#yeah I'd never actually tried going on an adventure with a dog before

[victorluvsalice]

Welcome back to the Chill Valicer Save, everyone! When we left off, the trio had just hit Summer Monday, which I thought was a perfect day to spend selling things at their store --

-->But first – at the end of the last episode, Victor had just realized that holy SHIT did poor Shadow need a bath. XD So I had him take her upstairs to give her a scrub in the new fancy tub, while Alice (hanging out in Smiler’s room) got send to bed to top up her energy and Smiler finished upgrading their video production station with the “auto-update” upgrade that keeps it from breaking. Nice. :) They then studied the trends and discovered people were interested in tech reviews again, so I had them do a gadget review – and to my shock and amusement, the gadget they chose was what looked like an old early 2000s cellphone. You know, those “candybar” models that just had all the buttons and the little screen right on the front? Successor to the flip phone? That sort of thing. I promptly put “less of a review and more of a history lesson” in the description when they finished. XD

-->While that was happening, Victor finished up Shadow’s bath – and while I was clicking on her to see what I wanted to do next, I realized something: despite Shadow being an Adventurous dog, I had NEVER actually taken her on an adventure! And as Victor was feeling pretty darn good, I decided that 3:30 AM was a perfectly good time for them to dive down the rabbit hole. XD Literally – the “go on an adventure” option involves a Sim and their dog disappearing into a rabbit hole and having a little text adventure off-lot. Victor and Shadow thus headed down the front path, where – as per the pop-ups – they headed to Brindleton Bay and Whiskerman’s Wharf! Their adventure involved Victor and Shadow tracking an interesting scent past the still-hopping Salty Paws Saloon and along the edge of the harbor – only for the trail to go at an empty dock. Apparently whatever Shadow had sniffed out had already left on whatever boat had been moored there. Victor assured her it was all right, and when they got home, I had him give her a treat for being a good girl. :) It wasn’t anything spectacular, but hey – always good to engage with a part of the game I haven’t really messed around with before!

-->With the adventure over, though, it was time to start getting on with the business of the day! Victor went and hit the bathroom before going to tend his greenhouse (the new set of overgrown crops were looking VERY weedy), while Alice woke up, licked herself clean, then went out onto the front porch to call all their Free-Spirited cats home from their own adventures. And to finally take the cone off poor Surprise, who was probably sick of not being able to lick herself. :p She then set about cleaning the spoiled food out of the fridge and having a chat with Gino the MySim statue before getting herself a plate of berry waffles. Smiler, meanwhile, edited their “tech review” of the candybar phone, then went outside to feed the chickens and clean their coop –

[moreclaypigeons]

Lorem Lore Masterpost (The Infinite Dungeon)

Maybe you've heard of Lorem Ipsum. Or maybe you haven't. Either way, she's heard of you. Probably. Or will at least pretend she has.

So, what's her deal?

A while ago I was struck with the perfect character name- lorem ipsum. It's the pseudo-latin filler text everyone uses in design. How fucking funny would that be? I set the name aside for a while and decided next time I got to play DnD i'd use it.

And then that day came along. @siriwesen announced they were looking for players for a mini campaign, called The Dungeon. They said they would put our characters through hell. Yippee!! The perfect opportunity for my silly guy.

Lorem is a 22 year old human sorcerer. From afar, you wouldn't expect much from her, just your typical adventurer. But there is more to her than it seems! Up close, you could see a faint opalescent shimmer on her skin, the result of spending her formative years traveling between the outer planes. She never really had one place she called home, as she was always on the move, but the closest thing she had was Elysium. That was where she had felt safest, among celestials, phoenixes, and moon dogs alike. As she grew up, the magic of the outer planes imbued her with power, which aside from her powerful spellcasting, can be seen in the shimmer of her skin or the glow of her eyes as she wields that magic.

[ art by @siriwesen ]

Being a messenger between planes was great and all, but she felt lonely and out of touch with her roots. In an attempt to reconnect with her past, she returned to the prime material plane with only the clothes on her back and her trusty messenger bag (which actually carries a lot, to be honest!).

However, things didn't exactly go to plan. She was only there a few days before... well... she can't quite remember what happened.

She wakes up in a cell, in a dungeon. She notices the walls are well lit, despite a lack of any light source. Fucking weird but not the worst she's been in. She takes her ring of miscellaneous keys and opens the cell door. As she walks down the hallway, she's greeted by one of these fuckers. Some bug skull thing. Ick.

[ art by @siriwesen ]

She tried to attack it with sacred flame, no success. Then, from the hallway, she hears footsteps as a pale human man makes his way down, quite afraid. She says fuck it and casts firebolt, which fuck- did not work on that bug. Barely missed the man. He flips her off before running down the hall.

Lorem quickly discovers they are not alone, as she takes out the bug with a spear, then discovers that the hallways lead to other cells. Altogether, there are four people in the dungeon. And the bugs remain defeated. As they try to figure out what the shit is happening, they discover another cell, which is empty, and a paper which alluded to an "author" visiting the realm for inspiration.

The group discovers a staircase, and as they climb them, a white fog clouds their vision, and they find themselves in a different room, with 4 of the bugs waiting for them. They do some badass shit and take them out, with minor hiccups. Lorem aligns with two of the bugs and shoots her firebolt through them, searing them both at one instant.

As those bugs lie dead, the team notices a pile of bones nearby. Recognizing it from the previous floor, they decide they should figure out if it would also turn into a bug.

[ art by @amberflatwoods ]

Which... yeah may not have been the best idea. Youch!

Quail boy did a bit of a dumb but it ended up being alright with a heal from the half-elf. Meanwhile, blondie engages in combat and then runs away, which *dm voice* you're going to provoke an opportunity attack! And he's pretty injured. Lorem casts aura of vitality to give him a heal, and they take down the bug.

But blondie decides that he hasn't had enough yet, and investigates the pile of bricks, which, fuck. is a mimic, hungry for blood. Stabbing it kind of helps, and then the half-elf bard casts thunderwave on it, which Lorem saved for. But, fuck. The other guy is still in range. He's low on health.

[ art by @lexarga ]

He does some more attacking, and.. well.. yet again tries to run. Some people never learn... in an opportunity attack, the mimic mauls him.

Lorem sees this stranger across from her as he bleeds out. She shouts out in protest, watching the pile of bricks descend upon him.

[ art by @amberflatwoods ]

And then everything goes white.

And she's back in her cell again.

Anyways, antics carry out from here. In the second cycle, they finally introduce themselves to each other.

The human(?) rogue is Damien [ played by @abstractbabble ]. The half-elf bard who healed Lorem is Lyr [ played by @lexarga ]. And the avian halfling who shot her in the arm (which healed. only physically...) is named Guthrie [ played by @amberflatwoods ].

They do some more digging, and discover: 1. a few bottles filled with liquor, 2. a rope hanging from the ceiling in the empty cell, which leads up to the second floor.

The second Lorem sees those bottles, she goes, "MOLOTOV COCKTAIL!"

Together, the gang devises a plan, where Damien will climb the rope and cast minor illusion to distract the bugs, and Guthrie will launch the bottle at them as they gather in one spot

[ animation by @amberflatwoods ]

And it's pretty successful... I mean they don't die immediately, but a little fire never hurt. Lorem immediately adds fire to fire, killing the big guy with sacred flame, and shooting another with firebolt. Which, well. Shit. Sets the table on fire. No big.

And here is when we learned Lorem is a fan of arson. My fault, really, for giving her two fire-related spells.

[ art by @siriwesen ]

They do some puzzle shit, get to the next floor, and discover they are on floating platforms in a void that extend repeating infinitely outward. The usual. After some investigating and physics testing (he threw a candle over the gap and it was fine!!!) Damien makes a running jump for it, but he kind of slows down in the air, like he's moving through jello, and Lorem sees as he misses the ledge and plummets downward.

And then everything goes white.

Third time's the charm?

[ art by @amberflatwoods ]

The second floor is tougher this time around. The damn bugs keep respawning. But they have nothing on Lorem, she takes no hits.

Meanwhile, Damien is being crushed by a cabinet and they realize the items don't restock each cycle. After defeating the enemies for realsies, the four of them sit around a table and rest with some wine.

They talk about whether they'd reunite after they escape, and Lorem assures them she'd be able to find them. One way or another. Guthrie gives her a feather just in case. She says, "my dog will find you," which sounds threatening but moon dogs are not scary.

This time they successfully make it past the third floor, through a series of bridge-forming puzzles. There's a fifth platform set that seems to activate on its own, but uhhhh let's just ignore that for now guys.

They end up in a village, which is pretty obviously fake. There are characters all around it (!!! other people !!!!) but after approaching them all, they discover they are NPCs. WHEN WILL IT END?

Lorem tries to exploit the infinite fish glitch, which doesn't work. Whatever, lame. They head to the next floor.

CUE BOSS BATTLE MUSIC

They find themselves in an enclosed rundown castle, with an atrium. Floating above a tree is a GIANT monster bug skull. Holy shit. Fear for my life. Lorem finds out fire doesnt work on it (RUDE), needs a heal from Lyr, and Damien rushes up the stairs.

Where he is.. promptly killed by taking one hit after the other. Yikes dude

You know the drill.

The next time they reach that floor, they're smarter about it. They have a lot more HP, and do more heals. Guthrie hides behind the left staircase, while Damien goes up it. Lorem leads Lyr up the right staircase, as Lyr casts vicious mockery. Cornered between two skull bugs, Lorem casts spirit guardians, and a swarm of winged spirits in shifting colors swirl around her. They completely desecrate the bugs.

Lyr moves forward, and the spirits part like the curtain of a waterfall as she makes her way closer to the enemy. As Lorem follows, taking cover beside a tree, the spirits follow her in a 15 foot radius, but they're moving slower.

Through the spirits, Lorem sees as Damien approaches the giant from behind. As he casts color spray, a paint-like substance splatters everywhere in the direction of the bug, and from his balm glows a brilliant a blinding light.

[ art by @siriwesen ]

As the light dims, in the spot where Damien once stood, is a giant white figure. It's long, and cylindrical, and has 6 legs. And it is staring down at the bug with an eyeless grin.

[ art by @amberflatwoods ]

Aaaand that's where we last left off a few days ago. Pretty exciting!

I love this campaign so much and I love our little adventuring crew and all the Situations (tm) they get themselves into.

[survey--s]

679.

Do you have a large dog? If not, are you afraid of them? No, Archie is medium-sized and weighs just under 20kg. I'm not afraid of large dogs but I definitely have a healthy respect for certain breeds lol.

Has anyone ever told you that they loved you, and you didn’t say it back? Yes.

Who is your favorite photographer? I love taking photos but I've never been all that interested in looking at other people's. I couldn't name any famous photographers.

Were you shy in high school? Yes, but only in school. I had plenty of friends outside of school that I was really confident and happy with.

Did the last guy/girl you kissed have any piercings? He does but he doesn't wear jewellery in them anymore.

Do you actually love your parents? I do.

Do you know anyone autistic? *waves* that's me! And my dad, and my cousin, and basically most of that side of the family, haha.

Do you like your girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s parents? I do like my in-laws, yes. They're lovely to me and good eggs, overall.

Do you like Polaroid photography? I've never used a Polaroid before.

Who was the last family member of yours that died? Uh. I honestly don't know, probably my granddad, I think? He had prostate cancer and died in his sleep at 93 or something. We weren'tr remotely close.

Do you have any gay family members? Yeah, my dad's sister is gay.

Would you be upset if you caught your boyfriend looking at porn? No. I don't really agree with porn as a concept but it wouldn't bother me if someone chose to look at it. That's not up to me to police.

What is your favorite type of cat? I LOVE Maine Coons. I remember going to a cat cafe that had a massive ginger Maine Coon boy and he was the soppiest thing ever. I would love one but they're just so expensive so we have moggies instead. Two black and one ginger - all boys.

Who of the opposite sex has seen you at your worst? Probably Chris, actually.

Were you raised by someone other than your parents? No.

What’s the last chore you did? Washing the breakfast dishes and cat bowls.

What is your favorite jungle animal? Tigers.

Is your father injured? He is not.

Are you part Native American? No.

What are your pets’ names? Archie, Purrlock, Toby and Simba.

Have you ever worked two jobs? Not at the same time, no.

What are the names of all the dogs you’ve ever owned? Archie.

Would you ever get a face tattoo? Noooo. I think they look absolutely horrendous.

Who in life have you felt the strongest need to protect? My pets, I guess, because they have nobody else to look out for them and I chose to bring them into my life.

What is the cruelest thing a person has ever said to you? I don't know, really. Nothing really stands out, I have to say.

Who have you most feared in your life? David, probably.

What is your strongest reason for your opinion on abortion? Because I don't believe the government should have any say on what a woman decides to do with her body.

What one natural thing would you most like to see? I'd love to see the Northern Lights again. You can see them from here fairly regularly but I'm too lazy to get up and drive out lol.

Do you like the game Tetris? Not really.

What’s the most rebellious thing you’ve ever done? I'm really not a rebellious person.

Have you ever wanted to be a model? No.

Do you like your name how it’s spelled? Sure.

Who was your first online friend? I honestly don't know. Maybe Sara? We're still in touch actually.

Your last ex: how did you two get together? We worked in the same place, then after he left he messaged me to go for a drink and it just went from there.

Does your mom dye her hair? She doesn't. She's embraced the grey, lol.

What’s the best kind of video game? (Adventure, shooting, etc) I like quest ones or music ones mostly, or those merge ones.

Do you know anyone who has road rage? I definitely get annoyed with idiot drivers lol.

Have you ever had a controlling boyfriend/girlfriend? Yes.

Have you ever tried to break up anyone because YOU liked the guy/girl? Nah, that's really shitty behaviour.

Do you draw fanart of anything? No.

What was the last music video you watched? Did you like it? I have absolutely no idea. Probably some random one that came to mind from like, two decades ago.

What’s a condition you have that you haven’t been officially diagnosed with? How can you know you have it without a diagnosis?

Which one of your parents do you think is smarter? Academically speaking, my dad. Emotionally speaking, my mum.

Have you ever supported anyone’s Kickstarter? If so, what was it? Nope.

What band has the power to make you cry by splitting up? None of them. I really don't get people who cry over celebrities or bands. It makes no sense to me.

Can grills be sexy on a guy? That's a blast from the past lol. They're not sexy on anyone.

What’s your favorite comic book/graphic novel? None of them.

Do you prefer original or sour Skittles? Original, but sour are good too.

Do you find it easy to pass the time or do you get really bored? I'm pretty much never bored, there's always something to do.

Have you ever been in a Catholic confessional? Nope.

Who was the last non-relative you rode in a vehicle with? Uhh, probably Susie.

What was the title of the last song you listened to? She Likes the Beatles.

Who is the lead singer of your favorite band? My favourite band/singer changes all the time.

Do you expect to be married in the next 2 years? I'm already married and I certainly hope that doesn't change.

Have you ever had an allergic reaction to an insect? No.

Who IMed you on Facebook last? Ella.

Is there an item that you bought on a whim, but now consider it a crucial part of your life and you would or have purchased it again? A wax burner.

What flags do you have in your room, if any? None.

What was the last thing you ate? Blueberry and banana pancakes.

What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Flooding and storms.

Do you or your parents rake your yard? Nobody does.

If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? ...

Where did you meet the last person you swapped numbers with? She's a dog walker down south - she needed help finding a walker for her mum who lives a few miles away.

Who was the last person to add you as a friend on Facebook? I honestly don't remember, probably Ella or Sarah.

[emachinescat]

I've decided to watch MacGyver from the beginning (again), and I'm live tweeting the experience with every tweet tagged with #savemacgyver. I thought it would be fun to share my collected thoughts from the episodes on here as well.

My Thoughts on S1E2, "Metal Saw"

Seriously love the music in this show!

THE FREAKING BELT GRAB. You can tell they've done this kind of thing before.

I always love it when Jack and Mac have heart-to-hearts in the middle of super intense, dangerous situations. Like... it's sweet, but time and place, guys?

"Hi, I'm Jack." Nervous Jack is bebby.

Ew, sweat. Like, I know it's "realism" to have sweat stains on clothes in situations like these, but that's one bit of realism I can always do without. Gross.

Is that a bit of PTSD I'm seeing with Mac there on the couch? That's a kind of realism I can always get behind.

Riley finding Mac and Boze in that compromising position will never not be funny. "But he was on top." I love Riley more every episode.

Riley is a really good liar from day one.

I love the joke about ex-cons benefiting from being in relationships with stable people (i.e., fake boyfriend Bozer), then the immediate cut to Bozer with his whole arm inside the vending machine. Great stuff.

Love the Riley and Bozer bonding... right up until the cringe-tastic "Slide me your digits."

"Soon, I'm gonna woo you the same way Romeo would have wooed Juliet if they had Snapchat back in the Renaissance." Bozer and his surprisingly accurate pickup lines. The Renaissance did in fact start in Italy around the 14th century, when R&J is thought to take place.

I love all this psychoanalyzing of Mac. "Adapting is his survival mechanism." Also I'm living for Jack sticking up for Mac to Patti.

"This place has been searched by everybody and their dog." Is this a Texas thing or an old guy saying? Either way it's great.

Nothing beats the early days of Mac and Jack. Nothing. I wish we had gotten more interactions where Jack has to parent Mac: "Stop touching that. Look at me." ❤️❤️❤️

Jack so concerned about Mac and putting on the kid gloves = everything I could have ever asked for and more.

Jack has such a big heart. Poor guy, the look on his face when he sees that the reporter is actually Sarah...

Paperclip sculptures: When I first started watching the show, I thought they were lame. Now I miss them so much. Does that mean I've gotten lamer or that they were always cool and I was always lame?

"Closest time I ever came to coming home in a box." Oof. This line hits different now, and not in a good way.

I just love how Jack is this big tough ex-Delta who is so open about his emotions, particularly with Mac. And the way Mac reassures him... Their bromance is top-tier.

"Oh, like when they invented fire!" Another zinger.

Mac grabbing that giant cigar right out of that dude's mouth 😂😂😂

Love some good fight-scene Mac whump! 👏👏👏 And bar fights are always a blast!

Riley with the car door - such a boss. "What? You told me to stay in the car, and I did."

I've seen some people say they don't like S1 Mac's hair. I kind of dig it, to be honest. He looks like he's 5, but I love it.

Mac has made a lot of DIY cutting torches in his time, but they never get less impressive.

Jack trusting Mac to save Sarah while he keeps watch is just *chef's kiss*!

These early episodes have so many MacGyverisms. One right after the other. It's awesome.

I've never been a big fan of the dark either, Mac.

The first scene with Mac and Sarah is so beautifully tense and whumpy (he way he scrabbles for purchase, gasps for breath, that hitch in his voice as he tries to squeak out Jack's name) that I had to rewind and watch it again.

The hopeful disbelief in her voice: "Jack Dalton came for me?"

Sarah can kick some serious ass. I can see why Jack likes her. Too bad she's about to lead him on the rest of the episode, while actually having a fiance...

Sarah: *leans out of car, shooting her weapon with deadly, terrifying precision* Riley: I agree, this woman should not have kids. 😂 Everything that comes out of Riley's mouth is gold.

Riley asleep in the back of the car while Mac sits quietly and Jack and Sarah have a sweet moment is like mom and dad with the kids in the backseat. Except mom has a fiance and hasn't told dad yet, even though she's had ample opportunity.

Because seriously, Sarah. It's not that hard to tell him the truth. Giving him those big eyes and flirting with him, thinking he has a chance is just cruel. I have never liked her character, and this is why.

Mac and Jack giggling about Jack's crush on Sarah like middle-school girls is life.

"You're just gonna have to let that go." Man, I love their relationship.

Gosh, the scene where they find Luis always hurts so badly. These early episodes did not play around.

"There isn't always time to beg some suit back home for permission to do what's right." I'm not a fan of Sarah, but I love this line. Also, this is pretty much the synopsis of the whole show.

Riley's hair used to be so LONG! 😍

The loyalty of these three! And I love the OG trio so much.

This sleazy guy in the computer place makes my skin crawl.

Love how Patti's like, "Mac will be back by then." Not Jack, not Riley. Just Mac. Can we say teacher's pet? I actually lowkey love this though.

"Who is this guy?" Much like Doctor Who's "It's bigger on the inside," I never get tired of people being equally amazed and confused at the stuff Mac can do.

I've never been the biggest car chase junkie, but Barrios jumping over the car using that log in the road is pretty dope.

Sarah's rage is chilling. And Jack talking her down breaks me every time.

Again, I love the loyalty of our team. Everyone sticks up for each other, ending with Mac's totally unbelievable but still somehow 100% genuine "It was me. I forced them." TOO good.

First mention of Oversight this early. Just thinking about who it is that doesn't like unsanctioned ops just makes me 😤 I wonder if the writers knew who OS was at this point or if it was a later development.

I do wish we could have gotten more conspiratorial, approving Patti. She's so much better than expressionless, bland Patti.

The way Sarah never told Jack about her fiance Jeff (who is in fact a cinnamon roll but still a discount Jack) pisses me off. "I tried to tell you." Yeah, right. It's not that hard to say, "Yo, I'm in a relationship."

Jack NEVER should have found out about Jeff the way he did. There's no excuse.

It's not okay, Jack. She did you wrong. You didn't deserve that. Stand up for yourself, man. Gosh, he's so broken here, and I hate it.

"At least we have each other... Don't look at me. I know how weird it sounded." THESE TWO I SWEAR 🤣🤣🤣

Poor Mac. I do love how we get his obsessive tendencies so early in the show, and how they keep coming back, even as late as season 5. As someone with clinically diagnosed OCD, this makes me feel seen and I love being able to relate to my favorite character.

Love the found family antics at the end. Riley and Bozer making dinner while Mac and Jack play basketball? Perfection.

Lol, Bozer calling Riley a "caramel goddess" has such Schmidt/Cece vibes from New Girl, and I dig it!

Ew. More sweat. I know some people find sweaty men attractive, but that is NOT my vibe. I prefer my men clean and freshly laundered.

The way Riley glances back over her shoulder at them as she walks away, as if to make sure they're really there, that this is actually real!!!

"That's not even... that's true, actually. That's sad." Jack 🤣 Also, "I'm hungry." Big mood.

As a Grandpa Harry stan from the OG show, I eat up any mention of him in the new one. I just wish we'd gotten more of that wonderful man in the reboot. Still, I'll take what I can get!

I'd honestly forgotten how much I enjoy this episode! So solid, full of bromance, found family, and lots of good-natured bickering. Can't wait to watch the next one, hopefully tomorrow! In the meantime, please keep fighting for our show! Together we can #savemacgyver!

If anyone wants to join me in my re-watching and tweeting adventure, please do! It's my way to take about an hour a day in my busy, busy life to commit to the #savemacgyver movement. (And to enjoy my favorite show yet again!) If you do tweet as you watch, make sure to tag EVERY tweet with ONLY #savemacgyver so we can keep that hashtag trending! :)

Thanks for letting me share my (numerous) thoughts on this episode. This was really fun, and I hope it's something you all enjoy, too. I'd love to know what you all think of the episode in the comments! ❤️

[branwyn-says]

i just want to tell you that while i haven't read new sherlock fic in literal years and have no interest going back to that fandom or browsing the ao3 tag ever again, compatible damage is so important to me that i reread it regularly and if i ever got an e-mail notification saying you updated it, i'd drop everything immediately and check it out. this isn't meant to be a shitty please update ask though, i just want to say that i have a lot of feelings about that au and i appreciate your writing!!

You’re wonderful. I feel the same way about Sherlock fandom but sometimes I wish I could get back into that headspace just so I could finish The Silences, Here is how that story was going to go, if anyone cares: --The premise of the story was that it would mash up the basic plot of the Arthur Conan Doyle story The Abbey Grange (Holmes decides to let a naval officer off the hook for killing his friend’s abusive husband) and the Holmes backstory from The Adventure of the Gloria Scott (Holmes’ bff at college was a guy named Victor Trevor whose dog bit him on the ankle). --The same early 20th Sherlock Holmes pro fic (the Baring Gould book) that gave us William Sherlock Scott Holmes as his full name speculates that Mrs Hudson came into Holmes’s life via the Australian criminal named Hudson who blackmailed Victor Trevor’s father. --In my fic, “The Silences”, Victor Trevor and Mrs. Hudson have a close bond, because she was around his family when Victor was a kid and when her husband died it was good for both of them. He was abusive and Victor saw the ugliness and pain of all of that first hand. 

--Years later, after going into Ambiguous Spy Work following a naval career, Victor finds out that an old friend, Mary Foster, is now trying to escape an abusive marriage. He tries to help Mary get out, but when her husband finds out, Victor kills him, and the case is unsolvable by the police because Victor is MI6 and just that good. --...Yeah I am just now realizing that the plot of this story is basically John Reese’s back story from Person of Interest which explains a whole lot now I think about it. --Anyway, in the period between “I have to get Mary to safety” and ��oops never mind, the abusive jackass is dead”, Victor writes to Mrs Hudson: “Do you happen to know if Sherlock is still alive because I would like to discuss A Situation with him.” Mrs Hudson gives Sherlock that letter, prompting Sherlock to reach out to Victor. --Victor has already committed the murder he wanted Sherlock’s help to avoid having to commit, so...he acts real cagey. But he’s a spy so, that tracks, and Sherlock is not that suspicious at first. --But Lestrade has been tasked to solve the murder of Sir Eustace Brackenstall because blah blah important dude unsolvable case, so he attempts to get Sherlock and Joanna in on it. Joanna is down. Sherlock is, “No, my one purpose in life is to tend to Joanna’s medical needs until she is fully recovered.” Joanna: Getting you out of the flat is a medical need that I have. On account of, you are suffocating me. Sherlock: That’s just the opiates I drugged you with talking. --This story was always meant to be the culmination of the <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/series/13134”>Compatible Damage series</a> theme of “Joanna Watson has expert knowledge of how trauma and domestic violence cause people to behave in irrational ways that baffle Sherlock’s deductive logic” --Because Joanna is recovering from the serious injuries sustained in <a href=“https://archiveofourown.org/works/294574”>Let Sense Be Dumb</a>, she spends a lot of time chatting with Mrs. Hudson while Sherlock is investigating for Lestrade and getting reacquainted with Victor. Mrs. Hudson talks a little about her awful marriage (this was all plotted out long before there was any Mrs. Hudson back story in BBC canon) and thus, Joanna is very In That Headspace where she’s having trouble with the concept that healthy relationships can exist, especially heterosexual ones. (I am not sure if I ever made it clear but Sherlock and Joanna are both biromantic and slightly ace spectrum in my stories.) --Things are very tentative between Sherlock and Joanna. They’re both aware that they want intimacy with each other, of some kind, that they love each other, to the extent they understand what that means, but how the hell do they proceed? Joanna’s in bad shape, Sherlock is constantly anxious and overprotective and slightly smothering in his nursing duties, and is also terrible at nursing. Joanna is just tired of Other People and sometimes, Sherlock Specifically. --Mrs Hudson offers to cook a big dinner so they can have a small party and invite Victor and his new fiancee Mary over! This will end well. Actually, it goes great, and Victor is over the moon to meet Joanna and they bond over Sherlock’s baby pictures so to speak, and then Sherlock takes Victor aside for...idk, something, and Joanna and Mrs. Hudson and Mary all have an after dinner tipple and a chat... --...and by the time Victor and Mary are getting into a cab, Joanna knows for A Damn Fact that Mary’s previous relationship was abusive, and that Victor was trying way too hard to charm everyone. She doesn’t say anything to Sherlock because...it’s a friend! A Sherlock friend! She isn’t going to fuck that up! Please get Sherlock out of the flat, Victor, Joanna needs some space! But boy that was some suspicious body language and protective behavior she saw. --Lestrade is coming over a bunch, because he and Joanna are bros, and Sherlock is Unavailable For Detective Work Because Joanna is Hurt, so Lestrade gets Joanna to help him think shit over. So that’s how Joanna finds out that Mary Foster was Lady Brackenstall, until recently. 

--From the outside, there is no evidence of abuse in the Brackenstall’s marriage. Lestrade isn’t even looking at the wife as a suspect or a motive. The “gang of thieves in the area” thing from ACD canon is still his best lead.  --In the ACD story, Holmes stages a mock trial where he exonerates the naval officer, acting as judge, with Watson as the jury. He’s cleared and sent on his way to marry Mary and start a new life. Watson is not thrilled that Holmes is “taking the law into his own hands”, but as Holmes says, furiously, “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.”  --In this story, that decision is going to fall on Joanna. She is the only one who has figured out, or can figure out, that a) the murdered dude was beating his wife and that b) his wife had a close friend who was dangerous as hell and would do anything to keep her safe. Unless she makes that link for Lestrade, the case will just go unsolved. --And the thing is, she doesn’t even feel completely certain that Victor did the killing. The timing of the murder is off, for one. He would have had to show up at the Abbey Grange house and shoot Sir Eustace more less within an hour of getting back to England. It’s a really narrow time window, and it only creates a bare sliver of possibility, and she really wants to ignore it. --Except, then she and Sherlock have a moment. Joanna tells him that Mary’s husband was abusive, without drawing the connection to Lestrade’s murder investigation. Sherlock doesn’t put the pieces together until the next time he’s with Victor and Mary together. He thinks about what Joanna told him, and he sees how tender and protective Victor is toward Mary. It gives Sherlock a nasty turn, because 1) That is how he looks at Joanna, so does that mean that he and Joanna are supposed to be a couple like Victor and Mary are? and 2) He knows how he feels about the various people who have hurt Joanna, which is to say he wants very much to Kill Them All, and if Joanna got married to another person, and that person trapped her in the house and hurt her on a regular basis, then Sherlock would... well Sherlock would do what Victor undoubtedly did, and kill the fucker. --The resolution, as far as I had it planned out, was that Joanna confronts Mary (instead of Holmes confronting Captain Croker, as in the ACD story), Mary admits it, Joanna feels satisfied that the actual killing really was unavoidable self defense. She feels bad keeping it from Lestrade, but Mary and Victor are planning to leave the country and not return. So Joanna lets them go. --And then she tells Sherlock what happened, and what she did, and is prepared for it to be a Thing, except then Sherlock admits he made the same deduction at practically the same moment, and explains how he came to the conclusion, and they agree that after Victor gives them an all clear, they’ll give Lestrade enough information to close the case.

--And then Sherlock and Joanna awkwardly face down their big big emotions and it’s painful and weird but they smooch, and are a couple, and that is the end of the series.

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “GlomTales!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Colleen Evanson

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Emmy Cicierega, Ben Holm

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

Scheme-worthy!

The episode begins with Louie looking out the window in the room he has been grounded in in the last episode. Yes, he managed to get a grounding that actually lasts more than an ending of an episode, what a concept. He sees Scrooge and the rest of the family preparing for another adventure that is pretty much 100% out of Scrooge's unwillingness to lose the big bet that he made with Glomgold.

Louie tells himself that while he's grounded, at least he wouldn't be dragged into another dangerous adventure. He then notices the hobo bindles and cans of beans, and realizes exactly what they're going to adventure to a place where there's cherry Pep springs, where the con men sing, where the geysers spit out gold for everyone, and the Hobo King has a Ruby Bindle with Scrooge's name on it. In a reference to the old folk song, they're going to the Big Rock Candy Mountain, and Louie jumps out of the door and says he has to go.

Of course, Louie's mom is not going to let Louie go on the adventure of his dreams, because he's still grounded. Della's not going to be a pushover like she was in the last episode, oh no, she's not everything covered for him as we'll soon see.

Della: You can come out when you learn that no good ever came from cockamamie schemes!

In a masterful transition, we cut to the A plot of the episode, where Glomgold is using a slingshot to try to get into the Junkyard where Ma Beagle and her Beagle Boys live. While he ends up succeeding, he does end up in the hands of Bouncer Beagle.

Glomgold tries to defend his trespassing of the junkyard by saying that he's here because he has a plan to defeat Scrooge and his family. In his words, he's only here to recruit, not as workers, but as family, and family is the greatest scheme of all, according to him. With an evil laugh, we cut to a not-so-familiar title sequence.

Instead of the usual DuckTales theme song, we get his Theme Song Takeover instead. Honestly, I would have been disappointed if they didn't use it; it's great! It starts with him following the blueprint, we get "amazing CGI" that makes him look like some sort of muscleman, and lyrics that can only come from the masterful schemer, like "Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks, Scrooge stinks!"

After that, we see that Ma Beagle is not exactly thrilled with working with Glomgold. She thinks he's a moron, and he can never beat Scrooge because he's smarter than the smarties. She also correctly accuses him of only doing this because he wants to win the bet. Kind of an interesting comparison between the two combatants of the bet: both Scrooge and Glomgold only have that on the mind. Of course, Scrooge is just getting more treasure, while Glomgold just wants to wipe out the other guy and his family.

The usual three Beagle Boys chime in to this offer, saying that they need a powerful male figure in their lives, and eventually Ma Beagle accepts the offer. No, not because she feels sorry for Glomgold, but because if Scrooge is defeated, she can get what she wants out of it: the deed to Duckburg. This is going to be a theme.

Meanwhile, Louie tries to sneak out, only to find his new babysitter...

Schedulebot: Punishment time! Punishment time!

Oh no, not Schedulebot! Get back in your own cartoon! Okay, it's actually DT-87, the security robot that also doubles as a video player that has Della trying to teach Louie ethics. Gotta say, Della using a robot that doesn't have a good track record of not becoming evil may not be her best idea. Granted, she wasn't around when this robot was attempting to shoot the kids with steel cutting lasers all those episodes ago, so I cannot exactly blame her for not knowing about it.

Or, maybe she did know, and she doesn't care, as we see that one of the ways DT-87 is keeping Louie into his room is with that said steel cutting laser. Granted, those lasers are different-looking here; they could be just set to stun, but we never find out if that's actually the case.

The next stop is Waddle, where Mark Beaks is busy looking up if he's still the "hottest" and "tallest" of the billionaires. He scoffs at Glomgold's offer to take down Scrooge while being a part of his family because he's too busy raising his rep with his inventions, like his very own cryptocurrency named Beakcoin! Surprisingly, Bitcoin is still relevant, at least from my research. Big Time wants to know where this magical coin is, and Beaks says it's in the cloud.

While the joke this leads to is predictable, I do like the execution, as Bouncer decides to throw Burger out the window to the clouds. Needless to say, he won't be successful, and Beakscoin isn't really the point of this episode anyway.

While Glomgold couldn't get Mark Beaks on his family, Ma Beagle decides to do her own plan based on her manipulation skills. She talks about how Mark Beaks is a loser, anyway, and there's no reason to use technology against Scrooge. Mark Beaks, out of offense for both of those, decides to join in as the Gyro Gearloose of the family.

Oh yeah, Glomgold is trying to get equivalents to all the people in the Manor, or at least the people that are in a photo he is putting faces onto. He has himself as the Scrooge, Ma Beagle as his Mrs. Beakley, the Beagle Boys as his Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and, as mentioned before, Mark Beaks as his Gyro Gearloose. It's neat to know Burger is supposed to be the Huey. I couldn't really tell what Burger's character is supposed to be even now.

Glomgold has to find his Launchpad McQuack, and that turns out to be the legendary Don Karnage. He is completely fine with going after Scrooge's family...or at least just the one member of it that defeated him. He also wants to sing, but I'd imagine they'd want to save the money they would put into such a musical number for the Moonvasion.

Finally, his family is complete, at least according to Glomgold. Unfortunately for him, Don Karnage and Big Time Beagle point out that he’s missing someone: he needs a Webby. Glomgold knows what person that needs to be, and he’s none too happy to get her.

Oh yeah, I kind of forgot to mention what happened to Magica De Spell in her last appearance. I would talk about that, but I'd say the way this episode introduces her is good enough.

We see Magica do this majestic boasting that she is the one that will make the world tremble, while in a void of purple dust clouds. If Dragon Ball Z has taught me anything, if there's dust clouds, that means it's probably not what it seems...

...and it turns out that the times after The Shadow War have not been kind to the wicked not-so-witch, as she's now a birthday magician for Funso’s Fun Zone. Her willingness to take over the world is only mitigated by her manager telling her not to do that.

Glomgold tries his best to not get Magica in his family, not because she would definitely overshadow him in every way...at least, that’s what he wants people to think.

To make a long story short, she agrees to become Glomgold's Webby, all so she can prove that she's Scrooge's worst enemy. Glomgold reluctantly agrees, and they begin the Glomgold-vasion. Also, yes, I like all everyone is dressed for the occasion. One can't see it here, but Mark Beaks's disguise is just a shirt that says "I am 10 years old". Mentally, yes.

Meanwhile, oh no, Louie used his master scheming to get Huey into his room, somehow! At least, that's what Louie wants DT-87 to think, as he tries to do the sibling switcheroo. We never find out if Della could tell the difference between the boys like Donald could in the comics; I’d think she would.

We don’t find out because of one one problem with this scheme: DT-87 knows fully well that Huey is on the adventure of Louie's dreams, as it shows that it's getting a video call from Huey.

Of course, the other kids are having this unbelievably amazing adventure at the Big Rock Candy Mountain's river made entirely of cherry Pep. Emphasis on unbelievable, it's just like that cliche plot where the kids decide to skip school, and the school happened to be doing something cool that day. It's almost like Della is rubbing it in by even allowing Huey to do this.

Eventually, one of Della's videos on ethics leads to her saying that Louie just needs to learn that his schemes are harming his family, and he should just stop. Louie tells himself that those schemes are the only thing he's good at.

Speaking of schemes, the newly formed Glomgold family all show up, using all of their abilities to infiltrate the manor. The manor has cannons, but they're all stopped by Don Karnage's ship. DT-87 tries to stop them, but his lasers are not set to "can do anything to Bouncer before he bashes his head in". Duckworth tries to use his ghostly demon form to scare them off, but Magica uses her ghost-capturing gem to capture him. Wait, I thought she lost her magic! Also, this never gets undone.

Unfortunately, all of this leads to their disappointment when they only see the grounded green one. They get angry at Glomgold for not checking if the others were on vacation, and that his scheme is worthless. I mean, that's what the adventure pretty much was, so I can't exactly say that's wrong. As Glomgold mopes about how his schemes are the only thing he feels he's good at, Louie gets an idea. Oh no, don’t be inspired by him!

We cut to Scrooge's premature celebration of winning the bet, and Zan Owlson congratulates Scrooge, and she can't hide that she would love to not work for that dreadful schemer.

Sadly for her, that dreadful schemer arrives with his family, and we get a shot that is worthy of the promos. This makes this look like the big battle we have all been waiting for. Well, except for that other one that involved those Moon people.

We get that big battle, actually, though it’s a bit late in the episode for it to pay off that much! One highlight is Glomgold and Magica eventually fighting each other, as they both want to beat up Scrooge. Of course, all of these mixed motives aren’t exactly making Glomgold win, much of the chagrin of the one that planned this invasion of Scrooge’s party.

Louie shows up, acting as if he's the big planner of this. His family is none too pleased, especially not Della, who was ready to give Louie a souvenir from the Big Rock Candy Mountain because she felt so sorry for him. Because of course.

Louie tells his plan: he was going to have each of the family members combine their fortunes, and, thanks to that contractual agreement, Glomgold gets to have a combined fortune.

With that combined fortune, this gives Glomgold more money than Scrooge, making him win the bet at the last minute! Oh no, say it ain't so!

Of course, this isn't how it ends. However, in a twist, it doesn't end in the other way either. This is all due to a technicality that goes into Glomgold's history. See, the deal Louie made is that the money is supposed to go to Flintheart Glomgold. However, there's one problem: there's no Flintheart Glomgold. There's a scheming guy who likes to call himself that, but his name is actually Duke Baloney!

Because of the contract they signed, all the money also goes to his partner, and since the partner actually exists, that means the money goes to one Llewellyn Duck. Wait, what?

In the end, Della pretty much instantly forgives Louie at this point due to the plan saving Scrooge McDuck from losing...as long as that money is transferred right back to Scrooge. Yeah, I'm not getting the vibe that he'll actually do that.

How does it stack up?

I liked this episode. Louie's schemes to get out of his time-out were pretty clever, including one I left out of the review. The big star of this episode is Glomgold. While it may not be the big battle, that's because we got another big battle coming up. Yeah, it's good.

Next, we get to see what happens when one becomes the richest duck in the world.

← TimePhoon! 🦆 The Richest Duck In The World! →

[frankendykes-monster]

@ligaratus asked me for Superman recommendations, which presents the rare opportunity that someone other than my girlfriend has provoked me to pull out my extensive knowledge of great Silver Age (1956 - 1969) Superman stories. Now, Superman has been in publication nonstop since 1938, but if we're being realistic, if you want the best of the best with the character, you're just going to be reading that decade of comics from beginning to end, but here are my highlights:

Action Comics #162 (November 1951) - "It!": Superman fends off a seemingly incomprehensible fourth-dimensional entity. This one gives a solid basis for what Silver Age Superman is like, in that he lives in a world where hes already taken extensive measures in making it a better place, and so you really arent going to see him fending off the various forces of evil, but rather do increasingly weird and complex problem solving. Of course that sort of status quo gets us to now, where the only half-decent Superman villains are Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro...Mr. Mxyzptlk...Metallo...?...yeah.

Superman #76 (May 1952) - "The Mightiest Team in The World": This one is a pretty easy recommendation, as it's the very first team-up between Superman and Batman. Even though we had been getting Superman and Batman stories since World's Finest Comics started publishing in 1941, we had never gotten a story starring both of them until a decade later. This one is mainly interesting for historical reasons, but I'm not going to mention any more stories involving DC characters outside of the Superman mythos starting now.

Superman #101 (November 1955) - "The Rainbow Doom": Superman has a rainbow stuck around his body that causes whatever physical objects in his close proximity to turn to glass. This one is pretty solid because it's an early example of how engage in incredibly preposterous hoaxes to get the edge in an ongoing battle, which is to say that this is a story that involves Superman tricking everyone into thinking he's turned Lois Lane into glass i.e. killed her as one of the steps that allows him to win.

Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) - "The Legion of Super-Heroes": This isnt a Superman story, rather a SuperBOY story. Which is to say that Superman started his heroic adventures as a child in Smallville. Anyhow, I motherfucking LOVE the Legion of Super-Heroes. This story is their first appearance, and essentially they're a club of children from the 30th century that love and adore Superboy, and go back in time to put him through arbitrary trials to see if he's cool enough to hang out with them, which they intentionally sabotage, because these are the shenanigans that elementary schoolers frequently engage in. I'm not going to bring up any other Legion appearances here because honestly I'd say read every Silver Age Legion story.

Action Comics #242 (July 1958) - "The Super-Duel in Space": This is the first appearance of Brainiac, and he's a great science fiction/horror concept of a super-intellegent computer that must learn everything and shrinks down organisms so as to extensively study them, that also just happens to fight Superman on a regular basis. This is also the first appearance of the Bottled City of Kandor, the last piece of Kryptonian civilization, and it presents one of the great dilemmas of the Silver Age, in that Superman cant figure out how to restore it in size.

Action Comics #252 (May 1959) - "The Supergirl of Krypton!": This is the first appearance of Supergirl, and she's going to occupy a similar niche as the Legion of Super-Heroes on account of the fact that I have an intense love for the character and am not going to mention any more stories involving the character because then I'd have to mention all of them.

Superman #129 (May 1959) - "The Girl in Superman's Past!": Clark reminisces about a girl he was in love with in college, Lori Lemaris, which makes the third ongoing love interest of his following Lois Lane and Lana Lang. The difference being that Lori is a mermaid from Atlantis.

Action Comics #254 (July 1959) - "The Battle With Bizarro!": This is the first appearance of Bizarro, there's not much more to it.

Superman #141 (November 1960) - "Superman's Return to Krypton!": Superman travels through the time barrier and ends up being stuck on Krypton and struggling to find a way back before it explodes; basically one of the great tragic stories of this era.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #48 (November 1960) - "The Mystery of The Tiny Supermen!": Jimmy Olsen's solo series is ANOTHER case of me having to restrain myself from mentioning every issue, but this is a special case for introducing an important part of the mythos, the Superman Emergency Squad, which is where a group from Kandor all dress up like Superman and do his regular duties while he's incapacitated.

Superman #143 (February 1961) - “Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!”: Now THIS is a great Bizarro story.  Bizarro sees in a television broadcast that Frankenstein’s Monster is referred to as “The World’s Scariest Monster” and seeing as that title should belong to him, he decides to do something about it.  Which manifests in Superman having to protect the actor that plays the Monster from Bizarro.

Superman #147 (August 1961) - “The Legion of Super-Villains!”: I know I said I wouldn’t mention the Legion again but I’ll make an exception for here, where Lex Luthor travels to the future to get the assistance of their counterpart team.

Superman #149 (November 1961) - “The Death of Superman!”: This is the first Imaginary Story I’m bringing up i.e. one that isn’t “canon”.  As much as I’m not a giant fan of this incarnation of Lex Luthor, I can’t deny that this is the character at his very best.  Luthor pretends to have finally reformed so as to get an opportunity to get in close to Superman and kill him, which he actually does, leaving the rest of the world to pick up the pieces.

Superman #156 (October 1962) - “The Last Days of Superman!”: All the wacky shenanigans I’ve already written own aside, this is without any doubt the best single-issue Superman story ever written.  Superman is infected with Virus X from Krypton and given 30 days to live, and spends that time carrying out all the missions he planned to officially make the world a better place.  The moment where he carves his final words into the Moon?

Action Comics #300 (May 1963) - “Under The Red Sun!”: This is another great tragic story.  The Superman Revenge Squad (I’m not getting into them after talking at lenght about Comet) sends Superman into the year 1,000,000 A.D., with him being unable to return to the past on account of how the now red sun has stripped him of his powers.

Gets me every fucking time.

Action Comics #293 (October 1962) - “The Secret Origin of Supergirl’s Super-Horse!”: Yeah I just wanted to take this opportunity to talk about what is undoubtedly the strangest comic book character I have ever seen, Comet the Super-Horse.  He was first introduced as one of the Superpets, a legacy that got started with Krypto the Super-Dog, but here we, uh.  Learn that Comet was actually a centaur named Biron from ancient Greece who was accidently turned into a horse by Circe who tried to make up for it by giving him the powers of “ Jove, Mercury, Athena, and Neptune”, and then he’s sent into the distant future (our present) and outer space by an evil wizard.  Also sometimes a comet comes by the Earth that turns him into a complete human with amnesia that goes on to date Supergirl even though most of the time he’s a horse that she owns.  Yeah.  Any time someone tries to bring up how weird comics are without knowing who Comet is, they ain’t seen shit yet.

Superman #162 (July 1963) - “The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue!”: This is probably the most famous Imaginary Story, with Superman being fed up that he can’t solve all the world’s problems, so he uses a machine to increase his intelligence that ends up splitting him into two separate Supermen that are now capable of doing everything Superman wanted.  Also one marries Lois and one marries Lana.  It’s great.

Action Comics #304 (September 1963) - “The Interplanetary Olympics!”: This one is pretty simple, Superman is chosen as Earth’s representative in the Interplanetary Olympics where it seems everyone is stronger than he is.

Superman #164 (October 1963) - “The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman!”: Another simple one; Superman and Lex Luthor engage in a boxing match on a planet with a red sun.

Superman #167 (February 1964) - “The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!”: Says it in the title.

Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #51 (August 1964) - “The Three Wives of Superman!”: Last Imaginary Story, and this one’s a doozy.  Superman marries and becomes widowed to Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Lori Lemaris in a quick succession.

[zojnks]

Writing request, I'd really like to see something with Cap and Spidey interacting. There's not a whole lot of that in this fandom, and I think that the two of them could be cool. If you could put Dad!Tony and Stucky in there too, that would be awesome Thank you!

Here you go, anon!! I decided to do a post-IW ‘verse because I wanted Bucky and Peter to be friends oops :) Hope you enjoy!!

After the snap, Peter awoke to a world that was coming in and out of focus. Everything here was tinted vaguely yellow, and Peter always had a niggling thought in the back of his head that he knew where they were. but could never place it. They, of course, being the people that had been taken by the snap. Everyone seemed to be grouped together for specific reasons- however, no group was ever over the number of 5. They could talk to and see the other groups, but not touch them. That was what Peter was talking about when he said the world seemed out of focus. It was like they were in the ocean, drifting in and out with the tide. Sometimes, Peter could feel and see things that felt too sharp, like he edited a photo and dragged the slider for sharpness all the way to the edge. Other times, it felt like he could barely even see or feel anything, blobs of color crowding his vision and the things he was holding dropping straight through his hand to the floor. He talked with the others in his group about this all the time.

There were 4 of them. Peter, Bucky, Gamora, and Groot. It was an odd mix, considering the last time Peter met Bucky, he was trying to arrest him. However, it felt like time moved differently wherever they were. Some days would feel like they passed in an instant, yet some would take years to finally end. The world they lived in was much like the one they left- full of life. So, each group had taken it upon themselves to try to create a home in this yellow world. Peter’s group had managed to make a small house of the trees that surrounded the clearing they all appeared in. There were a few other groups around them, one of some farmers from Iowa and another of billionaires from Singapore. They all talked occasionally but mostly stayed within their own groups.

Peter had grown to rely on Bucky and Gamora. He went to Bucky when he had trouble with nightmares and dealing with this reality. He went to Gamora for pep talks, and she was always the one who reminded him to eat and sleep. Bucky taught him games from when he was little and how to throw knives. Gamora taught him two alien languages and how to sword fight. Peter and Groot hung out all the time and played around. Peter taught him what he had been learning in school before the snap and Groot regaled Peter with stories from his adventures in space.

It was good. It worked. But Peter was desperate to get home.

-

One day, Peter went to bed late into the night because they had all stayed up playing a game that Bucky had taught them. He had fallen asleep with a smile on his face because the day had actually been pretty good. He was finally getting used to this weird, yellow reality.

The next thing he knew, he woke up on a grassy plain, breathing heavily. The sun (the sun!!) was beating down onto his face, a blinding light compared to the hazy yellow he was used to.

“Bucky!! Gamora!! Groot!! Anyone, please!!” He called out, shielding his eyes.

His voice was scratchy and hoarse. He looked down and was still in Iron Spider suit, thank god. He tried to pull himself off the ground, but his arms were too sore to do anything. He tried calling out again.

“Bucky! Gamora! Bucky! Gamora! Anyone?” His voice cracked as he continued to yell.

He stopped yelling when he saw a figure running towards him. The figure looked familiar, but Peter couldn’t quite place him until he got closer.

“Mr.-Mr. Stark?” He called out wearily.

“Kid, oh god, you’re okay, you’re okay!!” Mr. Stark cried as he ran towards him. He knelt next to Peter and cradled his head in his hands.

“It worked, it worked!” Mr. Stark was just babbling by this point.

Mr. Stark helped him up. Once Peter could stand, he found he wasn’t as sore as he thought. Mr. Stark looked at him funny before he spoke again.

“Peter, your hair. It’s-it’s shorter than before.”

Peter just shrugged. “Gamora made sure to cut it once in a while. Bucky helped too sometimes.”

Saying these things snapped Peter out of his calm.

“Oh god, Mr. Stark! Why am I back? Where are Bucky and Gamora? What about Groot? Why am I here? Where is here? Is this even real?!”

Peter Parker was officially freaking out. Then, he passed out.

-

Peter came to on a bed that was made of sand (??). He opened his eyes to someone above him.

“Bucky?!” He asked. The man nodded, holding up a new metal arm that was a tasteful dark blue interspersed with silver, not gold. No more yellow.

“Hey kid, yeah, it’s me. I just came back from talking with Stevie, I wanted to see if you were awake yet.”

Bucky leaned down to give Peter a hug. It seemed as if they had been in that weird world for years, so in the time they were together, they had grown close. Peter gripped Bucky’s back with all of his strength and cried into his shoulder. Suddenly, someone on the edge of this weird room coughed.

“Buck? It’s time to go see T’Challa. We’ve gotta go,” said a man with long hair and a beard that was steamed with grey.

“Alright, Stevie, let’s go,” Bucky said before pulling back from Peter.

Peter wiped his eyes with the shirt he was wearing (when did that happen?) before giving a small smile to Bucky.

“Captain Rogers,” Peter said, overtaken with sudden emotion. “Bucky took very good care of me in that horrible place. Take care of him now, okay?”

Steve just smiled at him and nodded. Then he guided Bucky out of the room with a hand on the small of his back.

Peter decided to get up and take a look around once the two left. He gingerly stepped down once he was off the bed and was happy to discover all of his previous aches and pains had vanished. He took a look around all of the gadgets around the room, appreciating their creativity and craftsmanship. His mind was already generating ways to improve upon them to use as Spider-Man. If they even still needed Spider-Man on Earth now.

He spotted a long, winding ramp up to what seemed like the hallway to leave, so he ran up the ramp, skidding to a stop once he reached the end of the hallway. There was a mirror there.

He looked at his reflection, noticing how he had lost his baby fat and his jaw had sharpened. His hair was cut in a tasteful-if non-Earth fashion- and Peter made a note in his brain to thank Gamora. He was wearing a faded Star Wars shirt and black sweats. He reached down and rubbed the side of his sweats. These were his old clothes. It’s been so long since he wore anything other than the suit, that these clothes fee foreign even though he was wearing them every other week three years ago.

A lot of things had changed. But, some things didn’t.

-

Peter had fallen back into an easy routine with Mr. Stark once they had left Wakanda. He had gone to find Gamora when they were still there but was extremely disappointed to find both her and Groot had left with the rest of the Guardians before he had woken up. She had left him a holo-message on those cool bracelets that the Wakandans wore, almost crying as she said goodbye to him.

(She promised to be back for Christmas though, saying she would pick up something for him on one of the worlds they visited. Peter was excited about that.)

T’Challa’s sister, Shuri, had gifted Peter one of the bracelets before the Avengers left, saying he would need it to keep in touch. The two had developed a close friendship during his time in Wakanda and still messaged or called each other daily.

When they had arrived at the compound after leaving Wakanda, Peter was pleasantly surprised to see that his room had been untouched. It was right next to Mr. Stark’s, as it had been before he left. The walls were blue and red, with the one above his bed adorned with a spray-painted Spider-Man logo. There were tons of posters on the walls and Peter’s knickknacks strewn everywhere. He had sighed as he flopped on the bed, and Mr. Stark had arrived not moments later at his door to flop right down next to him.

“I missed this, Pete. So much. But, how about right now we head to the living room to kick those two super soldiers’ butts?”

Peter laughed and nodded. “Let’s take ‘em down!”

-

They played Mario Kart for hours before Tony had to fly to Singapore to deal with something for Stark Industries. Now that everything was right with the world, Pepper was back on him about being more involved in the company. He gave Peter a big hug as he left and said that they would go on a small trip, just the two of them, once he got back.

After Mr. Stark left, Peter headed back up to his room to get ready for bed. He brushed his teeth and slipped on those old Hello Kitty pants with a baggy black sweater on top. He slipped into bed and grabbed a dog-eared copy of The Hobbit off of his night table. He settled back into his pillows, content to read by the minimal light of his night table lamp until he was too weary to continue. He fell asleep with the book on his chest around 9:30.

-

Peter startled awake in the middle of the night, darkness surrounding him. FRIDAY must have turned off his lamp when he fell asleep. His breathing was too quick and his heart rate was elevated. His mind was still spinning with flashes of a large purple man, a snap, a world of constantly shifting yellows, and his own disappearing before him. He needed to get out.

Peter grabbed a blanket and pillow before heading out, into a different wing of the compound. He stopped in front of the door to his destination, hesitant to knock. He could still feel the strain of his nightmares in the back of his head, so he pushed through his anxiety and knocked quietly on the door. A few moments later, the door opened and a still-sleepy Steve Rogers looked down at Peter.

“H-Hi, Steve. I… uh… had a nightmare and since Mr. Stark isn’t here anymore, I just needed, someone, is that fine?” Peter asked hesitantly.

Steve nodded, his features softening. “It’s fine, Peter. You’re always welcome here. You can just set your stuff down on the couch over there. It’s only a little ways from the bed. Buck’s still sleeping though, so be quiet.”

Peter just gave him a soft smile and padded over to the couch, setting his stuff down. He turned, nervous about asking Steve for anything else.

Steve just walked over and pulled him into a tight hug. “

“Buck’s told me some things. About that place. It didn’t sound too nice,” Steve whispered as he carded his fingers through Peter’s hair. “We all get nightmares, it’s a normal part of our job. I’m happy that you came to us, though.”

“Of course I would. I love you guys and everyone on this team more than life itself. You, Mr. Stark, and Bucky mean so much to me.”

Steve just held him harder and when he finally pulled back, Peter could see his eyes were a little watery.

“Love you too, kid. Now get some sleep.”

Peter climbed onto the couch, pulling his blanket out. He fell asleep to the sounds of Steve and Bucky breathing in unison.

This kinda got away from me, haha, but I loved writing it!! It was cool to explore what all of their relationships would be after IW. I didn’t want to include super in-depth explanations of Peter’s relationship with everyone was after IW, though, so sorry if some of the friendships are only mentioned in passing. Let me know if you want more from this ‘verse though. Hope this is what you were hoping for, anon!!