a baby, but before he can say anything, Sokka is putting an arm around his shoulders and leaning all his weight on him, as if they weren’t already close enough.

“This is your thing as much as it is ours, dude.” He says, grinning, “You’re one of us.” He vaunts, proudly, and ruffles Zuko’s hair.

Katara nods, at the same time Toph goes:

“Yup, you’re already in, loser.”

Aang chuckles. “Yes, you’re our friend, Zuko.”

Zuko blinks, stunned.

That’s… 

There’s… 

That’s… the F-word.

Friend.

Friend.

Huh? What? How? When did that happen? Huh? Did he miss something in the past few months?

Sokka, completely oblivious to his emotional turmoil, insistently points to the TV while squeezing him. "So, buddy? Don't you think we should watch Titanic to cry and share a couple of very male tears?"

"You only want to watch it because you have a crush on both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio." Katara accuses.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes, you do! You even still keep that poster of them behind your…"

"Katara!!!!"

.

.

Friend.

It’s a nice word.

It tastes like hot chocolate in his mouth on a cold night, it sounds like Sokka’s laugh and Toph’s jokes, and it looks like Aang’s kind eyes and Katara’s nice smile.

It feels like something. It holds meaning. It’s not an empty word. At all.

Sokka’s hand ruffling his hair or over his shoulders, Toph’s nicknames for him, Aang’s offer of help in times he feels like Zuko needs it, Katara’s help with homework and advice on his recipes doesn’t let him forget that. ‘Friend’ is never going to be an empty word.

Friend tastes like hope, like warm food and bear-hugs.

Friend is such a nice word.

.

.

The thing with Zuko being generally—and strangely—warm all the time is that summer is a complete nightmare for him.

He's sitting directly in front of the fan at full power, barefoot in just jeans and a light T-shirt, and yet he still feels like he's going to explode. The weather forecast in the morning heralded a heat wave in midsummer, and it's exactly the worst thing in the world that could happen to Zuko's already overheated body. Toph groans beside him, lying with her arms and legs spread like a starfish on the cold ground. It is no comfort to her, however, and Zuko can understand that well.

Katara is looking at something on her phone, fanning herself with a magazine, and Aang remains practically unaffected, just as energetic as ever as he eats the remaining watermelon slices from the bowl they recently filled.

Zuko is wondering if he should go, or if he should fall asleep on the freezing ground that doesn't seem to be freezing at all, when Sokka walks into the living room in his baseball uniform. He has just returned from his morning summer practice; sweat is running down the side of his face, and his shirt is partly sticking to his body from the moisture. He smiles at everyone in greeting before gulping down all that's left of the water on the bottle of his hand. Zuko stares at his Adam's apple bob while he's drinking, and then his eyes trail the trickle of water that slides down his jaw over his desperation to drink all the water so fast. The drop goes down, down, down, dripping over his collarbone and sinking into his neck until it eventually gets lost somewhere inside his shirt. Sokka throws the bottle over the trash can and uses his shirt collar to wipe the water and some of his sweat off his face. Zuko's eyes unconsciously move downward; he can see a line of skin on Sokka's abdomen and stomach.

He swallows. Uh. His mouth is suddenly very dry. He's probably dehydrated. Is he dehydrated? He's starting to feel a little dizzy.

"So? Beloved friends, beloved little sister? Did you miss me? Obviously, you did."

Katara rolls her eyes, but still asks, "How was practice, dumbass?"

"It was cool! I hit twelve curve-balls in a row and sixteen of that weird fastball Suki pitches. Oh! And I'm finally getting the thing about that forkball. Also... woah, Zuko, are you okay?!"

Zuko blinks from where he was staring at Sokka's hair. It's kind of wet. Is that sweat? Shouldn't that be gross? Why is Zuko staring? Does he find it gross? He doesn't think so, but he also can't quite explain why...

"Woah, bud," Sokka says, kneeling in front of him and getting dangerously close to his face. "You're so red, are you having heatstroke or something? Do you feel dizzy?" He leans on his knees and presses a hand to his forehead, pulling up the bangs hanging over it. It feels nice, actually. Sokka's soft hand on his boiling skin feels like fresh water. He kind of wants to lean into it.

He probably does, because Sokka frowns. "Maybe you have a fever..." His mouth presses into a thin line. "Don't you want to take a shower to cool off? I can lend you some clothes, we're about the same height, they'll fit."

Zuko blinks. Huh?

"Here, let me help you." Sokka says, helping him up.

Around an hour later, Zuko feels a lot better, laying with his back on the floor in Sokka's baggy shorts and blue T-shirt with a cartoonish drawing of The Pink Panther. Zuko smiles involuntarily when he looks at it. It smells a bit like Sokka, or at least the detergent he uses. That makes his stomach do weird flips. He's not feeling that hot anymore, but maybe he is getting sick...

"Hey," Sokka tells him, looking at him from above, standing just behind Zuko's head. His toes are barely avoiding touching Zuko's sprawled hair on the floor.

"Hey," Zuko answers back, looking up at Sokka's soft face. His hair is down and still wet from the shower, and a few drops fall on the bridge of Zuko's nose when Sokka hovers over him. Zuko's face scrunches up, more out of involuntary reaction than out of bother, but Sokka chuckles.

"Sorry," he says, not sounding sorry at all. He uses the towel around his neck to messily dry his hair. "You look a lot better, now."

"Yes," Zuko muses, still a bit mesmerized by Sokka's wet hair. And Sokka's face. "Thanks."

Sokka grins brightly at him. "Sure."

He looks like he's about to say something else, but before he can say anything, Toph groans just a few feet away, sitting now on the couch. "Stop flirting and get a room already; it’s gross. We're here, too."

"What? We weren’t—"

Katara agrees, quietly.

"Hey! I was just worried!" Sokka excuses himself. "Weren't you all? His face was as red as a tomato."

Katara looks up from her magazine and gives him a pointed look, with one elegantly arched brow. Apparently, she doesn't even need to say anything else, because it's enough to make Sokka blush.

Oh.

He's cute, Zuko thinks. And then, oh, I think Sokka is cute. And then Sokka stomps over the kitchen muttering unintelligible things, still a faint blush over his cheeks.

Zuko smiles to himself watching his childish behavior. He is, though. He is cute.

.

.

.

It's raining heavily outside, drops pouring loudly against the asphalt of the sidewalk.

Zuko side-glances at Sokka. Maybe it's because after the course of a year, Zuko has learned to recognize many of Sokka's little gestures, or maybe it's the fact that the boy has been so much into his own mind lately, but Zuko recognizes that way he scrunches up his nose, that wrinkle between his eyebrows, that way his eyes twitch.

“Are you okay?” 

He’s asking mostly just to be polite, to be honest; he already knows he’s not. He knows something’s up.

Sokka turns to look at him, and then stares at the rain hitting the glass window of the lonely teashop.

“I’m…” He says, and looks at his hand. Then he presses his mouth into a thin line.

“You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Zuko says, awkwardly, because as much as he cares, he’s still a mess when it comes to social cues. He’s never going to stop being a mess. And terrible at comforting people.

Sokka sees right through him, though, like he always does, and smiles softly at him. His whole face mellows. It kind of makes Zuko’s heart flutter in his chest, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

“I’m…” Sokka tries again, looking at Zuko’s face. At his eyes, at his scar, at his neck. He feels weirdly exposed, but at the same time… He doesn’t. It’s just Sokka. Which means it’s okay. “Scared, I guess.”

Zuko blinks and tilts his head to the side. He’s not sure if he should ask, but…

“Of?”

Sokka gives him a wry smile.

“Of failing? Of disappointing my dad? Of not being enough? I don’t know, I can’t quite pick a single one.”

Sokka’s voice is not quite bitter, but it feels like that, in the air around them. Zuko knows the feeling pretty well.

“You are enough.” Zuko affirms, without a single trace of hesitation in his voice. Because Sokka is enough, in every single aspect, and he shouldn’t feel like any less than that. Zuko’s also aware of what he’s worrying about, and for Zuko, it’s just absurd—Sokka is one the very few people that shouldn’t worry about passing the entrance exam of college at all, he’s crazy smart. He should know that. But, to be fair, Zuko can’t judge him nor scold him for self-doubt when it used to be all that he was, along with his self-hate. So he says it out loud, looking into Sokka’s wide, surprised eyes. “You’re also really smart, Sokka, I’m sure you’re going to ace the entrance exam. You shouldn’t worry.”

Sokka rolls his eyes, but he also adopts that playful-kinda-flirty side of him. It’s painful because Zuko can see the sadness underlying in his voice and body language so clearly. Can see the lack of confidence in every single motion.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“I am,” he agrees, “but it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I really believe so. You’re the smartest person I know. You’re very capable of doing whatever you want, so have faith in yourself just like I have faith in you.”

Once he says it, and Sokka blinks once, twice, thrice at him, Zuko feels painfully aware (and painfully embarrassed) of what he just said.

Oh Lord, what did he actually…

“Ah,” Sokka says, and makes a face that Zuko can’t name. “You’re blushing.”

Zuko covers his cheeks with both hands. Sokka is probably right, they’re so warm, but still.

“I’m not.” Still.

Sokka laughs, and raises both eyebrows. “You sure?” He asks, staring pointedly at his face, which only makes him blush harder.

Stupid Sokka.

He must know the effect he’s having on him, because he laughs again, lightheartedly. Well, at least he’s not upset anymore…

“I’m not,” he uselessly and pathetically insists, even when it’s tragically obvious he is. But he has some pride, okay.

Sokka grins, but it’s all devilish. It makes Zuko’s hair stand on end. A chill runs down his spine.

“It’s just hot.”

Sokka smirks. “Sure, you’re always hot.”

“Shut up,” Zuko complains and groans, facing away from him so that he can’t see his blatant embarrassment. Sokka’s natural flirty personality wasn’t that much of a problem back then, but it’s only gotten worse, and Zuko just can’t handle it sometimes. It feels like way too much.

“Ah, but you blush when you’re embarrassed. That’s cute.” Sokka points out, a wide grin on his face. “Imagine being both cute and hot, what a crime.” 

He sighs theatrically, and Zuko is very tempted to answer, “shut up, look who’s talking,” but he knows he will just get more embarrassed after saying that. He needs to calm down. So he just grumbles while Sokka laughs.

Then, when Sokka has already calmed down and Zuko can feel his face like normal again, they look quietly at the rain, steadily keeping its pace.

“Zuko,” Sokka says, after some time, and Zuko quirks an eyebrow in reply. 

Sokka smiles. “Thank you. For believing me. It means a lot.”

Zuko smiles back. “Of course.”

.

.

Zuko notices it one night. (Though, looking back, it’s weird he didn’t notice it before.)

Well, more like, Aang notices and points it out, and then Zuko realizes that what he said is pathetically true, lying in bed at night because he still mulls things over sometimes before going to sleep.

“You know,” Aang had casually said, holding a can of orange juice, sitting next to Zuko on the bleachers at one of Sokka’s practice games. “You stare at Sokka a lot.”

Zuko frowned. “It’s his game, after all. We’re here to watch him,” he had retorted, like it was obvious.

“Well, yes, but I don’t mean only now. You stare at him all the time.”

Zuko didn’t feel like he liked where this conversation was going. Something about his expression must had given him away, or maybe Aang was just too good at reading him now, because he said:

“Wait.” He actually had sounded surprised. “You mean you’re not aware you have a crush on him?”

Zuko’s eyes went wide. “What? I don’t have a crush on him.”

Aang quirked up an eyebrow. Sure, he didn’t need to say.

“I don’t,” he had pressed on.

Aang hadn’t looked any more convinced of what he had said. If anything, he looked more convinced on what he himself had said. Aang had looked at him for a very long period of 1 minute before lightly chuckling and nudging him in the arm with his elbow, smiling brightly at him.

It was weird, but Zuko has gotten better at reading them, maybe just as much as Aang has with him. Maybe that’s why he knows what Aang means with all of that. Admit it when you’re ready.

It’s not like he was trying to deny or hide it. It’s not like he was trying to lie. He just didn’t think Aang was actually right.

But he is. Zuko can’t stop looking at Sokka, all the time. Thinking about him. About the way he smiles, with his hair up, with his hair down, with that denim jacket that fits him in all the right angles, with his baseball cap, ecstatic after he scored a run in the 8th inning. 

Sokka, practicing on the field. Grinning widely and openly and hugging him tightly when he aced the entrance exam. Leaning in to taste Zuko’s ice-cream into his own mouth. Ruffling his own messy hair. Wearing those silly cartoon t-shirts. Serenading Zuko with Electric Love and the most ridiculous voice ever on his birthday as a joke. Messy eating. Scrunching up his nose while drinking green tea. Reciting 80% of the Star Wars dialogues by heart. Being obsessed with boomerangs and swords (though not as much as Zuko is with that last one). Biting into the end of his pencil when he’s focused on writing an English essay.

Ahhhhh.

Oh, holy honor.

He has a crush. A crush. Feelings.

When did that happen? Why did that happen? He doesn’t know. Was it because of his warm eyes? His pretty smile? His pretty lips? Was it because he opened up to Zuko, let himself be vulnerable around him, bled his heart out so Zuko could piece it back together? Was it because he’s funny? Charming? Cool? Smart? Astonishingly cute? Was it because he made Zuko feel made out of thin air, sometimes, so raw and exposed but yet so safe, so comfortable in his own skin? ...That is, the others don’t necessarily make him feel unsafe, or uncomfortable. He just feels like he can be all open and vulnerable with Sokka better. Maybe because he opened up to him first, about something so personal like his mom (and Zuko knew about losing a mom, too).

Well, whatever the reason, it doesn’t exactly matter, does it? He’s already in deep.

Zuko rolls over his stomach and sighs, groaning loud into his pillow. Why, why, why, why. It’s not like he even has a chance, so why did he have to…

Ugh.

Feelings are stupid. His heart is stupid.

And the way he falls asleep thinking about Sokka’s laugh is even stupider.

.

.

The thing is, because Zuko notices all the little details in Sokka’s gestures and behavior, he also notices the way he acts differently towards… Certain people.

“Me and Yue?” Sokka laughs, and Zuko blinks. He didn’t even mean to ask it out loud. Now, he would just hear the confirmation of what he already knew from Sokka’s lips. How is that any better? Good job, Zuko. 

“Nah, man, Suki would kill me if she sees me wooing her girlfriend. Or at least kick me pretty damn hard.” Huh? Zuko blinks again. Huh? So they’re… Sokka and Yue… They’re not… 

“And believe me, she’s super strong. She kicked me once and I’ve always regretted eating that last cupcake on the fridge.” Sokka makes a face and shudders, like the mere flashback is enough to make him fear. But then he smiles, in that soft way of his that makes Zuko’s knees go really weak. “And I’m pretty sure Yue is immensely happy with her, too.”

Zuko doesn’t know what to say, so he just oh-so-eloquently utters:

“Ah.”

Sokka seems amused.

“Didn’t you know they were a thing? The PDA is so strong when they’re together, you have to have seen it.”

Well, that was… Zuko just thought they were touchy with each other? Sokka is pretty much touchy with him all the time, but that doesn’t mean they’re a thing.

Well.

“That’s rough, buddy.”

Sokka blinks. “Why?”

Zuko frowns. He tilts his head in confusion. “Because you are… Romantically attracted to her? It must be rough.”

Sokka blinks once, twice, three times. Stares. Then, he throws his head back and cackles, clutching his stomach.

“Dude, what the hell.” He wheezes. “Just say the word crush like normal people.” 

“Hmm.”

Then, when he calms down, Sokka eyes Zuko.

“Wait, what?” He says, serious all of a sudden. Or at least, surprised. “Do you really think that?” At Zuko’s lack of response, Sokka looks at him, then at his hands, then at the TV, where the video game they were playing is still on pause. Then, back at Zuko’s face. “No, I don’t have a crush on her. Or on Suki, for that matter.”

Zuko frowns. Sokka must know he doesn’t believe him, because he continues.

“I mean, I did.” He admits. “Back when I met her, when I was, like, 14. But I’m over it, now—Not that she’s not great; she’s awesome and I love her, just… Not in that way. It was just a silly teen-crush, anyway. And Suki is my best friend. We had a thing for a few months like two years ago, but we hit it off so much better as friends. She’s my bi icon, though. And bestest friend.”

“Oh.”

“Besides,” Sokka adds, and eyes him pointedly, “I’m interested in someone else right now.”

Zuko stares. Blinks.

What.

So he does have someone he’s interested in anyway. God, Zuko really doesn’t stand a chance. Why even bothering trying? And it’s not like he knows how to try something, anyway…

From the other corner of the room, Aang shoots him a very cryptic look. Zuko can’t describe what he’s thinking, but he guesses he’s taking pity on him. After all, he knows.

Ah. He really doesn’t like having feelings.

.

.

His mind is a cruel thing. It’s what keeps him up at night, what reminds him of all his insecurities, what makes him feel undeserving of love, what keeps throwing image after image into his head of his broken childhood on bad days. It’s what, as much as his heart, knows about his deepest desires, his longing, his yearning and thinks it’s amusing to play with Zuko for a bit.

“Zuko,” Sokka says, with a fragile smile on his face, his voice going ridiculously soft, his eyes warming up, and Zuko’s heart pounds on his chest like big waves crashing on the shore of a lonely beach. “Zuko, I love you.”

It’s kind of—very—criminal the way Sokka makes him feel. The way he makes Zuko’s heart seem like it’s going to burst out of his chest with how fast it beats after hearing just those three words, the way he makes Zuko’s entire soul ache and want, the way he makes him feel so grounded, so him, yet so tiny and delicate, like he’s made out of thin sheets of ice.

Is this how love feels?

Is this how it should feel like?

He wouldn’t know. He doesn’t know what falling in love is. He just knows a broken home, the destructive, neon-like, toxic obsession with power his dad had, instead of any tender form of anything else that can be called love that his dad should have had for his mom, but never did.

Falling in love is made to hurt. Falling in love is destined to make you feel sad, and alone, and unsafe.

Falling in love is a cruel thing. It’s not cut out for weak people, and Zuko is weak. He’s destined to break. He has always been made out of fragile, easy-to-destroy things.

That’s why his mind plays with him all the time.

He wakes up in his bed, opens his eyes to the dark quiet of his room, feels the way his heart beats so hard that he can almost feel it on his throat. And he feels lost. And sad.

He doesn’t even scream. He just lies there, feeling the world becoming smaller, feeling himself becoming smaller.

Lord, he’s royally fucked. Screwed. He knows. He’s destined to break.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say.

.

.

He’s sitting with Toph leaning back on his right side, on the fluffy couch in Katara and Sokka’s living room, cutting up squares out of colorful paper.

They are both terrible in the kitchen. Something coming from being rich kids, Sokka playfully teased earlier. And he guesses it’s true. Either way, they are terrible—Zuko even burned his own kitchen once while making scrambled eggs (and that was. Not a very good day). Sure, he has tried to help Uncle Iroh a couple of times, and he knows a bit of the basics, but besides preparing tea, he’s lost. He can’t cook to save his life. So when Zuko almost lights a fire to bake cookies and mixes up the recipe for the second time, Katara kicks them out and bans them from the kitchen for the next 4 hours. Toph protests just to be annoying—she doesn’t like cooking at all, she has told him, but she loves annoying Katara, it’s her favorite idle activity. Zuko would be offended, but it’s the smartest choice if they want to finish baking Aang’s birthday cake without setting the kitchen on fire, so it’s fine.

Besides, this way he can steal a few glances at Sokka, as he hangs up the decorations he and Toph are making. The muscles under his shirt flex when he raises his arms above his head, his messy hair down from its ponytail, falling over his face when he moves a bit to the left, a line of the smooth skin of his back making its way to Zuko's curious, avid eyes.

Zuko swallows.

Toph sighs heavily and throws her head back. “So, are you planning to make a move any time this century or are you a loser?”

Zuko eyes her, coming out of his stupor, confused. “What?”

Toph smirks. “Right, you’re always a loser, my bad.”

Zuko blinks. Not because of Toph calling him a loser, but because, for a second, he really doesn’t get what she means.

Then, when he does, he buries his face into his hands and groans.

“Even you know?”

Toph laughs. "Yes, idiot, it's stupidly obvious.” She pats his arm. “I can see it and I'm blind, you know." 

Zuko groans again. He’s in physical pain right now. "How?"

She shrugs. "I don’t know. Maybe the way you say his name. Or talk about him."

Zuko feels a bit of panic. 

What? Is he that obvious? How does he say Sokka’s name?

"His name?"

"Yeah,” Toph confirms, nodding exaggeratedly, “stupidly sappy. It's gross."

"Oh my god."

She laughs again, loudly, because his suffering is apparently amusing. "You also talk about him a lot," she chuckles, "and sigh every time you see him. At least that’s what I assume, given that he’s in the room and you keep sighing like a 12-year-old girl in love. Pinning all the way.”

Zuko wants to die. He seriously wants to die. Maybe he should just tell Sokka he likes him, so when he rejects him, Zuko can just die a quick, albeit painful, death.

Toph nudges at his arm, with her typical abnormal strength for someone her age, but she doesn’t mean any harm. “So?” She asks, again. “Are you planning to make a move or not?"

Zuko sighs, "I can't do anything, he likes someone else."

Toph kind of stops where she’s fumbling with a couple of paper sheets. She then turns around and makes this face, where she’s scrunching up her nose and frowning like she just smelled something sour, or like when she’s deeply confused. "Did he say that?"

"Yes."

"Did Sokka seriously tell you that?"

Zuko’s confused at Toph’s relentless insistence. "...Yes?"

Toph’s face goes back to normal, but there’s something about the way she continues to hum that makes it seem like she still thinks Zuko is an alien, or something.

"You must have misunderstood him—which wouldn’t be a surprise, to be honest." She says the last part in a whisper, but he still hears her. That’s probably what she wanted anyway, but it’s not like he gets it. What does that mean? Zuko gets Sokka. That’s one of the few things he’s really proud of. Did he just think that he got Sokka while, all this time, he actually didn’t?

No. He understands Sokka. Sokka himself has told him that.

"No, I didn't. And I don't have a chance if he likes someone else, so I might as well not even try."

Toph looks mad. "You're super pessimistic, dumbass."

"Hmm."

She sighs, looking deeply tired and frustrated, like Zuko has completely worn her out. Then, she raises her fist and punches him. Hard.

Ouch.

Zuko yelps, and rubs at his sore arm. “What was that for?” he grumbles.

She frowns. “To punch some sense into you, big oblivious idiot!" Toph hums a low, guttural sound in the back of her throat, like she’s a feral dog trying to threaten a pedestrian. “Just try, at least. Everyone is kind of getting tired of your pinning, too."

"Ah." Everyone?

"Full offence."

"Ah."

“Even Katara. The only reason she hasn’t intervened yet is because she says it’s not her business to push you, but I don’t think her reasoning is gonna last long.”

Katara too!? Oh, no.

Zuko seriously wants to die.

.

.

Eventually, things go on. 

Zuko’s “crush” doesn’t go away. If anything, it just grows and grows and grows until it becomes almost unbearable. But he still can’t say anything.

“Zuko.”

“Hmm?”

“You know,” Sokka says, looking at him with feign innocence, sitting with his hands upwards behind him in Zuko’s room, “that looks heavy, want me to hold it for you?”

Zuko frowns. He looks up from his work to give Sokka a confused look. “What is, my pen?”

Sokka gives him that little, playful smile—the one that is so incredibly hot for some reason Zuko can’t understand. His eyes gleam, even more than they do all the time.

“Nope,” he says, and his smile grows an inch, “your hand.”

Zuko blinks. Sokka flirting with him is nothing new, that’s why he manages to hold back his blush a bit and remain calm, even when he’s a bit dying inside.

He is just trapped between telling him, “god, I wish you were flirting with me for real,” and, “please stop doing it, it’s not good for my heart,” and, “If only you knew how much I really want to hold your hand”, but neither of those options are actually. Something viable.

“Are you flirting with me?” He asks instead, knowing the answer already.

Sokka would laugh, brush it off, and say something like, “ah, but you didn’t blush this time,” and let it go.

He doesn’t, though.

What he does, instead, is shrug and look at Zuko’s textbook, like he’s completely uninterested in the conversation.

Huh.

But then he speaks up again.

“Have been for the past year and a half or so, but thanks for noticing.” He answers.

Zuko blinks. He’s tempted to answer, “yeah, I know, which is a cruel, cruel thing to do, by the way, given how my heart just wants to escape out of my chest and go with you every time you do it,” or something equally playful to play it down like they always tend to do, but… for some reason, this time it feels… Real.

Maybe he should just laugh.

He doesn’t, though, and, “What?” is what comes out of his mouth.

Sokka looks up. “I said that I’ve been doing it for a year and a half or so, thank you for finally noticing.”

Zuko doesn’t understand. He’s not following the conversation at all. “Wait.”

“Ahh,” Sokka sighs, “honestly, if you didn’t notice by the end of the month, I would have felt deeply embarrassed. I was starting to think I lost my charm and I didn’t know how to flirt.”

“Well, that was a terrible pick-up line,” Zuko can’t help but retort, and like he wasn’t mildly-insulted, Sokka grins at him.

“But it worked for you, didn’t it?” He teases, leaning on Zuko’s personal space, “it made you feel something.”

Zuko frowns. “How would you know?”

Sokka stares. “Your face.”

“My face?”

“I can see it. In your face.”

Zuko covers his mouth, frowning. He can feel his own heart race.

Sokka is still way too close.

“You can…?”

“Yup.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Zuko says, blinking. “That means—are you—are you flirting with me? For real?”

Sokka quirks both eyebrows. “Yes...?”

“But you—you…”

“Zuko, I don’t know where you got the idea, but I don’t flirt with anyone aside from you—at least, I haven’t done it in a long time. So yes, I am actually flirting with you.”

Zuko feels like he just got hit in the head. “Why?”

Sokka blinks. “Because I want to?”

“But why do you want to?”

Sokka shoots him a look. “Zuko,” he says, slowly, “I like you. I thought that was obvious already.”

Zuko blinks. “You have… romantic feelings for me?”

Sokka laughs, amused. “Yeah, Zuko, I have ‘romantic feelings’ for you.”

Zuko blinks again. He’s blinking too much. “So all this time… it was real… when you said… and that time you also said… and… oh.”

Sokka smiles, softly, and ruffles Zuko’s hair. It makes him blush. His heart might also not even work at this point, if it wasn’t for the fact that he can clearly hear it thundering in his ears.

Why is Sokka so calm? Zuko’s about to pass out.

“Katara is right, I’m dumb.”

Sokka grins. “Toph thinks so, too.”

“Toph thinks everyone is dumb.”

“Fair,” Sokka answers; he’s still grinning so wide. God, Sokka is so pretty. “Though I think she only calls us dumb, not that she means it.”

“Mmm.”

He’s so unfairly distracting, too. Zuko can’t stop looking at him.

“Wait,” He says, suddenly realizing something, “so you knew that I—that I—had feelings for you, too?”

Sokka looks at his lips when he talks, and Zuko has to concentrate hard to not straight up pass out from shock and his heart racing so fast it might give him an attack. Has he done that before? He would have noticed, right? Sure, Zuko looks at Sokka’s lips a lot instead than at his eyes, but he would have noticed if Sokka did it, too.

… Right?

He’s starting to feel dizzy. Is he dreaming? Is any of this real at all?

“Noticed it a while ago, yeah. That’s why I’m not freaking out that you noticed my flirting 100 years later.”

For a moment, Zuko is able to set aside  his internal emotional turmoil and state of panic, if only to complain.

“Hey!” He frowns. “Wait—”

“You have said that a lot.”

“Wait,” Zuko repeats, just to be annoying, “if you… liked me, and knew that I liked you back, why didn’t you… make a move?”

“Like asking you out? I tried to, but you’re too oblivious.”

“Huh?” Zuko utters. What does that even mean? He’s not—well, he is, maybe, just a bit, but. “Well, if you knew that, you could have been more straightforward, you know!”

Sokka smiles, then shrugs.

“I guess we’re both dumb.”

Zuko feels his lips curling up, not able to contain all his happiness anymore, his brain catching up with the last 20 minutes of his life.

Holy shit, Sokka likes him. Sokka likes him. Him. Zuko. As in, romantically speaking.

Oh.

Oh.

“I like you, Zuko.” Sokka says, as if Zuko’s brain didn’t shut down already. He reaches out and slides his hand on the table Zuko was previously working, the tip of his fingers touching Zuko’s. “So can I finally, please hold your hand?”

Zuko might pass out for real, but before that, he finally, finally, finally takes Sokka’s hand into his own.

It feels even better than in his dreams.

He feels like burning up, like all of his body is setting itself on fire.

Sokka’s hand is warm, so warm, and soft, so soft, and makes Zuko’s heart flutter like delicate flower’s petals in the wind.

Sokka’s thumb brushes over his knuckles; Sokka’s lips turn into a bright smile, like he’s been wanting to do that since forever.

It feels like home.

.

.

When they tell their friends they’re dating, Yue is the first one to say something.

“You mean you weren’t dating before?”

“Shocking, right,” Katara deadpans, but then she smiles, genuine. “I’m happy for both of you.” 

(Although remembering that minutes later doesn’t make her any less scary, when she decides to corner him out of the bathroom and put a steady hand on his shoulder, feign-sweet smile on her face, and say with a weirdly off-calm voice that, if he ever dared to hurt Sokka on purpose, she was going to break all the 206 bones on his body.)

Toph grins brightly and kicks him enthusiastically on the side with a loud “Well-done, loser!” while Aang jumps on Zuko’s back and clings to him like a koala.

“That’s awesome, guys! Be happy!”

Zuko smiles.

“Finally, I won’t have to hear Sokka’s pinning all the time,” Suki quips, like she’s tired and utterly uninterested, but even the happiness is evident in her voice.

Sokka still complains. “Hey! I had to hear you be head-over-heels for Yue for months, too.”

“It wasn’t months for you, though.” Suki deadpans, but then her face goes all soft, “I’m kidding, So, I’m really happy for you two.”

Sokka smiles, and she gets up from where she’s cuddling Yue on the sofa to hug Sokka tightly, grinning wide, and then look at Zuko (stumbling with a happily laughing Aang on his back and Toph annoyingly ruffling his hair like a proud little sister) and whispers something in Sokka’s ear.

Zuko is glad that he’s still looking at Sokka from the corner of his eye, because he catches him blushing after that.

He’s cute.

Suki laughs. Sokka frowns, still blushing, and when he catches Zuko watching, he blushes harder.

He’s really cute.

Zuko smiles softly, and Sokka blinks, once, twice, before smiling back.

The cutest.

.

.

“Zuko.”

Zuko hums, but doesn’t look up from his work.

“Zukoooo, darling, love of my life.”

Zuko is used to it by now. To Sokka calling him pet-names like those. Of hearing Sokka say he’s cute, or hot, or smart, or witty, or pretty. It still makes his heart flutter, though. Just as Sokka’s laugh does. It still makes him blush sometimes.

(It’s funny because Sokka is the same way—or mostly the same. Zuko said he looked really hot after a baseball game once and Sokka almost died on the spot. He blushed like mad, but after he calmed down, he couldn’t stop bragging about Zuko calling him ‘hot’.

“Look at you, flirting shamelessly with me! You’re all grown up!” and, “I shouldn’t be near Zuko if I’m wearing my baseball uniform, he’ll get a boner,” and a lot of more phrases.)

“Hm?”

“You are—” Sokka sing-songs, and crosses his arms over Zuko’s textbook. He puts his chin over his forearms and looks up at Zuko’s face, grinning, and Zuko would probably be a bit annoyed that he’s not letting him finish his essay if it weren’t for the fact that he’s Sokka. His, ahem, boyfriend. 

“I am…?”

“You are,” he repeats, and his smile grows bigger. Zuko thinks about kissing him; Zuko thinks about kissing him all the time. But, to be fair, he used to dream about that, just as much as he used to dream about them holding hands. And just as if he read Zuko’s mind, Sokka reaches out and holds his right hand; gently, like all of Sokka’s touches. It feels so nice, Zuko never wants to let go. “You are pulchritudinous.”

Eh?

Zuko tries to smile, but Sokka looks at him like he’s looking at a cute baby and throws his head back, still close and still holding his hand.

“You’re adorable.”

“What…?” Zuko is sure he looks as puzzled as he feels; he once caught his reflection in the mirror while playing Scrabble with Sokka and therefore knows how he must look. For some reason, Sokka finds it extremely cute. “What does that mean?”

Sokka laughs again.

Zuko narrows his eyes into slits. Or, maybe Sokka’s just making fun of him. (Not in a bad way, of course, Zuko knows. Sokka never means any harm, but he sure as hell loves teasing Zuko all the time.)

“Are you insulting me?”

Sokka wipes tears from his eyes and looks at Zuko with such a sweet face that it kinda makes Zuko stumble, even when he’s sitting.

His heart flutters alive, his face grows warm. He wants to kiss Sokka.

Sokka does, though, pulling gently at his hand and softly pressing his lips into Zuko’s wrist. He grins up at him.

“You’re adorable.”

(Later, when he’s waiting for a toast on Uncle Iroh’s kitchen, still barefoot, decked out in his pajamas and half-asleep, he finally finds what he thinks is the correct word using the search function of his phone—after 20 lame attempts of trying and failing at remembering—and pronouncing correctly—the right word.

He clicks on the dictionary tab, reads over the meaning, stumbles over, slips and falls flat on his ass.

He almost sets his kitchen on fire for the second time.)

.

.

Zuko is bad at flirting. He knows. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t try, hard, and sometimes, sometimes, he succeeds (conscious and unconsciously).

Or maybe Sokka is just too easy to fluster (even when Sokka says it’s the other way around; even when that’s actually, probably, just a bit, true.)

Either way, Zuko basks happily in seeing Sokka get all flustered. It makes him even cuter than he already is.

(Whipped, Toph would draw out, mockingly sing-song.

And, well, maybe he is.)

.

.

Kissing Sokka is like setting himself on fire. Like burning up alive, but not in the bad sense. Not in the way he was burned as a little kid.

Kissing Sokka is like sitting near a campfire when you’re feeling cold; like standing on the edge of a cliff, feeling your chest contract; like tucking yourself in a warm blanket, with fuzzy socks and drinking your favorite drink, while hearing your favorite song. It’s like waking up on a good day, like basking in the sun at twilight, like taking a warm shower after a long day.

He feels too much, way too overwhelmed, even with just a brush of lips.

Kissing Sokka is a blessed thing.

There’s something that comes alive in his chest at the same time their lips touch. It blossoms under his ribcage, spreads over his chest, warms up all the way up to his throat. Beating, growing, marveling in every fiber of his being. Maybe that’s what love is—maybe that’s what Zuko has been searching for all this time; this connection, this overwhelming feeling, this deep, raw, unfiltered emotion, coming off him through waves of desperation for more.

He can’t be sure. But even if it wasn’t something he has looked out for, the discovery of it still feels like a sacred thing.

It’s like watching cherry blossoms falling on the street for the first time, like falling asleep on the comfortable side of your bed after a tiring day, it’s coming back home—or to what home should feel like.

It’s something delicate, at first. Zuko doesn’t have any experience, so he just lets himself feel as Sokka presses his lips softly into his own, carding his long fingers into Zuko’s hair.

Zuko feels an electric chill run down his spine, where Sokka’s fingertips—from the hand that’s not on his hair—make a slow path down. He can feel them burning, even through his clothes, even when Sokka’s hand is not that warm.

But it feels like that.

Zuko breathes shakily, moves his lips experimentally, feeling Sokka’s smile against his mouth.

He wants to do something, so he leans in, feeling Sokka’s eyelashes tickling his cheekbones, feeling Sokka’s thumb under his jaw, angling his head in a better position, feeling himself become aflame. He wants to touch Sokka. He really wants to touch Sokka.

So he does.

He uses one hand to gently touch Sokka’s wrist—the one Sokka’s using to keep Zuko’s head up—and, carefully, tentatively, he wraps his fingers around it, caresses the skin like he wants to print a topographic map of it into his mind.

Sokka makes a low, appreciative sound, and Zuko feels so happy it should be embarrassing.

Sokka has his hair down, and Zuko wants to touch it so much because he loves Sokka’s hair. Sokka’s hair is so pretty—Sokka is so pretty—so he goes for it. He brushes his fingers on Sokka’s shoulder, touches the strands of brown hair that lie there, moves his fingers to the nape of his neck. Zuko does this slowly, he wants to feel everything and he’s not going to rush, not after how long he’s wanted this.

He cradles his head with his hand, touches and touches and touches. He pulls at his hair, lightly, and his hand goes down just a bit; the skin of Sokka’s neck under his fingertips is warm, and so soft. He can feel the gentle echo of his heartbeat thundering in the tender curve of his jaw.

Just then, Sokka’s thumb brushes on his bare clavicle, and Zuko hisses, feeling like he’s on fire. Feeling like he’s become burning embers.

It’s just—too much, and at the same time, not enough—he wants more.

He has always been sensitive, but it’s different now. It’s like all his senses are turned on—he’s hyper-aware of everything around him—of Sokka’s hands, of Sokka’s steady, fast heartbeat under his open palm, of Sokka’s smell, of Sokka’s warm mouth, of Sokka’s soft skin, of the way Sokka keeps mumbling his name, softly against his lips or when he breaks apart to breath. He touches Sokka’s face, Sokka’s arms, Sokka’s neck; breathes his name into his own mouth, makes sure Sokka knows how much he wants this, how much he’s dreamed of this: of kissing him, of him kissing him back.

It feels too good to be even real—just as Sokka always makes him feel, even when they’re not kissing.

He might as well die there.

It wouldn’t be a bad way to go, though.

Linked, bare soul to bare soul, with the prettiest, smartest, kindest boy he’s ever met.

.

.

There’s something so tragically painful about falling in love, they say. But as he sees Sokka laughing in front of him because of some ridiculous joke Toph made, holding Zuko’s hand like it’s the most precious thing in the world, he can’t help but think that falling in love is anything but painful.

Sokka turns around, catches him staring and grins, playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

Zuko smiles, thinking just how much he loves Sokka, how much he loves his life, how much he loves his uncle, how much he loves his friends, how much he loves being alive, being there, curled up with Sokka on his couch, watching a stupid rom-com movie on Sokka’s cell-phone screen, sharing earphones with his boyfriend. Being there, in the house that he shares with his uncle—his real dad—in the house that he has come to call home. Being there, feeling safe in Sokka’s arms, with Toph hearing music on the TV, while Aang and Katara and Suki and Yue sleep, sprawled there and there all over his living-room.

“I love you,” Zuko tells Sokka, like he just revealed the biggest secret of the universe.

Love.

He feels the word on his tongue, and it tastes sweet. It tastes like the color of Sokka’s eyes, like the tone of Sokka’s laugh, like all of Sokka’s smiles—the gentle one, the soft one, the playful and flirty one, the wide one—all of them. Love tastes like Sokka holding his hand while they go for a walk, like Sokka’s voice when he talks about what he likes, like Sokka’s proud eyes after scoring a run, after Zuko shows him his grades. It tastes like a lot of things he can’t name, like the way Sokka says his name, like the way Sokka makes him feel, like that little mole under Sokka’s jaw, like the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles with the setting sun of the beach, like the way his fingertips feel against Zuko’s neck. Like the way he looks at Zuko like he’s not broken, like he’s the best thing that ever existed, like his scar is beautiful and all of Zuko’s failures don’t matter to him because he’s him, and that is enough. Like Zuko is more than enough, and how he loves that he’s more than enough to Zuko, too.  

“I love you,” Zuko says again, in a low voice, and it feels real. It has meaning. It’s not an empty word at all.

For some reason, he feels like tearing up a bit.

Sokka’s face mellows, softens; he brushes his thumb under Zuko’s left eye, just at the edge of his scar, and his eyes become impossibly warm. Zuko wants to kiss all of his face; he wants to taste all of Sokka’s softness on his own lips.

There, in the quiet of Zuko’s living-room, Sokka smiles, and Zuko thinks he’s the most bewitching, stunning, ineffably beautiful being.

It feels like something ethereal. Sokka smiles and Zuko feels blessed to exist.

“I love you, too,” Sokka answers, like he’s sharing one of the secrets of the universe, too, like he’s never told anyone anything more true, and ever so gentle.

Zuko smiles and kisses him.

Falling in love is a blessed thing.

[callsignbaphomet]

Ok, so, originally this was gonna just be a million fuckin questions, and it'll prooooobably turn into one of those question chains from several months ago. BUT to start I think I can do just like, three. First, tell me ALL about the area in Norway where Jelani was growin up, absolutely anything and everything you can think of about it. Secondly, tell me ALL about babby Jelani! Again just anything and everything you can think of! Lastly, how exactly do those magic weapons work? :o Like, once they're made can anyone grab them? Can he only have one at a time? Stuff like that! Basically just use this as a chance to talk about all those things! :3

❤️❤️❤️

So Jelani was born and raised near what is known as Hammerfest today (woohoo subarctic climate!). Honestly he’s been everywhere and just about seen everything but nothing compares to when he was growing up in that area and watching the Aurora Borealis with family and friends in a comfortable silence while just taking it all in, ya know? Being born in 870 CE meant there was no light pollution so every night the sky always lit up and the stars were so shiny and there were millions and millions of them which was absolutely insane to see and had a lot of significance because of his mom’s culture and their relationship to the stars.

They were close to the coast so there was a lot of fishing and sailing. He was also partial to that area because it was close to the sea and close enough to the mountains where it felt like a happy in between. He’s not a fan of being too far from some source of water. That place was perfect as he could see all kinds of sea dwelling animals like whales and seals, squids though he’s not a fan, he’s kind of scared of squid especially the really big ones he saw every once in a while. He especially liked puffins as a kid since he thought they were kinda silly. Inland he saw his fair share of reindeer, foxes, bears, wolves and otters which he completely fell in love with and still loves as an adult. Show him pictures or videos of otters and he’ll melt, if he sees one irl he’ll practically die from the amount of cute. There were also the more supernatural creatures though he mostly grew up around a lot of werewolves.

Oh! And sure, he’s not a big fan of the sun but even he has to admit that the midnight sun is pretty impressive and beautiful in its own right. It was gorgeous to see it and he did enjoy walking around in the middle of the night and still see the sun out.

Also, despite the location, he was exposed to a lot of different people as the village was flagged as a safe area which saw a ton of traders and all were welcome regardless of who you were or if you were human or non-human. He saw everything and interacted with all sorts of people from the local Sámi People, Middle Eastern, Asian and even other African people. And after his mom found out her family were still alive and well they’d also visit each other when they could. Honestly, his upbringing was kinda fairy tale like.

______________________________________________________________

qasdxcfgbhn well, Jela as a little kid was always hanging around his parents, grandparents and especially his brother. Since Loke’s 13 years older than him Loke often watched him and played with him a lot, he wasn’t even asked to he just did it because baby brother. Like the instant Lo first saw him it was like love at first sight type of shit. He learned to speak clearly very early on which surprised everyone at how clear and structured his speech was for a kid so young and then they learned he was a very fast learner and really smart and was always curious and asking tons of questions.

Even since he was little he really loved animals so he was always seen chasing after them or somehow petting them and playing with them. Learned to ride and care for horses pretty fast and when he got his own it was like fireworks went off in his head. Even in present day he sees a horse and it’s like instant childhood memories flooding him. Btw his first horse was a mare he named Dagny, just like his ball python in modern times lol, it was a Fjord with a grey coat and a two tone mane and he loved her to bits. Aside from that there was the family dog named River because she loved to swim. He also liked cats but they didn’t have a cat because Loke was scared of them and Sanaa (for different reasons related to another creature) wasn’t fond of them. They don’t hate cats but they’d rather just keep ‘em at arm’s length.

Then teen Jelani who was...I don’t wanna use the word difficult because he wasn’t but let’s just say different for lack of a better word. It was around this time that he was realizing he wasn’t like his family and it actually hurt ‘im a lot. Especially since his mom was an arcane berserker and it was like a huge deal so they all thought he was gonna be one too. So in come the feelings of alienation and the doubts and the semi angst and the moodiness. He was never disrespectful to anyone but he was often moody and often felt down. Around this time he was also learning he had some unique abilities of his own that no one else had and since no one else had them he learned to control them but not without incidents. Not to mention that since he was very little he could see and hear and talk to things that no one else could really see. Some were friendly and others weren’t. Mix in the regular hormonal shit teenagers go through during puberty and it made for a bit of a mess. This kind of “weakened” him and his old self (which he nor anyone else knew of) was starting to rear in and it was kind of scary. He was actually fluctuating between his old personality which was chaotic af and his present self and both seemed to clash a lot. Once this started happening the migraine attacks and the nosebleeds began as well as the sleep paralysis, night terrors, insomnia and the nyctophobia and they all seemed to hit him really hard and suddenly. So all of that mixed in made the ages of 13 through 17 really, really fucking messy.

But family and friends were with him through it all and at 17 and a half he chilled out and learned to control himself and managed to suppress his old self. He’d learned to use and handle his abilities responsibly, still felt a little out of place but his family was sure to always let ‘im know they loved him no matter what and his grandfather especially let him know that his differences weren’t a bad thing and that they made ‘im special. By 18 he was back to his cheerful old self though sometimes he still felt bad about being different but didn’t let it get him down. However, he now had to cope with migraine attacks, night terrors, nyctophobia, random nosebleeds, insomnia and sleep paralysis which he still has even in present day.

______________________________________________________________ 

Okay so berserkers are non-humans that have the ability to summon powerful weapons and very sturdy armor from nothing thin air. The armor can take a beating but if they get targeted by a barrage of attacks the armor can break and they’d have to summon the armor again but there’s a cool down of about half an hour so it’s better to hang on to the armor even if broken or get your ass to safety. The weapons don’t break though. Oh and if an armor broke and they summon it again it’ll show up as good as new. Berserkers can summon up to two different weapons so which ones they summon depends on the person’s taste and comfort level.

These weapons can be summoned and dematerialized at will and have no cool down. Anyone can grab them if the berserker it belongs to doesn’t mind though why would a berserker use another one’s weapon unless they wanna be offensive and kill ‘em with their own weapon? It’s not offensive, more like yikes.

Now, since Jelani isn’t a berserker he managed to figure out a way to mimic berserkers’ ability to summon a weapon from thin air though unlike grown up berserkers he isn’t limited to just two types of weapons. For example Loke is able to summon a two headed axe and a bow, nothing more nothing less. Jelani can summon whatever he wants as he can manipulate the shape. His mom’s tribe are partial to glaives so he mainly uses a glaive. His weapons however are made of an unknown material that’s insanely hard and impossible to even crack. His weapons can’t be wielded by anyone other than himself bc as soon as someone else touches them they dematrerialize. It also looks weird, like it’s so dark it swallows all light and no light bounces off of it. He can’t summon armor though so that’s where the blacksmith comes in. His uncle Jørgen made his look like his dad’s and his mom’s.

[praphit]

SM3: Nice Jerks are the Worst

I don't know about y'all, but I had big plans for 2020. Now, maybe those big plans will still happen, Idk. But, this was supposed to be our year! - that's what people say, right?? This was the year that you were going to go on that vacation. You were going to drop that dead beat spouse, leave that spouse with the kids, and run off to Mexico, right??!. You were going to start that business. Gain that weight. Come out of the closet. Finally tat that left butt cheek. You were going to stop doing hardcore drugs. Maybe this was going to be your year to start doing hardcore drugs. I'm not here to judge, only to ramble. 

But, 2020 quickly turned to shit. Now, we're all looking for someone to blame. Someone has to pay for our horrible haircuts or hairiness, our newfound hatred for our families, and for plenty of much more serious stuff.

I, personally, like to turn to movies for lessons about life. And I think I have the perfect movie to help us figure out who to blame - you guessed it "Spider-Man 3"

This first attempt at a motion picture SM was doing so well. We loved Spidey (though some didn't care for Tobey Maguire, playing him). 

Spidey and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) are adorable. Then, this thing showed up and everything turned to shit (not unlike Covid-19).

Let's look into what went wrong, and who is to blame.

First, let me say that I really liked the action in this movie. There are three villains in this movie: Venom (played by Topher Grace), that thing you see above. 

Green Goblin (played by James Franco), who is... a green goblin. 

And Sandman (played by Tommy Church), who has a body  that is now kinda made of sand - which seems silly if you pick it a part... though so does a man with the powers of a spider.

There was lots of action, and it was all shot well. There is one action scene where there is NO ONE around... I mean NO ONE. It's frickin NY. Peter Parker (not dressed as Spider-Man) and Green Goblin are causing all kinds of damage and making a lot of noise, and not ONE new yorker has anything to say about it? Unless you're a healthcare worker, I bet new yorkers are still cursing at each other from their homes. This was glaring, but Imma let it slide, cuz the action was good.

That's about all of the good I have to report:)

Quick plot recap:

1) MJ and Petey are on the rocks 2) James Franco is an asshole, trying to destroy Peter for killing his father (which he didn't) 3) Venom is trying to kill Spidey (what else is new??) 4) Venom, at one point, infects Peter Parker, to become "Black Spidey" - this, of course, is also when the people of the city started to hate him.

5) Oh, and Peter, mm! He's the worst. I've got something for him later.

There are two major reasons why people talk shit about this movie.

1st - Casting/Characters

Nobody is likeable in this movie

From the very first scene, MJ is singing to us, annnnd it's sooooo boring. I don't think it was supposed to be. Someone in the audience should have been booing. We can’t just allow entertainers to get comfortable, thinking that they can do whatever the hell that they want! - that’s how you end up with stuff like this 

 It was like, if Snow White were to perform a number for a large crowd.

Just Snow White - I ain't talking about no cute animals around or the suspense of menacing dwarves that might turn on Snow White at any moment. Not even a prince who might be gay (that’s the word on the streets). Just a long movie filled with songs from Snow White; that's what we're talking about. First, MJ bores me, then she's pathetically whining throughout the whole movie.

Sandman is cool (despite his love for striped shirts), but we don't really get to know him. 

Side note: He gets his powers by accidentally getting trapped in a science experiment. The scientists, btw, ( And Lord knows what they were up to) knew that something could have been trapped in there, assumed it was a bird, and kept on going. See, this is why certain people don't trust y'all.

James Franco is James Franco (an asshole). Not worth a pic.

Venom doesn't really have a personality (and his host... well, he ain't no Tom Hardy)

PLUS, Peter Parker is a dick (again, we'll get to that later).

The most likeable person in this film is JJ Jameson, and we're not really supposed to like him.

A person with that look shouldn’t be your most likeable character.

Look at this stage - 

Who is likeable up here? Fauci, maybe? But, betting by the amount of times that he puts his hands to his face, 

- there are things he's not allowing himself to say, so though perhaps likeable, if we can fully trust him. And as far as Trump...  Even Trump supporters can't HONESTLY say that they LIKE the man (I mean, if he weren't the prez, would you honestly want him around? - your family?). They certainly can't say that they trust him - though I guess the amount of people looking into ingesting cleaning products after Trump mentioned something along those lines, would beg to differ.

This is the group we're looking to for direction?!

And this is also a problem in the movie. I have to be able to like SOMEBODY! 

I need to be able to trust someone to stop the cheesy-written shit storm that is this movie.

"Cheesy Shit Storm" - how bout that for a visual? :)

2nd - dance numbers!

I actually didn't mind the first one, when Peter is dancing through the streets.

Ha! Wow, he is going for it. Come get it while it’ s hot, ladies!

It's odd, but it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be funny, and it kinda is. You ever dance a lil bit while you're out at a store? I know I do; especially now that we're wearing pandemic masks - no one knows who I am. NBD to dance a bit in public, but if you keep going passed a certain point, it just becomes annoying.

That's why the second dance number is bad. Plus, it doesn't make any sense.

At this point MJ and Peter have broken up. She's singing in a bar, and Peter interrupts her song with a dance number (while using his new girlfriend to poke at MJ). Now, While MJ’s songs of boredom deserve interruption, she didn’t deserve that.

Venom is like a drug. Venom brings out the worst in a person. You're telling me that Peter Parker, with all of the rage built up from Uncle Ben and villains and his life not being all that great; the best or I should say "the worst" that he can do is Jazz hands? With all of his superpowers, he should be out there slaughtering everyone in sight. I mean, he did slap the shit out of MJ though (by "accident"). That's when he snapped out of the evil dance number. I don't know what kind of message that sends. 

"MJ, it wasn't until I slapped the holy hell out of you that I realized the error of my ways, so... thank you? I'm just going to go on about my day now."

I see this misguided scene as a metaphor. Peter Parker is dancing around his issues:

His relationship with MJ has been bad. He's on that stuff (Venom). And honestly, MJ knows that he's Spider-Man. Why couldn't he have just explained to her what was happening? 

"Sorry, baby. I got possessed by an alien again, you know how it is."

And he was dealing with the fact that the person who killed his uncle is on the loose. Another side note: MJ, even though they had just broken up, still cares for Peter while he's dealing with the news about Uncle Ben's killer. That's a damned good friend right there! - especially the way Peter had been acting towards her.

We've got to deal with stuff, people! We can't just get bad haircuts, wear weird clothes, and do drugs! Eventually, that will lead us to slapping the shit out of someone that we love. There are a lot of realities that we're prob not facing at the moment (and some we prob have no intentions of ever facing). A lot of things that we could have done to prevent certain things from escalating, but... we were busy doing our typical dance.

Peter was warned about Venom and did nothing about it. He told himself, "I got this", and clearly he didn't. Honestly, the whole city was screwing up by not helping Spider-Man at all. At the end, when the big fight is happening, and MJ is near death, everybody is just watching all of this go down. Where were the cops?! The S.W.A.T?! Other superheroes? New Yorkers themselves! - they're bold! But, to be fair, Venom came from outer space, so... it was a bit unprecedented; people were prob scared. I'll cut them and Spidey some slack.

You know who I won't cut any slack - Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker!

Peter Parker is a jerk. I'm thinking that Tobey's Peter Parker has always been a jerk; a nice jerk, but a jerk. Have you ever met a nice jerk? They do all of the things that a regualr jerk does, but they'll rationalize their behavior, and look puzzled when you react to their awfulness. I didn't notice this in the 1st movie, cuz I was just happy to get Spider-Man. I didn't notice in the 2nd movie, cuz those kids were just too darn cute. But, his niceness was so annoying in this movie. And he treated MJ horribly : He never listens to her, he’s always late, he only talks about himself, he’s too damned nice, he never knows when they’re in a fight, he kisses other women right in front of her and then is like “What did I do?”

I kept wanting her to punch Peter out; he would have deserved it.

The foundation of the character of the 1st Spider-Man was a problem from the start! If the foundation is shaky, then - whew! I'm glad that we finally fixed it:)

Plus, he never said he was sorry. He did one of those "Well, I'm not perfect." things. She ain't asking for perfection, just quit being a jerk!

A better movie would have been if MJ had been infected by Venom. For starters, she would have given a better performance, in the beginning. Something more like this - 

She would have banged Peter's friends. She would have destroyed her critics. And most importantly, she wouldn't have taken any shit from Peter. That could have been the main plot. Instead of a convultued blend of three villains around the nice jerkiness of Peter, it would have been Spider-Man vs MJ - beatening each other up all throughout the city; though I guess that would be considered domestic violence. But, why dance around real issues out there! 

It could have been a family-friendly movie about drug abuse (Venom) and domestic violence... and possibly some make-up sex in the middle of the city. But, after that, one of them, if not both, are going to jail! We gotta deal with the problems, people!

Grade: an entertaining D+ 

I did enjoy it. It wasn't as bad as I remember it, and I'd prob watch it again. But, I can't deny that on a technical level, it's crap.

"Who’s to blame?" isn't really the question. It's more "Who deserves what percentage of the blame?" There's a lot of blame to go around here... even to us who enabled Peter's jerkiness in the first two movies.

I like the direction that we're going in now. 

A better Spidey A better MJ Better villains

And even a better Aunt May 

- looking all good with Tony Stark.

- imagine Tony aggressively flirting with the older one

[tokiro07]

Okay...

So the theory goes that Jumpman, the Mario from Donkey Kong, is actually the father of Mario and Luigi (based on the fact that the original DK is supposedly now Cranky Kong and the current DK, who has faced off against the current Mario, is the son of DK Jr.)

If that is true, then Jumpman is likely the same Mario that worked as a demolition man in Wrecking Crew, given both the era of the game and the fact that Jumpman could easily have been a generalized construction worker (as he was stated to be a carpenter in DK). There is a Luigi in Wrecking Crew, though, so maybe not, but who knows, twins could easily run in the family and maybe Jumpman named one of his sons after his brother 

Either way, that would mean that Jumpman, the father of the Mario brothers, worked with Foreman Spike, who for some reason hated Jumpman and his brother. Depending on the game, Foreman Spike bears a striking resemblance to either Wario or Waluigi. Now, we already know that Wario and Waluigi are canonically not brothers, so I’m not saying that Spike is both of their dads.

Just one of them. 

(Long post under the cut. This whole thing really got away from me, but I think it ended pretty nicely, so I hope y’all enjoy it)

Probably Wario’s, if I had to bet, given that we know Mario and Wario have known each other since childhood (stated explicitly in the instruction manual for Six Golden Coins), so it would make sense for them to know each other if their parents were work “friends,” and it would especially make sense for Wario to be as hateful of Mario if his dad, Spike, were hateful of Jumpman. Hell, it would even explain his name. Jumpman has a kid and names him after himself, and then Spike has a kid around the same time and decides to invoke some nominative determinism and labels his kid “bad Mario.”

How Waluigi fits into the picture is ambiguous, but with a number of simple solutions. While some early sources indicate that they are brothers (strategy guides, official websites, etc.), while later sources refer to them as either cousins (Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games) or as friends (Mario Sluggers, voice actor Charles Martinet). They could be adoptive brothers, but this wouldn’t really explain the visual similarities, unless Waluigi explicitly modeled his appearance after Wario or Foreman Spike. This wouldn’t require that they be brothers at all, though, as Waluigi could have done that even if he was just a friend. The cousin aspect works best at explaining the visual similarity and even the name, as that would mean that his name was chosen to spite Luigi just the same way that Wario’s was chosen to spite Mario. The only issue there is that we’ve never heard of Spike having any siblings. He’s had multiple conflicting designs, so MAYBE there’s multiple Spikes and Spike is a family name, but I doubt it.

Personally, while the cousin angle wraps everything up the most neatly, I’m still a fan of the idea that Waluigi is some kind of shapeshifted disguise for Tatanga, since the two are both purple misanthropes with an unhealthy obsession with Princess Daisy, a hatred for the Mario brothers and an odd friendship with Wario. This would also of course explain why the exact nature of their relationship is so unclear, since it would imply that they’re outright lying but can’t keep the story straight. I would rather the cousin thing, though, since I would like Tatanga to be able to make a comeback, but that would still be a really fun twist.

The one major hole in all of this, though, is that Pauline appears in Mario Odyssey and gives no indication that she’s not the same Pauline from Donkey Kong, implying that Mario and Jumpman are, as they’ve always been presented, the same person. However, there is surprisingly an explanation for this. You see, in the original Donkey Kong, the damsel in distress was a blonde woman referred to as Lady. It wasn’t until the remake for the GameBoy that she was redesigned to be the brunette Pauline that we know today. While particularly damning sources (Shigeru Miyamoto, Smash 4) have claimed that Pauline and Lady are the same person, various extended Mario media present them separately (The Cat Mario Show, a 1994 encyclopedia, various Mario manga), and even present them as having opposing personality types. Naturally, Shigeru Miyamoto should be considered the most credible source here, but that’s no fun, and he also said he was Bowser Jr’s mom, so I’m going to ignore him. 

So.

Jumpman’s pet Cranky Kong kidnaps his girlfriend, Lady, and he has to save her. Sometime later, Jumpman orders two children from the stork with Lady, whom he names after himself and his twin brother, Luigi, after a somewhat delayed delivery. His work rival, Spike, and Spike’s brother...Stanley the Bugman, why not, maybe he blames Mario for DK getting into his green house, both have children delivered around the same time, and name them Wario and Waluigi to spite Jumpman’s children. The Mario brothers and Spike children grow up to hate each other, and DK Jr. has also grown up and decides to kidnap Mario’s girlfriend, Pauline, just as his father did to Lady all those years ago. Mario saves Pauline, but unlike Jumpman and Lady who were brought closer together by their trauma, they break up, although they remain friends. Some years later, after Mario has established himself as a recurring hero to the Mushroom Kingdom, gets a toy line which DK III becomes weirdly infatuated with, leading to Pauline’s second kidnapping by a DK (or this is the first time, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 was just a remake of DK on the GameBoy to give more context, the specifics aren’t too important here). Sometime after this, Pauline becomes mayor of New Donk City, which is adorned with references to Donkey Kong and his family’s crimes as if it’s all one big joke to these people. But I digress.

Somewhere in all that, Mario is given a castle for some reason, which is the last straw for Wario, who I imagine is working on a farm at the time, given that his best friend is a hen named Hen. Deciding that back breaking labor doesn’t satisfy his ambitions while his rival lives it up as a hero, Wario enlists the help of the alien Tatanga (who now that I think of it, he may well have met on his farm during an attempt to abduct a cow or something) to trick Mario to leave his castle so that Wario may steal it.

After Mario foils Wario’s plot and reclaims his castle, Mario extends an olive branch and invites Wario to play tennis with everyone, as that’s just the kind of guy he is. Wario, realizing he doesn’t have a partner, either a) invites his cousin Waluigi, who has gone into construction like uncle Spike (evidenced by his excavator in Mario Kart), since he loves sports and hates the Mario brothers as much as Wario does, or b) recruits Tatanga and has him disguise himself as someone who could ostensibly pass as a family member to lay low in case anyone tries to hold him responsible for his crimes (which they wouldn’t since they never try to arrest Bowser or Wario, but apparently he doesn’t know that)

As far as I can tell, the only thing we’re missing is where Waluigi was when Wario and the other Star Children were being delivered by the Stork and intercepted by Kamek. Perhaps he got passed over since he didn’t have a star? Maybe Bowser captured him and found he didn’t have a star, then discarded him. 

Actually, what if...

Waluigi was SUPPOSED to be delivered to Spike.

Waluigi was SUPPOSED to be Wario’s brother.

But when Bowser went back in time to find the seven Star Children, he messed up the route that Waluigi was supposed to be on. When the Stork got Waluigi back, he accidentally delivered Waluigi to the wrong house, the way he did to Mario and Luigi at the end of Yoshi’s Island (as shown in Yoshi’s New Island). Unlike with the Mario brothers, though, the Stork didn’t catch this mistake, and Waluigi grew up in the wrong household. Maybe it was even Stanley’s, and Waluigi’s inherently nasty personality clashed with Stanley’s kindly personality, but he still inherited his adoptive father’s love of plants! Can’t believe I was able to work that back in.

That’s why no one knows if they’re brothers, cousins or strangers! Because they don’t know who he was supposed to be delivered to, but they can’t deny the visual similarity! That’s why Waluigi’s so misanthropic, because he wasn’t delivered to the right house and he felt out of place! 

That last bit could easily be explained by being raised under Spike’s influence, though, since Spike is apparently the kind of jerk who would sabotage his own employees to get a bigger paycheck for himself. 

Either way, I think that lends to a really solid idea for the story of a Waluigi game.

A long time ago, I suggested a game where Waluigi somehow travels through time and goes through  levels themed around various Mario franchise titles (Waluigi’s Time to Shine), but now I know how to frame it! Waluigi, feeling odd about his family situation, asks Bowser how he travels through time so he can see where he comes from. Bowser throws him through a wormhole and Waluigi witnesses the events that lead to the Stork delivering him to the wrong house. He decides this is either Bowser or the Stork’s fault (Bowser makes more sense, but it would be super funny if the Stork ends up being the final boss) and journeys to exact revenge. The spell or technology tethering him to the past messes up, however, resulting in Waluigi being in flux and going through all of the Mario franchise.

It’d be really funny if when playing through the Yoshi’s Island section he becomes his baby self and knocks Mario off of Yoshi (resulting in Mario’s capture by the Toadies), giving Yoshi some weird new ability the way the Star Children did in Yoshi’s Island DS, but I’m not sure that having one level have a completely different control scheme would be the best idea.

It could also be that Waluigi rides Yoshi as a full grown adult, which would also be pretty silly given his lanky proportions. 

A Wrecking Crew level near the end would also be a fun way to bring the story full circle, revealing Waluigi’s relation to Spike and Wario, and establishing that Mario and Luigi are the children of Jumpman and Lady. 

Waluigi, Nintendo’s ultimate loose end, would be the catalyst through which all of the loose ends of the Mario franchise are tied.

Get on that, @nintendo 

Edit: This ended up having a couple of revisions, but rather then amend this post, I just ended up making two others. You can check those here and here

[scifigeneration]

THE 2019 PHILIP K. DICK EUROPEAN SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES EVENTS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY

Sixth Annual Festival Brings Indie Films To Lille, France and Cologne, Germany

The Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its sixth annual event celebrating the life and career of novelist Philip K. Dick. With an emphasis on technological advancements and the existence of alternative worlds and cultures, the festival will gather in Lille, France from October 25-26, 2019 and in Cologne, Germany from October 31-November 1, 2019.

Returning to screens in two familiar cities, the festival has become a prime destination for European filmgoers. “This is our sixth season in Lille and fourth in Cologne,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the festival. “It is a testament to the enduring quality of our screenings and the long-standing tradition of science fiction in the cultural centers of Europe.”

Attendees to this year’s event will view themes reminiscent of today’s society, and according to Abella, each official selection represents the fragmentation of consensus reality. “Many will argue that we already live in a sci-fi universe with serious talks given to UFO’s, artificial intelligence, the universe as a computer simulation, and time travel,” he said. “PKD’s work followed the growing blurriness between man and machine and humanity’s surrender to the seduction of technology. We cover these topics and more because more than any other writer, PKD had his finger on the pulse of what is happening today.”

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019: L'Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France) Block 1: The Future is Now 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Face Swap (2018) Director: David Gidali, Einat Tubi Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: A man convinces his wife to try out a new A.I. technology to spice up their sex life but he ends up getting a bit more spice than he bargained for.

Deep Dive (2018) Director: Mohammad Soleimanifeijani Run Time/Country: 6 min, USA Synopsis: A young Persian refugee arrives at the border of Los Angeles and is given a mandatory set of government-issued immigrant transition AR lenses. Shut out of other people's reality she slowly descends into a new form of digital alienation.

Megan (2018) Director: Greg Strasz Run Time/Country: 8 min, USA Synopsis: The story of a woman, who along with the elite Delta Force team, investigates a mysterious attack by in present day Downtown Los Angeles.

Eva - A Crispr Story (2018) Director: Puneet Bharill Run Time/Country: 22 min, Germany Synopsis: Researchers have achieved a clinical milestone using CRISPR technology to transplant a genetically modified pig liver into a human embryo but face unforeseen consequences.

Shadowland (2019) Director: Bellopropello Run Time/Country: 14 min, Switzerland Synopsis: The diverse communication options offered by a cell phone influence our social and consumer behavior. Excessive use changes the design of ‘head-down people’s’ life and lifestyle habits.

Popular Tropes (2019) Director: Dries Vergauwe Run Time/Country: 15 min, Belgium Synopsis: It’s the third year of a pandemic and the worst winter in decades. Those who can afford it stay inside, those who can’t collect the dead.

Uncle Griot (2018) Director: Paul Charisse Run Time/Country: 6 min, UK Synopsis: A young girl takes her uncle for a walk.

The Great 60 Days (2018) Director: Tae-Woo Kim Run Time/Country: 9 min, South Korea Synopsis: A doctor experimenting on fruit flies is developing a substance that can dramatically increase activity in brain cells. After a series of failures, one fruit fly finally has a huge reaction. Its intellect has become mutated.

Post-Film Q&A: Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

Block 2: Flesh and Machine

9:30pm - 11:00pm Tatu (2018) Director: Garcerón Alejo Run Time/Country: 2 min, Argentina Synopsis: In this trailer, monster robots in a car junkyard battle it out.

I Don't Want To Be Alone (2019) Director: Sergio Rozas Run Time/Country: 19 min, Spain/Japan Synopsis: A lonely girl walks around a future Tokyo chased by weird huge monsters. Even though she fights them, the monsters just keep growing in size and number so the girl has to make a decision.

Zoe (2018) Director: Leif Brönnle Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany Synopsis: A young woman without identity or memory. Two scientists with great ambition. A sequence of tests that will bring them all to their psychological frontiers.

Secret Chord (2019) Director: Karl Thyselius Run Time/Country: 12 min, Sweden Synopsis: A failed musician in a dystopic Stockholm finds an A.I. that helps him become a Mozart of his time.

Eternity (2019) Director: Anna Sobolevska Run Time/Country: 24 min, Ukraine Synopsis: Once upon a time in the nearest future, humanity has overcome death and is granted Eternity by digitizing human souls. But what happens if Eternity faced with Love?

Tomorrow, Shall We All Be Transhumans? (2019) Director: Benoît Schmid Run Time/Country: 9 min, Switzerland/France Synopsis: Jump into a mesmerizing journey into the spirit of the first man who succeeded to digitize his own brain, algorithm his soul, and who injects himself some Holy Transgenic Fluids in order to transcend his flawed flesh.

Post-Film Q&A: Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2019: L'Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France) Block 1: Beyond Faith and Reason 7:30pm - 9:00pm

The Nine Billion Names of God (2018) Director: Dominique Filhol Run Time/Country: 15 min, France/Switzerland Synopsis: In New York 1957, a Tibetan monk rents an automatic sequence computer. The monks seek to list all of the names of God. They hire two Westerners to install and program the machine in Tibet. A short film is based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke.

Quiver (2019) Director: Shayna Connelly Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA Synopsis: A woman’s grief transcends the boundaries of the natural world and arouses a primordial being. She courts this ghost, using intellect and desire to forge a union between them.

Time Sphere (2019) Director: Andre Seewood Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA Synopsis: After the destruction of the Third World War, a man traveled back in time to deliver a message to someone he loved before the end of the world only to be met with a cruel twist of fate.

Tomorrow Might Be the Day (2018) Director: Joséfa Celestin Run Time/Country: 20 min, France Synopsis: A fanatic subjects his niece, whose faith wavers, to a baptism in order to restore her faith and ultimately save her from an impending doomsday flood.

I Am the Doorway (2018) Director: Simon Pearce Run Time/Country: 20 min, UK Synopsis: After a journey to investigate desolate Pluto, an astronaut returns home a shattered man. He sees eyes forcing their way through the skin of his hands, eyes that distort his friends and the landscape itself into monstrous visions. Believing himself the doorway to alien invasion and gruesome murder, he must take desperate action. Based on the short story by Stephen King.

Mise En Abyme (2018) Director: Edoardo Smerilli Run Time/Country: 11 min, Italy Synopsis: An eccentric and aristocratic gentleman devotes most of his time to a bizarre activity. Obsessed by beauty, he wanders everyday in the wood nearby the city, hunting the most rare butterflies. Once captured, he frames them and put in a massive and disturbing collection. He will soon realize to be himself part of a bigger collection.

Who is Martin Danzig? (2018) Director: Michael Baker Run Time/Country: 11 min, USA Synopsis: A mysterious old man sits in the park feeding pigeons, ruing the refuse of humanity encroaching on his sanctuary. He then meets his much younger replacement and learns to accept his future - with the fate of all humanity in the balance. Starring Walter Koenig (Star Trek) and Kevin Page (RoboCop).

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

Block 2: Cults, Conspiracies and Paranoia 9:30pm - 11:00pm

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space (2018) Director: Tristan C. Pina Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada Synopsis: An unfulfilled high school senior becomes obsessed with an ominous radio broadcast containing steps to a cryptic puzzle. Thinking he is being pursued by a sinister organization, his search for clues takes over his life.

Beyond the Door (2018) Director: Em Johnson Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA Synopsis: One day Hedy brings home a cuckoo clock to decorate the baby's room, unbeknownst that the cuckoo clock has the ability to love and hate just like humans. The cuckoo clock tests the couple's love by mimicking the presence of their deceased son. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.

Sereget (2018) Director: Dempsey Tillman Run Time/Country: 13 min, USA Synopsis: An emotionally detached husband with a child on the way gets a rude awakening when aliens invade his home and target his family.

Diversion (2018) Director: Mathieu Mégemont Run Time/Country: 23 min, France Synopsis: A small town journalist covering a case in the French countryside stops after running over a dog on the road and finds himself trapped in the stories he usually writes.

Just After Midnight (2018) Director: Jean Raymond Garcia and Anne-Marie Puga Run Time/Country: 22 min, France Synopsis: A young blind primary school teacher keenly studies art history devoted to witches and to Satan’s erotology.Transformed, she tries to steal a man’s eyes to recover her eyesight.

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019: Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany)

Block 1: The Future Is Now 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Face Swap (2018) Director: David Gidali, Einat Tubi Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: A man convinces his wife to try out a new A.I. technology to spice up their sex life but he ends up getting a bit more spice than he bargained for.

Cold Cold Coffin (2019) Director: Brian Cichocki Run Time/Country: 7 min, USA Synopsis: A heartbroken and dying tycoon exacts revenge on his gold-digging young bride by having himself cryogenically frozen in order to outlive her and the terms of his will. Starring Dennis Dunaway, the original bass guitarist for Alice Cooper.

Megan (2018) Director: Greg Strasz Run Time/Country: 8 min, USA Synopsis: The story of a woman, who along with the elite Delta Force team, investigates a mysterious attack by in present day Downtown Los Angeles.

Eva - A Crispr Story (2018) Director: Puneet Bharill Run Time/Country: 22 min, Germany Synopsis: Researchers have achieved a clinical milestone using CRISPR technology to transplant a genetically modified pig liver into a human embryo but face unforeseen consequences.

Llora Conmigo (2019) Director: Camilo Urdaneta Run Time/Country: 15 min, Mexico Synopsis: A Mexican American teen accidentally lures the Latin legend of La Llorona back to his home where he must face the long night ahead.

Popular Tropes (2019) Director: Dries Vergauwe Run Time/Country: 15 min, Belgium Synopsis: It’s the third year of a pandemic and the worst winter in decades. Those who can afford it stay inside, those who can’t collect the dead.

Antenna (2016) Director: Carsten Woike Run Time/Country: 16 min, Germany Synopsis: A lonely 11-year-old-boy gets in contact with an alien via his old radio-device system. Or is the alien only a lonely old man?

The Great 60 Days (2018) Director: Tae-Woo Kim Run Time/Country: 9 min, South Korea Synopsis: A doctor experimenting on fruit flies is developing a substance that can dramatically increase activity in brain cells. After a series of failures, one fruit fly finally has a huge reaction. Its intellect has become mutated.

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

Block 2: Flesh and Machine 9:30pm - 11:00pm

Tatu (2018) Director: Garcerón Alejo Run Time/Country: 2 min, Argentina Synopsis: In this trailer, monster robots in a car junkyard battle it out.

I Don't Want To Be Alone (2019) Director: Sergio Rozas Run Time/Country: 19 min, Spain/Japan Synopsis: A lonely girl walks around a future Tokyo chased by weird huge monsters. Even though she fights them, the monsters just keep growing in size and number so the girl has to make a decision.

Zoe (2018) Director: Leif Brönnle Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany Synopsis: A young woman without identity or memory. Two scientists with great ambition. A sequence of tests that will bring them all to their psychological frontiers.

Chromophobia (2019) Director: Keith Adams Run Time/Country: 13 min, USA Synopsis: A clinical psychiatrist becomes obsessed with her mysterious new patient’s artwork and realizes he possesses a curious gift.

Secret Chord (2019) Director: Karl Thyselius Run Time/Country: 12 min, Sweden Synopsis: A failed musician in a dystopic Stockholm finds an A.I. that helps him become a Mozart of his time.

I Can (2019) Director: Diana Elizabeth Jordan Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: A young woman faces a supernatural existential crisis and must overcome her fears to unlock her power within.

Eternity (2019) Director: Anna Sobolevska Run Time/Country: 24 min, Ukraine Synopsis: Once upon a time in the nearest future, humanity has overcome death and is granted Eternity by digitizing human souls. But what happens if Eternity faced with Love?

Hunting For Huxley (2019) Director: Claire Fleming Run Time/Country: 5 min, UK Synopsis: This documentary follows philosopher Aldous Huxley when he visited the recently built and technologically advanced Billingham Manufacturing Plant in 1929. He left inspired and his novel “Brave New World” was born from what he saw combined with his visioned future.

iCon (2017) Director: Konstantina Papadopoulou Run Time/Country: 18 min, Greece Synopsis: In a society where smart apps dominate, a man chooses an environment away of the comforts high technology offers and tries to face a powerful opponent, using only his own strength.

Tomorrow, Shall We All Be Transhumans? (2019) Director: Benoît Schmid Run Time/Country: 9 min, Switzerland/France Synopsis: Jump into a mesmerizing journey into the spirit of the first man who succeeded to digitize his own brain, algorithm his soul, and who injects himself some Holy Transgenic Fluids in order to transcend his flawed flesh.

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2019: Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany) Block 1: Beyond Faith and Reason 7:30pm - 9:00pm

The Nine Billion Names of God (2018) Director: Dominique Filhol Run Time/Country: 15 min, France/Switzerland Synopsis: In New York 1957, a Tibetan monk rents an automatic sequence computer. The monks seek to list all of the names of God. They hire two Westerners to install and program the machine in Tibet. A short film is based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke.

Quiver (2019) Director: Shayna Connelly Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA Synopsis: A woman’s grief transcends the boundaries of the natural world and arouses a primordial being. She courts this ghost, using intellect and desire to forge a union between them.

Time Sphere (2019) Director: Andre Seewood Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA Synopsis: After the destruction of the Third World War, a man traveled back in time to deliver a message to someone he loved before the end of the world only to be met with a cruel twist of fate.

Tomorrow Might Be the Day (2018) Director: Joséfa Celestin Run Time/Country: 20 min, France Synopsis: A fanatic subjects his niece, whose faith wavers, to a baptism in order to restore her faith and ultimately save her from an impending doomsday flood.

I Am the Doorway (2018) Director: Simon Pearce Run Time/Country: 20 min, UK Synopsis: After a journey to investigate desolate Pluto, an astronaut returns home a shattered man. He sees eyes forcing their way through the skin of his hands, eyes that distort his friends and the landscape itself into monstrous visions. Believing himself the doorway to alien invasion and gruesome murder, he must take desperate action. Based on the short story by Stephen King.

Mise En Abyme (2018) Director: Edoardo Smerilli Run Time/Country: 11 min, Italy Synopsis: An eccentric and aristocratic gentleman devotes most of his time to a bizarre activity. Obsessed by beauty, he wanders everyday in the wood nearby the city, hunting the most rare butterflies. Once captured, he frames them and put in a massive and disturbing collection. He will soon realize to be himself part of a bigger collection.

Who is Martin Danzig? (2018) Director: Michael Baker Run Time/Country: 11 min, USA Synopsis: A mysterious old man sits in the park feeding pigeons, ruing the refuse of humanity encroaching on his sanctuary. He then meets his much younger replacement and learns to accept his future - with the fate of all humanity in the balance. Starring Walter Koenig (Star Trek) and Kevin Page (RoboCop).

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

Block 2: Cults, Conspiracies and Paranoia 9:30pm - 11:00pm

Beyond the Door (2018) Director: Em Johnson Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA Synopsis: One day Hedy brings home a cuckoo clock to decorate the baby's room, unbeknownst that the cuckoo clock has the ability to love and hate just like humans. The cuckoo clock tests the couple's love by mimicking the presence of their deceased son. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.

Sereget (2018) Director: Dempsey Tillman Run Time/Country: 13 min, USA Synopsis: An emotionally detached husband with a child on the way gets a rude awakening when aliens invade his home and target his family.

Diversion (2018) Director: Mathieu Mégemont Run Time/Country: 23 min, France Synopsis: A small town journalist covering a case in the French countryside stops after running over a dog on the road and finds himself trapped in the stories he usually writes.

Simulation (2019) Director: Hashem Al-Ghaili Run Time/Country: 24 min, Germany Synopsis: An advanced alien civilization builds a simulated reality where infinite beings, including humans, are imprisoned.

DreamLogic (2017) Director: Rodolfo Rincones Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA Synopsis: An aimless man addicted to cyberspace connects with a hacker with plans of freeing people from virtual existence.

Post-Film Q&A:

Screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion with filmmakers.

—

Festival Passes:

Passes to the festival are available for purchase on https://www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com.

[dougbeamer]

Brightburn - Movie Review *Spoilers*

I saw this movie almost a month ago. I tried doing a video review for it several weeks ago and idk...nothing stuck. What I wanted to say just felt like it could be the same as everyone else. I just don’t think I’m gonna add anything new to the consensus.

But then I got thinking about it again for some reason I felt a desire to talk about it again.

So! Let's start with the plot and what this movie is about.

Brightburn is a film that came out in May of 2019 and tells the story of a family Tori and Kyle Breyer trying to have a kid. By a miraculous miracle, a spaceship crashlands on their farm and they adopt the baby boy inside naming him, Brandon. Many years later the family begins experiencing weird things with their now 12-year-old child. He sleepwalks to the barn where the ship he crashed landed in mumbling a strange language and trying to get inside. 

Eventually, Brandon Breyer’s powers take effect and he starts using them to kill people rather than saving people. Brandon Breyer’s is on the full path to becoming a supervillain.

With the plot, in a nutshell, I can tell you there isn’t much more to it than that. If there is anything that I don’t like when making my reviews is explaining the plot. I know I need to in order to give everyone a heads up of what I am talking about but I never seem to talk about the plot specifically enough. I never actually describe it well. My store manager had an opportunity to see this film and said it pretty simply. “It’s like Superman meets Annabell”

While I never have seen Annabell it seems like an apt description. Annabell seems like a small film in scale and terrorizes folks who come close to it. The stakes are personal, intense and not much beyond what you are given. Of course, Superman is the spot on the comparison you can give because this film screams, “WE ARE SHOWING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SUPERMAN WENT EVIL!” as a concept piece.

Every time I think about this film the less I like about it. 

I know there are some people out there that probably L-O-V-E this film and can’t wait to see what is next in this obvious start to a twisted franchise. 

This film is basic. Very basic. Nothing more to it than a kid coming to his own with superpowers with his parents in denial of what he is capable of. The father is less in denial than the mother is who refuses to think her child is capable of such things.

At the beginning of this film, I actually loved it. The took just enough time to create the conflict between these two that they wanted a child. Just then their house is rocked by an earthquake and they proceed to check it out. It was mysterious, it was solid. 

The rest of the film...not so much. 

When I watch a film I lookout for a few things. One of them being dialogue, moments to establish the relationships as true, real and tangible, stakes that make sense no matter how much it derails the people involved, and above all else how the film constructs this. Bring it all together with enough pomp and circumstance to say we are functional.

To me, this movie is barely functional.

Dialogue is stiff. When people talk to one another it's so short and to the point that it feels like there is more than can be said. This may not be a legitimate critique but I do feel like the technique of talking is wasted here.

There was a scene where after Brandon crushed a girl's hand and the following scene the parents were all talking in the principal's office. The mother of the daughter was clearly upset and rightfully so. She was spouting this and that, “he should go to jail” and other justifiable remarks. Until...she talks about Brandon's real mother and calls her an inbred psycho. This obviously crosses a line as Tori simply states that if trash-talking a 12-year-old child helps erica sleep better at night maybe she is the one that needs help. After that, the scene wraps up and it's over. It's not without consequence, of course, but I feel that the scene was stunted with a lot of missed opportunities with dialogue. Instead of Erica overstepping her bounds and Tori putting her in her place within seconds of the scene ending I felt that should have been the biggest conflict in the scene. A longer more emotionally driven scene. 

Granted I know the script has been flipped and instead of Brandon being the good guy he's bad. The parents are sticking up for him wrongfully but are on the side of good and Erica is in the middle. The scene conveys mixed emotions that I feel no one is good, no one really knows what to say or do. Brandon is not arrested, he is suspended and will have therapy there afterward and one simple insult closes this off and they move onto the next subject. With the knowledge of the looming fate, Erica will endure.  I feel the scene should have been at least a few minutes longer where we are given a chance to really understand where other people are coming from. By this point, we know where Kyle and Teri are coming from but not Erica. She is actually smack dab in the middle of a situation she has to immediately respond to. Before that, she only was apart of Brandon’s birthday and saw him throw a temper-tantrum where the electronics around him went out. No speaking lines and that may be enough for her to call Brandon a psycho but allow me to point out...

There is an entire bit of backstory faded out to the prolonged stare Teri was making with her son Brandon. A lot of dialogue was muffled out do to her zoning out. They only time she snaps out of it is when insults are being thrown out towards Brandon and questions of who his real mother is. 

That entire scene should have been insightful! Erica could still stay as the emotional mother who just hears and sees the aftermath of her daughter's hand crushed but we could have known at some point where she stood with the family, what kind of friends they were and some back history. Cause we just found out in that very moment more than just the family knows about Brandon’s adoption. That there in of itself leaves me to believe a lot has to be assumed in order to understand where everyone is coming from.

My mind goes to the phrase Expectations vs Reality. When I think about this movie there were a lot of expectations and when the reality hit we basically see what could have been opposed to what we got. Brightburn had a criticism that its full potential was not realized.

This is where I have to disagree. 

Yes, I have to disagree. 

We have had over 10 years of great storytelling and bad storytelling at our expense thanks to Marvel, DC, various TV shows throughout the last decade. We know exactly what we want in these types of films. So when we get a what-if concept there are only a few ways we can go with it.

Our expectations are seeing a complex take on the tale of Superman becoming evil and the reality is we see a kid who is being manipulated by a ship speaking an evil language. We don’t really see where the kid is coming from except for getting upset that he is different and was lied to for 12 years.

The reality is this is probably the best way to convey a what-if piece. Keep it Simple. Keep it just as grounded as it is right now. My biggest gripe is how everyone talks to one another. How the situations play out are almost perfect to convey such an excellent concept. 

So sticking up for this film in this regard, it did exactly what it was setting out to do. Become a concept piece that would show the makings of a villain that was based on one of the most powerful superheroes we will ever know. In fictional terms of course.

The fact that it didn’t go in any direction we were really hoping it to is not a bad thing though. Sure maybe we could have seen the makings of a villain rise up and maybe the parents are in on it. Maybe the mother takes Brandon under her wing and teaches him to channel his evil tendencies towards people that deserve it much like dexter. Instead, Patricide and Matricide are inflicted, Uncles and Aunts are killed, and next-door neighbors are terrified in cliche fashion before they are horribly killed.

What really doesn’t make this film work for me is not really buying into the fact that this kid who seems well to do, not a single psychopathic bone in his body is suddenly turned when the spaceship he crashed landed in, activates.

The film does not do a good job giving us anything that could give us a clue into Brandon’s head. Is he being controlled? Is he acting out of rage? Well, the answer to that is yes and yes. But when? When are those moments? Because one scene he is going back to the girl (the one whos wrist was broken) and tells her that she is the ONLY person who knows how special he is.

One scene before it or after it I can’t remember which...shows him going into a rage as soon as he figures out what the alien message is saying to him. So he either had a small influence then took what he could and left the rest. Or he gets small doses of this throughout the time he first encountered it. Its really unclear.

One big thing is how people write off each weird happenstance throughout the story of the film. The father, Kyle believes Brandon got in and killed some chickens late at night. The best excuse Tori has is that a wolf opened up a locked door and killed some chickens. 

I mean, the reasonings of what to talk about and what not to talk about is out of this world.

The parents find Brandon's secret stash of naked women that soon turn more grizzly where there are pictures of surgical diagrams and graphic photos of organs. Tori exclaims, “Maybe we should have the talk”

In the next scene, they go on a camping trip and the father and son have an awkward conversation about this. But the only thing mentioned was sexual urges and nothing more. DUDE, you found diagrams and organs! That is much more specific than showing off a desirable swimsuit model! TALK ABOUT THAT! This stuff gets pretty redundant after a while. You get it. Dialogue doesn’t work, the scenes and situations mentioned don’t add up when they need to talk about more important things, the relationship between the mother and father work but not with the kid, sadly. 

I feel this movie did deliver upon its potential I just feel it could have been written better. I could care less that it was a cliche horror murder movie. Give me something basic and grow from there. You could have had the characters a lot smarter, capable, flesh out the scenes better and you would have had one solid film on your hands. 

Perhaps I don’t have anything better to say than anyone else but this movie came close to frustrating me on how it presented itself.

The ending sparked more curiosity and obvious means to a sequel that I feel should have been introduced in the middle of the film. But, hey, that's just my expectations talking. 

I know there are some out there that love the film. One who can justify actions and means of what really could have been going down. But I am a very literal person so if it ain't shown to me I am not going to assume so much happened in-between scenes. I am not a psychic so I don’t know what one is thinking and if you keep a kid quiet I won’t know where he is coming from. 

That is exactly what this film did. It alienated me. Me no likey.

**/***** (2 out of 5)

[silktoyourspidey]

SoulStoneMate AU

Hello, fellow MCU maniacs, as we all mourn and celebrate the ending of a 22 film journey, I jumped onto the tumblr bandwagon and fel more in love with Peter Parker/Spider-Man/Tom Holland than before. SO I'm dusting off my creatively blocked brain with some fic even though I haven't written anything in months. This is also my first Marvel fic, so pretty please bear with my crap.

Across the Universe

A slight AU inspired by the original fan theory that those snapped by Thanos were all more or less coherent in the Soul Stone. The stone draws out internal truths that you never know existed, all while getting to know Spider-Man.

Warnings: Infinity War and eventual Endgame angst.

Nothing more than a shade, you wandered around the orange abyss for who knew how long. It felt like days, maybe even weeks, since you felt your body fall backwards into oblivion, fading to darkness and waking up here.

Alone.

You had no idea what was happening, one minute your boyfriend was getting down on one knee and the next was this.

Did you fall and obtain a traumatic head injury? A coma inducing seizure? You couldn't know, struggled for days to listen for his voice, a hospital monitor beeping, anything. But nothing.

You’d already screamed, already cried, bargained. You’d gone through the five stages the situation allowed. You were pretty sure your life was over, but whatever this afterlife was, you figured it could've been worse. Lonely, but not a tormenting loneliness. You could handle it, though you mildly longed for interactions.

So much, in fact, you thought you were hearing voices, now. It was faint, but echoes bounced between your ears. Maybe you were going crazy.

“We’re not alone, don't give up.”

You startled at the clear whisper. It was a young woman, voice shaking and teary, but loud and calm enough to be heard. You didn't know the voice, but it was cathartic to hear.

And just like that, people started materializing.

You heard shouting and crying and screaming and joy and desolation and confusion and people.

It looked like families and friends were reuniting, questions with no answers thrown into the air. Seemingly, everyone here was brought back to their closest acquaintances, likely who they were with when The Event happened, based on chatter you overheard. You searched for your boyfriend and came up with no one. Like you, not everyone was lucky, some remained alone, sadly and uncomfortably holding themselves, and you felt the urge to console as many as possible, despite your loss, if that's what you could call it.

The consensus was that some sort of virus struck worldwide, killing off at least half of the population. Then the aliens showed up. You were from New York, so the alien battle against the planet’s mightiest heroes a few years ago already made you aware of such reality, however other humans did not take so kindly. Luckily, in this afterlife, violence was impossible on all parts of the spectrum. But as more materialized, it became clear: not just Earth, but the entire universe, had been obliviated.

No one you knew ever appeared near you. You supposed you were grateful, this meant they’d all survived. You tried to reach out to others like you, The Singles, this world coined the term. Some of them were welcoming and some were aloof. You still offered friendship to the latter, grieving comes in many forms and you could keep it together by supporting others. You made a close friend, Nath, who was from Coney Island and majored in Film at NYU.

You guys toss around theories and small talk and film analyses nonstop, no time existed and sleep wasn't a necessity in this world, though you could and if you willed it hard enough, you could create a sort of architecture, food, landmark, almost as if you're heart could bring it into existence. The food was never as good and none of the buildings were as solid, but slowly, the community of Goners created a hodgepodge of places to thrive in.

You and Nath were analyzing The Dark Knight trilogy when you heard the same female voice, less shaken than before.

“If anyone out there can hear me, my name is Wanda Maximoff. You might know me as Scarlet Witch, of the Avengers. To anyone listening, those of our team that were Snapped have important information.”

The Soul World, as was you were now properly informed, fell into a collective silence. You listened as your ‘Snapped’ heroes reported the facts. The Mad Titan and his quest for balance collected some stones and you were all trapped in the Soul Stone. You weren't technically dead. The Avengers back on Earth could still find a way to bring you back, but how and when was unclear. Doctor Strange, from that weird library you passed by on your bus route, was blunt. One out of 14 million. But he was heavily relying on that singular chance.

Then, the theories. The Soul Stone was powered by true self, hence why people you cared about and things you loved were available to you. It was a very uplifting notion, you realized, as it meant everyone was naturally, inherently good. In reality, people harmed others out of fear and hatred grown by fear. No one feared here, this was almost rock bottom, hence why violence never appeared. Emotion was stronger here, and your own soul would gravitate to truths. Strange advised that this would be a long waiting period, but a good self journey awaited those who needed it.

But despite everything, meeting Nath and recreating your room from home and all of your favorite places, you longed for your boyfriend, whose name seemed like a fading memory. You were going to say yes, despite being seniors in high school. You were going to spend forever with him, and you knew he was mourning for you, but that the remaining Avengers would inform the world and he would wait with a hopeful heart.

So why were you not remembering your first date or his favorite color or what he wanted to major in?

And how in this godforsaken piece of shit rock prison did you end up running straight into your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?

“Sorry,” the masked hero managed out, as you rubbed the spot on your shoulder that made contact with the...iron suit?

“‘S’cool,” you were able to say easily. “Nice new suit.”

“Oh, oh yeah,” he looked down, like he forgot what he was wearing. “I got it from Mr. Stark; I was wearing it to breathe in space before we got all dusty.”

“You were in space?” You gasped. “You weren't with you parents? I'm so sorry!” Really, you figured he about your age, so this must be just as hard for him as it was for you.

“I was with Mr. Sta-Iron Man, technically,” he shakes his head. “He looked really upset and I felt really bad that I couldn’t stay with him, but I know he’ll figure this out. He’s the smartest man I know.” He waved his arms emphatically.

“Well we all knew that,” you giggled. “He's fucking Iron Man.” You frowned. “Your parents, though?”

“My parents passed away long before The Snap,” his voice wavered slightly. “My Aunt May isn't here, so she must be worried sick, especially after she lost Uncle Ben, but I think Mr. Stark will do his best to help her understand.” He paused. “Plus she knows I'm Spider-Man. And my best friends are all here, Ned knows too but I'm don't suit up when I see everyone else.”

“I'm assuming your on patrol then?” You pondered. “Falcon said something about that to assure the masses that we’ll be okay.”

“Er, kinda,” a blue and red arm tried to scratch the back of his head. “I do, but I'm not assigned this area, despite it being predominantly New Yorkers. Strange’s area.”

“Oh? Then what brought you here?”

“I just felt drawn to this area, more specifically, your location, right here.”

[loopy777]

If you were told to write a spiderman series, with the regular high school/college love triangle shenanigans involving the usual ladies of Peter's life, only with the twist that in the end Spiderman/Black Cat would be the actual couple of the series, how would you go about writing them? Also what do you think the good and bad things about a series focused the ship would be?

(Sorry for the delay. The most recent chapter of Traitor’s Face insisted that every single thing I wrote for it needed to be completely rewritten at one point or another.)

Huh, now this is a new idea. It reminds me of how the 90’s animated series started with Felicia Hardy, no Black Cattiness at all, as the main love interest. And for some reason she was a cheap knock-off of Gwen Stacy for something like four seasons. I can only guess that they came up with the character first, and then stuck a random name on her from the comics.

However, if they *did* start with the idea of using Felicia, I understand how they wound up having to add so much to the character. The first big problem with the concept is that she essentially doesn’t have any character besides being the Black Cat. So anything that tried to make her the winning Love Interest would either need to bring Felicia into Peter’s civilian life and flesh her out as something more than a costumed adventurer/criminal/hero, or make the focus of the stories on his life as Spider-Man. You know, maybe do something like the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon and make him a pro-hero all the time.

The second big problem is the Black Cat’s weird status with her powers. If she doesn’t have any powers, she’s just a Catwoman knock-off. For a short while she had generic Cat powers, but that’s nothing that’s going to put her on the map. Her ‘true’ power, as far as I’m concerned, is her Bad Luck thing; it plays well on her full theme, it’s fairly unique, and it’s something that can be presented in a dynamic way, with her opponents continually encountering ridiculous bad luck as they try to impede her. But there’s no real origin for those powers, is there? She got them from Kingpin (in a story I haven’t read) and as far as I know the exact method by which he gave her those specific powers isn’t known; it’s incidental to plot point of her going to Kingpin in the first place. So a full, meaningful origin would have to be invented for those powers, too.

The final thing that needs to be created for the Black Cat is a reason to stick around long-term. She dips in and out of the comics because, when she isn’t romantically involved with Spidey, there’s really no reason for her to be in the story. She pursues her own goals, which can take her away from Spidey’s drama.

With all that in mind, here’s a possible scenario I came up with to answer the question.

Set during college years, Felicia and Peter are childhood friends, once being part of a Three Amigos thing with Flash Thompson before Flash became a bully. All three came from messed up histories, with Peter being the orphan raised by his aunt and uncle, Flash having an alcoholic father, and Felicia having something more complicated that we’ll get into. What Peter doesn’t know is that Flash turned against him because Flash fell in love with Felicia, but she had feelings for Peter. Peter never noticed because in high school he was a total nerd who didn’t feel lovable, and after that he was too distracted by Spider-stuff.

Anyway, Felicia’s backstory is that her family was super-poor until her father started working for the Kingpin as a spy, enforcer, and coordinator/boss of Kingpin’s thieves. Their family had to hide that Daddy was involved in organized crime. After Felicia got into college, though, things became more strained, as her father couldn’t deal with all the super-heroes who have been chipping away at Kingpin’s empire, especially that insufferable Spider-Man! But Kingpin has made a deal with an evil scientist (maybe Norman Osborn, maybe the Jackal, maybe even Doc Ock) who has developed a counter for Spider-Man: a 'Bad Luck’ power that’s actually an unconscious psionic defensive ability to alter the immediate future. It’s a direct counter to Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense, which is an unconscious precognitive defensive ability.

For reasons, this can only be given to one person. Perhaps having too many Bad Luck people around compounds the effect? Or maybe Kingpin fears the power’s subtle nature, and doesn’t want to pass it around too much. Perhaps a few other limited people are given the power, but they only come into the story on rare occasions, like when Felicia needs to deal with a Shadow Archetype.

So Felicia becomes the Black Cat, and becomes an apprentice to her father. She battles Spider-Man, but isn’t entirely committed to the idea. She’s a good person, and doesn’t like the Kingpin or the way his empire hurts people. But she’s loyal to her family, and if she doesn’t do something about Spider-Man, her dad will be killed. She’s also juggling her college like, because she wants to eventually get out of being a criminal.

This all gets complicated when Felicia’s Bad Luck ability sets into motion a sequence of events that end with her finding out that Peter is Spider-Man, with Spidey unaware.

So we settle into our storytelling engine, where Spidey encounters some crime or adventure. If it doesn’t involve the Kingpin, then Black Cat helps him out because she wants to protect her buddy Peter. If the Kingpin is involved, Spidey and Black Cat can find themselves on opposite sides; in those cases, Black Cat obviously is trying to hold back against Spidey, and because he can sense this, he holds back against her, too. He even becomes rather taken with her.

This frustrates Felicia to no end, for obvious reasons.

Throw in the complication that, in their civilian lives, Flash is dealing with his family history and trying to be a better person as he goes through college. He tries again with Felicia, who both feels bad for him and is frustrated that Peter is more interested in her alter-ego. And there’s the outgoing Mary Jane Watson who seems interested in Peter, and he in her.

A change in the dynamic can happen if Peter discovers Black Cat’s secret identity. Perhaps he doesn’t realize that she knows who he is, and she doesn’t know that he knows about her in turn, so hilarity ensues as they’re both unaware that they could end all these complications with a very simple conversation.

Another 'end of an era’ switch-up can happen if the Kingpin gets taken down, but not necessarily Felicia’s father with him. I like the idea of replacing Kingpin as the big bad with Norman Osborn, and Osborn discovering Peter’s identity can mess around things. Perhaps Felicia’s father even teams up with Osborn, dragging her into the conflict. The love triangle could be messed up by Harry Osborn getting involved and pursuing Felicia or the Black Cat- or both!

I’m thinking we also need to eventually do something for the Black Costume Saga, so that Flash has the opportunity to become Agent Venom and get involved in the super-heroics that his childhood friends are perpetrating. It would be interesting if Agent Venom is working for SHIELD or somesuch government agency, and both Spider-Man and Black Cat can be wanted felons by that point, so they’re both fighting Flash without realizing it. Bonus points if Flash’s superiors include a corrupt character who is running a criminal sideline.

I’m keeping to the spirit of this idea as a comic book, so I don’t have a definite endgame. Obviously, Peter and Felicia would have to become fully aware of each other’s identities and knowledge. Perhaps Flash’s death is what inspires them to finally try to commit to each other, or else the defeat of a major villain, which might wind up being Felicia’s father as their ultimate enemy. I don’t think I’d have them give up their superheroics afterward, but it probably depends on all the drama and trauma they’ve suffered through at that point. Since the speculative scenario is that I’m writing a real comic book with this storyline, I need to keep my options open for either getting canceled after twelves issues or going over a hundred.

The main appeal of this kind of series, I think, is that the female lead gets to be involved in both the civilian soap opera stuff and the superhero drama. It’s always hard to get the love interest involved with the superheroics, Lois Lane being the exception to prove the rule. In every other case, I loathe it when the Reporter job is used, because it feels so derivative of Lois.

The main weakness of this series, I’m thinking, is that excuses have to be generated to keep Spidey and Black Cat from just talking things through and teaming up. Their relationship needs to remain in a constant state of volatility, although sometimes at a low simmer, and that can become contrived.

Also, as shown by my plans here, the end-ship is going to be telegraphed from the start. I think it’s futile to try to make the Black Cat a dark horse in the romantic race like Mary Jane was, because MJ’s success was an accidental result of many contributing factors, including the transition from Stan Lee to Gerry Conway as the primary Spider-Man writer, and then the promotional mandate that had the newspaper comic strip’s marriage between Peter and MJ forced on the main comic line.

Also, I’m not one for real love triangles in fiction. Done right, it just seems like a good way to alienate at least half the audience at the end, while being done poorly is just going to make the ending obvious anyway. It’s fine to throw in spoilers every now and then, but any romance I write is going to end in a predictable way, and the audience is just there to enjoy the ride.

[lilydeerwrites]

A Muggle Studies Moment 3: Part 3. A Lily and Sirius Sidequest.

After dinner, Lily had owled her mum about the neighbor’s motorcycle. Mrs. Evans, still proud to have a witch in the family and well accustomed, for a Muggle mum, to sending post via owl, did not respond until two days later. In the interim, it seemed that Sirius might actually implode into a little ball of nothing. James did his best to keep him distracted with mischief, while Remus distracted him via ... other means, but the jittery excitement was always there, just under the surface. When the owl came, Mrs. Evans had indicated that she had spoken to the neighbor, who was over the moon at the idea of someone buying the thing and had priced it quite reasonably. Mrs. Evans had also told Lily to bring her friend over for dinner if they were going to come for the motorcycle, a little fact that had James burning with jealousy.

They were to wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend, and have their Saturday in Muggle London. James, Peter, and Remus had made plans to welcome their friends back by readying the shed at Potter Manor that Fleamont and Euphemia had gladly given their permission for their nearly-adopted son to use for his newfound project. The issue of money also had to be resolved. Leaving home had left Sirius cut off from most of his funds, except for the inheritance he had received from his Uncle Alphard. Those funds were now under the guardianship of the Potters until Sirius was of age, his blood family not being able to touch that money. Fleamont came to Hogwarts to take Sirius out for an early dinner after his classes ended on Friday, took him to Gringotts, and helped to arrange and explain the Muggle exchange rate. Lily had assured them both that should Sirius forget how Muggle money worked, she would make sure things went smoothly.

By Saturday morning, when the Marauders met Lily in the Common Room, Sirius was in the best mood of his life, and Lily was starting to wonder what on earth she was supposed to do with a ridiculously happy Sirius for half a day on their own. The most time she’d ever spent alone with him, he’d been hurt and half out of it, then recovering and trying to catch up on his school work. After that, he’d leaped straight back into mischief and Quidditch with James. He’d remarked a little too casually from time to time that Lily was his hero and that she’d saved his life, but she had always shushed his praise and told him he would have done the same.

Muggle London had always fascinated Sirius, but he had never been allowed to experience it. The few times he had managed to steal away to a Muggle music shop or convenience store, he had either had to hurry so much he hadn't been able to appreciate much, or he had gotten caught and been punished for associating with Muggles. He found Lily to be an excellent and entertaining guide. She stopped at a fast food kiosk so he could try an "American style" hot dog, and get some practice counting Muggle money out. He had the hot dog gone in three bites and fortunately, the vendor was from Eastern Europe and didn't find it odd that a boy with an English accent couldn't count his change out without assistance. He probably just thought Sirius was from Australia or New Zealand or something.

Still working on her own hot dog, Lily sat on a public bench and offered to share her chips. Boys her age seemed to be oddly bottomless pits where food was concerned, she had noticed. James and Sirius in particular seemed to burn off so much energy with Quidditch and generally high levels of activity that they could eat twice what any normal human being ought to and never gain a pound. He hesitated, clearly wanting the chips, but trying to be a gentleman and not steal her food. She sighed.

"I got extra for you, Sirius. I thought you might like to try more Muggle foods. Of course, now we'll have to pretend to be hungry for dinner so we don't hurt my mum's feelings."

He accepted the chips and smiled sheepishly. "I won't have to pretend. I'll be hungry again in about an hour. Remus said I was clearly eating for two and asked if there's anything I need to share with him. He said if I'm pregnant with alien babies, he'll help me raise them to be good, upstanding citizens of this planet. Then we got into this weird conversation about whether alien babies raised by gay wizards, one of whom is a werewolf, would be accepted at Hogwarts, and what to do with our alien kids if they turned out squibs."

Lily snorted inelegantly with laughter, picturing Remus' serious expression as he declared his willingness to help raise his boyfriend's alien babies with integrity. "He's as ridiculous as you and James."

"Merlin, I love him," Sirius sighed.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lily grabbed him in a spontaneous hug and squeezed. It took him a moment, but he returned the hug, his hand hesitantly patting her back.

"Lily? Everything all right?"

She let go of him and smiled. "Sorry, I was overwhelmed by how horribly sweet you two are on each other and I just wanted to show you that I'd like us to be actual friends, not just mutual friends of Remus who sometimes talk."

He smiled, a genuine, slightly shy smile that was so different than his usual smirks and grins that Lily caught a glimpse of how Remus must have seen him to fall for him so hard.

"I think I'd like that. And, now that we're friends, I feel I must inform you that James Potter has an enormous crush on you. Like ... it's huge."

"Bigger than his ego?"

The retort was automatic, but there was no real anger behind it, not anymore. And he could tell, the absolute wanker. He knew.

"Look, I'm not going to harass you about it. I know your opinions of James are founded in the reality of his complete lack of social graces where you are concerned, but ... you used to hate all of us, then you got to know Remus and became friends with him. I - I'd like to think getting to know me a little made you change your mind about me a bit. I know watching you treat Remus so kindly made me change my mind about you."

Her jaw dropped. "Me? What did you used to think of me?"

His eyes widened as he realized what he had said, and he immediately began to backpedal. "I mean, I didn't know you, not really. All I knew was that you were always mad at James, who is basically my brother, and so when he was upset by something you did or said, it didn't make me have a good opinion of - oh, bollocks! I'm making it worse! What I meant is that you were always with Snape and sticking up for him, and - and - "

"And you hate him, so you hated me too? Were you only not bullying me like you did him because James thought I was pretty?"

"No! It's more complicated that that. Please believe me."

He looked worried. Really worried. However upsetting it was to find out that someone you used to dislike actually disliked you as well, it was a moot point. She didn't dislike him any longer. She wanted to be his friend, and that meant that she needed to listen and communicate and not scare him half to death. She took a deep breath.

"I'm not mad. We're still friends. I was just surprised, that's all. It hadn't occurred to me to think about how you lot saw me, you know?"

His sigh of relief was immediate and noisy.

"I didn't mean to be insulting, Lily. I just - "

She raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Friends talk to each other. It's fine if we don't agree on some things, okay? What was the issue with you and Snape? Why do you hate him so much?"

If she hadn't been so curious, she would have felt badly for even asking. Her question seemed to suck the joy of impending motorcycle right out of him.

"I suppose it was mostly Regulus, for me. And a little bit James. You know what my insane family is like. Regulus is my brother and I love him, but James is the brother who chose me, you know? He looked past my family's pureblood bullshit and gave a shit about me. So, when Snape and James got into it, I was Team James. Then, when Reg came to Hogwarts and got into Slytherin, Snape saw him as a way to get back at me. He started filling his head with - with reasons why I wasn't someone he should care about. Reg gave him access to a lot of pureblood society, and suddenly he was hanging out with Mulciber and Malfoy and they started teaming up to help my family make me miserable. And James saw it and fought back for me, and then it was this awful cycle. Every time there was an altercation, Snape would spin it a certain way to Reg, and then he'd ignore me or worse, tell our parents. They never let me explain anything, never cared what really happened, just that I'd embarrassed them again, and then they'd  - "

She shushed him softly, rubbing his arm gently to reassure him that she understood, and he didn't need to say it. "And there I was, defending a person who directly led to you being hurt. I'm sorry for that. I really didn't know. I just hated to give up on someone who used to mean so much to me. Severus has it in him to be kind and sweet, but his fascination with the Dark Arts always worried me, and now it's carried him away from me. I'm so scared I'm going to find out that he's taken the Dark Mark. I miss his friendship, how he used to be, but I'm so mad at him for calling me ... that word, and thinking I'd be happy to be his exception to policy for hating Muggleborns."

Sirius winced sympathetically. "I worry about Reg taking the Mark too. When I was a little kid, before Hogwarts? I didn't know that word was bad. James told me. It's just what my parents always called people whose parents are Muggles. I had no idea it wasn't okay until I saw James' face when I said it. He pulled me aside and asked if that's how my parents talked at home. He knew how some pureblood families are and gave me the benefit of the doubt AND explained things to Remus and Pete so they wouldn't think I was some snobbish git."

Lily felt that now-familiar stirring of curiosity about who James Potter was to his friends and family. The picture painted by Remus was of a loyal friend who kept and defended his secret, and Sirius described a friend who became a brother who looked after him when his own had abandoned him. Her own view of James Potter had been colored by a friendship that was no longer viable and informed by a source who was no longer a reliable narrator. Yes, he was annoying when he constantly praised her and asked her out, but was his bravado simply that? A facade he wore to hide the depth of feelings that made him feel vulnerable and awkward? And, he had actually stopped, now that she thought about it. It had been a good long while since he had asked her out. He had complimented a few times, but it had mostly been about her academic accomplishments or if she had done or said something nice for or about one of his friends. She had grown and changed since the day she found out she was a witch, to finding out that Remus was a werewolf, to the moment she had realized that she was unwilling to continue to ignore Severus' views, to the moment she had discovered that Sirius wasn't who she had thought. Maybe James had gone through a similar path? She had stopped excusing Severus' increasing darkness, and maybe James had stopped constantly asking her out for similar reasons?

Aloud, she mused, "That makes sense. How were you to know if you were never allowed to associate with anyone to tell you otherwise?"

"It's still a poor excuse. I don't know how anyone could see how good you are at everything magical and not understand that you're every bit as magical as me!"

She ruffled his hair, ignoring his halfhearted protests not to mess it up. "That is my favorite thing about you, New Friend."

Still patting his glossy black hair back into place, he said, "My hair? I know, me too. It's pretty much perfect,"

"Don't be a vain git. You know what I meant. I like that you're not prejudiced. That you respect me and people like me."

"Firstly, I am a vain git. Ask James, Remus, or Pete. Secondly, my capacity for talking about my feelings is just about maxed for the week, and thirdly, I've been on the wrong end of a Lily-hex and a healthy dose of respect and fear is more than appropriate. I don't care that your parents are Muggles, especially not when you can do things with Charms that even Remus can't figure out."

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling. No wonder Remus liked him so much. He was entertaining to say the very least. "Sorry I taxed your capacity for talking about your feelings. I appreciate you listening to me. I need to tell you one more thing. I - I don't know if my mum told my sister about us coming for dinner. Petunia hates magic, always calls me a freak, and ... well, I just wanted you to be prepared if she's an utter bitch. It's not personal."

Sirius stood from the bench and collected their trash, offering Lily a hand. "Believe me when I tell you that I get the whole sibling thing. I promise not to purposely provoke Petunia," he said, popping each "P" with purpose.

She giggled. "Promise?"

"Positively. Now. Motorcycle? Please?"

She laughed. "Yes, motorcycle. Come along. We've got a bus to catch!"

"Hey, Lily?"

"Yes?"

"You know who else likes to talk about their feelings?"

"Am I going to regret asking who that might be?"

“James. It's James. There's a bloke you won't wear out with that subject. Of course, I think about 75 percent of his feelings in some way pertain to you, but ... there you go."

[sciencelings-writes]

Heart of Gold-Titanium Alloy: Chapter 1: The Curse of Peter Parker

find more chapters on here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16127408

Peter had always had terrible luck. He assumed that it was just a curse after Uncle Ben died and now he was sure of it. He wasn’t sure how, but he had managed to go through four parents in less than sixteen years.

There wasn’t anything that he could’ve done. Aunt May was just on her way to work while he was on his way to school. They were miles apart but Peter felt like he should have been there. At least so she wouldn’t have been alone. But now she was gone. Just like Uncle Ben and his parents. So yeah, he was definitely cursed.

It had been hell to get the call while he was at school. He left the high school without telling anyone as being tardy to class was the least of his worries. He had taken the subway to the hospital that May had been rushed to. She was gone before he even arrived.

It was a blur from there. There was crying and an agent from some child related government service or something. Peter couldn’t make himself listen. All he heard was something about being young enough for foster care, not having any living relatives and an empty apology.

It was deja vu of Uncle Ben all over again. He had the same reaction of an explosion of emotion including unbearable anger and sadness followed quickly by numbness. It took a little while longer to get to the acceptance part of grief.

Despite being young and there being several years to get over it, Peter was still tormented by his parents deaths. Then there was the loss of Ben and he was back in the cycle. It was barely a year and a half to deal with Ben’s death before May joined him.

Peter was not known for his healthy coping mechanisms. He ditched his foster home as often as he could, he went out Spiderman-ing for hours longer than he usually did. Eventually he just decided to run away from his foster home. He was successfully homeless for a week before someone called CPS on him and he was back in the system. That was the cycle. It repeated itself four times until he met Harley.

Harley was his age and was the only one that treated him like he wasn’t made of glass. Harley’s mother died after they had moved to New York from Tennessee for a business opportunity. His little sister got adopted a years before Peter even met him. He didn’t take any of Peter’s shit when they were put in the same foster home. Of course, they became friends.  

Peter found out Harley was incredibly smart and had even helped Mr. Stark during the whole Mandarin thing. That was pretty cool. Harley was sarcastic and dry witted and was as much of a nerd as he was. Harley was also more confident than Peter could ever be. It was nice having more than one friend.

It took a month of lying to Mr. Stark and hoping that the billionaire didn’t care. After the whole vulture thing, Mr. Stark decided to not have Happy in between their communications. Thankfully, the guy was surprisingly easy to lie to. As long as they weren’t face to face. Then it was infinitely harder. Peter was honestly surprised that he was able to last so long.

He was out with Harley, avoiding their foster family, when he got the call. He looked at his phone and raised his eyebrows when he saw the caller ID that popped up. It was Mr.Stark. The caller picture that took up the screen was a rare picture of the billionaire looking ridiculous. He looked at Harley and showed his pseudo-sibling his phone.

“What the fuck? Does Tony just… call you?” Harley’s eyes went wide and he looked at the phone. “Well, answer him! You better tell me what he says. I thought your internship was terminated or whatever…” Peter rolled his eyes and answered the phone.

“H-hey Mr. Stark… what’s up?” Peter tried to sound casual but his voice broke and he stuttered so that didn’t work out so much.

“Hey kid, you okay? You sound nervous. Please don’t tell me you’re going after another animal themed super-villain behind my back…” Mr.Stark immediately sounded suspicious but Peter was kind of confident in his ability to keep big secrets. Not little ones, but the whole being Spider-Man one was relatively still a secret.

“I’m fine, everything’s fine…” Peter said too quickly before he covered the phones microphone and looked at Harley. “I’ll tell you what he says but can you give me a minute? You can get yourself a coffee or something…” He hissed as Harley rolled his eyes.

“Only if you’re paying.” Harley nodded and held out his hand for money. Peter sighed and managed to get his wallet and give Harley a five-dollar bill. Harley grinned and strolled into a nearby coffee shop. Peter put his attention back to his call.

“You are really bad at lying Mr.Parker. Tell me what’s up.” Mr.Stark ordered.

“I mean, it’s fine, it’s not a Spider-Man thing or anything…” Peter muttered.

“Spit it out. Come on, my time is precious. Did you get a girlfriend or something?” Peter could hear Mr.Stark smirking and he winced.

“No… I learned my lesson after homecoming. No girl deserves my flaking and all that. I’m not particularly desirable anyway. Uh, It’s not that. It’s not… anything like that. Don’t worry.” He rambled.

“When you say ‘don’t worry,’ I automatically worry. Just tell me.” Mr.Stark insisted.

“I swear that it’s nothing. I’m not dying or anything.” Peter winced at his own words. He may not be dying but it would’ve hurt less if he did instead.

“You better not be. Whatever, maybe if you ask your aunt if you can do an overnight thing for the internship, we can work on your suit in the compound. It’ll be fun.” Peter winced.

“Yeah… will do. I gotta go, I’m with a friend and I don’t want to keep him waiting.” Peter rushed his words because the last thing he wanted to do was tell Mr.Stark what was actually going on.

“I’ll find out what you’re hiding kid. I know that something is up. But i guess it’s good that you’re hanging out with your friend. Don’t do drugs, we don’t know how your body will react to heroin anyway, don’t take the tracker out of your suit and tell me if you get dramatically injured.” Mr.Stark ordered.

“Yeah yeah, of course. I’m not doing any drugs if NyQuil gets me sick. Maybe I should figure that out… I don’t want to get gravely injured and have no painkillers that will work. It’s too bad that Doctor Banner is off of the grid, he would be one of the best people to talk to, you know? If anyone knows about weird DNA, it’s the Hulk.” Peter rambled to try to convince Mr. Stark that he was fine and normal.

“Yeah that’s a good idea. There’s a woman in Korea that could be good at that kind of stuff, we could discuss it so you don’t have to worry about it. Anyway, bye kid, play with your legos or whatever.” Peter chuckled as he hung up and walked to the coffee shop where Harley was waiting with two lattes.

“So… what did he say? Why is your superhero boss calling you?” Harley took a danty sip out of his latte as he handed Peter the one that he got for him. Harley got Peter one of those brightly colored ones but he didn’t mind. The joke was on Harley as Peter loved unicorn themed foods.

“He was just checking up on me I guess. I was his personal intern so he could be worried about me? I’m not sure. That wasn’t it, apparently he wants me to work on him with some things up at the compound. At the moment, It’s nothing too cool. I’ll tell you when I get to work on rocket boots or something.” Peter shrugged and indulged in his overly sweet drink. “I think we’re going to be working with someone in Korea to work on medical stuff. I guess it would be helpful to use Starktech in the medical field.” Peter smiled as he thought about it.

“I mean yeah, didn’t Tony make those prosthesis for his friend? It would make sense that they would integrate the tech for other medical things. Imagine the kind of prosthesis he could make for people without limbs. Like dude, He could make an arm with more features than a smartphone.” Harley shrugged.

“I mean, imagine a robotic leg with a camera on the toes or something. Just do yoga and you could take a selfie. Someone could just have one rocket boot.” Peter grinned. It was a silly image.

“It would be hard to steal shit from you if it’s actually stored in your body. You could keep your tunes literally in your armpit.” Harley matched his grin. “I would have a compartment just for skittles.”

“What about rocket powered roller skates as default transportation? That would be fun…” Peter imagined Iron Man with roller skates instead of hoverboots. He would have to talk to Mr.Stark about it.

“Not quite practical but other than that… It’s a cool idea. Like extreme heelys.” This made Peter laugh a little.

“If I ever get a hold of an Iron Man suit, I am definitely adding retractable wheels that are motorized. Then when Mr. Stark is fighting aliens or whatever, he can roll away from attacks.” Peter made a little motion with his hand to demonstrate the greatness of wheely rocket shoes for a superhero.

“You better. If you do, you have to send me Tony’s reaction. I could see it being a perfect reaction image.”

“I’ll do my best. Mr. Stark does have some stellar facial expressions.”

“Why do you call him that. I mean, sure, he’s your boss kinda, but literally everyone calls him by his full name. I mean Tony Stark is a super iconic name.” Harley raised his eyebrow.

“I was kinda conditioned to call ‘adults’ by their titles out of respect.” Peter made air quotes when it was appropriate. “It kinda stuck. Mr. Stark teases me a little for it but it’s not like it’s that bad of a habit to have.” He shrugged and realized with disappointment that he was nearly done with his colorful latte.

“I’m not attacking you for it, I was just wondering. I mean it’s part of your whole goody-two-shoes polite kid thing right? You act all sweet and perfect but you run away from foster homes and get in fights at school.” Harley scoffed.

“I don’t get into fights.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Or at least I don’t start them… or continue them… Dude have you seen me? I’m a wimp.”

“Sure sure. Just because I’m six inches taller than you doesn’t mean that you’re a wimp. That just makes you tiny.”

“I’m not… tiny…” Peter muttered. Harley looked completely unimpressed. “Okay, I’m kinda small but tiny is going too far.” He admitted to Harleys delight. Harley liked being right and Peter had no problem admitting his faults. Even MJ practically towered over him. He had accepted that his maximum height would not exceed 5’6”.

His internal conflict about his lack of height was interrupted by his phone buzzing.

“You’re popular today Pete…” Harley was only surprised because Peter rarely got calls, so two in the same hour was not normal for him.

“It’s probably Mr. Stark again. I haven’t told him what happened and he doesn’t like not knowing everything. I guess I must have been suspicious enough for him to look into it. I guess I’ll face the music or whatever the term is.” Peter's heart fluttered with anxiety as he answered his phone. “Hey, Mr. Stark, that was quick…”

This time Peter couldn’t make Harley leave so he was going to try to be discrete with the whole Spider-man stuff. If he had to. The problem wasn’t with Spider-Man though, It was with Peter. He was the one with the problems. Spider-Man was relatively unaffected. And that’s all that Mr. Stark cared about. Right?

“Kid.” Mr. Stark’s voice was soft through the phone’s receiver. “What… what happened.”

“I think you already know… Don’t tell be that you didn’t do some research in the last twenty minutes…” Peter’s voice was a little quieter than before.

“I just want to hear you say it. I want to know what happened.” Mr. Stark’s voice was uncharacteristically reserved and it left no doubt in Peter’s mind that the billionaire knew exactly what happened.

“Uh, A month ago, May was… she was in a car accident. I was at school so there was nothing I could do besides rush to the hospital. She was gone before I even got there. I don’t have any family so I got put in foster care. I ran away a few times… but I’m fine now. I have an almost brother and everything.” Peter really tried to sound convincing that he was fine even though he really wasn’t. Who would be?

“Peter…” Mr. Stark sighed. Oh no, he brought out the real names, this must be serious. Peter had been almost exclusively called some nickname by him so when the real names came out, it was not to just be ignored. “Why didn’t you say anything… I could’ve done something.”

“You’re my boss. I didn’t want to… I didn’t want to force you to deal with my problems. If I’m honest, I haven’t even called Ned or anything. I’m still processing it myself…” Peter muttered as Harley awkwardly left to buy a pastry or something. Peter wanted to apologize but Harley had left earshot quickly enough not to take notice. He’ll say sorry when he comes back.  

“This isn’t like not telling me about your homework kid, this is… this is big. I wouldn’t want you to go through that alone. Been there, done that, you know?” For once, Mr. Stark sounded awkward but Peter assumed that it was because of the billionaires emotional constipation. He wasn’t used to trying to comfort people. Peter appreciate the attempt nonetheless.

“Yeah… thanks but, I don’t know. I’m just probably going to be in a temporary family until I can get my inheritance. Then I can buy an apartment or something. Apparently it’s not easy to get adopted as old as I am. And I’m not sure that I want to be thrown into a family for the rest of eternity. I just… I don’t know. Everything changed so fast and I have no idea what to do.” Peter found himself frantically rambling and stuttering out his ideas.

“Well it’s a good thing I don’t have a family then.” Mr. Stark commented quickly.

“Uh, what do you mean?” Peter said slowly.

“Peter, you don’t deserve any of this. I’m not just going to stand by and watch while there’s something that I can do. That’s kind of our motto right? Reckless superheroes and all.” Mr. Stark rushed his words but still managed to sound casual while he was changing Peter’s life. He seemed to do that a lot lately…

“Mr. Stark… I don’t… oh my god, are you serious? You would…” Peter could barely manage sentences as tears welled up in his eyes. While his mentor was emotionally constipated, Peter was the complete opposite. He’s an emotional mess but he didn’t feel bad over getting emotional now. This time he had a valid reason.

“I’m as serious as a terminal illness kid. I can get all of the paperwork done in no time and poof, no more foster care.” Mr. Stark promised. “My only requirement is that you call me Tony instead of the whole mister Stark crap.”

“I’ll try- I just-” Peter sniffled and wiped his tears away, obviously embarrassed. “I’d feel bad for leaving Harley, he’s my foster sibling kinda, we were paired in the same foster house. Apparently he met you during the whole extremis thing. Small world right?” Peter rambled because, holy shit, Tony Stark was serious about adopting him.

“Wait… Harley? Like Harley Keener? Potato gun kid? He’s not only in New York but also in the same foster care system as you?” Mr. Stark sounded surprised.

“Yeah, He said that you guys are connected. His mom uh, actually he can tell you himself. We’re avoiding our foster family and getting highly caffeinated.” Peter waved at Harley and motioned for him to come over. He rolled his eyes and took his time in strolling over.

“You know I’ll have to talk to Pepper but I think that she will agree with me on this whole thing. I think that she would be fine with having children that aren’t in diapers. You met her right?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty badass. I’m surprised that she’s not a superhero herself.” Peter tried to pull himself together before Harley came close enough to see the tears in his eyes. “So Harley just came over, wanna talk to him?” Peter was kind of anxious to let himself internalize what the hell was going on. And he wanted to see Harley react to talking to Tony. Peter still thought it was weird to call Mr. Stark by his first name but he would have to get used to it someday.

“Yeah, hand me to the other kid. I haven’t heard from him since he was like eleven.” Mr. Stark chuckled as Peter handed Harley the phone. Harley looked a little confused as he put his ear to the speaker.

“Hey Tony. What’s up.” Harley handed Peter the muffin that he had bought. Peter was not going to complain, he needed a lot of calories but he usually told Harley that it was because he had a normally high metabolism rather than a superhuman metabolism.

“I know, It’s because we’re connected.” Harley smirked at the phone. Peter tried not to use his super-hearing to intrude on their conversation, but it wasn’t that easy.

“Yeah, my mom died a few years ago. My little sister got adopted a while ago. I haven’t seen her in awhile. Actually I do still have that watch… come on, Pete looks like he just cried, what were you guys talking about?” Harley started out smiling but his expressions changed quickly.  First he looked shocked. Then he put his hand over his face as he started to tear up. He whispered to the receiver of Peters cellphone.

“Really? Tony, Jesus Christ… no. I’m not disappointed, you asshole. Don’t apologize, you didn’t know… shut up, I’m not crying… fine, not as much as Peter is though.” Harley smirked a little at Peter while trying and more successfully hiding his eyes well up.

“Shut up…” Peter muttered as he wiped his eyes again. He honestly didn’t think that he would have a family again. That anyone would actually want him. Then his childhood hero wants to adopt him as soon as he finds out what happened. It was, almost overwhelming. No, It definitely was overwhelming.

“Thank’s Tony… I guess you’ll see us soon. I think that we have to go soon anyway, it’s getting dark. Yeah, I’ll make Peter text you all that stuff. Now go call Pepper!” Harley weakly put down the phone and grinned at Peter.

“What the fuck just happened dude.” Peter’s comment made Harley laugh. Peter realized that this was the happiest he had been since Aunt May had died.

It felt pretty good.

[lostboylance]

heard you all like gay weddings

another prompt for julance

today is formal lance

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15134330/chapters/35272454

The tie lasts just before the ceremony was actually over.

Which is pretty impressive, if you ask Lance. It’s a definite upgrade from when he first started wearing ties, which was for picture day when he was six, and he had thrown the offending piece of cloth across the room right before he walked up to actually get his photo taken. It still feels too snug, just like before, but instead of full out flinging it away he loosens it up enough that hopefully he can get away with it.

From the look Keith shoots him, he’s not.

Keeping his voice down as low as possible, because this is exactly the event that is Mamma will actually literally kill Lance for talking at, he leans over to Keith and whispers in his ear, “don’t give me that look, at least mine isn’t clip on.”

He pulls back and tries not to laugh when Keith sticks the tip of his tongue out at him.

Both of them flinch when something hits the back of their chairs. Several people around them glance over, a question in their eyes, but Lance gives his practiced “nothing to see here” smile. He can’t tell if it actually works, or if they look away to look back at the ceremony. Lance sighs in relief when eyes are no longer on him and turns to glare behind him at Shiro, who he finds is pointedly looking past them, a small, knowing smile on his face.

Lance sees Keith stick his tongue out slightly again at Shiro only for Shiro to once again kick his chair. He looks at them, his eyes saying “pay attention” like they do when they goof off during mission briefing.

Not willing to risk getting caught, Lance turns back around and tries to start paying attention again. Who knew wedding ceremonies took so long? Well, Lance did, he’s been to more weddings than he can count. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles will do that to a kid, but it’s been a long while since he’s been to his last one and he had almost forgotten.

And apparently Altean weddings take even longer.

Before the wedding, back when everyone was figuring out what the perfect blend of Earth and Altean culture would be for the event, Allura had listed several traditions she could remember from weddings she had attended. Most, unfortunately, couldn’t be replicated because they were specifically tied to the planet Altea.

Lance’s heart still aches when he thinks of Allura’s face when she realized this.

Some things they were able to do, though it wasn’t exactly the same. On Altea brides wore a rare breed of juniberry flowers as a crown, but instead they used violets, which also was the primary flower they used to cover almost every surface in the building. On Altea they also have a special ceremony where they get water from each person’s home and mix them together and pour each other a glass of the water, a symbol of something important that Lance can’t remember at the moment.

But he knows he’s going to remember this. Remember the way Allura is glowing as she pours a glass of water, and remember the smile his sister Veronica wears as she takes a sip.

It’s almost been three years since Voltron returned to Earth and since Allura had met his sister. It’s been about two year since he found out that Allura and his sister had a long-distance relationship. It’s been half a year since they got engaged. And all of this time Veronica is as happy as Lance has ever seen her.

If anyone deserves to marry Veronica, it’s Allura. And in the speech he’ll be giving at the reception later in the day, he’ll say he’s glad that if couldn’t have Allura then Veronica had gotten her. He’ll mean it, and he knows it’ll make Veronica laugh because it was the first thing Veronica had said to him after he found out her and Allura were dating.

But for now he watches, basking in the happiness of his sister and one of his best friends.

By the end of the ceremony, the tie is completely off. Lance has stuffed it in Keith’s pocket, mostly because Keith couldn’t fight him off without causing a scene. No one is willing to risk the wrath of Mamma McClain or Veronica or Allura today. A dangerous combination indeed. At the reception when Veronica notices she laughs and reminds him of sixth grade picture day. His Mamma doesn’t say anything but straightens out his shirt to make up for it.

The reception is wild. Sure, the whole McClain family is here, practically everyone Lance has ever met from his family, but this is the first wedding where the McClains have had to mingle with aliens.

From his spot at one of the tables Lance can see how drastically different everyone is, but how it also feels so right.

The dance between Veronica and Allura has already ended, so the dancefloor has somehow turned into a dance battle zone where Veronica is currently beating Shiro in a dance battle. Several older Blade of Marmora members are mingling around him, including Kolivan who Krolia had to drag away from the corner of the room to actually talk to people.

Hunk is currently trying to explain the act of a bride tossing flowers in the air to Shay a few tables down and Lance can see Shay’s brother hoarding food at the buffet. Pidge is animatedly talking to Allura, a pink alien with an extra set of eyes that she introduced as her partner standing by her side. Coran has gotten his hands on an Earth camera and is taking pictures of anything and everything, something Lance is excited to see how it turns out.

To anyone else this would be the strangest wedding reception they’d ever seen. But Lance couldn’t imagine it any other way. After everything he’s seen, a wedding of just humans sounds weird to him.

“What’re you thinking about?” Keith asks as he walks up from behind Lance and sets a cup of soda on the table. He leans one hip against the table and takes a drink from his own cup.

“Mmm,” Lance hums, picking up his own cup. “All of this. How happy Veronica and Allura are. How I’m glad that everyone was able to come. How no one is ever going to beat my sister at dancing so it’s funny but also a little sad to watch you all try. You?”

“Well…” Keith trails off, trying to hide his smile behind his cup, but Lance knows his face too well now. The way his eyes softly light up, even with a small smile, and the way he ducks his head just in case. “I was thinking about how I’ve had to endure a week of Shiro teaching me how to properly slow dance and I still don’t know exactly how to ask you onto the dancefloor with me.”

For a moment Lance let’s himself imagine Shiro teaching Keith to dance. They probably did it while Lance was out helping with last minute arrangements. Keith probably stomped on Shiro’s feet so many times, Lance can’t believe Shiro is out on the dancefloor now. He almost laughs at thinking about Keith pouting, frustrated, as Shiro drags him around the room in a half attempt at dancing.

He looks over to the dancefloor. The dance-off has apparently ended and Veronica and Allura are once again in the middle, swaying gently to the music, foreheads pressed together.

“Oooh. Is that why Shiro was over, unannounced, two days ago after I came home from the store?” Lance asks, leaning forward in his chair.

Keith’s cheeks flush slightly and he ducks his head even more. “Well, uh, yeah.”

“All week, huh? And would I be agreeing to dance with you to make it up to you that you had to learn to dance or to make it up to Shiro that he had to be the one to teach you?” Lance grins into another sip of soda.

Keith looks up again to glare at him, but it’s still a painfully soft look. “You’d be dancing with me because you love me. And a little bit to both, but mainly because you love me.”

“Oh, well, if it’s because I love you, then I guess.” Lance rolls his eyes, trying to sound very put upon, but he can’t keep his huge grin off his face. “I suppose I can sacrifice one dance to prove my feelings for you.”

They both start snickering because they can’t help it and surrounded by all this love has Lance feeling a little dopey with love. All he wants to do is rest his head on Keith’s shoulder and stay here forever, in this one moment. Surrounded by everyone he cares about, in the safest place in the universe. And, by the way Keith smiles at him, Lance thinks he might be feeling something like that too.

“I don’t know why I’m asking you anyway.” Keith continues, because they can’t stay in this moment. He sets his cup down, and pats the pocket Lance’s tie is in. “You’re not even wearing a full suit, I don’t know if I should be seen with you on the dance floor.”

Lance barks out a laugh and reaches up to pull Keith’s hair out of its short ponytail before he can be stopped. He dangles the hair tie in front of Keith’s face, who looks properly scandalized. “There. Now you’re hair is terribly informal. We match. You can once again be seen dancing with me.”

Keith laughs in disbelief for a moment. Then he reaches up and takes the hand that Lance is holding the hair tie in and lances their fingers together. With a swift tug, he’s leading them over to the dance floor just as a slow song starts.

Lance laughs too, heart light, almost floating on air. He can hear the words his Mamma said to him years ago when he formally introduced Keith as his boyfriend. Somehow they seem closer to the truth than ever.

Well, Lance, are those wedding bells I’m hearing?

[omggiogiothings]

Newborn & Disneyland

Here’s the Disneyland Au with word building I shouldn’t be putting into a drabble series but WhaTEVER.

Here’s the other drabble where baby Fumiko is older LINK

Here’s the link to ao3!

“Lance, I dunno.” Keith dried off his hands, coming into the living room to fix his friend with a harsh stare. Fumiko was curled up in Lance’s arms, reaching out with her chubby hands to occasionally bat at his face. He only replied by playing with her fingers and cooing at her.

Lance jostled her with a grin as Keith joined him. He had washed out a few bottles that were piling up and while Shiro was at work, dealing with some Galaxy Garrison stuff, Lance came to keep him company. Shiro was somehow making it work for them by taking up Keith’s shifts if he could. Keith was on paternity leave, recovering from birth and taking care of their newborn.

“Come on! We have to check out Disney, I’m surprised we haven’t! Plus, it’s a thing parents do to their kids!” Lance held Fumi in the crook of his arm, cooing at her, “Yes we do, yes.”

“What? Take her to Disney? She won’t remember it.” Keith smiled as Fumi wiggled and managed to jab Lance in the eye when he wandered too close. Lance took it in stride, merely wincing and embracing his fate.

“That’s the point! So when she’s older and complains you never took her. Blam! Slam those pictures down!”

Keith shook his head, “I don’t think this would be a problem, like. Ever. Especially with us.”

“Keith,” He drawled out. “Have you ever been to Disney?”

Keith snapped his mouth shut, annoyed instantly.

Lance grinned, “Good. We can take you both for your first trip to Disney then!”

“It’s expensive.” Keith complained. “I’m out of work, until my leave is completely done with.”

“Keith, have you been without Fumi ever since you had her?” Lance asked, giving him a side look that meant he was about to open a problem and tell Keith how it was. Keith hated it.

He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. His one-month leave had just finished and Shiro had pushed it for another two weeks just because they needed to find a sitter. But Keith was unsure how he could leave Fumiko with someone he didn’t trust. Fumiko was his baby, just seeing her unhappy made him upset.

“Look, I don’t wanna pry in your business, but you have to remember you got your life to live too. And I told you, if you ever need a sitter I could ask my mom, maybe even my sisters.”

Keith pursed his lips, watching Fumiko stare around at them, snuggling back near Lance. “I know, but. Ughhh.”

He held his arms out and Lance sighed, handing over his bundle of joy. The first time Shiro had to go into work after they brought Fumiko home was a wreck. Shiro cried, Fumiko cried, Keith cried. Everyone was crying.

He cradled her close, smiling at her hazel eyes as she stared around at him. She sucked on her pacifier, almost completely oblivious. She was perfect. “I don’t think I’m ready.” He mumbled.

“You can't take her to work strapped to your chest.” Lance pointed out casually. “Look, I get why you’re hesitant about dropping her off at daycares. She has glowy eyes. My family can keep it under wraps, just gotta make out the longer drive. Let us help out with the baby and get this alliance with the universe on the road.”

Keith sighed, nestling his baby close as she closed her eyes. The glowing eyes had come as a surprise. She looked human enough but there were small things here and there that gave away to her Galra heritage (Shiro had kissed his shoulder when they noticed, whispering “Well, at least we know it skips a generation.”). Keith didn’t even have himself to base it on. All records of him as a baby didn’t even exist. By all research and studies into biology, Keith shouldn’t exist, Fumiko should exist even less but here she was, in his arms.

The thought of someone noticing her alien differences made them especially cautious. The last thing they needed to do was tell the U.N that Keith had parentage from aliens.

Keith had met Lance’s mother. The woman had demanded to meet them once Lance got in contact with them when they first arrived. She had hugged them all and invited them to thanksgiving and Christmas every year. She had also knitted beanies and dresses and a bundle of store bought clothes for Fumiko too. When Keith first announced his pregnancy, Lance had passed on the news and apparently his mother had screamed.

Lance’s family would take care of Fumiko. He had no doubt about it. But his nervousness of releasing his baby to other people still struck him. He was sure there was a handbook that said what he was feeling was normal for an Omega but he wanted to shove that book up some pretentious person’s ass (All the baby books were about the joys of reproduction and the happiness of being an Omega. The only good part of it was letting him know what was gonna happen and if it was good or bad depending on how sugar coated the words were).

“I’ll think about it.” He decided, and Lance figured that was as far as he was going to push today so he got up and picked up some stuff on the coffee table.

“Good, now about Disneyland.”

“Ughhhhhhhh.”

By the time Fumiko was two months Keith and Shiro had a long discussion on taking her to Lance’s mothers place.

Keith couldn’t push leave longer, so he embraced the fact he’d have to return and let someone watch his baby.

He also spent hours on the phone with Laura (Lance’s mother) who reassured him constantly on the wellbeing of his child. She also confirmed his weird instincts and his disgruntled voice made her laugh. She let him ask question over question and didn’t care when they were about how she’d take care of Fumiko.

Lance had given him a knowing grin afterwards and Keith tossed a bottle at his stupid face.

Getting back into the swing of work was hard too. He was mostly Shiro’s second hand, overseeing decisions and adding input when he could (Lance had filled in his role well when he was on leave, but Lance had his own sector on earth overseeing a completely different mission, allowing the immigration of alien life on earth). But Shiro was the driving force in getting some sort of treaty with laws in policies in trading between earth and other galaxies. Keith quickly took place in paperwork and getting things clear between parties. He was also the scary face that could get politicians sweating with a single look. They had been hailed as heroes for saving the earth (that battle had been broadcasted worldwide with their identities kept a secret). But now that they were here, they worked to advocate on helping Earth progress. The United Nation hated them but only because they learned how to work the system in their favor after doing so for thousands of different planets. Allura was also a major force around the world and the galaxy. They all were working hard to get her on earth. She deserved to have a family with Lance. She deserved to meet the McClain family.

It was worse staying still when he knew his baby was somewhere without him. But it got easier as she got older and he got used to Laura taking care of her.

He watched her reach milestone after milestone and his phone filled up with photos of her that he shared with the others when he could. Allura seemed to love the ones he took with her wearing lion and Voltron related pun shirts (I’m not lion, I'm the mane attraction). Coran was delighted in the ones where she wore tiny costumes. His typing was outrageous, but they appreciated it.

Disneyland came back when she was five months, bigger and starting to make more noise. Lance brought it up, roping Hunk and Pidge into it, and then Shiro betrayed him the moment he learned Keith had never gone.

“It’s fun.” Shiro tried, smiling despite the glare on Keith’s face. “Everyone’s gone to Disney, at least once. I promise it will be totally worth it.”

It took a few months before Keith caved.

Lance bought Fumiko a princess dress (there was a lot of fighting on who it would be and Keith was ready to call it off before everyone called a truce) with matching earrings and pacifier. Keith had taken bibs because he knew with the way she drooled when she was teething it would ruin the dress in an instant.

He spent days deciding what to take and even longer finally realizing he was going. The night before Shiro had taken apart the diaper bag when they couldn’t find Fumi’s favorite teething ring before realizing it had been thrown into the corner of her crib.

“We’re a little bad at this.” Shiro admitted, the next morning with Fumiko strapped to his chest with a baby carrier. Keith fastened the buckles, throwing a blanket over the slumbering baby and making sure Shiro was set. He paused, seeing the look on Shiro’s face.

“Shiro, weren’t you the one who told me no one was perfect with parenting?”

Shiro frowned, looking down at Keith. “Yeah. Guess I did. I’m just a little worried I guess. Which is a little dumb after the mess we went through getting you to go.”

Keith gently patted his cheek, curling his hand when Shiro leaned into it with a sigh. “We can always back out. We’re new to this. But I think she’s perfect and she has a bunch of uncles and one tiny aunt looking after her. Not to mention her fathers.”

Shiro opened his eyes, smiling and kissing the palm of Keith’s hand. “Of course she’s perfect. She’s your daughter.”

Keith rolled his eyes darting up to kiss him gently. “So, what’s the call?”

Shiro hummed, licking his lips. “Let’s go.”

“Good. Now let me take the carrier off you and we can get all this stuff in the car.”

“I can’t believe we decided to check if it fit the day we were going.”

“Didn’t we just say we weren't perfect? That isn't changing anytime soon.”

Shiro laughed.

They picked up Pidge and Hunk with Lance meeting them there with the tickets. Lance was trying to win over Fumiko for favorite uncle (a spot Hunk and he were fighting each other for) and wanted to make sure everything was set for her.

Shiro drove, sticking his tongue out at Keith in the rearview mirror when Keith caught his eye. Leaning over the car seat to feed Fumiko, he grinned and flipped him off, making Shiro bark out a laugh.

Arriving in the parking lot they took their time getting everything out. Pidge took first baby carrying watch as Keith fitted the carrier to her smaller form. Fumiko chewed on Pidge’s shirt without rest, pretty grey eyes staring at the freckles on Pidge’s chest (the color had darkened, quickly changing to match Shiro’s eyes). They saddled themselves with their packs stuffed into Fumiko’s stroller and got ready to meet with Lance.

It was packed, as they all had expected, and it was surreal to think they were galactic warriors going to Disneyland of all places. There was no threat of the world on the balance. Only an eight-month-old baby covered in spit.

Lance greeted them, giving them all tickets and leaning around Shiro with a wide grin as he mapped out their trip. Keith would begrudgingly give spot of favorite uncle to Lance if it didn’t mean Hunk would cut them off of his famous cookie supply (a god send when Keith was pregnant).

Keith had to admit, as the day went on that Disney was great. It was flamboyant and over the top. Everything was decorated the best it could have been. They took cheesy pictures in front of the castle and rode basic rides that Fumiko was able to go on. Keith stayed out with the baby when they went on rides not meant for her. Mainly because Fumiko was anxious at first, being around people she couldn’t recognize by smell. Having her close to his heartbeat made her relax. Eventually he was able to put her in the stroller where she played with her toys and made noises at everybody that passed.

She was adorable. She was really the best of them both.

“Wanna go on space mountain?” Lance asked them, kneeled in front of Fumiko’s stroller and playing with her as Shiro and Keith looked over a map together.

Keith hummed, frowning at the ride on the corner of the map. “Who will sit out with Fumiko?”

“Actually.” Lance grinned. “I was thinking we can take her to the nemo ride and you two can try out space mountain?”

Both turned to him insanely fast.

Lance held out his hands in a surrender fashion. He held it for a second before Fumi’s outraged cry for the toy wrapped on one of his fingers made him put them back into her reach. “Hear me out. You two haven’t gone a ride together yet without her. She will be fine. You have all three of us watching her.”

Keith frowned, already feeling nervous but knowing it would be nice to have just Shiro to himself. He shared a look with Shiro who was frowning, considering. Shiro gave a small shrug, “It would be nice for a bit. But promise you’ll only take her to Nemo and you won’t let her out of your sight.”

Shiro’s commanding voice made them all straighten up. If anything happened to her there was no doubt in all their minds they’d have to face Shiro’s wrath.

Keith, glaring from behind him reminded them they’d have hell to pay from him too.

“Got it. I promise.”

With that settled they headed their separate ways with Keith kissing Fumiko goodbye.

In line together, Keith took the chance to appreciate his husband and mate. Shiro was wearing a jacket over a tank top (that had a mickey face on it, a gift from Pidge that said I’m his) and a pair of mickey mouse sunglasses pushed up his forehead, white bangs peeled away from his face. He was handsome and Keith wasn’t the only one appreciating the view if the shy looks he saw from teenage and older women and men.

Keith grinned, linking their hands together. Shiro had the idea to throw on some gloves, only to hide the prosthetic (was it cheating if the material his arm was made out of technically not metal? He didn’t get signaled out by the metal detector and it was a weapon technically made by the Alteans. Not that anyone knew that last part). But still looked endearing.

Shiro’s slim figure did make him just a bit jealous. They had been a fit couple for a very long time, but Keith was still carrying some baby weight from Fumiko. It wasn’t as easy to shed but Shiro had never made him feel like it mattered. Only Keith thought it was gross when he saw the stretch marks and thought of what his body used to be. But then, thinking about Fumiko and the absolute elation they both had when she had come into the world made it worth it. He could lose the weight, but Fumiko wasn’t something he would ever think about losing.

They chatted about easy things. They made fun of the ducks fighting around them and then talked about the day itself. The line was taking forever but Keith enjoyed being tucked under Shiro’s arm, flicking through his phone to pull up images from the day and decide which ones to send Coran and Allura.

Shiro sighed, squeezing Keith close. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve all this.”

Keith looked up at him, finger stilling over the screen. “What do you mean?”

Shiro smiled softly as he looked at the flashing lights of the ride. “You. I feel like I don’t deserve you or what you’ve given to me. Fumiko and you are the center of my world. And family outings like this is something I had never considered. I guess I’m kind of sappy right now.”

Keith gently nudged him. “You deserve it. Sometimes… I feel like I don’t deserve you.” He grinned at the look Shiro shot him. “Can’t blame me. Having a family seemed like such an insane possibility. I’m really glad I got to share one with you.”

Shiro held his gaze before they leaned in for a kiss, a soft brush of lips that still melted Keith’s heart every time.

“God, Fumiko is gonna hate us when she gets older. Having two saps for dads.”

Keith laughed, gently shoving Shiro back.

Lance was going to die.

Not a good death either. Maybe Shiro will spare him and make it quick.

Hunk and Pidge had left for a second and Lance had parked the stroller to give Fumiko some juice but the bottle had slipped, rolling down the pathway. He quickly moved to grab it, glancing back to the stroller and then grabbing it. He was momentarily hit by a crowd but found the stroller and leaned over to give Fumiko her drink only to freeze.

Blue eyes stared back at him. He gazed at the baby in the stroller, older then Fumiko and not Fumiko.

“Oh my god.” He whispered, pulling back and looking around. The other strollers were empty and none the same brand as the one he was holding and the one that had his darling niece in it.

Oh my god, Shiro was going to kill him.

He looked back at the baby and realized he wasn’t the only one who fucked up.

But also, who the fuck would take the wrong stroller?!

“Hey man, do you wanna wait by the-what’s wrong?” Hunk held a water bottle only stopping when Lance didn’t look up.

“I’m gonna die.”

Pidge popped up and looked down before freezing too. “Who is that?”

“I don’t know! I dropped the bottle and went to grab it really quick! I came back, and this kid is here!”

“What do you mean?!” She shrieked. She quickly scaled Hunk, making him yelp but Hunk didn’t care, only holstering her up on his shoulders for her to look. “Someone just came in and stole her?”

“Yes! Who the fuck does that?!”

He ignored the dirty looks parents shot him. It’s their fault, they just let some random ass family take his niece!

“Oh my god, Shiro is going to kill us.” Hunk whispered and they both swallowed. Shiro was terrifying, they knew from experience.

Pidge scowled, ripping open her purse and pulling out a pair of binoculars she had stolen from Coran ages ago. She looked around, scanning the crowd and then gasping. “I’m so stupid! This thing is a Galra scanner!”

They had never in their lives been so happy that Fumiko had that strand of DNA in her.

She clicked and looked around, before freezing and screeching. “THEY’RE HEADED FOR THE STAR WARS RIDE! GO, GO, GO!”

Hunk ran in an instant, holding onto Pidge. Lance grabbed their bags and put them onto the stroller and took the little boy with him. This kid was in for a ride because Lance was booking it.

Thinking back on it, jumping the mother holding Fumiko’s stroller wasn’t Pidge’s greatest idea but Lance had followed her lead and taken down the other adult with her. Hunk had screeched and tried to separate them while stopping to smile at Fumiko and the other kid in the stroller to keep them calm.

They were making a scene and the possibility of being escorted out by security was becoming very probable.

Until Keith said, “What the hell is going on?”

Lance and Pidge froze, Hunk almost sobbing while the other mother stretched out his shirt collar.

Shiro and Keith stared at them, holding hands and confused.

“She took Fumiko!” Hunk screamed, always the first to cave under pressure.

“Who are you?! You jumped on me!”

“Nice try lady! I left to pick up a bottle and you snatched her up!” Lance looked like he was going to bite her again and she growled.

But then she saw the stroller to the side with her son in it and paled. “Oh my god we took the wrong stroller.”

Shiro and Keith stared for the longest moment before Keith let go of Shiro and ripped everyone apart.

“Get the bags Lance.”

Lance did as told, making no quips even as the lady went to fuss with her son. “There was no reason to jump on me.”

Keith cut her off quickly. “If you were better at looking at who was in the stroller, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So buzz off before I kick your ass. I don’t care if I’m kicked out of disney or not.”

She hightailed it out there at the sight of his glare.

Keith sighed, undoing Fumiko from her stroller and glaring at the three guilty ex-paladins. “Not a word.”

Keith and Shiro ripped into them the moment they all had their ice cream cups and Fumiko was being fed by Shiro. Keith held her close, refusing to let go of her. Shiro refused to let either of them wander too far.

Getting scolded by Shiro was one thing. When Keith did it, it was like disappointing two parents.

“I’m sorry.” Lance admitted, not even budging on starting his ice cream like Pidge and Hunk. “I promised you we’d look after her and fucked up. I swear it was just a second. I didn’t think it would be long enough to lose her. If anything had happened to her. I would have never forgiven myself. I’m so sorry.”

Keith stared at Lance for a long moment and sighed. He knew the others cared about Funiko deeply. They had all loved her when she hadn’t been born yet just because she was Keith and Shiro’s baby. Lance had slaved for their tickets and had been the best friend Keith could have asked for. Lance was a dick, there was no doubt about that and it may have taken years, but Keith wasn’t scared to tear him down when he was being a jerk to him. And Lance learned from his mistakes. He knows when he fucks up and he knows when to make it better. When Keith finally told him off when they were younger, Lance didn’t make an excuse. He understood, and he made amends.

That’s why Keith knows Lance would have done everything he could if something serious had happened to Fumiko.

Well, biting on the ankle of an innocent civilian was endearing when you think about it.

Shiro looked like he was still stewing over it, but Keith knew it was just the fear that she could have been lost and they weren’t even there to stop it.

He leaned and took Shiro’s hand, making him look up. Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I know. I know you this was an accident. I am still really disappointed, but I’m also scared. I trust you guys with my family because you are my family. But Fumiko’s safety is always my top priority. You guys have to understand nothing matters more.”

“We know.” Pidge whispered, looking up with shinning eyes. “We know that because she’s our priority too. We love her, Shiro. We’d fight another war for her. We’d never do this intentionally.”

Shiro softened, looking aytall of them hunched over like sad puppies. He caved and shared a look with Keith.

Keith took a second and instantly knew what to do.

“Here’s how you guys can make it up to us.”

They went home with a stuffed Stitch nearly 3 times Fumiko’s size.

Pidge, Hunk’s and Lance’s wallet would bleed for the next month.

[the-apples-were-monitored]

In Pete’s World, Ginger, Tentoo, Rose, and the Alternate Alex are placed into a decontamination chamber.

Season 2 of Am I...Ginger?

Chapter 1

...

"Why don't you trust me?" Ginger asked. "Honestly, Alex, you know I'm not who you think I am-"

"You're a Ginger," she muttered dismissively.

"But I'm different," she insisted. "I am! Not by much, but at least I try! I'm trying to help!"

"Which is one of the most dangerous things a Ginger can do."

"Alright, I'll give you that one. But still. I'm not a threat, I don't have an agenda. I'm only trying to help. I know you can feel that."

"What do you mean I can feel it?" Alex asked. "All I feel for you is suspicion. Maybe a bit of contempt."

"I don't mean what you feel for me, I mean what you feel from me. Your empath thing, Alex. You can feel what I'm feeling. I know you have trouble trusting what you get off people, but you can trust this-"

"Wait wait, what the hell are you talking about?" Alex asked. "What empath thing?"

Ginger blinked. "You know. You're an empath, Alex. You have been since you were a small child."

Alex shook her head slowly. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are," Ginger insisted. "After your parents died-"

Alex rose to anger at once. "Don't you talk about my parents!"

Ginger was perplexed but decided to press on. "Jack raised you for a while at Torchwood in Cardiff. The Rift Energy and the remnants of the Red Key mingled with your young autistic brain and gave you empathic abilities."

"Alright, first of all, I was raised by Torchwood in London. Second of all, who the fuck is Jack?"

This felt almost like a slap in the face. "Jack. Jack Harkness. Your uncle."

She shook her head. "I don't have an uncle."

"Well not by birth. He was your godfather."

"Don't have one of those either."

"No you do..." Then it hit her. "Oh maybe you don't. Not here. That would explain why you're so different. I guess I don't really know you here, Alex Mitchell. But I'm friends with your doppelganger back home. We're actually flatmates."

Alex scoffed. "Like I'd ever be stupid enough to room with you."

"It was a good arrangement for both of us," Ginger insisted. "After I left the Doctor, I needed somewhere to land. Your doppelganger needed someone around too. We both thought the Doctor might not come back. There was that whole prophesy thing that sounded pretty final...Alex, the Doctor is your adopted father on the other side."

"No," Alex said.

"Yeah, he is-"

"No, you don't just get to talk to me about my family after what you did," Alex said. "You sit there wearing that same green coat that you were wearing the night you killed my parents and you wanna talk like you're someone different?"

Ginger's blood ran cold. "When I what?"

"You slaughtered my parents in front of me. If not you directly, then another you. I was small, but your face is seared into my memory. I've seen the security tapes a million times. You looked up at the camera and just waved like you were amused."

"I'm sorry, but that wasn't me," Ginger said. "I'd never do that."

"It's in your nature. I mean maybe you're not that one, but you're still enough like her that you have a green leather trench coat exactly like the one she's famous for. Same taste in men, same taste in fashion, same taste in everything, I'd imagine."

"I found this at the Outpost," Ginger said. "Oh god..." She started to shrug it off. "Actually, I know this is really weird and horrible, considering what I now know about it, but can I keep it? It's really really pretty."

"See," Alex said. "Just the same. Do you even know which one you are?"

"The last," Ginger said gravely. "Cupid said everyone else was just a test run."

Alex nodded. "That's almost worse. Everything your kind have ever put us through and it's all just to see the proper way to push you. Losing my parents and my fiancé to your murderous doppelganger was all to test a theory. For you. Isn't that fucking amazing?"

"I'm sorry," Ginger said. "I didn't realize...You were going to be married?"

"Her name was Kira," Alex said. "I watched you kill her. And there was nothing I could do about it."

"Kira," Ginger said. Then it dawned on her. "Not Kira Sakamoto?"

"Don't you dare say her name-"

"No it's just...Wow. You two never broke up in this universe?"

"Broke up?" This piece of information seemed to startle her. "Are we broken up where you come from? Would I just have lost her anyway?"

"Now I don't know about all that," Ginger said. "But yeah, you two broke up while you were still in secondary school."

Alex squinted with confusion. "We didn't know each other when I was in secondary school. We met working for Torchwood."

"Huh," Ginger said. "Weird. Torchwood doesn't technically exist anymore where I'm from, but Kira works for a Japanese team of alien hunters. So next best thing. You two are still good friends in my universe."

Her lips trembled slightly. "She's still alive where you're from?"