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skellebonez · 2 years

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Cotton Tails and Borrowed Time: Chapter 10

Edited (and planned) with the help of my friend Bucky! Couldn’t do this without you!

Warning: this chapter contains mild(ish) body horror.

This is it. This is the last chapter before the epilogue.

I want to thank Bucky for helping out so much with this chapter. Not only for doing the usual editing work, but for also co-writing multiple parts of this chapter. There are parts in here that would not be the same or even in here without their help. Thank you so much. If you can, please leave Bucky a thank you in your comments as well.

And I want to thank all of you for being so patient. This chapter is a 10K beast of a chapter, but I hope the wait was worth it.

See you in the comments and epilogue.

Please enjoy chapter 10! Check out the AO3 link.

The stranger in front of him laughed.

It wasn’t a mirthful or malicious laugh. Rather, it was one of pure and utter disbelief. As if Tang had said something truly unbelievable.

“You... You’re joking, right?” the pig demon said as he gestured towards Tang. He sounded… confused? Shocked? “You know me. We were just watching a movie together. We’ve had lunch together almost every day for years, Tang.”

A chill ran up Tang’s spine when the stranger said his name. “I don’t know who you think I am,” Tang said, heart racing. “B-But you have the wrong Tang!”

“I—!” The man stopped, interrupting himself with a deep breath. He held a hand up to his face as if in deep thought for a moment. “Tang, if you just—” the pig started, taking a step forward.

That was all it took.

As soon as the stranger moved, Tang bolted. With the intruder blocking the front door and already in his burrow, he couldn’t run outside. But he needed to get away, find somewhere to hide, need to run, run, run! As soon as he was safe he could call Mei and she could get this scary person out of his burrow!

Hiding space, hiding space, hiding space!

There!

“Tang, wait!”

The bedroom door shuts with a slam. A click, and it is immediately locked. Just in time, as the stranger runs into it. The knob jiggles. Loudly.

It’s locked, he locked it, it’s locked.

Tang jams a nearby chair under the knob, and dives under the bed. His chest feels a little less jittery after that. Closed door. Right. Safe. Good. His room was safe, he would be safe there, it was his burrow and he would be safe there.

It was still too close.

The soft knocking on the door was more chilling than any hard pounding on the thin wood ever could have been.

“Tang,” the stranger said, and the scholar’s heart pounded. “I know you’re scared. I’m not going to barge in, I promise. My name is Pigsy.”

Pigsy...?

A bang rang through his head, as if he had just been hit in the temple with a tire iron. It was so sudden and painful that Tang almost dropped his phone when he pulled it from his pocket, almost couldn’t look at the screen because the bright light made his eyes ache. His ears hurt so much that he worried that wouldn’t be able to hear the ringing on the other end when he dialed his contact. He grimaced, even as the pain lessened to a dull thump.

“Mei Long speaking, what up?” His niece’s loud and cheery voice rang through the phone. Despite the volume hurting his ears, he kept his phone pressed tight to his face. “Mr. Tang? ...Uncle Tang? Hel—”

“Mei, I need you to come here as fast as you can.” Tang whispered as quietly as he could. He cupped his mouth and the end of his phone, hoping to muffle any sound. “There’s… someone in my apartment.”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Mei said quickly. “What do you mean someone?”

“I’m in my room under my bed,” Tang explained as quickly as he could, free ear rising to listen for anything outside the room. “There’s a man here that just... He just showed up in my house! I don’t know how he got in but he acts like he knows me and I-I just—Please! I don’t know who this Pigsy guy is and I don’t know what he wants but you’re the only person I can call for help while MK is gone a—”

“I’ll be right there,” Mei said. There was something off in her voice. Like she was afraid but not in the way that she should be for this situation. “You’re going to be fine. I’ll stay on the line, I’m getting on my bike. I’m heading to you right now.”

Her tone wasn’t right.

She sounded reassuring, yes, but he’d known Mei since she was a child. Had been colleagues with her parents, and became her uncle by their friendship. He knew her tones of speaking. She should have sounded at least a bit angry.

Mei sounded frightened.

“O-Okay...” Tang replied quietly. He set the phone down, pulling out one plug from his ear so that he could hear the phone without holding it to his ear. Despite her underreaction, he felt safer knowing Mei was coming.

“Tang?” the stranger, Pigsy, spoke up again. Tang’s breath hitched. “Is there anything I can say to make you believe me? Anything I can talk about that will make you remember? Me? My restaurant?”

Of course there wasn’t! Tang would more readily believe that Sun Wukong was actually an armadillo than anything this man sa-

“Your Golden Cicada powers?”

He couldn’t help it.

He said it before he could even think about it, another painful thump ringing in his head.

“How in the world do you know about that?”

Jackpot.

“I know you don’t believe me about us knowing each other,” Pigsy whispered through the door. There was rustling and he took in another deep breath. “But you DO know me. Look at your nightstand. Please?”

He had to hope it was still there. He’d only seen it in passing, wanting to protect the scholar’s privacy, but he knew it was there once. If it wasn’t there now…

“Wh... Why is there...” He heard Tang say shakily behind the door. “Why is there a picture of us here? Why is MK with us?”

“We took that picture when I reopened my restaurant,” Pigsy answered. “We had to renovate it after what happened with the Lady Bone Demon. MK lives in the apartment above it. You remember MK, right?”

He tried to keep his tone as even and non-confrontational as he could. Just enough to make it sound encouraging and not as terrified as he felt in that moment.

“I... I-I think so? He lives above a noodle shop and I...” Tang paused for a moment. “Are you the same Pigsy as the Pigsy’s Noodles person? You’re... MK’s boss?”

“Yes!” Pigsy breathed, his tone flooded with relief. At least Tang hadn’t forgotten everything! “Yes, I own Pigsy’s Noodles. MK lives in the apartment above it and he works as my main employee. He does deliveries. He and Mei hang out in the shop with Bai He all the time. You do too.”

“I... do,” Tang slowly agreed. Not as if his memories were coming back, but like he was realizing something he had been unaware of before. At least that’s what Pigsy hoped. “Okay. If you’re telling the truth... tell me how I’m related to Mei.”

“You’re her uncle,” the chef replied without missing a beat. “In name, anyway. You’re not related but her parents think of you as family so they made you her uncle.”

“She and MK have an older friend, who is it?”

“You’re either talking about Sandy or Nezha,” he again answered without hesitation. “Nezha is, well, you know all that mythology stuff better than I do. He acts younger than Sandy. Sandy was a college friend we both fell out of touch with who treats Mei and MK like his younger siblings.”

“Why did we fall out of touch?”

“I...” Pigsy paused for a moment. “We drifted apart, I guess. Sandy had a nasty temper and he said he wanted to work on himself for a while. I dunno about you, but I tried keeping in touch with letters. They just got less frequent as we got busier.”

There was a long, almost dead silence between them.

“I...” Tang’s voice was shaking, as if he was on the verge of tears. “...There was... a few years ago I came back from a long study trip. I was in a noodle restaurant and I remember... I remember talking to someone about something that upset me. What was it?”

“...Your date never showed up. You tried to tell me that it wasn’t a big deal, but it was obvious you were upset. I gave you some free noodles that day, and you’ve been a regular freeloader in my shop ever since.”

That shouldn’t have been possible.

There was no way that this man could have known all of that.

Even a stalker couldn’t have known everything he talked about. Nezha was a deity of legend to everyone except those who helped fight Lady Bone Demon. This Pigsy person had to have been telling the truth.

But how? How could he have forgotten Pigsy and remembered... remembered…

…

“No...” he breathed. “No... No, no, no, no, we just talked about him! I said his name! I... I knew him a minute ago!”

“Tang!?” Pigsy shouted through the door. “What happened?”

“The boy in the picture, what’s his name!? You just said his name, what is it!?”

“SHIT.” There was a bang against the wall, most likely Pigsy punching it.

Tang’s heart pounded in his chest as he looked at two people in the picture with absolutely no recollection of who they could be.

“Is this the curse?” he whispered, hands shaking as he forced himself to stand. He made his way to the door, tossing away the chair before throwing the door open. There a bang as the chair crashed against the wall but he did not care. He had to know. “Mr. Pigsy, please. Please, if you do know me, help me.”

The shorter man froze, looking up at the other as a stern look set upon his face. He held out his hands.

At first, Tang didn’t know what to do. But after a moment, it was as if muscle memory took over. Taking the other’s hands, he followed Pigsy as they both sat on the floor. Like he’d done this with him a hundred times before.

“Breathe in time with me,” Pigsy said softly. “Close your eyes and focus on breathing. Think you can do that?”

Tang didn’t trust himself to speak so he nodded.

They sat there for... he didn’t know how long. Just breathing, in and out slowly. It couldn’t have been more than a minute or two as Mei hadn’t arrived yet. He could only thank whoever was listening for the mercy of not taking anyone else from his memory yet. Slowly and surely, Tang felt his heartbeat slow and his hands stop shaking. Pigsy gently moved his thumb down the back of his hand, smoothing down the fur that was there. It was... nice.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” Pigsy asked after a moment.

“I-I don’t know if I can answer them,” Tang replied. It was the truth.

“That’s fine. What’s something that you can feel right now?”

“Your hands.”

“Okay, what are two things you can hear right now?”

“There are cars outside. And I can hear something from my phone.” There was no talking, but he knew Mei was still quietly on the line.

“Who are three people you can remember?”

“Mei, Sandy, and Sun Wukong.”

“Good.” Pigsy squeezed his hands. “Okay. Do you remember what we’ve been talking about for the last few minutes?”

“Yes, but...” Tang paused. “It’s like the details, everything in the past that had context, is gone...”

“So you know I’m Pigsy, but you don’t know who Pigsy is,” the other man confirmed with a hum. “So it’s not short term memory loss at least.”

“Who is he?” Tang asked. “The boy in the picture.”

Pigsy paused. “The best way to put it is... We ain’t together and he’s not actually related to us, but... he’s our kid.”

It felt like Tang was slammed in the head again, but this time it was harder. Not by something blunt, but by something sharp that dug into his very being and threatened to do so again. He didn’t know when he let go of Pigsy’s hands but he was clutching his head so tight he feared he would break the skin. His chin digging into his chest as he tried to curl in on himself to get away from it.

It wasn’t for another few seconds that he realized someone was screaming, and another few before he realized that it was him. Not a human scream, but a scream not unlike a terrified dying rabbit caught in a trap.

And then as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The pain didn’t leave entirely but it diminished to an almost disorienting degree.

“...Tang?” Pigsy whispered, so soft even his rabbit ears almost didn’t pick it up.

Tang blinked slowly, lifting his head up to look at the chef.

“Pigsy?” he asked. “Pigsy, what... what just happened?”

Pigsy didn’t answer at first. Instead, he launched at Tang, pulling him into as tight of a hug as he could. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted.

“That... That was... terrifying.”

“UNCLE TANG!”

The two men jolted, looking up in shock to see Mei standing in the doorway. Her biker outfit was on and she looked ragged.

“...You haven’t called me that in years,” he said with an awkward chuckle.

Mei looked between the two of them, a frown on her face before she finally let go of that tension with a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a tentative step forward. “Both of you.”

“I...” Tang bit his lip as he took in a shaky breath. “I’m better than I was when I called you. I think.”

“You are,” Pigsy agreed with much more certainty than Tang. “You remembered me, and I’m going to count that as better.”

Tang tried not to bite down on his lip, knowing that his sharp teeth could easily reopen the wound that was already there.

He had forgotten Pigsy. Completely and wholly forgotten him. There was no trace of him left in his memories, only a blank where he was supposed to be. He had remembered everyone else until MK suddenly, slowly, had vanished from his memory as well.

He hadn’t even realized it was happening. It was so gradual and slow and unassuming. Completely detached from what else had happened to him under this curse. The rest had been quick, painful, too clear to miss. But this?

It was the direct opposite and it terrified him.

But there was something else. He couldn’t be entirely sure of course, but…

“I think it was the Monkey King’s seal,” he said after a bit more thought.

“What do you mean?” Mei asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with the elder adults.

“Pigsy said something that I think triggered the seal Sun Wukong put on me before he left.” Tang held a hand to his head as he remembered the pain of whatever had happened. “Maybe the seal pushed back against whatever part of this curse affected my memories, and set me back to before it started.”

“If that was the seal then why didn’t it stop it in the first place?” Pigsy scowled. “And why’d it make you scream like you were... you know?”

“I have no idea,” Tang admitted with a shake of his head. “I know a lot, but these kinds of things are not my area of expertise.”

“We should tell them,” Mei said firmly. “The Monkey King and MK have to know what happened.”

The idea of telling them this, of admitting that he had let this go so far made shame build up inside. He wanted to hide somewhere small and secluded and safe. But they should know. They had to know. Without knowing everything that happened, they wouldn’t be able to help as much.

“I’ll tell them,” Tang promised. “But...” he frowned, moving to stand. Pigsy gripped his hands, helping to steady him as he stood and earning a shaky smile in turn. “I need some time alone for a moment.”

“But you just—!”

“I know, Mei,” Tang said softly, putting his hands on her shoulders as she stepped closer. “But I need time to think. If anything happens again, I’ll be right on the other side of the door. You have full permission to break it open if you need to.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if you—”

“Pigsy, stop. Please just..."

Leave? Did Tang actually want him to leave? Was he pushing too hard? Did he want to be alone in this apartment, with only himself and his thoughts and the worries of what all of this meant in the back of his mind until morning?

“...Let me stay in here by myself for a while... okay?”

Mei looked at Pigsy as if wordlessly asking for his guidance. She looked as lost as she did when they’d flown away from their home after the Lady Bone Demon had taken it over, that same kind of lost that was tinged with a determination to follow whatever plan was laid out to tackle the situation.

"Okay,” Pigsy gave in. “But I ain’t leaving you alone. I’m staying right outside.”

The scholar couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

"I had a feeling.”

The door closed between the three of them.

Pigsy sighed, moving to sit beside the door so that Tang could open it if he needed to.

It felt like they were back at square one. At least Tang had his memories intact for the moment. And Pigsy knew Tang enough to know that the scholar was not lying about telling MK what happened.

Whatever was happening was making him feel almost as scared as when they thought MK was gone back at the start of this Monkie Kid business. His hands were still shaking the same way they shook back then, but he was better at hiding it now. He didn’t want to scare Tang or Mei, didn’t want them to know how much it was scaring him that Tang was going through this. And for what? What were those metal brothers even hoping to accomplish with this?

All he knew was that, if something didn’t change soon with what just happened, Tang might never remember any of them.

Maybe he should tell Tang the truth.

He just hoped that he could handle it.

Tang breathed a sigh of relief once he pressed send. At least he was able to be honest about something, if not his feelings toward Pigsy.

His phone fell from his hand and landed safely into his lap, all tension draining from his body. He felt like he needed days of sleep, but he knew that he didn’t have that long. He just needed... a few hours, perhaps. Just some time alone with his thoughts, knowing that he knew the people on the other side of the door but not looking at them.

Because if he looked at them again and didn’t know who they were…

He didn’t know if he could go through that a second time.

“Tang?” Mei’s voice suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Tang froze for a moment, seeking his memories in fear.

Mei Long, his niece by association with her family. They were a Dragon Clan, old and powerful and connected to Prince Ao Lie himself. Her best friends were MK, Red Son, Sandy, Bai He, and Nezha. She was still on shaky ground with Sun Wukong and Macaque after everything they went through, but she was on better terms with the king than the other. She liked to hang out at Pigsy’s Noodles, and ride her bike.

He breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing against the wall once again. He remembered her.

“Tangy?” Mei inquired again, voice growing softer from behind the door. “You don’t have to open the door. Just... I’m going to leave you something out here! You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to, but I thought it might help?”

“You didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to, Unc. Really.”

Tang frowned for a split second before a sad smile overtook his features.

“You haven’t called me that in a while."

"I know. I uh... got told I needed to address you more appropriately, and Unc didn’t cut it.”

“But Tangy does?”

“They never have to know about me calling you Uncle Tangy. I would rather eat slime.”

Tang couldn’t help but laugh. He could vaguely hear Pigsy snorting from beside the door as well.

“What your parents don’t know won’t hurt in this case,” he said. “But please don’t actually eat slime.”

The two of them bantered on for a while, talking through the door until well past sundown. He never heard either of them attempting to open the door or leave his apartment, not even once he found himself moving to scoot back under the bed.

The last thing he heard before telling them that he thought he would fall asleep was them telling him to rest well.

“If anything happens to him, I will personally drag you both back to the Celestial Realm and throw you at Lao Tzu,” Sun Wukong growled.

He’d been angry the entire evening. It was obvious to everyone packed into the library that he had been quietly seething. Like a kettle left on the stove just under the boiling point but never quite reaching it.

The twins knew they’d messed up. But not this badly. The Monkey King’s temper had cooled over the centuries, but now?

He looked angrier than he did anytime during their encounter during his westward journey.

“I’d say we could fix it here, but uh...” Jin rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over the recreation of the curse. “I-I think we did enough damage doing this without supervision.”

“At least you’re honest,” Nezha sighed.

Yin looked at Jin, scrambling for something that would make this look less bad than it undeniably was. He couldn’t come up with anything better than “at least he ain’t dead” so he decided, perhaps wisely, not to speak.

In their excitement of trying out this new plan they had really flubbed up the curses. Even they could see, when being forced to not be impulsive, that this curse was a disaster.

The text messages that MK just read out to everything was more than enough evidence of that.

Jin couldn’t believe what he had heard. But it tracked with everything they had been going over.

The two of them had made something much more devastating than they had believed. Much more disastrous and dangerous than intended. It was only supposed to be a fun plan, almost a prank, but this?

He knew that if they didn’t try to set this all right then there would be no coming back from this whatsoever.

If there was any coming back from it.

But they did what was needed. They had recreated the curse, verbatim, and now someone much more attuned with curses could use it to make a counter curse. At least, they hoped that she could.

Scorpion Demoness hadn’t looked them in the eye since they started their work. Didn’t look back at them now that it was done either.

But Jin could tell that Yin was picking up on how cold and closed off she was too.

They were her first friends…

How had they not even considered that?

Was it because they were always each other’s first friend, being twins?

Scorpion Demoness, unaware of how the brothers were thinking of her, looked over the documents with a nod. “I think I can work with this,” she said, looking toward the Monkey King. “If we try to work on this together, with Tang’s curse in front of us, we should be able to make a counter curse. It won’t be perfect, and we might have to warn him there could be some permanent changes, but it’s the best we can do.”

“Then let’s go!” Sun Wukong exclaimed, grabbing MK and summoning his cloud. “MK, hold onto her while she holds onto me and we should—AGH!”

The Monkey King yelped, head whipping around to glare at the person behind him.

“WHAT THE HELL, NEZHA?”

“When was the last time you slept?” Nezha asked, gripping the king’s tail in a tight grip.

“That’s not important right now!” Sun Wukong said, pulling himself free with a wince. “I’ll be fine flying back with or without any—”

“At least three days,” MK interrupted.

“I’ve stayed awake longer than three days!”

“And I can drive you all there as a group just as fast as you can fly,” Nezha continued. “You could take yourself and MK on your cloud alone, or yourself and Scorpion Demoness. Or you could have MK, who has had sleep, fly the cloud with her while I drive you and the Metal Brothers right behind them. The more people who come along, the more people who can keep these two under watch and help out if need be.”

The king paused, scowling for a moment before crossing his arms.

“I hate it when you make sense,” Sun Wukong said before gesturing to everyone in turn. “MK, take SD like Nezha said. I’ll ride with him to keep the brothers in check. If we leave now and push a little more than we did when coming here we should be able to get back to the city by tomorrow evening. Any objections?”

No one said anything.

“Good. Grab what we need and let’s get going. We have a curse to break.”

Jin looked at Yin, both nodding as they followed Nezha to the very vehicle they had tried to steal.

They had to try to set this right somehow.

Even if they lost a friend in the process.

When Tang awoke he was on the floor.

More specifically, he was under his bed, curled up around the pillow and blanket he had brought down there with him at some point in the night. At the very least he remembered doing that this time. That was a relief, small as it may have been.

He felt... comfortable. He expected his back to ache in some way, but it didn’t hurt at all. His side hurt a bit from laying on the floor without any padding, but other than that he slept as well as he always had.

It was a revelation that brought Tang both ease and worry. There was something about it that made him anxious with how quickly he was getting used to all of this. At the same time, he was relieved that he was able to adjust to all of these changes.

Although, he could do without accidentally thwacking his head on the box spring above him. Rubbing his throbbing head, Tang scooted his way out from under the bed and made his way to the bedroom door. He found himself surprised and a little disappointed to find that no one was there when he opened it.

There was, however, a note on the floor. Definitely some kind of paper belonging to Mei judging by the color and bright patterns he could see on it.

But it was Pigsy’s handwriting that adorned it.

“Tang,

I’m sorry for leaving. I wanted to stay or wake you up before I left, but Mei insisted that I let you sleep and go work the shop like I usually do. That girl is stubborn. But she told me that not going to open the shop would only make you upset, and I know you well enough to know that she is right.

But we’re still worried about you. You might be left alone for a little bit, but there will be someone to check on you throughout the day.

Pigsy.

P.S. MK sent me a text saying they were heading back, not sure if you looked at your phone by the time you read this.

P.P.S. You have some fruits in your fridge ready for you to eat.”

Tang smiled, delicately tucking the paper into his pocket.

As much as he wished Pigsy was here right now, he would have been upset if the chef didn’t open his shop because of him. And besides…

With his enhanced hearing, he could hear Mei’s voice from even under his bed. The girl was knocking on the door and... Was that Sandy?

The scholar felt a twinge of guilt gnawing at his chest. He almost felt bad for what he was about to do to them, but he needed some time alone. He had some important choices to make.

When he saw Mei open the door, the human-turned-rabbit took his chance.

It happened quicker than he expected, his new form shockingly faster. Before the others could react, Tang slammed the front door shut and locked it. He winced in no small amount of guilt as he felt someone immediately try to open the door.

“Tang!” Mei shouted, her voice a mixture of frustration and worry. “What are you—”

“I’ll be fine!” the scholar yelled through the door. He surprised himself with how firm, almost certain he sounded. It was odd; he could almost feel something telling him that he would be, at least for now. “I don’t think anything else will happen, not for a while. Just come and check on me through the door or call me. Please, I just... this will be the last day. I know it will.”

There was some amount of not quite silence on the other side of the door. Mei and Sandy were clearly trying not to be loud enough for him to hear their conversation. It sort of worked.

“You’re a stubborn old ass, you know that?” Mei finally said, just as frustrated as before. But there was understanding mixed into her tone now. “But I’ll trust you this time. Only because Sandy is here, and because Pigsy said he noticed that every time a bad change happened you were around a lot of people. You better not do anything to make this worse!”

“I won’t, I promise,” Tang assured.

He felt bad not admitting to the burrowing incident. But if they knew something had happened when he was alone, they would never leave.

“Okay...” Mei said softly. “Don’t make me regret listening to you, Unc.”

And with that, the girl made her way down the hall and down the stairs. With his ears, Tang could easily hear the sound of her bike revving down the road. But the scholar could also easily hear how Sandy did not follow.

“You just gonna... stand there, big guy?”

“Oh!” Sandy explained, chuckling awkwardly through the door. “No, I uh... Here!”

There was the sound of the mail slot being pulled open before an envelope slipped through, wiggling just a bit until Tang grabbed it and pulled it through. Tang looked at the envelope, turning it over in his fuzzy hand.

“Did you just slip tea through my door?”

“Maybe,” Sandy answered. Tang swore he could hear the other’s proud smile through his voice. “You coooould open it up and see... but it’s tea. Strawberry tea! I thought, you know, you would like something different.”

“Pigsy told you about the strawberries.”

“Pigsy told me about the strawberries.”

Tang couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “I’ll enjoy this tea along with the fruit slices Pigsy left for me,” he stated. “You can... leave now, you know.”

“I know!” Sandy said.

He did not move.

“Sandy.”

There was a beat.

“Mei, uh, asked me to stay in the area. B-But I’m not gonna stay next to your door or anything! I’m going to the park nearby. You’ve got some stray cats that look like they could use some food! I’ll be right back!”

There was a rush of heavy footsteps after that. Tang couldn’t help but shake his head. Now... He had some tea to brew and fruit to munch on while he thought.

As the strawberry tea cooled, the scholar chewed on an apple slice. The fruit was sweet and crisp, his palate enjoying the flavor even more.

It was odd. That was the word of the day. Something had gone wrong and yet everything was normal at the same time. Not with his appearance, but with something else. It started when he regained his memories, when that terrible pain sprouted in his head.

It felt like something had... snapped? No, cracked, almost. He picked up the tea and gave it a sip before swallowing most of it down, perfectly flavored. He thought about it some more. Two somethings, perhaps. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly-

“Ya know, it’s probably not a good idea to lock yourself away like this.”

Tang didn’t know he could scream the way he did. Or, at least, as loud as he did.

Apparently Macaque didn’t either, as he flopped out of a shadow with a wince. His hands were pressed up against his ears.

“Holy SHIT, I am never going to scare you again!”

“What the fuck are you doing in my house!?” Tang shouted, jumping out of his kitchen with a start. Somehow, the cup he’d tossed in his terror landed on the counter instead of the floor.

“Okay, one, this isn’t a house. And two, can’t a guy drop by to visit a friend?” Macaque smirked. His grin vanished the moment Tang booked it back to his bedroom. “Hey, hold—okay, Mei told me to drop in and check on you!”

“I don’t think she meant to break and enter my house!” Tang retorted, shutting the door in Macaque’s face. He couldn’t help but smirk when he heard a yelp of surprise from the other side. But his victory was short-lived when the immortal emerged from his shadow with a grin. “STOP THAT!”

“Technically I’m not breaking in when I pop out of a shadow,” Macaque countered with a chuckle. “Now come on, w—”

“I’ll scream again,” Tang growled.

“...You wouldn’t dare,” Macaque countered. But his ears were pulled back the tiniest degree and his hands were twitching.

“Get out of my room and maybe I’ll consider not doing it,” Tang challenged, punctuating the threat with a deep breath.

“Okay, okay, jeez!”

In an instant, the monkey melted back into the floor. This time, Tang could actually follow his movement through the shadows, watching him as he slid under the door.

“You can’t stay locked up in there forever,” Macaque stated, after a beat.

“I know,” Tang groaned. “That’s why my front door was locked and NOT my bedroom door.”

“Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Monkey, actually,” Macaque replied. “But uh... I actually wanted to come in to tell you something. Myself, not because Mei told me to. I could have just popped in for a sec or knocked on your door but this was kinda... important.”

Now that piqued Tang’s interest. “Important how?” he asked, sitting down on the floor. Something in the other’s tone made him concerned.

“You remember how I said I saw this kind of curse before?” Macaque began. “It was a long time ago. Way back. I was just traveling aimlessly back then, when I happened across a kingdom...”

It was a story that Tang had not heard and yet one he had heard a thousand times before. Macaque described a story of two lovers: a bee demon prince and a human girl. As a member of a prominent demon family, the prince had been pushed to marry someone of likewise status. But when a princess had been found, the prince had politely declined.

The princess’s parents were furious. In their anger, they cursed the prince, declaring that the spell would only be lifted if he confessed his love. For who could be better than their daughter? But the prince did not love the princess. No, it was someone else that had stolen his heart. A kind servant girl, who tended the palace gardens. While he yearned to confess his feelings to her, he did not wish to put her in harm’s way. He was a prince and she was a poor peasant.

And so…

“What happened to the demon?” Tang inquired cautiously. But he already knew the answer.

“He turned into a regular old bee,” Macaque revealed, pausing for a moment. Tang could hear him shuffle from behind the door. “The girl he liked didn’t stick around for long after that. There was a war brewing between the two demon families after they learned who placed the curse, and she didn’t have much time to look for a counter curse. You can guess the rest, I’m sure.”

“...Do you think we could find one?”

“Dunno,” Macaque responded, and it was the most truthful thing he’d ever heard the shadow monkey say. “At least rabbits live longer than bees.”

There was a silence that fell between them, cavernously deep and yet not deep enough.

“What do I do if he hates me?” Tang asked softly. “What if this just... ruins our friendship entirely?”

There was no answer for a while. The only sound was the soft thumping of a tail on the floor. Then Macaque spoke in a quiet voice. If Tang hadn’t been turning into a rabbit, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to hear the other at all.

“He’s too nice to hate you for having feelings,” the shadow monkey stated. “He cares too much about you and MK for that to happen.”

“You—”

“I know he won’t hate you,” Macaque declared, “He’s too soft.”

“You haven’t seen him hit someone with a frying pan.”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you when you’re not looking.”

The door swung open in an instant at that. “What?” Tang gasped, staring with wide eyes.

Macaque looked up at him with a smirk.

“Think about it, won’t ya? Don’t want the kid being sad.”

And with that he leaned back, falling into shadows again.

Tang looked around, making sure he didn’t pop back up before moving to take a shower and change.

He couldn’t help but think of Macaque’s story the entire time.

The bee and the girl.

Would something like that really happen to him?

Could it, if MK and Sun Wukong didn’t return in time with a counter curse?

He knew that there was no denying something was going wrong. He was fully transformed into a rabbit demon and yet things still happened. Maybe if he just stayed put until they got back he would be fine.

Sighing deeply, Tang stretched before rubbing his face in frustration.

Maybe he should just—

“You look a bit worse for wear.”

In an instant, Tang found himself on the floor wedged between his furniture and the wall. At least he didn’t scream this time.

“Mr. Jiang!?” he gaped after he climbed back up from behind the couch. There was an odd scent in the air, not quite electric but a similar energy. It felt familiar, somehow. “How did you get into my house!?”

“Well,” Mr. Jiang sat down in a nearby chair. “I would have waited outside, but you left your door open and I wanted to come in and check in on you.”

Tang blinked at that. The door was locked. He must have... left his door open when he was trying to burrow? That must have been it… or… “Well, as you can see I am doing just. Fine!” he declared, not at all nervous. “Perfectly fine! You can go now.”

“I am afraid I cannot,” the elderly man sighed. “Not until we have a talk, my disciple.”

“...W-What did you just call me?”

Tang stood up straight, gaze narrowing at the man before him.

“I had hoped that I would be able to show myself to you in a less... hectic point in time,” Mr. Jiang said with a soft sigh. “But I fear we may be coming to a point of no return, and I cannot delay any longer.”

And then Mr. Jiang changed. The dock worker was enveloped in a golden, rippling glow. Tang squinted through the light to see wrinkles smooth and clothing turn white. And then, sitting before Tang in his own home…

Was another Tang.

Or more precisely…

“Tang Sanzang,” the now disguiseless Mr. Jiang introduced with a soft smile. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my disciple. Tang.” The monk chuckled. “It is quite amusing that we have such similar names, is it not? Come now, sit. We have much to discuss.”

“You-you-you!” Tang stuttered, leaping to his feet. He paced, chewing on a claw without thinking. “You’re him! The great monk, Tang Sanzang! You’ve been here the ENTIRE TIME!?”

“I wanted to keep an eye on all of you,” the newly revealed monk said, raising a hand with a soft smile.

“Wait, so...” Tang trailed off for a moment, biting his claws more as he marched over to the monk. “Does that mean all of your stories of sailing are fake?”

“No,” Tang Sanzang replied as he reached forward. He gently pulled Tang’s hand away, rubbing the now too short claws with a frown before Tang pulled his hand back. “I did sail a bit. I just did not have that long to acquire those stories.”

“‘Hadn’t had long’... The whole time!” Tang exclaimed with an unbelieving chuckle. “This whole time you were here, you... you were here! And!” He gasped, staring at the monk for a moment before scowling. “And you didn’t SAY ANYTHING?” Tang snapped. There was a resounding thump that rang through his entire apartment, making him jump before he realized what had made the sound. “...Was that ME!?”

“Yes,” Tang Sanzang answered without a hint of offense to the scholar’s outburst. “Rabbits stomp when they are angered and, well... I can understand your frustration with this sudden revelation. After all, you were under the impression that I was still in possession of your powers.”

“...My powers?”

“Well, I did give them to you. They are rightfully yours now.”

Tang flopped backward onto the couch. It was too much, too fast. “But I haven’t... I haven’t been able to use them in months.”

“Not consciously,” the great monk confirmed, standing up. “But you have been using them. You were simply not aware, much like how you were not aware of it last night. That is what alerted me that I should check on you as myself.”

“Last night?” Tang breathed, ears perking in realization. “The thing, the head pain. Were those my Golden Cicada powers?”

“Partially.” Tang Sanzang knelt before Tang. “It was those powers in tandem with Sun Wukong’s own seal. They stopped the curse upon you for the moment, but they were not meant to work together the way they did. Now the seal is cracked.”

“Oh...” Tang said, finally realizing what he had been feeling since he had got up. “OH... Oh, no...” The scholar trembled, realizing what that meant. The seal was cracked and that meant, at any moment, it could break and then…

Something curled around him. He tensed, ready to jump at a moment’s notice before he realized what was around him was simply the monk’s arms.

“You will be alright,” Tang Sanzang comforted. His arms gently held Tang in the hug, hands gently brushing his fur back as carefully as he could. It felt good.

As the monk continued to whisper, Tang slowly calmed. He hadn’t realized how anxious he had been until the tension in his shoulders finally gave out.

“How do you know that?” he asked in a small voice, his body slumped against the other.

“Because I chose you for a reason,” the monk stated firmly. “And you have proven that you are more than capable when the time comes.”

“...How can you be sure?”

“My disciple,” the immortal monk said with the barest undertone of frustration in his voice. “Only ONE of us is a dedicated monk with a vow of celibacy. If memory serves me correctly, it is NOT you. Please talk to Pigsy, you went to a university to learn how to speak with authority after all.”

It was... such a bizarre statement to hear from THE Tang Sanzang. Tang never once thought in a million years that the Great Monk would be telling him, in the most polite way possible, “use your words, dumbass”.

It was so bizarre that Tang couldn’t help but chuckle mirthlessly.

“I... suppose I can’t argue with an ancient immortal monk who somehow decided to give me his powers, can I?”

“You could,” Tang Sanzang responded with a softer chuckle. “But I would advise against it in this instance. Now go. You must tell him before it is too late. The seal will break soon and even my powers will be unable to protect you.”

“...Even if he—”

“Yes,” Tang Sanzang said firmly. “Even if he says he doesn’t feel the same. I know the others are returning as fast as they can, but you must find the strength you had when you helped MK defeat the Lady Bone Demon. You still have it. I promise.”

Tang nodded, finding himself unable to argue as he stood. There was a shout from Sandy as he opened the door and bolted.

Somewhere behind him, he could swear he heard the monk continue.

“I’m glad one of us can be brave.”

Tang could only guess at what he meant by that.

But knowing that the monk had been there, in hiding, never showing his true face? Sometimes only feet away from Sun Wukong before he rushed away with his head bowed and gaze avoided? The same Sun Wukong whom Tang had witnessed gazing at depictions of the monk and people he considered his family with a great sadness and a wistful smile, the same one who let it slip that he and the monk had a rough falling out as master and disciple after the encounter that left the Lady Bone Demon locked away?

Well.

Hopefully Tang wouldn’t have to give the great monk a pep talk about repairing burnt bridges with lost family.

But he should probably prepare for that.

Probably.

He didn’t have the time to consider it for much longer, not with how he ran at top speed to the one place that he was certain where he would find Pigsy. All the way until he saw the green of Mei’s hair peeking around the corner of where the entrance was. All the way until-

He slammed into the closed storefront, unable to stop himself from barreling into it…

Except his face never made contact like he feared. There was the barest flash of something, and he bounced off it, steadying himself with a shake of his head in surprise as the two figures to his right gasped in surprise and worry.

Tang looked at his hands, the fur on them bristled as he shook almost imperceptibly.

That was... No, it couldn’t be. Could it?

“Mr. Tang?” Bai He (that was her name right? No, that was her nickname, she’d chosen that herself because she liked lilies, he remembered, he remembered her). “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know anymore,” he answered. No matter how much he wanted to hide the truth? He was too determined not to now. Not when he knew he didn’t have much time left. “Please don’t ask me again, I don’t have time for answers right now.”

Was that mean?

He didn’t know anymore.

He didn’t know a lot of things anymore, but what he did know was that he had to hurry.

“W-Where’s Pigsy?” Tang asked, breathing hard as he leaned against the door and turned towards the others.

“He went home a few minutes a—WAIT!”

Mei didn’t get to finish her sentence before he took off, running down the road like a homing shot fired.

He had to see him. No matter what, no matter how this ended and no matter what happened, he needed to see him.

Even if it was for the last time.

His thoughts raced, thinking of Pigsy and MK and everyone else. Of what Tang Sanzang and Macaque (Macaque, of all people!) had told him. He thought of the changes he went through, and all the fear and pain. But also the fear of possibly losing Pigsy over... over what? A crush?

He let himself be THIS stubborn over not admitting a crush?

Because he felt Pigsy was too close to him as a friend to be understanding of that? Because he thought that Pigsy had done so much for him already and that asking him to return his feelings was selfish?

It felt so trivial now that he was facing down the end of whatever this curse truly was.

He thought of the story Macaque told him. Of the bee and the girl.

And one thought barreled through his mind at this moment.

“Perhaps you have made peace with your fate, but have you thought of the others? If you were to remain silent and transform into a normal rabbit, how would the others react? How would they react knowing that you were essentially gone? Could you do that to them? Could you do that to the people you love?”

No.

He couldn’t do that.

He wouldn’t.

Tang slammed into the front of Pigsy’s apartment.

He knocked on Pigsy’s door, doing his best to slow his rapid breathing and racing heart. But it was to no avail. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t stop the adrenaline from rushing.

Not even once Pigsy opened the door, eyes wide in surprise, could he calm down enough to stand still.

“Can I come inside?” he quickly asked. Pigsy barely had time to nod before Tang ran inside, rubbing his hands on his top and beginning to pace in the entryway. The scholar barely remembered to kick his shoes off, not wanting to be rude to Pigsy even with everything crumbling. “I’m sorry, I really am, but I-I had to see you and you weren’t at the shop so I rushed here as quickly as I could, and-”

“It’s okay,” Pigsy assured before shutting the door. “But what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.” The chef moved his arms, holding them out in a gesture of some sort before dropping them.

“C-Can I talk to you about something?“ Tang stammered.

“Of course,” Pigsy said. And his voice was so soft and understanding Tang was thrown to the day he had been stood up.

“I-I...”

He hesitated. Damn him, but he hesitated.

That was the split second where he felt something shatter. He didn’t know if it was his pause or the time limit that triggered the curse. But he went from standing to on the ground faster than he could register that he even moved.

It felt like a sledgehammer had shattered his legs. All of his lower half was aflame with excruciating pain. A vice was clamped down on each of his lower legs, compressing the splintered bone. His thighs throbbed painfully.

He was vaguely aware of the sound of fabric ripping as his gaze moved backwards. His blood turned into ice when he saw.

Human legs did not look like that. They did not bend like that.

Tang shrieked as the arches in his feet were hammered out. A familiar but no less painful sensation stabbed through his toes as his nails sharpened into claws. His socks struggled to contain his lengthening feet, until with a loud rip, they gave up. Large rabbit feet burst forth from the shredded fabric, claws scratching across the floor.

“TANG!” Pigsy screamed, grabbing the other’s shoulders. “What’s going on!?”

“I’m out of time,” Tang breathed, a horrific realization dawning on him. “I’m out of time, Pigsy, I-I waited too long!”

“What are you-”

“I’m turning into a normal rabbit.” The scholar paused, shocked at how plainly he said it. “Sun Wukong told me this might happen and I-I just... I didn’t listen. I was too stubborn and I didn’t LISTEN!”

Everything was too loud. Too loud and too bright and too much and too terrifying.

He could feel his rabbit instincts trying to take hold again. Telling him to kick, to run, to find a place to hide.

But Pigsy’s grip was too strong and Tang felt something still holding the instincts back. Something old and weak but bright.

“Just tell me what I can do to fix this!” Pigsy begged, trying desperately to hold Tang upright. “The Monkey King didn’t tell US about the curse, but he told YOU! He must have told you what we can do to break it, there’s gotta be something I can-”

“N-NO!” Tang said, pushing himself up straighter. “I have to do it, it has to be me, I—ACK!”

The scholar let out a screech as his whole body flared with agony. He barely avoided landing face first on the floor, his arms bracing against Pigsy in an effort to catch himself. If it had been any other time, his heart would have fluttered. But instead, his heart was pounding.

Everything around him seemed to be getting bigger. The room, Pigsy, even the clothes he was wearing. But as Tang realized with icy dread, they didn’t seem to, they were. And it wasn’t his surroundings changing size. His hold on Pigsy’s arms was loosening.

With growing horror, the scholar watched as his fingers shortened. Pressure and heat was building in his palms and he screamed when bone shattered yet again. Except this time, he didn’t hear the cracks.

He couldn’t hear anything right now. His mouth was agape in a wail that he couldn’t hear as agony stabbed through the sides of his skull. For a few moments, Tang feared that his ears had been torn off before sound came rushing back deafeningly loud. Everything was too loud. His own voice was too loud.

“I don’t wanna go! N-No, please! PLEASE!”

Pressure—Pigsy?—on his shoulders tightened.

“Tang! You HAVE to tell me how we can stop this!” the chef pleaded.

The tips of Tang’s ears fell past his shoulders, longer than they had ever been. He couldn’t bend his fingers anymore.

“I should have told you sooner but I was scared, I’m sorry, I don’t wanna be a rabbit, I don’t wanna—”

“TANG!” Pigsy yelled, yanking him back to the present. “You’re scared, you blabber on when you are, but you need to focus! You helped stop the Lady Bone Demon! You helped save the world! You are strong enough to do this! Your story ain’t over, remember!? Please! Just tell me!”

He was out of time.

“It’s a truth curse!” Tang screamed. “You know that, I know, but we didn’t tell you it was a love curse!”

Pigsy froze.

“A... love curse?” he repeated.

“I was too scared to say anything because I thought it would ruin everything! But look at me now!” Tang wailed, fighting to hold on to Pigsy’s arms. “All because I was too stubborn, too scared to just say that I... I—!”

He clenched his eyes shut.

“I love you, Pigsy!”

In a split second, everything seemed to freeze. Even the pain coursing through him seemed to stop. No…

It stopped. The pain…

Stopped?

He looked up. Pigsy was staring at him. His eyes looked at him with a dazed and almost blank expression.

Blank.

He blinked. Breathed in.

There was weight on his shoulders. How long had it been there?

He looked up.

Pigsy was smiling. He laughed.

‘At... me?’

‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!’

‘Stupidstupidhehatesyoulookwhatyou’vedonehe’snevergoingtospeaktoyouagainPigsy—’

Something pressed against his forehead.

He stopped.

“...You’re really dumb sometimes... you know that?”

And then something was pressed against Tang’s lips.

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #bunny tang #freenoodleshipping #freenoodles #lmk tang #lmk pigsy #lmk mei #lmk long xiaojiao #long xiaojiao #lmk sun wukong #lmk monkey king #lmk nezha #lmk jin and yin #lmk scorpion demoness #characters that would be a spoiler if I tagged them #fanfic #ship fic

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dikanamai · 3 years

Text

Let’s talk about “We don’t talk about Bruno”

I've been postponing this due to the lack of time for writing long posts, but since I mentioned it in yesterday's post, let's talk about Encanto's greatest hit and its potential interpretations instead of focusing on work, lol.

A lot has already been said about We don't talk about Bruno, and I've read many interesting and super good analysis of the song and its possible meaning. First things first: no, I don't think this is just a song to shit on Bruno because everybody hates him, I think this is far more complex than that. And every single person who intervenes in the song has their own motivations and had their own relationship with the missing fortuneteller, showing a different side of how he was (or how he's remembered) as a person.

So, please, if you're interested, join me in this (long) journey through this intricate tapestry of mixed feeling and strong emotions XD

Pepa and the wedding incident

I want to focus especially on this part, because it's the most interesting for me and also the one I've seen misinterpreted more frequently. Let's start with some important context: Pepa's feelings towards Bruno are the strongest ones in this song, because he's her brother. She's the one with the closest relationship with him and the one who knows him the most, because they grew up together since birth. Among all the people who participate in WDTAB, Pepa is the one who has more reasons to be hurt by his departure and also the one who is constantly forced to suppress and bottle up her emotions, which means she probably never had the chance to mourn her brother or process properly what had happened. This being said, being angry at Bruno is probably the better way she found to cope with those feelings, and I bet she's one of the firmest defenders of the "we don't talk about Bruno" thing, along with Alma (as many people have pointed already).

But… is she really angry about the wedding incident?

The scene previous to the song is also very important. When Pepa hears Mirabel mentioning Bruno, she loses her temper in a very strong way. Three times she has to push away her cloud, because she obviously doesn't bear even thinking about him. But Mirabel keeps pushing the subject, and then Félix show up suddenly to intervene, and the mood changes right away.

I love how he storms into the room, btw; I like to think he was downstairs with Dolores preparing for the visits, till she said something like "Papi, Mira's asking mami about tío Bruno in the nursery", and he bolted immediately upstairs to prevent the disaster. Because that's what he does. How, if he's the one who keeps talking about Bruno instead of shushing Mirabel? Exactly, he keeps talking about Bruno and so he redirects Mira's attention towards himself and takes the reins of the conversation, so Pepa can stop feeling cornered by her niece, who isn't realizing she's touching a very sore spot.

Everyone uses to remark how Camilo is the only one having the time of his life singing this song, but look at the face of this man, please.

He's putting up a show too, even using a mysterious tone pretty similar to the one Bruno himself uses later with that "It was your viiiision, Mirabel, not miiiine". He's not mad at Bruno in the slightest, he doesn't resent him, and notice he's talking about Bruno's visions, not Bruno per se: "he would see something terrible and then, BOOM!, it would happen". This has the same vibe as teasing Agustín for being accident-prone. And with this I want to drag your attention to the fascinating world of FAMILY BANTER.

I'll tell you a personal story as example. About 25 years ago, someone (the culprit never confessed their crime) threw away a little bottle full of seeds of my mom's favorite plants, that she was lovingly reserving for our garden. It's the stupidest thing ever, but she got SUPER MAD at all of us, to the point she kept bringing the subject up again and again every now and then. And, after a while, it turned into one of the most used running gags of the family, and even now it's pretty common for us ending any stupid argument with a "YEAH, LIKE THE SEEDS". It's been 25 years and, when the thing is mentioned, mom IS STILL GENUINELY SALTY ABOUT IT, but at the same time she knows it's something super ridiculous, so we laugh together about it. It's pure and mere teasing. And though this example is about a nonsense, there are things pretty more serious in the family that have been turned into running gags too, because time gives you perspective, and something that upset you deeply when you were 20 can make you laugh when you're 40. It's not impossible to be salty about something and joke about it at the same time.

For me, this is what the wedding incident represents. By refusing to stop talking about Bruno, Félix gives Pepa room to stop repressing her own feelings and to allow herself remember her brother and talk about him. And what's the thing she chooses to share? The wedding's fiasco, like "you wanna talk about my bro, I'm gonna tell you his greatest hit".

Both Pepa and Félix start telling the story with a very dramatic display, but Félix goes :D almost right away and, though Pepa keeps her pose a little longer, she's obviously enjoying to be finally able to share the story too. She's jokingly mimicking Bruno's "mischievous grin" (can you imagine Bruno walking in with that silly tone again like "Peeepa, it looks like raaaain"?, because I can picture him perfectly XD), she's constantly smiling, she only gets annoyed at Félix interrupting her (Félix, who's constantly smiling too), she doesn't look actually mad at all. She knows Bruno was joking and she doesn't blame him for the hurricane, she blames him for the joke. She says it literally: "Bruno says 'it looks like rain', and in doing so he floods my brain". She's admitting she lost her nerves and released a hurricane at his joke. And don't tell me Bruno didn't go like "oopsie :_D" and Pepa didn't go like "YOU FUCKING IDIOT" while they were walking down the aisle under the rain, because this shit surely went immediately to the top list of Madrigal's gaffes that compose the family's mythology. This is the kind of anecdote people tell again and again at family reunions, at Christmas, at parties, at whatever celebration, in a very theatrical way, just as Pepa and Félix do in WDTAB. And of course Pepa would be super upset THAT day and probably she's still genuinely salty, because this is far more serious than a lost bottle of seeds; but it's something they also remember dearly. They're having fun remembering it. "What a joyous day", Félix says, and Pepa is smiling, because it was indeed a joyous day, after all.

Bruno left more than ten years after this incident, they had plenty of time to talk about it, I bet he told Pepa a million times "it was a joke!", and it probably turned into a running gag too every time they argued, with Pepa like "what are you gonna do, ruin my wedding AGAIN?". Because that's how family banter works. You never stop reminding your siblings of their most embarrassing mistakes. And I can imagine Pepa being the kind of sister who probably teased Bruno with things like "whoa, your visions suck", as he probably teased her about her mood swings, and she teased him for being so short, and he teased her for being so tall, and so on.

What's the problem, then? The problem is Bruno isn't there anymore. Bruno left, and then all the good, ridiculous, funny or tender memories shared over the years got poisoned. Because your brother's gone. You can't tease him, you can't laugh with him, you can't argue with him, you can't share your life with him. And that HURTS af. It's even worse in Pepa's case, since she's forced to not speak about her brother and she can't afford even thinking about him without risking her self-control. How long had it been since the last time she was able to sit and tell the story of how his bro's joke fucked up her wedding, and laugh about it instead of feeling like crap? She can't talk about Bruno, she's not allowed to. And that's why people saying Pepa's destroying Bruno in this song with her irrational hate piss me off. What hate? She's seizing the moment to tell us one of the most memorable memories of her brother, she's telling us her wedding was a mess and even so by the end of the story she can't stop smiling. They have given her the chance to remember Bruno again in a funny way, not hurtful. You can argue she's implying her brother was an asshole, but please, at least acknowledge she's saying it in an affectionate way, not hateful. Even in the last scene of the song, when everyone's "dancing" around Mirabel, Pepa and Félix look cheerful and happy singing about the wedding. They don't hate Bruno at all.

Bruno bringing up the wedding incident later in All of you doesn't have to mean they've never talked about it in the last 20 years, it's just a narrative device, because:

a) It's something previously mentioned in the movie that the audience can recognize.

b) It's an indirect way to tell us Bruno was a perceptive guy, always aware of what was the family's problem (they were repressing their emotions too much), but failed to communicate it to them.

c) And it's the perfect excuse to include the mandatory reference to Let it go (yes, I hate this one, but it's what it is).

All of you is a 100% symbolic song, even more than any of the others. And, as many details of the movie, can't be analyze in a literal way.

Grandkids roundup

Recently, I saw someone mentioning how WDTAB depicts perfectly the progressive decay of Bruno's reputation in town, and that's a super clever observation and 100% true: first, Pepa talking about how her brother was originally a mischievous prankster (or, if you prefer, an insightful guy) whose jokes/observations were easily misunderstood and often leaded to self-fulfilled "prophecies". Second, Dolores talking about how people struggled more and more trying to understand his prophecies (and failing). And finally, Camilo talking about the exaggerated distorted image of his tío, created by the rumors and people's paranoia towards him. They represent three different stages of Bruno's life and three different kinds of people: the ones who knew him closely, the ones who knew him briefly and the ones that only know the rumors.

But, metaphors aside, Dolores' part is also super interesting in a more literal way. As a lot of people have pointed out before (me included), she is the most sympathetic towards Bruno. It's open to interpretation, but I think her verses reference in-walls Bruno since the beginning, talking about her fear of hear him "stuttering or stumbling" (aka, losing his mind or moving behind the walls) or the fact that she hears him every day. I read once someone saying the sound of the spackle is similar to the sound of falling sand too, implying Dolores can hear Bruno literally patching the cracks of Casita (which is also true). But my favorite verses are the last ones:

Always left Abuela and the family fumbling Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand

Why? Because she uses "they" instead of "we". She excludes herself from "the family". She's not one of those who "couldn't understand". So she admits she does understand Bruno, and also tells Mirabel directly he left because the rest of the family wasn't going to understand his vision. And she looks very interested in her cousin to understand that point.

Camilo's part is just he messing with Mirabel, and Jared Bush himself explained Camilo is joking and exaggerating due to his theater-kid nature, so there's nothing more to say. Though I personally think his part is also a good reference to Bruno's dramatic nature too. Camilo is performing, and I think he probably remembers (even if it's just deep inside) Bruno also performing for them. But this is just a headcanon.

Finally, Isa's part is mostly a foreshadowing of her arc in the movie. She tells us Bruno showed her the life of her dreams, but the life of her dreams is directly linked to her powers and its growth, not with love/marriage/children. Isa has probably spent her whole life wondering what else could she do, wanting to do more, but she's totally repressed and stuck in her perfect façade. Her dream is to be free, and she looks distressed at the end of the song (the "I'm fine" part with Dolores) because her tío's prophecy, despite being a good omen, hasn't been fulfilled. It's tragic the only good vision mentioned in the song is also the only one that seems to be wrong; but it's also a reminder that not everything Bruno saw was bad. He had good visions too; or, more precisely, he just saw things that could be interpreted in different ways, like every fortuneteller.

Fish lady, gut guy and bald priest

We always say there is no villain in Encanto, but that's not true, the villains in Encanto are the town's people who have spent 50 years torturing the family with their nonsenses XD

Ok, jokes aside, these three randos are the proof that people in town were the main problem for Bruno. They were the ones asking stupid things and the ones getting upset by the answers. The dead fish, the gut and the baldness are such a ridiculous examples of Bruno's bad omens that it's pretty probable they weren't prophecies in the first place, as many people have pointed out before too. This theory ties with the previous mentions of Bruno being insightful but misunderstood, and paints a pretty depressing scenario for him, where even the most casual remark could trigger someone's paranoia.

In a more serious level, this kind of things was probably the actual source of his distress. Because he's a Madrigal and his duty is to help the Encanto, but people were 50/50 amazed and terrified by his powers and his predictions. Warning the town about any danger is a "useful" thing, but years and years of being the town's harbinger is a heavy lift, as Dolores says. He wasn't helping in a positive way, people was always fretting and assuming the worst, and then he started questioning himself, his self-worth, his role, his purpose. And he started getting frustrated and irritated, and that triggered his problems inside the family too. Because running gags like the one about the wedding or the "whoa, your visions suck" weren't funny anymore. Teasing wasn't enjoyable anymore. Misunderstandings were getting heavier and heavier. I've said before that time gives you perspective, but it also can narrow it, and something you were able to laugh about at 20 perhaps is far less laughable at 40, after decades of failures. Especially if Julieta and Pepa were doing their part honoring the miracle and he couldn't. Bruno had to live up to Alma's expectations, but he also had to live up to his own expectations; as Mirabel, he wanted to be helpful and make the family proud, and he wasn't managing. So he started isolating himself and endured it alone, as everyone else in the family, because they have to keep going.

When Bruno is preparing the ritual to repeat Mirabel's vision, the incident he brings up full of salt is the dead goldfish, not Pepa's wedding or any other family thing. He resents the people's behavior towards him and his gift. He never mentions Alma or the family specifically being the problem, he just says "everyone assumes the worst". And of course Alma is part of that "everyone", but everyone is mostly the people in town, as Alma's reactions are directly linked to the town's reactions: if they're happy, she's happy, if they're not, she isn't either, because her life's goal is serving the Encanto. The ridiculous demands and expectations of the people damaged Bruno's self-esteem, damaged his relationship with his family and pushed him into the walls. One thing fuels another, everything is connected. It wasn't just one person's fault; it was everyone's fault.

Final notes: I also love the theory that Bruno told Pepa "it looks like rain" because he knew she was going to blow up with such a repressed tension, and so he could take the blame for ruining the wedding instead of her. I think what happened that day could be a mix of all of this: a simple joke, a brother teasing his sister, a brother helping his sister making it pass as a joke/teasing… But definitely, I think it's a good memory for all of them, and I'll die in this hill. The first thing Bruno does when he reunites with the family is acting like a total clown to make Pepa smile. I'm sure he has done it before, perhaps that was what he always did, before pressure crushed them all.

#encanto #disney encanto #encanto analysis #encanto songs #bruno madrigal #pepa madrigal #we don't talk about bruno #or we do talk about Bruno? XD #sorry I had a lot to say #I love this musical number and everyone's stories intertwined

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poppypickle · 2 years

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Fic Masterlist

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, so here’s a masterlist of all the fic I have written for The Rookie (Chenford), Avengers (Clintasha), The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Community. As Hamilton would say: What is a legacy? Making hot fictional characters bang in your fics, obviously.

The Rookie (Tim/Lucy)

I Can’t Help Myself - Complete, 11k

Tim and Lucy figure things out with a little help from the Mid-Wilshire gang. Featuring silly group texts, Angela playing matchmaker, and Chenford doing Wopez wedding errands.

Come A Little Closer - Complete, 30k

Tim and Lucy make a bet about who can seduce the other person first. Mutually assured seduction occurs.

Want You To Stay - Complete, 50k

Co-written with @cfr749. Things *happen* after Tim and Lucy leave the hospice in 4x09. A Season 4 canon divergent AU.

Break Up With Him - Complete, 6k

Lucy’s got a boyfriend and Tim is jealous. So jealous he maybekindasorta acts like a fool at Angela’s wedding.

Got Me Addicted - Rated E, 1.5k

The dirty PWP version of Lucy having a boyfriend and Tim doing something about it at Angela’s wedding.

Bang Bang (Look What You Started) - Rated E, 9k

What if Tim and Lucy actually gave into all their Season 1 chemistry?

Made You Wait - One-shot, 4k

Lucy goes undercover and Tim pines.

Ain’t It Just Like Love To Find Us - One-shot, 1.5k

Another Wopez wedding dance fic, because there can never be enough.

Broken Over You - One-shot, 1.7k

Lucy stops by Tim’s place to say goodbye to Kojo before she goes undercover.

Chenford Fic Week Series - Rest Your Head On Me, My Dear - 53k

I had this crazy idea to do ALL of the Chenford Fic Week prompts, but to break up each day into a different period of time in their lives. So I started writing, and realized pretty quickly that I’m actually a very slow writer and couldn’t possibly finish 42(!) prompts. But I kept running with the idea, and luckily some AMAZING collaborators decided to join in on the fun. We didn't quite finish all of the prompts, but I think the spirit of the original idea was still achieved.

Most of these ficlets can loosely exist in the same ‘verse, and are meant to paint a full picture of Tim and Lucy’s lives and their relationship.

July 11: Tim and Lucy as children July 12: As adults before the meet each other July 13: The rookie/TO days July 14: Post-rookie/TO — close friends and very flirty, but they are not *officially* together yet July 15: All AU ‘verse! Lucy is a famous pop star and Tim is her new head of security July 16: Tim and Lucy finally admit their feelings for each other July 17: Married Chenford 🥰

Avengers (Clint/Natasha)

Let Me Tell You a Story About War - One-shot, 10k

Natasha goes to Clint right after the Snap. Some things change. Some things stay the same.

Let's Show 'Em - One-shot, 1.5k

Clint had told Natasha that wearing her full tactical jumpsuit was overkill, but Lila had insisted it was absolutely necessary. And Natasha was nothing if not a pushover for the favorite bonus niece.

Or, Lila Barton has a score to settle.

Just Come Home - One-shot, 2k

Monsters and magic and multiverses…

And somehow he’s ended up living in the version of life where Natasha Romanoff is dead.

Or, Clint attempts to cope.

Run Away Now - One-shot, 3k

Clint Barton has a fianceé and Natasha doesn't know what to do with that.

Somebody Save Me (From the World You Left) - One-shot, 2k

Prompt: Cooper always knew about his father's and Aunt Nat's relationship.

The Hunger Games

Let Me Name The Stars For You - One-shot, 10k

Gale/Johanna. This is the story of how the Hawthorne family puts Johanna back together again. Or maybe it's the other way around. Post-Mockingjay.

Kaleidoscope Heart - Complete, 10k

Gale/Johanna. Two bruised and battered souls figure out how to rebuild. Post-Mockingjay.

i’m five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor - One-shot, 500 words

Gale-centric. Based on the prompt: “Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.”

The Old Familiar Sting - One-shot, 4k

A series of vignettes that take place the night before Katniss leaves for the Quarter Quell. Featuring Gale/Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and Mrs. Everdeen.

Stranger - One-shot 1.5k

A missing scene between Gale and Katniss. Takes place after their kiss, but before Katniss leaves for the Victory Tour.

Harry Potter (Harry/Hermione)

Could You Leave Me With A Scar - One-shot, 1.5k

Harry/Hermione. Hermione Granger's got scars. Five vignettes from Hermione's life.

This Is My Winter Song To You - Ficlet, 800 words

Harry/Hermione. 'I could have loved you,' she wants to tell him. 'If given half the chance.' Takes place after Ron returns and destroys the locket.

let us go then, you & i - Ficlet, 300 words

Prompt: Harry/Hermione - movie!verse - "I'll come with you"

Community (Jeff/Annie)

The Song Remains The Same - One-shot, 3k

Jeff/Annie. It's like deja vu on steroids - the other timelines begin to seep into Annie's subconscious. Spoilers for Remedial Chaos Theory.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

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The doctrine of dynastic wealth

The biggest news story of the moment Propublica's reporting on the Secret IRS Files, a trove of leaked tax data on the wealthiest people in America that show that they pay effectively no tax, through perfectly legal means.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/guillotines-and-taxes/#carried-interest

The Bootlicker-Industrial Complex has completely missed the point of this reporting and its followup, like the revelation that an ultrarich candidate for Manhattan DA was able to pay no tax in many years where her family booked millions in revenue.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/17/quis-custodiet-irs/#trumps-taxes

The apologists for super-rich tax-evaders lean heavily on the fact that America has a tax-code that substantially reduces the spending power (and thus political power) of people who work for a living, while enhancing the wealth of those who own things for a living.

The rich are obeying the law, so there is nothing wrong here. But what Propublica documented is that America has a different set of laws for the super-rich than for the merely rich, and that these laws are in a wholly different universe from the laws for the rest of us.

It's another example of America's unequal justice system - a subject that includes long prison sentences for crack possession and wrist-slaps for powder cocaine, long jail terms created by the cash bail system, and a host of other race- and class-based inequities.

It's more proof, in other words, that America isn't a republic where we are all equal before the law, but rather a caste system where inherited privileges determine how the law binds you, how it punishes you and how it protects you.

One person well-poised to describe how this system perpetuates itself is Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy Disney and great-niece of Walt Disney, inheritor of a vast family fortune shielded from tax by a generation-skipping trust contrived solely to avoid taxation.

Writing in The Atlantic, the heiress describes how she was inducted and indoctrinated into the system of American dynastic wealth, surrounded by brilliant accountants who treated their exotic financial vehicles as completely ordinary.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/06/abigail-disney-rich-protect-dynastic-wealth-propublica-tax/619212/

Personally, these financial enablers were "decent, good, kind men," and they gave Disney 40 years' worth of gospel about protecting the capital, growing it, and passing it on to the next generation.

As a credible 21 year old, Disney had no frame of reference. The creation of a dynastic, ever-growing fortune through legal but frankly bizarre accounting fictions was treated as normal.

To the extent that these tactics raised any doubts, they were addressed through doctrine: the idea that government bureaucrats can't be trusted to spend money wisely.

Disney doesn't say this, but a common trope in these discussions is that the government is ever tempted to give money to poor people, and must be protected from this impulse.

This racism and classism are dressed up as "meritocracy" - the tautology that the rich are worthy, the worthy are rich, and anyone who isn't rich is therefore unworthy.

In the first generation, this doctrine is merely sociopathic, but when passed on to a new generation, it is eugenic. Walt and Roy demonstrated their worth by founding a studio and navigating it through the challenges of the market, and that is why the market made them rich.

But their children - and grandchildren - didn't get their wealth by founding or running a studio. They got their wealth by emerging from the correct orifice. If their wealth is deserved, those deserts are a matter of blood, not toil.

In other words, they were born to be rich, not just as a matter of sound tax planning, but as a matter of genetic destiny. They are part of a hereditary meritocracy.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/13/data-protection-without-monopoly/#inequality

Disney describes what it's like to be indoctrinated into the hereditary meritocracy: her family told her that the appearance of philanthropy is good, but actually giving money to poor people is a foolish enterprise, "unseemly and performative."

And they urged her to marry her own class, "to save yourself from the complexity and conflict that come with a broad gulf in income, assets, and, therefore, power." Power should be in the hands of "successful" people, because they know how to wield it.

Accept this ideology and you will be showered with wonderful gifts: like private jet trips, which quickly become necessities ("once you’ve flown private, wild horses will never drag you through a public airport terminal again").

It's a subject that is well-documented in Mike Mechanic's 2021 book JACKPOT, on the daily lives, dysfunctions, and above all, ideology of the super-rich:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/13/public-interest-pharma/#affluenza

As to the seductiveness of the ideology, I had my own experience with the "decent, good, kind" professionals of the finance sector. When I moved to London in 2003, I opened a checking account at Barclays, a giant high-street bank.

I quickly discovered that part of Barclays' legendary profitability came from understaffing its branches; when I had to see a teller, I could end up waiting in line for an hour.

When I complained about this, a teller told me that for a nominal annual sum, I could get a "premier" account that came with a host of benefits, including priority tellers. I signed up and was inducted into the premiership by my branch manager.

He asked me if I needed any help with tax preparation, and boy did I ever. I was filing tax returns in Canada, the US, California, and the UK - it was a mess: not just expensive but confusing, and I couldn't make heads or tails of the paperwork.

A week later, a very smartly turned out Barclays "tax specialist" came by the academic research center where I'd borrowed a desk to meet with me. She was wildly excited to discover that I was on a work visa and not a UK citizen.

She told me that this made me eligible to become a "non-dom" - someone living in the UK, but not "domiciled" there - and therefore not subject to any tax at all.

She laid out a whole plan for me: I could establish residence in one of the Channel Islands (Jersey, I think?), incorporate a shell company there, and continue to get free health care from the NHS, use the public roads, etc - all without paying a penny to HM Exchequer.

And when I was ready to buy a house, the whole thing would only get better: I could buy it through the shell company, reverse-mortgage it, rent it to myself, take fabulous deductions on the way, and pass it on tax-free by transfering the shell company rather than the house.

It was dizzying, and I kept asking her to go back and explain it again. She assured me that it was legal and normal, what every non-Briton living in the UK should do, and really poured the pressure on.

It was weirdly spellbinding, like a wizard was demonstrating an interdimensional portal to me and asking if I wanted to go through it to a magical land - a magical land that "everyone else" was already visiting on the reg.

I told her I'd think about it. Five minutes after she left the office, I snapped out of the trance. I never called her back. I figured out my UK taxes.

But today, reading Disney's account of having reasonable-seeming, friendly experts tell you something bizarre and indefensible is normal, I was powerfully reminded of my own brush with the dynasty-creation industry.

#pluralistic

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brawltogethernow · 3 years

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@mirrorfalls submitted: Came across this while searching for James Bond’s scrambled-eggs recipe (long story). Your thoughts?

But did you find James Bond’s scrambled eggs recipe?

In this article, Scocca laments his inability to find accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable to read with his young son, while also demonstrating a mysterious aversion to looking at DC and Marvel’s lines of comics for children, which is where the accessible, lighthearted superhero comics suitable for reading with young children are. He wants his elementary schooler to be able to safely have the run of all superhero media so he doesn’t have to touch the yucky baby books.

This is not an industry-wide crisis. This is just one dude who got paid to write an article where he accidentally exposed one of his personal hangups.

The child headed toward the trade paperbacks of Marvel and D.C. superhero titles on the side wall […] a few steps in front of me. […] Is he with you? a clerk asked me. I said he was. You know, the clerk said, we have a kids’ section. The clerk gestured backward, at a few shelves near the entrance. I said, Thanks, we know and tried throwing in a little shrug, as the kid kept going.

You can’t just turn a seven-year-old child loose in a comic-book store to look at the superhero comic books. […] My seven-year-old really wanted to see that last Avengers movie […] that is, he wished it were a movie he could see, but he understood that it was, instead, a movie designed to scare and sadden him—a movie actively hostile to people like him.

They have a children’s section. Because comics are a medium suitable for stories for everybody, and they are sold in comic book shops, which have sections, like bookstores. You can use this organization to find books that you know in advance are suitable for children. What goes in that category is determined by industry professionals. This area will be bigger the bigger the shop is. These comics are not lower quality that titles from the main lines. They are actually slightly better-written on average.

Your local comic book shop has considerately wrapped Empowered in a plastic bag, so your child will not be drawn in by a colorful superhero and accidentally read a graphic scene. If you think your kid might find a memoir about internment camps upsetting, it is your job to notice them picking up They Called Us Enemy and read the blurb on the back before you let them have it. This comic adults are meant to read is in a comic book shop because that is where comics are sold. Not every public place is supposed to be Disneyland.

Movies have ratings systems. If you do not want your child to watch a PG-13 movie, you will find that most superhero cartoons are for children. They are about the same characters. Some are quite good! I really enjoyed Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Your child may like Avengers Assemble. At least I think that’s right. I’m always mixing those titles around.

This is a deeply weird bias for Scocca to casually demonstrate, because he identifies in the article that real childishness is striving for empty maturity.

He compares an old comic,

[…]a 1966 Spider-Man comic in which Spider-Man meets, fights, and defeats the Rhino; participates in a running argument between John Jameson and J. Jonah Jameson about his heroism; buys a motorcycle; breaks up with his first girlfriend, Betty Brant; flirts with Gwen Stacy; and reluctantly agrees to let Aunt May take him to meet her friend Mrs. Watson’s niece, Mary Jane.

and a new comic,

[…]a 21st century comic book in which Thor, brooding in a Katrina-destroyed New Orleans, beats up Iron Man. He also yells at Iron Man a lot about some incomprehensibly convoluted set of grievances, including involuntary cloning, that he believes Iron Man perpetrated against him while he was dead(?), and then summons some other Norse god from the beyond somehow for reasons having something to do with real estate. I think. Where the 1966 comic is zippy and fun and complete, the whole contemporary one is muddled and lugubrious and seems to constitute a tiny piece of a seemingly endless plot arc—simultaneously apocalyptic and inert.

and concludes that the edgier comic is actually less mature. This is true. (This is not news about mediocre comics.)

It also has nothing to do with either comic being child-friendly, the article’s nominal thesis, except in the sense that ASM #41 (yes, I eyeballed that from that summary, yes I am just showing off now) is better written, making it more everyone-friendly. It also has practically more space dedicated to word balloons than art and is about a college student juggling girl problems and a part-time job with a tyrannical boss. But the immature one, as Scocca points out, is dour.

These are both teenagery issues, separated only by quality. It’s true that lots of new comics published by the big 2 are bad in the specific way Scocca describes here, taking themselves too seriously and hauled down by associated stories instead of buoyed by them. Some are not! Some titles from these companies’ main continuities are zippy, contained, and child friendly. Give your child The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Or if you like vintage comics so much better, why don’t you…buy some?

The books on the kid’s rack are good and fun and totally suitable for parents to read with their children without wanting to scoop their eyeballs out. Scocca cites the Batman ‘66 comics as the brightly colored, tightly written all ages solution to his problem about sharing superhero stories with his son. My local comic shop stores this title in the kid’s section. I am glad that Scocca’s does not, as he seems to have a peculiar aversion to looking for comics to read with his son there.

Scocca cites Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as a superhero movie he could watch with his kids. (I was surprised when this line made it sound like he has several. I don’t want to assume the other one isn’t in this article because they’re a girl, but I very much am assuming that.) Great! Go to the kid’s section and look for Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. It’s a fun, zippy title directly inspired by ITSV where Miles, Gwen, and Peter superhero together. It’s much more tightly written than most of the various Spider-Verse comics, which are ambitiously messy ubercrossovers. You may not want to give those to children because they include murder and so on, but also you just have the choice between the two as an adult reader deciding how much continuity you want to deal with. Adventures is one of the only titles I would buy on sight before corona. The kid comic rack is a reliable place to take a break from How Comics Get Sometimes regardless of how old you are.

This article makes me feel quarrelsome. Maybe it’s that it doesn’t seem like exploration of a single idea so much as a loosely grouped bundle of things to kvetch about. Maybe it’s that the experience of getting into superheroes that Scocca describes experiencing, projects his seven-year-old son will experience, and from which he extrapolates a metaphorical microcosm of the history of the genre is completely alien to me.

Comic books [and] comic-book movies—are […] trapped in their imagined audience’s own awful passage from childhood to adolescence. A seven-year-old has a clean […] appreciation of superheroes. They like hero comics because the comics have heroes: bold, strong, vividly colored good guys to fight off the bad guys and make the world safe.

But seven-year-olds stop being seven. […] They become 13-year-olds, defensively trying to learn how to develop tastes about tastes.

The 13-year-old wants many things from comics, but the overarching one is that they want to prove that they’re not some seven-year-old baby anymore. They want gloomy heroes, miserable heroes, heroes who would make a seven-year-old feel bad. (Also boobs. They want boobs.)

Not because of the boobs line, although that does illicit an eyeroll that this gloomy thinkpiece is fretting over preserving the superhero experience of little boys who resemble the little boy the writer was while casually dismissing everyone else. I was one of those unlikable little seven-year-olds with a college reading level and the impression that maintaining it was the crux of my worth. I only read Books - distinguished media you could club someone with. I have a formative memory of pausing, enraptured, in front of a poster for Spider-Man 3, preparing to say that it looked pretty cool, and being beaten to the punch by my mother making a disparaging comment about how the movie was trash. It wasn’t out yet, but it was a superhero movie. That meant it was for loud, brainless children.

That was the total of my childhood experience with superheroes, excluding being the unwilling audience to incessant renditions of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” that left me wondering why in god’s name Batman’s sidekick was named Robin. I certainly never visited a comic book shop. I got into TvTropes, which got me into webcomics, which got me following David Willis, who got me into Ask Chris at ComicsAlliance, which led to me rewarding myself for studying like a demon for the AP tests with three volumes of Waid’s Daredevil, pitched as a return to the character being colorful and swashbuckling. I was seven…teen.

This is of the same thread as Scocca’s point that immaturity is running from childish things. It leaves me baffled that he doesn’t follow that maturity is embracing them.

I will disclose here that while I think it was dumb I had to overcome my upbringing’s deeply embedded shame associated with enjoying arbitrarily defined lowbrow media and children being childish, I think it’s fine that I was allowed largely unchecked access to technically age-inappropriate content. In my limited experience, content small children are too young for is also content they’re too young to understand, so it kind of just bounces off of them, and what actually ends up terrorizing them is unpredictable collages of impressions that strike out at them from content deemed perfectly child-friendly. I would not forbid a seven-year-old I was in charge of from seeing an MCU movie unless I had a reason to believe that specific child would not take it well. These are emotionally low-stakes bubblegum films. It will probably be easier to socialize with other kids if they have seen them.

But then, when I picture being in charge of a hypothetical child, I usually imagine this being the case because they are related to me, and the pupal stage in my family strongly resembles Wednesday Addams. ALL children love death and violence, though, right?? This isn’t a joke point. I know it looks like a joke point.

The MCU thing seems especially weird in light of the article’s particular focus on Spider-Man, which is the kiddie line of the MCU, even if they refused to waver from their usual formula enough to get a lower rating. Though I am more inclined to describe it as “preying on the young” than “child-friendly”.

(MCU movies are increasingly dubious propaganda, but I would not judge them in front of a child who wanted to watch them for that reason, just in case this led to them partaking of them without me the second they were old enough to and then they grew up to run a blog about them while our relationship suffered because they didn’t feel like it was safe to talk to me about their interests…Mom.)

I tried to overcome the philosophy of letting anyone read anything while compiling this handful of mostly-newish superhero recs for the road that anyone can read. (Handily, I have been in spitting distance of being hired as a comic shop clerk enough to have thought about it before):

For actual children:

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (the new one is reminiscent of ITSV, the old one is more like 616) any DC/Archie crossover, Archie’s Superteens The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (for bookish children who think they’re too good for comics and adults afraid of the kid’s section) Teen Titans Go (even if you hate the show) Superman Smashes the Klan

For teens:

Ms. Marvel Young Avengers (volume 2) Unbelievable Gwenpool Batman: Gotham Adventures Teen Titans Go (the tie-in comic based off the old show was also called this)

Here are a bunch of relevant C. S. Lewis quotes.

#me every time i read a comic book article by a rag not exclusively about comic books: i know more than you.#marvel #spidey #DCU #MCU critical #mirrorfalls #asks answered #submission #unearthed this and bashed it out in one sitting ... i have not been working on it since you sent it last year XD

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tweedlydumbtweedlydoo · 4 years

Text

Investigation | Spencer Reid x reader

Requested by @maybebanks / Summary: The BAU is investigating you for a case against your brother and you won’t say a thing, until Dr. Spencer Reid walks in.

A/N: Hope you like it! xx

Warning: talks of claustrophobia

Tag list is at the end. Let me know if you want to be added xx

**MASTERLIST**

Requests: {OPEN} CLOSED

** Rules for Requesting **

** Who I Write For **

********************************************************************************************NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS

“Miss y/l/n, we only want to know about your brother.” The man in front of you explains. You were seated across from him at the steel table, inside a room without windows. If you weren’t freaking out about your brother, you might have been freaking out about being enclosed in a room that you couldn’t get out of or see a way out and wonder if the walls were suddenly getting smaller.

They’d brought you in only a couple hours ago. The BAU team had entered your workplace and cornered you at your desk, basically ordering you to come with them or you’d be arrested. So, you did as you were told. However, you’d seen this before and you weren’t going to speak to them about anything especially if it could be used against you or your brother later on.

There were men close to your age that had turned up dead in ditches and for some reason your brother was their number one suspect because his DNA is on one of the victims. Your brother, a murderer? There was no way. He was protective of you, his little sister, but he wasn’t that protective, not a murdering type because you looked at my sister wrong kind of guy.

“When is the last time you spoke to him?” You’d learned the name of the man across from you. Agent Hotchner.

Your arms remained crossed over your chest as you said nothing. You didn’t even make contact with him. He’d been in here for almost half an hour and you could tell the man was growing impatient.

He gave a hard sigh and finally stood, “Fine you won’t speak, we’ll just have to find another way to get you to talk.” As he neared the exit, he added, “How about I bring in one of your exes? James? I think he is on your emergency contact list.” And with that he slammed the door shut behind him.

And suddenly the room grew smaller.

“Hotch, you can’t threaten her with an ex boyfriend.” Spencer defends, “That’s wrong and you know it.”

“She won’t speak, what else am I supposed to do?” Hotch tosses the file on the table next to him in frustration, “She has to speak at some point. We have a deadline before the next body shows up and we need information on her brother to find him.”

“Let me try-” Spencer started, but when he looked through the window into the interrogation room, he knew something was wrong.

You were panicking and breathing heavily as the walls continued to close in. Your ex boyfriend couldn’t come here. He couldn’t know where you were.

Spencer rushed into the room, “hey hey, breath.” He pulled you and your chair out from the table so you were in the open and facing him, “Just breath, what’s wrong?”

“The walls. The walls are..” You choked out and Spencer knew.

“Open that door.” He instructs the guard before turning his attention back to you, “Breath in and out with me.” Spencer takes in a few deep breaths and you follow along, finally calming down.

“Get her some water and keep that door open.” Spencer looks you over once more, “And get the cuffs off her. She’s claustrophobic. There’s no need for the cuffs. She’s not a suspect.”

Your grateful for the man in front of you, “Thank you.” You say quietly as he unlocks the cuffs from your wrists.

His eyes meet yours, “We’ll keep the door open from now on. Is that alright?”

You nod, “there’s no windows.. the room just kept getting smaller.”

He hands you the cup of water, “I know, it’s alright. May I sit in here with you?” He motions to the free seat across from you.

You answer with a nod and take a sip of your water. You were finally calmed enough to take in the man who’d saved you. His hair was a mess on the top of his head, but it worked for him. He wore a button up shirt with a vest and a tie around his neck. You read the badge clipped to his shirt, SSA Spencer Reid.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid by the way.”

“You look a little young to be a doctor.” You say quietly.

He chuckles, “I get that a lot.” He points to the shirt your wearing, “Las Vegas. I’m from there.”

“Went for my 21st birthday. My parents took my brother and I.”

“It’s a great place. However, I’m banned from casinos there.”

“Banned?” You laugh, “What could you have possibly been banned for?”

“Um.. being too good at cards.” He chuckles.

“Ah you were costing them money? Yeah I can see why you’d be banned.”

The two of you continued to make small talk. Spencer took a friendly approach instead of Hotch’s aggressive approach and you seemed to open up more to him. From the entire 30 minutes he’d sat with you, he’d managed to find out more than Hotch did and found out that you weren’t great with men who shown aggression. He confirmed that theory when Hotch had walked in and asked you a couple questions but you’d shut down and didn’t say a word.

“We only want to find your brother. His DNA is on one of the victims shirts.” Spencer explains as he opens the file in front of you. He wanted to get you comfortable with him before going straight into the case and it’s details, “If he is innocent, great, we’ll prove it. But we have to find him first.”

You nervously looked over the few photos of the men and recognized one, “That’s Brad. I went on a date with him the other night. It.. it didn’t end good and my brother had stepped in.” You look up at Spencer, “Is that who had his DNA?”

Spencer gives a nod, glancing back at the window where the team were already listening and watching.

“My brother had to.. he had to stop the guy. He made some advances when I got home and wouldn’t stop so my brother stepped in to help. He’d never.. kill these men.”

“Can someone confirm that? And confirm your brother had an alibi the nights these men went missing?”

You quickly nod, “My brother’s girlfriend and her niece. The three of us live together and her niece was there with us over the weekend. And also our neighbors. They can confirm my brother was home because he spoke with them while bringing up groceries.”

“This is great information. Let me go talk with the team.”

It was only a little while later that Spencer was back in the room, “You’re free to go.”

“My brother?”

“He’s cleared of anything. He’s no longer a suspect.” Spencer hands you your things they had confiscated at the door.

“Thank you.” You give a grateful smile, “And for being so kind during all of this.”

“Of course.” He apologizes for Hotch’s behavior, “he’s used to taking that aggressive approach with other unsubs. He sometimes forgets that it doesn’t work with everyone.” He motions to the door, “I’ll walk you out.”

The two of you walk out of the room and through the police department, “Well, I hope you catch the man who did this.”

“I believe we will. It could also be a woman. Statistically when the victims are men, 85% of the time the killer is a woman.” He notices the look on your face and blushes, “Sorry, I like statistics and sometimes I get overly excited.”

“It’s fine.” You laugh, “I’ll see you around, Dr. Spencer Reid...”

He watches as you walk out the door and he makes it look like he wasn’t watching you leave when you glance back at him, however, he runs right into the water dispenser, almost knocking it over.

Criminal Minds tag list: @thelovelydreamer17 , @la-vie-en-amour1 , @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 , @astra-inclinant-sed-non-obligant (possibly: @astra-x-inclinant) , @bluerose512 , @lolychu , @varsityalthete , @televisiondreamstomorrow , @harry-hollands , @lumineshawn , @lyss-xo , @rexorangecouny , @sassy-hades , @britishspidey , @ateez-star , @l0ve-0f-my-life , @ceeellewrites , @newtkyloskywalkerstiliski , @in-some-fandoms

All my works tag list: @blossomreed , @mggstyles , @simonsbluee , @thewolf-and-thesheep , @obxrafejjwhore , @abbiesthings , @itstaskeen , @reniescarlett

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #Spencer Reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x female!reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fanfic #Criminal Minds Fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds imagines #criminal minds fic

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enduracarrotchips · 3 years

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YouTuber AU

Hello welcome to Dating Scandal but with Twitter Involved (nightmare)

A little exposition here:

Link, Zelda, Sidon, Revali, and Riju are the most popular group of youtubers on the internet and have a huge fanbase that likes to theorize, draw fanart, and write fanfiction about them. Disclaimer, I don’t actually interact with real-person fandoms myself lol there’s just too much potential for drama and misunderstandings & they’re always bound to end in a dumpster fire but that is sort of what this au is about so.

Impa, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are family friends that appear in a lot of their videos/streams.

(This is an art blog I swear)

enter vidcon 20XX

Link:

blows stuff up/sets stuff on fire with a side of cooking vids and gaming

most are filmed outside, he does those challenges where you try to cook stuff with limited ingredients/materials

has the largest fanbase of all of them, but not the most…intimidating.

does a lot of collab videos, mostly with Impa, Daruk, and Riju because they have similar interests/channels, but Zelda appears in his videos and is seen filming and the stans read too far into it

simps. i’m pointing at you.

Most popular videos are “shield surfing on rock!—how I broke my leg” “can Daruk eat Impa’s motorcycle?” and “how to inhale ranch dressing.”

Twitter handle is @ arsonistslullabye because he’s a hozier fan

45m subs

Zelda:

theories, analyses, conspiracies, and the occasional e x p e r i m e n t

she once got link to eat a frog for 50 bucks.

most people argue that she’s better than more popular YouTubers because she actually has quality content to give to the world and she has a lot of defensive supporters

She used to get a lot of hate before Urbosa spoke up about it and scared the bejeezus out of everyone

has an actual posting schedule

“Happy Sunday everyone, it’s Zelda Hyrule and today we will be talking about cryptozoology and why blupees exist, you cowards.”

Twitter handle is @ zeldaofhyrule and she is pan. just so you know. One of those calm extroverts that mystify me to this day.

18m subs

Sidon:

fashion/life hacks. Like gourmet troom troom but if they were real people.

Has the 2nd largest fanbase

most of them are girls

Sidon has a boyfriend though, which he told everyone at VidCon a few years ago

cue the drama and shipping and the entire fandom trying to figure out who the boyfriend is. A well known reddit thread emerged that presented the common guesses being Link, Sidon, and Zelda.

“But it can’t be Zelda, Sidon’s gay.”

“I’m not in the fandom but I thought Zelda was a boy??”

“Did you just say Sidon? Is that a typo? Are you saying that Sidon’s dating himself?”

Sidon x Sidon became a fandom joke.

Don’t look at me I’m just setting up all the worldbuilding. every fandom has their weird dark sides and Sidon x Sidon is the Linkcest of the Sidon YT fandom.

Mystery BF is actually Bazz, a pretty inconspicuous guy who appeared in a few of his videos. This was confirmed a year ago, but everyone still ships him with other YouTubers because they’re convinced he was lying to throw them off his scent. He really can’t catch a break and this is why you should not ship real people.

Twitter handle is @ officialprincesidon

says “beguiling” a lot

21m subs ᕙ( ͡❛ ▿ ͡❛)ᕗ

Mipha:

Sidon’s sister, hasn’t posted a single video but just has the channel for show because she appears in so many of Sidon’s videos as a model for his makeup tutorials and whatnot

has 328k for that. Everyone loves her, she’s great. @ mimipha

Revali:

Link’s sworn rival

Link thinks they’re friends

He kept popping up in link’s Twitter threads and making snarky comments until zelda called him out for not even following link (so why was he stalking his acc) which kept the Twitter drama to a minimum

Revali was the catalyst of a few popular memes and that’s where most of his subs come from.

drags link into a few challenges that always get a ton of views because of how competitive they get

“ITS JUST ASININE” is a running joke that everyone tries to get him to say. His @ is itsjustasinine as well

Urbosa is the only person who can win an argument with him

5m subs and growing rapidly. newer to youtube than everyone else.

Impa:

Doesn’t have a channel she’s just a mutual friend of Mipha, Zelda, and Link

Rides a motorcycle, so she is used in a few of Link’s videos.

@ ihaveamotorcycle because she thinks having a motorcycle is a personality trait. the most unruly on Twitter when it comes to replying to fan’s stuff, leaking upcoming videos and generally causing chaos.

Mipha’s girlfriend. That’s how she met Zelda and Link.

Urbosa:

Is actually a model, but she has a ton of YouTuber friends because she’s known Zelda since birth.

when she entered the youtube community she didn’t realize she would be adopting like 15 children

5m subs. her videos are professional & related to her modelling career. @ urbosasfury

I feel like she would do unboxing vids. I’m not sure what she’s unboxing.

Daruk

Just a friend of Link’s, fun guy. yells a lot. once ate a rock and had no reaction.

people are scared of him for that reason

Riju:

yoga & gymnastics & “ha look at how flexible I am its eAsY” videos

you know the type

she also does reactions and is sponsored by save the sand seals charities which she is very enthusiastic about. She’s also Urbosa’s niece and the only minor in the gang (15). I like to think that the champions YT community is actually not creepy so everyone respects her a ton

doesn’t post frequently, she mostly appears in Link’s videos to jump out of airplanes or whatever. And sometimes Zelda’s if she’s interested in the topic. 500k subs, but she’s always really popular when she appears in Link’s videos.

VidCon:

In the months leading up to VidCon, some fans on the internet made a few discoveries: first of all, that the inside of Link’s house is painted green. This is a big deal because all of his videos are filmed outside either in his backyard or on trips that he and the brosquad go on to do…whatever bros do. explosions. idk. The point is he had some announcement about VidCon and filmed it inside. Only the wall and a potted plant were shown.

However, the colour was similar to the the shade of Zelda’s living room. Fans dug through years and years of old videos and found a clip of Zelda walking through a hallway, where there was an open door and a glimpse of a houseplant.

There were 2 types of responses to the theory:

“They could just be roommates guys calm down”

“and they were ROOMMATES?”

others pointed out that Link could just not have a house and had to crash in Zelda’s

Some guy on reddit claimed he had a botany degree and declared that the houseplants in the clips were not of the same genus. Normal people pointed out that the plant would have grown 4 years between the clips and would look considerably different.

#Zelink trended on twitter for a while and people posted other old clips from both of their channels and the frog video blew up again

Impa retweeted a post tagged as #zelink with “rofl” and later publicly apologized for causing confusion.

Fans noticed that in the “can a motorcycle drive over my arm” (it was clickbait he’s fine) episode 2 years ago, Link was eating out of a paper lunch bag with his name written on it in handwriting that a few people claimed to look like Zelda’s, leading people to believe that she had packed him a lunch.

However, this theory was shot down with the counterargument that Zelda can’t cook. although. i mean how much skill do you need to make a sandwich.

No one knows what tumblr is doing at this time

Zelda wore a scarf in her “Save the Sand Seals” video that matched identically to the scarf Link wore when he travelled to Hebra to film a shield surfing video, but it’s been debated wether it’s actually the same scarf or not.

Neither Zelda nor Link has spoken up about the theories, and besides Impa’s one slip on twitter, neither has any of their friends. Zelda received a lot of backlash for the assumption that she was dating Link because he has a lot of delusional fans that didn’t want her to “steal their man” or whatever the hell that type of fan would get mad about

Oh yea and bolson & karson run a zelink fanpage on twitter sorry I forgot about that

after that whole mess, everyone was even more anticipant of VidCon in the hopes that some of their questions would be answered.

The whole batch went to VidCon this year: Link, Impa, Daruk, and Riju are a gang while Sidon and Mipha go together and Zelda & Revali each go separately. Urbosa is there for supervision moral support

Zelda has always been much better at dodging questions that she doesn’t want to answer than anyone else, so her Q&A went without a hitch. When asked to confirm the rumours she said “which one?” and then moved on to the next question (without actually confirming any rumours).

Link is generally a more awkward person but eventually said that he had filmed the video in Zelda’s house because it was nicer and didn’t realize it would cause such an uproar. Fans were disappointed, but Bolson claimed he saw Link and Zelda exiting the hotel elevator on the same floor after Link’s Q&A session. No one believed him.

Fans went back to theorizing over who Link, Zelda, and Sidon were all dating, because apparently they can’t just be dating unknown people and have to be with other YouTubers

Sidon and Bazz got engaged about a week after VidCon, making at least 4 preteen girls cry

actually try 4 million

Sidon x Sidon made a brief comeback but Sidon spoke up about his fandom for the first time ever on twitter and told everyone that no, he was not dating himself. eventually, everyone settled down and accepted that none of them were in a relationship save for a few loud fans.

Link and Zelda still got the occasional “when will you tell us who you’re dating?” comment but most of them were joking and the people who still hardcore shipped them were generally frowned upon. Zelda’s popularity went up after VidCon and she regained the 200k subscribers she’d lost after the first theory dropped.

Two months after VidCon, Link posted a video titled “Zelda and I’s House Tour!” and gave around 45 million people a heart attack

as revealed in the video, they had actually been dating since they were 16 and everyone’s just a fool.

the potted plant is named Hestu.

#listen. listen. youtuber au #idc if u came here to see genderless art this is what I am posting today #genderless art in the future though #anyways I'm so sorry #sidon x sidon trends for a few days and I feel bad for the ppl who have to handwrite the trending descriptions on twitter #like what would it be #reddit user @ steponmeurbosa makes a spelling error and sparks shipping between beauty guru sidon and himself #if someone tries to start discourse about YouTube fandoms on my post I am blocking you #headcanons #opinions #youtuber au #botw #zelink #breath of the wild #legend of zelda #thank god I got this out of my notes app

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sweepseven · 2 years

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Cirque du Soleil: Crystal review

This review has taken me a full month to write. Like literally I saw the show on June 16 and here we are on July 16. And coincidentally that is the tl;dr of this post: Crystal’s primary quality is how easy it is to forget. Sometimes for four weeks at a time.

Looking back on my notes on the performance I’m kind of laughing because I was vicious! And now I’m laughing again because here I am saying “Crystal is forgettable” while looking at notes that say “Crystal is a story that literally never never needs to be told” and despite standing firmly by both these statements, I had a genuinely good time at the show! I think ultimately the insistence upon such a poor and pointless story was the show’s greatest weakness, but there were true moments of Cirque magic hidden in there that were worth the ticket price. And what really kept me engaged was the innovation - it was lovely to see some totally uncharted waters from CdS again. It felt like it’s been a long while.

Verdict: see it if it’s within half an hour of you. And get the cheap seats. Bring like, a younger cousin or a niece, but probably don’t bring a friend. Definitely see it if you want to watch a swinging trapeze act performed by what is functionally a fourteen year old girl blare the lyrics “one two three, one two three drink, throw ‘em back til I lose count.” Overall I think you’ll have a good time.

Act by act takedown breakdown below!

So I had to dig into the press kit to get these act names, because often there aren’t acts so much as there are scenes and settings where acrobatic things happen. These scenes are often accompanied by a voiceover, melodramatic to the point of comedy, explaining Crystal’s emotions, her wants, her routines, and whatever else as though a decent show couldn’t communicate the same things wordlessly. It seems like the voiceover explains only the things the audience can already figure out on their own, then leaves us floundering when it comes to the truly confusing stuff (which, again, in a more effective show would not have been confusing at all). So if the act titles don’t make any sense here, don’t worry - it’s only because the show is telling the most pointless story on earth.

The pre-show animation is very cute and instantly immersive - ice skaters get laced up and skate lazily around the rink, the band (phenomenal, btw) mills around the audience, and Cooper has little snowball fights with the kids in the audience. (Cooper, I should note, is an incredible skater and got some real laughs out of me throughout the show - I really really enjoyed him.) It was a lovely introduction and I was feeling very optimistic about the show.

We then transition to the actual show and projections introduce us to Crystal. Crystal is a daydreamer, her parents just don’t understand her, she has to do schoolwork, she just wants to be herself and create but the world won’t let her!!! She runs away because she doesn’t want to do homework or smth and falls through the ice at the skating pond.

Yes. The story Cirque has chosen to tell is: young teen girl nearly drowns. Like it is that realistic and explicit - we see the ice crack, we see the air bubbles, we see her falling, and later we see her punching the ice apart to return to the surface. They could have so easily made the story “girl goes ice skating, falls, is taken to a strange world in which she can only stay a little while.” It could have even been “girl goes ice skating, fantasizes about her world and future.” No. Cirque has instead chosen “near death experience that forces the audience to wonder whether the remainder of the show is Crystal’s life flashing before her eyes.” The setting and character are made to be so of our own world that the story doesn’t immerse you in fantasy - instead it holds fantasy just out of reach with the knowledge that Crystal is actively drowning scratching at the back of your mind.

“Kat, it’s not that deep, just let them tell the story.” Honestly, no. This was a poor choice and I’ve seen them tell similar stories a thousand times better. You can’t ground a setting so firmly in reality and then expect your audience to discard that reality the minute you want to show them some cool circus shit. And worse, 90% of the acts continually and explicitly refer to reality, so there’s no escaping it.

I will also pause here to say fuck off with the pen! omg. If writing is Crystal’s thing, just let her do that. Introduce it early and position her as a daydreamer. She doesn't have to be a social reject too. I could retool this entire plot in about a minute, I swear. Reflection as her self-insert OC come to life. Falls through the ice and sees her visions made real but needs to go back to the real world to share them with others through writing. Two immediately stronger options. Like come on.

Honestly I can’t say enough bad things about the story so I’m just gonna move on I’m sorry.

Tempête is a group skating scene that takes place as Crystal is whisked beneath the ice. Everything about it makes for a fantastic opening act: the projections are sharp and impressive, the band goes hard beyond belief, and the quality of the skating was incredible. I don’t know much about figure skating beyond what I catch in the winter Olympics, so I’d never seen such a large group skating in such synchronicity before. There was some banquine in the mix too, but this was the first instance of what became a theme for the entire show: the ice is the star, and when they just put other acts on ice without involving the ice itself, the acts suffer. So the banquine elements were forgettable, but the skating more than made up for it and I was very excited to see more.

Crystal herself is a beautiful skater, and I adored whom in my notes I called Dark Crystal but the press kit tells me is actually called Reflection. I like Dark Crystal better because that’s basically what she was - a bolder, mysterious version of the protagonist that presents a fantastic opportunity to push Crystal’s character development. This was also the first instance of some mirror imagery, which would become a motif for the rest of the show. I don’t think it was really necessary here - we’re already looking at an actual twin of Crystal. Why am I being told “the ice is a mirror that reflects my very soul” or whatever tf?? Just show us, Cirque, I'm begging you.

Juggling was next and comparatively unremarkable. It started weak and finished strong, but there’s really no need for this act except to remind us that this is a circus show. Amazing Klezmer-esque music.

A Day in the Life is next, which I guess is supposed to help illustrate how out of place is Crystal is in her real life. Unfortunately we were already explicitly told that in the introduction, so all this really accomplishes is making the audience wonder how old Crystal is supposed to be. My best guess is fourteen, but that feels much too old in some instances. There was a lot going on onstage during this act so it was engaging to watch, but pretty unnecessary.

“Home Swing” comes afterwards, a LOVELY swinging trapeze act that belongs in basically any show but this one. Like I get what they're doing with Sia’s “Chandelier” but the cover makes the lyrics so obvious that it's borderline uncomfortable. Here's Crystal having a breakdown because she doesn't get to spend all her time writing fanfiction or whatever, and the lyrics are telling me “throw em back til I can't stop.” Like I get it, Crystal wants to swing from the chandelier. She wants to be free. I promise I get it. But the music thus far has been so strong that the sudden inclusion of a somewhat dated pop cover is not only jarring but wholly out of place.

I liked that there was a rigger controlling the artist's height and I wondered why we didn't see the same for straps later on. This act wasn’t performed on skates as it has been in the past, but I think they would have hindered the act and put it in “we didn’t need to involve the ice” territory. Instead we got a great quality act from a fantastic artist.

Best Act Award goes to School Playground/Hockey. Holy fuck! The energy! This act was upbeat, fast, energetic, and unlike anything I've ever seen from Cirque before - even excluding the ice factor, I wouldn’t say even Volta’s BMX could compare. Like the group skating at the beginning, this is an act that really uses its medium to its advantage and it comes out stronger for it. Crystal was adorable with her little jersey and whistle (though I saw the show in New Jersey and she didn’t have a Devils jersey on for some reason, so her jersey just said “Jersey,” which was very funny to me). This group looked so cohesive and fun. I loved the little high fives they passed each other whenever they crossed. The staging was bright and immersive, more extremely effective projections, plus we got to see some good use of Crystal's pen for the first of very, very few times.

Intermission! I am baffled but having fun.

Crystal comes back for a Big City scene, which is always kind of funny from Cirque. They really have it in their heads that city living is just dudes with briefcases walking very stiffly. The businessmen look intimidating but are actually super fun, and their teamwork, though inflexible at first glance, allows them to come together seamlessly for pendular poles. The staging for this scene and these characters felt at odds with their act.

Pendular poles itself was fine - I kind of expected more from an act I’ve never seen before. I think they held back a little because of the ice - maybe it would be better under a big top. There was more synchro skating in this scene too so I was back in, followed by a break for a little ice tap dance of one-upsmanship, which was cute and fun.

Somehow we are still in an office setting (at this point I think we’re here longer than we were in Crystal’s actual town and backyard) for handbalancing. Couldn't tell you a thing about this act because it was deeply unmemorable. I kept watching Crystal type away and wondering why she keeps moaning about wanting to be herself and create when she's clearly a-okay in an office setting. There were yet more briefcase sequences and at that point I was rolling my eyes. Someone tell Cirque this is not how people work anymore. I get that it's kind of a 60s era, but come on. They could have created a city with crosswalks, stoplights, color, and vibrancy, and all of that would have been a better match for the characters who lived there! Instead it's more gray on gray on gray. Blech.

But now it’s time for skating duets! MORE ice used to its greatest advantage!! Whenever there wasn't skating in the show I just wanted more skating anyway, and this delivered. They all had mirrors like it's supposed to mean something but of course there's no throughline, just more mirrors for mirror's sake. It’s like the creators awoke in a cold sweat and went, “holy FUCK, we can’t forget the mirror thing!!! Put it in wherever you can!!!” My dudes, you have to define it first.....

Straps is next and was fine. We were treated to another jarring cover, this time of Beyonce’s “Halo.” Like why. It's good but why. This was also another part that absolutely didn't need to be narrated. A girl is allowed to just pine! Or imagine someone for herself! I promise we will understand, Cirque, you don’t need to explain it to us. Yet again I wondered how old Crystal is supposed to be. So far I’ve seen her hang out at a playground, doodle in a notebook, participate in Take Your Daughter To Work Day, and attend an aerial ballroom dance. It’s not as egregious here since it’s clearly a fantasy (pretty much the only obvious and effective one in the show), but still kind of funny.

But now Reflection is BACK and BADDER than ever, AND she brought FRIENDS. I loved this Return of the Reflection scene. The press kit tells me she's reminding Crystal that the real world is above and she has to go back, but I didn't get that from this moment. It seemed more to me more like Crystal was coming to terms with what she could be if she were more true to herself. But did she even really struggle with that? Because last I heard, she was getting eviscerated in the group chat for being a weirdo all the time. Regardless the four Reflections and Crystal do a mesmerizing job.

The last act is duo trapeze, and holy god. This was such a highlight and the perfect closing act to deliver us to the finale. The artist’s bare feet were such a visceral image, the lighting and music work to incredible effect, and this is probably the one and only act that successfully ties Crystal’s emotional journey to her experience of the show’s events. I wished all of the acts had the opportunity to shine similarly - there was just an overwhelming sense of care and intention in the choreography that was missing from so many other moments. The flyer’s lines were extraordinary, the duo’s control together was unmatched, and the drops were awe-inspiring. Maybe this was my favorite act of the night, actually.

The finale is cool. I could have done with the endless, echoing repetitions of the "fight for air" mantra and I don’t think I’m exaggerating or being unfair when I say it was awkward as fuck. Just say you have to go back omg. And it’s yet another reminder that she’s been drowning this whole time! Nevertheless, the music and projections are amazing and the group skate at the end is wonderful. And despite all my eye rolling at Crystal being a writer, Reflection writing “The End” in the ice was probably my favorite moment of the entire show. Finally Crystal's writing has a point. It was a real twinge of emotion, and a hint at what this show could be if it reached its full potential.

It was bittersweet in a way - I did have fun, I left smiling, and wasn’t sorry I went. But the shows that disappoint me the most are the ones that show such obvious hints of promise that would have come to full light if Cirque cared just a little bit more.

#cirque du soleil #crystal #reviews

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xxwritemeastoryxx · 3 years

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Tales of Heroes

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x @mikaelson-emma

Request: Hi! Could I request a imagine/one-shot were the reader is Hayley’s sister (a hybrid) and has a child, but scarified herself to save the Mikaelson’s? She could romantically involved with Klaus, but her child isn’t his. She asks him to have him tell stories about her to the child, and one day she gets resurrected. Or it could something else! I love you writing and I am excited to see that you are taking requests! I hope you have a good day! ❤️❤️ -@mikaelson-emma Word Count: 2.1K

Warnings: Nope. Nothing I can think of.

Author’s Note: I’M OVER HERE CRYING MY EYES OUT. Like you guys have no idea how emotional this one has made me. I really do hope that at some point Emma comes in and sees this. I hope that this is everything you wanted. I freaking miss you! On another note, Welcome to another day of May Madness. I hope you guys enjoy!

Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. ♥

Laughter filled the air as Hope and Ava played in Hope’s room. The sound could easily be heard anywhere throughout the compound. The two cousins playing while using up the last burst of energy they had in their systems before bed. For the first time in centuries, there was a peace that surrounded the Mikaelsons that allowed the girls to be carefree.

There was enough peace that the Mikaelson siblings didn’t have to worry about looking over their shoulders for any enemies that may be lurking in the shadows. With the two young girls, the Mikalesons believed that even more danger would be on their doorstep. But that hadn’t been the case. They were safe. They wouldn’t be hurt by the Mikaelsons’ past and that was all thanks to Emma. Without her, there wouldn’t have been the peace they were living in.

Klaus leaned against the door frame as he watched Hope run after Ava with a pillow. Ava’s laughter had been followed with a shriek as the pillow in Hope’s hand had come into contact with her. Ava swung the one she had in her hand, hoping to get Hope away for only a moment before she attacked back.

The sight itself had brought a smile to Klaus’ lips as he watched them. The bond between the two cousins had reminded him greatly of Emma and Hayley. The two girls are inseparable just as their mothers were after their own reunion. Hayley had believed she didn’t have any family left. And when she found her fraternal twin after coming to New Orleans, there was no breaking them apart.

Emma had fit easily into the family. It didn’t matter how complicated things may have become, Emma was there for her found family. She would never leave her sister in a fight and she’d make damn sure that her own daughter and niece were safe. And when it came to making a sacrifice for the girls’ safety. Emma was ready and willing to pay the price.

Just promise me one thing. Emma’s voice played in Klaus’ head as he watched the girls. That if anything ever happens to me, you’ll take care of her.

Klaus could remember telling her that he should never have to make that promise. That Emma would always be around to watch as her own daughter grew. Emma had made him promise anyways. She had even gotten Hayley to promise as well. Emma needed to be sure that her daughter was taken care of.

“Alright girls,” Hayley’s voice cut through Klaus’s memories, pulling him back to the present. “Time for bed.” Hope and Ava whined in unison the moment the words left Hayley’s lips.

“Five more minutes, Aunt Hayley?” Ava asked as she watched her Aunt look over at Klaus for a moment.

“Hayley is right.” Klaus said agreeing with her. “You both have big days tomorrow. It’d be a shame if the both of you were exhausted before the fun even began.”

For weeks the girls had been asking about taking a trip to the state fair when it came. While Klaus and even Hayley were skeptical about taking the girls there, they had been assured several times that things would be okay. That things wouldn’t go wrong just because the girls wanted to have some fun.

It was Freya that had convinced her younger brother that they should go. That they should have fun without worrying about anything. To let the girls live as normal of a life as they could from time to time. Ava may have only been a year older than Hope, but the girls were needing interactions with the outside world. Away from the teachings of spells, or self defense classes.

Klaus’s words had made the girls toss the pillows back onto Hope’s bed before turning to each other and saying goodnight. Ava ran past Klaus and Hayley as she went into the room across the hall. It caused Klaus to chuckle as he pushed himself off the doorframe.

“I got Ava.” He said as he turned and walked towards the door.

A small smile pulled at Hayley’s lips as he watched Klaus do so. For as many times Hayley had warned Emma about Klaus, they found a way to be together. After the fights, after the accusations, there was something that Emma had seen in Klaus. The same thing Klaus had seen within her. They were willing to do whatever it took to keep their family safe. To do whatever it took to keep each other safe.

Klaus had stepped up as the father figure to Ava after Emma sacrificed herself. While Hope was still his daughter and he’d do anything for her, Ava was in a sense, now his as well. For the past year, he worried for her. Stayed up with her when the nightmares would scare her. When she’d break down crying simply because she had missed her mom. Klaus was there for her. He may have not been her biological father, but with how much he had grown to care for and love Emma and Ava, Ava had become like a daughter to him.

Klaus watched as Ava climbed into bed, the moment he walked into the room. It wasn’t long before a smile tugged at his lips as she burrowed into her bed. To see so much of Emma within the young girl had caused a tinge of pain within his chest. Ava smiled at Klaus as she pulled the blanket over herself and nodded her head, signaling she was ready for her favorite story.

It was during those nights that Ava had woken up from nightmares that Klaus would tell her the tale of her Mother. It was in a way that showed how much he had loved and adored her while proving she was the hero that saved them all. It had become Ava’s favorite story. One that needed to be told each night in order to keep the nightmares at bay.

He walked over towards the bed and sat down at the edge. His hand coming to rest on her feet, making her giggle before he moved them. “You have to promise right after, you’ll go to bed.”

“I promise.” Ava brought her small hand up and made an x over her heart. “Cross my heart.”

Klaus chuckled as he shook his head slightly. “In a kingdom in a far away land, there lived a Queen. One that was loved by not only her subjects, but the family she had created. The bond between them ensured they were kept safe from any enemy that may have threatened them. The Queen was not immortal. For even the genes she carried within her blood may have made her stronger, but even the strongest warriors have their weaknesses.”

He watched as Ava’s lips pulled into a smile. “For this Queen’s weakness was her beautiful daughter. The Queen would slay those who dared entered their kingdom in hopes of taking or harming the Princess. She’d return from battle with the blood of her enemies on her body, showing that she would do anything in her power to save her child.

“Even her family would face the invaders to help the Queen. So long as the Queen was there, the family would be invincible.” Klaus had lost count of the many times Emma had helped save them. The countless times she had been there to help protect them or to take down an enemy without any hesitation as to what his past held. “It wasn’t long before a new threat arose in the Kingdom. A dark creature entered the Kingdom, taking her loved ones one by one, threatening to take their lives.

“One night, while the Princess slept, the Queen went and made a deal with a very powerful witch.” As Klaus said the words he could easily see in his mind how Emma had gotten up in the middle of the night to meet with Freya. Klaus remembered watching as she walked into Freya’s room before a spell kept him from hearing the words they spoke, or even viewing into the room from the balcony. “The deal would ensure the Princess would be safe, along with the rest of her family. But the King that had courted her, tried to stop her from making the deal.”

“You are all in danger!” Emma had yelled as she stood in front of Klaus. “I can’t just sit by and watch as you all are targeted. We almost lost your brother. What other close calls are we going to have to make before you let me help?”

“What about Ava?” He asked, trying to keep himself calm. The way they had been screaming at each other wasn’t getting them anywhere.

Emma shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “This is for her as much as it is for you and your siblings. For my sister. For our girls to be able to live without a darkness looming over them. You have to let me do this. I’ll be able to come back from this.”

“No.” Klaus said as he shook his head before moving to place his hands on the sides of her face. “A spell like this, even I know there is no coming back from it. It will break Ava.”

“You promised to take care of her.” She said as she placed her hands on top of his as they rested against her face. “Just don’t let her forget about me. Talk to her about me, about us. Because I know that is the only thing that will make this easier for her.”

He took in her words before he pulled his hands away from her. Realization hitting him. This just wasn’t her saying she was going to try and do this. This was Emma saying she had already done so. This was her saying her goodbyes. He ran his hand along his face before he turned his head away from her.

“When?” He asked a moment later as he turned to look back at her. It was as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, that he loved so much, that he found the answer he needed.

“But he had been too late.” Klaus continued. He watched as Ava’s eyes began to close. He knew she would be asleep towards the end of the story. “No matter how much the Queen had loved the King, she knew what needed to be done. The very night the dark creature came to attack, the Queen’s family had begun to fall. Slowly each of them had been hurt by the creature. The Queen knew she’d be the next to be hurt. And once she was, the spell she had the powerful witch cast, allowed her body to absorb the dark creature.”

Ava rolled on to her side, her hands coming up under her head, her eyes closed. “Mommy saved us.”

The words were soft. To any human, they would have barely been able to hear them. But for a hybrid, they had been loud in his ears. A sad smile pulled at his lips as he watched her eyes close. “That she did.” He said before continuing the story. “The Kingdom mourned the loss of their Queen. But there was one thing the King had promised the Princess. She’d always be safe. She’d always be taken care of. And she’d be told of her mothers heroics. The Queen would never be forgotten. It was her wish for stories to be passed on about her just as the stories of legends had.”

Klaus slowly stood from his spot before he watched Ava for a moment. She was sound asleep by the time he had finished. A smile pulled at his lips as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight little one.”

“You were always so great at telling her stories.”

Klaus froze at the voice. He thought for a moment that there was some kind of trick that someone dared to do on him. Because after a year, he never thought he’d hear that voice again. His memory didn’t even do it justice.

His heart sped up for a brief moment as he slowly turned towards the door. He hoped that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Or anyone else for that matter. But as soon as his eyes landed towards the doorway, his jaw dropped slightly.

She was there. She was standing there in the doorway with a smile on her face as she watched his reaction. Klaus could see the way her eyes slowly filled with tears as he began closing the space between them. Without a second thought, he walked quickly over to her and pulled her into his arms.

Having her press against him had told him that this wasn’t a dream. That this wasn’t someone attempting to hurt him and the little girl that slept a few feet away. Emma was home and Klaus had every intention of making sure she never left his sight again.

All WorksTag (The tag to be notified for everything I write): @xoxo-nikki-xoxo @mrs-jackson-kenner @mizzzpink @amariaamaris

Always and Forever Tags (All things TVDU):

@taylordrunkonwhiskey @thewolf-and-thesheep @wayward-dan @neeadinghugs @fafulous @kenmen02 @elizamonet @dora-the-grownup @mschellehitt @xanderling @fandom-princess-forevermore @buckysarm4 @hi-my-name-is-riley @helenasingers @hellotvshowtrash @dpaccione @dumble-daddy @theactressstaringinyourbaddream @maldita-world @nikmikaelsonswife @elijahs-wife @avala-moon @swearingsolemnly @hey-there-angels @akshi8278 @imgoingtofreakoutnow @r13mar @raemikaelson @harpersmariano @ghostwriter20

Hybrid Tag: (All Things Klaus Mikaelson) @xxsovereignsarayaxx

The Originals Tag: (All Things The Originals) @zillahvathek @obsessedwithvampires @dpaccione @malfoys-demigod

Bold Tags mean for one reason or another I cannot tag you in this. If you would like to be added to, or taken off, the list please do so here!

#The Originals #the vampire diaries #Tales of Heroes #Klaus Mikaelson #Klaus Mikaelson x Emma #Klaus Mikaelson x OC #Klaus Mikaelson one shot #Klaus Mikaelson imagine #Klaus Mikaelson fics #xxwritemeastoryxx blogiversary bingo winner #EMMA I MISS YOU #TVD #TO #May Madness

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cherry-gemz · 3 years

Text

Open Book: Part I

Summary: As the Assistant Librarian for a small town in Florida, you find yourself intrigued with an extraordinary little girl and her charming uncle. As each day goes by, you teach the girl about adventure and mystery with your love of books. Little do you know what's in store for you next.

Pairings: Y/N and Frank Adler

Rating: PG, all fluff

Word count: IDK, failed at the assignment 2k+ lol. So I split the fic.

Challenge Prompt: Write a story about someone trying to find the perfect birthday gift.

A/N: Happiest of birthdays dear @a-little-counter-esperanto. You are the bees knees and really a true gem! I'm so happy we've become friends - we have so many things in common it's cray. I'm wishing you all the love and happiness, sunshine! May you continue to have a fantastic birthday sleepover and enjoy being loved by all! Hope you enjoy the fic xx - Cherry

"Did you get the flowers?" Mary asked as she sat on the couch flipping through the tv.

Frank patted his chest and then his jeans in search of his keys.

"What?"

Mary kept changing the channels without a beat,"Frank. You're supposed to buy a girl flowers on the date."

Frank furrowed his brow, "Uh...no. Have you seen my keys? Really?"

Mary rolled her eyes, "She's not gonna kiss you goodnight."

He searched on the kitchen table and rummaged through old mail when a knock at the door interrupted his concentration. As he bee-lined to the door, Mary turned off the tv and hopped off the couch to grab her latest book she'd chiseled her way through for the week.

Frank swung the door open abruptly and started you as you stood at their doorstep.

"Hey! You made it, great!" Frank exclaimed. "Sorry, my head's a mess."

Mary now situated herself at the kitchen table and shouted over her shoulder, "It's because he hasn't been on a real date in over six months."

Frank turned red," What? No...I mean yes, but jeez, Mary. Remember we talked about how to read a room?"

He turned back to you, "Come in, come in. I'm just trying to find my keys."

You chuckled and nodded to the doorknob which held his set of keys and he smacked his forehead.

As you walked into the house, you noticed little knickknacks here and there on shelves. And books. Mountains of books everywhere. Piling on top of each other.

"Hi Mary," you smiled as she kept her back to you, nose deep in her book.

"Mary…" Frank scolded as he put his hands on his hips.

"Hi, Ms. Y/N."

You smiled as you approached her, "May I sit?"

She nodded in agreement and you pulled out a chair.

"I brought you something…" you say as you rummage through your canvas bag for your book on crabs. "Well, actually I was hoping you could help me...see…"

Frank smiled as he saw the two of you bonding. He caught himself admiring you more than he'd like to admit as he needed to head off to his date soon. He appreciated your assistance with babysitting Mary as the two of you first met at the local library. His date, Justine, was a waitress at the bar he would visit from time to time. While there was a chemistry between them, it was really just through vanity. With you, he had come to know you at a deeper level: the way you’d squint or furrow your brow when reviewing your clipboard. Or how adorable you’d look chewing on the cap of your pen when trying to finalize an email at your desk. He saw that you loved the color yellow, considering how many skirts and cardigans you’d paired together. And that you were a romantic at heart - the classics were your fave to read and how’d you get lost in historical facts when he had first asked you what your hobbies were. Seeing how a beautiful person you were, inside and out, he now regretted asking Justine out with you on his mind.

Mary's eyes scanned the books of quantum physics and mathematics. At first you thought perhaps she had another book instead, but as you watched her day in and day out, you were astounded at the tiny prodigy and her ability to ascertain such knowledge at her age. You'd correct the cataloging errors for the day and find her reading for enjoyment it seemed.

Then one day Frank arrived. Mary had always left on her own, but as if it were any old regular day, the handsome uncle came to retrieve his stellar niece. He had a warmness to him. His dark brown hair and beard complemented his face, one that was obvious in an overall attractiveness. And he was kind, he showed that by adopting his niece after her mother had passed away and truly nurturing her gifted talent. You learned he fixed boats for a living and lived not too far from the library. You smiled at the odd pair together, they somehow seemed to work however.

As you checked their books out, Mary tiptoed over the large walnut desk and glanced at you.

"You're pretty," she stated.

"Mary. What did we say?" Frank tsked, embarrassed, but didn't disagree with her observation.

"What? Frank, you told me that I need to state facts, rather than assumptions. And I am stating a fact that Ms. Y/LN is pretty. Do you think she's pretty, Frank?"

Frank coughed into his fist and blushed, you smirked, half wanting to know his answer, half laughing inside of how Mary was so blunt.

"Yes, Ms. Y/LN is very pretty," he replied and gazed at your eyes. He licked his lips and you had to turn away feeling flushed. You closed the last book and placed it in Mary's backpack.

"All set," you replied. "These are due on the 23rd."

Frank zipped up the backpack and slung it over his broad shoulder. "Thanks, we'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh?" You replied as Mary looked at you both attempting to assess the flirtation occuring before her eyes.

"Well, yeah, she loves it here, I mean. And we have a few other books to return."

"Yes, we'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Mary."

"Bye," Mary replied and skipped off.

Frank showed up every day after that. You found it endearing, but not wanting to read into something that wasn't there, you focused your attention on Mary. That only seemed to peak his interest further. While he had a knack for attracting women, his heart was never in it for the long haul since the minute they found out about Mary, they'd either run away from the possible responsibility, or Mary would run them off herself. But with you it was different. You were genuine and kind to Mary. Knowing quite well of her mathematical abilities, you would challenge her in other areas: art, zoology, history. You found that while she could read more college level books than any person you met in the small town, she still was a child wanting to learn about all other aspects of life. You'd sit together at a table: you, reviewing inventory spreadsheets for the latest book fair and her, immersed in some book that would put you to sleep at night.

"Frank, you should ask Ms. Y/LN out," Mary stated one day as the three of you sat at a table together. Frank practically choked and you shook your head, secretly wanting to say yes.

"Aw, Mary. Well, I bet Ms. Y/LN has guys lined up at her door every night."

"No, she doesn't," Mary replied as she turned a page of her book. Frank laughed and placed his hand on Mary's shoulder, pretending to shake her.

"Well, actually Ms. Y/LN…" he said as your heart skipped a beat.

"Y/N," you interrupted. "You can call me Y/N. I feel we're on a first name basis now considering you're here everyday."

“Y/N,” he smiled. His hair was more combed today. You had noticed that he seemed to be disheveled when you first met him, however either Mary’s tactics were rubbing off on him, or it was your pure imagination.

“Yes?” you piped. You haven't been regularly dating lately. There just weren’t many prospects these days. Not ones that could keep up with conversation, let alone intellect. So instead, you found yourself immersed with your favorite fictional characters in the sea of books you’d grown to know and love.

His brow furrowed, he seemed nervous and he picked at the edge of a book as he attempted to gather his thoughts.

“Do you have a favorite book?” Mary interrupted as Frank turned to her, but seemingly glad she saved him from embarrassment.

“Do I have a favorite book? Hmmm...” you thought and a childish smile appeared on your face. “I have many favorite books, Mary...The Velveteen Rabbit, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe…”

“Yeah, but what’s like your most favorite book?”

You extended your hand out to her and she willingly accepted. Frank perked up his interest as he watched the two of you scamper off into the fiction area. Curious, he stood up and decided to follow. The two of you giggled quietly as you made your way around the columns, your free hand lightly ghosting over the spines of the books. The subtle scent of paper and dust permeated Frank’s sense of smell. He was more of an outdoorsy person nowadays as he had left behind his scholarly days teaching in Boston. It’s where Mary learned most from, his appetite to keep learning, vernacular, and wit . You slowed down and perused a row until you found your favorite book.

“Aha!” you exclaim and hid the book behind your back as Mary jumped up and down with excitement. “Now, I’m not sure if this is something you’d be interested in, it’s more for ten year olds in my opinion. However, I know you’re a very mature young lady and I find that you’d quite enjoy the story if you give it a chance.”

Frank smiled, perplexed as to what book could possibly be your favorite. You pulled the book from behind and showed Mary.

“Little Women,” she stated. “By Louisa May Alcott.”

“Yes. It’s a beautiful story, really. About sisters and the trials they endure during the American Civil War. There’s friendship, love, and growth.”

Mary bunched her nose, you could tell she was on the fence about whether she’d enjoy a story about fictional sisters and yucky love stuff. You started to pull it away, however she grabbed it from your hands. You laughed and looked at Frank who leaned onto the columns and folded his arms.

“Seems someone is wanting to expand their horizons,” he chuckled.

“So it seems,” you smiled back as Mary skipped off to return to the table leaving the two of you behind.

“I’m more of a Lord of the Rings man myself.”

“Really?” you responded playfully. “The Hobbit included, right?”

“Of course,” he scoffed. “I think I actually just read that one to be honest, I just wanted to impress you. I spent my time reading Calvin and Hobbes more, probably how Mary learned my sarcasm.”

You laugh and touch his forearm as a reflex, but quickly realize and pull away. The spark that you felt when you connected was undeniable. You felt butterflies with him standing next to you and you hoped he hadn’t noticed your inability to remain calm.

“Y/N…” he started to say nervously. “Would it be alright if I called ya? Maybe we can get together sometime?”

“Oh, umm,” you replied, caught off guard. While you definitely had caught feelings for the handsome man, you never would have thought it’d be reciprocated. You stuttered, trying to gather your response.

Your hesitation threw him off, and he quickly replied, “I mean...like to sit for Mary or whatever. She really likes you.”

“Of course...yes,” you reply defeated in hopes that he would have asked you out. Instead of asking why he didn’t, you started to walk back to Mary. Frank scrunched his face in frustration in knowing he missed his shot with you and blurted out the most platonic question instead. He realized as well and quickly shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and followed your lead.

Frank watched as you comfortably plopped yourself next to Mary on the couch, dreading that he had to meet up with Justine. He’d much rather relax on the couch with you and the rugrat, enjoying some silly kids movie together.

You peered over the couch, “Is it okay if she has popcorn?”

“What? Yes,” Mary said flatly and jumped off the couch to the kitchen.

“Okay, miss. But not too much sugar. Bedtime is still at 9,” Frank replied as you shrugged your shoulders.

“It’s the weekend, Frank,” Mary called out from the kitchen.

“Yes, but-“

“Will you be late?” you asked.

He looked at you in surprise, “Um, no. Probably before ten?”

“Okay, have fun.”

“It’s Y/N’s birthday,” Mary replied, carrying two coke bottles and a bag of jelly beans.

You shook your head in regret of ever telling the child when your birthday was. She was so inquisitive that day, asking about all your favorites: food, animals, books, and now birthday.

“It’s your birthday?!” Frank asked.

“Yeah, no big deal.”

“How old are you?” Mary asked as she set the drinks on the coffee table and then remembered how Frank would scold her about leaving water rings. She grabbed the coasters and placed them under the bottles.

“Mary!” Frank detested and placed his hands on his hips.

“How old do you think I am?” You tease, waving off to Frank that it was okay.

“Older than Justine, that’s for sure. She said she was 24, but looks 34. But she acts like she's 12. She hasn't even read anything on quantum physics, she thought wave mechanics was something Frank was working on with a boat,” she said coolly and popped a few jelly beans into her mouth. She nestled herself back into the couch cushions and wiggled her feet.

“Mary Elizabeth!” Frank’s voice boomed as he entered the living room.

Mary leaned over to whisper to you, “Frank says I'm not supposed to correct older people. Nobody likes a smart-ass.”

“And a busy body,” he huffed.

You nodded and laughed quietly, entertained at his expense.

“Well I am 32,” you smiled and looked at your watch, “As of one hour ago as a matter of fact.”

“That’s good. You’re much more mature than Justine and a better fit for him. Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you.”

“Mary…that’s it. You’re on your last warning,” Frank bellowed. “Don’t make me let Y/N go home and then you’re stuck with me tonight.”

“What? No! Okay. I’m sorry,” she lamented and folded her arms.

Frank’s demeanor changed as he turned to you, “I hadn’t known it was your birthday. Don’t feel pressured to sit for her tonight if you have other plans.” Secretly he wanted to cancel on Justine and spend the night celebrating you instead.

“Oh it’s okay! It kind of appeared out of nowhere. I usually go back home and celebrate with friends and family, but my schedule didn’t permit it this year. Next year, perhaps.”

“What’s your favorite dessert?” Mary asked as she chewed on another handful of jelly beans.

“Red velvet cheesecake,” you smiled. “I have a sweet tooth.”

Frank couldn’t concentrate on his date with Justine. His mind was elsewhere. On you. Justine grazed her hand as they sat next to each other at the bar. He seemed unfazed by her gesture and looked at his watch, 9:14pm. Would it be too obvious if he cut the date short that he was into you? He coughed and took a swig of his beer.

“Do you wanna come back to my place?” She cooed and bit her lip in anticipation.

“What? Oh actually I was gonna head out. The sitter needed me home by 9:30,” he lied.

“Oh, sitter?”

“Yeah, Mary. Remember? My niece?”

“That’s right. How old is she again?”

“Seven,” He said, annoyed. He recalled they had met once before. The bartender approached them and handed Frank the receipt.

“Hey, do you have any desserts on the menu?”

Justine’s ears perked in curiosity of where he was going with asking about dessert.

The bartender grunted slightly and threw a mangled tri-fold menu and Frank grabbed it quickly.

“Buddy, ring me up for the red velvet cupcake.”

#Laurens birthday challenge #Lauren's birthday sleepover #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x you #frank adler #gifted #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fluff #♡ frank adler ♡#open book

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horriblehs · 4 years

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Remus and baby Maeve Hc’s (young!Remus Lupin x pregnant! reader)

WARNINGS: Fluff, this is prolly long, mentions of pregnancy’s and complications, angst.

FINDING OUT YOUR PREGNANT

At first you freakout, its the end of your 6th year at Hogwarts you just turned 16 and you're carrying the love of your life’s baby, how do you tell him?

Well you went to Lily and Marlene and both of them wanted to hex Remus to Monday, but they saw how distressed you are, you didn't know how to react, you didn't know how he would react either.

so you kept it from him

And then after a day you couldn't avoid him anymore. So you asked him to meet you in the room of requirement, it was set up as usual, a replica of the Gryffindor common room but more homey and with a bed.

And you told him and he froze.

“we’ll do this together” he said as you started to cry.

MONTHS LEADING UP TO BIRTH

It was stressful for the both of you, judging eyes from professors and sniviless, who wouldn't stop bothering you about Remus and how he's a werewolf. Of course you already knew about his furry problem and you didn't mind. So when Snape said something about giving birth to his demon spawn, you punched him in the face. You weren't going to let him insult your baby and neither were James and Sirius who watched the whole thing unravel. They were both proud of you but they will still hex him.

So the first time you went to an appointment with Remus they told the gender and you both heard the heartbeat. Remus cried tears of joy hearing his baby girls heart beat for the first time.

The more you started to show the more you wore Remus’ sweaters. and the more remus used your tits as pillows.

The first time you felt the baby kicked, you panicked, it was like a slight flutter and it made you feel weird. So you called Remus

“Remus I-I think the babies kicking”

And then all the boys rushed over to you, taking turns feeling.

You and Remus were early to transfiguration, only a few students were there and Mcgnagall greeted you like normal, ask how you three were doing and all that jazz. Then, you started feeling a dull ache in your back, which was normal so you discarded it, And then it was in your abdomen. Class had just started so Remus already pulled out everything the two of you need. Another dull ache in your abdomen, you tried not to make any noises and just write down what McGonagall is teaching. Then it got worse and worse, Remus and Sirius were the first to see your discomfort.

“You alright love?” Sirius asked.

“My abdomen is killing me” you whisper.

“Black, L/N, I expect you to pay attention in my class”

“Sorry Professor Mcgnagall” You both said in unison and got back to work.

The pain got worse and you couldn't keep your discomfort quiet, as you winced.

then your water broke. and everyone heard it and slowly turned their heads to you.

“Professer, I-I think my water just broke”

“Are you sure” Remus and McGonagall say at the same time.

“Well I didn't just piss on the floor” you hiss in pain.

BIRTH

you gave birth in the hospital wing of Hogwarts.

The baby wasn't supposed to be here for another year.

You threatened to neuter your lover twice and cussed out everyone.

a lot of “YOU SUCK” “IM NEVER HAVING SEX AGAIN” “FUCK ALL OF YOU”

And a lot of screaming.

You almost broke Remus’ hand

After about 10 hours in labour your beautiful baby girl Maeve was born.

Maeve Ayla Lupin. 1/19/78.

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

You both take shifts.You get her one night and he gets her the other night.

All of your dorm mates got used to not sleeping, and so did you.

James’ parents bought you guys a small fridge for the milk to go in, so you decided to transfigure another one and put it in Remus’ room and put one in yours.

“Y/N, Maeve just barfed milk on my back” Sirius whined.

“That means she likes you” James said.

“You barfing on uncle Padfoot’s back little wolf?” Remus grinned

Anyways everyone got used to having a non existent sleep schedule.

And you guys took Maeve to your classes in a stroller of course.

She looks so much like Remus, She has his eyes, his facial structure, but she has your hair and impatience.

“Stop being fussy little one” you say as you rock her to sleep, your enchanted quill writing down everything your astrology professor is saying. There are classes that Maeve doesn't go to, she instead goes with James to his class, sometimes even Sirius’ classes. She doesn't go to potions with you, or Divination.

Maeve is a total daddy’s girl, she loves her dad a lot especially when he sings and plays peek- a boo with her.

TODLER MAEVE

Its been about almost three years since Maeve was born and you and Remus live mostly a domestic life.

as in running after Maeve because she decided to just not wear a diaper today.

“Maeve, baby I need you to stop running so I can slide your pants on” You pant

“No” She giggles.

No has been her word for a long time. It all started when Sirius said it repeatedly and then she said it repeatedly.

The boys cuss like sailors so they had to learn not to around Maeve.

“Daddy!” she squealed.

“Hi princess, I see we are going with no pants today”

“Yes�� She says as she grabs his face.

“Your cousin Harry is coming over Mae so I need you to let mommy put pants on you please” He said.

“Okay” Maeve says.

After that Lily, James, and Sirius came over.

“UNCLE PADFOOT” Maeve runs up to him.

“How’s my favorite niece doing?” He asks as he picks her up.

“Im good” Maeve says as she plays with his hair.

“Look its uncle James and the baby” she points.

Then she greets both of them and stares at the baby for a while.

“Shhh he’s sleeping” She would tell everyone.

you would all eat dinner and laugh and then say your goodbyes, like always.

Then you would put Maeve to sleep, with the same song

“isn’t she lovely, isn't she wonderful” you sing as you stroke her hair.

“Night night mommy” she yawns

“Night baby sweet dreams” you kiss her forehead and close her bedroom door.

taglist: @randomoutsiders @ghosts-of-hogwarts @amixedwitch

#dad!remus #remus lupin #marauders x reader #Remus Lupin x reader #domestic life

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musette22 · 3 years

Note

Hi Minnie! Hope you can help me settle an argument my brother and I are having about EG!Steve. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this with shipping goggles off, looking at it purely in terms of characterization, narrative, and good writing. Better hang on though, it's going to be a long ask! (sorry in advance for spamming you!) 1/7

So my brother and I were watching FatWS and once again got into a debate about whether Steve's last actions were a disservice or in line with his characterization and narrative, given that the Russos confirmed (and therefore it's Word of God/canon, even if it did sound reactionary to the immediate backlash after EG) that Steve created an alternate reality when he went back, and didn't just live in hiding in the past of the OG timeline. 2/7

Because of this, my bro argued that: 1) the total character assassination that is the idea of Steve just sitting back and letting all the shit happen happen is no longer a problem - for all we know, the alternate reality oldman!Steve came from might have become utopic already due to his presence and foresight. He played coy when talking to Sam so we don't know for certain he didn't save Bucky, get rid of Hydra, and enact social reform when he had the chance. 3/7

Likewise, 2) the accusation that Steve would rob Peggy of her husband and children is a non-issue as Steve went back to a time before Peggy and Daniel got together - I argued here that it was still wrong for him to do given that he KNEW for a fact that Peggy lived a happy life, whereas it was a gamble if he could give her the same. My bro shot back when you truly loved someone, you want them to be happy and to have what's best for them. 4/7

So if Steve chose to go back to Peggy, he had to have believed that he could give her the best life. That Steve based that decision purely on his own assessment is pretty in character (e.g. pushing to become a soldier because he thought that was how he could do his part, even though at the time, he'd have just been a danger to himself and other soldiers; not signing the Accords because he believed in his team's judgment in crises above gov't oversight that might be influenced by politics). 5/7

And lastly 3) he might have settled into the past and started to move on, but what was wrong with him choosing to be selfish and going to the past when given a chance? Why was it wrong for him to go back to a time he knew, where he was beloved by both Peggy and the public, and when he could also save Bucky early? In terms of character growth, wouldn't it be fair for him to finally learn he could be a bit selfish and choose happiness, after a lifetime of nearly suicidal selflessness? 6/7

Our debate was based on confirmed canon with shipping put aside. So I put forth the sin of leaving a traumatized Bucky, Sam, and world behind, that Steve's actions were surely the result of a man broken by grief again and again, and that choosing the past was him running away - which, I argued, was a horrible way to end his character arc. But my brother asked me why I thought so, because wasn't this the so-called 'soft epilogue' that Steve deserved, one that was most in line with canon? 7/7

***************

Hey love! Very interesting argument you and your brother are having here… I’m sure he’s a great guy but I have to say that I vehemently disagree with him (as you probably already guessed lol). Soooo many people have done an excellent job at explaining why, shipping aside, Steve’s ending in EG was absolute bollocks, and I’m certain I could never argue this case as well as all of them have. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to explain why, in my opinion, your brother is wrong :p I’m going to put my reply under the keep reading tag, because it is long.

1. The Russos and Markus & McFeely (the writers) never managed to agree on whether Steve really did go back to an alternate timeline, and if so, how that would have worked, exactly. When they were asked, after EG had been released, about whether Steve would have just sat back and let everything he knew was happening/going to happen in the decades to come, both to Bucky and to the world at large, they came up with this ‘alternate timeline’ solution, but they kept contradicting each other on the logistics and technicalities of it (like how would old man Steve suddenly be able to jump timelines to come back to give Sam the shield in EG? And how did EG Steve attend Peggy’s funeral, like they also suggested, which would technically have been in a different timeline?). Which makes it pretty clear that this wasn’t something they’d considered beforehand or even all agree on afterwards, and therefore it can’t technically allowed to play a role in judging the rightness of Steve’s ending in EG if we’re looking at it from a ‘the creator’s word is law’ perspective. Moreover, there is nothing to indicate in EG itself that Steve knew he’d be able to create alternate timelines, so that would’ve been a crazy gamble on his part. Also, him ‘playing coy’ in that final scene with Sam really isn’t a convincing indication that he was actually, canonically, talking about anything besides marrying Peggy.

2. Which bring us to point two: Peggy had literally told Steve she’d lived a happy life with her family, and told him in no uncertain terms to move on. If Steve really loved her, he would have accepted her wishes and allowed her the dignity of her choice (something Peggy herself, in CA:TFA, had told Steve was important to do when you care about someone) to move on from him once she believed him dead. Steve deciding that he would be better for Peggy because he believed was a better man than the person she ended up marrying originally would be the most un-like Steve thing to do, ever. Steve has never once shown that he thinks of himself as the hero or better than other people – he simply wants to do the best he can to help make the world a better place. He would never say “Peggy deserves the best and I believe I am the best, therefore she will have me, regardless of what she thinks or wants.” Steve drinks respect women juice, that’s clear from all of his movies, and deciding the course of her entire life for her, taking away her agency, whether in his own timeline or another, would be utterly disrespectful to Peggy.

3. As for the next point: of course there’s nothing wrong with Steve being selfish for once – Steve is human, and all humans are selfish sometimes, and that’s okay. But, as Chris Evans already explained multiple times prior to Endgame, Steve had already made selfish decisions in the past, namely when it came to getting Bucky back and keeping him safe. Shipping aside, Bucky was presented in all the Cap movies as Steve’s very best friend, and was even called his ‘soulmate’ (platonically or otherwise) by M&M (the writers). So when, in Civil War, Steve was presented with a choice between duty/what was expected of him by the government versus saving Bucky/keeping Bucky safe, Steve was selfish and chose Bucky. That, canonically, made sense. Peggy being presented as the ultimate love of Steve’s life, who he loved and valued more than anyone or anything else in the world (which is what happened in EG), canonically does not make sense.

In CA:TWS, Peggy told Steve to move on. When Peggy died, Steve buried her and mourned her, and then not long after, he canonically kissed Peggy’s niece. Then, in Infinity War, Steve saw Bucky turn to dust before his very eyes in the “Blip” (a conscious decision on the writers’/directors’ part to show how Steve once again lost what was most important to him while helplessly standing by) – and the next thing we know, Steve is leading a support group for other people who lost loved ones in the Blip, and starts talking about losing… Peggy? Huh. Also, Steve going back to a time which your brother calls “a time when he was beloved the public” doesn’t add up, either: technically, Steve went back to a time where people loved an idea of him, but also believed him to be dead. So either he would have had to have found a way to convincingly stage his own resurrection (meanwhile possibly leaving the other version to vegetate in the ice..? depending on how this timeline malarkey was supposed to work), or he would have lived his whole life hidden behind some fake persona – which does not sound like Steve at all, does it?

4. Finally, let’s talk about Bucky some more, because I think we need to to be able to assess the situation properly. I understand that your brother may believe that shippers are often delusional and only see what they want to see etc, but there is ample evidence, canonically, of Bucky being the most important person in Steve’s life – the person he would give up the shield for, the person he would give up his other friendships for, the person he would give up his life for. Peggy may have been a recurring character in character in the three Cap movies, but she was never presented as the principal motivator of his actions, or as the love of Steve’s life. You know who was? Bucky. Sure, that love wasn’t canonically romantic in nature, but there can’t be any doubt that Bucky meant more than anything to Steve. Therefore, Steve choosing to have a ‘soft epilogue’ that entails him spending the rest of his life without Bucky – and, more importantly, Bucky to spend the rest of his life without Steve – contradicts everything we’ve learned about their relationship (platonic or otherwise) in the rest of the movies, does it not?

Also, the Russos have said something to the effect that Bucky and Steve were now both mentally ‘well enough’ to not ‘need’ each other anymore (because as we all know, that’s exactly how friendships work…), but it’s pretty clear from EG that Steve was still traumatized by everything he’d been through, and going back to the 50s would have meant he would never be able to get proper help with that and in fact could only talk about any of it with Peggy and Peggy alone. Moreover, M&M have literally said in interviews that Bucky wasn’t all that well yet, mentally, and TFAWTS also shows convincingly that Bucky was not actually in a good place when Steve left him. So that would have meant that Steve either did not see this (unlikely, given how close they were) or did not care (unlikely, given how close they were).

It would have meant that for the first time in all these movies, Steve decided “to hell with Bucky’s needs, I’m gonna just be selfish because I’ve earned it and claim my trophy wife because actually I am the best man for her, despite the fact that she’s already lived a happy life that I will be negating against her wishes, but that’s fine because maybe I’ll be able to create a different timeline, and maybe I’ll be able to save Bucky from all his trauma anyway, but then again maybe not, but that brings me back to my first point of to hell with Bucky’s needs” - which does not make a lot of sense to me, personally. Not to mention that, in exchange for his ‘soft epilogue’, Steve would also leave the world to sort out the post-Blip mess without him, and leave all the other friends he still had left and clearly cared about a lot to boot. I would not call that character growth, I would call that character disintegration. If your brother insists on taking the creator’s word as gospel and that we have to accept that Steve really did do what he did at the end of Endgame, and that wasn’t just a case of bad, lazy writing fuelled by greed, then to make a decision like this, Steve would have been either an asshole in disguise all along, or mentally extremely unstable.

There you have it, my two cents! I hope this helps a little in settling the argument with your brother, anon! Lots of love ❤️

#anti endgame #steve rogers #minnie answers #Anonymous

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emsemotional · 3 years

Text

out of line

Okay so this is a little baby one shot based on my mental health advocate!mickey headcanon that I posted a little while back. I used to write a lot for various fandoms back in high school, but it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, and even longer since I’ve shared anything I’ve written with anyone other than @lewslew, so please be nice- I definitely have some room to grow with characterization and timing.

This is taking place post-finale, so I’ve taken some liberties regarding what everyone ends up doing after the series. In my mind, Mickey and Ian buy the Gallagher house themselves, because they’re Southside boys at heart and they need a backyard for their dog (duh). But they’re waiting on their Westside lease to end, so Lip, Tami and Liam are staying in the house while Lip and Debbie fix it up and renovate a little (you can find my whole hc on what everyone’s up to post-series here). I was talking to @iansfreckles a while back about a possible Gallagher/Tamietti family dinner- I’m so interested in how this would go and how the families’ dynamics would interact. SO, this takes place at said Gallagher/Tamietti family cookout, right as Lip and Tami are moving out of the house, and Ian and Mickey are moving in. Cami and Brad’s kids are with Aunt Oopie, I dunno I didn’t want to write them haha.

Content warning: ignorant/rude comments about individuals with mental illnesses and language akin to that of the show

Tami had almost said no when Cory asked to bring her new boyfriend to the Gallagher house. Between the Gallagher and Tamietti families, there were going to be plenty of big personalities under one roof, as is. But Cory had actually asked this time, and she had just babysat Fred during a last minute highlight appointment. Tami had reluctantly agreed and her sister had seemed so happy that she almost forgot her hesitation.

Looking back, Tami’s decision was questionable. Lip had been able to prepare his family for the rest of the Tamietti’s, explaining the family dynamics and topics to avoid. Chad was a wildcard.

He had burst through the front door laughing loudly beside Brad and Cami, who didn’t seem to think the joke was as funny as Chad did. Cory and Bob followed them in, annoyance clear on Bob’s face. Tami and Lip moved to the door to greet their visitors, Tami depositing Fred in Carl’s lap, where he was sitting on the couch. Carl immediately grabbed the toddler under his arms, grinning at him and lifting him up above his head, making propellor noises on his way down.

This, this is what Tami had wanted her family to see. The Tamiettis had made it clear that while they tolerated Lip, they thought Tami could do better. They thought he was ill equipped to help raise a family, constantly doubting his ability to provide, and his dedication to his family. Tami had tried to explain Lip’s role in his own family- the patriarch of the Gallagher home, a man who had been taking care of people for his entire life. Perhaps the only way for the other Tamiettis to see the value in the Gallagher side of Fred’s family, was to observe it first hand.

Lip made it to the Tamiettis first, shaking Bob’s hand and taking the handful of bags and jackets that were thrust into his arms.

“No show Brad!” Tami cheered, hugging her sisters, “You made it!”

Brad rolled his eyes, lightly clapping Tami on the shoulder, “Yeah, yeah, I’m here.”

Cory turned towards her sister, a wide smile on her face, “Tam, this is Chad, the guy I was telling you about?”

Tami turned to shake his hand, finally giving him a good look. Truth be told, he looked like every other guy Cory had seriously dated- some tall, brunette, conventionally attractive, straight laced kind of guy. He didn’t seem any different from the other business majors, fraternity boys and bar bouncers that Cory had intruded her to.

“Tami right? So great to meet you, thanks for inviting me!”

“Of course, nice to meet you too! Come on in, you guys!”

The Tamiettis settled into the living room, Cami choosing the seat next to Carl, cooing down to Fred, “There’s my favorite nephew! How are you sweet boy?”

She ran a gentle hand across Fred’s head before introducing herself to Carl, “I’m Cami, Tami’s sister.” Carl swallowed a smirk at the rhyming names, nodding, “Carl, Lip’s brother.”

“Ah, the one buying the house?”

“Nah, that’s Ian and Mickey, they’re upstairs somewhere. I’m the cop,” Carl stated proudly.

“Fuck the police!” Mickey’s voice called into the living room in response, as a flash of red and black hair came tumbling down the stairs. All the Tamiettis turned to watch Mickey jog through the living room with Franny on his shoulders, Ian chasing after them.

“Get him Uncle Mickey!” Franny squealed, “He’s gonna catch us!”

“I’m a little busy running, kid. Hit ‘em or somethin’,” Mickey grunted, scrambling to hand his niece a rubber ball previously balanced on the back of the couch.

Franny wound up her arm, tossing the ball at Ian’s head with all her six year old might, “Take that, Uncle Ian! You’re dead!”

Ian groaned dramatically, clutching his face and sliding onto the ground. He let out a theatrical sign and closed his eyes, finally defeated.

Franny cheered as Mickey lifted her off his shoulders, “We did it! We killed him!” Franny dropped down to the ground to check that Ian had accepted his defeat, poking him in the back with the toe of her shoe.

Mickey gave her a crinkly grin, the kind he reserved for Franny and Ian alone- unguarded and childlike. “Sure did! Pretty badass if you ask me.”

Ian got to his feet, tickling Franny’s stomach as he addressed the room, “Hey, sorry we were in the middle of… a game.”

“Liquor store robbery!” Franny cheerfully announced.

Franny began introducing herself to the unfamiliar faces, sharing that she was in the first grade, enjoyed playing with guns, and wanted to be a welder like her mommy when she grew up. As Liam and Debbie descended the stairs, and the rest of the Gallaghers and Tamiettis introduced themselves, Tami marveled at how smoothly things seemed to be going. No one was yelling, or aggressively drunk, or making a thinly veiled classist comment- yet.

The two families quickly settled into a comfortable chatter of introductions and the conversation, surprisingly, continued to flow without a hitch. They soon made their way outside, where Debbie and Bob chatted while manning the grill. The other family members scattered across the yard- Liam sat in a lawn chair typing on a laptop, occasionally asking Lip for grammar advice. Ian, in the middle of telling some wild story from his EMT days, was fully emerged in conversation with the rest of the Tamietti family while Mickey and Carl considered how many crimes Carl could theoretically arrest him for, arguing over how many years Mickey would have to serve.

Everything was great- until Chad decided to open his mouth. They had finished dinner and were crammed into the living room, escaping the Chicago windchill. Chad was sharing one of his own work stories from the construction site he worked on, describing a man who had wandered onto the site and started yelling at Chad and some of his coworkers that week.

“Totally off his rocker,” Chad commented, “He kept telling us about how we were tearing down his house, and that he didn’t give us permission to do this. Just screaming at us, swearing, and he wouldn’t listen when we kept telling him that he trespassing, y’know? Just super crazy- needed a fucking Xanax or something.”

Ian tensed, fiddling with the ring on his left hand while the other Gallaghers exchanged pointed glances. Tami began to interrupt, clearly in attempt to change the subject, but Chad continued.

“The next day,” he explained, “the very next day, he came up to us and was asking to bum a smoke, like he didn’t fucking flip his crazy ass on us yesterday, I swear he must’ve been like bipolar or something, acting like we were old pals. Must’ve gotten carted off or killed or something, haven’t seen him since.”

While the Tamiettis offered a polite chuckle, the Gallaghers remained silent.

Mickey, who had been sitting on the couch next to Ian, looked up from his folded hands. “So you got something against bipolar people? It’s a fucking mental illness man.”

Chad smiled, backtracking, “Hey, nah, calm down. He’s just some crazy homeless dude, who cares?”

“He’s not just some crazy guy, he’s a person with a disease, the fuck’s wrong with you?” Mickey asked.

Ian placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder shaking his head. “Mick, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

Eyebrows raised comically high, Mickey stood and crossed his arms. “Um, fuck that, it does matter! You’re not a fucking punchline Ian. This is our house, yours and mine, and no one’s going to be talking like that in my house. Obviously no one else is going to say something, and you shouldn’t have to, so I will. I won’t stand for that shit.”

The Tamiettis exchanged horrified looks as the Gallaghers mostly just looked at the floor. Finally Lip spoke up from where he was standing by the TV, “Mental health is uh… a sensitive subject around here. We just… we take it seriously, y’know? First hand experiences and shit.”

Cory opened her mouth to speak but she quickly stopped when she saw Tami swiftly shake her head in her direction, suggesting she stay out of it.

Mickey lightly rubbed his eyebrow, “Yo, douchebag, apologize or get the hell out of my house.”

Chad raised his hands in surrender, “I didn’t realize it was such a big deal man, sorry.”

Mickey rolled his eyes with a huff, turning on his heel to walk towards the back of the house. Wordlessly, Ian followed him out the back door, leaving the living room in a heavy silence.

After a moment, Chad breaks the silence, “Look, I really didn’t mean to start something, I was just telling a story. Should I go out and apologize again, try to talk about it?”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Liam replied, “You should give Mickey some time to cool off.”

“Yeah,” Lip agreed, “I wouldn’t follow them out. Mickey… he gets protective? Always has been, of Ian. Our mom was bipolar, and so’s Ian. He’s stable, doing great, but he’s, uh, he’s been through a lot. It’s just not good joke material around here.”

Chad nodded, silence overtaking the room again. Franny looked up from her coloring book, clearly bored with the turn the night had taken.

“I’m gonna go play with Uncle Mickey and cheer him up!”

Debbie chuckled from her seat across the room, “Yeah, go bring them some beers Franny.”

“Okay!” Franny chirped, hopping to her feet and skipping into the kitchen. Debbie gave a soft smile as she watched her daughter, on the way to hang out with her favorite uncles.

From his seat on the back stairs, Ian watched Mickey pace through the yard, grumbling about “Fucking Northside yuppies… and their ignorant bigoted asses… what the fuck is wrong with people?” He glanced over at Ian, his expression softening when he noticed the defeated look on Ian’s face. Mickey paused his pacing, coming to sit next to Ian on the steps.

“I’m sorry, I know I prolly embarrassed you. Was I out of line man? I just got so fucking mad,” Mickey quietly mumbled, looking down at his hands in his lap.

Ian gently shook his head, “Don’t apologize. You weren’t out of line… I think I’m just disappointed, y’know? That comments like that still get to me? I should be over it by now, every reminder that I’m sick or different shouldn’t still sting like that. And why do I have to be the one that the conflict and the drama revolves around? Why not fucking Carl or Liam or god… anyone else just for once?

Mickey’s expression softened even further. He nudged his knee into Ian’s leg, “What’s that shit you told me when Terry died? Trauma doesn’t always make fucking sense and recovery isn’t… oh shit, what’s the word? Linear! Recovery isn’t linear. Doesn’t make you fucking weak, just means you’ve been through some shit.”

“Yeah. I guess it was easier to tell you that than it is to tell myself.”

Mickey hummed in agreement and the two sat in silence for a moment before the back door creaked open. A tiny red head shoved her way through the doorway, arms wrapped tightly around two bottles, frosty with condensation. Franny sat down on the steps between them, silently handing her uncles their beers. Ian accepted his with a dry chuckle, thanking her. Mickey ruffled her hair, offering a small smile. The voices from inside had faded and the night was relatively calm, other than the occasional siren or dog barking.

Franny, not looking particularly concerned, looked up at them to ask, “Uncle Mickey, why’d you get mad at that guy?”

Mickey rubbed at his eyebrow and let out a sigh. He looked towards Ian, a silent request for him to take the lead on this conversation. He was confident in his ability to discuss the stupidity of princesses or the importance of wearing gloves during a legitimate liquor store robbery with his niece. He knew how to play, and joke, and how to be there when she woke up from a bad dream, stumbling down the stairs with bedhead and snotty tears. Mickey had grown into his role as an uncle, but he still doubted his ability to talk about the tough stuff with anyone other than Ian.

Ian cleared his throat, taking a second before asking, “Franny, do you know what it means to make a joke at someone else’s expense?”

Franny’s eyebrows scrunched together and she shook her head.

“It’s when you make a joke to kind of make fun of someone else. Like to tease them. Y’know how we make cop jokes around Uncle Carl because he’s a cop?”

She nodded, and Ian continued, “That guy… Aunt Tami’s sister’s boyfriend, was making a joke and it ended up being at my expense. That’s what made Uncle Mickey mad. He didn’t mean to make fun of me, but he kind of did. That’s all. Uncle Mickey was just sticking up for me.”

Franny sat for a moment, deep in thought. “I didn’t know he was talking about you.”

“No, he wasn’t. Not directly. He was telling a story about someone else. But he made a comment about him being bipolar. D’you remember when we talked about that? That I have bipolar disorder?”

Franny nodded, “That’s why you take your special medicine.”

Ian continued, “A lot of people don’t really understand what that means, and sometimes they make jokes about it that aren’t really funny. They’re just kind of… mean. So that’s why we got upset.”

Franny considered this for a minute and asked, “Do you want me to go tell mommy? She says I should tell her if someone’s being mean. She can fix it.”

Ian smiled a little, patting her little back and shaking his head, “Nah, mommy already knows, she heard. And I think Uncle Mickey did a pretty good job telling him that what he said was wrong.”

Mickey let out a sarcastic laugh, “And I got more to say to that piece of shit if I ever see his Northside yuppy fucking face again.”

“I think he got the point Mick,” Ian sighed, “Don’t waste your time.”

Franny shrugged “Mommy and Uncle Lip and Aunt Tami were all still talking in there when I left. Mommy told me it was a good idea for me to come out here.”

Mickey grabbed Ian’s hand, bumping their shoulders together. “Whatcha wanna do, man? We can head back to the apartment, go to the Alibi and get tanked, I don’t care, it’s up to you.”

“Don’t know, I’m tired of running from things. And you were right Mick, it’s our fucking house. Could we just sit out here for a little while?” Mickey ran a thumb across Ian’s hand and mumbles so quietly, in that voice he only uses with Ian- “‘Course we can”

Having completed her task of delivering beers, Franny stood up and put her hands on her hips, “I’m going to go inside, I won’t let anyone be mean to you Uncle Ian.”

Ian looked up to lock eyes with his niece, “I appreciate it Fran, thanks.”

She stood up and gave Ian a kiss on the top of his head, no doubt a gesture she’d picked up from some other family member, likely Mickey or Fiona. Ian smiled as she turned away to walk back into the kitchen.

After a few minutes Ian jerked his head towards the door, “Y’ready?”

Mickey hummed in agreement, standing and offering back his hand to help Ian up. They walked over the threshold of the kitchen into a conversation clearly about Mickey’s exchange with Chad. The Tamiettis were all sitting down in the living room, with the Gallaghers mostly standing, leaning against the various remaining surfaces. Lip’s hands were in his hair, a plain indication of his frustration and exhaustion. Tami abruptly stopped talking, in the middle of what seemed like an impassioned rant. She seemed unsure of how to continue now that Ian and Mickey had reentered the house. Debbie, sat on the couch with Franny in her lap, was scowling, while Liam absently stared at the wall, clearly wishing he were anywhere else. Carl quickly walked into the kitchen from where he had been leaning up against the living room door frame, clapping Ian on the shoulder.

“Hey, why don’t you guys go take a walk or something for a sec- I think Lip and Tami have it handled.”

Lip spoke up from the living room, “Yeah, it’s okay.”

Mickey tensed, bracing himself. “No, it’s not fucking okay Phillip-“

Lip grumbled something about that not being what he meant, shaking his head, while Ian quietly interrupted his husband, forcing him to make eye contact.

“No, it’s not, but I don’t want to just keep going over it, Mick. I’m not in the mood to educate him. I’m not saying it’s okay, but I want to move on. Lip can handle it.”

Carl nodded and repeated himself, “Go take a walk, come back in ten. Lip and Tami got it.”

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a joint and pressing it into Ian’s palm with a smirk.

“Rolled this for later, you guys take it.”

Ian raised an eyebrow at Mickey, who let out a sigh with a slouch, “Fine. Be back in ten.”

The two of them return to the backyard, Tami’s yelling resumed, her voice carrying all the way outside.

“M’sorry, I know I keep talkin’ when you just want it to be over with,” Mickey mumbled, looking down at the dead grass in the vacant lot beside the house.

Ian grabbed him by the back of his neck, fingers brushing through Mickey’s short hair, “Hey, no. I… I appreciate you sticking up for me- seriously. I’m just tired… tonight’s not supposed to be about me y’know? It’s supposed to be about Lip and Tami, and Fred, not me. I just wanted to be Lip’s brother tonight, not the crazy brother, the sick brother. I just don’t wanna be the one that causes the issues anymore.”

“You didn’t cause this Ian. You being bipolar didn’t fucking cause this- that asshole, opening his mouth and not knowing when to shut it- that’s what caused it. I get that you just wanna let it go, and I will, but if he say’s something else-“

“If he says something else you can beat the shit out of him.”

Mickey grinned, looking up to meet Ian’s gaze. “Fucking fantastic. You wanna smoke this bitch?”

He grabbed the joint out of Ian’s hand and pulled a lighter from his flannel’s front pocket.

Ian finally cracked a smile, one that actually reaches his eyes, “Free weed? Fuck yeah.”

Mickey tossed the lighter to Ian, who caught it and lit the joint with a practiced flick. He took a couple hits and closed his eyes, smiling again as he exhaled the smoke. He handed the lit joint over to Mickey, along with his lighter and jerked his head in the direction of the van in the backyard, “Wanna go sit?”

Mickey nodded and breathed in a sharp inhale, heading in the direction of the passenger seat door.

Ian climbed up into the drivers seat, letting out a deep sigh, “Feel like I’m in high school again- sneaking around with you, trying to find somewhere to be alone.” Mickey chuckled and passed the joint back over.

They smoked in silence for a while, Ian nudging Mickey with his elbow as the ember approaches the filter, “You want the last hit?”

“Nah man, that’s yours,” Mickey shakes his head.

Ian took it, stubbing out the butt on the van’s dashboard and tossing it onto the floor.

“Still wanna kick his ass?” He asked, lazily turning his head towards Mickey with a grin.

Mickey rolled his eyes, “I think I can contain myself.”

“Yeah?” Ian breathed, inching his face closer to his husband’s. The moon, freshly risen, highlighted Ian’s face, illuminating the dash of freckles across his nose.

Mickey didn’t answer, opting to close the distance between them, pressing a soft kiss to Ian’s lips. Ian’s hand came up to cradle Mickey’s face, thumb gently brushing his cheek.

And if they didn’t make it back inside for a while, so be it.

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hb-writes · 4 years

Text

The Horsewoman

Summary: 1913 in the Little Lady Blinder universe. Shelby sister, Clara, and her twin are ready to start school, but Clara is a bit hesitant. Thankfully, her older brother knows how to negotiate.

Inspired by this request: Could you write about the twins first day at school? Like Clara is scared but Finn is excited. And because they didn’t have much money they’ve saved for a while to get them new clothes just for school and Tommy helps them get ready and drops them off for there first day x

Featuring: Tommy Shelby, Finn Shelby, Polly Gray, and Clara Shelby (OC)

Tommy was awake and had been for some time now, going back and forth between reading and watching his little sister rest. Her features had finally smoothed out, her face relaxed in a way that only came with a lack of consciousness, the small wrinkle of worry taking up seemingly permanent residence on her forehead cleared away now as slow, easy breaths fell from her mouth.

Clara had climbed into his bed a little before sundown the evening before, burrowing herself in the blankets after claiming an upset stomach and abstaining from dinner. She passed more than half the night awake, her restless body nestled up beside her brother while he too failed to get much by the way of sleep, kept alert by the five-year-old's nervous energy.

Clara's agitation about starting school wasn't something quite congruous with the child she'd come to be understood as. She loved books and learning and was obviously bright. She commonly forced her twin into playing at schoolhouse, so the family was rightfully perplexed. Tommy wasn't so surprised by it though. He knew there was something they were all missing, something about school Clara was fixating on, focusing all her energies on some troubling thought she hadn't worked up the nerve to discuss.

The shift happened when they told her the twins would be enrolled in the next coming school year. If he didn't know the girl better, he'd have called her behavior a sudden disinterest in the idea of school and learning, but Tommy knew she had not spared a thought to anything else during the last few weeks of summer.

Tommy glanced up at a light rapping on the door, Finn pushing it open before he could offer a response. The boy was in his new school outfit, quite a sight considering he spent most of his days covered in a layer of dirt and dust after playing out on the lane.

"She's still asleep?" Finn's words came out as a half-whisper as he noted the lump of blankets on the far side of his brother's bed.

Tommy nodded, glancing down at Clara for a second before looking back to his little brother, a mess of laces tucked into the side of his boot. Tommy beckoned him forward, patting the chair sat beside his bed. Finn would need to learn to tie them for himself soon, though Tommy supposed with the twins being in the same class, he'd get by alright with his sister doing any needed midday shoe tying.

"Aunt Polly says if Clara doesn't come down now she won't get any breakfast." Finn still attempted a whisper, carefully annunciating Polly's message as he lifted his feet to rest on Tommy's lap to deal with the laces.

Tommy looked to his sister again, certain Finn's attempts at whispering would have woken her by now. Clara’s deep breaths had ceased and she laid beside him completely still, her body gripped in an unnerving rigidity. He could see the effort she put into holding her eyes shut, the small wrinkle firmly back in place between her furrowed brows.

"Is she still sick?" Finn asked when Tommy lowered Finn's feet.

As Finn leaned over his brother to get a better look at his sister, Tommy thought Finn could be right. Clara might be making herself sick over the whole thing, turning over some small misunderstanding in her mind.

"Worried sick, maybe," Tommy answered.

Clara remained still against him though a muscle in her cheek twitched at his words. Tommy snorted lightly before turning back to Finn.

"What's she worried about? It's just school. Everyone from the lane will be there."

Clara shifted under the blankets, moving them up and over her shoulder as she burrowed further still into Tommy's side. He sighed and shook her shoulder. "Alright there, Clara girl. Time to get up."

When she ignored the prompting, Finn reached over Tommy, his pointer finger extended with every intention of pushing one of his sister's eyes open to help her along, but Tommy nudged Finn's pudgy hand away before he could make contact.

"C'mon, Clara. I know you're awake."

Clara shook her head and Tommy scoffed, pulling her onto his lap as he leaned against the wall.

"We can't have you going to school hungry," Tommy said.

"Aunt Polly made a special breakfast."

"See that? Finn says you've got a special breakfast waiting."

"Not hungry," Clara mumbled.

Tommy knew she had to be hungry after missing dinner, but rather than showing any desire to head down the stairs, Clara settled in his lap, pulling the blankets up to cover herself once again and hiding against his chest. Tommy tried again to pull her out of hiding with a different line of discussion.

"Doesn't Finn look nice in his new outfit?"

Clara glanced at her twin and nodded. She had an outfit of her own to get into, something Ada helped pick out, an outfit Clara showed little interest in though it was a red dress she’d usually be eager to get into. Tommy had a feeling it had less to do with preferences and more to do with whatever Clara was worrying on about school.

"Finn, why don't you run and tell Aunt Polly Clara will be right down, eh?"

Clara snuggled in again as Finn closed the door.

"I don't wanna go."

"Sure you do," Tommy answered, "You've got your new dress and you'll be with Finn and –"

"I wanna stay with you."

"What about Finn?"

"Finn has friends."

"Then you have friends too," Tommy answered.

Clara shook her head and Tommy amended his words. "Then you have your brother, and you'll make friends."

Clara released her grip on Tommy intending to slip back into her spot between him and the wall but Tommy caught her and towed her back into his lap.

Clara was a kind child, pleasant and clever, but she also kept to herself and her family more often than not. She didn't relish spending her days out on the lane with the other kids and when booted out of the house for some air, she'd more often than not spend that time on the stoop drawing or reading or practicing her writing. Rather than chase a ball about or get up to the mischief of the day, she liked to follow her siblings and aunt around. She liked to help with Martha and John's babies. She liked to go to the yard and be with the horses. She didn't have a hoard of friends from the lane like Finn did.

"You've got to go to school. And before you go, you've got to eat a good breakfast, and Ada will—"

"But I don’t want to," Clara answered, settling against his chest.

"Well, we all have to do things we don't want to, eh?"

Clara shook her head. "You get to do what you want."

Tommy considered how it must have looked that way to the five-year-old. It must've looked like everyone other than her and Finn had free rein to do as they pleased because they all came and went through the doors of no. 6 Watery Lane as such. Tommy passed his days interchangeably between the shop and the horses, stopping in to play with the twins at seemingly random intervals, devoting his evenings to Greta Jurossi.

"Well, that's 'cause I already finished school."

Clara groaned, sensing the impending defeat, and with Tommy's hands reaching for her sides, she knew he was about to peel her away so she gripped him a bit tighter.

"Alright, how about this? I'll make you a deal. You go to school for one…" Tommy smiled at his sister's pout before continuing. "You give me one day and if you hate it, you never have to go again."

Clara lifted her head. "Never?"

Tommy nodded. It was a lie because she'd need some type of education lest they wanted the parish to descend upon them for lack of attendance, but Tommy wasn't concerned his sister would actually take him up on the offer.

"If you've had the most terrible day and you never want to go back or learn another thing ever again, you can come help me and Curly with the horses for the rest of your life. You’ll be the third-best horseman in England."

"Horsewoman," Clara mumbled.

"What?"

"I'll be a horsewoman."

"Of course," Tommy said. "The very best horsewoman in all of England, then, but you have to try school first."

Tommy's offer allowed him to lift Clara from the bed with minimal argument though she kept her arms latched around his neck as he carried her down the stairs to settle at the table.

Polly rolled her eyes at the spectacle and tried to usher her niece off Tommy's lap, but Clara stayed put, ignoring her aunt's protests as she took a piece of toast from the plate Polly set before them. It was clearly intended for Tommy, another smaller portion placed one spot over.

"You won't be able to bring your brother with you to school, so you may as well get used to sitting in your own seat now."

Tommy leaned forward to pull the second plate closer and retrieved a piece of toast for himself while Clara tucked into his eggs. "She's not hurting any—"

"Aunt Polly, you're wrong. I am bringing my brother to school," Clara answered, mouth full of food as she pointed at Finn. Polly rolled her eyes before the girl continued. "And Tommy says I only have to go to school for just one day and then I get to be a horsewoman with him and Curly forever."

Tommy coughed on a bit of toast as she said it. He really shouldn't have been surprised, should have expected his sister to air the remark at the first opportunity. She seemed to take a great satisfaction in telling the world all the things her big brother told her he could be, all the things he promised to teach her.

Polly scowled at her nephew, shaking her head. "Well, that's just wonderful, Thomas. Fill her mind with—"

"It's only if she doesn't like it, Pol."

"Only if she doesn't—" Polly scoffed, tossing her hands up before busying herself with the dirty dishes on the table, muttering as she went. "Makes me wonder who really runs this family… the adults or a pair of spoiled five-year-olds?"

Tommy took a breath, meeting each of the twins' eyes in turn as Polly took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. They giggled as Clara continued munching on her toast, the laughter stopping abruptly when Polly stepped back into the room.

"Well, regardless of any deals you've made with your brother, you're due to school this morning. So be off and up the stairs if you're finished. Ada will help you get dressed."

"Ada's still in bed," Finn offered, "Said she doesn't have to be up 'cause she's got her certificate now."

Polly groaned, tugging Clara from Tommy's lap and sending her towards the stairs. "Just when I think it's only the boys I have worrying me, you girls decide to kick off."

Tommy pushed his chair back and stood up. "Let Ada sleep."

Polly's eyebrows raised. "You're going to get your sister ready for school?"

"I'm not a baby. I can dress myself,” Clara said.

“There you have it, Polly. She’s not a baby. She can dress herself," Tommy answered.

“Fine, just make sure it’s done in the next five minutes. I want all three of you out the door by then.”

They were actually ready to be out the door in under four minutes, but Polly took fault with the state in which Tommy left his sister’s hair so they all waited while Polly put in a neat plait down the girl’s back.

The walk to the schoolhouse wasn’t so long, and by the time Tommy and the twins reached the end of Watery Lane, they were joined by a smattering of the younger kids living along the way, the group of them chattering excitedly with Finn.

Clara deliberately slowed their pace, putting a thoughtful measure of distance between them and the kids. Tommy allowed it, shortening his strides to keep them back. He thought she had something to tell him, but Clara stayed quiet, watching Finn and the other kids and listening to them chattering away.

It was only when they were just outside the schoolyard that Clara finally found her words, tugging on his hand to garner his attention.

"Tommy?" she asked. “What's the catch?”

Tommy looked down at her, neat and prim and proper in her new dress, looking more like she belonged at home with a governess than the crowded classroom she would soon find herself in. "The catch?"

“If I don’t go to school and be a horsewoman instead,” she said, “What’s the catch?”

Clara knew there was good and bad to everything and she had been thinking about the question from the moment they stepped onto Watery Lane, wondering what could be bad about spending her life with the horses and her brother. She knew he came home dirty and tired, but whenever they went to the yard, he seemed happy.

Tommy smiled, lifting her into his arms. "Hard work, my girl, but you've got that either way. Just have to decide if you want to be mucking stalls or reading books."

Tommy saw the teacher at the steps, saw Finn already off with his friends from the lane, but he offered Clara a few more moments in his arms. He searched for a few words to encourage her before setting her feet to the pavement, but as the teacher rang the bell, the sound still invoking something in Tommy though he’d been out of school for years, Finn raced to their side and reached a hand up towards his sister.

"C'mon, Clara."

Tommy let Clara down when she clasped Finn's outstretched hand, her grip on Tommy lasting just a moment past her sliding down his side. It was a mix of relief and sadness Tommy felt when Clara let him go, his girl taking the hand of another brother for support, the babies embarking on a new adventure all of their own.

Tommy watched them make their way through the schoolyard, already decided that he wouldn't step away until they were safely beyond the heavy wooden doors. They were nearly through it, already offering their greetings to the young teacher ringing the bell when Clara dropped Finn’s hand and raced down the steps, making it back to him in less than half the time it took to get to the door.

Tommy kneeled down to meet her. He had the words prepared now, had finally found the right message to send her on her way, but Clara interrupted him before he got a proper start, whispering into the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Can I still be a horsewoman with you even if I like school?"

Tommy grinned and pulled back to look into her eyes. "You can be whatever you'd like, but if you don't get up those steps with Finn, the first thing you'll be is late."

Clara hugged her brother again before sprinting back towards the school. Tommy knew it was unlikely his sister would be a horsewoman or a lady barber or any of the number of occupations she'd asked after, but Tommy didn’t have it in him to deny his sister that happiness. He decided long ago not to deny either of the twins that if he could help it.

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