#not that australia is any better lol but y'know

[steakout-05]

very long post about how i as an Australian think the American date structure is silly and confusing under the cut

as an Australian i already think America is pretty funny, like the imperial system is both confusing and incredibly funny to me, but what i really don't get is the way dates are written in America

like.... for context, in Australia, we write days like day/month/year. and i like this because the most important information is the thing you read first. you want to know what day it is, you just look at the first two digits you see and you're done!! in some other counties like Japan and South Korea, they write it like year/month/day, which i also think is ok because it's still in a cohesive and easy to read order. you just go to the end of the date to see what day it is and it's simple!! it's all good! it's easy to read! this is nice!

but for some reason, the dates in America are written like month/day/year and i'm just..... i'm so confused!?!??!? why would you jump to the MIDDLE of the date to see what day it is???? it's so cluttered and jumpy and trying to read it in order is just... kinda irritating. the most important and immediately needed information is shifted to the middle of the date ans then you gotta go back and then jump forward again if you wanna read the whole thing and i'm just. actually bamboozled at that. who did that. who is responsible for that blunder at the workplace. i will find them and i will break their kneecaps and i-

ALSO you have no idea how many times this date format has absolutely screwed up schedules and post dates for me. imagine that there's like an online event or something coming up and they have a schedule for what day they're holding it, but it's just written like 05/03/2024. my Australian ass is going to read that as the 5th of March 2024, but someone in America is gonna read that is the 3rd of May 2024. do you see how confusing this can become. there is zero distinction between the two dates because they're written in the exact same way but have a different structure. this is fine for dates that go over the number 12 or are the same number, but it's still confusing and frustrating, especially when the website doesn't say what timezone setting you're on or won't let you change it (which some of them don't). it's quite a specific issue but it's still an issue and i hate it i don't like it i want it fixed please patch

maybe i just have a more logical way of thinking and i like having things be in order, but goddamn just write your dates properly i can't take it anymore /nsrs

[sug4r-sp1c3]

Can I get headcanons for Finland, Poland, France, Egypt, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and South Korea coddling their S/O(s)? Loved the other ask with Russia, Germany, USSR and Thired Reich so much!!

OHHHHH GOD DAMN I LOVE THIS

but i'll have to separate it 'cuz i think that my limit of post its for and for the rest of characters well they'll be in the second part

(its funny how like 3 of them i consider them female 'cuz y'know comics- but i'll put them male here)

TW: fluff tat break ur teeth, GN reader blah blah

Part 2 is still in the oven

Cuddle hc with Finland, Poland, France, Egypt

this letter means me just talking

Finland

the bitch haves a hat

so if its a cold day/night

he let u use it,

I feel like he loves being like 5 quilts on top while hugging you

he is a person of thighs and belly don't change my mind

LOVES that you let him put his head on your lap or on your belly

although if you want to reverse the roles, he will not oppose

after a day of work he just wants to put his arms around you, throw himself into bed with you, and not know how to sleep (?

vibes that you are doing something, and then he hugs you from behind and forces you to stop what you are doing and takes you to the sofa just so that they are there quietly and embracing

lots of hugs with his head in your shoulder

hates to be the little spoon

he NEEDS to sleep hugging u, he will literally die if that don't happend

cold boi vibes

but if u like the cold

and its summer

cuddle season it just started

"finland i'm cooking-"

"Y/N i'm freezing"

Poland

CUDDLING SEASON STARTS AT THE 31 OF DECEMBER AND IT ENDS AT 31 OF DECEMBER OF THE NEXT YEAR,

if he isn't hugging you, YOU are hugging him

no choice

he loves being the smol spoon

if you are sleeping he hugs you and wraps his legs around yours and puts his head on your shoulder or smthn

he doesn't accepts a no like an answer

he likes to put his head anywhere on the body

he is on ur belly? little tickles

your thighs? constantly says they are like pillows- NO, THEY ARE BETTER THAN PILLOWS

Chest? he can only raise his head, stretch a little and give you a little kiss and then snuggle back like nothing happened- SO HECK YEAH

he likes to watch any stupid series or movie while they hug each other and fill their mouths with sweets or shit like that

He waits patiently for you to finish what you're doing and go snuggle up with him.

yeah ""PATIENTLY"""

He'll give you the silent treatment (for like 10 seconds) for not snuggling with him.

little tickles if he is bored while u both are cuddling

idk man he will look like a 20 year old man but he acts and thinks like a 6 years old kid

"poland its late and i need to move-"

"but it's only been 6 hours!"

"yeah thats my point-"

France

bonjour(i need to say that everytime o'll write for him)

i feel like that this man needs NEEDS, kisses and hugs

or its just me

he would say things like "i don't have time to kisses and to cuddle"

ok sir but why r u watching weird novel while u r hugging ur S/o and everytime that the protagonist kiss u kiss them, and eating some sweets AND-

this bitch would be like

"i don't like when you put your hands around my neck!"(with his

"oh- okay-"

"I NEVER TOLD YOU TO STOP!"

YOU WANT US TO HUG U OR TO LEAVE U IN THE COACH WITHOUT HUGS MF💀?

just take his selfish ass and hug

he loves to be the big spoon

(but if you want to be the big spoon he wouldn't say no)

"darling i'm working-"

"i don't care i want cuddles- I MEAN"

yeah that conversation happens a LOT

he puts his hat on you (if he has it on) he thinks that its cute

"give me back my hat"

"no it fits with me"

"okay.. i have like other 2000 lol-"

i don't have too much ideas for him, i used to writo for him but in my mind he was female soo-💀

Egypt

(i'mjustgoingtosay- AWOOGA)

squeezes you but not too hard, just enough to make you feel, protected and safe

he falls asleep in your arms, he's tired, give hima break omg 😭

no thoughts just you and egypt hugging while he talks about some things, like his culture(idk i'm interested in that so-👁👁), his day,or just saying what he loves of you

bitch you can be just idk, reading a book and then you feel 2 muscular arms dragging you to the bed/sofa and hugging you while he falls asleep (damn i'm jealous)

"egypt i was working"

"and i was needed of hugs-"

"i was working"

"AND I WAS NEEDED OF HUGS-"

end of the discussion

He NEVER wears a shirt when he is at his house (unless there are visitors), but when u both are cuddling you don't feel comfortable with him like that

he will put one on, the cuddling sessions are for both of you to be comfortable and relax

i don't have too much ideas for him rn so i'll probably edit this after

[bitchapalooza]

I got a little carried away with names today. Started with Sweden then went all over the place lmao. I'd like your guys' opinions on the names I've chosen before I ever use them in published works.

Sorry for the long read in advance ^^

Sweden: Berthold— I just like it. Not 100% sold on it though. He still has his canon surname as, as far as I know, there are no issues with it.

Denmark: Mikkel Hanssen— I just like it lol.

Ladonia: Oscar(or Oskar)— Its pretty sweet which is why I'm pretty sure Sweden would have chosen it for him. Not sure which spelling I like better. Shares a surname with Sweden.

Liechenstien: Lotta Vogal— I like em both. Not super sure how correct in origin or popular Lotta is as I keep getting mixed results, often talking about Scandinavian origin and bringing up the name Lottie and how popular that is in America. But it does mention how its used in German speaking countries.

South Italy: Lorenzo— Its from both Italy and Spain so I think it fits Romano well. The meaning not so much but Romano probably picked it because that's how he'd like to see himself one day??

Rome: Gaius Vergilius Crispus— The praenomen Gaius comes from the same root as gaudere, which means to rejoyce, happy which fits Rome to a T. His nomen is Virgilius as a reference to poet Publius Vergilius Maro(Virgil). Crispus as his cognomen because of his curly hair. I wanted Romulus to be his praenomen, however Romulus is not a praenomen whatsoever. It seems to be a nomen. I'm quite fond of Virgilius though to be honest. I actually had to deep dive this one to make sure everything was correct(meaning and order). The praenomen are the given names and those weren't normally used outside of the family(meaning only Romano and Italy would call Rome Gaius). Rather it was either their nomen or cognomen used freely. So I had to keep the importance of each name in mind; I couldn't really find the meaning behind Virgilius except that it is the latinized version of the english Virgil.

Seborga: Alonzo— Finally found a name for Seborga that I think fits better than Romeo! Well I'm still not sure of it for the long run but it does fit better than Romeo at least(in my opinion).

Italies' surname: Russo— Not super sure of this one. Its Sicilan/Southern Italian in origin but quick google searches repeatedly tell me that it has spread to other regions due to internal migration. It's also the second most popular surname in Italy(or that's at least what several sites have told me). I'm not sure if Russo is a good name for all three of the Italy brothers, but I do think its at least a plausible one for Romano. And as Romano is the older brother, perhaps Veneziano just took it some time after unification? Maybe to try and feel closer to the brother he barely grew up with?

Greece's surname: Katsaros— I dunno about this one still. But curly-haired is at least better than being a watermelon. Might change later, might not.

Cyprus: Demetris Georgiou— Not super sure about his name as a whole. Nicos is an alternative given name. Not sure about an alternative surname.

America's middle name: Fitzgerald— Its speculated that the F in his name is a reference to John F. Kennedy(or its Freedom). John F. Kennedy's middle name is Fitzgerald. There you have it. Actually, I honestly didn't know JFK's middle name was Fitzgerald beforehand, I kinda just really liked Fitzgerald as America's middle name already. Then I went into looking up the name's origin and meaning and google just handed this fact to me kinda randomly. Either way, I really do like the ring Alfred Fitzgerald Jones has.

Australia: Kyle King— I just like the name Kyle for him. It sounds nice. No deep reason for choosing Kyle. King, however, I feel like he might have chosen to like say fuck you to England after abandoning him? Like I'm the King now?? I'm in control?? From what I've seen on a few sites, King is a fairly common surname. Also considering Martin or Walker as alternative options.

New Zealand: James Brown— He looks like a James so he is a James. According forebears.io, Brown is the 4th most common surname in New Zealand. I'm not super sold on this surname yet but I do quite like the combination of it with James.

Wy: Charlotte "Charlie"— She gives off a lot of tomboyish vibes to me so I wanted to give her a kinda "boyish" nickname that Australia most likely started. Well it just so happens that Charlotte is a pretty popular name in Australia! She shares Australia's surname.

Hutt River: David— He just looks like a David. Plain and simple. Shares a surname with Australia. Despite being dissolved, I still like his character(and design) so I refuse to acknowledge him being dead lmao.

Molossia: Maximilian "Max" Theodore Jones— I picked a kinda flashy name for him because I tried to think like him while choosing it. He looks up to America. America is often flashy and exaggerated. What better way than to get your mentor's attention than by a name like Maximilian?? And I simply thought Theodore would be a good correlation to the middle name I gave America; they're both references to US presidents(Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy).

Kugelmugel: Tobias— No super deep reason. Its common in Austria in the year(or close to) when was he founded. I think Austria isn't super creative when naming things or people so he picked something common. Kugel probably does not care.

Osaka: Honda Tetsuya— I think he'd share Japan's surname rather than having his own. As for his given name, I chose something pretty common in Japan as a whole. I'm not sure about this choice, however.

Niko Niko Republic: Takahashi Shigeru— Again, picked common names. I didn't think he'd share Japan's surname, especially after dissolving. I thought maybe he'd like his very own name as he chooses his very own life to live out into old age y'know? Not totally confident in these name choices, however.

Monaco: Jules— I'm debating whether I personally like her having the same surname as France or not. I haven't found any alternative surnames yet as I'm not really dwelling on it. Jules, however, I think fits her pretty well.

Holy Roman Empire: Otto— Reference to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor, as well as Otto von Bismarck to kinda correlate the Germany-HRE theory(whether I 100% believe it not).

I'm honestly considering giving Germany a different surname than Beilschmidt since he was never given one by Hima in the first place(even stated there was a reason for that). I'm not sure if I will or not because I'm still looking into surnames for HRE, which I'm having a hard time doing so if I'm honest. Its harder than picking Rome's tria nomina lol.

[mimikyugirl]

Impulse

The sex tension (yeah, I don't really know either lol) between Paul and John when they need to be together in a hotel room. .McLennon.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Tickles and... well they touch each other a lot nothing new lol

The swarm of fans outside the building seemed to grow louder and tumultuous by the minute. Somehow they learned of John and Paul's location, and the boys needed to be removed from the interview as soon as possible.

The interview took place in one of the main hotels in the city and the premise was to tell a little about the tour in Australia. With Ringo sick and George refusing to spend any more time away from him, Paul and John decided to go there alone and get it over with.

Before they could even be removed from the floor, a group of fans had already reached the elevator door and tried to force it open.

"Kids these days" John muttered, trying to control his smile when he saw the expression of fear on Paul's face.

Mal was with them trying to come up with a plan quickly, as simply sneaking out the back door was no longer an option.

"I think we can get out on a random floor, y'know. There's no way they're at all of 'em..." Paul said apprehensively, as if trying to convince himself.

Mal and the supervisor, who accompanied them on the escape, agreed it was a good idea to hide the boys in one of the rooms, at least until security worked to get everyone out of there.

"Can we get room service?" John interrupted, his face hidden behind the dark glasses made it difficult to know if he was really enjoying the situation "Technically we're staying, right?"

Paul and John exchanged a look, which made it clear how used they were to wasting days on end hiding in hotel rooms.

The elevator signaled the stop with a whistle and as soon as the door opened, Mal quickly guided the boys down the hall. They remained silent and contained, as if waiting for the solitude of the room to share their thoughts.

A single fan (it was possible to tell because of the sleeveless jumper with The Beatles embroidered in the center) walked down the hall as if trying to find a lost gold bar, and as if the boys glowed, she found it. The fan started screaming so desperately that Paul had to look over his shoulder for a moment, just to make sure they weren't under attack from a bear or worse.

"Ei dear, save those sweet notes for our show next week" John yelled back as he was pushed into the room by Paul "Cause God knows one more screaming fan would make a hell of a difference."

The last part was whispered only to his partner. On the other side of the closed door, they hear Mal dealing with the fan. Her scream went away in a few seconds, and the room fell into the silence that John already felt he deserved for a few hours.

The boys had collapsed onto one of the beds, legs dangling over the edge and arms tucked under their heads. The room was decorated in a classic Victorian style, with embroidered curtains that almost touched the floor and small glass-topped tables in the corners. John thought Mimi would feel right at home.

"Maybe we should have signed something for her, don't you think?" Paul questioned, interrupting the silence for the first time "She had a magazine in her hands."

"If she stopped screaming like a seal mating, maybe we'd know better what she needed" John countered, fidgeting uneasily at the idea that he owed these people any courtesy "You don't have to try to predict what each fan needs, Paul."

"And you don't have to hate them all, y'know" Paul said, getting out of bed and tucking his shirt back into his pants "They're still the ones who idolize you to the point of accepting this new haircut of yer."

John pretended to laugh and threw a pillow at Paul, who dramatically fell back onto the bed on top of John.

"George will know you hit me" He said, over John's complaints beneath him "George will know and he'll deal with you for me."

As soon as John managed to get Paul off of him, he sank his fingers into Paul's stomach in a tortuous section of tickles "I'll kill you before George knows about it, then."

Paul squirmed in a mixture of uncontrollable laugh and intense pain under John's hand, who laughed aloud at McCartney's reactions.

"God, you look pretty even in pain" he whispered. Lost in each other's laughter, Paul and John didn't even notice that the door opened and Mal walked inside.

"They had to call the police" Mal announced, finally getting the boys' attention. Paul sat up and struggled to rearrange his hair and his shirt, which was mostly unbuttoned by now.

"To arrest us?" John asked "What? No, John. Of course not" Mal smiled and started to light a cigarette "To control everyone at the door. You two just have to wait."

"See Paul? I told you didn't have to worry about your drugs" John said, pulling out a cigarette and going to the window.

"I don't worry much about the cops. You on the other hand, if you find them, it's over in two hours" Paul said, kicking off his shoes and laughing at Mal, who started to choke on the smoke as he laughed "And that would be too bad."

John was already blowing smoke towards the open window as he watched the clouds calmly melt into the sky. Paul and Mal's voices mingled in the background until the clouds were already painted orange and John was in the company of the fourth cigarette.

"God, I'm starving" Paul announced, finally pulling John out of his daydream "Can we go down to eat or maybe order something?"

Mal got up saying he was going to look for someone and would be right back.

Paul's attention quickly fell on John, who was still patiently watching the window.

"Found anything there?" Paul asked, getting up and going to the other boy.

One of his hands rested on the wall above John's head as he leaned over his shoulder.

"Christ, McCartney. Could you touch me more?" John complained, pushing Paul's head away "There won't be any air for me like dat."

"Are ye saying I take your breath away, Johnny?" Paul asked, stealing the cigarette from John's hands with a grin.

John threw himself against Paul, knocking him back onto the bed. Paul did his best so that the cigarette would not burn the white bedspread while John held him by the wrists.

"C'mmon now, John" Paul started to say, trying to catch his breath between laughter "You'll end up setting the room on fire."

"Are ye saying I set you on fire, Paulie boy?" John mocked, lowering his face close enough to feel Paul's breath against his face.

Paul continued to laugh trapped beneath John, until John sank his lips against his.

Before Paul could even notice what had happened, John's face had already turned away.

"Well... what exactly was that?" Paul said, relaxing his arms under John for the first time.

"That was a kiss" John replied "I know you're not used to being kissed but that's what it was."

They exchanged a smile for the last part, their faces naturally leaning closer together.

Neither of them moved until the door opened to let Mal inside. John saw him hesitate for a moment, but chose to walk into the room and act as if he hadn't interrupted anything other than their usual banter.

"They'll come up with dinner in a few minutes" He said, returning to the same position he was sitting in before "Will give us time to eat and go home, the police are already retreating."

John was sitting on the edge of the bed and Paul watched him in silence, finishing the stolen cigarette. He ran his fingers gently through his hair, trying to straighten up the mess John had made.

"Can we stay?"

John's voice seemed to have taken the other two guys by surprise. Mal turned his doubtful gaze straight to Paul, as if wondering if he wanted to stay too.

"I mean... if you two really want to..." Mal said, looking between John and Paul "I can sort it out at the reception."

"Could be a good distraction, right?" John said, nudging Paul's leg lightly " In case someone is following us, they won't think we're still here until tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure. We can stay here and go back in the morning, y'know. It feels safer" Paul said, taking turns between nibbling on his finger and licking his lips.

Mal got up and head towards reception, on what would be his last trip of the day "If I'd known you'd make me walk this much, I'd have taken the car to the room."

"THANKS MAL" Paul yelled, seeing the door close.

"I thought you were fed up with hotels" Paul whispered, as if he didn't want to draw more attention from John than necessary.

"It's not the worst thing in the world, y'know" John said, getting up to go back to the window "Staying here...with you."

Paul had to look away at the ground, as he felt his face heat up with John's words.

He thought the kiss had just been a youthful impulse from John, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver remembering the pressure of his lips. A small part of Paul wished that John would do it again, since he himself would not have the courage. He knew that the plan to stay there one more night had nothing to do with the interview incident, and that further fueled the heat he felt.

As soon as he noticed that he had been silent for too long, Paul cleared his throat and quickly completed "Yes, me too... it's always good to get away from home I think."

John smiled, his fingers working on the task of loosening his tie as he patiently watched the police pull the last few people out of the hotel door.

"And you being here doesn't hurt too much" Paul said at last.

John walked to the bed and sat down beside him, still smiling but with his tie already in hand.

"Do you think Mal will be long?" John asked, busying his nervous hands with his shirt sleeve.

The tension between them grew at the same rate as the sun receded into the horizon. Something told Paul that if he was in total darkness now with John, without his nervousness being seen, he would say exactly how he felt about the kiss.

"I don't think…" Paul swallowed before continuing "I don't think so, no."

He felt John's gaze fixed on him.

Failing miserably to say what he felt, John simply reached his uncertain fingers up to Paul's face and caressed him. A silent gesture that made Paul almost sigh.

"John..." As soon as Paul started to speak, the sound of the door interrupted him. Mal returned to the bedroom and forced Paul's words again to the back of his throat.

"I just came back to let you know that everything is fine, this room is yours until tomorrow night" Mal said, his hand still on the doorknob "If you two need something from home, you can ask them to call me."

John simply nodded, not paying much attention to what the man was talking about.

"I'll go home then" Mal continued in a farewell tone "Tomorrow I'll come before the lunch with Brian." Mal closed the door at the sound of Paul saying thanks.

The room fell silent again as the two boys' minds worked nonstop.

It didn't take long for John's fingers to find Paul's skin again. This time, Paul felt the gentle touch of John's fingers on his stomach, opening his shirt buttons.

"J...John?" Paul asked, his voice not much louder than a whisper "What are you doing?"

"I don't think we'll be interrupted now" John said, his voice tickling Paul's neck "I will open these buttons again and…maybe you want to squirm a little more beneath me?"

Paul began to run his hands through John's hair, their lips meeting warmly in the darkness of the room.

When Paul was already lying shirtless under John, who was also no longer wearing more than his underwear, they heard the sound that made them both collapse onto the bed laughing.

"Room service!"

[andie-cake]

Hmm...

I think it would be interesting to flesh out Emma going to visit Jane (and see Tim, maybe for the first time if we’re staying in canon here) and learning that she’s gone. Maybe not terribly fluffy though, but fun dynamics with Tim and it could explain how she ended up staying with Tom and Tim for the borrowers AU?

In terms of fluff, sorry my brain doesn’t like fluff without some tinge of sadness, for HOHF, Emma and Paul fight [villain of your choice] and someone gets hurt and the aftermath of that. Alternatively, I’d love to know if Tim has the Nitro Gene and if so, if he joins his Aunt Emma and Uncle Paul in the field. That could be so cute! (Although, he could also join mission control or maybe make friends with another super if Hannah has powers as well? But that’s not Paulkins...) If you feel like picking up a family fluff piece, which is personally my favorite genre, lol, I’d love to see Paul and Emma as parents and if their child shows their powers early (since it’s not nitro gene specific from Paul, if it can be inherited, of course, and now I’m imaging Jack Jack from the incredible, lol) or for Harriet and Tex to come back and see their baby (oh that would be adorable because grandparent plants and you can imagine how proud they would be of Emma!) or to see how Slacky interacted with the baby. (I’m imagining a how a Golden Retriever interacts with babies now... 😂) Or, if you’d prefer to ignore children all together, Emma going back home and taking Paul to meet Harriet and Tex (meet the parents essentially). Well, I’m not sure if any of those ideas seem interesting, but if not, I hope they’re able to help get some fun ideas flowing. Have a lovely weekend! 😊

Okay, so... A lot of these are stuff that I want to explore in longer stories eventually, both the Borrowers AND the HoHF prompts. But you DID give me an idea for some HoHF family fluff between Emma and Tim!

"Here's that big project I was telling you about!"

Emma had been back in Hatchetfield for what, six, seven months now? And she'd long since made a name for herself as Wild Flower. She was respected, loved even, by the town that had once cast her aside. And what's more, she'd managed to connect with her nephew, who seemed to think she was cool despite her absence for most of his life! If it wasn't for the fact that Tim didn't know she was Wild Flower yet, she would've chalked it up to that.

After all, Tim loved superheroes. Understandable, considering his mother was one of the most revered supers in the country before she died. Being raised by someone like that was bound to give someone a deep respect for the career. And right now, Tim was showing Emma his most recent token of appreciation. A social studies project he'd done for school about superheroes around the world.

It was a large cardboard diagram, with a map of the world taped to it. Coming from a line pointing to each continent (barring Antarctica, because duh), was a photograph of a super that was native to said continent, accompanied by a short paragraph with information about them.

"Wooooow, you really know your supers, bud!" Emma mused as she scanned over the diagram, impressed.

Tim looked up at her with a bashful smile. "Thanks," he said, blushing. "Wanna hear more about each one?"

"Educate me!"

"Okay, so," Tim began excitedly, pointing to the super whose picture corresponded to Australia. A woman with long, blonde hair and a bright blue superhero getup. "That right there is Tidal Crash, she's an Australian super with the power to control water."

"Can she talk to sea creatures?" Emma asked, encouraging her nephew to continue.

"Yeah, telepathically," Tim replied. "She's like the cool version of Aquaman."

Emma snickered at Tim's snark. God, he was such a Perkins. He continued on, pointing to the picture next to Africa. A dark-skinned man with long dreadlocks and an award-winning smile, half his face covered by a deep purple mask.

"That's Radi ya Umeme," Tim continued to explain. "He's from Kenya, and his name is Swahili for 'Lightning Strike'. He can control the weather, but he's really good with lightning, hence the name. He's kinda like Madbolt in a way, only y'know, not evil."

Emma chuckled, remembering her most recent encounter with that old nutjob. Madbolt was a fascinating case, he'd been causing trouble for Hatchetfield since around the time Emma was born. Not even Jane had managed to land him behind bars. Tim continued, his finger landing on the South American picture. A man with dark, curly hair and deep brown eyes, clad in a black leather costume.

"That guy is Espalda con Púas, his name is Spanish for 'Spiked Back'," Tim said, talking as though he was still presenting the project to his teacher and classmates. "He's from Chile, and as his name would imply, he can grow spikes out of his back and sharpen his teeth and nails into fangs and claws!"

Emma nodded, urging him to continue. With an excited smile, Tim moved on to Asia, where a picture of a short-haired woman with a shining mask lay.

"That's Dá Quy, she's from South Vietnam," he continued. "Her name means 'Gemstone', and she can control different ores and minerals and stuff."

Tim moved on to Europe, where a picture of a woman with short brown hair and an elegant, but still practical costume lay.

"That's Lady Nighthawk, she's from England," he explained as Emma continued to listen intently. "She can talk to animals and harness their abilities to fight. She visits Hatchetfield once a year, too!"

"Right! I think I remember your mother telling me about meeting a 'Lady Nighthawk' before!" Emma exclaimed in recollection.

"Yeah, mom worked with a lot of supers," Tim mused fondly before moving on to the final picture, the one corresponding to North America. A grizzled man with long dirty-blonde hair and a decked-out suit. "And finally, there's Eagle Eye! He's an ex-military general who can shapeshift into a bald eagle! And he's got this awesome combat suit that he uses in human form! He's from Washington D.C., but just like Lady Nighthawk, he visits Hatchetfield sometimes!"

Emma smiled at the sight of the super who'd been acting as a mentor to her for the past week. During a rescue mission she'd nearly bungled, Eagle Eye- or John MacNamara as she'd learned his real name was, swooped in to lend a hand. He'd taken a shine to her, and offered to help coach her in the ways of being a superhero. Emma had been learning lots of valuable information off of John. But of course, there was no way Emma could tell Tim about-

"Speaking of, did you hear that he's been working with Wild Flower lately?"

Okay, nevermind! Emma froze, surprised by her nephew's casual mention of her alias. Was this a good time to tell him? Better test the waters to be sure...

"Oh yeah, Wild Flower!" she exclaimed, trying to play it cool. "I've, uh... been hearing lots about her lately!"

"Yeah, it's so weird!" Tim chuckled. "It's like she just came out of nowhere!"

Emma nervously drummed her fingers on the headboard of Tim's bed, where they'd been sitting for the past couple of minutes. Did he mean that in a good way or a bad way?

"She's awesome, though!" Tim continued, an excited sparkle in his eyes. Emma's heart began to race. "Her powers are so cool! I mean, she can summon that big flytrap thing! What was it's name again?"

"Slack-Jaw?" Emma replied, a barely-contained smile on her face.

"Right, Slack-Jaw!" Tim recalled. "And did you see her new costume? The green jacket with the cool logo on it?"

"Mhm!" Emma hummed in response, happily recalling the day she was presented that jacket at Town Hall. The mayor had recognized her feats of heroism, and had the jacket tailor-made for her to replace that ratty old, ill-fitting red leather jacket she'd bought from a Goodwill in a scrambled effort to make a good costume. It still needed some tweaks now, but the new jacket was an excellent start.

"And now that she's getting lessons from Eagle Eye, she's only gonna get better!" Tim gushed. "She's just so- Aunt Emma? What're you smiling so hard for?"

God, Emma couldn't keep this secret any longer. She had to tell him.

"I have a question for you, bud," she began, resisting the urge to just tell him outright. "Did your mom ever say anything about both her and me having the Nitro Gene?"

Tim's eyebrows shot up. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "But she said that you didn't like talking about your powers, so she never told me what they were. I figured you still wouldn't wanna talk about them, so I never asked."

Emma's heart fluttered. What had she done to deserve such a considerate nephew? "You wanna take a guess?"

"O-okay, but why n-" Tim cut himself off, the gears clearly turning in his head. After a few moments, he turned to Emma with a look of awed realization on his face. "W-wait, Aunt Emma... Are you saying that you're...?"

"Wild Flower?" Emma finished, eyeing him cheekily. "You bet!"

A smile slowly blossomed onto Tim's face. "No way!" he exclaimed. "B-but mom always said you didn't wanna be a superhero!"

"Well, people change their minds sometimes!" Emma retorted. "And I decided to finally put my powers to good use once I came back home."

"Wow..." Tim gaped breathlessly.

"But I'm still your Aunt Emma, first and foremost!" Emma quickly clarified. "I'm still the same person, just y'know... with plant powers."

"O-of course!" Tim stammered, his mind looking certifiably blown. His face grew serious. "And don't worry, I won't tell anybody about your secret identity!"

Emma snickered, tousling her nephew's hair. "I appreciate it, bud," she said, pulling him into a hug. "...Want me to introduce you to Slack-Jaw?"

"...Maybe."