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bambi-kinos · 7 months

Note

I just came across your analysis of However Absurd and thought it was lovely. I'm curious, as someone who thinks John and Paul had some kind of romantic or sexual relationship, what is your take on The Lovers That Never Were? Is he using the word "lovers" to mean "partners"? I have always interpreted it to mean that Paul knows there was something there but it never happened. Every time I start to be convinced that they were together in some way I think of this song and the devastating way Paul sings it in the demo and the heartbreaking fact that he still felt it that intensely 13 years after John's death.

Oh wow thank you! The server had a lot of fun discussing that, if it's good it's because I had a little help from my friends heheh (─‿‿─) ♡

I ended up writing a massive novel in response to all this so I hope you enjoy reading it heheh. For server members, I've pulled some quotes from my previous Discord essays on this topic so you'll see some stuff that you've read.

tl;dr - I don't think "The Lovers That Never Were" contradicts the secret relationship theory at all! I think it compliments it very well actually.

In order to get into All That, I will outline how I perceive what their relationship was built on and how they reacted to it. I should note that I don't consider this definitive. It's important to remember that we all have unique interpretations of John and Paul because of our experiences and our personal POVs. There is no single answer until Paul decides to tell us what happened and/or Sean publishes John's diaries (written and audio). Until that happens, we are all forced to look at the same material and draw our own conclusions which will naturally be shaped through our personal perceptions. Some of us are older and are much closer to the original culture that John and Paul were raised in; some of us are younger and grew up in a much more LGBT+ positive environment. This naturally has an impact on how we interpret John and Paul's relationship.

I say this because I know my POV on John and Paul is a bit different from everyone else's. I'm a historian by training but part of being a historian is the understanding that you will never fully understand the events as they happened because your personal viewpoint and inherent bias is simply too strong. But that's okay because this is a part of humanity that we all share, yeah? With that understanding LET'S GO!

Paul My view on Paul is that he's always understood that he's different from other men. I doubt he could put a name to it until very recently. Paul has synesthesia, he's bisexual, he connects to music in a savant-like way, he's neurodivergent which is why he takes criticism so hard, and all of that would still be true even if he didn't have left over emotional issues from his mother dying the way she did + his fraught relationship with his father.

Keep in mind that circumstantial evidence points to the idea that Paul orchestrated the meeting at the fête! He realized he had a mutual friend with John in Ivan (who is to say that he did not meet Ivan at a QM performance and had that mental realization there?) He went through Hot Girl Summer before and after the fête, wanting to be fucking fit so that he wasn't embarrassed to meet John! I did the same thing when I had a crush as a teenager!

So with all that in mind, imagine this: you're Paul McCartney. You met John Lennon barely a year after Mary died. You turned 15 on June 18th, 1957 and met John at the fête on July 6, 1957. At some undetermined point before this garden party you saw a beautiful boy on the bus and began riding it obsessively hoping the Teddie boy would get on it. You followed him to the chippie and stood in line behind him…allegedly because you thought "oh wow he looks so cool." Marky Mark thinks (and I agree) that you may have even followed John to at least one Quarry Man show before the fête. Is this 'normal' behavior? Or is this the unhinged behavior of a teenager with a massive crush? The kind that comes about when you see a cute boy with red hair, and red is the color you associate with happiness, and then you find out that he plays guitar just like you and you follow him around until you see one of his performances and he's so good he knocks you back and then someone says "hi Paul, I didn't know you liked music!" behind you. And you realize that it's your friend and that you can meet the boy you have a crush on through this friend. You just need to lose weight and grow your hair out first.

When did Paul first see John, anyway? Before he turned 15 I'd wager.

I submit the idea that Paul has been in love John Lennon for his entire life. It will be 67 years of love when this July 6th rolls around. John was making a name for himself, he was known around town as "that Lennon." A minor celebrity like we’ve all had in our hometowns. Paul loved music. Before the internet you would go to the town square to hear a band.

Paul did that. Saw John. Pursued him with intent. When John went to Gambier Terrace to be with Stuart, Paul made a nuisance of himself showing up at their parties and playing the proto-version of "Michelle" in front of the girls…and John.

I love you, I love you, I love you That's all I want to say Until I find a way I will say the only words I know that You'll understand

I don't think that a 15 year old Paul McCartney would explicitly label his feelings for John as 'love' or a 'crush' but I do think that's what happened. When you're a teenager, a crush can express itself in many different ways. I used to have a big crush on a girl who was a volleyball player at my junior high school…that expressed itself as intense admiration. I even told one of my friends that I thought she was 'really cool.' It wasn't until later that I realized that I had a crush on her.

But I think that Paul has always known that he's 'different' and that he wasn't like other boys while growing up. Part of his touchiness about his looks comes from being bullied but I also think that he's a lot more self aware than he pretends to be. I think he realized relatively fast how he felt about John (maybe once John picked up with Stuart and Cynthia at art college.) I think he carried that with him for years hence his anguished response to being jilted in Hamburg and how furious he was at John for running off to Spain with Brian. He didn't realize it immediately but once it sticks to you then it fucking sticks. I think that Paul has done a lot internal wrestling with being a bisexual man and what that means for him and that he has been wrestling with it for decades. I think he was fully in the grip of that wrestling as he and John's friendship began growing and Paul realized what was happening to him. He does enjoy women but I also think that he felt it was necessary to pursue them heavily as a young man to camouflage himself.

I don't think a day has gone by since 1957 where Paul has not known what he was. What exactly that means for him…is up for interpretation. That's where the gray area is. But IMO Paul has almost always known that he's sexually attracted to other men and that John woke this in him. The big question for Paul is what he should do about it.

John There's been a lot written about John and his sexuality that I won't rehash here but truthfully I think John was in a similar place to Paul in knowing that he's always had a sexual preference for other men. John was a lot less comfortable about it though. Having unprotected sex with his girlfriends was, IMO, John trying to subconsciously engineer a situation that would "fix" him via an accidental pregnancy necessitating a marriage.

Of course that didn't do anything because it never does. John still felt chemistry with Paul when they met at the fête, with that quote about them "circling each other like cats." IMO John felt something immediately -- it's not entirely clear what -- though I don't think it "love at first sight" like with Paul. IMO their friendship, while still rooted in that chemistry, developed very naturally for John and he got to enjoy a platonic relationship with Paul before he put it all together. I say this because John saw Paul as a kid, not a peer, and that this endured for their lives in Liverpool pre-Hamburg. I struggle to imagine John or Paul deliberately inciting sexual or romantic contact during that time period aside from the group wank sessions (which were really trolling sessions from John.) Like, when Julia died, John went out and sought peers at art college like Cynthia and Stuart, other students his age. John and Paul bonded over losing their mothers and Paul has that quote about pranking people with the "oh yeah…my mum's dead thanks <3" bit but it also seems like John didn't want to be around that all the time. He lost his Uncle George and then his mother, he was starting to think that he was a death-curse on men in his family and that he brought suffering with him. He wanted to be away from that so he took a vacation from music to get a chance of scenery. Which meant putting Paul in a place of competition with Stuart and Cyn but I don't think John was thinking of that initially (though he exploited the situation later.)

Then Hamburg happens and they run wild. I have an entire meta about this that you can read here but I genuinely think John did not see Paul as a full fledged adult and potential sexual partner until they were in Hamburg in the red light district. I think that something happened there that we don't know about, that it's tied up in Stuart deciding to be with Astrid, John jilting Paul, Paul saying "fuck you I'm done" and getting a job at the coil winding factory in Liverpool after being deported, John tracking Paul down and spending weeks (probably) groveling and then giving Paul an ultimatum to come back to the Beatles. All of that screams 'I just realized I'm in love with my best friend and I'm freaking the fuck out' to me lmao.

John and Paul Of course something else changed after that too and John and Paul ended up becoming so close that even the Liverpool squares around them noticed. I think that whatever was going in their relationship, it started here. In the place where John and Paul were equally distraught with each other, the future of the band was uncertain, and Paul wanted a sign of commitment from John so that he didn't feel like he wasted years of his life. And of course John always felt compelled to be the man Paul wanted him to be so he treated Paul to a vacation in Paris which was so life affirming for them that it stayed with them for the rest of their lives. IMO the Paris vacation was explicitly romantic for them.

I think a switch flipped in 1961 and they went from "messing around" to "there's something there." It erupted in Paris and they showed each other more understanding and care then they expected from each other. John did sexy pin up poses for Paul in a bed that they shared; John remembers how the French held each other in their arms and just kissed each other, lovingly; Paul felt that he discovered the answer and that all those big name philosophers had nothing on the self realization he came to inside himself. Paul even took a photo of John that high lighted his package! Thanks to @louiselux for pointing this one out:

The thing was all the kissing and the holding that was going on in Paris. And it was so romantic, just to be there and see them, even though I was twenty-one and sort of not romantic. But I really loved it, the way the people would just stand under a tree kissing; and they weren’t mauling at each other, they were just kissing. — John Lennon, Playboy interview 1980

“We were like Paris existentialists. Jean-Paul Sartre had nothing on us. Sod ‘em all - I could write a novel… It was all inside me. I could do anything now.”

Paul McCartney, Anthology

Something happened in Paris and it wasn't just them getting haircuts and John buying Paul milkshakes. There was commitment there. And then the spell comes over them again when they return in January 1964:

The first night, John and Paul stayed in their suite, listening to records and reading fan mail. George, who had been signed for 100 pounds a day by the Daily Express to write of his experiences in Paris, went to a nightclub in the Place Pigalle.

Back in the City of Light, John and Paul slept till three o'clock in the afternoon. That much everybody agreed on.

Quote by Vincent Mulchrone from Daily Mail: George Harrison was astir early, but John Lennon and Paul McCartney slumbered on until frantic photographers forced them at lens point into the Champs-Élysées.

Derek Taylor (a British journalist) wanted to know why the Beatles slept so much. "My office wants to know what they're doing in Paris, so they'd better be doing something."

Love Me Do by Michael Braun

But I know what you're thinking. "What the hell does this all have to do with these two songs?"

And my reply is to keep a few things in mind:

Paul takes criticism and slights incredibly hard, possibly overreacting in some places and letting them overwhelm him mentally.

He never got over Barcelona, he never stopped resenting Stuart and Brian, he never got over John pulling the rug out from under him regarding the order of their names in the song credits. He contemplated committing suicide by smothering himself while he was in Scotland recovering from John leaving him.

John Lennon had a baby with a woman in the middle of all this. Julian Lennon was born April 8, 1963, conceived in July 1962, less than a year after Paris.

However Absurd & The Lovers That Never Were I listened to "However Absurd" and "The Lovers That Never Were" in that order. My immediate reaction is that these are both the same kind of song: they are both expressing sadness and frustration with John. This is a common theme with Paul's post-1980 John songs. What I find interesting is that they depict different though related gripes regarding John. In "However Absurd" Paul is expressing his longing for a cottagecore fantasy romance with John and then expressing frustration at John mocking him for it:

Ears twitch, like a dog Breaking eggs in a dish Do not mock me when I say This is not a lie

But in "The Lovers That Never Were" Paul expresses a different gripe: frustration that John won't commit to him and "anticipating" the break up that he secretly knew was coming ever since 1963 when John abandoned him and his own son to play patty-cake with Brian in Spain:

I hang patiently on every word you send Will we ever be much more than just friends? As for you, you sit there playing this game You keep me waiting

When all of the clocks have run down All over the world We'll be the lovers that never were

For as long as the sun shines in somebody's eyes I believe in you baby, so don't tell me lies For as long as the trees throw down blossoms and leaves I know there will be a parade of unpainted dreams

And I know dear, how much it's going to hurt If you still refuse to get your hands dirty So you, you must tell me something… I love you Say goodbye or anything

All of the clocks have run down Time's at an end If we can't be lovers we'll never be friends

John's penchant for disregarding Paul's feelings and even weaponizing them against Paul; the dashing of Paul's cottagecore dreams that were made and solidified in Paris; the fact that John, no matter what his intentions, could not get his shit together and commit to Paul no matter what he may have felt. These two songs are not contradictory to one another. Paul's idea of "commitment" looks very much like what he had with Linda and John in 1967: sharing a home, sharing a bed, being together every day, preferably somewhere green and remote. Exclusivity. Remember that Paul deliberately sabotaged his relationship with Jane Asher by nailing a woman in their bed when Jane came home, knowing perfectly well that he was breaking their exclusivity agreement.

That IMO, is what makes someone a lover and not just a friend you have sex with and secretly pine for. No cheating, or at least your agreed version of it. No disrespecting the relationship. Continuously being together. What did John do instead of this?

I think that Paul started out his "relationship" with John carrying high hopes and then watched them crumble to dust, over and over, because John simply did not take him seriously. He got Cynthia pregnant, he ran around on Paul with Brian, he had the nerve to flip out on Jane Asher when Paul brought her around when he was the one who couldn't stay faithful to Cynthia.

My hot take is that these songs demonstrate that Paul simply could not imagine John ever truly committing to him and treating him as a true partner. The homophobia and yes ~society~ is in there too but Paul was happy to flout this when it came to just about anyone else, traipsing all over France with Fraser and Mal. The difference is that he flat out didn't trust John. Being jilted for Stuart in Hamburg loomed too big in his head. Cynthia and Julian loomed too big in his head. Brian and Barcelona, realizing that John would happily betray whatever agreements or understandings he had with Paul simply to screw Paul out of a deal, loomed too big in his head. I think in particular its Barcelona that made Paul think John didn't value any of their professed ideals. John broke Paul's heart years before Yoko came along.

He didn't trust John. Fatalism is easier than taking control of your own life sometimes, and in Paul's mind there was no reason to believe John was genuine. Like, Paul knew John very well! He had very good reason to think that John was simply not serious about him. And John, no matter what his intentions were, proved that correct over and over and over and over.

So ultimately, I think that's what these songs are about. The melodies don't necessarily reflect this when I listened to them but I think that "The Lovers That Never Were" in particular is juxtaposing bitter wink-and-nod lyrics with an oddly perky tune. It's Paul laughing at himself for ever thinking John was willing to commit. He's mocking himself because while he allowed himself to get swept up in the dream of a possible genuine relationship with John, he knew deep down that it would go the way it did. That John would find a reason to get tired of him and abandon him. And then when Yoko came along, that's exactly what John did. Paul fatalistically accepted that the time had come and John met Paul's low expectations of him.

The Weight I don't think John and Paul necessarily planned to have a secret relationship. It seems more like they bundled the sexual/romantic stuff into their "thing" where it was just part and parcel of who they were and what they did. "It's only gay if the balls touch" etc. At some point that changed but Paul became convinced early on that it wouldn't work out so he didn't acknowledge his own secret desires and dreams. There was no roadmap between him and John about where they were taking this exactly and how they were going to make it work. He had sex with John and even engaged with romantic actions with John, hoping against hope that something would change and he would be proven wrong, but then John would be careless and Paul would collapse into hurt.

And oh yeah: Paul never, ever discussed any of this with John Lennon. He never told John how hurt he was because he didn't want to put up with John's derision. He felt devalued and lost and in typical Paul fashion he chose to ignore this for years and never bring it up, forcing it to come out in bizarre nonsensical actions when he inevitably boiled over. Why would he choose to confront it? He made sure to set up several safety nets to catch him! Jane and the Ashers, striking out on his own with "The Family Way" score, rubbing John's face in his escapades with other males as a way to go 'see, I don't need you just like you don't need me. How about THAT?'

I don't think John ever intended to hurt Paul as badly as he did. He thought that if Paul was upset about something then he would know via their ~telepathic connection.~ I think that he deliberately overlooked warning signs because he felt intensely guilty about certain actions he took (God only knows which ones) and that he helped himself not see Paul's hurt. I do think if he had the slightest idea of what was going on in Paul's head then he would have changed tactics immediately out of fear of losing Paul forever. But at heart John was a coward and if he didn't want to see something was wrong then he wouldn't see it unless something forced his hand. Like say, having his former best friend/ex-lover look him in the eye and go "I can write new songs" and kill The Beatles in a court of law. (And of course once he realized what he had done, years after the fact, it was too little too late. He couldn't take it back. How do you make up for inflicting that much hurt on someone that you supposedly care for? This paralyzed John for years.)

This was obviously a huge mistake and I think it was one of the landmines that blew their relationship up. Paul allowed his distrust and bitterness to overwhelm him. He should have been honest with John about his feelings; maybe not immediately but when they were able to look back with some perspective. Paul should have realized that their relationship could take heat. He should have trusted John more and if he had then John could have risen to the occasion. Everything could have been different. No more "I believe in you baby, so don't tell me lies." No more "Do not mock me when I say/This is not a lie."

He even expresses this in a third song, one that IMO puts this entire thing into perspective and ties these three songs together with a neat bow. "This One":

youtube

Did I ever take you in my arms, look you in the eye Tell you that 'I do?' Did I ever open up my heart And let you look inside?…

Did I ever touch you on the cheek Say that you were mine, thank you for the smile? Did I ever knock upon your door Try to get inside?…

Please take note of the bolded "Tell you that 'I do'!" Paul's deepest regret with regards to John is not trusting him more. He wishes that he had opened up to John about his hurt and how he angry he was that John was devaluing their relationship. That he wanted to commit to John but that he was scared John wouldn't say 'I do' back.

From John's POV he's just being John; he's looking out for the band. God knows he tried to be what Paul needed him to be but he got mixed signals and inconsistent behavior and Paul's ice queen behavior frustrated him to no end. This resulted in an endless circle of "fuck you/no no no, fuck YOU/well fuck you then!/fuck you" that ended up killing what they had.

But John is guilty in this too. He never made himself accountable to Paul. He didn't explain his actions. He acted rashly and selfishly and then was shocked when it blew up in his face. He didn't consistently act like he loved Paul. He took Paul for granted and told himself that he was doing the right thing, because changing your behavior is very very hard. He didn't let Paul in when it mattered.

Did you ever take me in your arms Look me in the eye, tell me that 'you do?'

As Paul grew up and he started to come to grips with the "What happened" of it all, maybe he realized that he had procrastinated. That he put off what mattered most because he couldn't bear to make himself vulnerable as a young man. Maybe he was waiting for a perfect moment to open himself up to John knowing perfectly well it would never arrive, a common delaying tactic for insecure and avoidant people. Not admitting that the perfect moment would never come and that he had to extend trust to receive it in return.

If I never did it, I was only waiting For a better moment that didn't come There never could be a better moment Than this one, this one

I think he's still angry at John for multiple betrayals, slaps to the face, and devaluing the specialness of their relationship and their affection for each other. But I also think that Paul is angry at himself for not trusting John, for not working harder at their relationship. He also delivered multiple betrayals and slaps to the face to John, feeding John's insecurity and fears of abandonment. Making a mockery of their relationship and how special it was. Paul has been doing public penance for this ever since John died, which snapped everything into perspective and he finally realized the full scope of his own screw ups.

Because it took two to destroy a relationship this intense and this special. If Paul did not know that before...

Well. He does now.

#the beatles #mclennon #john lennon #paul mccartney #mclennon meta #my meta #mclennon server #this was a really fun ask anon thank you!

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reflectismo · 1 year

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Lennon and McCartney: Browsing through shops, buying books and things

Dear Beatles,

Is it true that you are learning to play the banjo! A friend of mine who was working backstage at one of your concerts said he’d seen you with an old banjo. — Paula Benson, Oldham, Lancs.

John replies: There’s a long story attached to that banjo, Paula.

When we had a day off in Liverpool during our tour last December, Paul and I went to an old antique shop in Chester to buy books and things. I saw this old banjo and I ALMOST bought it. Next day when we got to Manchester Mal Evans walked in with the banjo.

So, I borrowed it and had a go at playing it. There’s an autograph on it—George Formsby’s—but it looks very fresh and Mal isn’t too sure whether it’s a genuine Formby signature or not.

— The Beatles answer fan letters for the February 1966 issue of Valentine.

I don’t read as much as John does. My main thing is, I’ve got to be settled to read. The times I would read are on a holiday, or in bed at night. The other day I took John to the Times Bookshop. I’d been there before and bought a copy of “The Emperor Jones” signed by Eugene O’Neill which really knocked me out, and the fellow there showed me the original manuscript of “Under Milk Wood”. The great thing about the Times Bookshop is that nobody’s going to bother about who you are. Well, John spent an hour there, and £150. It was a good day for the Times Bookshop and a good day for John.

— Paul McCartney interviewed for London Life Magazine (4th/10th December 1965 Issue)

I don’t know whether Invicta [sic] Books, the shop in London's Mason's Yard owned by Peter Asher and Marianne Faithfull's husband, John Dunbar, is selling a lot of books; but it's certainly becoming the new 'in place.' As well as Peter and Marianne, I noticed sister Jane visiting quite a lot and last Friday John Lennon and Paul McCartney popped in to browse for a few hours.

— Disc and Music Echo (April 9, 1966).

One afternoon in late March 1966, Paul arrived at Indica with John Lennon. John wanted a book by what sounded like 'Nitz Ga'. It took Miles a few minutes to realise that he was looking for the German philosopher Nietzsche, long enough for John to become convinced that he was being ridiculed. He launched into an attack on intellectuals and university students and was only mollified when Paul told him that he had not understood what John was asking for either, and that Miles was not a university graduate but had been to art college, just like him. Immediately friendly again, John talked about Allen Ginsberg and the Beats, laughing about his school magazine the Daily Howl: 'Tell Ginsberg I did it first!' Miles found him a copy of The Portable Nietzsche and John began to scan the shelves. His eyes soon alighted upon a copy of The Psychedelic Experience, Dr Timothy Leary's psychedelic version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. John was delighted and settled down on the settee with the book. Right away, on page 14 in Leary's introduction, he read, 'Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, float downstream.' He had found the first line of 'Tomorrow Never Knows', one of the Beatles' most innovative songs.

— Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now by Barry Miles (1997)

John and Paul wandered free. They peered into a shop window. John spotted a calendar which featured thinly-dressed girls. He and Paul chortled.

“Bet you daren’t go in and buy it,” said Lennon. “Okay,” said Paul. He went in alone. A minute later, he rejoined us, waving a large, brown envelope.

“Discretion always,” he said. “As you can see, I asked them to give it to me under plain wrapper. . . .”

— John and Paul interview with Ray Coleman for Disc and Music Echo (December 1967)

#John Lennon #Paul McCartney #The Beatles #1960s #Quotes #Bookshops #Lennon/McCartney #(Just two besties going around town visiting shops)#(Don’t think anyone else cares about this but I do so that’s enough)

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anglophiletraveler · 26 days

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In My Life Chapter 40

Help!

Written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon

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Sorry that it’s taken so long for this chapter. I had a hard time writing this one, which is probably why I titled it Help! Thanks for sticking around and supporting this story!

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

“Elizabeth…”

There was a mutual gasp in the room when Ross called out Elizabeth’s name. A startled Demelza covered her mouth and looked at everyone around her… Dwight, Grace and Joshua and Verity. Of course the staff in the room didn’t realize what was going on.

Dr. Brown looked at Demelza, “Are you Elizabeth?”

Demelza couldn’t speak, she just shook her head.

Grace spoke up hoping that maybe she could make sense of what just happened, “Ross, dear, can you hear me?”

He shook his head and mouthed the word ‘yes’.

Grace smiled, “You’ve given us a scare! Especially Demelza!” Grace waved her hand nonchalantly but in a hope that Ross noticed Demelza was in the room.

It worked.

Ross tried to sit up, “Demelza!”

“Mr. Poldark lay back down, you can’t get up,” a nurse was trying to get him to settle back down.

Demelza grabbed his hand and kissed it, “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Tears were rolling down her cheek. She could find out why Ross called out for Elizabeth later. It was more important that he’s awake and feeling better.

Joshua spoke up, “Son, do you remember what happened?”

Grace gave Joshua a dirty look.

“Not a whole lot. Elizabeth had just called me. I answered… phone on…. bluetooth, didn’t know it was her.” It was obvious Ross was having a hard time breathing. “She… bitch…”

“Shhhh Ross, calm down. We don’t have to talk about this now. It’s not important. Just relax, I don’t want you to get upset. She’s not worth it,” Demelza’s voice was a little stronger as she tried to get Ross to settle down.

“I think maybe we should let Ross get some rest. The last thing we need to do is tire him out right now,” Dwight spoke up in his doctor voice.

“I think you are correct Dr. Enys,” Joshua said. He leaned over and gave Ross a kiss on the forehead. “Son, it’s so good to see you awake.”

“Thanks dad.”

Verity walked up to Ross’s bedside and gave him a kiss on the forehead, “Behave yourself Ross. I love you.”

Grace got up out of her wheelchair, “We’ll be back later on darling. Get some rest.”

Ross looked at Demelza, “Don’t go.”

Demelza looked at Dwight. “Alright you can stay, but I don’t want either one of you getting upset. Ross needs to rest.”

Demelza smiled, “I promise.” Dwight smiled at Demelza and Ross as he left the room.

Demelza scooted her chair closer to Ross’s bedside, and picked up his arm and kissed and leaned her face against it and sighed.

Ross noticed that Demelza looked tired. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, her eyes had dark circles under them along with being bloodshot. He moved his arm so that he could run his fingers through her hair, “You look… very tired, love.”

She hummed at the feel of his fingers in her hair. She was worried that this simple gesture of love would never happen again, “I’m fine as long as you’re awake and doing better.”

“I’m sorry… that.. I worried you,” Ross’s voice was weak.

“Shhhh, you have nothing to apologize for. It wasn’t your fault. Just relax and get some sleep.”

“Did you… spend the night…here?”

Demelza sighed and looked him in the face. He would know if she lied to him, “Yes, well not here in the room. I slept on the couch in the waiting room. The nurses were nice to me and gave me a pillow and a blanket. I wasn’t going to leave you here! I wanted to be here when you woke up.”

Ross smiled and let his finger caress her cheek, “Demelza, promise… me that you’ll …go home and get some rest. Please baby.”

“I am totally fine. I don’t need to go home. Drake is taking care of Seamus for us, so I don’t have to worry about that. So, Mr. Poldark, I am all yours!” She was trying to convince him that she wasn’t tired and didn’t need to leave him. “Honest Ross. I’m fine. If I get tired, I’ll go out in the lobby and take a break. I almost lost you and I don’t want to leave you just yet.”

Ross smiled, “Right… but I’m not going anywhere. Hey did … anyone find my cell phone from the accident?”

“Um no, if someone did find it nobody told me. Do you remember the accident?” Demelza asked.

“A little. Everything’s kind of foggy right now. I remember talking to Elizabeth on my bluetooth, and then I hung up on her. Then she called again and after that …. I don’t remember anything. My throat is really sore. Can you help me with a glass of water?”

“Of course.” Demelza got up to search through a drawer to find a straw for Ross to drink through. “Here you go babe. Does that help?”

“Yes, thanks. I’m really tired. I think I’m going to take a nap. Why don’t you go home so you can get some proper rest and then come back later,” Ross suggested.

“I don’t know…” Demelza looked at Ross and he definitely looked knackered, “Maybe I will. But I will be back, so you are not going to be rid of me.”

Ross grabbed her hand, “Babe, I don’t ever want to be rid of you. Lean down here and give me a kiss before you leave.”

Demelza leaned down to kiss Ross’s lips, then his nose and his forehead, “I love you Ross.” Demelza couldn’t help the tears dripping down onto Ross’s cheeks.

Ross raised his hand to run it over Demelza’s cheek, “I love you too, love. I can’t wait for us to get married.” Demelza smiled but couldn’t keep herself from crying even more. “Hey there, shhhh. Everything’s going to be fine baby, please don’t cry. You need to go home and get some rest. You’ve worn yourself out. I can see it in your eyes.”

Demelza stood up and wiped her tears away, “I’m sorry. You’re probably right. I’ll be back later.”

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

A couple days later, Ross was stable enough that he was able to be moved into a step down unit and also to be interviewed by police about the accident. Joshua and Grace just happened to be in the room when the police arrived. They were able to return his phone to him after they pulled the call history from it, to see if he was on a call when the accident happened. He explained to him that his ex-fiance had called him and he hung up on her while wearing his blue tooth, and that she called back again. At least he assumed it was Elizabeth, he never actually heard a voice from the other end and then the accident happened.

Secretly, Ross was more concerned if he was actually the one to cause the accident, but fortunately the police officer told him that another driver in the lane next to him caused the accident when he was distracted by his friend in the seat next to him. They were a couple of young college students not paying attention to what they were doing. It turns out that he not only hit Ross’s car, but he rear ended the car in front of him, causing a chain reaction. In total, there were seven cars involved. Luckily there were no fatalities. There were plenty of witnesses that all confirmed what happened. The police officer left all of the paperwork with Ross that he would need to turn into his insurance company.

All three of them sighed after the officer left. “Well, that’s a relief,” Ross said.

Grace looked at her son, “What’s that dear?”

“I was afraid that I caused the accident while talking on the phone with Elizabeth.”

“Well, you were honest with the officer and told him that you were on the bluetooth. You weren’t actually holding the phone. I still can’t believe that bitch Elizabeth tried to convince you not to marry Demelza! Who the hell does she think she is!” Grace answered.

Ross gasped at his mum, “Mum! Watch your language!”

Joshua was smirking at his wife, got up and stretched his legs, “ I’m sure your precious BMW is totaled,” Joshua smiled at Ross.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking. That really pisses me off. I loved that car. It was the first thing I bought when I got my job at the firm. Now we’ll have to get two cars… one for Demelza and one for me now.”

Grace smiled and raised her eyebrows and hummed, “Hmmm interesting…”

Ross tilted his head at his mother and the dark Poldark eyebrows furrowed, “What? What are you thinking, mother?”

She sat back and smiled while her crossed legs started bouncing, “Oh nothing, just…”

Joshua was spying the evil grin on his wife’s face.

“Just what mum? What are you thinking?”

“Nothing! My goodness you’re so suspicious! You need to lay back and rest.”

“I am not going to relax until you tell me what you’re up to!” Ross’s voice was getting louder now.

“Shhh! Don’t get all rattled, love. I was just thinking that you might want to get a bigger vehicle, you know, for the future, like a van or…”

Joshua and Ross both gave Grace a dirty look. “Mum, there is no bloody way in hell that I’m getting a van! We don’t need a van! Bloody hell! What are you thinking!?”

“Calm down! I was just thinking that maybe you might need something bigger with Demelza’s cello, and… and… the trips you might take, and if you start having babies you’ll need something bigger,” Grace was still grinning.

Ross shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, “Mother! I told you that we might not even have kids. We haven’t decided on that for sure. Mum please don’t say anything to Demelza about this. I promised not to pressure her about kids.”

“Is that something that you and Demelza are definite on?” Now Joshua was in on the conversation.

Ross looked at his father and then looked down, “Look, it’s… undecided at this point. Demelza’s not sure about kids. You have to remember that she basically raised her six brothers, so the thought of having her own children is a bit overwhelming to her.”

Joshua moved to sit back down next to Ross, “Ross, I always thought that you wanted children? This is a big decision to make, have you really thought about what a life without children will be like? Don’t get me wrong, I really love Demelza and think she’s a wonderful woman, but to not be totally certain about something this important before you get married can really cause trouble down the road.”

Ross let out a big sigh, “Dad, Demelza and I have talked about this plenty of times. Yes, I want children, but I love Demelza more, and if she decides not to have children, then I will just have to live with it. I don’t want to lose her. Now can we please change the subject before she gets here because I don’t want her walking in here with all of these long faces. Please.”

Grace and Joshua both looked into their son’s face and saw how serious he was about his words, and knew they wouldn’t be able to change his mind.

Luckily a nurse came into the room to check Ross’s vitals so the tension in the room lightened up.

Ross looked at his parents, “So are two still staying in the hotel?”

Joshua nodded, “Yes, it’s nice that it’s just across the street and we can pop over so that your mother can have a kip.”

“Well, you can always stay at our place. I’m sure Demelza wouldn’t mind…”

Just then Demelza walked in with a smile on her face, “What wouldn’t I mind?”

Ross’s face broke out in a bright smile, “There’s my girl! I was just saying you wouldn’t mind if mum and da stayed at our place while they’re here in town.”

Demelza leaned down to kiss Ross, “Of course not. You’re more than welcome to stay at the house.”

“Oh thank you Demelza, I was just telling Ross that the hotel across the street is really convenient for us so that Grace can go to the room and take a quick nap. But if you need me to drive you to rehearsal and pick you up, I’d be more than happy to do that for you,” Joshua responded.

Demelza sat on the bed next to Ross and grabbed his hand, “Thank you. Maestro said if I wanted to take the rest of the week off, he wouldn’t have a problem with it. But thank you anyway!”

Ross looked at Demelza, “Babe, are you sure you want to miss that much rehearsal time?”

“Well Ross, I didn’t even ask. He called me so I think it’ll be alright. Plus I’ve still been practicing at home. And speaking of home, Seamus is really missing you. He’s been moping around like crazy.”

“Aww poor Seamus!” Grace said.

“You should sneak him in for me!”

“Ross, how am I going to sneak in an Irish Setter?” Demelza was smiling at her fiance.

“Nobody will mind. Just say that he’s a therapy dog!” All three just shook their heads

at Ross.

Joshua stood up, “Well on that note, I think your mother and I will go get something to eat and head back to the hotel for the night. Demelza dear, let us know if there’s anything we can do for you.”

Demelza stood up to hug her future in-laws, “Oh I will, thank you again. Take care Grace. Get some rest.”

“Good night Demelza. You get some rest also!”

Demelza turned around and raised her eyebrows at Ross, “We're finally alone!” She went over and put her hands on Ross’s face, careful not to knock off his oxygen hose, and gave him the deepest, lustful kiss that she could give him.

Ross moaned, “Mmmm I could use more of that Mrs Poldark.”

“Hey now, don’t jinx us! What… what is this stuff?”

Ross opened the envelope and bag and showed Demelza the contents, “The police brought it by. It’s my phone and some other stuff that was in my car. I guess I’m going to have to get a new phone. Maybe then I’ll be able to find out for sure if it was Elizabeth calling back a second time.”

“Well, I can work on getting you a new phone tomorrow. I don’t think the store will be open now. Have they said when you can come home?” Ross tried to pull Demelza closer to him, but she was resisting, “Ross, not here!”

“Oh you’re no fun! Come on baby, just snuggle a little bit. I miss you,” Ross was starting to whine.

“Alright, just a little,” Demelza wrapped herself under Ross’s arm. She couldn’t help herself and started caressing Ross’s belly. “Mmmm I have to admit this does feel good. Ross..”

“Hmmmm?”

“I think we should postpone the wedding. It’s going to take a while before you’re feeling better, so I think we should postpone it. When you’re feeling better and stronger, then we will have the dresses and the suits and we can go ahead and get married,” Demelza’s voice was soft.

Ross sat up, “Absolutely not! We are not changing a thing. You hear me?”

Demelza looked up in Ross’s eyes, “Yes, I heard you. But it doesn’t make me happy. Ross, you’re going to take a while to recover, it’s not something that can be rushed.

“I am going to be just fine by the time of the wedding. My respiratory treatments are going well, my physical therapy started today. I will be fully healed and strong when I say my vows to you. Speaking of which, do we have an officiant lined up?”

“Oh, um I don’t know. I’ll have to check with Caroline about that,” Demelza weaved Ross’s fingers through hers.

Ross’s eyebrows furrowed like they always do when he’s thinking, “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Caroline since I’ve been in the hospital. I mean, not that I’d expect her to be here for hours on end, I just thought…why are you looking that way? What’s wrong?”

Demelza let out a sigh, “Well she was here with me the whole first day while you were in surgery, but I just got the feeling that there’s something wrong going on between Dwight and Caroline. That whole day they barely said two words to each other.”

“Did you ask them about it? That is kind of weird for them.”

“Yeah it is, and yes I did. I asked Caroline when Dwight had stepped out if they were alright, and she just said something like they were going through a rough patch. Later on Dwight said the same thing and that it was nothing to worry about. I haven’t seen her since, but I have talked to her on the phone a couple of times, but we really haven’t had time to talk about it. I’m really worried about them though. Maybe you could talk to Dwight? See if he will talk to you about it.”

Ross kissed Demelza’s hand, “If I get the chance without a bunch of staff around, I will. Now, talk less, snuggle more.”

Demelza rolled her eyes and followed Ross’s instructions. But of course, with snuggling, eventually comes snogging, until…

“Oh please! Really Ross! In a hospital! Don’t you have more respect for yourself than that!”

Ross and Demelza jumped out of their skin and looked towards the door and there stood Elizabeth hand on hip, a very expensive handbag hanging from the other arm, a very expensive dress hugging all of her curves, hair and makeup perfectly done.

Ross sat up in bed, inadvertently yanking his oxygen tube from his nostrils, “Elizabeth, what the fuck are you doing here?” Demelza’s face quickly turned beet red. She climbed off the bed and straightened herself up in her embarrassment.

“I came here to talk some sense into you. I wasn’t expecting to visit your hospital room while the two of you are screwing. Very tacky even for you Ross,” Elizabeth said.

“Elizabeth, you’re the reason why I’m in this hospital bed, so… please… leave!” Demelza noticed that Ross was starting to have trouble breathing, so she hit the nurse call button.

“Elizabeth, I think you should go, you’re upsetting Ross,” Demelza raised her voice to try to get Elizabeth to leave.

“I am not going anywhere until I talk with Ross. Alone!”

The nurse came in and immediately put the oxygen mask back on Ross instead of the hose that was previously in his nostrils. She was an older nurse who looked like she didn’t take shit from anybody. “Alright, calm down Mr. Poldark, you’ve got your heart rate up. Take some nice easy breaths. That’s right, nice and slow. Okay gorgeous, now, which one of these birds got you riled up?” Ross pointed to Elizabeth. The nurse looked right at Elizabeth, “Alright sweetheart, it’s time for you to leave.”

Elizabeth just stood still, “I am not going anywhere, I need to speak with Mr Poldark before I leave.”

“Look lady, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care who you are except that you’re upsetting my patient and now he can’t breathe. So either you leave on your own, or I call security. It’s your choice.” Demelza couldn’t help but smirk.

Elizabeth gasped and scowled at the nurse, so the nurse reached for the phone to call security, so Elizabeth finally left.

Demelza was standing by the bed and rubbing the hair out of Ross’s forehead, trying to get his breathing to settle down.

The nurse got a cool wet washcloth and placed it on Ross’s forehead. She took a listen at his lungs, and looked at his heart rate blip across the screen. “Now that we got her out of the way, I’ll put a note up on your door that all visitors are to check at the desk before they come in. Alright? So just calm yourself down. We’re going to keep this mask on you for a little while longer.” the nurse looked at Demelza, “So redbird, are you his girlfriend?”

Demelza smiled at the nickname the nurse gave her, “We’re engaged. That woman was engaged to him years ago but is married now to his cousin.”

“Ahhh she’s trying to have her cake and eat it too! I get it now. Well, we will take care of this at the desk. Now, I think you should be going in a little while. Your future mister needs his rest after Miss Fancy Pants disrupted him.”

Demelza frowned, “Is he going to be alright? What about his breathing?”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll keep both my eyes on ‘im for ya, and if there’s anything you need to know, I’ll call you. You have to take care of yourself too, ya know. I’ll give you 30 minutes.” The nurse smiled at Demelza and then left the room.

Demelza looked at Ross wearing the oxygen mask again. He looked pale like he did a few days ago and that worried her. “Oh Ross, I could just smack Elizabeth! How could she come charging in here like that! I’d like to get a handful of her hair and drag her around a bit!”

Ross smiled at Demelza picturing her dragging Elizabeth by the hair of her head. He held her hand and tried to comfort her, “I’m fine, I shouldn’t… have let her… get to me like that. She’s… not worth…it.”

“I don’t want to leave you Ross. I’m worried now, and I want to stay and keep watch over you,” Demelza was almost in tears now.

“My love… I am fine and I’ll… be okay. I have all of this equipment monitoring…me, and that nurse … watches me like… a hawk… so don’t, worry, my redbird,” Ross smiled at her new nickname.

Demelza gave a weak smile at that, “Alright. I’ll go, but I’ll be back first thing. I love you Ross,” she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“I love you too Demelza.”

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

#aidan turner #modernpoldark #poldark #ross poldark #six sentence sunday #work in progress #eleanor tomlinson #demelza carne #demelza poldark

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ash-lien · 6 months

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tips to not look like a bot

change pfp, most important step

reblog liberally

make shitposts

change header and blog colors

more tumblr tips

we're all losers

everything is anonymous, you can follow random people

cultivate your dash, don't be afraid to unfollow (although I like to send a short note, it's not required) or block someone

filter any tags you don't like in your settings! nsfw stuff, triggers, etc. (ex: your filtered tags might be #tw murder, murder, #nsfw, #cw body horror, body horror, #tw transphobia, transphobia)

feel free to scroll through someone's blog and like and reblog their stuff. it's not creepy. usually

people swear freely here. i swear occasionally and just tag for profanity when i do

research fairy vs walrus, vanilla extract, the color of the sky, i like your shoelaces, spiders georg, and children's hospital color theory blood trail

every year we celebrate the ides of march

go to the settings and opt out of that ai data sharing thing. you have to turn this off individually for your main blog and any of your side blogs

tag your posts with relevant stuff. you can also talk in tags to add stuff that isn't really interesting for people who don't follow you or to add an afterthought. if something asks your personal stuff or you're reblogging a poll you voted in, use tags. tags aren't preserved in reblogs

you can follow tags of things you like (#tally hall, #melanie martinez, #hazbin hotel, #art, etc.)

no one can see your follower count

bots will follow you

people love their mutuals here. follow me back?

you can't re-vote in a poll, so click carefully!

neil gaiman and nasa are on here

there are no influencers, but @pukicho, @one-time-i-dreamt, and @bettinalevyisdetermined (is that her url?) come close (idk if tagging people works in asks if it does sorry guys)

there are lots of gimmick blogs, from the post uwuifier to hellsite genetics to the people that identify things in posts like cars, knives, etc. (can't remember the exact urls)

yes, there is a blog that counts the number of letter ts in a post. yes, there is a kitty broker and a puppy broker. yes, there is a blog that posts the "fag of the day", which is always Paul McCartney. yes, there are two blogs that disemvowel posts.

there are blogs specifically for reblogging and creating polls (they do take requests!)

the corporate gimmick blog verse and the celestial same pic verse are pretty cool

lots of people here are lgbtqia and/or neurodivergent

the ceo is transphobic and people want him to die in a car crash with hammers flying everywhere and multiple explosions (or something like that)

if you can't donate, signal boost! reblog!

also if you want some tally hall blogs to follow, consider @sincerecinnamon, @edgingattheedgeofauniverse, @pigeoninabowl69 (a lot of spanish tho) and their side blog @hawaiipartyii (all english), @queeniesretrozone (although they don't interact with tally hall stuff much anymore, they're still nice), @aquakatdraws, and those people's mutuals as well!

the harry potter fandom on here has a lot of TERFs, so tread carefully

people love supernatural, dr who, sherlock holmes, good omens, and hazbin hotel (at least from my experience)

i'm sure there are better guides out there, but this is hopefully a good start! ^_^

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh

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honeyriot · 18 days

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So just a quick thing about Taylor Swift and eat the rich. Quick google search will tell you that other celebrities you mentioned - Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Keanu Reeves - are all millionaires (approximately 80 million, 140 million, 800 million, respectively). And that’s a lot! They are rich! Taylor Swift, meanwhile, has a net worth of around 1.4 billion. I know you’re not an idiot, I don’t need to tell you how astronomically much more a billion is than a million. There are other celebrities around that mark, for sure, both male and female. But Taylor Swift is possibly the most inescapable famous people in the world right now, one who is astronomically rich and seemingly everywhere. Her womanhood has nothing to do with what she absolutely does deserve plenty of criticism for.

As much as I agree with everything you are saying, the specific calling out of her aligns far too neatly with reactionary antifeminist and anti woman rhetoric. You surely are aware of the rise of misogyny and the prevalence of abuse, harassment, rape and overall misogyny in society AND historically in marxist, and revolutionary organizing. You can call me an idiot when I have serious reasons for calling this out. Would it have been better if I had said, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Stephen Spielberg, Paul McCartney, Peter Jackson etc? The reason is this: It is a very real and consistent fact that leftist men foam at the mouth for a "politically correct" to be misogynist to women. Many times culminating in very overt misogyny like rape jokes which are a form of harassment against ALL women. I've seen jokes on social media of reactionary women being put in rape/porn/sexualizing memes with tons of likes and laughing emojis. It's not a historical anomaly for rape and harassment to be a political force against women of all classes. We have to be politically aware of the gendered nature of our political conversations. To deny this is completely reactionary. To say "feminism is bourgeois" and act like we live in the early 20th century to dismiss that oppression of women occurs in ALL classes and even marxist and leftist orgs and communities have to grapple with this very reality!

#marxism #feminism

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groovycat18 · 1 year

Text

I got to episodes 6 and 7 last night but had no time to write my thoughts on them, so here they are now!

Episode 6 Dr. Teeth hugging Zoot so tightly is going to be the only Smooth Jazz content I get in this series, isn’t it?

Always good to see Baby Animal, especially seeing him develop his interest in music.

The band’s origin story was interesting, but I kind of wished they addressed the fact that Lips was a late addition to the band, cause the flashback with them painting the bus made it seem like he’d always been there.

Also, interesting origin for how they got the Mayhem bus! Never put much thought into that before!

Also, is Teeth’s backstory that is revealed in this series going to affect “Everyone Matters”? No, cause I’m too fond of the fanon I developed or am borrowing for that story, but I do like the backstory they gave him in the show.

Episode 7: Again, how vast are Lips’ music connections?! He knows one of the Bangles (his “Walk like an Egyptian” dance was cute), he knows Paula Abdul (was he responsible for her being on Muppets Tonight?), and he knows Paul McCartney, and straight-up ignores his call when Nora decides they don’t need an actual Beatle for their documentary (which killed me XD).

Zoot being unaware that certain celebrities are dead is pretty accurate, and I loved Morgan Freeman’s cameo.

Ugh, please assure me Nora/JJ doesn’t happen! I’m on Team Moog!

Really, Peter Jackson? You do TRILOGIES? Where are Meet the Feebles 2 and 3 then???

Also, on the note of the Feebles, I’m surprised they were even referenced in this show, since their movie was beyond R-rated, and I’ve heard from somewhere that one of Henson’s kids (I think it was Cheryl) was disgusted by that movie and considered it an insult to her father’s legacy.

Honestly, I’d like to know more of what happened when the Muppets met the Feebles. Why are two in witness protection and the rest in jail???

Gonna watch episodes 8 and 9 tonight!!!

#the muppets #the muppets mayhem #muppets mayhem #muppets mayhem spoilers #the muppets mayhem spoilers #dr. teeth #animal #lips #zoot #peter jackson #meet the feebles

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i-am-the-oyster · 1 year

Text

Today in Knobs On Podcasts:

Bill Wyman insists that no-one is ever mean to musicians in music reviews. When challenged by Dr. Allison Bumsted that in fact critics were definitely unjustifiably mean to Paul McCartney in the early 1970s, he responds that they were not. She cites examples, he pivots to claiming that musicians never want to hear criticism, accuses "people" of "intellectual slight of hand" [100% an accurate term for what he's doing] and goes on to complain that while Paul McCartney sold well in the 70s "a few critics said his records sucked. They do, like Red Rose Speedway, I think most people would agree is an unlistenable album."

That was the point I noped out.

The self-satisfied dance of "we're never allowed to say anything mean" and "well I said that mean thing but it's true" and "he sold well but critics are the ones who actually have worthwhile opinions" needs to die in a fire.

I don't begrudge anyone disliking Red Rose Speedway (I mean, I feel sorry for them). But the claim that it is 'unlistenable' is just ... insane.

#yes it's an old episode #i'm very behind on my listening #mr bill wyman helped by saving me from listening to the second half of this one #knobs on podcasts

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 10 months

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Pretty good answers thank you! :D got some more

1: what’s the best Christmas gift they ever gotten?

2: for this year, what gifts do they really want?

3: when they are with their families, who puts the Star on top?

4: what’s their favorite & least favorite Christmas song?

5: what’s the greatest revenge they gotten on a bully?

6: what’s their opinions on guns? Also I can see them wielding special non-lethal guns similar to red hoods that they can charge their darkness & starbolt energies into. Chris has a blue gun with either the Nightwing symbol on the rear grip or maybe a charm kinda like in call of duty & Jake has a yellow or maybe blue too with his symbol on the gun or charm.

1. Chris: His own custom made blue and orange cape with the House of El symbol on the back stitched up by Martha, Clark and Jon when he was 10. He cried tears of joy as it was further proof that they’re his real family

Jake: The Skybird suit, made by both Alfred and his Father when he was 9. At first he wonder why the boots seemingly lacked the steel toes like in his older prototype suits, only to discover they were inside the boot safely so that he had that enhanced kicking power yet they look even more stylish.

2. I would like to think of the two being humble enough so that they aren’t too demanding for their gifts….that being said, if the Duo receive the entirely of Dragon Ball, from the original to Super, as DVDs/Blu, Ray, they very much would appreciate it

3. Chris: Jon and him playfully do an arm wrestling contest, 2 out of 3, in deciding which one has the chance to put up the tree Star. By the time Chris edges out a second win though, Krypto already beat the two to it

Jake: Both Mar’i and him put up the Star together, floating up to the top with each of them carefully holding a side of the Star as it’s made of precious Tamaranean jewels on its eight points and a sturdy yet easily to dirty metal. It’s a traditional they’ve been doing since Jake was around six when he began to float in the air successfully, always capped off with Dick taking a photo of the two just as the star is put into place.

4. Chris - Favorite: ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ by Paul McCartney; as per usual given it’s written by a Beatle and the fact it’s just a catchy joyful melody bell never get tired of

Least Favorite: ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ by Mariah Carey; frankly, not much to say here other than it’s over played to Chris’ liking everywhere he goes

Jake - Favorite: ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch’ by Thuri Ravenscoft and Dr Seuss; true Jake can never in his entire lifetime ever reach that legendary Deep Sound in singing it but the poetry, the instruments and just the gleeful tone of the whole thing gets him so excited whenever it comes on

Least Favorite: ‘We Are Santa’s Elves’ from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer; having about one or few adventures with Chris that involve meeting Santa himself along with the eleven working with him, he will not stand this misrepresentation of Elf kind if he can help it. Plus the song itself is relatively annoying

5. Easily the time they suited up and during a school dance night, when a bully who earlier that week took Jake’s lunch money and proceeded to embarrass him via reading his diary out loud in class, the two waited until said bully was all by himself right outside the auditorium building, proceeding to wrap his ankles with a grapple line, dangling him upside down and Jake gives his best batglare while Chris lays down the terms. Basically, back off from any of his victims and give back their lunch money if he still has them. The bully tries claiming innocence, with his rambling saying “I swear to..” onto for Jake to interrupt with a classic “Swear To Us” before bungee dropping the bully with his grapple line. That was enough to convince the bully, who by wet himself in fear, to start changing his ways. It was good enough for Jake who then let him back down gently flat on his butt before taking off away.

6. Oh, They dislike actual real firearms with a burning passion, comparable to Obi Wan’s distaste for blasters. That said, those color schemes for those gadgets that can channel their respective energy powers into a compact form do sound fitting for them

Sorry it took a while but at least I got to them my friend

Thanks for your patience @gothicghost2000

#chris kent #jake grayson #starburst duo #christmas #mari grayson #jonathan samuel kent #sfw

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motownfiction · 1 year

Text

anesthetize

Lucy tells Dr. O’Reilly that if she could anesthetize her memories, she would.

“And it’s not that I want them to go away,” she says. “I don’t … I don’t want to forget anything. I just want to forget how they make me feel.”

“Which memories?” Dr. O’Reilly asks. “And how do they make you feel?”

Lucy sighs. She’s tired of answering obvious questions. More than that, she’s tired of the way Dr. O’Reilly always asks obvious questions – the kinds of things Lucy was obviously going to discuss without having to be prompted first.

“I keep going back to the first time Sam and I ever talked,” she says. “And I don’t mean the first time he ever asked me how to add one and three, or when I asked him if he was in line for the drinking fountain after art class. Though I guess it’s kind of funny that I remember that stuff.”

“Is it?”

Lucy almost rolls her eyes.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I said ‘I guess’ for a reason. Do you not understand what it means to convey uncertainty through understatement?”

“I think I understand you’re underestimating my intelligence.”

And with that, Lucy almost smiles.

“Kind of clever there,” she says. “Anyway, I don’t … I’m not surprised I remember all those early moments, getting to know Sam. I never … a lot of girls looked at him like he was their very own Paul McCartney or something, but I never saw him that way. I never felt that way about Sam, not even when I was little.”

“So, what drew you to him, then?”

Lucy sighs. She can feel herself almost grinning at the image of six-year-old Sam in his pale yellow uniform shirt, and she can’t believe they ever stopped being so small … any of them.

“I could tell that he was smart,” she says. “The real kind of smart, too, not just the kind that gets good grades. The kind of smart that was going to make a difference in somebody’s life, somebody’s world. I always … I always thought maybe he had me beat in that way. Though I was sure to never let him know it. Not a chance.”

She thinks she can see Dr. O’Reilly smiling, too.

“Anyway, I keep going back to this one time, second week of school, first grade,” Lucy says. “Back in first grade, gym class wasn’t split up between boys and girls. We had it all together. Our teacher had us doing this ridiculous obstacle course, and Sam and I weren’t even trying. We hung back, kinda like my daughters did whenever they had to run a mile in their gym classes.”

“My sister’s the same way,” Dr. O’Reilly laughs. “She wears this Elmo hoodie to gym class everyday. She thinks it keeps people from bothering her.”

“I’ll bet it works. Anyway, Sam and I weren’t trying, but we were talking to each other. Like for real. I think I had a conversation with Sam before I had a conversation with anyone else in our desk clump. Even before Sadie. Even before Will.”

“And what did you talk about?”

“He asked me what I did to get so smart. I told him I paid a lot of attention to my parents’ doctoral classes at Yale. I also told him they encouraged me to speak when I was less than one, and they encouraged me to read before I turned two.”

“Did you really use the verb encourage?”

“Of course I did. From where I sat, Sam was the smartest kid in class. He knew all the words to ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun,’ which I knew from listening to him sing it when we were supposed to have silent reading time. If there was anybody in the room I needed to impress, it was Sam.”

Dr. O’Reilly has that knowing look in her eyes – the one that makes Lucy feel like she’s never known anything about herself or the world.

“What happened next?” she asks.

“What do you mean?” Lucy says. “Sam and I talked. He told me how much he liked The Beatles. He said his favorite song was ‘You Won’t See Me’ because nobody really talked about it, but he was open to changing his favorite at any time. I told him my favorite was ‘Things We Said Today,’ and I was pretty sure that wouldn’t change.”

“And did it?”

Lucy grins, but she’s not quite sure why.

“No,” she says. “It’s still my favorite. I wonder how much of that has to do with what I said to Sam. about it that day.”

“Me too,” Dr. O’Reilly says. “Did Sam invite you to do anything after that?”

“He asked me if I wanted to sit with him and his friends at lunch the next day,” Lucy says. “I told him I wasn’t sure, but as soon as he busted out that bag of M&M’s in class the next morning, I knew what I had to do. I knew … well, you know.”

“I’m not sure I do. Tell me, Lucy. When you and Sam first talked … when he asked you to join the rest of his friends for lunch at school the next day … how did that make you feel? Do you remember?”

Lucy nods.

“Of course I remember,” she says hotly. “I remember everything. It’s not hard.”

“How did it make you feel?”

Lucy sighs and folds her hands in the lap of her pretty red dress.

“It made me feel understood,” she says. “It made me feel … like for the first time in my whole six and a half years of life, someone other than my parents understood who I was. When I was in kindergarten back in Connecticut, I saw all these girls match up with their ‘best friends.’ I was never one of them. But when Sam started to talk to me … he looked me in the eye, and he knew what I meant. He never stopped knowing what I meant. And because he knew what I meant, so did Sadie. And so did Daniel. And so did … Oh, God, so did Will. I wouldn’t … I wouldn’t have shit if Sam hadn’t taken a chance on me. And I’m not even allowed to tell anybody I still miss him. I’m not even allowed to tell anybody I cried in the hospital bathroom that night he died.”

“Why is it a bad thing that you cried for him?” Dr. O’Reilly asks. “Why is it a bad thing to miss him, if he’s the first person who made you feel understood?”

“Because if Sam meant that much to me, you can’t even believe how much he meant to my husband – to our friends,” Lucy says. “He and Will had been best friends since they could hold their heads up on their own. Sadie was his twin. Daniel was his brother-in-law. Where did that leave me? The best friend’s wife, the twin sister’s best friend. Sam and I … we might have been close, but it wasn’t the same as it was with all of them. I don’t want them to think I’m blowing it out of proportion. I don’t have as much of a right to be sad as they do.”

Dr. O’Reilly sighs.

“Lucy, that’s not how grief works,” she says. “You can’t expect to move through it if you won’t let yourself acknowledge it’s there.”

“It’s been almost five years. If I acknowledged it now, I’d just be … I just can’t do that. It would set everybody back. Inefficient.”

“Grief is efficient. You can’t expect the machine to work without a few inspections, especially after a trauma. You know that.”

Lucy feels herself turning a deep red. She doesn’t even care. Not now.

“If I hadn’t met him … if I hadn’t ever known him, I would have a completely different life right now,” she says. “If I hadn’t met Sam … I think I’d always feel like I was speaking some strange robot language no one else can hear.”

The tears begin to sting the back of her eyes. She tries to roll them out, but it doesn’t work. It just burns.

“I never thanked him in the right way,” Lucy says. “So, just … give me whatever you can to make it numb, or send me to the people who can. I should be over this, but I … just don’t make me feel like this anymore. Just make it so that I don’t think about it anymore. Please. Please. Please.”

She doesn’t realize how hard she’s crying until she’s gasping in the chair.

(part of @nosebleedclub july challenge -- day xxii. yes, i know it’s nearly september. yes, i know this entry is particularly long. i am beyond the point of caring!)

#drabble #writeblr #ch: lucy callaghan #ch: sam doyle #ch: tracy o'reilly #dynamic: friends of distinction #year: 2007 #year: 1973

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halothenthehorns · 1 year

Text

Chapter 2: THE VICE PRINCIPAL GETS A MISSILE LAUNCHER

"I don't think now is the time to discuss politics on how we feel about teachers with guns," Magnus said drolly.

"That's one hell of a sign on bonus," Thalia gave a nervous chuckle. She knew no amount of joking in the world would save Percy from the explosion of pain his memory hadn't retained, but she still felt the need to try as he read the chapter title and closed his eyes, as if his mind was already trying to block him from what he knew was soon coming before he cleared his throat and started.

I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but he was fast.

Maybe I could defend myself if I could get my shield activated. All that it would take was a touch of my wrist-watch. But defending the di Angelo kids was another matter. I needed help, and there was only one way I could think to get it.

I closed my eyes.

"I doubt the whole 'if you can't see me I can't see you thing' works on monsters," Magnus told him.

"Just keeping all my options open," Percy rolled his eyes, even smiling a bit as for once he knew what was going on before them!

"What are you doing, Jackson?" hissed Dr. Thorn. "Keep moving!"

I opened my eyes and kept shuffling forward. "It's my shoulder," I lied, trying to sound miserable, which wasn't hard. "It burns."

Percy was still rubbing his shoulder though while Nico was left floundering how he'd blotted that out of his memory of the nights events when he'd thought they were etched in stone.

"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"

'That moment when the monster's nicer than Luke,' Hearth winced.

'I don't think nice is the word I'd use,' Magnus shook his head.

Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate. I pictured Grover's face.

"Annabeth would be so disappointed she wasn't the last face you'd want to see," Thalia laughed, but the others brightened in understanding. That empathy link, though there had never been any confirmation it worked while Percy was awake.

I focused on my feelings of fear and danger. Last summer, Grover had created an empathy link between us. He'd sent me visions in my dreams to let me know when he was in trouble. As far as I knew, we were still linked, but I'd never tried to contact Grover before. I didn't even know if it would work while Grover I was awake.*

Hey, Grover! I thought. Thorn's kidnapping us! He's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac! Help!

"I don't think that's enough to draw his attention," Alex told him. "Maybe if you mentioned something about a poodle, or Jesse McCartney."

"You're right, I should wait until my life's on the line and I'm forced to stall," Percy mock agreed.

Thorn marched us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like a Percysicle.

"As long as it's a blue one, then it's okay," Will chuckled.

Percy didn't even disagree.

"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride."

"Is it a dragon?" Alex asked longingly. Just one rideable one, was that to much to ask?

"It doesn't take a human sacrifice does it?" Magnus asked.

"Define human," Jason frowned, none of them were mortal, but would still probably count.

"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"

"Silence, you insufferable girl!"

"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico said. His voice quivered, but I was impressed that he had the guts to say anything at all.

Percy held his hand up in a long-range high five and called, "good on you! More than I did!"

Nico felt such an unfamiliar swooping through his gut he didn't know what that feeling was for a second. He did not raise his hand back, but said, "thanks," and really meant it. He couldn't remember Percy ever complimenting him before, but it didn't hold the kind of all consuming, breath holding, heart stealing praise he always would have thought. And he wasn't even disappointed. Just, happy with it.

Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human.

"Did you still think he was human by this point?" Jason rolled his eyes.

"The French accent was making me think otherwise," Percy said deadpan.

It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive.

"A level of subterfuge I never would have thought you capable of," Thalia applauded.

Meanwhile, I projected my thoughts like crazy—anything to get Grover's attention: Grover! Apples! Tin cans! Get your furry goat behind out here and bring some heavily armed friends!

"So those extra weapons your mom packed were good for something," Magnus grinned, though he was still wondering if his mom would have ever driven him to a quest or perhaps grounded him for trying.

"Halt," Thorn said.

"Who goes there?" Jason mock finished the quote.

"We'd all like to know that," Percy groused while watching Thalia expectantly, even though he still got a sharp pain in his head for the reminder of why he wasn't going to be told early.

The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, I sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness.

The silence lasted a beat in the room as Percy paused and waited for someone to ask him why he hadn't already taken the two and jumped in, an answer on his lips when he saw they knew why. His shoulder was still twitching unpleasantly as he held the book, Nico was picking at his lip with such a troubled expression like this monster had never left his nightmares. Those thorns were sharp, fast, and deadly accurate. They would have been speared even before gravity dragged them down, Percy couldn't have saved them this way.

Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, and Bianca caught me.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"What is he?" she whispered. "How do we fight him?"

"Glory this girls got guts," Jason once again said what Thalia had longed to express, but still to afraid it would come out in past tense. Percy and Nico already couldn't stop a nervous tick anytime her name was said. "I'm betting child of Ares," he concluded with a curious look at Nico who never had given any flat answer who his parent was.

Nico neither confirmed nor denied it, feeling he'd give himself away whichever he did, and Will gently scolded, "don't spoil it for Percy now," as a cover anyways.

"I... I'm working on it."

"I'm scared," Nico mumbled.

Nico braced himself for the laughter and Percy to try taking back his high-five or something. What he instead felt was Will's arm across the back of the couch as he shifted his weight around, not quite leaning in closer, but the casual gesture was felt across the back of his neck as the hairs stood on end even before Magnus looked tragically around. "Am I really the only one who was hysterical at finding out the world wasn't normal? The ten year old didn't even scream, how am I the fruitcake here?"

"I like fruitcake," Alex patted his shoulder, "it's bright and entertaining."

Hearth was sort of laughing at his friends expense, but it was clear to all Magnus was exaggerating his hurt look.

Will leaned close and whispered, "ask nicely later and I'll tell you about how I pissed myself seeing a three headed snake attacking a swan in my back yard."

Percy didn't really want to keep reading as Thalia enthusiastically taught the sign for fruitcake to Alex and Jason couldn't seem to stop laughing without a care in the world. Something bad was coming. Like a pressure set firmly in his mind that had a ticking pulse in it just waiting for him to remember he had no desire to as the curdled, black feeling was easy to ignore now.

Magnus finally turned and begged it of him though, clearly having some regret about having put his foot in his mouth and opening this can of worms. There was something about those grey eyes he couldn't seem to turn down as he cleared his throat and complied.

He was fiddling with something—a little metal toy soldier of some kind.

"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn said. "Face me!"

We turned.

Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone.

"The hypocrisy, the scandal!" Alex gasped. "What if he summons another monster who wants to eat you too, will they duel each other and you sneak away?"

"Gods I hope not, like we need even more problems," Percy sighed, but he agreed it seemed even more unfair than his already extremely unfair life deserved.

He pressed the side button and said, "The package—it is ready to deliver."

There was a garbled reply, and I realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy—a monster using a mobile phone.

"What do you think their service plan is like?" Jason scowled. "Does DOA have a data rate and come up with all the contracts nobody reads?"

"I just want a list of who all is on the family plan," Thalia scowled in a weirdly similar way with a nasty twitch of her hands, a gesture promising she wouldn't use her arrows to send spam texts to them.

I glanced behind me, wondering how far the drop was.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."

"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.

"I'll explain later," I said.

"You do have a plan, right?"

Grover! I thought desperately. Come to me!

"If Grover's plan A, I don't want to know what your plan B would have been," Thalia tried her hardest not to sound condescending even as she brutally reminded him he'd run off without a plan at all. Grover, in fact, hadn't said a word about an empathy link and had been following their scent as well as the tracks through the snow.

Maybe I could get both the di Angelos to jump with me into the ocean. If we survived the fall, I could use the water to protect us. I'd done things like that before. If my dad was in a good mood, and listening, he might help. Maybe.

"I was right, I didn't want to know," Thalia sighed. If that was a workable solution he'd have done it already!

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said, as if reading my thoughts. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"

"Only the cannibals have had nametags, otherwise we've had to guess," Will reminded with something like a pout they didn't all take the time to properly introduce themselves before the killing began.

A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible... almost like a tail.

"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I..." Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."

'Didn't stop her from leaving me all alone first chance she got,' but Nico was to tired to hold onto the bitter thought. It wasn't like these were the last moments he'd ever get to revisit the memory of his sister, but he'd also never done so before in such vivid detail. If he was going to have to hear her ultimate ending like he'd never bared to ask for before, he'd rather cling now to any of the good along the way.

"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

"Luke," I said. "You work for Luke."

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when I said the name of my old enemy—a former friend who'd tried to kill me several times.

"Don't you start Jason," Percy said before the blonde could even open his mouth. "I don't want to count how many times is several!"

"But it's important to keep track of these things," but Jason's smirk made them all pretty sure he was just messing with him. Then again, he was mouthing something and ticking his fingers, so he was probably doing it in his head and would more likely inform them when or if this was ever resolved.

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" I asked. Then I realized I'd said it with a French accent.

He'd been doing a really crappy version sporadically while reading too, but they'd thought he was just mocking Thorn. Nico's grimace still looked permanently stuck in place until Percy actively tried to stop.

"I mean... who's the General?"

Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.

"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.

Some place safe, Thalia and Annabeth had promised each other as they'd arrived and began hashing out a plan. The problem was, she glanced guiltily at Nico now and felt like they'd never lived up to that promise. They couldn't have stayed at that school forever though.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

"They're not dolls!

The words had burst out of Nico as Percy had kept reading, and Nico flushed that was still so ingrained in him, but Percy didn't even take the opportunity to laugh at him back, considering the Guinea pig incident. Instead, he was almost watching him like he was impressed he had the nerve to snap at Thorn.

"How intricate is this card game of yours?" Alex asked with intrigue.

"Multilayered," Nico answered automatically. He bit his lip to stop himself going into detail and clutched the figurine in his jacket pocket tight enough his hand cramped. He really needed a new hobby.

They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned.

"Now, now yourself!" Alex protested. "Finish your threats young man!"

"And march off this cliff," Nico shrugged with an actual grin. "I wasn't as creative with the insults yet, but Westover Hall had been a good starting influence."

"You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well... there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

Will's arm twitched behind him again and Nico rolled his eyes, obviously nothing had happened. He'd met Will that night.

"Unless that's chocolate pudding, I don't want to know," Percy groused, though he also knew he rarely got told what he wanted in any good order.

"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him talking while I tried to figure out a plan.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly.

'What else do they bake besides donuts?' Hearth mock asked.

'Hopefully tea to soothe them back to sleep,' Magnus shivered.

"The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts."

"Being nuttier than a squirrel turd doesn't make him wrong," Magnus sighed. He envied that girl her ignorance while it lasted, he was past his own and still catching up how any of that was possible, while no longer being in doubt it was.

"We have to jump off the cliff," I told her quietly. "Into the sea."

"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too."

"Lookie there Alex, now we both have something in common with this monster," Percy huffed.

"I like her," Alex chuckled, girl had spunk telling both parties this.

I never got the chance to argue with her, because just then an invisible force slammed into me.

"Annabeth's grand entrances and timing for the win again," Jason nodded.

Looking back on it, Annabeth's move was brilliant. Wearing her cap of invisibility, she plowed into the di Angelos and me, knocking us to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over our heads. This gave Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.

Percy didn't bother to ask who's plan that was, he read with pride all of his friends storming in like that even as his battle instincts were trying to kick in, his feet already tapping a crazy rhythm on the floor to join in.

If only he'd used that energy to dance with Annabeth, Thalia smirked to herself. The two could have cut up the floor.

If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never been truly frightened.

"Why thank you Percy!" Thalia beamed at him while he set the book down to indulgently high-five her too for the entrance which she enthusiastically accepted.

She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses—also called Aegis—a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"

"Not the battle cry I was expecting," Jason admitted. She didn't seem to fond of her dad at any rate.

"I like to think it gives me brownie points," she shrugged, when really she just knew that struck even more fear into some monsters. It was a strategy she'd learned young on the streets, better to have them bolt and flee the fight from her mere presence than tax the energy of fighting them.

I thought Dr. Thorn was a goner. Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look.

Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.

The whirl of words, raw power and years of hardened battle on display left the others feeling spun around how she could so effortlessly leap back into battle after her actual death experience from before, and still left wondering how she'd fallen at all even from an army of monsters.

Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to.

Nico chuckled to himself as his brown eyes danced in amusement again and Will couldn't imagine ever wanting to drag his eyes away from the sight even though the son of Hades was looking at Percy. Clearly this was a fond memory to him, his love of pirates so perfectly captured in this moment with his swashbuckling hero apparently having saved the day considering he hadn't seen the invisible girl until it was to late.

Not so much for Percy, who was growing more agitated by the word, his hands fidgeting so much along the pages to reach for the pen and forcing himself not to. He had the book, of course he didn't seem to notice the admiring gaze among holding everyone's attention in the thick of battle, but Will finally got the idea.

Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.

Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"Damn that's kind of cool, no hero's ever fought a manticore before," Jason grinned, though that didn't explain the French accent as that was an Iranian myth. Then he went cross-eyed as a vivid mental image of studying in a massive library came to mind as quickly as it vanished and he once again huffed why his mind still retained the most useless of information rather than where that library actually was.

"One got into camp once by disguising itself as a dog," Thalia shrugged, "Chiron personally vets anything invited into camp now."

"A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she'd plowed into us.

"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

"How many cards are there?" Jason asked eagerly.

"Do you really have them all memorized?" Magnus asked, feeling faint. It sounded more complicated than memorizing all the Pokémon, let alone their moves.

"They keep releasing them," Nico said with a soft smile, "and yeah, the rules are pretty complicated but once you learn the-"

"Ahhem!" Percy pleaded. "Your life is on the line now too mister!"

"Right," Nico shut his mouth, but he finally exchanged an excited look with Will who all to happily grinned back. As bizarre as it was to him nobody had yet ridiculed his youthful dumbass, this might actually be fun if he could get a whole team of people to play against.

I didn't know what he was talking about,

"It just described what the manticore was Percy, how much more explanation do you need?" Alex sarcastically asked.

"Dude," Percy groaned without looking up, his impatience growing.

Alex cleared her throat loudly though and Percy did look around, but it took him a second to realize what she wanted. "Dudett," he corrected.

"I accept that," she shrugged.

but I didn't have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward us with a snarl.

"Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. At the last second, I remembered my own shield. I hit my wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from my brother, was badly damaged. I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley.

Now Percy was mad. The empty space on his wrist, the thought of his little brother's brown eye sorrowfully asking where it was, this stupid French lion nearly killing all of them! He wanted to turn to Thalia and hear in as few words as possible what the hell had happened but he knew what she'd do, just point at the book with an apologetic frown so he kept reading as pressure built in his skull.

I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to me with a thud.

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs.

It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here?

Percy finally knew how Magnus had felt in the beginning of all this. The answer was staring him in the face, there was no other explanation, but the words made no sense. Mortals working with monsters?!

How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

"No!" I ran out to help her. I parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest.

Thalia grasped his shoulder and whispered a thanks she hadn't the chance to at the time. It was shaking under her grasp. He knew, some part of him that had lived through the terror his mind had forgotten still felt the pain about to come same as she did for what they'd witnessed. She squeezed, and it slowed for a few seconds as he met her eyes and gave her a grateful smile, his mind hoping against hope this meant rescue was on the way.

I raised my shield over us, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.

Then I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.

Hearth tapped Magnus and asked what that was supposed to sound like, let alone signal, but Magnus shrugged with no more clue. As adventurous as his mother was, she'd never been a hunter herself except to press upon him the balance of life and death in the wilderness.

Thalia waved to get their attention, and answered, 'you can feel it in your core as it vibrates in the air, a warning or herald to who you are. It means friends are coming.' The bright smile of pride on her face gave them a hint of who it would be to them.

The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.

"No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder.

The camo attire of the girl with the magic silver bow seemed to glow for a moment as Thalia shook her head ruefully. The first thing Zoe ever did she'd admired about that girl, always having to make an entrance, much like the very time they'd met in that bog.

He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but my eyes must've been playing tricks on me. No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.

Thalia chuckled with pride. Those kids might have the godly grace of their father, but not the blessing of their aunt.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. I tried to swipe at him with my sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged my attack and slammed his tail into my shield, knocking me aside.

Percy grimaced at this revelation of just how powerful this monster was. Something dire happened this day because they hadn't felled this beast.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like me. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows.

"Your kin," Alex realized. She'd truly admired, almost considered the prospect if she could ever hold a vow of maiden hood in exchange for this offer.

"Eventually," Thalia smoothed out a nonexistent wrinkle on her jacket, her smile waning in memory of how she'd gotten here.

Percy studied her intently like he was seeing her for the first time again. He'd never really questioned the silver camo, it looked so natural on her, even covering her black attire.

They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."

"A warm reception I see," Jason said with an uneasy smile, he could practically feel her roll her eyes in the book.

"We didn't start on the best of terms," Thalia agreed distastefully how damn right Zoe had been, and she hadn't even liked her long enough to tell her that before inheriting her position.

I didn't have a chance to ask what she meant.

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess.

Clearly there had been another Lieutenant before Thalia had gotten the job, but the others still batted their eyes a few times to readjust imagining such a thing on a girl they didn't even know.

"Permission to kill, my lady?"

I couldn't tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore.

"Why would she need it, kind of obvious we don't want this thing around," Percy demanded, looking from Thalia to the book with a panic he was trying so hard to hold back, bubbling tight in his gut.

"Respect," Thalia whispered. When their patron joined them she often preferred to make the final blow herself while they weakened it without orders to do their part. In this particular instance, Artemis may have even considered taking Thorn alive, having been looking for proof of Krono's rising and information about the ophiotaurus before deciding Thorn knew nothing of importance.

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

Will hummed a sad note for a moment. That law sure caused a lot of distress among the people it impacted the most. They were absent so much not many people got a chance to remind them of it, but Will liked to think that was why. The distance was there out of eons of habit, not because they didn't care.

"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than me, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made me catch my breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous.

Diana, Jason hazarded a not very wild guess. A headache already pinged at the corner of his mind, the idea of these huntresses was still odd in theory, but not nearly as weird as Annabeth and Grover had originally been to him. They were her followers, and he admired Thalia a lot. It should be interesting to see her depicted...he hoped.

"The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoe, permission granted."

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at Thalia and me, knowing we were weak and dazed.

"No.'" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.

Percy had hardly batted an eye at the threat to him, but his mind felt like it was holding him hostage as he froze at what she was doing. Thalia tried to reach out for him again, saying in as much concern for him as herself, "Percy-"

Nico braced his arm across Will's chest with a dreaded look of acceptance for what was about to happen and was seriously contemplating if it would do any good to knock Percy out as Hearth rapidly paled in fear. Alex swallowed once and got on her toes, prepared to turn into a whale and swallow them all if she had to.

He heard Magnus say his name too, but it was all coming from to far away to be anything other than an obstacle in his way as he concentrated harder than he ever had in his life on a book.

"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said. "Get out of the line of fire!"

But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.

Jason was pushing himself tight into his seat silently wondering if Poseidon would resurrect them when Percy killed them for this blow as Annabeth's fatal flaw was being pushed to its limits right now. She'd thought she could save her friends better than a goddess of the hunt, and Percy was not happy about it.

"Fire!" Zoe ordered.

"No!" I screamed.

But the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"

And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

Percy was on his feet, the pages whipping around his hand like a gale force wind was trying to tear the book away, but he refused to let the print slip through as he held the last paragraph in a desperate bid to understand.

I started to run after her, but our enemies weren't done with us. There was a snapsnapsnap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire.**

"No!" The water exploded out from him, ripping the ocean apart at the seams as she vanished over the edge and he didn't care if a bullet struck him as he compelled his domain to catch her, send that monster to the depths and give her back-

"Enough!"

Percy was frozen in place, his scream suspended in his throat while the others stumbled around into each other, their skin tingling unpleasantly and shaking for what almost happened. Thalia was shuddering closest to him, vapor wisping off her skin as if he'd actually been about to obliterate them all.

"Your disturbance is causing waves among the Olympians, literally," Oceanus said with a frumpy frown behind his tangled beard. He was in a seahorse house coat and wearing Hello Kitty slippers that did not diminish his vast presence over every inch of their surroundings as he held Percy in place.

After a few beats of silence, he released Percy, who gasped but immediately fisted his hands up and glowered at the titan, raising his sword point. A stranger stood before them as he looked upon the Titan with the uncaring, brash voice of demand. "Send me back. Give me my memories, and send me home!" Riptide glowed with his rising vocals as water began collecting around him again to cause mayhem, receding it from the Titan himself.

"You are supposed to be in hiding down here mortals, not disrupting continental shifts! Poseidon suggested I should ignore your quibbles after all and put in here who was asked of me, so no more complaining!" He raised his fingers to snap.

Every one of them tensed in fear where they'd be zapped to next.

Hearth jumped forward and signed, 'I volunteer!'

"Hearth!" Magnus grabbed his arm and tried to yank him back.

'You are safe down here my friend,' he paused and frowned at Percy, 'mostly.' He explained so rapidly Magnus almost couldn't follow while Oceanus sighed impatiently, but since nobody was shouting he was still waiting poised. 'Blitz will be worried where we've been, and you should get to meet your family. I will be fine, he has a home we can stay in until you return. We will check the park every day for you.'

Shame burned through Magnus as he understood enough. They weren't even homeless. They had a place to get back to. Then he gave a traitorously guilty look to the Titan with longing, and glanced at Alex out of the corner of his eye. 'Okay,' he pulled him into a quick hug, 'but be careful! I don't want to think if those Norse gods pull any crap in the meantime because I'm gone.'

'Blitz has connections. We will be safe,' he nodded before turning to face the Titan.

He looked so distraught to see his friend vanish, only possibly back home if this guy even did his job right, and yet finally getting to meet her again nobody could tell if he was about to punch his cousin upon arrival or hug her. He looked so like her Percy couldn't help but step forward, dropping his weapon and give just the gentlest pat on the shoulder. Even shying away from it, Magnus gave him a smile of thanks.

A snap, a floom of bubbles as Oceanus left, and they all braced themselves for a whirl of her tangled blonde curls to demand what was going on.

There was just one problem.

That wasn't Annabeth.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Believe it or not I was going to add Annabeth after the Magnus Chase books were done and have her replace Hearth for the last five, but someone made a pretty valid and compelling argument about how she should get to hear her cousins story the same way he's hearing her's. Then I decided, since I'm adding her early, might as well get the full enjoyment out of a toss up... haha. Hope you enjoy the surprise visit in the next chapter!

* The book said while Grover was awake, not I as in Percy, which is a rather obvious mistake since Grover was awake every time it was used in the last book but Percy wasn't and instead of making it Percy's fault in the book I'm telling you all here.

**Yes, the rest of the chapter is missing on purpose, I cut it off for my needs and it'll be the start to the next chapter. Annabeth mysteriously vanishing and supposedly dying is cliffhanger enough over my favorite Goddess's dramatic reveal, sorry Artemis.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #reading the books #fanfiction #How Do You Say gods #percabeth #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #Alex Fierro #Magnus Chase #fierrochase #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #Titan's Curse

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