#she would start wars for that parrot

[orangenatsu]

emily | stardew valley

[derehono]

24.02.2022.

The day that changed my life forever.

24th of February 2022 should have been my usual day. No, not usual. A wonderful day. I should have been checked with a doctor, gave notice to teachers in high school of my absence, and then fly away on vacation, my parents wanted it so much.

On 23rd of February 2022 I felt happy. I had a secure, happy life, preparing to finals, hanging out with my friends, already having an offer from university.

Until 5AM 24.02.2022.

I had not a single class in my school since then.

I haven’t seen my friend group in 2 years.

I didn’t have my finals.

We did not have that vacation.

“Daughter, wake up. This old psychotic man attacked us. We are leaving.”

That was my first photo of the day, trying sarcastically keep myself normal. I remember that actual emptiness, reading my classmates texts about how their windows were shaking because of explosions, the sky was orange. They sent that video.

He called it “a special military operation”.

I collected random clothes, some hobby stuff just to keep my sanity, grabbed my pet, emptied my safety locker. I was scared that russians would intrude into our home and steal all my savings, so I throw away key to that lock. This key became my symbol of war, I have never found it even after return.

When I with my parents and pet got out of flat to car we heard for the very first time air raid siren. We would hear so many more of them, we would learn to differentiate them, but then we were confused.

It was my second photo. People were going away. Foot, cars, bicycles. I remember such a surreal picture. Some moms were carrying their toddlers, one woman was carrying a bucket of water with turtles, other people were carrying cages with parrots, with dogs, with cats, with exotic pets despite air raid siren, temperature, rain. Everyone was so confused and scared.

Few days later the road we were riding was occupied. Bridges destroyed. Factories burnt. Supermarkets demolished. Houses in ruins. Road in holes. On the side of the road burnt cars with “DO NOT TOUCH, POSSIBLY EXPLOSIVE”. That gut wrenching feeling seeing photos of dead bodies and recognising the place.

But back then it was still lively, not a road of death. I remember reading news then. First victims, first shelling. Invasion from East. Invasion from Kharkiv region. Invasion from Crimea. Invasion from Chernihiv. Invasion from Zhytomyr. And we were in Zhytomyr region at that moment. Explosions in Kyiv. The border was destroyed.

I felt nothing. Just emptiness.

This precious girl was keeping my head cool all the road. She was also scared and irritated, but she was so strong, such an amazing girl. I am so proud of her.

We were heading to my grandparents who lived closer to West Ukraine, so we would be safer. The road that takes usually just 4 hours but that time it took 13 hours. 13 hours of driving exhausted and nerved. We saw soldiers, trucks, jets, how barricades were built, signs were removed.

But we made it. We were lucky. Lucky to be alive, to have family alive and mostly close to West, further from russia. Even though, part of my extended family still was under occupation in Chernihiv region, suffering from such close border with belarus.

When we arrived, we were just silent. Then collected mattresses for shelter, asked grandpa to grab some patrol (we knew that they would definitely destroy reservoirs and literally next day the started doing that), and just fell asleep in something that we arrived in, being so scared.

That day I also cut ties with russian friend who I am shamed to admit having. He was proving me that this is just a military operation, no one would be harmed.

Then, arrived spring that I will never forget but at the same time never remember. I remember 10 people in one floor house. I remember the whistle of rocket that woke us up. I remember sirens. I remember news. I remember losing hope. I remember first photos after deoccupation of Kyiv region. I remember how forgotten friend of my dad suddenly called him saying that his city is fully destroyed, his neighbour right on his eyes was exploded attempting to get into the car and evacuate.

I remember my first mental breakdown. How I was crying in the darkness, but quietly so no one would notice.

We were able to return home three months later. But we are just lucky. Someone would never return. Someone is not even alive to see their home again. Someone’s home is forever destroyed.

I was lucky that I have secured my place at foreign university before war, but my whole family is still in Ukraine.

War is not over at all. 20% of Ukraine is occupied. So many displaced civilians, so many deaths. No one could even count, we do not have any access to bodies. Only way to identify is to deoccupy and find mass graves. No other means. Children are suffering from PTSD even in such a young age. Almost in every city, big or small, you would find graveyards covered in Ukrainian flag, grave of the soldier.

Maybe media does not talk that much of us, but it doesn’t mean that everything is alright. Avdiivka is destroyed, right now operation searching for people under debris of the civilian house after attack is undergoing.

And this is happening all the time.

Who was punished for Olenivka? Who was punished for destruction of Kakhovka Dam? Who was punished for all fully destroyed cities? Who was responsible for all that absolutely atrocious videos torturing Ukrainian soldiers?

Please, remember, Ukraine is still on fire. People are still dying. Soldiers cannot even counterattack because they do not have enough ammo, just for protection. Information war is also waging, sharing all that misinformation, Nazi narratives, russian propaganda.

Remember.

Help.

Share.

russia is a terrorist state.

Glory to Ukraine.

Glory to the Heroes.

[big-mean-trans-dyke]

I want to see TERFrape on TV, every channel, every genre.

I want it played for Comedy: Some poor TERF screaming as she's bounced on a thick, veiny girldick, maybe reading off a prompter and parroting all her old rhetoric, maybe proclaiming how she'd never submit to a trans woman just in time to squirt all over the girl's lap, and warning a laugh track either way.

A Mystery movie hinging on a TERF who was violently raped in an alley, beaten and left bleeding and leaking cum from every hole in a dumpster, found the next day by some sympathetic cuntgirl on her way to work. She goes to the police, and the second act of the movie follows the detectives taking DNA samples, investigating the crime scene, and tracking down the cruel rapist. At the end of the second act, she's brought into the police station so she can spend the entirety of the third retraumatizing her victim, with the help of the kind officers.

A Historical piece, laid out almost as a reality show. We follow a transfem who lives out a month in the life most transfems did years earlier, toiling away at a 9-5 working for cissies for a barely liveable wage. The cis actors are told it's a legitimate workplace, of course, a new initiative to start bringing transfems down again. Our transfem is, of course, paid a huge sum of money for her month of sacrifice, and there's an hour and a half at the end of the documentary in which they portray the revolution with our transfem character marching up to her bosses office, forcing her to her knees, and then spending the rest of the movie raping, humiliating, and dominating her coworkers. She gets to keep them after the movie too, of course. Can't have them forgetting their place ever again.

Maybe there's a War drama, much more traditional and focused on a transfem duo making their way through the horrors of war, with the extra little bonus of gratuitous scenes of their claiming the prizes of conquest, raping enemy soldiers, pissing on POWs, hiring cuntgirl prostitutes only to beat them afterwards and take their money back.

And of course, most importantly of all, Romance. A TERF, clad in a gorgeous, pristine white veil, a beautiful white collar around her neck. Makeup running down her face, clearly once as beautiful as the scraps of clothing she's allowed to wear, now totally ruined. She kneels, naked aside from her veil and collar, at the altar, across from her transfem wife-to-be. She'd been reluctant at first, they always are at the beginning of these movies. But after a beautiful, brutal, ruthless, three day long dating period, she's grown fond of her new partner. "You may now kiss the bride", comes the priest's voice, and the broken TERF leans in, breathless, to make out with her new Goddess's asshole.

Truly, it's subject matter that belongs in any and every genre, and it's just the kind of thing that would help cissies remember their place.

[faeriescorpio]

Stardew Valley Tumblr Simulator

📚 solarian_bookworm

Hey guys! Any tips on how to get this little boy I'm tutoring to actually pay attention to my lessons? He's not very good at reading, but I'm even letting him pick out which books and he still can't focus! We don't have good education where I'm from (Pelican Town) so any chance he has at learning is from me. How do I help him?

🎷 zuzu-zoomer Follow

Feed him a stew that makes him go blind

🧭 stardewexplorer Follow

feed him the stew that makes you blind for one day

🎡 fuck-gotoro Follow

stew that blinds him for one day

⚅ desert-clubber Follow

Perhaps feed him a stew that makes him go blind for one day?

🪩 insomniac-boy Follow

1 day blinding stew

✨ sparkle-on Follow

wait guys isnt pelican town the place where once a year when the governor visits everyone puts an ingredient into a big pot and they make a stew and everyone eats from it??? dont give this poor girl this advice 😭😭😭😭😭

🎷 zuzu-zoomer Follow

lmao thats hilarious. do it

📚 solarian_bookworm

...I think I'll just ask his mom for advice. Thanks though...

250 notes

🧵 parrot-enthusiast

halfway through the brand new dress! embroidering it is taking forever ugh

3 notes

🗺️ superhaterlock Follow

Solarian Chronicles sucks

📔 sc-fanatic Follow

if you say one more word on this subject im going to kill you

🗺️ superhaterlock Follow

I just don't get why defending and healing gives you a better score than attacking

📔 sc-fanatic Follow

oh you mean the rpg game based on the books. continue

💿 seb-codes

:( i like the game

30 notes

🎸 pop_punkist

Come see my band perform live tonight at Zuzu City!

🚙 jojacolaaddict Follow

Hi yes I'd like to file a complaint. i went to your concert and I saw that damn eldritch monster that I swear I saw last week. What the fuck is that and what meme did I miss

🎸 pop_punkist

uh. are you talking about the farmer? they're actually the one who helped me start my bad they're sick as fuck. do you mind

🚙 jojacolaaddict Follow

what the fuck is the farmer

15 notes

💣 back-in-town Follow

AITA for yelling at my wife?

I just came home from active deployment against the Gotoro army. i lost a lot of friends in the war. I was having a bad day and my wife tried to make my popcorn to cheer it up because it used to be my favorite but it reminded me of the bombs. I yelled at her that she should know better but the local farmer was at our house and told me not to take out my pain on my wife. Am I the asshole?

🎡 fuck-gotoro Follow

NTA thank you for your service. if she did any kind of research on how to help people with PTSD from the war she would know to not be making loud banging noises like that

🏴‍☠️ piratewreck Follow

What? YTA why would his wife know. she was trying to make his favorite food. she should divorce him

28 notes

I started this tumblr stimulator post and then forgot about it and gave up 😭

[villalunae]

im in such a utena mood right now i think anthy would not use nuclear war codes if she had them but would instead drop hints of incoming nuclear winter to nanami by messing with the plants in the birdcage and mentioning dead roses are often considered an omen of war (lie) so that nanami attempts to discredit her by looking up omens of war through a book miki lended her and instead finding out that all the crazy shit happening to her in the last few days (kangaroo showing up on campus was actually a political refugee, tsuwabuki prepping her cheat sheet for an upcoming test on the ramificiations of nagasaki and hiroshima, students gathering about television sets that before she can see what terrible news theyre watching someone says "turn something nice on instead!" and she only sees shopping channels marketing items like gas masks, bomb shelters, and canned foods) has actually been subtle hints and omens that they're approaching world war three and nanami ends up going to touga asking if theyre gonna make it and if japan can withstand another genocidal war crime against humanity and touga somehow reads this as her telling him her dream job is to be a stripper and tells her "silly little sister. all women are inferior to men already bc of eve's fatal sin. dont degrade yourself further than you already have" and shes like "what do you mean degrade myself further than i already have" and hes like "dont worry about it youre perfect to me. like a 9.5/10. or an 8/10. maybe a 6. definitely not any lower than a 3" and after hearing that she goes to bed upset and confused because not only is her brother not taking nuclear war seriously he also once again made her feel infantilized and small and then after hearing a loud boom in the distance she thinks nuclear war is starting and starts freaking out and thinks "my brother must have been speaking in a code! he was trying to make me feel nostalgic about my childhood to comfort me before the upcoming attack! now that nuclear war is starting i should take shelter but we dont have a bomb shelter here but ohtori has a bunch of students! it probably does!" running to ohtori and trying to think of the oldest building on campus and goes to utena and anthy's door banging on it in the middle of the night and utena gets up in her jammies like "what?" and nanamis like "QUICK we all have to GET UNDERGROUND wheres your NEAREST BOMB SHELTER" and anthy comes in behind utena like miss nanami what are you talking about? :) and utena is like yeah seriously thats so weird. i guess you can come inside . we couldnt sleep anyway because -- and then nanami sees on the floor of their room a bunch of scattered papers with a big red button in a briefcase and nanami points at anthy and is like "IT WAS YOU THAT LAUNCHED THE NUKE??????" and anthy says "oh this? this button is enrichment for my pet parrot! ive named her nanami. nanami press the button" and nanami the parrot presses the button and theres a loud boom and nanami (not the parrot) is like but what was that?!?! i heard it from my house!!!! and utena is like "oh! you must be talking about the firework display! the button is rigged up to some fireworks we got for the upcoming spring festival and we were actually up late tonight trying to get the display to work! we messed up pretty bad and most of the fireworks went off at once though haha." nanami the parrot keeps pressing the button in the bg and anthy is like "aww i guess that was the last firework left!" and nanami is like b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but what about the kangaroo? and the test on nagasaki and hiroshima?? and the shopping channels advertising gas masks and bomb shelters and canned food??? and utena says "oh the kangaroo was a political refugee from australia its boxing career went down the hill after it killed steve durwin in a freak accident. all schools are doing history tests on world war two this time in the semester!" and anthy says "yes and because theres no clear threat of nuclear winter anymore all the old holdovers from wwii are being sold at discounted prices :)"

as nanami leaves the house feeling much better but also stupider she gets traumatized one last time by another firework going off and utena yells out the window "sorry nanami! guess there was one more loaded in there!" the firework design is chuchus face and he has been mysteriously absent this whole time. we see him in the sex car with that cat thing from madoka driving

[xsommeee]

Chuuya pov at double black reunion after 4 years.

“Where is Akutagawa?” Chuuya asks, looking around.

An eerie silence takes over the jolly group. Their calm smiles falter. An instant sense of worry rushes through his mind. Emo boy shouldn’t be a sour subject unless he’s become a traitor. 

This is a sort of environment where people will blab shit they think he can’t handle, he remembers the same expression on Mori’s grim face while he said Dazai’s benn sighted two years ago and then offered him a ticket to Paris with an incredibly long mission planned. It was a horrible meeting and he left Japan right after.

“S-senpai’s interrogating a member of the armed detective agency.” 

Chuuya blinks, what in the world is the armed detective agency? A detective agency with people walking around with machine guns in their hands? As amusing as that may seem, it’s one of the few organisations with a special ability permit. That much Chuuya remembers from having read. 

A foreboding feeling ensnares him, he can hear the drums of war burst in his ears like in the period Japanese movie he watched a few days ago in the flight, it’s because of that bastard.

“I’ll go see him” Chuuya picks up his hanging coat from the chair, he’ll see him, his legs start moving on their own he could be jumping out of the window. Murderous intent is ebbing out of him and he can feel the power this anger begets.

A gentle hand halts him. He looks at Ane-san, “You” -are playing into his hands? Are being an idiot? Shouldn’t go? Fucking kill him when you see him? Not act reckless?

“Should take your hat and call the driver.” 

His eyebrows furrow, he was being rude and Ane-san just– “I apologise for my bad manners.” He parrots a phrase he learnt to use very often while training under Kouyou when he was a junior.

She just nods her head slightly while placing the hat on his head, mouthing a go. An unsaid don’t come back miserable falls into his ears. He leaves. 

His lips burn with a desire to have a cigarette puckered between them, but he belatedly realises that Hirotsu borrowed his pack and still has it. 

The old fags tryin’ to make him quit smoking for a very long time. A hypocrite given his love for cigars. 

Chuuya’s too hurried, even if he’s trying to not be. So he doesn't ask anyone for a light.

He reaches the port mafia’s maze-like dungeons, skidding here and there to finally see a furious Akutagawa smashing the small iron door shut.

“Chuuya-san?” Akutagawa says when their eyes meet. Blinking as if in disbelief. 

The kid's fist is glaringly red against his pale, almost albinic complexion. Dazai deserves this albeit more. He beat and kicked a helpless orphan into a horrible messed up killing machine. Akutagawa has every right to extract revenge Mafia style. 

Somepart of Chuuya, however enraged and disgusted by the bandaged jerkface, still wants him to be okay -not hurt too gravely per say. It is his competitive side, the one that seeks a fair fight against his lifelong rival. 

“Welcome back home, I was told you would be joining in the evening. What purpose brings you here?”  

Chuuya shrugs, pressing skip on the question. 

“Is Dazai locked up in here?” His finger points towards the door with a slight tremor. The name, he hasn't spoken that name in years.

Akutagawa scowls murmuring a slight hum. 

“How? Why?” Chuuya asks. The fucker’s too meticulous. He’d never do anything unwillingly even while sleeping. 

“We have received a hefty bounty on a weretiger. Dazai got sloppy and got caught in the process.” Akutagawa replied. 

Chuuya’s in a daze, Dazai protecting people? Akutagawa reads his astonished expression. 

“The weretiger is a member of the armed detective agency.”

Right, Dazai is a member of the armed detective agency. 

He doesn't know anything about this agency. He'd been not home for such a long time, avoiding it at times when he could visit back. A foreigner to all soil on Earth. An Earth that crumbles under him, pulls on his command but doesn't accept him. 

“Give me a quick debrief.” He orders his subordinate. 

Long agonising minutes later he’s lowering his head to stand trot down the narrow fleet of stairs. 

He looks up to see Dazai chained to a wall in this dimly lit basement. 

Dazai's changed. He’s wearing a beige coat and a bolo tie and he is missing a patch of bandages that used to hide a part of his face. 

It's the first time he's looking at both of Dazai’s eyes, captivating him with the brightness they hold.

“You being chained here is like a painting worth a million dollars.”

It's not that much, they aren't that bright at all, in fact they are dim but they aren't hollow like they used to be on most days. 

He'd seen only one eye gleam at him with brightness and it was only at the moment Dazai had joked or lied to him. 

He feels his throat constrict, irritates at how shaken his resolve of killing Dazai has become already. 

Dazai curses under his breath, an overly dramatic horrified expression plastered on his face. 

“Still as short as ever I see and hiding a bald patch under this hideous hat are we 

Chuuya~”

Yeah he's regained the sentiment, this is it Chuuya Nakahara would grant a suicidal maniac his life’s wish today. Strangulation would be the attributed reason in the post mortem report. 

“And you are still obsessed with suicide. It will make the happiest man on earth to strangle you.” 

“Yes but you see Chuuya my goal has changed, I now seek a beautiful women to commit double suicide with.”

He clicks his knuckles. There's a lot of things he needs to ask. He’s just waiting till he gets those answers. 

“You can fool Akutagawa but you can not fool me. I was your partner after all.” The word partner leaves a bitter aftertaste on his tongue and he instantly feels the urge to smoke rise. He grits his teeth with an attempt to quash it. 

[soliloquent-stark]

Do u think when stevetony first get together there’s a fight for who gets which side of the bed? Because I think so 🤔

dear anon, i am SO glad you asked this. you have no idea what monster you've created with this question.

my short answer: yes.

my long answer:

stony ficlet: the left side of the bed

steve noticed it from the moment he started spending the night in tony's room, when their supposedly casual sex slowly started turning into more — tony always went for the left side of the bed, much to steve's dismay. as a result, he'd have restless nights full of tosses and turns, every single time. if only he could sleep on that same side...

the thing is, steve didn't have a preference just for the sake of it. between sharing a tiny bed with his mom as a child and being in a literal war, he could fall asleep anywhere. hell, tony's bed is too soft for him anyway, and sometimes the floor seemed more inviting.

so, this wasn't about him being fastidious. this was about safety: steve always had to be the closest person to the door, so he could be the first one in the line of fire, so he could protect the other person. and it just so happens that, the way the room is set up, the side near the exit was the left one.

he didn't want to bring it up and make it into a thing, so one day, a few weeks into their new and fragile relationship, he simply settled in that spot while tony was in the bathroom. he figured it was a minor enough gesture; surely he didn't need to ask?

to say it pissed tony off was an understatement.

he didn't even give a reason why this was so important to him — and steve had witnessed him sleeping diagonally on his workbench, and in a chair while slouched on the table during meetings, and even standing against a goddamn doorframe once.

"if i remember correctly, and i always do, you were leaning on the right side of it", steve had said. "but i dunno, maybe it was more comfortable than this perfectly fine right side of your bed?"

tony only got more upset.

"i dunno," he parroted, "was the ice more comfortable than this perfectly fine right side of the bed?"

it was a low blow, but steve didn't take the bait. he found no other option but to admit to tony the truth about his hang-up, which somehow escalated the situation further.

"for fuck's sake steve, you don't need to be a fucking human shield! you're off duty, and i'm no damsel in distress."

it's not that steve thought iron man needed his safeguarding. but that's how his brain was wired. he needed to protect — he'd already let down so many people in his life. he hadn't been able to get his mom medical help, he hadn't stopped bucky from falling, and he already had witnessed tony fly to his near-death once, as part of a team steve was the leader of. guarding became his default mode. but tony was so stubborn and he simply didn't get it.

steve just sighed, but tony must have sensed his discomfort, because the fight seemed to leave his body.

then, with a soft and tentative voice, tony admitted to steve that he preferred that side because it had always been how he slept, since childhood. he always left the other part of the bed empty, and his mother would often sit there as she tucked him in, with a kiss on his forehead and a caress on his cheek.

"that's an example of the gentle side of her parenting that howard wasn't allowed to see because he'd disapprove of coddling me," tony had said. "her affection happened mostly behind the closed doors of my room, and we weren't caught once, because he never came to say goodnight."

steve felt his heart ache as he wordlessly rolled to the other side of the bed, making space for tony in his designated spot, and opening his arms for a hug.

he should have realized that tony was just like him, and that the reasons behind his neuroses were often tied to the same worries and trepidations that also drove steve mad.

it's not going to be easy to sleep like this, he had thought as he was holding his boyfriend close to his chest, but it's okay. it's for tony.

however, the following evening, when he entered the bedroom and saw that tony had moved everything around so that the right side of the bed was facing the door, he laughed with relief.

"i find solutions for everything, don't i," tony joked. "not like it wasn't the obvious thing to do, anyways."

but steve was aware that by doing what he did, he had totally messed up his carefully designed layout; even steve could admit that the room looked a bit silly now. somehow, tony genuinely seemed unbothered by it, and was just pleased that this way, nobody had to compromise on the quality of their sleep.

steve fell a little bit in love, just then.

gif sources: due date (2010) and before we go (2014)

find longer fics on my ao3

[survivalove]

hii what type of tropes do u think katara fits ?? and what type of tropes do u think her character subverts ??

Hi anon! I’m not gonna lie this is a heavy topic which has been weighing on my mind ever since my Katara rant a few days ago. Tbh, I wasn’t going to make a post about this, just cuz I feel like maybe I talk too much 😂 but you just gave me the perfect excuse so here we go:

1. Girls are Healers, not Fighters

I want to start this off with the issue of misogyny in the Northern Water Tribe and how the fandom discusses Katara’s portrayal in LoK. First of all, the NWT not allowing girls to fight is misogyny and Pakku telling Katara to “go in the healing hut with the other women” very much sounds like “go in the kitchen where you belong”. This is something everyone understands.

However, I think we start losing the plot when people only focus on this aspect and ironically parrot the same misogyny when they talk about female healers in the franchise and in media. Let’s look at Yagoda. Yagoda is a recognized master. She doesn’t teach in her house, her kitchen or her bedroom. She teaches in a school alongside other master healers and students. When the Yue was stillborn, who did her family turn to at first? Pakku? No, the healers. During the civil war, did Katara just sit at home twiddling her fingers like so many in the fandom would have you believe? No, she was single-handedly healing dozens of rebels in her White Lotus outpost. The importance of female healers in the franchise and media in general should not be diminished when speaking out against this misogynistic trope. I just had to get that out of the way.

So, how does ATLA subvert this trope with Katara? They show her developing her healing abilities alongside her fighting skills. One does not hinder the other. When Katara discovers her healing ability, she gains respect for possessing a talent so rare and revered, by a man originally from the nation that wiped out the male and female waterbenders of her tribe. When Katara saves Aang’s life, the most important moment in the entire show IMO, in the same episode, she is also shown facing off a major enemy in battle and winning. These two sides of her are constantly shown in balance to the fullest extent of her power, without one skill being diminished to highlight the other.

2. The Hero’s Girl

I think this is another trope that’s prevalent in media, particularly shonen animes which ATLA gets compared to so often. A lot of times these female love interests are never in the main story without the main male character. They seemingly have a one-sided crush, fall apart at his feet, interacts with him only when he needs her (and only him), and can sometimes be a pick-me when it comes to any competing female characters. I think a lot of people see Katara this way solely because she gets with Aang in the end, when this does not even come close to how she is portrayed.

Katara is an extremely developed character. Her arc is largely independent of Aang even though there are so many parallels between the two. Katara initially sees Aang as just a friend and even when she starts seeing him as a potential love interest, she’s not begging him to notice her or accept her affections. She gets jealous but isn’t competing with anyone for his attention for long and she has relationships with other characters that further the story whether Aang is there or not. She doesn’t exist solely to be with him, in fact she even teaches him. Katara and Aang being endgame is not integral to either one of their stories. They don’t agree with each other all the time and when he pushes their romance too far, she isn’t framed in a negative light for rebuffing his affections. No one in the narrative forces her to be with Aang because he’s the Avatar for status, or anything else. Love is not her biggest priority and she chooses to put off her romantic feelings until the war ends.

Now does she get jealous of other girls who seem to like Aang as well? Yes. Does she cry and get emotional when something happens to him? Yes. Does she spend an episode pestering the fortuneteller about her future husband and get excited at the idea of falling in love? Lol yeah. Does she blush and hug and kiss Aang often? Literally every other episode. But that’s not all there is to her or their dynamic. I think some people often overemphasize the fact that Aang and Katara do get together in the end and act like it automatically voids the rest of her development in canon when it really doesn’t. Like I said in another post, I know a lot of Katara stans that don’t ship her with anyone or can discuss her character at great length without mentioning romance. People who choose to focus on her ending up with the hero to ‘defend’ her are more doing her a disservice if you ask me.

3. One-Dimensional Female Characters

This sort of ties into everything I just said and is also something the franchise achieves with all the female characters, but even more-so with Katara. Katara has several behaviors that directly contradict her general personality traits:

In the Chase, Katara lectures Toph about the importance of doing chores and being a team player and in the same episode, insults her, picks fights with her to the point she leaves the group entirely.

Katara loves her brother and always cheers him up when he’s feeling him down, but she still will tease and pick on him, and on a darker note, lashes out at him in the Southern Raiders when he doesn’t tell her what she wants to hear.

Katara turns up her nose at the wrestling tournament they find Toph in and winces as she attacks The Earth King’s soldiers, but still partakes in fighting the war because it’s for the greater good.

Katara from a young age had to take up the societal expectations that her mother would have had in her family and in her tribe, but is still a child and often takes delight in activities children enjoy, as she should.

The point is, Katara isn’t one-dimensional. There are a lot of contradictions within her that are usually juxtaposed one after the other. Yet, most viewers can only focus on one side at a time, usually choosing to focus on the negative aspects of her character. They will complain about her being motherly as if she never has fun. They will focus on the one time she was out of line with Sokka just to attack her character. They will cry she was too hard on Zuko, after 2.5 seasons of him chasing them down.

Most annoying of all, they will compare her to other female characters who are less hypocritical in nature and, in my opinion, simply not as complex as Katara. Don’t even get me started on how community is such an integral part of Katara, Sokka and Aang’s characters and how their character development often get overlooked in favor of characters with more individualistic and straightforward narratives. But this is about Katara.

Katara is an unapologetically feminine character that is sweet and kind without serving some villainous agenda that gives her a reason to be on par with the male characters when it comes to fighting skill. Her strength gets questioned in ways that Azula, Toph, Mai and Ty Lee’s do not. She subverts a lot of misogynistic tropes that a lot of 2000s female love interests in media suffered from and still do. She��s a very difficult character for most people to wrap their heads around, simply because she doesn’t stick to the script that most fmcs who look and act like her, do.

If we pretend she’s not fictional for two seconds, Katara is a hypocrite and hello? Who isn’t. It’s human nature for people to change their minds or do things that don’t really match up with that they’re say about. People who get mad at Katara for this, are essentially saying they’re mad because she’s not a flat character and they don’t even realize it. Her contradictions aren’t just one-off moments and her grief over her mother’s death isn’t something she only brings up once or twice. These occur over and over again because she is the other main character and with that comes a lot more screentime for her to be hypocritical, grow and show development to a level that the other female characters can’t.

[beardedmrbean]

NPR has suspended Uri Berliner, the senior editor who published a bombshell essay a week ago that claimed that the publicly funded outlet has “lost America’s trust” by approaching news stories with a left-wing bias.

NPR media writer David Folkenflik revealed on Tuesday that Berliner beginning on Friday was suspended for five days without pay. Folkenflik, who reviewed a copy of the letter from NPR brass, said the company told the editor he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets — a requirement for NPR journalists.

NPR called the letter a “final warning,” saying Berliner would be fired if he violated NPR’s policy again.

Neither NPR nor Berliner immediately responded to requests for comment.

Berliner is a dues-paying member of NPR’s newsroom union, but Folkenflik reported that the editor is not appealing the punishment.

Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has worked at NPR for 25 years, called out journalistic blind spots around major news events, including the origins of COVID-19, the war in Gaza and the Hunter Biden laptop, in an essay published Tuesday on Bari Weiss’ online news site the Free Press.

The fallout from the essay sparked outrage from many of his colleagues. Late Monday afternoon, NPR chief news executive Edith Chapin announced to the newsroom that executive editor Eva Rodriguez would lead monthly meetings to review coverage.

The fiasco also ignited a firestorm of criticism from prominent conservatives — with former President Donald Trump demanding NPR’s federal funding be yanked — and has led to internal tumult, the New York Times reported Friday.

NPR’s new chief executive Katherine Maher defended NPR’s journalism, calling Berliner’s article “profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning,” The 42-year-old exec added that the essay amounted to “a criticism of our people on the basis of who we are.”

Folkenflik said Berliner took umbrage at that, saying she had “denigrated him.” Berliner said he supported diversifying NPR’s workforce to look more like the US population at large. Maher did not address that in a subsequent private exchange he shared with Folkenflik for the story.

The fiasco soon put the spotlight on Maher, whose own left-leaning bias came to light in a trove of woke, anti-Trump tweets she penned.

In January, when Maher was announced as NPR’s new leader, The Post revealed her penchant for parroting the progressive line on social media — including bluntly biased Twitter posts like “Donald Trump is a racist,” which she wrote in 2018.

That hyper-partisan message was scrubbed from the platform now known as X, but preserved on the site Archive.Today.

It’s unclear when Maher deleted it, or if its removal was tied to her new gig.

Other woke posts remain on Maher’s X account. In 2020, as the George Floyd riots raged, she attempted to justify the looting epidemic in Los Angeles as payback for the sins of slavery.

“I mean, sure, looting is counterproductive,” Maher wrote on May 31, 2020.

“But it’s hard to be mad about protests not prioritizing the private property of a system of oppression founded on treating people’s ancestors as private property.”

The next day, she lectured her 27,000 followers on “white silence.”

“White silence is complicity,” she scolded. “If you are white, today is the day to start a conversation in your community.”

The NPR job is Maher’s first position in journalism or media.

She was previously the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, the San Francisco-based nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia, after holding communications roles for the likes of HSBC, UNICEF and the World Bank.

Maher earned a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies from New York University, according to her LinkedIn account, and grew up in Wilton, Conn. — a town that her mother, Ceci Maher, now represents as a Democratic state senator.

[slocumjoe]

companions start a minecraft server. how do they play? who lives with who? who starts a war over their dog dying?

Companions play Minecraft

Cait; hardcore mode speedrunner who looks for increasingly difficult and mindfuck ways to kill the Elder Dragon. Why? Success is a kind of high you'll get from nothing else. Especially when you kill the final boss with nothing but eggs and slime pistons. When playing on Hancock's server, functions as a bodyguard during less-safe builds, like underground, or at the edge of the forest. The first line of defense during a raid. Does busywork for Codsworth in exchange for throwing eggs. Piper built a traditional Irish pub for her to live in and you can occasionally see her just staring at it in wonder. Is the one with the pack of wolves. The town graveyard is filled with her fallen pups. Also has a parrot, just to watch it dance to the pub's jukebox.

Codsworth; Does the busywork around the town Hancock and the others have built. Town is probably called Goodneighbor, let's be real. Tends the farms, the animals, makes food, etc. Does a little bit of everything. Takes care of Curie's zoo, goes fishing with Danse, gives opinions on building materials...pure chilling. Refuses to slaughter farm animals for meat, he's too attached. Fish, bread, and vegetables are on the menu in Goodneighbor. Lives in a quaint little birch cottage by the river, where he keeps flowers, bees, and chickens. All of them have nametags. Second line of defense during a raid—touch his potato fields, and enjoy eggs for your last meal.

Curie; Spends all of her time following and studying the more fantastical creatures, like Endermen. Keeps real notes in a notebook as she plays, theorizing on their biology. Endlessly fascinated with the convergent evolution between Villagers and Pillagers. Will often join Preston's archeology expeditions to discover the lore hints in the environment. Dies a lot, usually has nothing but seeds and dirt in her inventory. Keeps an area filled with specimens in appropriate pens. Puts bounties out for new creatures. Favors the axolotls and fish, though. Lives in the second floor of the zoo's visitor center.

Danse; Minecraft has a powerful aura of sad nostalgia, and I don't think he could handle it. Will help out in Goodneighbor by going and getting materials for building. Enjoys fishing more than anything, though. Gets very attached to his orange cat that sits on his bed. His dirt hut is on the outskirts of Goodneighbor, but is covered in flowers, paintings, and whatever else decor the others have put up. Nick dyed his cat's collar pink. Accompanies X6 on Curie's specimen bounties. Will sometimes stop moving. Don't worry, he's just enraptured by the music and is enjoying it. Or is being made very sad by it. Same thing, right?

Deacon; Pays money to change his username to look like someone else's every week. Changes to their skin, too, but edited to have sunglasses. Otherwise, Herobrine wannabe. If you don't know what that is, you are too young to be reading this blog. Deacon will make small, uniform tunnels, fill them with oddities like bone and paper. He'll leave structures reminiscent of crosses. He'll use armor stands and elaborate Redstone mechanisms, make it look like someone's watching you from the trees, only for you to step on a hidden pressure plate, and the figure vanishes. Adds to the lore of the world. Has a rainbow wool house filled with so many rabbits, the game crashes when he approaches.

Gage; You think Gage is playing a kids game? He has shit to do. Like pirate it and sell copies for dirt cheap. Not even to make money, he just does it for the principle. The principle of fuck you, I will make as many copies of this shit as I damn well please. Probably has his face hung up in Mojang HQ, with darts stuck in the one good eye. Would play if he could join the side of the Pillagers. Yeah, sure. He could just set villages on fire himself...but where's the community in that?

Hancock; Owns the server. Keeps it on harder difficulties for the challenge, but not so much of a...whatever you call Cait's type of player. Avid builder, Goodneighbor is a massive project recreating Boston. It's not quite 1 to 1, but still damn impressive. But, hey, if Bobby wants to build places from Grognak, that's chill. Doesn't care about aesthetic or accuracy, just wants to relax and let the creative juices flow. Hancock himself lives in a giant mushroom he made out of mushroom blocks, wool, and mycelium. Pet of choice? Mushroom cow, obviously, courtesy of X6.

MacCready; Got sick for a week. Built the entire Ux-Ron galaxy on the other side of the river. Doesn't remember it, was hopped up on Nyquil and chicken broth in hot water. The resident hunter, when he isn't on a grape-chicken-liquid diet. He's good at building, but can get bored quickly. Aim is...frightening. Can kill a chicken across any gulf. Takes the nightshift guard duty to shoot down Phantoms. His house is a crashed UFO. Even got Deacon to do his redstone trickery, so it lights up all blinky when you trigger a plate at the door. Has a parrot for a pet.

Nick; One of the more adventurous ones. Goes off with Preston, X6, and Cait to explore the different biomes. The resident potion master. It's just a puzzlegame, but for cocktails that can make you jump real high. Keeps a garden with various ingredients, often ventures into the Nether for blaze powder and rods. Has a spawner caged up, so he just smacks them through the door. Writes down all potion or poison recipes in an in-game book and quill. The trial-and-error- failed recipes are also listed, so it's 200+ pages long. His potion hut is built like a speakeasy, and he lives in the basement with a black cat. Would fill the place with ravens, if they weren't in the spin-off game. Third line of defense in town—keeps a chest full of splash poisons. Occasionally opens it and stares at them, like he's not sure if he's willing to commit such an act.

Piper; Obsessed with the underwater update. Always diving for treasure and sunken ships and temples. Keeps all of the knickknacks in a chest back at Goodneighbor, not even for use. Piper isn't even an ocean kinda gal in real life, but...it's so pretty! And the dolphins are so cute! Trades resources for water-breathing potions from Nick. Fills out so many maps, keeps them framed on a massive wall on the Goodneighbor docks. Also keeps a book-and-quill with coordinates and traveling notes, it's longer than Nick's recipe book. Lives in an underwater bubble habitat off the coast of Goodneighbor. Keeps a pink dolphin in a massive glass habitat outside.

Preston; Resident archeologist. Excavates ruins and structures to study them. Spent a month in real life sponging up an underwater temple. Even longer digging out an End fortress. Goes into mineshafts and renovates them entirely, puts signs and maps up. Takes X6 most often on his expeditions, has his own wall of land-maps. Preston spends a lot of time studying the builds left in the world and pondering the historical implications. Real theorist over here. He's fascinated with the subtle story telling and clues. The End keeps him up at night. His house is the huge community library. Also keeps books, writes down his notes and theories. Has a llama for traveling. If anything happened to it, would be very distraught.

X6-88; Resident mercenary. Nick accidentally summoned the Wither? There's a baby zombie running around? Deacon's rabbits have broken out the windows, and the server is in legitimate danger if the horde grows any larger? Get X6-88. Appears with a clap of thunder on his black warhorse, wielding only the most enchanted of weapons, wearing the most enchanted of armor. He does all the hard, dangerous work. Clears out the Nether, the End, Dark Forests, Pillager encampments...X6 is the hard hitter that goes out into danger, whereas Cait stays behind to defend. Is the one who leashes animals and painstakingly brings them back to Goodneighbor, occasionally with Danse's help. He lost his mind, looking for pandas for Curie. Keeps one as a pet in his house, which is the castle in the graveyard.

[lifestealupdates]

Lifesteal Season 6, Week 9 Recap

Another exciting week! Before we get into the lore, the Lifesteal Updates admins would like to congratulate the Pink Parrots, a team made up of Squiddo, PrinceZam, Ashswag and Blockfacts, for winning MCCR on Saturday! Weirdly enough, this actually had impacts on Lifesteal lore...

As usual, major spoilers under the readmore, Lifesteal members please do not interact.

Early Week Shenanigans

The main lore earlier this week involved Kaboodle giving up on pacifism. Kaboodle has been acting as Lifesteal's news reporter recently, investigating various server-wide events and putting them on a billboard at spawn.

Whilst exploring the server, she spoke to Wemmbu, who convinced her to kill Planetlord after Wemmbu trapped him in cobwebs. Planet was at 3 hearts at this point. Kaboodle told chat that they actually enjoyed killing, and later threatened to kill Midmysticx if she didn't give up a heart. After Planet then died in lava, she and Wemmbu then camped spawn to try and extort another heart out of Bacon with the threat of banning Planet. (Planet was actually on 2 hearts at this point, having crafted a third again).

Mane then killed Kab (on Mid's orders, unknown to Kaboodle), Kab killed Planet again thinking Bacon had put the hit on her, and was once again killed by Mane. Kab later claimed to chat that they were peer-pressured by Wemmbu into killing Planet.

Wemmbu also revealed to Kab that, because he doesn't have a base, he doesn't have anywhere to regear. This means if he was killed once, he'd be made harmless, but the amount of pacifists on the server means this is unlikely.

During the same day, the Spacewaffles team spoke about the war ongoing with spawn being griefed. Neither of them are entirely sure what Gaia's Hand is (Zam's team, dedicated to repairing spawn to annoy Flame) despite being members.

4C has also been spending much of this week working on his plans to build Lifesteal City / Downtown Lifesteal. This is currently a creative world plan for a giant city he eventually wants to build on the server.

Sunday Session

The session this week was postponed to Sunday due to three Lifesteal members playing in MCCR. As a celebration of their win, the fourth Pink Parrot member Blockfacts and their coach Feinberg were invited to the server for the day as guests.

The Empire decided they wanted to get lots of kills, and started a fight with Flame which became increasingly chaotic when it was revealed that Flame has an army of hundreds of dogs. During this fight, Flame killed many innocent bystanders including Bacon and Blockfacts.

Whilst this was ongoing, Hannah killed Derapchu for his role in leaking the Mice' Base location, which eventually led to it being blown up by Manepear.

Kaboodle, Blockfacts and Squiddo decided to escape Spawn and eventually made their way to Peace Island after a brief detour to Kaboodle's Box.

Spoke managed to get a dripstone kill on Leowook from height limit at this point. Pentar and Leo had joined the fight on Flame's side.

Mapicc and Spoke then created a huge network of sky bridges and tried to drop dripstone on the players below them, using Minute's instructions who was on the ground speaking to Feinberg and other players. They were unsuccessful, and after running out of dripstone resorted to dropping TNT minecarts on players, which was still unsuccessful and only annoyed Minute.

On the way to Peace Island, Blockfacts had given all bar one of his hearts to Squiddo and Kaboodle as prizes for giving him Minecraft trivia. This led to him being extremely vulnerable.

Bacon had told everyone about Kab killing Planet, and Kab was upset by this as they were planning on giving Planet's hearts as an apology.

Eventually, they got both Blockfacts and Feinberg to Peace Island, and decided the two VIPs should play dodgebolt on one heart to mimic MCCR. Hannah had arrived by this point. They did so, and Blockfacts banned Feinberg on accident. After discussing reviving Fein and deciding against it, Squiddo killed Blockfacts in another dodgebolt game, banning him. Squiddo, Kaboodle and Hannah then shared the 8 hearts they'd won between themselves, agreeing to keep it secret and claim they buried the hearts.

Post Session

Bacon is basically broke, having died multiple times and having no gear.

Zam was upset by the state of spawn after his absence for MCCR training, hoping his new teammates would have helped keep it in a good condition but finding it instead littered with explosions. He is also unhappy with Kaboodle leaving pacifism behind, as he used to think he could trust her.

[homunculus-argument]

Tabletop RP idea: A story set in the real world at a specific time in history. The only rules and limits the players have for coming up with a character are that they have to be alive during that time and exist within the boundaries of reality. Otherwise they've got the full freedom to come up with whatever the fuck they want. However, the players are encouraged to do as much research about their own character's background as their heart desires - they simply cannot overdo it.

Besides setting up the starting scenario and the NPCs who are present, there's no plot planned out beforehand, most players are terriers who shred your plans anyway, and come up with their own. Let's say the year is 1768.

Everyone sends their character concepts to the GM well before the game, so the GM will have plenty of time to figure out how exactly the player characters would most plausibly even meet, considering that the new ragtag team of adventurers currently consists of

a freed black frenchwoman on the run from both mob rule and the law because she slapped someone for insulting her

an one-legged indian veteran of the Seven Years' War

a Han Chinese noblewoman

Catherine the Great's discarded former lover

a French-Mohawk translator on a revenge quest to find and kill his white father

a talking parrot, because while the GM said that their character "should be able to communicate with the others somehow", they failed to specify that the player character has to be human

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

Taking Comfort (In Your Arms) - Chapter 17

April 28, 1945, 1000 Hours

“Captain Baker, please join us.” Jeffrey called from his office as Addie’s eyes drifted from the report she was typing up. Sighing, she pushed away from her desk, giving Josie a nervous look before walking into the CO’s office.

Stepping into the office, Jeffrey motioned to her to shut the door, pointing to a seat in front of his desk. She looked between Buck, Rosie, and Charlie, all who had big grins on their faces before looking at Jeffrey taking a seat. “Whatever they said I did, I most definitely did not do.” 

Buck, Rosie, and Charlie had to hide their chuckles, while Jeffrey merely raised an eyebrow. “Guilty are we, Captain Baker?” 

“With those three grinning at you, yes. I have been keeping my nose clean for the last few weeks.” She looked over her shoulder at the three, giving them a menacing look. “Whatever this is about, I assure you I’m innocent. It must’ve been the ground crew.” 

Jeffrey chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re not in trouble, Addie. Though I assume there’s something that I’m not aware of yet.” 

“So, what did you want to see me about, sir?” She asked, trying to stop herself from digging a hole. She heard the three men behind her chuckle. Since Buck’s return to base, the jokes had returned and picked up. Though Addie had steered clear of getting herself into any prank wars, she might have been the brains behind some of them. 

Jeffrey looked between the four pilots, wishing he was away from the antics, clearing his throat, wanting to get down to business. “The Allied forces have put out two calls for different missions - one will be a humanitarian food drop for the Dutch while the other is ferrying POW men and women to different bases. Now I’m nominating you four for the missions, but I thought I would see if any of you have a preference on which mission I sign you up for.” 

“When are these missions slated to take place?” Rosie asked, looking between Addie and Jeffrey. Addie bit her lip, attempting to figure out what questions she needed answered before she decided which mission she wanted on.

“May 1 will be the first one for both. The RAF starts their drops tomorrow and we’ll drop on May 1 - we’ll be hitting different areas than the RAF groups. The POW camps have started to be liberated so we’ll have a list of where to go, most likely Germany to start.” Jeffrey explained. 

Addie shifted in her chair. “What will we be flying into Germany?” 

“Lemmons and his crew are currently stripping down a B-17, big enough to fit 25-30 POWs. You might be running two to three missions before you land back here. I’ll get more details in the coming days, but I’ve gotten word there could be more than 4500 people in just one stalag. Allies aren’t sure what you’re going to be walking into.” Jeffrey gave the four of them looks. “Now, are there any other questions?” 

Addie shook her head. She didn’t dare get up hope that John and Elizabeth could be at one that they were planning on landing at. She bit her lip as she looked at the men behind her. “Sir, I’d like to be on the rescue mission.” 

Jeffrey nodded. He knew she would want on that mission. “Charlie, are you okay going with her?” 

“Yes, sir.” Charlie parroted back, while Addie grinned at her big brother. “Is there anything else we need to know before we take off?”

“We’ll do a debriefing in two days, by then I should have more information.” Jeffrey looked between the siblings. “One other thing, you’ll have to fly below 10,000 feet due to not fitting the plane with oxygen tanks. We don’t have the room for them.” 

Charlie and Addie both nodded. “Yes, sir.” 

“One more thing, the rescue mission is highly confidential - no one on this base outside of us five know this is happening. Of course, our infirmary will be ready for any wounded, but not a word of this until that plane touches down on May 1st.” Jeffrey eyed them, seriousness in his eyes as they came to attention and saluted him. “Alright, dismissed.” 

Leaving the office, Addie’s eyes went wide as she took a seat at her desk. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly. 

She couldn’t believe what she had been waiting for could finally become a reality. John and Elizabeth could finally be coming home.

May 1, 1945, 0500 Hours

Throwing her bag into the stripped-out B-17, she made her way up into the belly of the plane, taking a moment to see just how empty the back of the bird was. There were stacks of extra blankets in the middle of the plane but other than that, the space was empty. Knocking her knuckles along the tin side, she made her way to the yolk. Grinning, she hopped up, seeing Charlie in the co-pilot seat. 

“Morning!” She smirked, watching him jump as she collapsed into the pilot’s seat. “You saved my seat!” 

Charlie grinned at her. “Didn’t feel like fighting you this morning. That 0330 wakeup call came earlier than anticipated.” 

“Get fired up, Charlie. We’re going to rescue some people today.” 

Charlie grumbled to himself, something about there’s not enough coffee, making Addie giggle. 

Fighting off a yawn, she started her pre-flight checklist. Soon the engines were turned on and they were taxiing down the tarmac. “You know we are getting the raw end of the first part of the deal?” 

“How so?” She asked, ferrying down before they were airborne, pushing the bird through the low-hanging clouds. The still dark sky made her smile. 

Charlie brought the landing gear up, before looking over at her. “Buck and Rosie didn’t have a 0330 wakeup call like we did. Their wake-up call was happening at 0800 hours.” 

“Awww, does Charlie need his beauty sleep?” She teased, adjusting their airspeed. “Besides, they’re going to be making more runs than we will - they’ve got two runs today. I’ll take the longer run and the earlier start time.” 

Charlie shook his head. “You’re just happy you got to be in the yolk today.” 

“Damn right, Charlie.” She adjusted in the seat, knowing they had another 3 hours of flight before they would land in Munich Germany. 

They were told that these POWs were transported from Poland to Munich days before. Allied Forces had gotten them out of the Stalag, brought to a processing center, where they were triaged and grouped, depending on the base they needed to get back to. Those that were more seriously injured were already sent to English hospitals. Those that remained just had to wait for planes to come pick them up. Addie couldn’t imagine the anticipation they had - they had survived the most awful thing, and all those men and women were told just to wait a bit longer.

She didn’t know if it was anticipation or wishing time would go by faster that made the three hours pass by more quickly than she realized. But soon, Charlie was radioing the base’s tower for landing instructions. 

She groaned hearing the distance of the tarmac and how tight of a landing it was going to be. She had done worse but not since her ATA days. Charlie followed her instructions and soon enough they were on the ground, pulling onto the designated hardstand. 

Shutting the engines off, Charlie made the first move to exit the plane, with her right behind him. Swinging out of the plane, landing softly, he looked up at her still in the plane. “Do you remember the name Jeffrey gave us to give?” 

Slipping out of the plane, she reached for her little notebook. Flipping it open, Addie shielded her eyes from the sunshine. “Colonel Owens?” 

Nodding, Charlie looked around the little airfield, with people seemingly taking up every square inch. “I’m going to see if I can track him down.”

Following behind him, she heard various accents as they passed groups of men. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands of men across the vast space. She kept her head swiveling as she attempted to keep up with Charlie for anyone that she may know. 

Charlie came to a stop, standing at attention before introducing herself and him to the Major. “Major Charlie Baker, and Captain Adelaide Baker, sir. We’re with the 8th Bomb Group - Colonel Jeffrey sent us.” 

“Ahh, yes, Jeffrey.” Colonel Owen gave them both looks, shaking Charlie’s outstretched hand. “8th Bomb Group you say?” 

Addie tuned them out as she looked around the space. Worn out faces stared back at her. She tried to keep a smile on her face but found it hard at what she was witnessing. “Addie?” 

Charlie softly called her name as she whirled around to face him. “Sorry, caught up in my thoughts.” 

“No problem, ma’am.” Colonel Owens gave her a curious look, holding out his hand for her to shake. “Just asked what’s a woman like you doing out here?” 

A bright smile crossed her face, eagerly shaking his hand. “Want to do my part to bring our boys home, sir.” 

“I see.” He looked at her suspiciously. “Well, let me get your flight manifest, then you can get on your way.”

Charlie motioned that he would follow the Colonel, leaving her alone. She pushed herself to move forward. She had to at least look, though it would take her hours to look at every man and woman within the space. 

Seeing men on stretchers, she headed that way. Carefully making her way up and down the makeshift aisle, she was glad when she didn’t recognize anyone. Turning, she started to make her way back towards where she left Charlie. But before she could make her way back there, something barreled into her. She fought to get her balance, wrapping an arm around whatever it was that barreled into her.

Addie couldn’t see anything. A body clung to her, tears streaming down their face as Addie looked. Once the face pulled back, Addie instantly recognized the eyes, causing tears to well up in her own eyes as she hugged the person. “Oh, tell me you’re not a mirage.” 

“Elizabeth!” Addie tightened her hold on her sister, as Elizabeth’s arms tightened slightly. “Oh, you’re okay!”

The two sisters stood, hugging one another, not saying a word, relishing in the fact they both made it. Elizabeth was alive and okay. She was safe and sound, and Addie wasn’t letting her go anytime soon. “Oh, it’s so good to see you, Elizabeth. How are you?”

“Much better than most of the men here! Who came with you?” Elizabeth asked, pulling back to stand beside Addie. 

Addie grinned, reaching down to link her hand with Elizabeth’s, giving it a squeeze. “He’s with Colonel Owens, getting our flight manifest for the trip back.” 

“Addie, I have to tell you something.” Elizabeth’s eyes scanned the area, before landing on her sister’s. “Buck . . . Buck escaped back when we were still doing night marches. Him and two others made it out but I don’t know where he ended up.” 

Hugging her sister to her tightly, Addie carted a hand through her hair. “Buck’s okay. He’s doing a humanitarian run today. He made it back to Thorpe April 2nd. He’s okay, I promise.” 

Elizabeth’s shoulders sagged in relief at the news. “That’s good to hear. There’s something else you should know. I don’t know where John is. I haven’t seen him since we left the stalag. As a nurse, I left earlier than he did once the Americans came to liberate us. I haven’t seen any of the boys in the five days I’ve been here.” 

Addie could see the anguish on her sister’s face as the prospect of not keeping her promise of watching out for John, making sure he got home safe and sound. Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face as she looked up at her sister. “I’m so sorry, Addie.”

“Hey, hey, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Addie cooed, pulling her sister into her arms. “God, Elizabeth, John and I will be reunited at some point but right now, you’re here with me, safe and sound. I can’t ask for anything more - you’re here, back by my side, safe.” 

Pulling back, Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face as Addie scanned the area. She knew Charlie would be coming back any time and she wanted to make sure she saw him in the mayhem of the place. “You said you’ve been here for 5 days. How many planes have been coming and going?” 

“I think the first land at 1000 hours and the last at 1800 hours. It’s nonstop - they’re trying to get everyone out of here and back at a base before sending them home.” Elizabeth sighed. “The guys I flew out with have already been sent back to England - they wouldn’t send me back as I’m an American and had to wait for my own forces to bring me home.” 

Addie smiled. “Well, I think I can make room on my plane for you. I think I can get my co-pilot to agree.” 

“Speaking of who is this grand co-pilot of yours?” Elizabeth asked as a man caught Addie’s attention. 

Turning her sister towards the hut Charlie was coming out of, she pointed. “Recognize him?” 

Before Addie could say another word, Elizabeth had gasped, and the tears started flowing all over again. “He’s back?” 

“Yeah, he got transferred back to Thorpe just before you were captured. He’s teaching at Thorpe and the only missions he’s gone up have been with me - two now.” She grinned, watching Charlie make his way towards them, reading the papers in his hand. As he looked up, he scanned the area looking for her. Addie pushed Elizabeth forward, motioning her to go surprise their brother. 

Addie stood there as Elizabeth walked up to Charlie and watched her two siblings reunited with hugs, laughter, and tears. She let them have their moment, crossing her arms, biting her lip to ward off another round of tears. 

Sniffling, she reached up and wiped away a few stray tears. Hearing a plane fly overhead, she looked up, shielding her eyes from the sunshine as she watched the P-51 fly effortlessly across the sky. A grin crossed her face as she felt herself relax a bit. Despite the emotions, she was happy to have her brother and sister both by her side.

“ADDIE!” 

She whipped her head from left to right trying to figure out who called her. She didn’t recognize the voice until she saw the man a few feet away from her. A smirk crossed her face as she crossed the distance between them. “DeMarco!” 

Throwing herself into his arms, she squealed when he picked her up and swung her around. As her feet touched the ground, he pulled her into a tight hug. “Addie Baker, as I live and breathe. It’s so good to see you.” 

“You as well, Benny! How are you doing?” She looked him over, head to toe. Besides being a bit skinnier and a new cut on his face, he looked well. 

Laughing, Benny shook his head. “Cannot complain. Heard from a little birdy you’re flying us home.” 

“Charlie is holding the manifest list hostage so I don’t know exactly who I’m flying home but I’m sure I can make space for you, if you’re not on the list.” She grinned. 

Benny threw his head back and laughed. “Appreciate that, Addie. How’s your dog doing?” 

“Meatball? Last I checked, he’s your dog. I was just keeping an eye on him.” She deadpanned, giving him a look. 

Shaking his head, Benny smiled. “Nope, he’s yours. He won’t even recognize me at this point - you take him home. He’s your dog, Addie.” 

“Agree to disagree; at least for a little bit longer.” She said, holding out his hand for her to shake. “We’ll see how he reacts when you come back.” 

Benny gave her a look. “I already discussed it with Egan. You two are taking him home with you when you go back to the states.” 

“You discussed this with John?” She asked, eyes wide with amusement. “Wasn’t there anything else better to discuss?” 

Benny chuckled. “There were days all we did was talk. You’d be surprised by what was discussed.” 

“Benny, don’t you remember the rules? What was discussed in the Stalag, stayed in the Stalag.” A teasing voice called as Addie squinted to see who was teasing her friend. 

Gasping, Addie squealed a bit, spotting Murphy, Crank, Brady and two other men she didn’t recognize coming closer to where her and Benny stood.  She eagerly gave them all hugs, letting them know it was good to see them. 

“Since these dodos don’t know how to introduce us, I’m Captain Adelaide Baker, formerly of the ATAs. You can call me Addie.” Addie held out her hand, introducing herself. 

“Second Lieutenant Alexander Jefferson, you can call me Alex.” He held his hand out for Addie to shake. 

She accepted it with a big grin. “It’s very nice to meet you, Alex.” 

Looking over his shoulder, she grinned at the other man standing there. “Second Lieutenant Richard Macon.” 

Addie shook his hand as the two men looked between Addie and the others around them. “Wait, is this Bucky’s Addie?” 

“In the flesh. I’m guessing that bigger dodo didn’t stop talking about me, did he? Or did you learn a lot about me from Elizabeth?” Addie looked at the two men curious. 

Richard laughed. “Between the two of them along with the rest of the men in the barracks, we heard plenty about you.” 

“Bunch of little hens - don’t know when you keep your mouths shut.” Addie mocking glared at all the men around her. “I’m guessing they told you all the secrets. For that, I apologize.” 

“Hey, we kept you in good light, Addie.” DeMarco huffed, giving her a look. 

Raising an eyebrow, Addie returned his look. DeMarco soon deflated, sighing. “Damnit Addie, there were a lot of downtimes in the barracks so storytelling was the only way to kill time.” 

Groaning softly, Addie shook her head. Turning to Alex and Richard, she grinned. “Do I want to know which of the stories they told you made you all laugh the hardest?” 

“The box you gave Douglass of course.” Alex chuckled, scratching his chin. “Bucky’s retelling might have made the entire barrack laugh pretty loudly that the Germans came and shut off the lights.” 

Addie smiled. Despite the storytelling, she was happy they were able to have some levity within the barracks. Laughter was a powerful tool and she was happy everyone seemed to hold onto it. 

She relaxed as she eyed at each of the men in their little circle. Despite the hell they had been through, they were smiling and relaxed in the moment. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Brady, who seemed to shrink under her gaze. “Guilty about something, Brady?” 

“No, no Addie.” He stammered as he avoided her gaze, by looking behind her where Charlie and Elizabeth were standing, talking. “Glad to see your sister, Addie?” 

“I am. It’s good to see you all made it.” She crossed her arms, looking at Brady carefully. “Brady, a little birdy told me that there may be something going on between you and my sister - care to clue me in?” 

Brady sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Did this information come from a letter or a big bird named Buck?” 

“Possibly both of those sources.” She replied gently, giving him a smile. 

“Buck made it?” DeMarco exclaimed, giving Addie a look, reaching out to slug her arm. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

She looked at them with a guilty look on her face. “Sorry, forgot you all don’t know that. Yes, Buck made it out alive. He arrived in Paris on April 1st, and I went to pick him up to bring him back to Thorpe on April 2nd.”

“You picked him up?” Elizabeth cried as she and Charlie joined the group. 

Nodding, Addie smirked. “It was my second mission since you went down. The Air Force reluctantly let me fly a couple of times.” 

“I expect a full rundown of everything that you did while we were in the Stalag.” Elizabeth gave her a knowing look, which Addie winked at. 

“I’ll tell you all about it.” She promised, turning to her big brother. “Were we given a wheel up time?” 

Charlie flipped through the papers, nodding. “They want us up within the hour. We have our manifest and they were going to start guiding people towards our bird. We should probably start to head over there.” 

Charlie started to lead the group back to their plane. Addie sighed, following them. She knew it was a long shot to find John amongst the hundreds of men. She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. And now, she was potentially going to leave him behind. But she had friends and family surrounding her as she started to make her way back to the plane. 

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the tears away, willing herself to be brave until she was on the plane. She would let Charlie be the pilot on the way back. Only when they were airborne, she promised herself that she would let herself feel the anger and let down of not finding the one person she was so desperate to see. 

One foot in front of the other was her mantra as she made her way closer to the plane. She listened to her boots hit the ground, one after another. The rhythm pattern grounded herself as the voices of men around her pushed her forward. 

“Addie Baker.” 

Looking over her shoulder, she could have sworn she heard her name being called but not seeing anyone there. She shook her head, she was hearing things. She just needed to close the distance between her and the plane. The early morning and the adrenaline easing were catching up to her. 

“Adelaide Baker.” 

Again, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Looking in front of her, she watched DeMarco, Murphy, Alex, Richard, Brady, Crank, and Elizabeth follow Charlie up into the plane. There was a line at the plane of other men that were being helped up inside. She watched the line, scanning the faces of the men to see if she recognized any. 

Shaking off the delusion of hearing her name, she took a step forward, only for something to make her pause. “ADELAIDE BAKER.” 

This time she wasn’t going crazy. Her name was clearly being called from behind her. Whirling around, her eyes shifted from the left to the right until they landed on a man. A grin burst across her face as she took him in. Eighteen months it had been. Eighteen months of no hugs, kisses, affection from the man, only his letters letting her know he was okay. And there, standing right there in front of her, was Major John Egan. A wide grin on his face as he took two steps forward, just as she ran directly into his arms. Throwing her arms around his broad shoulders, she felt him tug her up. She felt her feet leave the ground as he twirled them around. “Addie, baby.” 

“John.” She choked past a sob. “You’re here!” 

Leaning back, she put her hands on either side of his face, eyes scanning his face. Leaning down, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Putting her back down on the ground, she threw her arms back around his waist, pulling him closer to her. “You’re here.” 

“I’m here, Addie. I’m not leaving you again, sweetheart.” He murmured, tilting her head up so he could look at her. “You’re absolutely beautiful, Addie. I can’t believe I'm here.” 

Pushing to her tiptoes, she pressed another kiss to his lips, as his hand came up to her neck, deepening it. Hoots and hollers rang out around them as they pulled back, dazed looks in their eyes. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek, running her thumb over the stubble that was on his cheek. “I love you, John Egan.” 

“I love you too, Addie Baker.” 

With those words, tears ran down her face. Eighteen months it’s been since she heard his voice, those words, directed at her. John’s thumb ran its way across her jaw, a smile tugged on his lips before reaching up and wiping the tears away. “God, you’re a sore sight to see, Addie. Don’t think I’m ever going to stop looking at you.” 

Reaching up, she squeezed his hand. “I’m here, John and I'm never going anywhere.” 

His eyes trailed over her face, as if to memorize it as he smiled happily. The biggest grin she had ever seen was on his face, as if to remember that he had made it and came home to her. “One thing I have to tell you, Buck made it home. I picked him up in Paris a few weeks ago.” 

“You flew to Paris?” John’s eyes went wide, before laughing loudly. “Whatever happened to Buck swearing he would never fly with you again?” 

She giggled. “He didn’t have much choice. Charlie and I picked him up and brought him back to Thorpe. He’s alright - he’s actually on his own mission today, delivering food with Rosie to the Dutch.” 

“Him and Rosie? Delivering food to the Dutch?” He shook his head, reaching down to lace his fingers with hers. “I feel like there’s so much you need to catch me up on.” 

Nodding, she grinned. “We have all the time in the world. C’mon, I fear my co-pilot is getting antsy.” 

“Co-pilot?” John echoed, looking at her with wide eyes. “You’re flying us home?” 

Squeezing his hand, she nodded, eyes lit up with excitement. “Of course, handsome. I’m not leaving you here. Come on, let’s go before the Colonel gets word that we’re not wheels up yet.” 

Tugging him along, she felt him untangle their hands before throwing his arm around her. Stepping right up to the plane, her eyes lit up seeing Elizabeth and Charlie standing in the door of the plane watching the two of them. “Welcome back, John!” 

Charlie hopped down from the plane, holding his hand out for John to shake. Addie felt Elizabeth wrap her arms around her tugging her close, giving her a side a squeeze. “Happy?” 

“Feeling all the emotions currently. I shed tears when I saw him. I don’t know how I feel right now.”  She rested her head on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I can’t believe he was standing right in front of me. Eighteen months.” 

Elizabeth smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “Believe it - your family is back together and we’re all safe and sound. Shall we head back to merry old England?” 

“As soon as you all get your butts on the plane.” She smirked, detangling herself from Elizabeth’s hold, starting her pre-flight checks. 

Running a hand on the belly of the plane, she watched Charlie and Elizabeth hop up into the plane while John waited for her. “Go on, get up in the plane. I’m right behind you - just have to finish the last checks.” 

Continuing on with her checks, she paused, watching him jump up in the plane. Finishing everything up, she pulled herself up into the plane, slamming the door behind her. Walking through the plane, she saw several men that she didn’t recognize but gave them big smiles, welcoming them aboard. 

Making her way through the plane, she pulled herself up into the yolk, collapsing on the chair adjacent to Charlie. “Are we heading straight home, or do we have to make a stop along the way?” 

“We have to stop at Radcliff before we touchdown at Thorpe.” Charlie grinned, watching Addie’s eyes rise. 

“Do they know we’re coming?” 

Charlie shook his head. “Nope, just that we’re going to be dropping off a few POWs there before heading back to our base.”

“Add that to our to-do list. Have a long discussion on where we’re going after the war is over - not sure if you want to go back to Michigan or somewhere else.” Addie looked over at her brother before starting the first engine. The other three were quickly started and before long, Addie was radioing the tower requesting take off instructions. Soon she was calling for tail wheel up and reaching cruising altitude just before 10,000 feet. 

Charlie shook his head. “Haven’t even thought that far ahead. Depending on where Anna wants to go - we still have a wedding to plan.” 

“I’m right there with you - depending on where John wants to go. I’m sure we’ll be back in Wisconsin before too long.” She chuckled. “And a wedding to plan - a crazy thought for sure.” 

Charlie nodded. “Ever think what mom would think?” 

“All the time. She would be so ecstatic to meet John and Anna. And Brady from what I heard.” She smirked, watching her brother’s eyes narrow. “She would be just excited that we were all coming home.” 

She bit her lip, attempting to ward off another round of tears. Throwing her head back, she looked up at the ceiling of the plane before laughing loudly. “I’m going to get sick of all these tears really quickly. The last thing John is going to want to deal with is a weepy gal.” 

“Don’t be too quick to think that, Bluebird.” His smooth voice broke through her laughter as she looked over her shoulder at him. 

“What are you doing up here, John? Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to be walking around in a plane while it’s in flight?” She teased, raising an eyebrow at him. 

Leaning a hip against her chair, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Had to see my girl in action, flying the plane.” 

Charlie looked between the two. “I can let you have the yolk, and I’ll go in the back by the men.” 

Addie glared at her brother as John cracked up laughing at the two. John put his hands up, turning to head back down to the navigator’s area. “No need, I’ll go back. Just had to watch Addie work as I will probably never see her in the pilot seat of a big bird any time soon.” 

“All your barrack dreams just came true, huh Egan?” Charlie called as John poked his head back in with the biggest grin.

“You know it, Charlie.” 

Addie rolled her eyes at the two. She did hope the two of them would become really good friends, and at that moment, she was regretting her wishes. “I have nothing - always thought you’d hate whomever I brought home.” 

“John Egan is a pretty great guy, and he treats you really well.” Charlie gave her a look. “You should be ecstatic that we get along so well.” 

Addie nodded, slowly. “I do but not when you two gang up against me. But rather you two get along than fight with each other.” 

“It’s the start of a beautiful life as one big happy family.” Charlie quipped, just as Addie reached over and slugged his arm. 

The rest of the flight was smooth and when Charlie radioed into the tower for landing instructions, she knew she was going to cry some more tears as soon as they landed. Landing softly, she navigated the plane onto the hardstand, killing the engines. Walking to the back of the plane, she looked at all the people in the belly. “We made a stop at Radcliff - if this is your base, you’re more than welcome to head out now. Elizabeth, wait here for a moment. Dad’s on his way out - we’re not staying long as we have a timetable to stick to but figured he’d want to set eyes on you.” 

Following those that were staying at Radcliff out, Addie joined Charlie as they watched the approaching jeep make its way onto the tarmac. Once the jeep was parked, Addie grinned seeing Anna and her father make their way to where they stood. Anna all but collapsed into Charlie’s arms as her dad pulled her into a big hug. “Good flight?” 

“Yeah, can’t complain. It was mayhem at the processing center in Munich. Brought you back 10 pilots.” She said, hugging her dad back. “We have one last surprise for you though.” 

Whistling, Addie turned towards the plane, watching the hatch open as Elizabeth tumbled out with a flourish, attempting to land gracefully. “I don’t know how you all do that so gracefully.” 

“When you’ve done it hundreds of times in your career, you just get good at it.” Addie called back, as she watched her dad’s eyes sweep over his daughter. 

“You’re home.” Her father said quietly, before pulling Elizabeth into a tight hug. 

Tears flowed down Addie’s face as she watched her dad and sister reunite after being apart for so long. Arms wrapped around her, tucking her close. Leaning down, John pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Good tears?” 

“The best kind of tears. Hello tears, instead of goodbye tears.” She whispered, reaching up to wipe the stray tears away.  Lacing their fingers together, she gave his hand a squeeze, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand. 

Watching her family reunite with one another, she cleared her throat, a frown at her face. “While I hate to do this, we do need to get back to Thorpe. Dad, Anna, want to come over later this week? I think we need to have a big family meeting, now that we’re all back.” 

Hugs were exchanged, welcome back greetings for John and Elizabeth before promises to see everyone later that week. Soon, Charlie, Elizabeth, Addie, and John were back in the plane, and they were taxiing down the runway, heading back to Thorpe. “What’s with the sudden urge to get back to Thorpe?” 

“Well, Charlie. It’s currently 1300 hours and Buck and Rosie are supposed to be back around 1500 hours. I want to make sure we’re back first so that another reunion can happen, and I want a front row seat to that one.” She said, giving him a look, watching as his eyes went wide and he chuckled. 

“Ahh Buck and Bucky’s reunion?” He asked as she silently agreed. “That’s going to be a great reunion

Nodding, she got them airborne, pushing the throttle a bit to ease into their ascent. “I know just the way John can welcome Buck back.”

“Not sure I like that evil grin you have on your face.” Charlie quipped, giving his sister a look. 

Waving him off, she smiled. “It’s going to be a great reunion, and I’ll probably shed tears again.” 

Before long, the descent to Thorpe’s started. Addie confirmed with Charlie that the landing gears were coming down and they radioed to the tower for landing instructions. Soon enough, they were back on the ground, with a gentle bump, Addie easing the plane to a stop on a hardstand. She could hear everyone rustling around in the back and she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. 

Her found family had made their way back home to her. Through unexpected odds, they survived, and they were all home. 

Gathering up her items, she made her way through the plane, smiling when she saw John standing there waiting for her. “Back to where it all began.” 

“The plane or the base?” She grinned up at him, standing by his side.

“Both, I guess. But I was thinking about the belly of the plane, when you were having one of your sad nights.” He said, sighing. “How far away that feels but that night solidified it for me - you’re it for me Addie. I’m the luckiest man in the world because I have you by my side. I love you.” 

Reaching out, she punched him as the tears crowded her eyes. Sighing, she looked up at the man that made her fall hopelessly in love. Sniffling, she shook her head. “I love you too, John. I’m going to have to put a limit on how many times you make me cry.” 

“I’ll be there to wipe your tears away every single time. I promise.” He leaned down, capturing her lips in a kiss as a throat cleared behind them. 

“How about you let the rest of us leave the plane, then you two can do whatever you want in an empty plane?” Charlie smirked, as John tugged Addie out of his way. As he passed them, Addie slugged him. 

“Should’ve left you at Radcliff for Anna and dad to deal with you.” Addie gave him a look. “Also, leave me alone - I’ve got 18 months of lost kisses, hugs, and sweet sentiments to make up for, pain in my butt.” 

Charlie held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Just remember, you have just over an hour before you need to be up in the tower.” 

Saluting him, Addie smiled at him, watching him duck out of the plane, leaving her and John alone. “An hour? What’s going on up in the tower?” 

“You’ll see. Not going to give that surprise away.” She smirked, lacing their hands together. “What do you want to do? Like Charlie said, you’ve got about an hour.” 

Scratching the back of his head, he grimaced looking at her. “I could really go for a shower.” 

“Ok! Shower for you it is.” She said before stepping on her tiptoes, throwing her arm around his shoulder, pulling him in for a steamy kiss, one that left so much to promise. “We have to make a pit stop at my hut first.” 

Dazed from that kiss, John didn’t even question her as he followed behind her. Hopping out of the plane, Addie watched as he spoke quickly to the ground crew before hopping into the jeep left for them. He tugged her right hand off the steering wheel, lacing their fingers together. Looking at her, he noticed something. “Is that the fake engagement ring I gave you before London?”

“It is. I started wearing it after you went down. More as a physical reminder of your promise. Haven’t taken it off.” She whispered the last part, focused on the road in front of them, and avoiding his gaze. 

He let her avoid him as they pulled up to her hut. Getting out of the jeep, she motioned for him to wait as she checked the hut before motioning him to follow her inside. Walking down the aisle, she paused in front of her bed. “Two things were given to me when we got word that you went down - one was your jacket, which for the record, I have worn almost every day since Kidd gave it to me. Two, they gave me your footlocker, and I’ve kept it safe for you.” 

“They gave you my stuff?” John said, crouching down, opening his locker. “Did you look through this?” 

Sitting down on her bed, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I did. We found out you were in the POW camp on December 5th, and I went through it Christmas morning as I was missing you badly that morning. I may have found a letter that you wrote but I’ll be completely surprised when you give it to me officially.” 

He chuckled. “I wrote that letter after finding you in the big bird that night. There was something about you that drew me in and I wanted to know more.” 

“Well, whatever it was, I felt it too. I wanted to know more about you.” She whispered, squeezing his shoulder. “Come on, you need a shower, and we have places to go and people to see.” 

She watched him pick up his footlocker and haul it out of her hut, placing it in the back of the jeep. Driving him towards his old hut, she watched him take in the surrounding area. “Things haven’t changed much, have they?” 

“Not really - new faces are about the only thing that has changed. Everything else has pretty much stayed the same.” She pulled to a stop outside of his hut. “Go get a shower, freshen up, then meet me at my desk when you’re done. I’ll clue you in about your surprise.” 

Getting out of the jeep, he leaned across the seats, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling back winking. “I’ll see you soon, Bluebird.” 

He grabbed his footlocker from the back. She watched him walk away, the smile tugging at her lips as he paused, winked at her again, before disappearing into his hut. She shook her head, happiness flowing through her as she drove to the tower. She should have made sure Elizabeth had everything she needed before she left the plane but her sister knew the base like the back of her hand, so Addie wasn’t too concerned. 

Walking up the stairs, she threw open the door, not sure what she was expecting, but a quiet office wasn’t it. Walking into the main part, she saw Elizabeth sitting behind her desk with a smirk. “Oh, you finally realized that I was here, huh?” 

“Well . . .” Addie hesitated, grinning at her older sister. “I’m sorry. You probably need clothes and somewhere to bunk, huh?” 

Elizabeth giggled at her sister. “I wasn’t going to interrupt whatever you and Bucky got up to. Luckily for you, I had a shower this morning, but I won’t say no to clothes or a bed.” 

“You can bunk with me. As for clothes, I’m sure we can scrounge up something - if nothing else, there’s a few extra nurse outfits that’ll work.” Addie added as she avoided Elizabeth’s swat to her arm. 

“Where did you leave John?” Her sister pushed away from her desk, coming to stand next to Addie at the windows. 

She watched old friends catch up with one another. Josie and DeMarco were walking hand in hand down the tarmac. Looking around for the canine of the base, she failed to see him. “He’s getting a shower. Did you happen to see Meatball around anywhere?” 

“He is in Jeffrey’s office. Never heard a CO baby talk to a dog before but that’s what I heard when I walked in a few minutes ago.” She smirked, nodding to the closed door. 

Addie rolled her eyes, successfully swatting her sister. “Lovely. What are your plans for the day?” 

“Avoiding you and Bucky as long as humanly possible. You two are going to be lovesick idiots now. I managed to avoid it the first time but I don’t think I’m going to be so lucky this time.” She gagged, exaggerating a shutter. 

Crossing her arms, Addie gave her a long look. “And you and Brady? What’s the story there?” 

“That, my dear sister, is a story for another time.” She grinned. “Let’s just say he’s very talented with his hands.” 

Addie put her hand on her mouth as she pretended to gag at the news. “Things I didn’t need to know about my friend. Thank you, Elizabeth.” 

“I was only saying he’s talented with his hands because he’s a musician, Addie.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Goodness, Egan has corrupted you, Ads.”

Quickly shaking her head, Addie pursed her lips. “He did not, the look on your face is what horrified me. Do I need to give Brady a talk about if he hurts my sister?”

“John may have already done that - double check with him. But if he did not, then feel free to do so.” Elizabeth smiled, pushing off the wall. “I’m going to head back to your hut, maybe take a nap. Will you come grab me when you head to dinner?” 

Nodding, Addie tugged her sister into a hug before kissing her cheek. “If I haven’t said it, it’s really good to have you home. Sister catch up soon?” 

“Absolutely. Need to know what badass stuff you got up to in the 18 months we were gone.” Elizabeth smirked, returning her hug before heading out of the tower. 

Pushing herself off the wall, she walked over to Jeffrey’s office, knocking quickly. “Enter.” 

Pushing open the door, Addie smiled seeing Meatball jump up from the floor to circle her. Reaching down, she gave him a few pats and scratched before looking up at her CO. “Thank you for watching him today.”

“Not a problem. You were right, he is a pretty chill dog.” Jeffrey smiled, seeing the dog sit at Addie’s feet. “Everything go alright with the mission?” 

Nodding, she felt Meatball lick her hand. “We brought home 30 men, 10 of which we dropped off at Radcliff before bringing the other 20 men here. I’ll make sure you meet them properly soon.” 

“Was your Major Egan one of them to return?” Jeffrey asked, watching a light blush cover his secretary’s cheeks. 

“He was.” She smiled. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring him and the men home. It was a great honor to fly them back.” 

Jeffrey stood, making his way over to her. “I am glad you got the opportunity. You do so much for the base, it was the least I could do to have you fly that mission. Now, take the rest of the afternoon off - I’m sure there will be some celebrations to welcome the men back.” 

Nodding, her and Meatball left his office, she stopped at her desk. She needed to send a telegram to Harding but finding the words was difficult. She figured simply saying that Buck and Bucky had made it back. She finished it with her signature before promising herself she’d send it later that afternoon. 

She was caught in her thoughts that she failed to hear the door open, until she saw a bouquet of wildflowers in front of her. Looking up, she grinned seeing Bucky standing there with the flowers, just as he had done countless times. “John, they’re gorgeous.” 

“Luckily, they didn’t mow down my field.” He handed them to her, Addie inhaling them before putting them in her makeshift vase, adding a bit of water from the cooled tea kettle. 

Addie turned, shaking her head at him, watching him greet Meatball. “They tried but I wouldn’t let them. Even got Jeffrey to write up an executive order that put the kibosh on that.” 

John chuckled, a grin on his face as he continued to pet the dog. “Oh, I missed you too, Meatball.” Looking up at Addie, he chuckled. “Of course you would. Now what’s my surprise?” 

“Come along, then.” She laced their hands together, leading him up the stairs in the tower, Meatball trailing behind them. Opening the door, she motioned John to go in ahead of her. “Maddie moo!” Addie cried just as the door shut behind her. 

“Hey, you! Good flight today?” Maddie asked, twirling around in her chair, only to stop when she saw John standing next to her friend. “Bucky! Welcome back!”

“I had to pick up a few men who had lost their way, including this one.” She smiled, taking a seat next to Maddie. “We’re here to surprise the crew coming back in a bit.” 

“Hi Maddie. Did my girl get my missives?” John asked, sitting in a chair beside Addie. 

“She did - left them on her desk after we got word. And you’re right on time, they should be calling into the tower any second.” Maddie said, giving the two of them a look. “He does know about that, doesn’t he?” 

Addie looked over at John, who was confused at the two. “Buck and Rosie are coming back from their mission. Thought you’d like to be the one to give them landing instructions.” 

John laughed. “Are you trying to give my best friend a heart attack?” 

“Something like that. Just think, it’ll be payback from something.” She teased, hearing the radio static come through. 

“Clearup Tower, this is Chowhound One requesting landing instructions, over.” Gale’s strong voice came through the radio as Addie watched the grin cross Bucky’s face. 

“Chowhound One, you are clear for overhead approach. Runway 281 at 1,200 indicated. Winds are 300 at 12. Altimeter, 29.96. Over.” John reported back, a smirk on his face at hearing Buck’s voice for the first time in weeks.

Addie shook her head at John. This was the perfect way to let Buck know he had returned to base, safe. John reached over, grabbing her hand, and squeezing it. 

“Clearup Tower, please repeat. Over.” Buck’s confused voice radioed back as they all bit back a laugh.

The smile was clear in his voice as he radioed back. “Oh, you heard me the first goddamn time, Gale”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Throwing down the earpiece, John pushed back from the desk, giving Addie a look. “Want to go meet him at the hardstand with me?” 

Nodding, Addie turned to Maddie. “Thank you for letting us crash the Tower for a bit.” 

“Anytime. Always happy to have you here with me.” Maddie grinned, watching the two of them head out of the tower, with Meatball hot on their heels.  

John tugged her down the stairs, making sure she didn’t trip. He hopped into the driver’s side of the jeep, waiting for her to get in. Meatball hopped in beside Addie before John tore off down the runway. She pointed to Buck’s plane as it landed softly on the tarmac. 

John waited for the plane to turn to the hardstand, before pulling up alongside the plane. Honking the horn, he smirked as Buck caught sight of him in the jeep.  Buck’s face was worth all the agony and pain they had been through. Addie watched Buck’s grin widened as he saw his best friend. 

“Look who it is. Stone in my shoe!” Buck called out, shaking his head at his best friend.

“Oh, I’m back!” All Bucky could do was laugh as he continued to follow the B-17 to the hard stand.

Putting the jeep into park, John jumped out, antsy to be face to face with Buck in a handful of weeks. Addie stood back, Meatball by her side, as she waited for the reunion. 

Soon enough, the hatch was opened and Buck dropped out, a big grin on his face. Immediately John tugged him into a hug, a few back slaps exchanged before they pulled back. Buck looked over his shoulder grinning at Addie. “Had a hand in bringing him back?” 

“Sure did. Didn’t think he was even there until literally the last 5 minutes we were on the ground.” She smirked looking between the two friends. “He found me though.”

“Had to yell her name three times before she saw me.” John teased. 

Addie smiled. “Well, it was an emotional morning. Elizabeth, DeMarco, Brady, Murphy, Crank, Alex, and Richard all came home with us too.” 

Buck grinned. “You brought them all home. I’m sure they were glad to see you.” 

“Too true, Buck.” John smiled, seeing more people come up to them. Lemmons, Rosie and Crosby joined them with handshakes and welcome backs. 

Addie reached down, petting Meatball, attempting to remind herself that they had made it, all safe and standing her on the hard stand like it was any other day. But it wasn’t and that day was one for celebrations. 

“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Rosie asked, looking between the group. 

Addie shrugged. “I have the rest of the day off. Jeffrey mentioned something about a celebration, so I’m guessing the club will be loud tonight.” 

The men hopped into the jeep, leaving Addie and Meatball to walk back. Addie needed some time to wrap her head around the day. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t realize Meatball had torn off down the way until she heard laughter. Looking up, she saw Meatball had noticed DeMarco and was excitedly jumping up and down, lapping up the attention from the man. 

Walking towards Josie, Addie grinned at her friend. “Good day?” 

“The best. You brought him home.” Josie looked over at her. “Thank you.” 

Addie chuckled. “No thanks needed. John and Elizabeth are both home too. Did he find you in the tower?” 

Nodding, Josie smiled. “I’m glad they’re back. As for Benny, he walked in, door slamming behind him and rushed up to my desk, pulling me to a stand before kissing me. Jeffrey kicked us out and we’ve been catching up since. He mentioned Meatball is yours and John’s now.” 

“Yet to be determined. I told him Meatball remembers him but Benny said he’s mine now. So, we agreed to disagree for the time being.” Addie grinned, watching DeMarco scratch Meatball’s belly. “Told you he didn’t forget you.” 

“Yeah, yeah but he’s still your dog.” DeMarco called back, vigorously scratching the dog. 

Giving them a few more minutes, she slapped her thigh, watching the dog come to her side. “I don’t know what the plans are, but there is a celebration in the club tonight.” 

Leaving them, her and Meatball continued their walk towards her hut. She didn’t know where John had gotten to but figured she would see him at the mess hall for dinner. 

Walking into her hut, she smiled seeing Elizabeth in the bed next to her, sound asleep. Collapsing on her own bed, she settled in, Meatball curled up at her feet. Sighing, she let the emotions of the day hit her. Her makeshift family was all back on base. Everyone was in high spirits and excitement was palpable. 

“What did I miss?” Elizabeth’s sleepy voice called to her. 

Addie smiled at her sister’s messy hair. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. Buck and Rosie came back. John was on the radio to welcome them back. A celebration later in the club is all I know. Everything else is yet to be determined.”

A yawn escaped Elizabeth’s mouth. “Sounds like a typical Tuesday.” 

Addie laughed. “The first one that’s felt normal in over a year.”

“You doing okay, Addie?” Elizabeth pushed herself up before coming to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her. Meatball nudged his way between the two, both girls giving him pets. 

Sighing, Addie shrugged. “I should be asking you that question.” 

“You’re avoiding it.” Elizabeth softly sang, giving her sister a knowing look. 

“Maybe I am.” She sighed softly. “I don’t know what I feel, Lizzie. I’m over the moon excited that you all are back but how do I explain to you and John what happened over the 18 months? I mean, how do I tell you that I helped plan out the missions this base did with the D-Day after Crosby collapsed from exhaustion. I saw Ryan and called him an asshole to his face. I took Rosie for a ride in Daffodil. Rosie went down then came back then I went to pick Buck up. And somehow, I made it through, one foot in front of the other for 570 days. Thank goodness for Rosie and Crosby - they made sure I ate and took care of myself while you all were away.” 

Tears fell as she whispered the last part. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her sister, much to the dismay of Meatball. Elizabeth cooed as she ran a hand through Addie’s hair. “Let it out, Ads. Just let everything that you’ve been holding in out. Shh, I got you now.” 

She cried, cried until she couldn’t cry any longer. Slumped against her sister, she snubbed, hastily reaching up to wipe away her tears. “You’re so strong, Addie. So strong but you don’t have to be strong for anyone any longer. Your family is back, and we’re not going anywhere.” 

Sniffling, Addie hugged her sister tight. “Love you, Lizzie.” 

“Love you too, Ads.” 

2200 Hours

Stumbling out of the officer’s club, John by her side, she was wound up from a night of drinking and dancing. Tugging on John’s hand, she led him to a fort, standing in front of it with a grin. “We always end up here, don’t we?” 

“You led us here. I just followed.” He joked, an easy on his face. “I’m surprised you’re not more tired, you’ve been up since 0330.” 

At his words, a yawn escaped her mouth. She gave him a look. “Didn’t want to go to bed early on your first night back. Quite honestly, I don't want you out of my sight but what can we do?” 

John looked at the fort before looking at her. “C’mon, let’s go up.” 

Opening the hatch, he got up as she followed behind him. Grabbing a blanket, she threw it over her shoulder, hoping to ward off the chill, as he pulled her into his arms. “This, this right here, is what I’ve been looking forward to most. Being alone with you, without anyone around.”

“Me too.” She gave him a shy look, taking a deep breath. “You still smell like you did before you went down.” 

“You’ve smelt me before?” He teased, causing her to knock her shoulder into his. 

“Your jacket - I wore it before it smelt like you. Tobacco, sandalwood, and mint.” She gave him another shy look, eyes looking at their connecting hands instead of him. He reached over and rubbed his thumb on her jaw before tilting her head up. 

John locked eyes with her. “Where has my Addie gone? Why are you so shy?” 

“It’s been 18 months, John. We’re both different people.” She smiled softly. “What if what we had before you went down is now completely different?” 

John nodded, leaning over and gently kissing her. “The thought crossed my mind but Addie, what we have is real. I get it, you’re nervous, hell I’m nervous. Eighteen months is a long time to be a part, but you’re it for me baby. Yes, I asked you to marry me but when we get married is up to you.” 

“I want to marry you, John. There’s no question there. Just - I want to tell you everything that happened in the last 18 months. And I’m sure there’s things that you’ll need to tell me.” She paused, sighing. “I just don’t know where to start. I hated that you felt like you needed to go back up - and it took me a long time to realize that you needed not to feel so hopeless. Like I said in a letter, I forgave you for that a long time ago. I faced my ex-fiancé and called him an asshole. I helped plan around 200 D-Day missions for our boys to make, I did a few things that may make you roll your eyes, and I did a lot of other things that probably made a difference in the war. I took Rosie up in Daffodil on Thanksgiving. Rosie and Crosby watched over me to make sure I was eating and taking care of myself. And somehow, I managed to put one foot in front of the other and we made it, John. And now we’re free to start our lives together.” 

John nodded, leaning over and kissing her. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Addie, what can I say? You did it, baby. We made it through. I’m in awe of you and everything you had to endure while I was gone. But I’m home now, and you don’t have to endure that any longer. You can lean on me, through the tough days.” 

“But you’re working through your own stuff.” She said, picking up his hand, lacing their fingers together. 

John placed a finger under her chin, tilting it up so she locked eyes with him. “We’ll work on our own stuff, together, side by side, Addie. This will be the last time you're on your own. I’m not leaving you.” 

Squeezing his hand, a few stray tears fell down her cheeks. John reached over and whipped them away, rubbing his thumb along her chin, soothingly. “I love you, John.” 

“I love you too, Adelaide.” 

Nestled against John’s chest, she listened to his heartbeat. He was here, sitting beside her. The only thing she wanted the last 570 days. She just wanted him by her side, and finally, her wish came true. 

“John?” She asked, lifting her head to look over at him, a grin crossing her face. 

“Hmm?” He hummed, continuing to play with the ring on her finger before looking up at him. 

“I don’t want to wait . . . I want to marry you as soon as possible.” Her eyes lit up at the prospect. “Will you marry me, just as soon as we can pull things together?” 

John’s jaw dropped at her words. “But you just said . . .”

“Forget what I said. I don’t want to wait.” She squeezed his hand. “I want to be Mrs. John Egan, just as soon as we can make it happen. And if we need to wait until we get back to Wisconsin, so your mom and sisters are there, then so be it but I want to be your wife.” 

Grinning, he leaned in and kissed her soundly. Throwing her arms around his shoulders, she deepened the kiss. Tugging her, he helped her settle on his lap as they continued to kiss. “Addie, baby, yes, I will marry you. Wanna marry you just as soon as we can.” 

She didn’t say anything, just leaned forward to kiss him. He groaned at the heat behind the kiss. “Been dreaming of this, Bluebird.” 

“Make love to me, John.” She whispered, against his lips. Looking at him, she watched him bite his lip as she nodded. “I want you John. So unfair that I only had you for a night before you went down.” 

Leaning closer to his ear, her hot breath sent shivers down his spine. “Love you, John.” 

“Love you too, Adelaide.” Pushing her gently off him, he guided her back on the blanket, kneeling over her. Leaning over her, his kiss, sealed a promise between them. This, this was just the beginning for them. 

Thank you for reading!!! 10,379 words to round out chapter 17. They've reunited and Addie's found family are all back at base. There's one more chapter, a wrap-up and a look into the future. I have (currently) 4 scenes that were nixed when I originally updated chapters that I'll be posting once they're all cleaned up. But if there's anything else you'd like to see, feel free to send me a message or comment below. As always, feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

Chapter 18

[irrealisms]

and by way of honoring the things we once both held dear liner notes

fic here if you haven't read it!

the Pants Party was one of the first ideas kelardry and i had for pmmm au--back in, like, last october or so--of… in minecraft, not wearing full armor is a major combat disadvantage. in pmmm, not transforming is a major combat disadvantage. magical girl outfits are all skirts and dresses. therefore: pants party. or the PP, for short. they would think this was funny.

one of the main Points of this fic is something i've been turning over in my head for a while, and that's NPPP + 3ht parallels. they're both teams based around intentionally disadvantaging yourself. bacon saying "if they kill me then everyone's gonna call them broke. because when you're at four hearts it's definitely a disadvantage in some ways, but it's nice because-- who's gonna kill you? like, if they kill you they're just a bad person, you know?" & parrot saying "you can kill us however many times you want, but killing someone with no pants on is embarrassing. it shows nothing but your desire to only fight the weak."

and specifically ... parrot says that there were two options, on the NPPP. either you put on pants or you start exploiting. and either way you're not weak anymore. and he's sort of right but he's also sort of wrong. 3ht shows that that's wrong, in the wormhole, with planet on three hearts, bacon unstacking his totems. there is a third option: you can stick with your team until it kills you. you can stay weak and die for it. i did check pmmm to make sure this was canon-accurate but also: planet's dead body is wearing pants because, ultimately, she's more of a symbol of the Pants Party/NPPP spirit than either parrot or spoke at this point. she stayed weak. and, also, the NPPP spirit is dead, both because they all gave up on it & bc if you stay weak you die. spoke and parrot end the fic transformed. planetlord doesn't.

some canon stuff i wanted to include in the fic but didn't quite work in: the fact that spoke shows the control room to everyone because he respects that planet stayed on 3 hearts (that planet stuck by the disadvantage in his team name!). the fact that spoke fed parrot totems and gear throughout the wormhole. the fact that parrot helped spoke stage the dupe war.

another main Point of the fic is just ... looking at planet's death ban at the end of s4, in a setting where the server doesn't immediately end and restart. in a setting where planet is just ... dead, and everyone has to grieve that. the vision of this 13-year-old girl, dead on the pavement, because of what spoke did, and parrot can't bring herself to kill spoke but-- something is irrevocably broken, with that. there's no going back. planetlord is dead, in a world where that can't get reversed, in a world where that means something.

relatedly: the fact that in PMMM au they're all 13-15. this is so important to me and also i think it captures something important about lifesteal to me which is that they're all...very young? obviously PMMM au is younger than canon but it's also higher-stakes than canon in some ways. the dissonance between "these are people who are destroying worlds" and "this is a teenager who thinks naming something 'poopies' is the height of humor" was something i really wanted to draw out, esp in this setting where death is real and widespread destruction kills people. in PMMM au they are doing horrible things and also they are all so fucking tiny. planet and spoke are both 13/seventh graders; parrot is 14/an eighth grader. they're middle schoolers! they're middle schoolers. i sprinkle this in throughout bc it's so crushing to me to imagine.

bonus fact: i have ages, wishes, outfits, and general storyline mapped out for, like......12 different characters. i have a vision for basically all of s4 in this au. almost everything that happened in s4 has a pmmm au equivalent. it's fun. if i were to write anything else in this au it'd proooobably be mapicc & zam--i have a lot of specific mental images there. check out this pmmm zam i commissioned i love her so dearly

i did fudge spoke's wish for this fic though. in the broader au it's actually vitalasy that can grant second wishes/contract girls without involving kyubey, and spoke and ash did Some Bullshit with that. but vitalasy is so very a witch by this point in the timeline & i thought it'd be fun if parrot had the same "i could cheat and kill spoke here with her own exploits" dilemma that canon parrot had.

you dupe witches by taking a familiar out of the witch you're killing, keeping it alive, and then feeding it humans until it becomes juuuust large enough that it's a witch of its own and will drop its own grief seed. rinse and repeat. this is horrendously unethical but it CAN get you a ridiculous number of grief seeds quicker and more easily than fighting witches normally! i love lifestealers.

i'm proud of the line "She can’t walk forward without stepping over Planetlord’s corpse." . it is up there with planetlord wearing pants in terms of Blatantly Symbolic Imagery.

the title comes from Unmasked! by the Mountain Goats. in general i really like Beat the Champ + Lifesteal. something about the showmanship of it all. as far as Unmasked! specifically ... there's something about finales and losing your secrets and, worse, losing your gimmick. about parrot's triple agenting and spoke's social engineering. about knowing each other and fighting each other and saying goodbye.

[rvllybllply2014]

Hi! Oh please don't worry over how long this took, I'm sorry our replies have gotten so long that it could stretch out like this ;w; I've started a new job btw so I'm afraid I really won't have as much free time to write such long replies as much, so I'm cutting this one a bit short, I hope that's okay! :(

I have to agree we never know what someone is going through or how their feeling, so a proper warning is always for the best! Still very sweet & thoughtful of you :')

Heh now that I think about it, the Brackens might be the only house to consider "dumber than a horse" as an insult to horses! If anyone would know just how smart horses are, it would be them! They could call Blackwood horses dumb though, just because of the Blackwood influence the poor horses have had to suffer XD

Lord & lady Tully are such a cute pair~ I love how he matches her feisty nature perfectly, and insisting she become a strong swimmer too! x3 Aw and I love how realistic their argument feels? Of course they would both react this way! They both have good points & both apologizing later sets the stage for a good marriage between them uwu

Lil bitty Samwell learning from both his grandparents & playing with his cousins is just too precious~ And I love lady Tully calling lord Blackwood out on his poor parenting & the emotional distance he puts between himself & his sons! I kind of wonder how he's react if after a bit too much wine he'd end up leaning against lady Tully, who instead of pushing him away, would hold him & stroke his hair as if he were her own son? Like she does for her daughter & grandsons? With lord Blackwood unknowingly seeking a mother's touch. Only to remember the next morning how lady Tully had held & soothed him like a child?

She's such a good grandmother to Samwell & Willem, and I understand lord Blackwood's insistence on her praying to the old gods, & she's too stubborn to be honest to him about her reason to refuse. Though I do wonder if he would have understood her concerns? Oof that argument is so hard to read, I understand lord Blackwood's hurt, anger, & loss but lying to his sons and burning the letters, not even storing them away..that just horrible D= Poor lady Tully & Samwell, knowing his father hid letters from their grandmother had to hit him terribly, and to have Willen parrot their father's teachings too! At least their Tully cousins questioned them at least!

Amos practicing flattery in front of his mirror is too cute! Along with Raylon's light teasing x3 Aw and speaking of Ser Raylon Rivers, can you imagine a secret relationship between him & Samwell in the background?

Neither of them wishing to burden their brothers with it, and feeling as though they especially can't mention it after their brother's brake up? :< And Willem keeping his blade on him while trying to distance himself from it emotionally is such a good contrast to Amos locking his blade away but keeping the key to it literally next to his heart, never truly parting from it emotionally..

Davos being the one to stake Aeron through the neck, oh my poor babies :'( Imagine if Aeron had lived but still is injured, with Davos fleeing with him and both waiting out the war while Aeron recovers, until they hear of the Blackwood attack on Bracken lands? 

Ooh I love how you wrote Willem finding the blade, how Amos never truly broke the chain connecting him to Willem.. And how the rape doesn't happen right away or all at once, how it gradually builds, and how Willem deludes himself into thinking Amos wants it. That despite his desire to punish him, he doesn't wish to see himself as Amos's rapist.. That threat to have Raylon taken before both houses, that he's already "broken in" is harsh..i totally understand Amos's fury!

Aw having Benjicot sent to Riverrun is a smart idea, though I also like the idea of him coming to Harrenhall to lead the Blackwoods, and while Oscar is tense at first, he soon sees just how much like Samwell Benjicot is? Saying he understands Oscar did what he has to and doing what he can to keep his own house in line? I could see Amos meeting him & seeing so much of Samwell in him ;w;

1A) Heh poor Aeron! I feel like the spanking he gets from Davos would be less sexual and more so an actual punishment, like for when he's genuinely unfair & rude to Davos, or does something stupid & knightly, risking his life for others, Davos wouldn't let that go without making riding too painful for his Bracken for a while, I mean what better punishment is there for his Bracken than that? I imagine he'd rarely need to use anything but his hand (which he prefers, he likes how much more intimate it feels) but occasionally, if he feels it's really needed to teach a lesson, he'll use the thin leather reins from he cut from Aeron's own horse.  He can't bring himself to use a belt but that's fine, the reins are painful enough!  

1B) Ooh I saw you wrote something for  this idea, so I'll comment on it tomorrow~ I did think up another idea involving spanking though. Now this would be a purley parental spanking, but imagine before the battle of the burning mill ever takes place, Raylon Bracken would come to blows with a group of young Blackwood men and get overpowered, being brought back to Raventree Hall by them so he can be ransomed back to his lord father. He's not treated terribly, locked away in a room instead of a cell, but of course that doesn't make him any less angry! And when Willem comes to check on him himself, Raylon in his anger continues mouthing off to Willem despite his warning... And after stomping his foot and throwing something at Willem in anger, Raylon would soon find himself lying over Willem's knees, told if he was going to have a tantrum like a little child, he may as well be punished like one..

Ah sorry this reply was so much shorter than others, there's plenty I didn't comment on, but you summed up all we've discussed perfectly~ Thank you so much for discussing all these ideas with me <3 I'm all ears to hear any you have as well! =)

Congratulations on the new job. And also no worries about reply length or anything like that.

Lord and lady Tully are definitely based on my best friend’s parents.

Also think I hit all your ideas I’m sure, so sorry if I didn’t.

And now I’m definitely thinking about Samwell and Raylon Rivers. They have been added to the list.

Just non descriptive mentions of rape, look at previous ask for the more descriptive parts of the rape and trauma.

Definitely older brackenwood with some davron once again.

Lord Tully insisted that since he had to learn how to ride like a Bracken then his wife needs to learn to swim like a Tully. Yeah the fights are just them not seeing eye to eye and just needing some time to let cooler heads prevail. Once that happens they’ll apologize because they know they both had valid points. They’re also trying to raise their daughter to be level headed.

Lord Tully once asked lady Tully why she felt bad for the Blackwood horses, when they had a tourney in honor of their daughters first name day. She explained that Blackwood horses had to deal with the dumb Blackwoods, that those horses are smarter than their owners. So of course she’s going to feel bad for them. Lord Tully just shakes his head, he just goes along with it.

The one and only time both lady Tully and lord Blackwood allow themselves to seek some form of comfort in each other is in the months leading up to lady Blackwoods death. Lady Tully had just gotten Samwell settled in for the night again, and Willem was already in his bed sound asleep. Both lady Tully and lord Blackwood had too much wine, they’re both six glasses deep when lord Blackwood starts to tear up.

Normally lady Tully would just walk away, while muttering a Blackwood can just be miserable by himself, no need to drag everyone else’s mood down, it’s already sad enough in her daughter’s room. But since she’s already tipsy and already mourning her daughter she figures that lord Blackwood is also mourning his wife. So she does the only thing that she can think to do which is move to the couch, in her daughter’s room and pat the seat next to her.

Lord Blackwood at first thinks that lady Tully is making fun of him, acting like he’s a small child like Samwell or Willem. It’s only when she says that she’s here to offer comfort, as his mother in law and a fellow mourner die he finally sit next to her. She’s the one to lean into lord Blackwoods space while pulling his head towards her shoulder. It’s only after lord Blackwood has settled down on her shoulder, does she start to pet his hair while telling him that it’s okay to already mourn someone that is alive. That although he’s a Blackwood, she’s here for him and her grandsons. She just lets him know that it’s okay to let his emotions out.

He accepts the comfort until Samwell comes in from the nursery telling them that Willem is awake and crying. Lord Blackwood starts to get up until lady Tully tells him she’ll take care of Samwell and Willem, he needs to spend time with his wife. And with that she gives lord Blackwood a kiss on his temple, and grabs Samwell’s hand telling him that they’re going to go take care of Willem.

Willem just had a bad dream, which was an easy enough fix. But Samwell wouldn’t settle down again, he was too worried about his mother and father. He’d never seen his father show any emotion. So lady Tully decides to bring Samwell and Willem into their mother’s room. It’s just a short walk back to the rooms, and when they arrive lord Blackwood questions if everything’s alright?

Lady Tully tells him that his sons need their parents, she also orders lord Blackwood out of the chair that he sitting in so she can sit there. Lord Blackwood starts to protest but she tells him to get in the bed, but to leave space between him and wife so the boys can sleep between them. She’ll tell them bed time stories until they all fall asleep. Once they’re asleep she quietly leaves the room.

It isn’t until the next day that lord Blackwood realizes that he allowed himself to be treated like a child by lady Tully. He’s a little disappointed in himself but he also realizes deep down that he needed someone to take care of him, to validate his feelings while also still being an adult. Surprisingly it’s not lady Tully or Samwell who brings up the night before, it’s Willem that does. He thinks it’s just a strange dream, that he had a nightmare and then his father brought him and his brother to their mother for comfort. It’s Samwell who tells him it wasn’t a dream.

It’s when the boys are at their lessons, that lord Blackwood decides to confront lady Tully about last night. She tells him although he’s just a Blackwood and was never deserving enough for her daughter she can see how much he loves lady Blackwood; he also gave her, her adorable grandsons. Also it’s okay to feel fear and grief for the future, they’re both about to loose someone important but they’ll always be related through the kids.

The funeral happens, the fight also happens, lady Tully keeps her promise to write but lord Blackwood burns them and years pass without Samwell and Willem seeing their grandmother until lord Tully writes to tell them that she’s sick and dying. And how much she’d love to see them one last time. They’re too late, but they do stay for the funeral and do find out about how she really had kept her promise to write. Samwell believes his cousins and concludes that lord Blackwood must’ve burnt them. Willem already so close to his father in appearance and attitude decides that although these are his Tully cousins, they’re obviously lying a Bracken never keeps a promise.

After the funeral Samwell resumes his duties of watching the boundary stones, where he meets little Amos and his half brother Raylon. Raylon was sent to check up on Amos, to make sure that he wasn’t starting a fight with the Blackwoods. So he was absolutely shocked when he saw Amos and Samwell talking. Raylon doesn’t approach them just yet, he wants to see how the little interaction plays out.

It’s only when Amos sees Raylon, does he decide to approach them. Raylon tells Amos it’s time to go back to Stone Hedge, and sends him on his way. Raylon stays back long enough to thank Samwell for being so kind to his brother, he likes to act like a big boy but he’s still just a ten year old child. Samwell says it’s no issue Amos reminds him so much of his younger brother, who’s just come back from the court. Raylon doesn’t ask any questions especially when Amos comes back to ask if he’s ready? Raylon tells to go ahead he’ll catch up he needs to finish this conversation.

Once Amos had left again Raylon asks Samwell his name, and if he can send ravens to him. Samwell agrees he sees Raylon as a friend and also a connection to his grandmother that he just lost. It’s only a few weeks before Samwell and Raylon realize that they might actually like each other, more than just in a friend way. Samwell is actually the first one to broach the subject of how there might be more than friendship between them, if Raylon would allow it? Raylon is surprised but doesn’t disagree, so as their brothers fall into love with each other Raylon and Samwell also fall into love.

Raylon sends raven on Samwells eighteenth name telling him that they need to meet that night. Samwell is sorrow by he doesn’t need to be Raylon just wanted to give him his present in person. Raylon had stolen the idea of gifting his lover a blade from his brother. He’d had the blacksmith make him a dagger with a ravens head as the handle and had a horse etched into the actual blade. That way he’d always be near to protect him. Samwell is touched by the gift and vows to get Raylon something just as special for his name day.

So when it’s Raylons name day Samwell gifts him a blade with a horse head as the handle and a raven etched into the actual blade. But unlike their brothers they continue to send ravens even after they too eventually brake up. Also both men keep their blades on them. They tell themselves it’s to keep tabs on how each house is feeling towards the other, Raylon wants to be able to advise Amos to the best of his abilities. But they also send updates about their personal lives. They each write to the other that they hope their sons can be good friends just like they were. Raylon also congratulates Samwell when he’s married and has his heir Ben.

The letters only stop after Raylon was killed in a freak riding accident, he’d been thrown from his spooked horse and trampled. The very last letter Samwell writes to Raylon is how much he loves him and he’s sorry that everything happened the way it did. He also asks how could Raylon leave him so easily and early? They both still had so much life left, but now it’s just him but he’ll do his best to live for him. He burns the letter hoping that his words will reach Raylon.

Several more years pass and Samwell gets a mysterious illness that takes him before Ben is old enough to run Raven tree hall. Willem takes over as regent and plots his revenge against Amos. According to Willem it was Amos who walked away from him and their future along with his heart, just like Amos’s ancestors walked away from the old gods. He imagined the old gods felt the same type of pain and anger he feels.

So as soon as the dance happens and he hears from Davos that the Brackens have declared for Aegon, he uses it as an excuse to attack the Brackens. He’ll finally have his opportunity to show that he’s never forgiven or forgotten Amos’s betrayal.

Willem is disappointed with Davos when he finds out that he had the chance to kill a Bracken but doesn’t. He orders the Bracken that he spared to be sent to the dungeons and left to rot. Since Davos couldn’t kill him, he’ll keep him alive but barely. He orders that Davos is not allowed down there, he can’t be trusted around that Bracken. Instead Davos is ordered to watch Amos’s son Raylon.

He wants Davos to watch a Bracken get taken multiple times while also knowing that if he misbehaves then his Bracken will also suffer that fate. Davos and Raylon still get friendly, Davos also stops his uncles men from raping Raylon on his birthday. Davos manages to tell Raylon that Aeron is still alive. Raylon is equal parts relieved and horrified. He hopes that he’s not suffering the same fate as him, Davos tells him that he isn’t sure it’s been almost a month since they last saw each other.

Willem is also delusional enough to believe that every cry from Amos is a cry of pleasure. That his begging is a way of calling back to their relationship, and how he’d always cry and plead for Willem to not stop. It’s obvious that Amos wants it even if he doesn’t explicitly ask for it. He’s just trying to play hard to get, especially when it’s in the camp on the way to Harrenhal.

Davos is forced to guard Raylon while on the move to Harrenhal, he tries to get to Aeron but he’s too well guarded. The only time Davos is allowed to see Aeron is at Harrenhal when his uncle Willem is beheaded for what he did in the river lands.

Oscar still orders Raylon and Davos back to Stone Hedge, Davos is still a hostage. Aeron is ordered to stay at Harrenhal, he’s needed to help fight, Davos and Aeron can see each other after the war.

Oscar also sends a raven to Raven tree hall demanding that Ben comes to Harrenhal. He needs Ben not to fight but to show his support towards him. Once Ben arrives at Harrenhal, he tells Oscar that he understands that he did what he needed to do, especially to secure the loyalty of all the other houses. Ben shows nothing but respect towards Oscar, which in turn causes the Blackwoods to show only respect towards him.

The first meeting between Amos and Ben, Amos almost feels like a small child again. Ben reminds Amos so much of Samwell, how he listens and weighs his words/actions before he does anything. Amos knows that house Blackwood will be in capable hands once Ben is old enough to take responsibility. Amos might also hug Ben, offering comfort to him; he’s sorry for his loss of uncle and for his father years earlier.

1A): Davos is more of a punisher when it comes to spanking Aeron. Every time Aeron back talks, trying to prove to Davos that he’s capable of being a knight, it’s over his knee until his ass is red. Davos only uses the reins when Aeron falls off his horse. Aeron was trying to show off to his friends and managed to fall, and ended up scarring Davos half to death he didn’t move for almost a whole minute and he couldn’t cross over to Bracken lands to check on him. Davos tells him this spanking is for his own good, it should teach him not to show off.

2): Raylon knows that he’s being an irrational brat, especially in front of Willem but he’s pissed. It was a stupid mistake on his part, he’d followed his horse into Blackwood lands and ran right into Willem. As soon as Willem realized who had ran into him, he knew he’d get a huge ransom from Amos.

But first Willem needed to get Raylon to stop snorting and stomping his foot and the only way he knows how to is bend him over his knee and spank him. He makes Raylon count to ten, and then evaluates Raylons attitude. If Raylon is still throwing a temper tantrum, then it’s ten more smacks. It will continue until Raylon has learned his lesson.

[foodsies4me]

I love Apollo:Blood Wars! I’m desperate to see those three get their comeuppance! I know absolutely nothing about daemons but your fix does a great job at conveying the seriousness of the relationship. I wouldn’t of thought that Alec would have a parrot but it makes sense! If you don’t mind elaborating, what was your process for deciding everyone’s daemon?

Tbh, I’m a sucker for any story that recognises the lack of stellar siblingship in shadowhunters. Season one Alec is treated awfully and I love him being appreciated. Like, I get they’re teenagers but surely siblings would know the amount of shite he’s dealing with being acting head.

Love all your works and looking forward to updates!

Thank you for the kind words, nonnie!

For some reason, all of my leftover salt for the way Jace and Izzy treat Alec in season 1 came out in this fic, which means it takes some getting used to when I switch over to a fic where they are being good siblings.

Also, I am apologizing for the absolute ramble I'm going to send your way, but in my defense, you asked about the choosing process for the daemons! I'm only going to be mentioning the daemons we already have met to avoid rambling too much.

So, for Alec, I knew I wanted a bird from the get-go, and while I have seen a lot of fanart of Alec holding a raven or a crow I wanted to do something different. Then I just went for personality: I needed it to be an intelligent bird, social and cuddly with those it trusts and loves but picky about handing out that trust and so I ended up choosing a parrot. (I'll admit I was partially influenced by my own parrots, one of which I have heavily based Apollo's quirks on.) Additionally, I thought it was funny to give Alec, who doesn't speak much unless he's at ease, an animal known for talking a lot as a daemon.

For Magnus: Well who else but Chairman Meow could it have been? So, that one didn't take much thought.

Izzy got a black panther because I wanted something graceful, strong, and most of all dangerous. Several characters have daemons that appear harmless - either because of magic or because they're animals we tend to wrongly consider harmless. But, with Izzy, I didn't want that to be the case because Izzy gives me very strong "I'm dangerous. I know I'm dangerous. And I don't hide it" vibes in the series. And so, black panther!

Jace got a lioness (as well as two other forms that haven't been revealed yet!) for similar reasons. I wanted a dangerous animal, prideful if possible and, what with the whole "Jace is one of the best fighters the Clave has seen in years" I needed it to be a King of thee Jungle kind of dangerous so that's how I landed on a lioness for him.

Underhill has a snappy, eastern box turtle: smart, quiet, shy and harmless (at least at first sight). They're often considered solitary creatures, but they can grow really strong bonds with other turtles or their human owners when in captivity, and this ties into my headcanon that Underhill looks like a friendly loner at first (nice and kind but likes to keep to his own) but that he just needs some time to get out of his shell so to speak.

Clary has a dove and a bull (+ one more unrevealed form) the former of which she shares with Valentine. I liked the idea of Valentine using the fact that his daemon is a dove ( a symbol of peace and purity) as a way to further prove his righteousness and moral superiority compared to the rest when he was still starting out with creating the Circle. Clary having that same daemon is also my not-so-subtle way of showing how, despite being very against him in the series, Clary shows a lot of traits that are similar to Valentine. The bull daemon is another - is dangerous, but also fits Clary because of her bullheadedness, I run full speed without thinking of the consequences personality. (Or that's the way I read her at least.)

Jace and Clary's daemons having multiple forms will be dived into further as the story progresses, but it ties back into the whole "all downworlders have something special going on with their daemons" thing.

Kyle (yes I am talking about my OC's and their daemons because I am entirely shameless) has a dumbo rat: friendly, sociable, curious, inquisitive, and very intelligent (which works well with Kyle being the Head of the Investigation Department), cuddly and just all around very affectionate. Basically, they're golden labrador puppies but as rats, which fits Kyle.

Cécile has a Barbados threadsnake (the smallest snake species in the world! They are so cute and smoll!) They're solitary like most snakes and prefer a nocturnal lifestyle. They're non-venomous and prefer to spend most of their time burrowed in soft soil, which again works with Cécile who prefers to be on her own, which is why she spends most of her time working undercover in the mundane world in places where mundanes might unknowingly come into contact with demons.

I'm going to stop my rambling here before I really turn this into a novel, but yeah that is a very rough resume of the thought process I had when choosing the different daemons. :D