#diana is the queen and captain of our ship

[avonleas-anne]

Diana confronts Gilbert

[readermagnifique]

Anne with an E Season 3 finale!

Spoilers.

Good grief I am in LOVE!!!

I want to have a character on this show for the sole purpose of having a bisexual affair with Winnie Rose, no I am not taking constructive criticism at this time.

Josie Pye counting the hours until she can get away from all the whispers and snide comments that she is definitely still getting, and probably mostly from her parents broke my heart she deserves to fly they all do.

Ruby is still a little gem and I love her.

Shirbert Part I: They are so proud of each other, look at those cute grins.

Moody still holds the title of best awkward comments.

"Congratulations"

"Congratulations"

You poor dumb dumb babies I love you both.

Miss Stacy is the best you can't change my mind. Potato lightbulbs forever indeed.

"7 days until we spread out wings and soar" Tiny babies, we stan.

"It's your future, not theirs"

"It's not your future, it's ours!"

This next scene was heartbreaking.

The Barry's were getting better and I hate them again now.

Matthew Cuthbert you are a cute potato and your one (1) flaw in life is pushing people away to protect them. We stan.

Mummy Lacroix learning to be softer is what I am here for!

Shirbert Part II: Beautiful! Sublime! This letter was everything we've been wanting to hear since day 1. Also definitely breaking his promise to Winnie to not say ANYTHING about not being engaged for 2 weeks, but we'll let it slide because you're cute as a button, and the pen mention at the end was the cherry on top.

I honestly expected her to completely miss the fact that the letter was even there. Never expected her to rip it, and was even better when she ran around trying to find the pieces, and GOT IT COMPLETELY WRONG! You are the most adorable tiny human, and this had me shaking my head not knowing whether to be frustrated or laughing.

Diana being almost catatonic at the idea of her future broke me. It is not being talked about enough, this was heartbreaking.

"I can't fly"

"My poor Diana, they've clipped your wings" This was beautifully tragical, and so so sad. Dalila Bela was phenomenal in this whole episode - more on that later.

Marilla being the best Mum. She has grown so much and she is the sweetest. This whole episode she was a damn star! I love her! She's done a complete 180° from where she started, from big things like being kinder and more open with those she loves, to small things like making a dress with beautiful, most definitely expensive, blue velvet for her girl.

Elijah redemption arc - I love a redemption arc, and they are the hill I will die on thanking you. And Bash learning to forgive him and allow him into his daughter's life - this was inspired, thank you Moira!!!

Marilla talking the Barrys round to the idea of Diana's desire to control her own life not being a selfish one was beautifully done. Just her being careful and considerate as she has always been at her core.

Miss Stacy and Anne both giving beautiful presents to each other - and MISS STACY WRITING KINDRED SPIRITS ON THE FRAME WAS SPECTACULAR!!! And her conversation about happiness was so sweet and caring, and mentioning depression in her own way did anyone else notice this?

Marilla being so excited about letters of Anne's past, and putting Matthew straight, just like he did earlier in the series.

Matthew crying; I can't cope with it. End of discussion, couldn't deal. He's too sweet.

Elijah is going to be such a good big brother now he's doing his best.

Anne packing away her room; so beautifully filmed, and so bittersweet. She has loved this little room more than anywhere else, and it's lovely.

Jane and Josie are friends again? They're stood together in the line, and no snide comments. They smile to each other while the matron was talking. Was there a deleted scene or something? Can someone write their reconciliation as a one shot? I want to see Jane learn like Prissy exactly what her family is.

Anne is definitely going to learn sign language, I will place good money on those odds. Just you watch her.

Somehow the matron reminds me of the librarian in Monsters University?

Anne putting her necklace on the bed meant for Diana.

The girls being excited and giggling in pure delight with each other, dancing and carefree, away from the small minds of their town. Beautiful and inspirational, and most of it is down to Anne, you cannot change my mind.

Miss Stacy screaming in excitement for Gilbert going to Uni! His yelling with her!

Mummy Lacroix learning from her son to help him forgive his own stepson. Redemption arcs all around in the Lacroix farm.

Siblings united at last. Mary would have been the happiest woman to see this.

AUNT JO! MY ULTIMATE FAVOURITE!!! LIFE GOALS!!! I LOVE HER!

Can we all just appreciate that Cole has been at art school carefully studying and perfecting the Gay Artist Walk™ and he is doing so well? The hips. The hands. Look at that beautiful carefully learnt carelessly elegant flounce! That is Growth.

Jo calling Marilla Anne's mother and how happy it makes her.

ANNE'S PRINCESS MOMENT! THAT DRESS! I CAN'T EVEN! ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!

Anne is the bravest of women, so strong, and all of those closest to her know this.

Cole and Jerry are the best brothers, you cannot prove this wrong.

Anne takes that moment to break apart on one that she trusts with her life, and one who she knows trusts her with his, and then just as quickly pulls herself back together again and carries on. She just needed that moment, and he knew to give it to her.

The cows are Pride and Prejudice and this is fantastic.

Matthew you adorable bean, and I cannot cope with you tearing up twice in one episode.

Anne with her dress, and gloves, and parasol. Mesmerising.

Mrs Thomas is hilarious.

"They were SCOTTISH!"

"He's DEAD! You know that." Cracking up laughing.

I want to know who Katie was? This is the second time she's been brought up. The imaginary friend who lives in glass cabinets. Other than that we know nothing, and I need to know more.

The book.

I want to have a character on this show for the sole purpose of having a bisexual affair with Winnie Rose, no I am not taking constructive criticism at this time.

I fully and completely believe that after they sorted out the fact that neither of them had any idea what the other was bloody talking about, Anne and Winnie are pen pals, and they're going to chat about Paris and Uni and become good mates. I am here for Anne's respect for other women, and you know for a fact that she has never said or thought a bad word about Winnie from day one, because none of it has ever been her fault. And Winnie has been understandably angry, but once she stops hurting over Gilbert (and has a bisexual affair with me that is definitely going to happen I swear) she will be happy to call Anne a friend, because she has always been loyal to her friends and never made a move on her man while he was hers, even when drunk and looking gorgeous after the exams.

The train. How amazing was every scene on this damn train. Diana going to Uni, hearing about Gilbert not going to Paris and not engaged, but also not going to queen's and definitely not sorting things her friend and this is unacceptable??? Her face??? Incredible!!!

Anne running in that dress is a vision.

Diana's face as she sits in the chair opposite Gilbert. And he smiles politely and has to do a double take because the FuRy??? Of this girl??? Phenomenal.

I am always here for whenever Anne has her hair down.

Diana going HARD for Anne. On a public train. Fully laying in to the smartest and dumbest boy in her class.

Diana is a wonder, all she needed was friendship with an unlikely redheaded orphan brat to unlock her imagination, and that redheaded orphan is the girl who has saved her from misery and drudgery and brought colour into her life, and she deserves so much better than the confusion Gilbert has been giving her this whole time and Diana is throwing EVERYTHING at him and I am here for this ride or die friendship!!!

"DIANA WHAT LETTER???" THE URGENCY THIS POOR BOY!!!

This running montage was perfection, then the silence just as they saw each other. Majestic.

That gentle hand on her cheek, asking permission, then the kiss.

And then Anne Shirley Cuthbert does the most Anne Shirley Cuthbert thing and pinches herself to check it's real.

And Gilbert So-Smart-And-So-Dumb Blythe still had to check that she loves him as much as he loves her and both of these reactions are the most valid thing I have ever witnessed.

And that second kiss; Anne "If I wanted to kiss a boy, couldn't I just, kiss him?" Shirley Cuthbert going for it, I am here for it on every level, I hope it's within the correct timespan for visiting suitors, because you're definitely not in the parlour Anne!

Anne not even getting mad that he's leaving just after he kisses her, she is so understanding what a damn angel.

And Gilbert desperately trying to reassure her before he has to run off again. That hand kiss, I am swooning over their romantical notions, the pair of them!

"DiANA???"

"Can I still be your roommate?" Look at this baby, with her witty quips and dramatic entrances! I adore that Anne has found a home among people who are just as dramatic as she is.

Mr Barry redeaming himself somewhat - "Take the carriage! Run boy! Accomplish your dreams!" He's learning, it's all we can ask for. Maybe next season I'll begin to like you again.

That hop out of the carriage, the return of the flirty eyebrows, that kiss; Mr Blythe! Straight out of a romance novel! He knows how to put his romantical notions into action.

"I have follow up questions."

Marilla and Matthew running with the book! The book itself! Mummy Shirley had red hair!!! Baby Anne's First Picnic!!! "Their handwriting looks like mine." !!!

"You are a wish come true, I never knew I was making" Marilla tear my heart out why don't you?!?!

Dear Gilbert I look like my mother.

This was a phenomenal, perfect ending to this series, we were not only fed, but giving a ten course meal, thank you Moira!!! Only thing I could have wished for was more Jerry, because he is a tiny baby, and more ka'kwet. Also the brutal and gruesome death of Billy Andrews would have been a nice bonus, but I'm happy to wait until season 4 that is definitely going to happen.

Now just give me a character on this show for the sole purpose of having a bisexual affair with Winnie Rose. Jo and Gertie 2.0! Meeting in a Parisian bookshop! Yes please!!!

[the-broken-truth]

Yandere One-Shot: Yandere Queen Hippolyta

SUBTITLE: YOU ARE MEANT TO BE MINE, THE GODS SENT YOU TO ME. [PART ONE]

You arrived on the Island of Themyscira when the cruise ship you here traveling on was hit in a sudden storm, which was kind of ironic considering you made a joke about how the dark cloud forming meant you all were about to face Poseidon's Wrath.

While the captain wrestled with the raging seas, you were helping the passengers get to the door that lead to the cabins. You were about to head in yourself when you noticed a young boy near the front of the ship; refusing to leave anyone, you pushed against the winds and grabbed the boy before heading back.

You were almost there with him when a large wave came over the edge of the ship - acting on pure instinct, you pushed the boy to the sailor who caught him...but the wave caught you before you could do anything.

The raging water sent you flying to the edge of the ship, making your back come in contract with the metal rails, sending pain from the center of your spine to your entire body before sweeping you over the rail and into the water that consumed you. Your life flashed before your eyes before the air was cut off and you began drifting away into nothingness, but not before a powerful voice spoke to you from an unknown depth.

"You are perfect to stand by her side."

And then, you knew no more.

You woke up on an unknown beach, trying to remember what happened but there seemed to be a gap in your memory. You tried to stand but the pain in your back made you fall back to the sand. You managed to turn over to where your face was in view of the sun - you laid there, trying to let your back heal on its own when the sound of horses neighing and hooves hitting the sandy beach.

You opened your eyes and came face to face with numerous women, all wearing golden armor and armed to the teeth - and all wearing very pissed-off expressions on their faces. You tried to speak up they just snatched you up and tied you up before placing you on one of the horses as if you were a bounty.

You were thrown into a cell - still bound as if you were a bounty. The ladies glared at you before leaving you, all except one; you assumed she was going to watch you.

You knew it wouldn't be wise to try to speak - they were already angered with you and it wouldn't be wise to anger them further; you were already in enough pain as it was. You sat in the middle of the cell with your legs crossed and your eyes closed - if anyone saw you, they would assume that you were in meditation.

After a while, the door opened again and several people walked in - leading them was an elegant woman with a crown, she must have been the queen.

"What is this?" The queen asked as her blue eyes glared into your surprisingly calm [Eye Color] eyes.

"My Queen, this is the outsider our scouts informed you about. We found them lazing upon our beach as if it was their own." The guard said as she glared at you.

"Open the cage." The Queen ordered, the guard followed the order and she walked into the cage with a lasso in her hand, "I am going to ask you some questions - Are you going to be truthful or will I have to force the truth from you?" The Queen asked.

"I have nothing to gain but an enemy if I lie. You have my word that I shall be honest with you, Your Grace." You said.

"We shall see about that." The Queen said as she tied the lasso around your neck before holding it with one hand - there was a golden glow before the queen spoke again. "What is your name?"

"My name is [Your Name], Your Grace." You answered.

"Truthful. Well, [Your Name], how did you get here?" She asked.

"I was on a cruise ship with some other people when a massive storm it. I was aiding the people to get the safety but there was a boy that strayed from the group and was alone. I went to help him, I managed to save him but the waves swept me off the ship and into the ocean. When I came to, I was on your beach." You answered.

"Truthful." She looked into your eyes, "You risked your own life for a boy's - what reason did you have?" She asked.

"He has a life." You answered.

"What do you mean 'he has a life'?" She asked.

"He was young, no more than 6 - he cried for his mother, it was clear he was afraid. I've lived longer than him, I wasn't gonna let him lose his life when he hasn't even experienced much yet." You answered with a calm sparkle in your eyes.

The Queen looked at you for a while before taking the lasso from around your neck, "It's clear that you are honest. You really had no intention of finding this place?" She asked.

"No, Your Grace - I have no idea where I am, and I can see your people are not fond of outsiders. I would leave at once if I could." You explained.

'What's stopping you?" The guard scoffed.

"The storm damaged my back - that's why I was laying on the beach where you found me. And, I don't have access to a ship." You explained.

"There are a few ships that are in need of repair near the beach where you were laying. Once your back heals, fix a ship and leave our island." The guard ground.

"If that will please you, I shall." You closed your eyes and bowed your head. The Queen looked at you for a while before leaving the cell - which was locked right behind her - and she left the area with her guards behind her. Her blue eyes seemed focused but her mind was in a fog - she can't stop thinking about what happened the previous night...

When she prayed to the Gods for the perfect partner to rule Themyscira alongside her.

'Could they...be the one the Gods sent to me?' She wondered.

After a week, your spine was healed enough for you to move and you asked the Queen to show you the ships the guard spoke of. You, The Queen, and a few Amazon Guards went to the ship graveyard and you found a fishing boat that was mostly intact but needed a new propeller, some holes in the hull patched up, and some look at the digital map; the other ships would have the parts, you just needed the tools.

It would be another week before you got the tools you wanted.

The Amazon Hunting Parties - Lead by the Amazon Artemis, named after the Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, came back with nothing one time and wasn't sure what she was going to do. You offered your aid and she laughed at you then you made her a deal.

"I am certain I can come back with meat before the shadows blank at the land - if I am able to do this, then I am to be given the tools I need to repair the boat." You offered. She laughed up you before giving you a bow and sending you on your way - there was no escape off the island so they didn't need to worry about you running away.

Just before the sun's light faded from the sky - You returned with 3 wild boars for their dinner. Artemis was both shocked and angry to be made a fool of. You gave her the meat and she gave you the tools, you removed yourself from the city with no food to continue repairs but Hippolyta followed you and left a basket of fruit, bread, meat, with a canteen of wine before leaving before you saw her.

The longer you stayed on the island, the more the locals accepted you. When you walked into the city to retrieve some things for the boat, the women would wave or smile: You became Artemis' Hunting Partner and Diana loved to spar with you. There were some times you ate with the Amazons in the meal hall or sometimes, Hippolyta would invite you to eat with her and Diana; she almost felt like you were all a family.

"So, how is progress with the boat, [Your Name]?" Diana asked you one night during dinner.

"Well, actually. I just have to wait for the automated systems to finish drying and set them and making sure the holes in the hull are patched, then I can be on my way." You smiled but...Hippolyta didn't look happy at the news.

"I thought you said would take at least 3 months to fix the boat." She said.

"It has been 3 months, Queen Hippolyta." You said as you looked in the queen's eyes.

"But...are you certain you need to go back?" Hippolyta asked.

"What do you mean?" You asked.

"Well, you've been here for so long and everyone already sees you as one of us. I mean - look at you - you're more like an Amazon." Hippolyta said as she gestured at the outfit you were wearing.

"Your Grace, I have been here too long. I have a life that I must return to and I am not one of you - I have no right to be here." You said.

The rest of the dinner was in silence.

After that dinner, strange things were happening around you: You would find new damages or flaws with the boat or the Amazons were acting more like family than before. You didn't like it.

One night, you were working non-stop on the boat and had just placed the propeller on when you heard footsteps, your turned to look and saw...

"Artemis? Diana?" The 2 Amazons stood there with saddened looks on their faces.

"We didn't want you to find out like this." Artemis said.

"Wait - you two have been the ones that have been damaging the boat and keeping me from leaving?" You questioned, the silence was enough to answer, "You are... Why would you do this?" You asked.

"It's you who wouldn't understand - you can't leave, you belong here - on Theymscira, ruling the Amazon with Mother." Diana said.

"I'm not an Amazon, I have no right to be here!" You tried to make them see reason.

"You may not be Amazon but you do belong here. It's been clear to all of us and we shall not let you leave our queen. The Gods brought you here because you are meant for Queen Hippolyta - you are the one she prayed for." Artemis said.

"What? NGH!!!" You clenched your head as a splitting pain shot through your mind, making you fall to your knees in pure agony.

"They are remembering something. Diana, get them before the pain fades!" Artemis said. They didn't have to worry about the pain fading because it knocked you out again.

[End of Part One]

[singledarkshade]

Time Masters And Amazons

Summary: Rip is sent to Thermiscrya to retrieve a suspicious pod released by Time Pirates. Author’s Note: It's RipWeek 2021, Day 1: “Time wants to happen” – Time travel is what Legends is all about, but it’s moved away from that lately. What historical or futuristic adventures should Rip have had? This is set in the same universe as my story Rescue. Enjoy                                ********************************************* “Captain Hunter,” Gideon’s voice woke him from his sleep, “You have a communication from the Vanishing Point.”

Stiffly rolling out of bed, Rip pulled on his clothes, pausing briefly to throw some water on his face so he could wake a little before heading up to the bridge.

“Captain Hunter,” Time Master Dereham stated when Rip told Gideon to open the comms, “We have a mission for you.”

Frowning Rip replied, “Ma’am, I was promised a few days of rest after my last mission.”

A mission where he’d ended up with three broken ribs and a broken arm. Even though Gideon had fixed him, rest was still required to get him back to peak fitness.

“Normally another Captain would be assigned,” Dereham told him, “But this is pertaining to Themyscira. During the apprehension of a group of Time Pirates, they jettisoned a pod which we have tracked to the island. We fear it contains something dangerous and needs to be retrieved. Due to your prior contact with the Amazons, you are the best choice for this mission.”

Nodding Rip noted, “If you send Gideon the details, I will head there once I have an entry point.”

“I have received all required information, Captain,” Gideon told him as Dereham blinked away.

Rip sighed, “Gideon, calculate an entry to Themyscira.”

“We can enter in forty-three minutes,” Gideon reported, “You have enough time to shower, eat breakfast and let Mrs Hunter know you will not make it home for the weekend.”

Rip grimaced, “Unless I manage to finish this mission fast.”

“Forty-two minutes.”

Forty minutes later, Rip was readying the ship to exit the timestream. Dressed and fed, he’d let his wife know about his unexpected mission, unfortunately not getting a chance to talk to his son who was sleeping.

“We are entering the window,” Gideon spoke up.

Rip nodded, “Okay, reconfiguring for entry to Themyscira.”

Due to the cloak that hid the island of the Amazons from the world and a few additional protections provided by the Time Masters, there were only certain windows to enter it from the time stream. Rip had made the trip more than any other Time Master, and thanks to his rescue of the young princess, was welcomed by the Amazons.

Exiting the time stream, Rip smiled to see the island below him, bathed in sunlight with the clear blue sea surrounding it.

“Gideon, see if you can track our pod,” Rip told her, “And then head to the landing zone.”

“I have traced the trajectory,” Gideon reported, “And our presence has been detected.”

Rip chuckled, “I would be worried if it hadn’t.”

Gently landing his ship, Rip undid the restraint and patted the central console before he headed to the cargo bay.

“Captain Hunter,” Queen Hippolyta greeted him as he walked out the ship.

Rip bowed, “Your Majesty.”

Hippolyta smiled, “What do we owe the pleasure? Is it by any chance to do with the falling star last night?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Rip replied, “And before you ask, I don’t actually know what it is.”

She frowned, “Never a good sign.”

“I’ve traced where it went,” Rip explained, “But thought it best to check in with you first before I try to track it down.”

Hippolyta nodded, “I do appreciate that, Captain. We would not want any of our guards to believe you to be an intruder.”

At her amused smile, Rip chuckled, “Definitely not.”

“Captain Hunter!!” the excited voice of the young princess made Rip smile, as she rushed towards him.

Rip gave a small bow, “Your Highness.”

Diana beamed and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him. Rip gently wrapped one arm around her shoulders briefly before letting her go.

“I have a present for you,” Rip said, smiling at the look of surprise in Diana’s eyes. He slid his hand into his pocket and found the small velvet bag, “I hope you like it.”

The little princess opened the bag and tipped the contents into her hand, letting out a soft gasp at the silver chain with the three small pendants on it.

“It’s a charm bracelet,” Rip explained, “My wife, Miranda made it for you.”

“She made it for me?” Diana gasped, holding her arm out so her mother would put it on.

Rip nodded, “Do you like it?”

Diana beamed, “I do. Please tell her I love it.”

“Captain Hunter and I need to discuss his reason for being here,” Hippolyta told her daughter, “You must return to your studies.”

Diana glanced at Rip.

“I will not leave without saying goodbye,” Rip promised.

With a grin Diana left with her current tutor, Rip turned to the Queen of the Amazons.

“It was a lovely gift,” Hippolyta noted as she started him towards the palace, “Thank your wife from me as well.”

“Miranda is very artistic and jewellery making is her new passion,” Rip explained, “Since our son, Jonas isn’t interested in the pieces she makes, Miranda hoped Diana would be.”

Hippolyta smiled, “I think the fact that it came from your wife made it even more special for her.”

 The palace of the Amazons was somewhere Rip would have loved to spend time exploring, he knew Miranda would want to explore it too, but he was sure the guards could snap him in two without breaking a sweat if he went wandering.

“Captain?” the Queen’s voice broke through his musing.

“Of course,” Rip said, walking over to the map on the wall beside her, “According to Gideon, the pod crashed somewhere here,” he pointed to the mountain range, “I am hoping you can spare a guide to get me to the location.”

Hippolyta mused before replying, “I know that section of the island better than anyone so I shall guide you.”

Rip stared at her surprised, “Are you sure, Your Majesty? I did not expect you would…”

“This is something of great importance,” she cut him off, “I prefer to deal with it myself.”

“Then I’m honoured,” Rip replied.

Hippolyta smiled slightly before noting, “You may wish to change.”

Looking at his clothes, Rip nodded, “I also need to collect some things from the ship to ensure I can retrieve the pod safely.”

“We leave in one hour.”

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

 “Gideon,” Rip said as he checked the equipment that he was taking with him including his pistol and a sword, “Have your scans revealed anything I should worry about?”

“Other than the trek, the heat and the fact you will have to look competent in front of the Queen of the Amazons?” Gideon asked.

Rolling his eyes, Rip ignored her, “Please connect to the courier and continue your scans. Let me know if there is any change in the pod.”

“Yes, Captain.”

As he headed out, Rip paused seeing the guards outside the ship, “Gideon, no teasing the Amazons.”

“If you wish,” Gideon replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

Resting his hand on the bulkhead before he left, “I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful, Captain,” Gideon told him.

Nodding he walked down the ramp to where his guide was waiting to take him to the Queen.

 “So, Captain,” Hippolyta said as they started along the trail towards their destination, “Have you ever spent any time within this type of environment?”

Rip shrugged, “We were trained in basically all possible situations. I have done exercises where I’ve had to fend for myself and get back to base in multiple environments. I survived those.”

Hippolyta chuckled, “Well that is good to know. I am assuming you know how to use the sword?”

“One of my specialist weapons,” Rip noted before resting his hand on his pistol, “And I’m not a bad shot.”

The Queen laughed, “Hopefully you will not need to use either weapon, Captain.”

They continued in silence for a while reaching the edge of the forest. Rip paused and checked his courier.

“Gideon,” he called, “Has there been any changes?”

“I am reading a stronger signal,” Gideon said in his ear, “It is possible the pod has been disturbed.”

“Captain?” Hippolyta asked.

Rip grimaced, “Gideon believes the pod has been found. Do you have any patrols in that area?”

The Queen frowned, “No. However it is possible a training group may have entered the area.”

“Gideon,” he said, “Keep me apprised of anything you detect.”

“Of course, Captain.”

Rip turned to the Queen of the Amazons who was waiting for him to finish his conversation, “I believe we should continue.”

She nodded, “The next part of the trail is especially steep. It will be best climbed before we reach the midday sun.”

“Excellent.”

 The sun was beating down on them as they finally reached the summit of the trail into the forest, Rip wiped the sweat from his forehead before he checked his courier.

“The signal is stronger towards the east,” he told the woman standing waiting, “Please tell me it’s an easier walk.”

Hippolyta chuckled, “Going down the path is usually easier.”

Rip took the water she offered him before he grabbed some cereal bars from him pack offering one to the Queen who took it graciously. She suddenly frowned and held up her hand, walking over to a bush behind them she reached in and grabbed something. Rip watched surprised at the familiar girl pulled out who tried to look innocent.

“Diana,” her mother frowned at her, “I am sure I told you not to follow us.”

Diana looked up at her mother with wide eyes, “I wanted to help you and Captain Hunter.”

Hippolyta frowned before turning to Rip, “Excuse us for a moment, Captain.”

She drew her daughter to one side just out of hearing and Rip took a seat on a nearby rock. He hadn’t had the time after his previous mission to recover fully from his injuries, and it was taking a toll.

“Captain,” Gideon spoke up suddenly, “I am detecting an energy spike from the pod and, as it is sending out a signal, identified its origins.”

“Good,” Rip replied before noting the pause, “And bad. Where is it from?”

“Tracadia,” Gideon told him, and Rip swore.

Hippolyta frowned as she walked back to him, “Captain?”

“Gideon has found out where the pod is from,” Rip replied, “And it’s worse than I expected.”

Diana opened her mouth as though to ask a question but slammed it shut at her mother’s sharp look.

“How much worse?” Hippolyta asked.

Rip sighed, “The people this came from are slave traders and use technology to turn people into mindless drones.”

“How?” Diana spoke up.

Her mother frowned but looked at Rip for an answer.

“It’s complicated but basically it sends out a specific tone,” Rip explained, “This turns off the person’s conscious self and allows programming of those affected for specific tasks. If anyone is in the vicinity, they will become enslaved and protect the pod at all costs while it sends out a distress call.”

Hippolyta frowned, “Do you know how to stop it?”

“Yes,” Rip nodded, “If I can get to the pod, I can disable it but…”

“But?” the Amazonian Queen demanded.

“The pod is already sending out a signal,” Rip explained, “Which means that the moment someone gets within the range, they become a drone and it has protection. I would prefer to head back to the Waverider and retrieve additional equipment, but we don’t have time.”

Hippolyta frowned, “Can you get near the pod without being influenced by the signal?”

Rip nodded and tapped his ear, “I have a communicator in my ear that connects me to Gideon in my ship. She can neutralise the signal, but I need to do something for you both.”

“Both?” Diana asked with a smile, wincing when her mother frowned at her.

“At the moment, we don’t know how far the signal is stretching,” Rip explained, “It’s safer for Diana to stay with us.”

Hippolyta frowned before nodding, “I agree.”

“Then I better get to work.”

 Diana bounced nervously as they waited for Rip to finish whatever he was making. She knew she was in trouble following her mother, but her curiosity got the better of her. Rip had visited a few times since he had saved her, but this was the first time he’d come for more than just a quick visit.

“Diana,” Rip motioned her to him, “Okay, I am going to connect this into your ear and clip it in, so it doesn’t fall out.”

She nodded and smiled as Rip brushed her dark hair back from her right ear before placing the strange looking device into her ear. She winced slightly as something pinched her skin.

“Sorry,” Rip said softly, “It’s just connecting to you. Let me test it now.”

Diana nodded.

“Gideon, test please,” Rip called.

“Hello, Princess,” the voice of the Gideon came in her ear, “Can you speak to allow me to know if the communicator is working both ways?”

Diana hesitated not knowing what to say finally deciding on, “Hello, Gideon.”

“It is working perfectly, Captain,” Gideon said, “Princess Diana is now protected.”

Rip smiled and squeezed Diana’s shoulder, “Can you ask your mother to join me?”

Diana nodded and bounced away.

“Gideon,” Rip said as he waited for the Queen to come and get her comm unit, “Any updates?”

“Unfortunately,” Gideon replied, “There are life-signs at the coordinates. The pod now has guardians.”

Rip sighed, “Wonderful.”

Hippolyta joined him and caught the look on his face, “I take it there is bad news and it is a good thing we didn’t return back to your vessel.”

Nodding Rip connected the communicator to her ear, “Precisely.”

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

 Hippolyta motioned them to stop as they reached just outside the caves that Gideon confirmed the pod had been relocated to. There were several of her warriors guarding the entrance and Hippolyta did not want to hurt any of her people, but from what Hunter had told her, they would protect the item at all costs.

“Diana,” she motioned her daughter to her, “For defence only,” she said handing her a sword, “No matter what happens, you stay with Captain Hunter.”

Diana nodded, “Yes, mother.”

Turning to Hunter, she noted, “I will do my best to keep those affected away to give you time to deactivate the signal.”

He nodded, “Be careful of the communicator, if it breaks then you will become one of the drones.”

“It could be a welcome break from ruling,” she replied with a smile, “But I will ensure it is kept intact.”

An amused smile touched the man’s lips before he gently touched Diana’s shoulder and motioned her to follow him. Reaching out Hippolyta squeezed her daughter’s hand before allowing her to leave with the Time Master, knowing he would protect Diana.

 Rip watched the Queen of the Amazons walk towards the entrance of the cavern, instantly the two guards attacked her, and Hippolyta moved the fight away from the cave allowing Rip and Diana to slip inside.

The cool air of the cave surrounded them, and Rip could also feel the pressure from signal relieved when Gideon began to counteract it. Looking around, he found the pod set up on a shelf well above his height.

“Look out,” Diana cried, and Rip turned to find one of the guards of the pod coming towards them.

Rip threw himself one way as Diana rolled the other way, drawing his sword Rip defended himself but knew he had little chance of surviving long against a trained Amazon warrior. Thankfully he got an opening and was able to draw his pistol to stun his attacker, who fell unconscious to the ground.

“Diana,” he said to the girl, “We need to turn off the pod. Can you climb up to that?”

“Easily,” she nodded.

Rip dug into his pocket and pulled out the disruptor he’d made earlier, “Once you’re there I need you to press this onto the pod, anywhere on the body. Then tell Gideon to activate.”

Taking the disruptor, Diana nodded but, before she could move, they were attacked again.

“Go,” Rip snapped at Diana as he managed to stop the sword coming at them with his own.

The little girl dodged around the warriors coming towards them and began to climb. Rip fired a few shots to deter those trying to follow her but by protecting Diana, he left himself open and cried out in pain when a sword slashed across his ribs.

“Rip?” Diana called worriedly.

“Don’t stop,” he replied, using the cave wall to keep upright as he continued to defend himself. Another of the drones attacked and Rip did his best but even as a basic zombie, this was still a trained Amazon warrior, and after a few seconds easily disarmed Rip and stabbed him through the gut. Managing to shoot his assailant, Rip tried to find his sword as he knew until the pod was deactivated, he had to keep fighting.

“Gideon,” he heard Diana call just as he managed to grip the hilt, “Activate.”

The sound of swords dropping echoed around the cavern, and all the Amazons looked around in confusion. Rip sighed in relief and fell back onto the ground.

“Rip!!!!” Diana screamed as Hippolyta appeared above him.

“Hold on, Captain,” the Queen soothed, “You will be fine.”

Rip gripped her hand, “Get me to Gideon,” he breathed before he couldn’t keep the blackness at bay any longer and fell into unconsciousness.

 Hippolyta could see her daughter panic at seeing the man she looked up to unconscious and bleeding on the ground, with a sword sticking out of him. Wrapping her arm around Diana, Hippolyta was about to order her people to get him back to the palace when the voice of Gideon, Hunter’s artificial companion came in her ear.

“Your Majesty,” Gideon stated urgently “Captain Hunter’s injuries are grave, I have sent the JumpShip to your location. If you can take him onboard and return him to the Waverider I will be able to heal his injuries.”

A little unsure, Hippolyta however replied, “Of course.”

Glancing down at her daughter, Hippolyta gently touched her shoulder and moved her back ordering the warriors to carry Hunter outside. Keeping her daughter close, they watched the small vessel land, and the unconscious man was carried inside. The Queen followed on with Diana and entered the ship.

“Gideon,” she said as the door closed behind them.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Gideon replied, “Please all take a seat and hold on.”

Sitting her daughter down, along with the two warriors, Hippolyta gripped the seat as the ship lifted off the ground and sped through the air to where the Waverider sat. The moment they landed Gideon instructed them where to take Hunter. It was an astonishing place, Hippolyta followed Diana who knew where she was going and what she was doing so slid the cuff onto the man’s wrist the moment he was placed on the chair before Gideon could tell them.

“Please remove the sword,” Gideon stated.

Hippolyta rested her hand on the man’s arm comfortingly before pulling the sword from his gut, wincing at the cry that escaped him even unconscious. A green light covered him instantly and he visibly relaxed.

“Thank you,” Gideon stated, “I will have Captain Hunter contact you once he is able to.”

Hippolyta shook her head, “Diana and I will remain here until he wakens.”

“Captain Hunter would not agree,” Gideon told her before conceding, “However if you are determined to remain, then thank you.”

Nodding Hippolyta dismissed her two warriors to return to the palace before she and Diana took a seat to ensure that Hunter would not wake up alone.

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

 Rip woke slowly, he was stiff and felt the need to go back to sleep but if Gideon was waking him then he knew he couldn’t. As he forced his eyes open, Rip was confused to find the Queen of Themyscira looking down him with concern.

“Your Majesty?” he forced out through dry lips.

“Welcome back, Captain,” she smiled at him.

Slowly sitting up, Rip blinked in surprise to find the royal family of the Amazons watching him.

“Gideon?” he called.

“The Queen and Princess Diana refused to leave while you were recuperating,” Gideon explained.

Looking at the mother and daughter who were smiling slightly, he nodded, “Thank you.”

“Well, we wanted to ensure you were healed as Gideon promised,” Hippolyta smiled at him, “Diana was worried.”

Rip smiled at the young girl watching him with wide eyes, “I’m fine. Gideon healed all my injuries and once I get some sleep I will be as good as new.”

“Are you sure?” Diana demanded.

Sliding off the couch he crouched so he was face to face with her, “I promise.” Standing again he looked at the Queen, “What happened to the pod?”

“We brought it to the ship and Gideon had me place it in a cupboard,” she told him.

“I have erected a level 5 shield around the pod, Captain,” Gideon spoke up.

Rip smiled, “Thank you, Gideon,” he turned back to the mother and daughter, “I should get it back to the Time Masters.”

“You’re leaving?” Diana asked sadly.

Rip sighed, “I have a mission to complete but I promise that I will come back another time.”

Diana hugged him and Rip gently patted her back, letting him go Diana stepped back to her mother.

“Thank you for your help, Your Majesty,” Rip bowed to her.

Hippolyta inclined her head to him, “And thank you for yours, Captain. It was a pleasure to work with you. The next time you visit, I hope it is less exciting but more of a family affair. I would like to meet your wife and son.”

“Miranda and Jonas would love that,” Rip smiled.

He escorted them to the cargo bay and, after another hug from the young princess, Rip watched them leave then headed to the bridge. Sliding into the pilot’s chair he readied the ship for flight.

“Gideon,” he said, “Let the Vanishing Point know we have the pod and we’re on our way back.”

“We are expected, Captain,” Gideon replied, “And have an entry programmed back to the time stream.”

With a smile at the island below him, Rip pulled the restraint down, and took the ship back into the time stream.

[monkeebratz]

Bio!Dad Bruce Wayne AU - Super Meet

Initial idea | How it Happened | Addition by iggy-of-fans | Reply to iggy’s Addition | Summer Begins | Summer Part 2 | Supers Meet (you are here) | Scarecrow Interlude |

SO we have two ways that the Parisian Super Squad meets the Batfam. 

The first, which I’m only writing down because I cannot forget about it, and its hilarious is: the Super Squad gets to Gotham, gets Mari’s texts, gets to their hotel room, throws their stuff in, transforms, and starts running around looking for her. They find her walking around the fashion district with the Wayne’s. Adrien, as Chat Noir, spies Marinette first. And, in typical fashion, acts first and thinks later. 

So basically the Wayne’s watch a young, blonde, male version of catwoman throw an incredibly expandable baton between them and Mari, jump down, pick her up. Say “Bonjour. Au revoir.” And then make his expandable baton extend again and carry the now screeching Marinette to the top of the building where the rest of the Super Squad is waiting. Luka is going to strangle him. Holy shit. Chat Noir? More like Chat NO-ir!

The Batfam, of course, suits up and starts chasing after them. In full daylight. (These are the perfect opportunity for “Only in Gotham tweets” tbh) They catch up to Marinette berating all of them in incredibly loud and frantic French. As Multimouse. Going on about how irresponsible it was to leave Paris unprotected! Yes she knows Hawkmoth was defeated but it is the principle of the matter!! And they left BEFORE she told them about what happened with her bio!family and Batman! ALSO THEY KIDNAPPED HER IN BROAD ASS FUCKING DAYLIGHT IT DOESN’T MATTER IF THIS IS GOTHAM YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP CHAT! 

The whole squad looks so defeated but then Mari starts crying and throws herself into Chat’s arms going on about how good it is to see them and she’s so happy they’re here and they’re so so stupid! And then its a hug pile. Big hug pile. The Batfam looks on in utter confusion bc, again, only like. Two of them know French. Then Batman coughs and they all look up and just. Don’t move. Maybe if they don’t move he won’t see them. 

“... I need to be taking Miss Dupain-Cheng back to her family, now.” 

“But-!” WHACK (why yes that’s the sound of Marinette kicking at them all)

“You kidnapped a girl in front of her family with no warning, in a very dangerous city. I’m sure her family would like the reassurance that she’s safe.” 

So Batman and the Robins take Marinette back to Wayne Manor and Alfred clings to her (like he totally didn’t put everything together already they’re all so obvious). And then the Batfam, minus costume, comes barreling down the stairs and they all tackle Marinette and its another hug pile. Bc holy shit Mari why did you get kidnapped by your so called friends? Oh, they’re stupid? Can relate. 

And then. Of course. Guess who shows up at the door. Just peeks their heads in, detransformed of course. “Uh, hi? We’re friends of Marinette? We’re here to visit her?” 

Bruce is shrieking like WHY. WHY IS THIS SHIT GENETIC?! Internally. Can’t spill the beans QUITE yet. 

Anyway, INTRODUCTIONS GALOR, YADA YADA, Dick and Adrien get along so well. Too well. Kagami and Damien also get along well too (they’re both ready to stab a bitch, don’t test them). Luka is too chill NOT to get along with anyone, unless they insult his friends and partners. Chloe is ready to throw down but also holy shit that’s Bruce fucking Wayne? Damn, Mari. DAMN. Already on social media about this. 

(Also listen, I am shipping trash so I’m going to be vague as hell with things but in my brain this will be a poly!partners au so the Super Squad is just dating each other. But for the sake of everyone they could also just be really good/close friends, as they’ll be sharing rooms and be very touchy feeling and such. Its up to you. But just know, I’m just. Like this.) 

So it basically just devolves into story sharing and puppy piles and the Wayne’s all looking at the Super Squad with side eyes bc HM. HOW FAMILY. ALSO STOP TOUCHING THE BABY! NO CORRUPTING THE BABY!! THAT’S OURS!!!

WE SAW HER FIRST SO FUCK YOU!

I’M LITERALLY? HER FATHER? FUCK? YOU? YOU CATWOMAN KNOCK OFF???

This is all happening with their eyes btw

And of course. The whole squad follows Marinette out as Multimouse to go meet batman, who Bruce told her had something to talk with her about. And she kinda cries bc SHE’S GOING TO GET KICKED OUT OF THE CITY BC OF HER IDIOTS!

Its not, its the Batfam taking the Super Squad to the Justice League tower. They weren’t expecting so many people but its fine. They’ll make it work. 

Because Bruce had called the Justice League for an emergency meeting that night with the tone of voice that clearly said anybody who didn’t show up would have a bat hunting them down and shoving his foot up their ass so far they’ll taste patented leather for the rest of their life. They’ve almost never seen him so angry? And he’s bringing guests? What? The fuck?? 

Multimouse Marinette gets briefed that, as the current Guardian of the Miraculous, and a hero of Paris, she’ll be there to get a formal apology and an explanation about why a bunch of teenagers had to fight an emotionally manipulative super villain by themselves. Chat Noir is maybe hiding behind the rest of the Miraculous Crew and they’re only kinda notice but don’t think much of it tbh. Adrien does NOT want to be the one to explain that his FATHER was said super villain. save him. 

Btw the whole group is having mixed reactions to the idea of meeting the Justice League. Adrien wants to run away but he also doesn’t care? Like. They’re all superhero’s, he gets that they can’t always help, but also. Fuck. He loves being a superhero but having someone with actual experience might have saved them all a lot of heartache. Chloe, meanwhile, doesn’t give a sINGLE SHIT about the JL. Fuck them. Fuck them so hard, so assholes ignored them and they’re going to be high and mighty. She may be a better person now but she will not put up with their nonsense. Not now. Not ever. Fight her. Luka is that sort of calm angry? He’s pissed that they brushed them off but since everything’s over there’s no point in holding onto his anger. There may or may not be a lot of meditating in the Bat Plane on the way there so he doesn’t use his lyre like a fucking BOOMERANG AGAIN and smack them all upside the head with it. Kagami doesn’t care? She’ll threaten them to the ends of the earth should they ever blow off such messages again, but she also just. Has very little emotional investment in them otherwise. 

Marinette, of course, is freaking out and pacing and trying to channel her inner ladybug and screaming internally bc why. WHY. She’s angry but she also understands, but she’s still so stressed. just. please. Tiny squeaks. 

And okay, they get there, and Batman comes in with ALL the Robins AND all these new kids? 

Flash: I’m sorry, you called an emergency meeting because of your extended family? 

Diana: HUSH

Because Diana, of course, recognizes them what and who they are. And is screaming bc holy shit? The Miraculous Holders are active again? Do they need their help? Where is Ladybug? Who is the Guardian? She just has. so. many. questions. 

And Captain Marvel/Shazam (seriously wtf IS HIS NAME) is fangirling HARD. Because that’s the Miraculous Holders! The ORIGINAL magic users! SEVERAL of his people (Hercules/etc) were Miraculous holders on top of Shazam and HOOOLLLY SHIT THEY’RE HERE! IN FRONT OF HIM! HOLY SHIT!!!

Superman, Green Arrow, and several others are sweating bc uh. UH. OH SHIT THOSE MESSAGES WERE REAL?

Yes. They were real. And now they have Batman in full dad mode demanding an explanation. Several people (Superman, other mutation/alien esc powers) claim they went to Paris to check on the damage but they couldn’t find any, OR the supposed supers of villain. 

Multimouse steps forward and starts explains how the Ladybug powers work and if they had bothered to contact them beyond telling them this wasn’t a line of communication to be used for PRANKS, they would know better. Diana chimes in with how she was helped created BY the Ladybug miraculous, etc, why did nobody ask her about this? Hell, why did nobody ask their resident magic user, Captain Marvel/Shazam??? 

Green Lantern: No offense, but doesn’t this all seem a little far fetched? 

Chloe: ... Bitch, you have an alien ring that gives you powers. Shut the fuck up. 

So there’s some arguing, back and forth, and Bruce looses his temper a little bit. Smacks his hand HARD on the table. “Enough. It is your job to investigate. It is not your job to leave the saving of an entire city to my fucking daughter, who was barely thirteen at the time this all started. As far as I’m concerned, this can never, ever, happen again. Wonder Woman, Captain, I assume you’d be willing to go through our notifications for any discrepancies?” 

And there’s a huge moment of silence. Everyone’s staring at him. Multimouse squeaks. Red Hood just. “Good going, Bats. Real smooth.” 

Chat: OH MY GOD YOUR DAD IS BATMAN? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING, WHY- HOOOOO OH MY GOD YOUR DAD! BATMAN! IS DAD! YOUR DAD WHO IS ALSO-!

Viperion is making wheezing noises and covers Chat’s mouth and then there’s even more yelling and arguing and finger pointing, and Bruce wants a drink. And a nap. In whatever order he can get them. 

Basically he gets Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel/Shazam to agree to looking through messages but also gets the hell out of dodge. 

Next in, the reactions to all this tomfoolery. Also apparently superhero-ism is now genetic. 

Tag List! (Please remember to send me an ask if you want to be added!)

@mystery-5-5 @mariae2900 @vgirl-10123 @iglowinggemma28 @deredereart @synnesstra @dahjokester @destinationdesignation @lordsmeldingtonthethird @emjrabbitwolf @unabashedbookworm @saphiraazure2708 @rhub4rb @romanoff-queen @octoberscorn@littleblue5mcdork @foxyrelina @severelyenchantedwonderland @dast218 @ace-aro-agender​ @rogueptoridactyl​ @kitkatcatfangirl @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @poshplumcot  @iggy-of-fans @schrodingers25​ @two-faced-biatch​ @moonlitarchangels @vixen-uchiha @rikku052 @elspethshadow

People who should be tagged but may not? So sorry, I’m still going to add you until tumblr stops being a dick about this.

@tbehartoo  @wuvpancakes

[elisaphoenix13]

Stowaway (Ch.2)

Even in space Cassie took her time getting clothes, but at least it was a little more bearable for Quill since he had to make some choices himself. He had to prepare her for possible weather conditions, temperature fluctuations, and everything else in between in case she had to leave the ship when they were elsewhere. When that was finally done, they stocked up on food and carried everything back to the Milano where Quill put the food away and Cassie changed into her new clothes. The celestial holds out some food when she comes back out of the Captain's Quarters, and she eyes the food suspiciously before shrugging and taking it.

"So do you have any units to spare?" Cassie asks and Quill guffaws.

"Baby girl, I'm as rich as Tony out here. If the Guardians knew that though, they would never leave me alone." He throws a few zargnuts into his mouth as he kicks his feet up onto the table.

Cassie, in the meantime, discovered the food that Quill handed her wasn't half bad and finished it easily. "Are you going to give them some?"

"Already transferred ten thousand to Rocket. It's enough to shut them up for a while."

The teen nods and grabs the deck of cards from the night before, and plays a game of solitaire while Quill roams the ship after finishing his own food. Despite the weird things it came up with in the thirty years he was gone, Earth was one of the places with better food and was one of the reasons he looked forward to going home. Besides his family of course. One couldn't get prime rib just anywhere.

Quill finally got the alert that his ship was finished fueling, and made a quick check of the job before telling Cassie to find a chair in the cockpit and planting her butt in it. When he went up to plant his own ass in the captain's chair, he was pleased to see the teen was even buckled in so he was able to take off pretty quickly. Once it was safe to roam the ship again as they made their way to their first destination, they both got up and went back down below to play a card game. Cassie was unnervingly good at poker and Quill made a mental note to figure out how she had such a good poker face and who was teaching her to count cards.

His money was on Tony. Who knew what that man taught Cassie during the five years Scott wasn't around.

"Royal Flush." Cassie announces with a smirk as she lays out her cards.

"The fuck?! I'm done playing poker with you!" Quill throws his cards at the teen for her to collect and shuffle and she giggles. "Deal out for Go Fish or something."

"Hey…" Cassie starts and Quill lifts an eyebrow in question. "Can you check on Dad?"

Quill cringes. "He's probably flipping his lid but sure."

What was nice about his Gaze was that he didn't check out when he was using it. He was still able to use it while he continued playing card games with Cassie, and he was right. Scott looked ready to lose his mind.

==============

"Scott...please don't wear a hole in our carpet." Stephen says calmly as he turns a page in his book.

"Tony said he got a message from Quill that Cassie was with him! In space!" The thief nearly screeches.

"I understand your worry but you know Quill would never let anything happen to her." The sorcerer returns one of his hands to Athena's head, who had rested it on his lap the moment he sat down.

Scott huffs and drops his hand from his mouth and stops his pacing to drop onto the couch next to Stephen. He had a point. Quill was just as protective of Cassie as he was over Scott, and he knew how extreme that protectiveness got. The celestial would throw himself between his daughter and whatever danger threatened her, and even if Cassie somehow managed to get hurt, Quill would be able to help her. The scary thought was knowing Quill would possibly obliterate a planet if Cassie was ever kidnapped out there and they refused to hand her over. If that were the case, the god would find their daughter, get her to safety, then wreak havoc.

"Can you open--" Scott starts to ask.

"No." Stephen interrupts immediately. "Space is too vast and I can't open a gateway to the ship either. It's a moving vehicle so I don't know where it is. Pictures don't always work."

The thief sighs heavily. "Didn't hurt to ask."

"There's no use stressing over it. She's with Quill, and if she somehow comes home hurt then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"What if it were one of your kids?" Scott bites out and Stephen levels him with a look.

"Two of my kids would very likely purposely smuggle themselves onto the ship, one can use magic to defend herself, and the other wouldn't leave my side long enough for that to happen."

He and Scott look to the opposite side that Scott was sitting and glance at the little girl sandwiched between Athena and the couch. Her head snuggled into the doctor's side and being kept warm by the wolf laying next to her as she took her afternoon nap. Another good point. Harley and Peter would purposely find a way to go out into space (Peter having already accidentally-purposely doing just that during the war for the stones), and Diana had her magic.

Stephen knew his children well and actually wouldn't stress if one of them were in Cassie's place. As long as someone he knew and trusted was with them, he didn't worry as much. Scott knew his daughter. If she didn't want to be in space, she would have asked Quill to bring her back home and he would have. At least she wasn't missing any school.

"Where are your trolls anyway?" Scott asks.

"Picking up sandwiches from Mr. Delmar's."

"They're going all the way to Queens for sandwiches?"

"Peter swears by them and he's been a loyal customer for years."

"At least Cassie is satisfied with keeping the nearest Starbucks in business." Scott mumbles and Stephen smiles.

"Don't forget about Target."

"Dia is just as bad."

"Because of Cassie."

"Ok. Fair." Scott relents.

"Just stay calm. Quill will take care of her. In the meantime, you're more than welcome to have dinner with us."

Scott nods and motions toward the tv and Stephen waves at him lazily with his permission. After finding a movie to watch, the thief sat back with his feet on the coffee table and did his best to not worry too much about Cassie. Stephen was right. She was with Quill...and he was one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

===============

Quill and Cassie abandoned card games for outside when they arrived at their destination, and the pirate gave the girl permission to accompany him since the planet was like Morag. Ruins. Only a few harmless animals were in the vicinity and Quill was there to find some kind of artifact.

Hopefully not some secret weapon again.

"It's pretty." Cassie says as they vault over a fallen tree. Well, Quill vaulted, Cassie needed a hand once the celestial was over.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Quill shrugs and she gives him a look.

"There are planets prettier than this one?"

Quill leads the way, and looks around their surroundings at the multitudes of greenery and other colors. It was a lot like the forests on Earth but the alien plants and flowers had bright colors that made it obvious they weren't actually on Earth. As well as the man eating plants. They weren't actually man eating, they were harmless. They were just big enough to eat Cassie. She quickly figured out they were harmless when Quill walked past them without worry and without warning her to be careful.

"Why aren't there...people?" She asks.

"Not sure. There's a few explanations for the planet to be uninhabited. Disease, famine, war...Thanos…" Quill cringes a bit at the name. It was very likely the titan visited this planet before the war for the stones and slaughtered those that dwelled here.

"What about if the planet was dying?" Cassie asks from a little further away than the celestial expected.

He turns around and finds Cassie a few feet away and inspecting one of the large plants that looked unhealthy. Quill doubles back to join her and inspects the plant himself, and frowns when he finds the roots of it and nearby plants blackening. Disease. Something not even the planet could overcome.

"The planet might have a few more years, but it will eventually wither away and die." Quill finally says and motions for Cassie to follow him.

She frowns at his conclusion but follows him through the forest until they come across a large stone building in ruins. Quill didn't even need any tools to break into the building this time. The building was in such bad shape that he just delivered a swift quick to the wall and it gave way, dust and dirt flying up into a cloud around them when the rocks fell to the ground. Cassie coughs as she waves the dust away from her face and then sneezes when it tickles her nose.

"Sorry baby girl." Quill steps into the ruins and looks around, finding the artifact the dealer described to him lying on the ground. "This place has been abandoned for a really long time."

He stashes the totem like artifact into his bag and points back toward the hole he made just thirty seconds ago. They head back toward the ship, Cassie glancing at the sick plant with sympathy as they passed it, and then follows Quill back to the ship. When they get back, Quill throws his bag into the ship and nods in agreement when Cassie asks if they can sleep outside for the night. It was safe enough and he wouldn't take away the experience whenever he could help it. So he grabbed a couple of sleeping bags off the ship and had Cassie lay them out while he built a fire and started their dinner.

"Cass, come here." Quill calls from a tree a few yards away from their makeshift camp. When she joins him, he moves her directly in front of him and places one of his blasters in her hands. "Wouldn't hurt to teach you how to properly shoot my guns while you're out here."

"Wait...really?"

Quill points past her. "See that dead branch on the tree straight ahead?" When she nods he drops his arm. "Shoot it."

Cassie raises his gun, aims, and then shoots, frowning when the beam misses the target completely. Quill gently assures her that space guns were harder to use than Earth's firearms and simply moved her arm accordingly and showed her how to properly aim. She hit the target on her second attempt, and Quill walked back to the fire to check on their dinner while she continued to practice. He wouldn't arm her if he could help it, but at least she would know how to use the weapons if she needed to.

"I thought you said you had to help the Guardians with a job." Cassie says as she rejoins him at the fire and returns his gun to him.

"I do. That's our next stop. We're meeting them, and that's gonna be a time I need you to stay on the ship." Quill fills a bowl with some kind of stew he made and hands it to her.

"I'm not arguing, but how come?" She asks.

"We've been hired to killed some kind of creature. It's been stomping all over town."

"Sounds big."

"Yeah. A big pain in the ass." Quill takes a few bites of his stew before pointing at Cassie with his spoon. "Don't tell your dad I taught you how to shoot guns."

"What are you talking about?" She wonders in feigned innocence.

Quill grins and they finish their dinner, and while Cassie goes into the ship to change into her pajamas, Quill wanders a few yards away from camp before stopping. He takes a deep breath and then wills his powers into being before focusing them toward the planet. He uses his light to look for the source of the planet's sickness, and when he finally finds it, he purifies the disease until nothing remains. Quill comes out of his trance with a shaky breath as he watches the tendrils of light recede back to him, and he leans against the nearest tree to catch his breath. Healing planets always took a lot out of him and he hadn't even planned on helping this one until Cassie asked to camp out on it for the night. If he fell into a deep sleep to recover at least she would be safe until he woke up in the morning.

"Papa?" Quill cracks his eyes open, not even realizing he had closed them, and grunts out in answer. "Come on. I'll help you."

The celestial throws his arm around Cassie's shoulder and allows her to lead them back the few feet to camp (it felt like a mile), and he immediately collapses onto the sleeping bag Cassie had completely laid out. As she pulls the second one over them, he passes out as soon as his head hits the pillow, his purr like snores filling the air around them.

[themaliciousravioli]

Bookcaseninja’s Anniversary Challenge

So this March marks nine years since I first started writing fanfiction. And what better way to celebrate than with a challenge?

Rules, character list, and prompts below the cut.

Rules and Guidlines:

You do not have to be following me to participate.

Put the triggers/warning at the beginning of the fic.

If you’re fic includes smut, please no breathplay.

If you write one of the characters from the Flash, or SPN in the character list, please don’t include spoilers. I just finished season one of the Flash and am unable to watch season fourteen of SPN until it comes on netflix.

A little angst is alright too, but it must have a happy ending.

No incest, abuse of any type, rape, or cheating.

You’re allowed to take up to two prompts.

If your fic is more than 500 hundred words, then please insert a read more.

When you finish and post your fics, tag it with “bookcaseninja’s anniversary challenge”. Make sure to tag me in it, and dm it to me as well.

Fics are due April 1st. Please send me a message at least the day before if you need an extension.

Character List

Supernatural

Castiel

Gabriel

Ruby 2.0

Dean Winchester

Sam Winchester

Charlie Bradbury

Star Trek

Jim Kirk (AOS/TOS)

Leonard McCoy (AOS/TOS)

Spock (AOS/TOS)

Pavel Chekov (AOS/TOS)

Nyota Uhura (AOS/TOS)

Hikaru Sulu (AOS/TOS)

Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (AOS/TOS)

Kathryn Janeway (VOY)

Wonder Woman

Diana Prince

Steve Trevor

Urban Boys

John Kennex

Vascar/Black Hat

Siberius Vaako

Gavin Magary

John “Reaper” Grimm

Danny Gallagher

Dredd

Vincent Stevens

William Cooper

Skurge

Billy Butcher

The Invisible Library

Irene Winters

Kai Strongrock

The Flash

Barry Allen

Eobard Thawne/Eowells

Len Snart/Captain Cold

Lisa Snart

Constantine

John Motherfucking Constantine

Zed

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid

Ships

McCastiel (Leonard McCoy/Castiel)

Reapnex (John “Reaper” Grimm/John Kennex)

McKirk

McSpirk

Benkaru

If you made it to the end, I applaud you. Here is the prompt list! Warning: some of the prompts are NSFW.

SFW Prompts

“Your hair is so soft..”

“It’s too cold! Come back!” @outside-the-government

“No, I’m not letting you go. It’s too early to get out of bed.”

“C’mere, you can sit in my lap until I’m done working.”

“I’m not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention.”

“Shh, you’re safe. I won’t let you go.” @the-goddamn-queen

“What? does that feel good?”

“Just pretend to be my date.” @kjs-s

“He/She did it.” “No he/she did.”

“I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified.” @goingknowherewastaken

“It’s not a double date. We’re just third and fourth wheeling.”

“No no–it’s alright, come here.”

“I’m not going to leave you. You’re never going to have to suffer by yourself again, I promise.”

“Look, I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’m still worried about you. No one deserves to be alone.”

“If I could, I would kiss away all of your scars.”

“I think I might be falling in love with you.”

“Shh, it was just a bad dream. Just a dream, okay? None of it was real.”

“I would’ve had breakfast ready, but you were sleeping on my arm and I didn’t want to wake you.” @kjs-s

“I know I’ve kissed you like, ten times, but just like another ten, please.”

“I can’t believe I got the first date, let alone a year.”

“Wanna, like–I mean, if you’re not busy.. We could get lunch? Or even just coffee if you don’t have a lot of time?” @goingknowherewastaken

“So I was driving past a pet store and couldn’t help but wonder how cute an animal would be like in our home..”

“Let’s just stay in bed.”

“We live together. You can’t blame this on anyone else.”

“I think I might be pregnant..”

“I want to try for a baby.”

“I want to marry you.”

NSFW Prompts

“I think you’ll be happy to know that I’m not wearing any underwear.

“I want you. Right here. Right now.”

“It’s like you want to ruin men/women for me.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“Get on your knees. Now.”

“Your lips make me wonder what the rest of you would taste like..”

“You’re so sexy when you’re all hot and bothered.”

“How bad do you want me?”

“Do you know how bad I want you?”

“Did you just… finish?”

“Oh don’t mind me. Just enjoying the view.”

“Don’t cover your face. I want to see you.”

“Come sit in my lap.”

“You’re so beautiful all spread out like this, just for me.”

“Teasing isn’t very nice, sweetheart.” @theweepingvulcan91

“God, I love you.”

“Beg for it.”

“Let me take care of you tonight.”

You are so good, baby.”

“Just relax.”

“Please just fuck me.”

“I am the only one who is allowed to touch you like that.”

“I’m going to make sure that the neighbors know my name by the end of the night.”

“You have been so bad, haven’t you?”

 “Can we take things slow tonight?”

“Oh fuck, don’t stop.”

“Are you frustrated? Do you not like being teased?”

[ladyherenya]

Books read in October

It’s a few days into a new month and not only have I reviewed everything I read last month, I’ve compiled this post. Usually that takes me longer.

I didn’t feel like I needed to include any rereads this month, partly because I don’t really have anything new to say about the trio of favourites I reread: The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones, Sunshine by Robin McKinley and The Changeover by Margaret Mahy. I still love those books.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also my Dreamwidth blog.)

The Murderbot DIaries: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells:  A very satisfying “season finale”, which pulls together threads from the previous novellas into a high-stakes, fast-paced conclusion. Murderbot, a rogue SecUnit, has been gathering evidence of corporate wrongdoing under its own initiative. But its investigation has been noticed and Dr Mensah, who legally owns Murderbot, is in trouble. I enjoyed this enormously. Read it and then reread it. Bookmarked all the quotes. I am delighted by Murderbot -- sarcastic, socially-anxious, obsessed with serials, reluctantly caring, still working out what it means to be a bot with autonomy and feelings. Next up is apparently a Murderbot novel -- more Murderbot, hurray!

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith: Finally, the fourth book! This was engrossing. I liked it for the reasons I liked the previous books: a solid mystery with satisfyingly unexpected twists; the writing is charismatic, with an eye for visual details and astute observations (particularly about class, privilege and fame); and I enjoy reading about Strike and Robin and their investigative efforts. This isn’t as dark nor as dramatic as Career of Evil, and our detectives’ personal lives take up more space… which I’m not going to complain about! I am here for detectives having personal lives and I look forward to reading more about them.

Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood: A story about taking risks, making changes, discovering what is important, and dealing with the pressures of others’ expectations and with malicious cyber gossip. Clem (a swimmer), Kate (a nerdy cellist) and Ady (popular) are thrown together by their private school’s Year 10 “Wellness” class. I enjoyed reading this so much. It’s funny and feminist and sharply insightful about teenage experiences: school, friendships, romance, family, bullying. I loved the girls’ friendship and how they support each other, and the references to the things they’re passionate about. I liked the ending… but wish it had more oomph.

Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi: Penny is starting college. Sam is a barista going through a difficult break-up. Penny likes wearing black, being prepared for emergencies and writing science-fiction. Sam likes wearing black, baking and making documentaries. They’re introduced by a mutual friend and soon after Penny gives Sam her number for “emergency contact”. But once they start texting, they can’t stop. (And I didn’t want to stop reading!) They understand each other’s references, trains of thought, anxiety and humour. They can talk about nearly everything. Their relationship is like a modern, digital, epistolary romance. More books like this one, please.

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer (narrated by Jilly Bond): Kate is invited by her aunt to stay at Staplewood Park. This is an unexpected and uncomfortable foray into Gothic suspense, with characters agonising over whether one of their relatives is mentally unstable and who else knows. Ugh. Although Kate never loses sight that this is still a person who deserves compassion, it’s an era where there wasn’t much of understanding of, nor effective means of treating, mental health issues. It becomes obvious that this situation cannot be resolved happily. I liked Kate and her very Heyer-ish romance. I’d have liked the suspense had Staplewood been home to different secrets.

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne: A largely successful young adult Jane Eyre retelling in which the Earth has undergone an ice-age and people live in ships orbiting the planet. Stella, desperate to leave the run-down Stalwart, applies for a governess position on a privately-owned ship. I was pleasantly surprised by how Donne altered the events of Jane Eyre to fit her futuristic setting, rather than altering her setting to fit Jane Eyre. I liked that there were unexpected twists, and changes made sense in context. (I want a retelling to be sufficiently different, because otherwise I might as well just reread Jane Eyre.)

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley: Someone recommended Kearsley’s books as similar to Mary Stewart’s, and this is most delightfully Mary-Stewart-ish. From the first page I was convinced that I would to love it. Verity Grey is offered a job on an archaeological dig near a fishing town in Scotland. This has atmosphere: history, scenery and mystery. I was fascinated by the historical details about the Romans, I enjoyed vivid depiction of Eyemouth, and there was enough suspense to keep me intrigued without becoming too spooky.  It also has characters who are intensely passionate about their work, and a romance which simmers away in the background.

The Karkadann Triangle: “Unicorn Triangle” by Patricia A. McKillip and “My Son Heydari and the Karkadann”  by Peter S. Beagle: Two short stories featuring unicorns. McKillip’s “Unicorn Triangle”, about a unicorn turned into a human, would be great if it were the beginning of a novel; as a short story, I found it unsatisfying. I’m not sure whether or not I liked Beagle’s “My Son Heydari and the Karkadann” but it’s a really solid short story which kept my interest.

The Element of Fire by Martha Wells (narrated by Derek Perkins): I took four chapters (over two hours of the audiobook) before becoming completely captivated. The beginning is eventful -- the captain of the Queen’s Guard rescues one sorcerer from another, there’s palace intrigue -- and I liked the worldbuilding, but I didn’t know why I should care. But when the king’s half-sister, the Fay sorceress Kade, confronts her family, something clicked. Here is the story’s fraught, emotional heart. I really enjoyed being surprised by Kade. I also enjoyed Thomas’ flashes of humour, and the interactions they have with the royal family. I liked this so much more than I was expecting to.

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (narrated by Michelle Dockrey):  It is rare that I read something which reminds me of Enid Blyton's fantasy, which was my introduction to fantasy stories. However, this novella, in which a group of teenagers go on a mission to a nonsense world, felt a lot like reading a grown-up, modern Faraway Tree adventure -- darker, with fewer dated stereotypes and with much more elegant prose. That perspective made it more interesting. It’s still not quite my aesthetic, but it isn’t as dark as Every Heart a Doorway and I liked how it followed on from that story.

[mercurygray]

So, I hear you liked TURN.

Apres the Season 4 finale, I know there’s going to be a lot of crying, and hand-wringing, and rewatching, and these are all good and proper things to do in the wake of a TV show you’ve enjoyed.

But after the smoke clears from all of that, you’re maybe going to go looking for your next 18th century fix, just something in between rewatches or while you’re trying to flesh out your next story idea. (Hey, now that we have our canon, go hog-wild on story ideas, guys, seriously.) 

So I’ve saved you some trouble and made you all a helpful list.

Obviously there are a lot of movies and TV shows out there - this is just a selection that I wish more people knew about.

Note: Everyone enjoys a show or movie for different reasons. These shows are on this list because of the time period they depict, not because of the quality of their writing, the accuracy of their history or the political nature of their content. Where I’m able to, I’ve mentioned if a book is available if you’d like to read more.

Before we get to the rest of the list, there are three excellent shows that are either currently on television or about to be very soon:

Poldark (BBC/PBS) is based on a series of books by an author named Winston Graham. It was made into a PBS series in the 70s starring Robin Ellis as the handsome Captain Poldark, who returns from the American Revolution to find his family farm in tatters and his long-time love interest married to his cousin. Drama ensues. The 70s series is worth your time, and the recent remake with Aidan Turner in the title role is also definitely worth a go. (If you like leading men who make terrible life decisions and the women who put up with them, this is totally your show.)

Harlots (Hulu) - If you really loved the TURN ladies, thought Lola and Philomena deserved more than they got, or are just interested to learn more about what life might have been like for the lower classes in London in the 1750s, have we got a deal for you. Harlots follows the lives of 18th century sex workers in this new drama, which was just recently renewed for a totally deserved second season. Female-lead ensemble drama. A little violent at points and deals with some pretty heavy-duty topics like rape, murder, and bastardy, but in a humane and understanding way. Totally bingeable.

Outlander (Starz) - Based on the wildly popular series of books by Diana Gabaldon, this time traveling drama jumps between a couple of different centuries and follows the story of Jamie and Claire, two very strong personalities trying to literally find their place in history. (Hewlett talks about the blade his grandfather picked up at Culloden; that battle forms a critical part of this show’s storyline.) It’s a real pretty show with very high production values.

And, without further ado, the rest of the list!

John Adams:  If you haven’t watched this already, do yourself a favor and go pick it up from the library. Starring Paul Giametti in the title role, this HBO miniseries follows John Adams’ role in the formation of America, through his early days in Congress up through his own presidency. As with any biographical show, characters that we know and love from other media (Rufus Sewell’s Hamilton comes to mind, but see what you think of David Morse’s Washington, too) are presented in a slightly different light and provide some food for thought about how history can be selective in how it remembers us. The costuming is great, the sets are fantastic, and the acting is first-rate.

The Patriot: An oldie but a goodie. Mel Gibson plays a highly fictionalized version of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox while Jason Isaacs turns in a really stellar hottie we love to hate in Colonel Tavington. A little heavy-handed at times, this is a good movie to laugh over with friends.

Sons of Liberty: I’ll be really honest - for a show from the History Channel, the history on this show is pretty awful. But the cast is pretty. This one’s up to you, really. It fills a hole.

Garrow’s Law: William Garrow was a barrister and a pioneering legal mind in the 18th century, and this show (which ran for 3 seasons) is based on real Old Bailey cases and Garrow’s defenses, while also working in his fraught social life. Were you interested in learning a little more about Abe Woodhull’s erstwhile legal training? This is the show for you.

City of Vice: A miniseries that explains the origins and work of the Bow Street Runners, one of London’s first police forces.  Does a great job of opening up some of the early 18th century underside of London including a smidge of 18th century gay culture.

A Harlot’s Progress: William Hogarth was an 18th century artist, printmaker and social commentator whose “A Harlot’s Progress” famously depicts the downfall of a woman who goes into prostitution. This 2006 series explores the relationship that inspired the ‘Harlot’ piece.

The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant: At around the same time America was busy trying to figure itself out, halfway around the world another one of Britain’s colonial possessions - Australia - was just getting started. Hundreds of convicts found themselves stuffed in ships and sent to the other side of the world - a sentence deemed almost more humane. This 2005 series with Romala Garai follows a very famous convict, Mary Bryant, and her experiences.

Banished: Another take on penal colonies in Australia. Currently available on Hulu.

Black Sails: A more recent offering from Starz, this show explores the backstory of the pirates in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Lots of great representation issues, a whole lot of ‘how does your story get told’ - and there’s a real big community on Tumblr who loves it and very actively produces all kinds of fic.

Clarissa - Simcoe fans, this one is totally for you. Based on the epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, Clarissa follows a girl of the same name as the infamous rake Lovelace tries to seduce her. Another look at what how women can be corrupted. Also, for you fandom nerds in the crowd, Lovelace was one of the first characters to inspire fix-it fic. Yes, really! Fix-it fic in the late 1700s. Lovelace is one of the original men for whom the ‘No, really, I can reform him’ trope was created. (Richardson, his creator, was so horrified by this reaction by his fans that he actually revised the book several times to try and make Lovelace even more villainous and irredeemable, with little success. Then as now, women apparently love the idea of a bad boy.)

Amazing Grace - The history of slavery in England and its colonies is complicated and nuanced; this story deals with one of the more famous names from that story, William Wilberforce, and his contribution.

Belle - Based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral. Another look at racial politics in England.

The Aristocrats - One of my all-time favorite TV miniseries and based on the nonfiction book by Stella Tilyard, this show follows the (actual, nonfictional) Lennox sisters, daughters of the Duke of Richmond as they grow up, marry, and adjust to rapid social change from the early 1700s into the 1790s.

The Duchess  - About the same time the Lennox sisters were out in society, so was Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. This is based on (I’m not sure how closely) Amanda Foreman’s biography of Georgiana, one of the leading ladies of her day.

Dangerous Liasons - Another story about corruptible young women, this one has 3 very well deserved Oscars to its name and an absolutely stunning Glenn Close.

Barry Lyndon - a very evocative, sumptuous film by Stanley Kubrick. Short on action, but very, very Aesthetic, as only Kubrick can do.

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Based on the book by Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel is largely considered to be one of the world’s first ‘superhero with a secret identity’ stories. Sir Percy Blakeney uses his identity as a dim-witted fop to provide cover for his activities rescuing French aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution. The 1982 version with Anthony Andrews and the 1999 version with Richard Grant are both a lot of fun.

Speaking of the French, where would we be without them? Our small domestic dust-up with Britain has far-reaching international consequences, setting in motion so many other social movements in Europe. The French, for instance, will have their own revolution several years after ours, which, of course, will lead to a total political shakeup ending with an artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte on the throne as Emperor. (You may have heard of him. He goes on to have his own series of large wars and, you know, completely changes the geo-political landscape of Europe. Like you do.)

La Revolution Francaise, filmed for the 200th anniversary of the Revolution, is available on YouTube in it’s entirety with English subtitles! Starts in 1774 and goes through the 1800s. C’est merveilleux.

Marie Antoinette - Sofia Coppola’s wild, modern romp through the life of one of the 18th century’s most notorious women. It may not be great history, but darn me if it isn’t fun to watch.

Farewell, My Queen - Another story about Marie Antoinette - this one is in French.

Nicolas Le Floch: An 18th century crime procedural set at the court of Louis XVI. The whole show is in French, so watch with subtitles, but the costumes are a lot of fun and it gives an interesting picture of the life a character like Lafayette would have left behind when he came to America. (He gets name dropped a few times, actually, though he never actually appears.)

Ekaterina: A 2014 miniseries from Russia discussing the rise of Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, contemporaneous to the Revolution. The 18th century is a fascinating time in Russian history and Catherine is a really, really interesting lady. Totally go and read about her.

Anno 1790: A Swedish crime procedural set in 1790s Sweden and following Johann Däadh, a doctor recently roped into the police force. Däadh is a bit of a reformer, interested in the rights of man and giving everyone a chance to be heard. Costumes are fun, and there’s a really great slow-burn romance between two of the characters, one of whom is (gasp) married. This show only ran for one season, but it was a really, really good season.

If you’re still jonesing for period dramas after the rest of this list, here’s a lot of shows and tv series set during the Napoleonic Wars that are also totally worth your time - the Richard Sharpe miniseries, the Horatio Hornblower miniseries, the BBC’s War and Peace, Master and Commander, and then, of course, anything based on a Jane Austen novel.

Have fun!

[centrumlumina]

As part of the July 2019 AO3 Ship Stats, here are the Top 100 F/F pairings with the most total works on Archive Of Our Own.

Of the 200 names on this list, there are 53 women of colour and 27 women of ambiguous race, compared with 42 and 35 in the 2017 list. For comparison, the overall top 100 list includes 46 people of colour and 8 who are racially ambiguous.

Because of the way I produced this data, it is possible some F/F ships are missing, particularly those in fandoms dominated by other categories of ship. For more information, see the project FAQs. This project also includes an All-Time Top 100 list and 2017-2019 Top 100, and can be found cross-posted on AO3.

Edit: Fixed race classification for Éponine Thénardier.

A text-only version of this data is given below the cut.

Rank Change Pairing Fandom Works Race 1 0 Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan Once Upon a Time (TV) 11388 Whi/POC 2 0 Clarke Griffin/Lexa The 100 (TV) 10838 White 3 1 Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Supergirl (TV 2015) 9460 White 4 3 Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer Supergirl (TV 2015) 5231 Whi/POC 5 -2 Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein Carmilla (Web Series) 5094 White 6 -1 Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam Homestuck 4174 Ambig 7 -1 Korra/Asami Sato Avatar: Legend of Korra 4106 POC 8 15 Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught Wynonna Earp (TV) 3685 White 9 -1 Alphys/Undyne (Undertale) Undertale (Video Game) 3334 Ambig 10 11 Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long RWBY 2987 POC 11 5 Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell Pitch Perfect (Movies) 2985 White 12 -3 Root | Samantha Groves/Sameen Shaw Person of Interest (TV) 2817 Whi/POC 13 -1 Kara Danvers/Cat Grant Supergirl (TV 2015) 2734 White 14 -4 Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan 2645 White 15 10 Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee RWBY 2422 Whi/POC 16 2 Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler Overwatch (Video Game) 2376 Whi/POC 17 -6 Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce Glee 2369 Whi/POC 18 -5 Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli Agent Carter (TV) 2106 White 19 8 Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe Holby City 2032 White 20 2 Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price Life Is Strange (Video Game) 2030 White 21 -7 Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray Glee 1948 White 22 N Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1932 POC 23 -8 Allison Argent/Lydia Martin Teen Wolf (TV) 1818 White 24 5 Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 1791 Ambig 25 12 Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 1644 White 26 N Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz Riverdale (TV 2017) 1640 Whi/POC 27 -7 Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) 1570 Whi/POC 28 -11 Delphine Cormier/Cosima Niehaus Orphan Black (TV) 1568 White 29 N Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) 1499 White 30 -11 Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells Warehouse 13 1490 White 31 N Asui Tsuyu/Uraraka Ochako Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1440 POC 32 16 Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 1412 White 33 N Adora/Catra (She-Ra) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) 1382 Whi/POC 34 -10 Erin Gilbert/Jillian Holtzmann Ghostbusters (2016) 1343 White 35 -9 Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan 1322 Whi/POC 36 -6 Anna/Elsa (Disney) Frozen (2013) 1318 White 37 3 Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood Shadowhunters (TV) 1315 Whi/POC 38 -10 Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli Rizzoli & Isles 1259 White 39 N Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix Overwatch (Video Game) 1257 White 40 43 Kimberly Hart/Trini Power Rangers (2017) 1237 POC 41 -9 Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell Game of Thrones (TV) 1224 White 42 -4 Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni Mass Effect Trilogy 1164 Ambig 43 N Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan Doctor Who (2005) 1072 Whi/POC 44 -2 Maria Reynolds/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler Hamilton – Miranda 1061 POC 45 6 Anya/Raven Reyes The 100 (TV) 1050 POC 46 -15 Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) 1048 White 47 -3 Pearl/Rose Quartz | Pink Diamond Steven Universe (Cartoon) 1046 Ambig 48 -12 Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov The Avengers (Marvel Movies) 1044 White 49 -6 Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov Marvel Cinematic Universe 1038 White 50 -16 Gwen/Morgana (Merlin) Merlin (TV) 1016 Whi/POC 51 1 Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel Batman - All Media Types 1013 White 52 1 Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 993 White 53 -7 Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance Arrow (TV 2012) 977 Whi/POC 54 -13 Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines Gravity Falls 972 White 55 -10 Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) 970 White 56 -17 Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket Homestuck 962 Ambig 57 -10 Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka Haikyuu!! 945 POC 58 -2 Astra/Alex Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 934 White 59 3 Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge Riverdale (TV 2017) 925 Whi/POC 60 -27 Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger Women's Soccer RPF 924 White 61 -26 Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 854 Ambig 62 6 Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) 839 White 63 2 Princess Bubblegum/Marceline Adventure Time 795 Ambig 64 25 Carol Aird/Therese Belivet Carol (2015) 788 White 65 -1 Gabrielle/Xena Xena: Warrior Princess 781 White 66= -16 Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 773 Ambig 66= -17 Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura Teen Wolf (TV) 773 Whi/POC 68 N Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 761 Whi/Amb 69 -14 Female Hawke/Isabela Dragon Age II 750 Amb/POC 70 N Misty Day/Cordelia Foxx | Cordelia Goode American Horror Story 725 White 71 -10 Maya Hart/Riley Matthews Girl Meets World 723 White 72 -13 Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle Supernatural 720 White 73 N Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari Little Witch Academia 711 Whi/POC 74 N Rachel Amber/Chloe Price Life Is Strange (Video Game) 702 White 75 -21 Leliana/Female Warden Dragon Age: Origins 697 Whi/Amb 76 4 Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi Love Live! School Idol Project 692 POC 77 -10 Kaiou Michiru/Tenoh Haruka Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 688 POC 78 -3 Camila Cabello/Lauren Jauregui Fifth Harmony (Band) 673 POC 79 -10 Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss Criminal Minds (US TV) 658 White 80 -17 Cosette Fauchelevent/Éponine Thénardier Les Misérables - All Media Types 657 Whi/Amb 81 N Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton Overwatch (Video Game) 656 White 82= -25 Jane Crocker/Roxy Lalonde Homestuck 654 Ambig 82= -7 Tobin Heath/Christen Press Women's Soccer RPF 654 Whi/POC 84 -2 Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 652 Ambig 85 -27 Octavia Blake/Raven Reyes The 100 (TV) 649 Whi/POC 86 N Trixie Mattel/Katya Zamolodchikova RuPaul's Drag Race RPF 648 Whi/POC 87 N Evie/Mal (Disney) Descendants (Disney Movies) 647 Whi/POC 88 N Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova Killing Eve (TV 2018) 645 Whi/POC 89 N Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine Star Trek: Voyager 642 White 90 N Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino Naruto 639 POC 91 4 Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico Love Live! School Idol Project 628 POC 92 N Moira O'Deorain/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler Overwatch (Video Game) 612 White 93 -21 Female Inquisitor/Sera Dragon Age: Inquisition 591 Whi/Amb 94 -34 Tobin Heath/Alex Morgan Women's Soccer RPF 589 White 95 N Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield Emmerdale 584 White 96 N Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau Captain Marvel (2019) 582 Whi/POC 97 -19 Dorothy Baum/Charlie Bradbury Supernatural 570 White 98 N Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 568 Whi/POC 99 N Beauregard/Yasha (Critical Role) Critical Role (Web Series) 565 Whi/POC 100 N Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long RWBY 564 Whi/POC

[singledarkshade]

Rescue

Summary: There was sounds of fighting outside the room she was being held in. She had a weapon now, and they would know all about it when they came near her again. Author’s Note: I only know Wonder Woman from the movie so apologise now if the characters are wrong. This was originally started for RipWeek Day 3 - Unusual Friends but not finished at the time. Finished it now so I thought I would post. Enjoy                                 ********************************************* There was sounds of fighting outside the room she was being held in. Refusing to be afraid she gripped the lamp from the bedside table, waiting for the men who had taken her from her home.

She had a weapon now, and they would know all about it when they came near her again.

The door opened suddenly, and a man appeared. Tall with sandy hair and beard, he was wearing a long brown coat and holding a strange weapon in his hand.

“Your Highness,” he smiled at her, “I’m Captain Rip Hunter and I’m here to take you home.” Yelling behind him made him turn and shoot before he told her, “We have to leave now.”

Hesitant to trust this man she was surprised when he crouched in front of her and looked into her eyes.

“I know you’re scared,” he said softly, “But I promise you that I will take you home.”

He extended his arm, offering her his hand. After looking into his eyes to make sure he wasn’t lying to her, she nodded and took his hand, letting out a slight cry of surprise when he pulled her to him, scooping her up into his arms.

“Hold onto me,” he told her, before climbing onto the bed then jumping out the window.

 She gripped onto Captain Hunter feeling the air whistling around her, surprised when they reach solid ground much quicker than they should have.

“Gideon,” he called, “Open the hatch.”

She watched part of the floor suddenly open, and she could see a ladder in the hole. Slowly she climbed down, moving out the way as her rescuer slid down behind her.

“Alright,” he grinned, “Let’s get you home, Your Highness.”

Drawing herself up she smiled at him, “You can call me Diana.”

  Rip smiled at the young girl standing there. He knew she was being raised as a warrior, but she was barely ten years old, yet had handled everything with the grace and strength her people would be proud of.

“You should call me Rip, Diana,” he reciprocated, “And I know you want to go home but first I need to make sure you’ve not been hurt.”

Diana grimaced, giving him a pout that reminded him of Jonas.

“Once you have been checked I will allow you a treat before we take you home,” Gideon spoke up making the little girl spin looking for the owner of the voice.

Rip smiled, “That’s Gideon. She is the AI who runs the ship and looks after me,” he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “I would be lost without her.”

The little girl giggled.

“It’s a rare offer that she’ll give you a treat after a medical check,” Rip told her, “I wouldn’t get one.”

Diana laughed and followed Rip through the corridors of the ship. As she looked around Diana asked questions that made Rip smile and miss his son. Once he’d dropped his guest off Rip decided to go home for a while to see his little boy.

Reaching the med-bay Rip lifted Diana onto the couch and attached the cuff, “This won’t hurt.”

He stood back waiting until Gideon finished the scan, smiling at the questions the little girl continued to ask the AI. Gideon, as always, didn’t tire of answering.

“And we’re done,” Rip said once the scan finished, “You’re perfectly healthy. So, how about we go get that treat Gideon promised you?”

Diana beamed at him taking his hand to walk to the galley. Once there Rip smiled to find that Gideon had made one of the best loved sweet dishes from Diana’s home.

“How long before we have an entry point?” he asked Gideon as he made himself some tea while their guest ate.

“Due to the unique circumstances of our guest’s home,” Gideon explained, “It will be another hour before we are able to safely exit the timestream at the correct point.”

Rip smiled, “That’ll give her time to finish her dessert.”

“Am I right that we will be making an unscheduled visit to London after we return the princess to her home?” Gideon asked.

Smiling slightly, Rip nodded.

  Rip gently eased the Waverider down in the middle of the field, aware that he was being surrounded by some of the greatest warriors in history. Releasing himself then the young girl from their restraints, Rip led her to the cargo bay.

The moment the hatch opened Rip raised his hands in surrender.

“Mother,” Diana cried happily running to the woman at the front of the group walking towards them.

Queen Hippolyta caught the girl and moved Diana behind her as she took a step towards Rip.

“Mother,” Diana caught her hand, “This is Captain Hunter, he jumped out of a window with me so we could get away from the bad men.”

Hippolyta hesitated before asking her daughter, “He did?”

Diana nodded enthusiastically.

“Your Majesty,” Rip spoke up, “My name is Rip Hunter, I am a Time Master and was sent by the Vanishing Point to retrieve your daughter.”

“Really?” Hippolyta asked intrigued, “I did not expect the Time Masters to interfere in this manner?”

Rip took a few steps forward, “Your daughter has great things ahead of her. The men who abducted her knew that. The only reason the Time Masters would interfere is to protect the timeline.”

“Mother,” Diana interrupted, “Can I show Captain Hunter the crystal cave?”

A familiar indulgent smile touched the queen’s face, one Rip saw often on his wife’s when dealing with their son.

“Of course,” Hippolyta said, “But only for a short time. Captain Hunter has important duties he must return to.”

Diana grabbed Rip’s hand, pulling him away.

“Gideon,” he called, “I’ll be back soon.”

  Walking back to the Waverider, finally released by Diana after promising he would come back to visit, Rip turned to the Queen walking at his side.

“The men who abducted your daughter have been dealt with,” he promised her, “And we have set up additional protections within the time stream for Themiscyra.”

Hippolyta nodded, “My thanks, Captain. You were very patient with my daughter and her demands, I guess you have a child of your own.”

“A son,” Rip smiled proudly at the thought of his little boy, “A little younger than Diana. He is a joy to be around every moment I get to be with him.”

Hippolyta smiled at him, “There are few outsiders who have seen this island, even fewer who are welcome to return. But I hope you keep your promise to my daughter, Captain Hunter and visit on occasion. You are always welcome.”

Surprise filled him, knowing exactly what that meant.

“I’m honoured,” Rip said softly, “And I will come to visit whenever I can.”

Hippolyta gave him a soft nod, “I hope to see you soon.”

Rip bowed to her, before jogging up the ramp onto his ship. As the door closed Rip waved goodbye to the Queen, feeling honoured that he was allowed to return whenever he wished. Very possibly the only man who had ever been given that honour.

“Gideon,” he called as he headed up to the bridge, “Set course for home.”

[broooklynshere-blog]

Only Love Can Save The World (A Wonder Woman AU)

[So. This is a beginning to my first multichapter fic. It is an AU where Jack is Diana Prince and Crutchie is Steve Trevor. Hope you all enjoy! You can also read it on ao3. ~Eva]

Long ago, when time was new and all of history was still a dream, the gods ruled the earth. Zeus king among them. He created beings over which the Gods would rule. Beings born in his image fair and good, strong and passionate. He called his creation "Man". And mankind was good. But Zeus' son grew envious of mankind and sought to corrupt his father's creation. This was Ares, the God of War. Ares poisoned men's hearts with jealousy and suspicion. He turned them against one another and war ravaged the Earth. So, the gods created us, the Amazons, to influence men's hearts with love and restore peace to the Earth. And for a brief time, there was peace. But it did not last. Your mother, The Amazon Queen, led a revolt that freed us all from enslavement. When Zeus led the gods to our defense, Ares killed them one by one until only Zeus himself remained. Zeus used the last of his power to stop Ares, striking such a blow, the god of war was forced to retreat. But Zeus knew, that one day Ares might return to finish his mission. An endless war, where mankind would finally destroy themselves and us with them. So Zeus left us a weapon, one powerful enough to kill a god. Only the fiercest among us could ever wield it…

Jack knew he was special.

It wasn’t just being the only child and only boy on an island full of grown women. It was more than that. His mother sculpted him out of clay and prayed for Zeus to bring him to life, she wanted him so much. He knew that was special. He could tell in the way that Antiope trained him, harder than any of the others. He could see the way the women adored him, how they loved him. But he could also see the difference in how they treated him, careful with him always. Jack, Prince of the Amazons, knew that it was these things and more that made him special. He could feel it in the tingle that went through him when his mother spoke of the God Killer, the weapon gifted to them from Zeus to defend against Ares. He didn’t understand that it was his being special that would drag him away from the island, his mother, and the rest of his family.

Jack was on a break from training, taking a little walk along the cliffs that overlooked the sea. He enjoyed the ocean. It was calm, serene and blue and stretching on as far as he could see. His mother would tell him stories about the ocean, the great sea god Poseidon who was also slaughtered in the war against Ares. He loved his home. Themyscira was an absolute paradise, his mother was correct. He silently thanked the gods for providing them with such a place, a home where they could be safe.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a whirring sound. His eyes shot up and he stared over the sea, searching for the source of the sound. There was a ripple in the air and suddenly, a giant…thing appeared in the sky. It looked like some type of giant bird, with smoke coming out of it and bits of debris flying off into the air. It crashed into the sea, sending ripples around it as it slowly sank into the water.

Jack hesitated a moment, battling between curiosity and his sense of self preservation. In the end, curiosity won out. He dove into the sea, swimming steadily towards the strange object. It was no bird. It was completely foreign, some type of flying machine. He swam quicker and his heart sped up as he saw there was someone inside it. Not just someone, it was another man. The first one Jack had ever seen. He was unconscious, eyes shut and arms drifting through the sea as he sank towards the bottom. Jack swam faster and tugged him free, swimming towards the surface quickly. Their heads broke the surface and Jack inhaled deeply, making sure the other man’s face and head were above the water. He swam towards shore, tugging his passenger along. He dragged the man onto the sandy beach and laid him down, examining his face eagerly. The man was beautiful. Sandy blonde hair, much like Jack’s mothers, was plastered against his forehead where it stuck out from beneath his cap. It was short, unlike any hair Jack had ever seen. He reached back and touched his own long braid, which trailed halfway down his back. Did other men have short hair? He gently touched his fingers against the man’s cheek, feeling a hint of stubble. He jumped back slightly as the man coughed up some water and opened his eyes, looking around frantically before focusing on Jack’s face.

“You’re a man.” The wonder was obvious in Jack’s face as he stared, awestruck.

“Uh…yeah. I mean, don’t I look like one?” The man sat up slightly and looked around. “Where are we?”

“Themyscira.” Jack replied confidently, not taking his eyes from the man’s face. “Who are you?”

There was a shout behind them and the man jumped to his feet. “I’m one of the good guys. Those are the bad guys, the Germans. We need to move.”

“The Germans?” Jack had never heard of such a thing, in all his reading. Giant ships sailed towards them, along with smaller boats containing more men.

“Jack!” Jack’s mother appeared on horseback, joined by the rest of the Amazons. “Step away from him!” It was then that she noticed the boats, the men sailing towards the shore. “Ready your bows!”

“Come on!” The man grabbed Jack’s hand and tugged him behind the rocks, watching as the Amazons fired arrows at the boats. “They have guns, don’t they?”

Jack assumed that guns were what the men were firing back at the Amazons, weapons that shot tiny metal arrows at a great speed. He watched in horror as one Amazon was shot down as they jumped from the cliffs. Horses rode in, led by Antiope. The battle raged on but seemed to turn in the Amazons’ favor. Antiope and her warriors were a force to be reckoned, each one taking out multiple Germans in a single stroke. The man raced out and wrestled a gun from one of the German troops, shooting at them and joining the ranks of the Amazons. Jack edged out from the shelter of the rock and grabbed a bow, firing at one of the Germans. The arrow connected and the soldier was brought down. It was the first time Jack had killed. He grabbed the sword of a fallen warrior and fought another one off, killing him with a swipe across the chest. It was simple, the same as training. He focused on the task at hand, sending a few more soldiers down. The battle was slowing down. Only a few Germans remained, their bodies littered across the beach along with the fallen Amazons. Jack took out one last solider and took a moment to breathe, staring at the carnage.

“NO!” He heard a scream and whipped around in time to see Antiope leap in front of a bullet that was clearly meant for him.

“No!” Jack sprinted and slid to his knees in front of Antiope. Shots rang out around them but he vaguely heard them, focused on the blood that coated Antiope’s side. “No, no, Antiope…”

“Jack…” Antiope grabbed his hand, clinging to it. “The…The time has come. You…You must…”

“What, Antiope?” Jack cupped her face with his free hand, tears filling his eyes. She was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

“The God Killer. Jack, go. Go…” The light drained from Antiope’s eyes and her grip on Jack’s hand slackened.

“Go where? Antiope, go where?” Jack clung to her body. “No…no….no!” He looked up, desperately searching for help. There was none. Antiope, the fiercest warrior the Amazons had ever seen and Jack’s beloved aunt, was dead.

Jack was furious. He ran from his mother, away from the women refusing to take action and ignoring their mission. His mother’s words rang in his ears.

Men are easily corrupted.

There is much you do not understand.

You are not an Amazon like the rest of us. You will do nothing. As your Queen I forbid it.

The interrogation of the man that Jack pulled to shore went well, in Jack’s opinion. He learned a lot. His name was Charlie Morris and he was a captain in the American army, wherever America was. He was a spy sent to collect information on the Germans, who were building great and terrible weapons. He was chased down after stealing the plans for a terrible gas that would kill thousands if it was unleashed. There was a war going on, a world war. The war to end all wars. Millions dead, women and children slaughtered. Home destroyed and villages decimated. Jack was absolutely convinced that it was Ares behind the war. His mother and the others refused to see sense. He slowed as he approached the cave where the man was being kept. It wasn’t his intention to go there, but his feet had carried him. He longed to talk to the man- Charlie- again. He glanced behind him, then made his way into the cave.

Charlie was just climbing out of the pools of water when Jack walked into the cave. He spluttered and quickly moved to cover himself. “Don’t you people knock?”

Jack ignored him and examined his body with great interest. He was built much like Jack, but a bit…softer. His wooden leg was off to the side, revealing a stump that ended just above the knee. “Do all men look like you?”

Charlie seemed surprised by the question. He carefully inched down and dried himself, fastening his leg back on. “Not all men, no. I mean, some do. We all look different.”

Jack nodded. “So all men do not have one leg?”

Charlie laughed slightly. “No. No, most have two legs. I lost mine when I was a kid to polio.”

“Polio?” Jack tilted his head to the side questioningly.

“It’s a disease. Killed a lot of people. I was lucky.” Charlie shrugged. “I uh….I didn’t get a chance to thank you before. For dragging me out of the water.”

“Thank you for what you did on the beach. It was…brave.” Jack’s eyes focused on the object in Crutchie’s hands. “What is that? Is it a helmet? Doesn’t look very sturdy.”

Charlie looked down. “This? Oh, this is a hat. My dad gave it to me, before he died. I used to sell newspapers and it was kind of part of the uniform.” He smiled slightly. “So, am I allowed to leave here?”

Jack sighed. “I tried. I tried to convince them, I even asked to go with you.” He blushed. “I mean, all of us. Amazons. The Amazons.” He looked down. “My mother thinks it’s too dangerous.”

“Can’t say I blame her.” Charlie got to his feet and pulled on his shirt, buttoning it. “The way this is going, I wouldn’t want anyone I care about near it.”

Jack tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Then why do you want to go back?”

Charlie huffed a laugh. “I don’t think want is the right word. My father once said that if you something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing or you can do something.” He shrugged. “I already tried nothing.”

Jack stared at him for a few moments, then turned and ran out of the cave. He knew what he had to do. Charlie Morris was right. There was a choice, between doing something and nothing. Jack had to do something. An hour later, on a boat sailing away from the only world Jack had ever known and with the God Killer pressed against his side, Jack knew he made the right choice. If he would not fight for the defenseless, who would?

[blaineandsamevanderson]

Title: A Tale of Two Snarts Chapter 1

By: @blaineandsamevanderson

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow/The Flash/Misc. DC

Ship: Leonard/Sara

Rating: PG

Chapter Summary:  A familiar face returns….

*****

“Honestly, what is it going to take for you people to install a decent security system?”

The familiar drawl made Barry look up from the computer monitor he, Cisco and Caitlin were crowded around.  Nearby, Iris and Wally were scrolling through an online catalogue, looking for gifts for Joe and Camille’s new baby.

“Hey Leo,” Barry called, giving the man a wave.  “Where’s the rest of the crew?  We weren’t expecting to see you all so soon.”

A bemused, slightly affronted look crossed Leo’s face.  “Excuse me?  What did you call me?”

“Leo,” Cisco answered, “That’s what….”

“Different Snart,” Caitlin interrupted, eyes wide.  “Look at his body language...and he brought a friend.”

She was right.  Leo had a more relaxed, open posture, looser shoulders.  This Snat had the more familiar tense edge.  The woman with him, a tall brunette with rich brown eyes, was totally unfamiliar though.

“Allen, what is the good Doctor Snow talking about?” Snart asked, displeasure tinting his voice.

“Oh, uh...we kinda met another Snart from Earth X and he’s vacationing here,” Cisco admitted.  “Which Snart are you, by the way?  Not Leo, this world’s Snart went all Big Damn Hero and died saving the other Legends...Also, who’s your friend?”

“I didn’t die...not exactly,” Snart huffed.  “I was scattered through the time stream and reassembling oneself is quite the task.  It took a while...Allen!  Get off!”

Embarrassed, Barry gave Snart a final squeeze, slapping him on the back.  “I knew you had a bit of hero in you.”

“Not at the moment, but I might if you don’t take a few steps back,” Snart grumbled, drawing chuckles from the others.

Shaking her head, Iris teased, “Stop hitting on my husband, Snart.  I’ll message the Waverider.”

“Oh, but it’s so much fun to make him blush,” Snart retorted, strolling toward Iris.  “Much obliged.”

Under the desk, Cisco passed Caitlin $10.  The doctor smirked.  She’d always said, all versions of Snart flirted with Barry.  That was just a fact.  Cisco just hadn’t seen it, silly boy.

“And who is this?” Harry asked as he walked into the room, eyes on the strange woman.  “Are we just letting strangers in to wander around now?”

Snart waved an expressive hand at the woman.  “Diana, meet Team Flash.  Team Flash, meet Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.”

That statement was enough to strike everyone dumb for a moment.

It was Cisco who broke the silence.  “How do you come back from the dead and bring along an Amazon princess?”

“Leonard is not the first man to fall from the sky onto our shores…He was, however, the first to do so sans airplane and clothing.”

“I don’t think the latter part is relevant, do you?”

“That depends on your point of view I suppose.”

“The shores of Themyscira...which doesn’t seem to exist,” Cisco said, looking up from the internet search he had done.

Diana merely shrugged.  “Zeus hid our home long ago.  I’m the only one of our number to leave the island.  After Leonard spoke of what has been happening here in the past 5 years, I decided to call my sabbatical short and return to the world of Man.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” Iris mused and Diana inclined her head.

They had some time for a story before the Waverider would arrive.

****

“This has got to be a shock.  Why don’t we sit down and have a cup of tea and talk about this...It’s not good to keep things bottled up.”

Leonard stared at his doppelganger, a look of horror creeping across his face as his counterpart spoke.  “How about no.”

The two men stood face to face in the Cortex, surrounded by Team Flash and the other Legends.  After the initial outburst over Snart’s presence and the discovery (confirmed by Gideon) that he was ‘their’ Snart, the Legends were in a state of delighted shock.

Ray was the first to act, stepping over and throwing his arms around Snart.  “It’s good to have you back, Man!”he said, giving the thief a tight hug.

“Get off, Ray!” Snart growled, making the others smirk.

Leo smirked.  “Oh, I’ve said that many times.”

Finally escaping, Leonard eyed his doppelganger.  “I know that tone.  Really?”

“Not him...No offense, Ray, you’re really rather attractive, but I’m a one man guy,” Leo said with an affable shrug.

“None taken,” Ray replied agreeably, then Mick brushed past him to clap a hand on Snart’s shoulder.

“You’re not dead or in my head.  That’s something,” he rumbled and Snart raised a hand to clasp his forearm.

They weren’t the huggy sort.

Nate, Amaya and Zari introduced themselves before wandering over to catch up with Jax (who Barry had called to see if he wanted to come say hi to Snart...he did) and meet Diana, who the young mechanic had hit it off with.

Sara was the last to approach Leonard, looking him over from head to toe and back.  “Welcome to the Formerly Dead Club,” she said, giving him a wry smile.  “1 year, 7 months, got me beat.”

“Well, I guess I can add dying to my list of overachievements,” he responded, then tipped his head.  “I hear congratulations are in order, Captain Canary.”

“Someone had to step up after Rip went and vanished on us,” she retorted.  “I didn’t ask for the job….”

“But according to Jax, being a Captain suits you,” Leonard said, a little smile on his face.  His eyes ticked down to her hands.  “So does that.”

Her fingers wiggled, rings catching in the light, including Leonard’s pinky ring.    “It didn’t fit Mick.  Do you want it back?”

As she moved to take off the ring, Leonard let his hand settle over her.  “You keep it.”

“If you ever want it back...well, you are one hell of a thief.”

“I am,” he agreed, his eyes locked on hers and, for a moment, it seemed like everyone else in the room faded away.

“LENNY!”

His sister’s scream echoed into the Cortex before Lisa even arrived.

Cisco looked up and said, “Well, I guess she got my message.”

Sara laughed a little at the look of fond bemusement on Snart’s face.  “Introduce me to your sister?”

“Fine,” Leonard agreed.  “You get to explain why there are two of me.  And I get to watch.”

TBC….

[escailyyy]

Sweeter than fiction (SherlollyFicExchange2017 @darnedchild)

Mary would be the first one to admit that motherhood softened her embarrassment threshold, that was one explanation for it, domesticity had apparently made it mentally acceptable for Mary to indulge in the hobbies of middle aged housewives that Sherlock would roll his eyes on. (Joining the ranks of the type of women that made fifty shades of Grey a best seller) so she couldn’t exactly share her new hobby with him.

So when Molly Hooper caught Mary reading something called ‘Warstan gets Naughty’ by username: WhatzonDkink, Mary not only was way too eager to talk about her latest obsession but also had no shame in admitting it was an obsession. Sherlock probably would have expected more from Mary! She blamed this on Rosie, if as a woman she no longer had an issue with having baby vomit on her shirt when she went grocery shopping, then obviously she wouldn’t have it with sharing her smut preferences with a friend during girls night either.

“Let me get this straight, people write about you and John, just because they saw you on the telly and mentioned in John’s blog” Molly hummed over her second glass of wine “they write about you the way people write about Clara Oswald and the Doctor, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley kind of thing?”

“Like Posh Spice and David Beckham” Mary nodded “I found this site dedicated to real people fanfiction it’s quite big, there’s a section for royalty, politicians, sports players, celebrities and crime fighters, people consider us the second best pairing in that category, they write all sort of thing featuring John and me” she grinned proudly while Molly giggled

“Let me see” Molly peered at Mary’s tablet while reading out loud “ this one is called "Make me scream” by username Bby8R2D2, John Watson comes home from a day chasing a serial killer to find his wife wants to leave him, unless he can prove to her why he was nicknamed 'Three continent Watson’ ….“ Molly burst out laughing opening the link and skimming over it "Mary I’m not sure paragraph five is anatomically possible”

Mary nodded scrolling down “just wait, paragraph ten defies the laws of physics and some of chemistry’s” feeling emboldened Mary opened another file and pushed it into Molly’s eyes “this one is a particular favorite of mine”

The fan fiction was called “Duty to Love” by LaD-GG-romnuv,and Molly read out loud “ An: I wrote this while sleep deprived working through rocket science and assembling an IKEA bedroom set, John Watson is Captain America and Mary Morstan is Black Widow having a hot affair, their love will be put to test when John has to choose between his love for Mary and his duty to Rehabilitated Winter Soldier Sherlock Holmes” Molly perked up with interest opening the first chapter and reading through “wow this is…this isn’t bad, you’re..very in character, oh look I’m in here too… Molly Carter-Hooper agent 221” this brought a smile to Molly’s face, then she let out another gasp “Oh John how could you!…Mary, you know him better than this….No, Sherlock, that’s a bastard move”

“I know right, the writer hasn’t updated in ages” Mary groaned putting her hands to her face “I have half a mind to track down their IP and ask them if I John will ever see me again now that he joined the group fighting Lokiriarty in Asgard and I am single-handedly heading S.H.I.E.L.D” she also didn’t mention that special Agent 221 and the Winter Soldier were also having awkwardly adorable encounters as a ‘side pairing’ and that she wanted to know how it ended, but that was neither here nor there.

“Aaaand thanks for the spoilers” Molly glared at Mary who shamelessly raised her glass, surreptitiously closing the link

“Some people write things that you wouldn’t believe in the NSFW rating…let’s just say I’ll spare you the details of 'Watson Gang bang’ and 'Blood kink Mary’ because you’re not ready for that type of darkness”

“ what? Really?” Molly’s finger hovered over the rating button but Mary stopped her with a glare

“Yes, really, but back to my favorites, there’s an angsty one that’s very on demand recently. "Bone Marrow,” I think, apparently John met me as a patient, we had a collection of one night stands turned dates and now I only have weeks to live because the writer of that fanfiction is a sadistic ass"

“Do you end up together though?”

“I have no idea!” Mary groaned “ I swear Nick Sparks could use a tip or two from the hyperactive teenage girl that’s writing about my imaginary terminal illness”

Molly snorted patting her hand “speaking about angst, does John know about this?” She motioned to Mary’s tablet

Mary rolled her eyes and shook her head “He doesn’t want to hear about our fictional sex life, apparently it’s not fair that his fan fiction persona is better stud than he is, and a better doctor, actor, polo player, international pilot, astronaut” Mary ticked off her fingers “You don’t see me complaining about the superhuman professional skills that those fans give me” “That’s actually kinda…sweet, if a little disturbing” Molly settled in comfortably in her lounge seat while she ordered another round of margaritas when once again Mary’s tablet beeped with a notification

“Hey Mary what’s "Sherlolly finally does it” about? It’s by username Sherlicks-lollies and it looks promising….“ but Mary had already grabbed the tablet out of Molly’s hands

"Yeah no you can’t read that, nope not at all” Mary as a rule never looked nervous unless she wanted people to think she was nervous, but the face she made at the very mention of that fan fiction was…actually the same face Mary made whenever something unexpected happened to Rosie’s nappy

“Mary” Molly eyed her tablet suspiciously “what is in there?”

“Nothing, just more tawdry things about me and John….if you’ll excuse me I need to leave a proper commentary review on this work of art” her face was turning a bit red and as far as Molly was concerned, Mary’s face had just passed dirty-nappy territory straight into buying-condoms-for-Mrs Hudson level of uncomfortable.

“You do know that I also have Google on my phone don’t you?” The tiny pathologist said in a threatening tone taking out her serviceable smartphone and waving it in front of Mary’s face

“You wouldn’t dare” her friend replied as nonchalantly as someone hiding smutty fan fiction could

“Google it is”

“Molls you’re not ready for the world of RPF, trust me”

But Molly Hooper was a brave soul, a brave, intrepid and possibly drunk soul who was capable of sawing through the rib cage of a dead body without batting an eyelash and also once gone on a date with Moriarty, she hung out with Sherlock! and somewhere, one day if she ever needed to change jobs, those things were going to be stamped in her CV under 'work experience’. So she wasn’t afraid of fan fiction.

Or so she thought “You don’t intimidate me Mary Watson” Molly whispered ominously

Finally as if hit by a very mischievous idea Mary’s face did a 180 and a rather creepy smirk graced her face “Fine, Google the word Sherlolly, go ahead Hooper, I dare you, I’ll let you read this if you do” And so Molly did.

Mary who was now shamelessly enjoying herself again covertly turned on her tablet’s camera and carefully took pictures of the progression of emotions crossing Molly’s face, shock, disbelief, despair, embarrassment, flattery, embarrassment again, and finally plain mortification.“Mary I’m in the dictionary”

“I know”

“Sherlock and me…we’re in the bloody Oxford dictionary”

“Next to the definition of Shipping, yes” Mary passed Molly another margarita in mock sympathy “Oxford, but only the updated version, nobody over twenty reads the updated version anyway”

“Sherlock and Molly” More disbelief “Sherlolly…”

“I warned you” Mary nodded, then since she might as well rip off the band aid completely she added “there’s fanart too”

The horror dawned “People draw…people draw Sherlock and me together”

“And they’re quite talented at it too, all sort of situations, oh don’t look so terrified Molly, the fan-art isn’t that bad, the fandom thinks you’re both Kawai or something, not all of what they draw is porn”

Molly cursed something so colorful it made Mary feel proud “tell me Sherlock doesn’t know”

“Oh he knows it exists, he probably just hasn’t thought about it very deeply” Mary shrugged “Like Greg’s name, fan fiction is probably not relevant enough for his nibs”

“And thank God for his little mercies” Molly hissed “Someone drew us sailing with the Queen!”

“must be a new member, usually your shippers are more into drawing the insides of St Bart’s or imagining what your flat looks like” Mary was enjoying herself Furthermore she wanted Molly Hooper to enjoy herself so she tried a new approach “hey don’t be so shocked, the shippers love you, they buy any science magazine you’re mentioned in, it’s not all about Sherlock for them”

“They like an imaginary version of us” Molly was not appeased

“And we liked the airbrushed versions of Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they were a thing so I don’t see how it’s any different, cheer up Missus Pathologist” Mary encouraged in her best 'mom’ voice trying her best to make her friend see the bright side “Carpe Diem and all that”

And that’s how Molly Hooper discovered the world of Real Person Fanfiction, at first Molly was reluctant to see the website again, after all any sane person would be a bit miffed if they found out that other people played around with the details of their life like grown children with action figures. But curiosity won out, the next time she felt bored in the tube she pulled out her phone and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.Soon she came to realize that the so called shippers were not really malicious or ill intentioned. In fact, most of them had in one way or another become interested in her romantic life because they’ve been previously impressed with something during the course of her career and looked her up online.It was somewhat ridiculous, these people knew nothing about her life (or so she thought) but apparently, they decided over the course of who-knows-how-long-this-had-been-going-on that she and Sherlock Holmes were either going to make a good couple or were already a good couple behind the scenes.

Anderson’s crazy conspiracy group had probably only proved these people right when Sherlock was gone and….. Oh damn, it got worse.

There were fanfics about that too. (Username ‘Notr3a11yAnderson’ wasn’t even subtle when it earned the website’s award for reviewer of the month)

“How many variations of Sherlock snogging me after falling from the rooftop can exist?” Molly muttered to herself glaring a bit at her phone, a quick refinement in the ‘advance searching’ gave her an answer that had her cursing again.

Ten million? Really?.

But Molly couldn’t find it in herself to hate them, when her mortification died out over the weekend amusement replaced it, after all, if she was allowed to silently wish Mycroft and Anthea would snog already, then why judge the shippers for romanticizing her extremely ordinary life in their heads. Mary was probably right in taking a relaxed approach.Outrage would serve her for naught, it wasn’t as if these people were like Kitty Riley or her ilk, fan fiction was still considered a widely taboo hobby in most places and the so called 'shippers’ didn’t seem to be doing it for personal profit. To these perfect strangers imagining her and Sherlock together was just…fun, so they kept doing it.

A phone call from Mike interrupted her musings and when she went back to her phone like most Internet browsers hers allowed a pop-up ad on the fanfiction website latest updates to blink on her phone screen.“Sherlolly Saves the endangered Koalas” Molly hummed reading through one of the fanfics suggested by the pop up, apparently the Sherlolly shippers were very dedicated fans, of course there were other suggestions, an N-sync fan fiction that featured the band’s most popular members getting together and someone wrote Tiger Woods and Serena Williams having a super powerful tennis playing golfer baby. Mary and John were popular too with a multitude of different scenarios straight out of a Hospital Soap being the favored fanfic inspiration. Molly bookmarked the one marked as a ‘Letters of love in Afghanistan’ because it sounded like something she wouldn’t mind reading, even if the author’s bio made Molly think he really needed a hug.

But the fanfiction about the endangered Koalas taunted Molly again, it wouldn’t hurt to click it just once.

How bad could something tagged #fluffy-super-fluffy be? The summary promised two people in a Koala rescue, really it wasn’t as if she’d be reading anything rated NSFW. The tube wasn’t going to get any faster and she was curious.

One click became another, then another and before she knew it Molly was making BogusRPFwebsite.notcom part of her daily routine in the tube and slowly started replacing her paperback novels during her relaxing time. Sometimes she could even ‘deduce’ who the writers of certain stories were but she tried not to, things might get weird in real life if they turned out to be people close to her (She was pretty sure leg-in-a-cast Polly Turner and Nurse Roberts from upstairs were writing that collab, where Sherlock and Molly had a host of quintuplets and labor, was a sneeze for Molly’s vagina).

Also, the more she read, the more questions she had, like:

Why were her first borns always either girls or twins most of the time? Were the authors aware that little boys made cute fantasy babies too?.

What was the obsession with Sherlock’s hair? I mean yes Molly knew that his curls were unusually perfect and had fantasized about pulling them as much as the next girl but really, they all made it sound as though he used unicorn blood in his shampoo and it was starting to get to Molly in real life.

Why did every girl that liked him with the exception of Molly turn out to be a serial killer or a criminal of some kind?.

Also, why was everyone in fan fiction always extremely attractive? Had the ugly people been abducted by makeup scientists?.

Why was Sherlock’s shirt always open during his fictional interactions with her?.

How exactly did time work in fan fiction? Nobody ever seemed to own a clock in fictional London.

And with these type of questions in mind, Molly pretended that it was someone else in those pages, someone else who was pretty, witty and adorable who was in love with another Sherlock who definitely wasn’t her Sherlock because this was all fan fiction and it didn’t count as real life.

Some writers made it really easy for Molly to compartmentalize her denial, writing either Sherlock or her out of character was a sure fire way for Molly to keep her plausible deniability while enjoying a bit of escapism, it didn’t hurt that Sherlock was in France for an overnight case with John and wouldn’t be back until he solved another seemingly impossible puzzle and Molly didn’t have to SEE him.

Sure he texted her with crime scene pictures and called her every once in a while to talk about incompetent French coroners but so far so good Molly was keeping real life Sherlock out of sight and out of mind while the multiple incarnations of RPF Sherlock gave her a good source of amusement and that was fine with Molly Hooper.

It was hard for embarrassment not to turn into flattery after some days swimming through the #fluff and #morefluff tag, I mean what woman didn’t like the idea of being cool enough to inspire people to writing glorified romance novels in obscure corners of the internet, Molly didn’t think either Sherlock or her deserved half of the unspoken admiration these writers had for them, but nevertheless it was…sweet (if a little disconcerting).

Fanfiction was one of those things that were ignored when one saw another person doing it, like reading the newspaper, people never paid much attention to another’s reading materials unless the topic was broached and as such Molly’s new pastime could have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for one thing: Sherlock Holmes did not like it when Molly didn’t pay him attention and Two weeks later when he got back from France, Molly Hooper knew she had a problem.

“Molly, I need access to a good set of kidneys, before noon if you please" was the first thing Sherlock said when he got back from his case, John at his side rolled his eyes, expecting the pathologist to at least greet him with her usual bright smile, but Molly surprisingly didn’t even lift up her head from her computer.

“yes Sherlock, I’ll get it to you later”

“and a good femur, for some reason Mrs. Hudson threw away my last one"

Molly who was still clearly engrossed in whatever she was doing barely managed an “of course Sherlock”

“And some eyes, preferably without much cornea damage" Sherlock frowned at her “Molly are you even listening or is the usual game of Solitaire taking up too much of your time?”

But even then he only managed to make Molly separate herself from the computer long enough to pull a notepad from her desk drawer and slide it in his direction “write a list of the body parts you need and I’ll deliver them at Baker Street after my shift” and then she was back to what had her so busy.

Molly tried to ignore Sherlock’s presence, easily opening the tabs for a couple of vaguely interesting autopsy reports to justify herself in case he decided to snoop in her files and went back to reading more fanfiction completely tuning out the real life consulting detective of her dreams.

The fanfiction that had her giving Sherlock auto pilot responses was titled “Celebrity Romance” in it Sherlock was written as an actor in a BBC series called ‘Benedict’, the TV show he starred in followed the life of fictional Hollywood darling Benedict Cumberbatch ( Sherlock apparently had been at it for five seasons) who was married with kids and held a demanding life as a sought after celebrity, and Molly, in turn, played a secondary role in his show as one of Benedict’s equally famous friends, progressive feminist actress Louise Brealey. What had Molly intrigued was that in the fanfiction despite the fact that on screen Sherlock and Molly’s characters were only good friends, with story lines that rarely overlapped, off screen they were actually falling in love and bonding over Starbucks coffees. (privately Molly rather liked Loo’s minor suffrage-style story line just as much as she liked Ben’s love story with his wife Sophie, but that was just her)

The point was that Molly was really invested in the plot of that story, the author was making his characters jump through rings of fire to get that happy ending…..Aaaand “Excuse me Sherlock did you say something? I was a bit distracted with this autopsy report” Molly said, eyes snapping out of her reverie to catch the tail end of one of his deductions on the state of Lestrade’s NSY passwords.

Molly saw a muscle in his jaw twitch with exasperation “Yes, I can see that” Sherlock said with narrowed eyes “if you tried to get any closer to the screen you would be in danger of merging with it”

Molly nodded distractedly making the same face Sherlock usually did when he was texting behind his back “Of course Sherlock, merging, that’s great for the victim” in response Sherlock calmly walked to the power outlet in the corner and unplugged her desktop “HEY” Molly snapped glaring at her blank computer and turned her whole attention to Sherlock Furiously, now she would never know what Happened after fictional Molly tweeted about how her character Louise needed to get more screen time.

“Body parts? Assistance in the lab?” Sherlock said without flinching watching Molly’s petulant glare melt into her usual friendly smile

“I gather you brought a sample of evidence with you" She replied easily getting up as though she hadn’t been not paying him attention for the last fifteen minutes, privately she resolved to find that fan fiction again when she got home “let’s see it, if it was worth bringing here it must be something big”

Sherlock handed over the evidence bag and for all intents and purposes that should have been it, she was back to the usual, except it wasn’t.

Because that week was the week Molly ventured into the deep dark hole that was the smut rating. And Sherlock being Sherlock, noticed the change immediately.

Molly began distancing herself from him and he didn’t like it.

She was distracted almost disinterested in him every time he saw her, she answered his questions in sentences that might as well have been recorded on an answering machine and had started spending too much time on her emails. To everyone else, she looked and acted like the normal Molly but Sherlock knew that something was going on in her life.

Normally this kind of behavior would lead him to deduce some new sort of paramour in her life, but a deeper look at the details of her social life showed no variation in patterns, her flat showed no sign of new visitors staying longer than what was considered appropriate and a quick call to Mycroft reassured him that she hadn’t been anywhere else in the past month.

Browsing through her phone and computer gave up similarly uninspiring results, other than a mountain of random pages and articles on things he didn’t care about Molly hadn’t logged on to any new dating website or media equivalents.

The only detail he could see was that Molly’s strange behavior coincided with the recent scheduling of her weekly nights out with Mary and like a dog with a bone, Sherlock had to investigate further. So using his master detective skills he roped John into trying to spy on his daughter’s godmother and on his wife (John was naturally against it citing that for very obvious reasons spying on a retired secret agent like Mary was almost impossible, also according to him spying on girls during their girl time was something teenage boys did, not men) but Sherlock eventually managed to convince him .

Meanwhile, Molly felt she couldn’t be around Sherlock anymore and it was all Mary’s fault.

“I ran away Mary, I said I needed to wash my hair and ran, like a coward” Molly complained bringing her hands to her face “ I can’t look at him in the eyes, I’ve tried!”

“I hate to say it, but: I told you so” Mary chuckled patting her hand “tell me again how bad is it?”

“On a scale of one to ten, eleven, I can’t seem to stop reading them" Molly wailed not daring to take her hands off her face “maybe I’ve turned into a pervert”

“you’re not a pervert Molls, people that send pictures of their privates to unsuspecting strangers on chat rooms are perverts, you’re just you know….sexually frustrated” the chuckle turned into a full blown giggle.

“Thank you for stating the obvious Mrs. Three Continent Watson" Molly grumbled “They like Sherlock’s penis! A lot and my breasts, just look at them Mary” Molly pointed to her modest chest “They are not a big deal, but out there in the big wide internet there are strangers that…have a very artistic view of my breasts”

“And of Sherlock’s penis,“ Mary reminded her laughing

“Stop laughing this is serious, I need help” Molly then pulled up her phone “hear this one” Molly cleared her throat “Prince Sherlock wasn’t supposed to be fucking his niece’s Fairy godmother, but he couldn’t help himself, the christening was almost over and he just had to know what it was like to taste her dewy pussy, to be inside her and hammer his member so deep she cried with pleasure, his manhood was made for her, hard red and angry his shaft was painfully aware of how beautiful she was and he just wanted to rip off every single item of frothy fabric covering her and her, gloriously hard nippled small breasts, see his little fairy naked and open just for him, while he made her miss the christening of Princess Briar Rosamund”

“Oh wow, what talent”Mary was holding her sides in laughter “Remind me to invite whoever wrote that to the christening of my next baby”

“MARY” Molly almost started crying “that one had a plot I enjoyed and now I can’t stop thinking about…”

“Sherlock’s rock hard penis?”

“STOP SAYING IT” Molly hissed “this is all your fault”

“Hey my friend I told you not to do it, you didn’t listen"

“you knew I would do it anyway" Molly wailed “Now I can’t stop thinking about how it would be like to actually have sex with him, not that I didn’t before, but these people are graphic Mary, VERY, graphic, now every time I look at Sherlock I wonder which one of these people hit the mark, is he rough in bed, does he take it slow, does he like his hair pulled, or does he do the hair pulling, is his penis as big as they claim it is or is that just normal smut exaggeration” Molly began ranting while Mary kept trying not to spill her drink with her giggles “I mean I’m pretty sure some of these people have access to his medical records from his druggie days so one has to question if it’s true, I for one like to be dominant in bed and now it’s affecting my relationship with Sherlock because I can’t look at him in the eye without wondering what it’s like to spank his perfect ass with that bloody riding crop he likes so much”

“Oh Molly, you really need to have sex and soon" Mary advised wisely patting the petite woman’s head, then she turned around on her stool and looked at the pair of old men that were sitting at the table behind them “By the way, John, why don’t we head home and leave Sherlock and Molly alone, I think you’ve heard enough”

“Mary Watson that move just cost you a friendship” Molly looked genuinely betrayed but Mary didn’t look one bit regretful

“You need him out of your system and you Mr. Clark Kent…“ She said pulling Sherlock up and divesting him from the trey wig and bad prosthetics "need to stop being a tosser over the fact that Lois Lane likes Superman better” and with that Mary swanned out of the pub with an apologetic John in tow, leaving Sherlock alone with Molly

minutes ticked down.

Another minute.

Sherlock still was looking at her like he’d never seen her before. “So it was fan fiction all along”

“Yes"

“That might present a problem for us” Sherlock said awkwardly

“I’m aware”

“Molly I….”

But she cut him off deciding enough was enough “Just say whatever you need to say Sherlock” Molly glared at him “I’m tired, I’m hungry and extremely sexually frustrated so if you’re going to be a bastard about this get it over with, I need to find a stranger to shag tonight preferably”

that got his attention really fast, no, the only man Molly was going to take home was going to be him “you’re embarrassed when you shouldn’t be, I was merely thinking about the next course of action one should take when a woman one has fantasized of fucking confesses the same thing”

“I was not expecting that" Molly eyed him suspiciously before downing whatever drink she had in hand before shrugging and eyeing her phone “you know what Sherlock, any other day I would be very accommodating talking about what you want and why this isn’t a good idea, but right now, I can’t think clearly when your shirt buttons look like they want to pop out so here is what will happen” She stretched to her toes and grabbed him by the collar watching his eyes grow dark with want, taking his hand and pressing it to the waistband of her skirt “I have questions about how we would be in bed, you have answers, it ends tomorrow and it absolutely doesn’t mean anything”

“we could start with those fan fictions you were reading, you seem to want to investigate which ones are accurate and which ones are entirely poppycock" he murmured in her ear making her shiver, desire pooling in her belly

“I have a long list”

turns out that Sherlock was in fact not as disgusted with Molly’s fan fiction problem as he’d been with Mary’s, he was positively pleased by it and it was a frequent source of both amusement and role-play ideas any time he went to Molly’s flat or had her over in Baker street.

The flowery language in the smut section only made Sherlock more aware of the tiny details of Molly’s body that he could use to his advantage, it was like having a cheat code on how to sexually please Molly.

And in turn, he found himself pleasured by her in many wicked ways.

“I think we might have to extend this arrangement” Sherlock murmured into Molly’s hair for the umpteenth time, he was sated and she looked happy, he wasn’t going to ruin a good thing.

“An Extension?” Molly replied with a yawn cuddling into his chest “How big?”

“Depends, these people publish stories every day, how about until they stop writing?”

“That could take forever"

“Good thing I’m a patient man then" He replied kissing her lips.

And yes it turned out that Sherlock, was so much better at everything he tried in real life than he was in fiction, especially when it came to Molly.

[evangelineartemiasamos]

Fade, obviously. (Send me a Ship and I’ll Break Them DOWN) I’m not sure if you’ve done this before.

As if I wouldn’t have tagged you in that case^^

I’ve been waiting to do this and it’s like writing down a heap of mini Fade fan fictions and that’s shipper spirit ;-) It’ll get long!

PS: Took me hours to write this when I had planned to write Blood Curse chapter 3, an answer to your post and a review. But whatever, the things I do for Fade ¯\_(ツ)_/¯    

How did they they meet?

“You better not get me killed” - look at canon in Steel Scars.

Who developed romantic feelings first?

Shade (he stopped denying sooner than her)

Who is their biggest “shipper?”

I am. And you too @clarafarleybarrow

When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

When Farley goes to find him at the end of Steel Scars and they crouch down together because they’re shocked about what happened to Mare at Queenstrial. They start to hold hands while Shade leans against her. They talk about what to do now and fall silent after a while yet the silence doesn’t feel awkward, not even in the turmoils of Rocasta. Finally, Farley turns to him and starts to speak. “We should,” she says, then stops herself. She doesn’t know what to say, actually, and she doesn’t know why. Looking at him is enough, especially with the way he returns her gaze. She stops thinking when she closes the last distance between him, reaching with her hand to his neck to pull him to her and kiss him. She draws her head back, after a not so short moment, but maintains her position otherwise. Shade blinks at her and she sees the smile in his eyes just before they start kissing again.

Who confessed their feelings first?

I think a lot happened more non-verbal or in indirect phrases. Like when Shade asks for her name and replies “I’m with you, Diana” when he pledges to the Guard.

As in who says “I love you” first, it’s Farley. It’s an accident, I’ve alluded to it here: https://chaoslaborantin.tumblr.com/post/158758240798/red-queen-fan-fiction-in-the-meantime

She has morning sickness and he goes after her, holding her hair away. After some time, she gets up and washes her face, staying a little out of his way, but he hugs her anyways, brushes her cheek, and kisses her. She gasps. “Are you okay?” he murmurs and then she says it. “That’s why I love you.”

Both blush cherry-red immediately. “I love you too,” Shade answers and stumbles over the words. She smirks.

What was their first official date?

Shade: “The time when I took her to Corvium and used my ability to bring her there. Firstly,  I made her vomit, and then she stripped down in front of me. And I loved the way she gave me this pointed glances while we royally screwed up those Silvers. It was a glorious day.”

How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

It’s a no. Secrecy is their aesthetic.

What do they do in their down time?

Does that mean hobbies and spare time? Shade tells Farley to lean back a little and finally put the work away. She doesn’t, but always finds something to lowkey complain about. Shade asks her to relax and she replies he should help her a bit more. He nods and starts to massage her shoulders. Another time, she lays down on a bed/couch and groans. Shade asks what’s wrong but she only grumbles something. He comes over, puts her feet on his lap and massages those. He asks again what she’s worrying about and she starts to talk.

What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

Look also at https://chaoslaborantin.tumblr.com/post/154931582748/rq-secret-santa-claudia

The Barrows: Farley and Shade go to them in the beginning of Glass Sword to tell them that Mare has been captured by the colonel. They tell the family not to worry, they have a plan to get her away. Shade implies they might be gone for a while but they need to do it. “I can rely 100 % on Captain Farley”, he adds and throws a glance at her. She smirks at that and notices him taking her hand. She squeezes it. All the Barrows more or less get that there’s something going on between them and Tramy is about to ask something like that, but is interrupted by Gisa who hugs Shade, and Farley as well, to her surprise. “I believe in you,” Gisa says, and gives away one of her old embroidered scarves. Yet the family remains afraid. As they leave, Daniel rolls after them and tucks Farley’s sleeve. “You will take care him, Captain?” he asks. She nods, and Daniel adds “I fear he’s bad at doing it himself.”

The Colonel: I think they never meet each other with Fade as an official couple. I guess what happened it this:

Farley: “Colonel, this is Shade Barrow who has relayed very important intelligence to us. He is an invaluable asset, yet we have to protect our best spies, as you know very well. The reason for extracting him is …. this (makes a gesture for him to show off teleportation and Shade does). Impressive isn’t it? (grins)

Colonel: … The fuck … ?

Farley: Deal with it. (leaves)

What was their first fight over and how did they get past it?

When Farley thought he was a Silver? Yep, I would say so, please re-read Steel Scars ;-) (I haven’t dared to yet, btw, since KC)

Which one is more easily made jealous?

Equally. The funny thing is that they never admit their jealousy to each other, but the other notices it nevertheless and they still manage to tease each other about it.

What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

Farley likes junkfood, I think that’s mentioned in KC? Shade is more into fish and homecooking (though he isn’t that good at it), while Farley is okay with eating in the mess hall. Shade mocks her about her simple taste every now and then and tries to keep Clara away from junkfood.

Who’s the cuddly one? What their favourite cuddling position?

Farley. She likes to sit on his lap, or when he massages her. Sometimes Shade wonders if she prefers to cuddle him or Clara.

Are they hand holders?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

They are the queen and king of handholders, I hope you have noticed how often Farley talks about his hands? She loves them!

How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

Look here: https://chaoslaborantin.tumblr.com/post/158757768598/red-queen-fan-fiction-in-the-meantime

Who tops?

Alternatingly. They try out a lot in bed.

What’s the worst first they’ve ever gotten into?

I guess … Shade got angry about the whole coup d’etat thing in Red Queen. Farley has fucked up massively there and Shade got loud for once. But this was afterwards, they were too occupied with surviving at first. The fight happened after they’d arrived at Tuck, when they were alone for a moment. She looked after his wounds when he started to question her doings. She froze, straightened herself and hissed “I’m well aware, thank for reminding me”. Shade flinched and remained silent. They didn’t talk for the rest of the day. Yet Farley came back on the next day and Shade felt unexpectedly relieved. He said he didn’t want to shut her up and didn’t wish for her to build a wall between them. She could trust him. Farley crossed her arms. “Okay?” he asked, and she nodded. She made a stupid joke then and suceeded in lightening the situation. “We’ll have to be better,” he said, and she replied, “we will be.”

I’m not sure about the timing here, tbh, but I guess later in the day, Mare is captured.

Who does the shopping and the cooking?

Farley doing the shopping is somehow canon. Cooking … they both can make do, but as they live in larger groups most of the time, they leave the cooking to experts.

Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

Farley

Who proposes?

Here we get definitely in “I pretend it didn’t” happen territory. I always wanted to write this idea.

Shade proposes some weeks after they’ve realizes they’re having a baby. Farley thinks he’s joking and reacts in that way as she sees him kneeling down in front of her. She can’t stop grinning and almosts laughs, yet Shade goes all the way, until he asks “will you marry me, Diana Farley?” He tries very hard to pretend she’s laughing because she’s happy.

But finally, she says, “You’re serious, by the bleeding skies? You don’t think you have to make an honourable woman out of me, do you? Because I’m not -” She stops herself as she sees hurt flashing on his face. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean -” she pleads, but Shade stands up and turns away. He tries his best to hide his hurt but both of them know he feels it. He pretends it was a joke, as Farley thought at first.

Farley feels bad about this for weeks. Then she approaches the topic again. starting with another apology he won’t have. She insists. “I love you, Shade Barrow, and I was mean that day. I wanted to say to you, for some time now, that maybe, possibly, in some years .. I’d like to marry you. Perhaps. If we’re still alive and our cause is won.”

“Now that is a good reason to keep on fighting,” he replies.

They’re engaged for years and let people know this. There are bets about when they’ll get married, but they never let anything slip and dissemble instead. “It’s good as it is”, or “we can’t decide on a name anyways”, or “marriage is overrated, being engaged is more extra”.

Do they have joined Bachelor/Bacheloette parties or separate?

Joined. But nobody but Shade and Farley know it’s their pre-wedding party. They pretend they just want to have a good time because they don’t tell anyone they’re getting married the next day.

Who is the best man/maid of honour? Any other groomsmen or bridesmaids? Big Ceremony or Small?

The smallest ceremony ever. There are only the officials which are needed, Clara, and one or two close friends from the Guard who aren’t gossips. They have their own vows, make a photo, and have a nice meal. Some alcohol, but not much. They leave Clara with one of the friends present and have a glorious wedding night.

They wonder when Clara will let it slip that her parents have finally married and that’s the only risk they’re willing to take.

Do they have a honeymoon? If so, where? 

No. Unless they have a trip scheduled by circumstance to which they will refer to as their honeymoon ever after.

Do they have children? How many?

They have one canon child. Let’s assume they would’ve had more if Shade had lived and their cause was won. But if they have more than two, IDK?

Ask me for a ship!

[beatrice-otter]

Fic: Hello, Piccadilly, Hello, Leicester Square pt 1

Title: Hello, Picadilly, Hello, Leicester Square Fandom: Wonder Woman 2017 Characters: Diana Prince, Etta Candy, Author: @beatrice-otter​ Rating: kid Summary: Diana can't go back to Themiscyra. She can only go forward into a new world and a new life. At AO3 and Dreamwidth

Etta knew before they made it back, that Steve was dead.

"But we could not call or send a message," Diana said, brows furrowing.

Etta sighed and took the strange woman's hand.  "That's how I knew, dear.  Steve was the one with all the codes … and Steve was the one most likely to be able to charm himself the use of someone's phone or telegram office if those codes didn't work."

"Because he was a spy, used to lying and manipulating?" Diana asked.  "But Sameer is a con artist, which means he is also skilled at lying and manipulating.  That is how we got back to England."

Etta looked Diana up and down, in the nurse's uniform that didn't sit quite right, at Sameer in an orderly's uniform.  Charlie was in his regular uniform, and she presumed Chief was, too; she'd never met him in person but he seemed to fit the way Steve had described him.  "I can see that," she said.

"But Diana," Sameer said, "Steve wasn't as good at lying as I am, but there were a lot of stories that he could tell that people would believe from a blond, blue-eyed American that they'd never believe from me."

"Exactly," Etta said.  "Anyway, it was always a long-shot of a mission, wasn't it?  And then we heard that something big had happened at Veld, but no word from you.  That was … either Captain Trevor was dead, or he was badly injured."

"He is dead," Diana said.  "He died destroying a plane filled with poison gas enough to kill everyone within fifty miles."

"He'll get a medal for that," Etta said.  "Not that it matters, with him not around to enjoy it."  She bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

"What is a medal?" Diana asked.

Etta looked up at Diana, but either the other woman was the best liar anybody had ever seen, or she was entirely sincere.  More than ever, Etta wanted to know where Steve had dug up the strange woman.

But—she glanced around at her fellow secretaries, all industriously working away and studiously not looking at her or the strange party of people gathered around her desk—this was not the time or place to share stories.

"Why don't we find a better place to talk?" she said, standing up and gesturing for them to follow her out of the secretarial pool.  Steve didn't have an office of his own, being so seldom in London and space being at a premium, but he was hardly the only Intelligence officer in the same straits and there were a few rooms set aside for them to use for private conversation when they needed it.

The private rooms were up a floor on the other side of the building.  It had always been inconvenient, but it did mean that they were out of the way.  The one Etta chose wasn't large, and there weren't enough chairs, but it had a door that locked and thick enough walls that you couldn't hear what was going on inside, which was more than enough for their purposes.

As she led them there, she could hear the men explaining medals and such to Diana.

"Captain Trevor never did say where you were from, Miss Prince," Etta said once they were all in and the door closed behind them.  "And I'm rather curious to know myself, considering how little you know about, well, everything."

"I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira," the other woman said.  "Daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus.  I came to Man's World to destroy Ares, the god of war, and I have done so with the help of Steve and these men."

"You … what?"  The one explanation Etta hadn't considered was that the pretty woman might have come out of a loony bin somewhere, but that sounded like it almost had to be the case, now, didn't it?  Except why would Steve Trevor, who was ordinarily fairly level-headed, have dragged such a crazy person along through a battlefield?  Diana was gorgeous, but Steve wasn't one to let a pretty face carry him off.

"It's true, Miss Candy," Sameer said.  "We saw it!"

"Aye, that we did," Charlie said.  "She and Ares were throwing tanks around, and lighting bolts, and she can fly!  We saw her, with our own two eyes!"

"And she came out of that battle without even any scratches," Chief said.  "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes.  I mean, deflecting bullets with her bracelets is a neat trick, but she walked across a field on fire without getting singed."

"I don't know that I believe the Ares she was fighting was really a god," Sameer said.  "There's only one God, and his name is Allah.  But certainly he was at least a very powerful djinn."

"God, hell," Charlie said scoffing.  "It was the Devil, pure and simple."

Chief shrugged.  "I suppose it could have been an Above Spirit, but why couldn't it really have been Ares?"

"Thank you, Chief," Diana said.  "Why do you not believe me that it really was Ares?"

"Because they're all monotheists," Chief said.  "They believe there's only one God.  Most white folks—and Arabs, like Sameer—think that it's a betrayal of their god to accept that others exist.  And that includes Zeus and Ares and all the rest.  So they have to come up with some other explanation."

"Well, whatever Ares was, I'd like to hear the story," Etta said.  "We've only heard dribs and drabs.  But whatever it was that happened, they've pretty much shattered the Hindenburg Line.  It's only a matter of time before the whole German Army collapses.  The Bulgarians and some of their other allies have already sued for a separate armistice."

"And then the war will be over and there will be peace, yes?" Diana asked, anxiously.

"Yes," Etta said.  "Then there will be peace.  Though I don't know what kind of peace it'll be, with so much damage and bad blood on all sides.  But at least we won't be throwing young men into a meat grinder for no reason.  But like I said, I want to know what happened out there.  And, she said, gesturing to Diana, "you can start by telling my what this Themiscyra place is, what Ares has to do with anything, and how Steve got caught up in you."

"It's a long story," Charlie said, "won't you be missed?"

"Besides, we need to find some place to stay," Chief pointed out.  "This isn't the front, we can't exactly just camp outside of town."

"A spy's secretary has a great deal of leeway, and nobody knows Steve is dead yet," Etta said.  "And I'll figure out rooms for you all.  But first, tell me everything."

***

The story took the rest of the day, largely because they kept getting side-tracked with things about Man's World that Diana didn't know or understand, and things about Themiscyra that the rest of them didn't.  Etta decided that Diana would stay with her, and found rooms for the men in a dingy boarding-house that British Intelligence used to stash people they didn't want anyone looking too deeply at.  They met again after supper, this time in Etta's tiny bedsit, because it had the most privacy.

"But what about your reputation, begging your pardon, ma'am?" Charlie asked as she ushered them in.

"Well, with Diana here in her nurse outfit, that should take care of some of it," Etta said.  "Besides, we're all socialists here, so there's a lot less fussing about propriety and such."

"What is a socialist?" Diana asked.

"Someone who thinks rich people shouldn't be the only ones to get nice things and a comfortable life," Etta said.  "I like money, I really do, but I don't see why having lots of it makes you better or more important than other people."

"Neither do I," Diana said.  "Does that make me a socialist?"

"Hang on a minute," Charlie protested.  "It's not quite that simple!"

"And it's also not important at the moment," Etta said.  "We've got a bigger question: how to get Diana back home."  She turned to the other woman.  "I wasn't able to find out what happened to the boat you came to England on, and my authority as Captain Trevor's secretary is quite enough to find rooms for the night but not enough to commandeer or buy a boat for you.  Or a plane, if we had a pilot.  That will all take money."

"I am not going home," Diana said.  She was putting a brave face on it, but Etta could see the pain in her eyes.  "I cannot.  I doubt I could find it if I looked for centuries."

"What do you mean, you can't find it?" Chief said.  "It can't be that hard.  All we have to do is retrace the trip you and Steve made to get to England.  Etta, you know where Steve was in the Ottoman Empire, right?  That gives us a starting point, it's got to be close by that."

Sameer shook his head.  "No, that doesn’t make sense.  The Ottoman Empire is mostly landlocked.  And they've been beaten back across the board.  The only large bodies of water they've got access to are the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.  Those are all small and well-known with lots of people living all around for thousands of years.  There's no way there's a secret island hiding out in any of those places.  I'd buy it in the middle of the Atlantic, maybe, but not the Persian Gulf.  Or even the Mediterranean."

"Besides," Charlie said, "my brother's a sailor.  It'd take five, maybe six days for one of our modern ships to get from Gibraltar to England, much less the middle of the Mediterranean.  Double that, at least—maybe triple it!—for a sailboat.  Steve wasn't gone that long."

Diana shook her head.  "Themiscyra is protected by all of the gods, particularly Zeus and Athena.  There is a barrier around it which no man can penetrate—at least, normally—and it moves.  The stars above change periodically, and they changed in the two days Steve was on our island.  The place he arrived is not the same place we departed from.  And it will very likely have moved again since then.  Without the favor of Zeus, there is no way to find it … and without the favor of Athena, no way to cross the barrier."

“And do you know how to get the favor of Zeus and Athena?" Etta asked.

Diana looked down at her hands.  "I knew when I came with Steve that I would probably never see my home again."

"You mean … you mean you're going to be staying here?  For the rest of your life?"  Etta wanted to comfort the other woman; she looked a lot younger all of a sudden, and it was obvious she'd loved her home.  (Etta, herself, had been glad to leave her own home and never looked back, but then she'd at least known what she was getting into.)

But at the same time … just getting Diana into ordinary-looking clothes so she could pass for the few days she'd been in London had been well-nigh impossible.  Every other thing out of her mouth was something strange and unusual.  And good, too, Etta really liked the Amazon way of thinking from what she'd seen of it, but not conducive to getting her a job and a home and everything.  And true, Diana was a goddess of battle, but there wasn't much call for them in peacetime.  Which this would soon be.

Etta stared at the men, appalled.  What were they going to do?