"It's Garmadon" song from the Lego Ninjago movie is actually such a bop. That shit gets me out of any bad mood, seriously.

Talk to me abt ur muse's experience w natural disasters

they are judging you

(this is a tag dump)

They scrunklyfied her

Cyverse!Blades first victim to his "Aura Jackpot"....

OH CINDERRRRRRRRRR

THE GETBACK IS COMING!!!!!

@historias-multorum asked: ❝ Love is a scar. ❞ - Sasuke to Rukia

Weren't humans supposed to be endlessly optimistic and hopeful instead of so...so...despondent and negative? Most humans, in her - granted - limited experience with them, valued love and bonds above all else, even to the extent of putting themselves in harm's way to protect those they loved. And yet this human seemed to not only not value love, but consider it a burden. Something painful and aching that left a permanent reminder of it's presence.

"...it can be if you allow it to be. If you face heartache and allow it to destroy your capacity for love of your own. But it does not have to be."

Rukia knew all too well the pain of heartache and loss. Both for herself and those dear to her. But she'd also learned the value of love, and how it could make people stronger than they'd ever known possible. Perhaps this human had simply not reached that part in his growth yet, or hadn't yet found someone who gave him that strength.

"Don't give up on love. Yes, it can be painful, but it can also be wonderful, and it can make you stronger."

Salman Rushdie, played by Afzaal Ahmad, is portrayed in the film as a sadistic criminal mastermind, working for an international conspiracy devoted to destroying Islam (as the Muslim faith is an obstacle to his wishes of building casinos, nightclubs and brothels around the world). He is depicted as hiding in the Philippines, guarded by a private army led by an Israeli general. Saeed Khan Rangeela stars as "Chief Batu Batu", Rushdie's main Jewish henchman. Rushdie lives a life of hedonism and other excesses and routinely amuses himself by torturing and killing the mujaheddins who regularly try to hunt him down. He also enjoys torturing Muslims by making them listen to readings of The Satanic Verses.[2] [...] The film ends with a gunfight opposing the four "International Guerrillas" and Rushdie's army of Israeli henchmen. The heroes defeat the villains and, as Rushdie attempts to flee the scene, three giant Qur'ans appear in the sky and fire lightning bolts at the writer, incinerating him.[2][3]

lmao what

Favorite Buddie fics of 2023!

Every single year at @epicstuckyficrecs I used to do a fic rec at the end of the year with my favorite fics. I figured I should keep the tradition going! So, without further ado, these are my favorite Buddie fics (in no particular order) published in 2023! (you can also check out some other favorite Buddie fics of mine here)

If you have any favorites that aren't in this list, don't hesitate to share them in the comments! :)

Complete

find a way to you (if it kills me) by foxwatson/ @eddiediazes (Post S6E13: Mixed Feelings, Pining | 19K | Mature): the one where eddie decides to start dating again, buck figures out his own feelings just a minute too late, and then he spends a week going through the five stages of grief

let the world have its way with you by fleetinghearts/ @shitouttabuck (Post-Coma AU | 54K | Explicit): or, a bucket list that’s really about buck needing to make a change and an eddie who’s ready to do anything to see him fall in love with life again. it takes some crossing off for eddie to realise—the thing at the top of the list in his own heart? it’s been right here all along

Being Eddie by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Time Travel, Post-Season 6, Getting together | 80K | Teen): When Eddie starts seeing a new therapist, he’s presented with the opportunity to revisit several days from his past and right regrets that still bother him. OR: Eddie goes through the time travel therapy process of the 2009 Canadian TV show Being Erica.

Evan Buckley & The Coma-Verse of Madness by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Coma AU, Multiverse | 58K | Teen): After being struck by lightning on a call, Buck experiences a plethora of alternate realities showing him different directions his life could have taken. Fighting hard to get home, Buck learns what, or who, is important to him in every lifetime.

like a dog with a bird at your door by fleetinghearts/ @shitouttabuck (Post-S6, Getting Together | 51K | Explicit): or, evan “i love you like a dog” buckley has only ever known how to love like, well, a dog, but maybe eddie diaz is the kinda guy to give a flea-bitten mongrel a forever home

Both Blade and Branch by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Post-S6 | 62K | Mature): The chances of being struck by lightning twice are incredibly minute, but Buck still manages to pull it off. During a double date with Marisol and Natalia, nonetheless. Eddie manages to resuscitate him, but as Buck recovers from yet another trauma, Eddie can’t help but notice there’s something very different about him. He’s not quite sure what version of Buck he got back.

where all of the people dancing and clapping would greet me with such warmth by trysetmeonfire/ @try-set-me-on-fire (Season 6, Magical Realism | 15K | Mature): In the fall, Buck begins to disappear. (Part 2 of All I Am, All That I Am)

Nothing Left But You by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars ("Blip" AU | 27K | Teen | Warning: MCD): In May of 2021, 25% of Earth's population suddenly disappears. Including Eddie. In May of 2026, they all come back. Eddie finds himself suddenly in the middle of a world he doesn't recognize, where the people he loves most have changed significantly.

Your Love is an Oil Slick (It Glows like Rainbows, It Stains My Soul) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Canon Divergent - Supernatural Elements, Ghost Buck | 67K | Explicit): When Eddie's son claims he has an imaginary friend, Eddie doesn't think much of it. Christopher is seven, it's what kids do. But then weird things start happening around the house, and Eddie starts dreaming about a handsome blue-eyed man. Turns out, Christopher's friend isn't so imaginary. Their house is haunted.

come with me, together, we can take the long way home series by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Canon compliant | 105K | T to M):

Get me through the night; Make me feel alright (Post-S3 Finale | 11K | Mature): After an emotionally-gutting reunion with Abby, Buck turns to old coping mechanisms. Eddie helps him find a better way. In Uncertain Times, The Uncertain Rules Apply (Pre-S4 | 22K | Teen): Covid comes to LA. Eddie copes. Or doesn't. Holding out for Something More (Stuck in Reverse) (Post S4E3/Lone Star Crossover | 26K | Teen): LA is coming out of lockdown and the world is returning to some sense of normalcy. But going back to the way things were hurts more than Buck expected. While his therapist challenges him to confront what he really wants, the team takes a trip to Austin... and El Paso. so far from being free (S4E4: 9-1-1 What's Your Grievance?, S4E5: Buck Begins | 46K | Teen): That’s Daniel. He was our brother. Buck doesn’t know what to do with the past tense. He never had a brother. He’s always had a brother. He gained one and lost one in the same breath and it feels impossible.

Kink Club AU series by Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (Canon Divergent - Different First Meeting, BDSM, Dom Eddie, Sub Buck | Complete | Explicit): Canon compliant one shots where Eddie works at a Kink Club as a side hustle and meets Buck there before his first shift in 2x01.

The Warmth (of You) (25K): aka where Buck and Eddie first meet at a kink club before the firehouse To Weather the Storm (With You) (21K): aka the fallout of Buck finding out the dom he met at a Kink Club is his new coworker Safe Here (With You) (20K): aka Buck and Eddie handle working a shift after their first scene The Building Pressure (of You) (15K): aka Buck reaches out to Eddie after he leaves Abby's place in 2x07 An Offer to Torment (You) (14K): aka Eddie is all twisted up inside about what to do with Shannon. Buck offers himself up for some much needed holiday stress relief.

like when the sun came out by spaceprincessem/ @spaceprincessem (Canon Divergent, Ghosts | 39K | Mature): Evan gave up trying to explain what happens to him after his parents forced him to have a talk with one of their friends, supposedly a pediatric therapist, and cruelly hinted that if Evan didn’t stop seeing and talking about his “invisible friends” as if they were real then his parents would send him far away to places where they lock children up in padded rooms. “Look,” Evan says quickly, forcing out the words before he gets too scared to speak,” I—I know this is going to sound crazy, but, um, ever since I was a kid I can see ghosts.”

tomorrow will always and forever now be today (tomorrow is our always and forever) by withmeornotatall/ @chronicowboy (Post-S6, Time Loop | 43K | Mature): eddie gets trapped in a time loop on the day buck marries natalia

All My Shattered Oaths by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Vampires AU | 107K | Explicit): Eddie wants to stay away from his family’s legacy and give his son a normal life. Buck’s desperate to find a way to get over the love he lost. Fate has other plans for both of them.

Don't They Know It's the End of the World? by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Fallout 4 AU, Post-Apocalyptic | 32K | Mature | Warning: Violence): After being put in a cryogenic sleep for over a hundred years to wait out an apocalyptic event, Eddie Diaz wakes up, too early, to find his son has been stolen from his cryo-chamber. Scared and alone in a frightening world he doesn't recognize, Eddie is willing to do anything to get his kid back.

but i can see all along, love (it was you all the way down) by diazchristopher/ @captain-hen (Post-S6, Time Loop | 28K Mature): He puts his laptop away after a bit, and paces the length of his apartment as he tries to take stock of the situation at hand. One: The date is March 22nd, 2024. Two: It has been March 22nd for 3 days now. Three: Buck is trapped in some kind of time loop that is forcing him to relive this day. Four: Eddie is, apparently, in love with him. And. And. Five: Buck doesn’t feel the same way.

WIP

And here are my favorite WIP that I really hope will continue to be updated in 2024! 🤞

for all the haunts and homes of men by euadnes/ @kananjarus (Canon Divergent, Post-Apocalyptic, Station Eleven Crossover | WIP | 11/? | 96K | Mature | Warning: Violence): The year by the old calendar is 2025. Home is gone. Home is a failed rescue mission and an echo of a memory. Home is a lost boy living in a wooden house by the sea. But first, there was a promise. Christopher, when it's safe, I'll take you back to your father. Buck had all but given up on keeping it after the world had died and everyone in it. But just as some oaths refuse to be forgotten, so the same can be said about the endurance of love.

Things We're All Too Young to Know by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon, S1 through S6 | 104/? | 283K | Mature): This is a love story. Even if it doesn’t always look like it. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it. A look back on Eddie and Buck's lives up to now, and what led them to each other, interpreted from the current 9-1-1 canon.

Precious & Fragile Things by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Small Miracles AU, Angel Buck | 10/? | 25K | Teen): Buck is the Fallen Angel of Petty Temptation, who has been tasked with tempting human Eddie Diaz to sin and enjoy life, but just a little. He thinks the job will be easy - get in, get out, go back to Peru to continue messing around with eternity. But when Buck arrives in Los Angeles, he finds Eddie is harder to tempt than expected, and more compelling than Buck had hoped.

Right Where You Left Me by hyacinthusbloom/ @thebloomingheather (Canon Divergent, Post-S4, Angst | 89K | 20/? | Explicit | Warning: Rape/Non-con): "Therapy?" Eddie suggests. Buck almost laughs, but instead says, "I'll go if you go." Because he had fully expected him to be chicken shit, to disagree, and instead Eddie, the bastard, replies, "Deal." Or Buck never tells anyone that he slept with his therapist and deals with the butterfly effect years later.

Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know by JJK/ @trenchcoatsandtimetravel (Demon Buck, Canon Divergent | 7/? | 12K | Teen): Buck is a demon with the power to help with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant health. When the Buckleys make a deal asking for someone to help 'save their baby', Buck leaps at the chance as it will give him what he's always wanted: a life on earth. But demon deals are tricky and neither of them gets quite what they're after. This is Buck's journey as he navigates growing up on earth and remembering how to help those in need.

Term 1 2024 Winners!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first term 2024 hosted by The Guild Awards! The mod-team is excited to see so much amazing fanwork and their creators recognized, as well as the love shown for this fandom!

Without further delay, here we are!

Winners of The Guild Awards for Term 1 2024

Best Action/Adventure Fiction: "Molten Steel" by @mavikiu (tumblr/AO3) Best Alternate Universe/Reality Fiction: "Bull In a Crystal Shop" by Buniibebe (FFN) Best Canon Fiction: "Taming the Beast: Living Nightmare" by @dawnwynters (tumblr/AO3) Best Angst Fiction: "Finding Hope" by @creaticare / ChaoticKori (AO3) Best Dark Fiction: "Power of the Underworld" by @genavere (tumblr/AO3) Best Drama Fiction: "Even the Dragon King Has Feelings" by Don_Cheadle (AO3) Best Humor/Parody Fiction: "Fairy Tail Textfics" by @multi-verse-mania (tumblr) / Multiverse_Mania (AO3) Best Oneshot (tie): "what does it all come down to? (love? love)" by @forwantofacalling (tumblr) / Fireflower34 (AO3) and "once upon a time, five" by Ostensibly_Functional (AO3) Best Character Portrayal: "Making Friends" (Gajeel) by FairyDell (AO3) Best Romance Fiction: "All Treats, No Tricks" by Be_dazzled06 (AO3) Best LGBTQ+ Romance Fiction: "Every Good Thing in Life (Leads Back to You)" by allayrose (AO3) Best Serial Fiction: "Heart Shaped World" by Myahud (AO3) Best Ficlet: "untitled" by @caissa-scribbles Best Friendship Portrayal: "once upon a time, five" (Team Shadowgear + Gajeel) by Ostensibly_Functional (AO3) Best Completed Fiction: "The Era of Shadows and Sunshine" by RomanticHawthorn (AO3) Best Action/Adventure Artwork: "Super Late But Happy Gruvia Day!" by @hollie-artz (tumblr) Best Alternate Universe/Reality Artwork: "It's Lisanna's turn to be badass" by @pencilofawesomeness (tumblr) Best Canon Artwork: "dan lucy your bobbies" by @boxonarock (tumblr) Best Angst Artwork: "manga redraw🫣" by @azriaann (tumblr) Best Dark Artwork: "rogue on the battlefield" by @celestialrayna (tumblr) Best Humor/Parody Artwork: "Happy Valentine's Day!" by @riveluart (tumblr) Best Kiss Artwork: "happy february to them" by @lav3nder-bees (tumblr) Best Romance Artwork: "Untitled" by @bakutenshi (tumblr) Best LGBTQ+ Romance Artwork: "untitled Fraxus Week prompt" by @bluessom1 (tumblr) Best Character Artwork: "Levy bout to fuck shit up" by @phoenix-before-the-flame (tumblr) Best Duo/Pairing Artwork: "Gajeel + juvia = besties" by @anniechuuu (tumblr) Best Group Depiction Artwork: "Levy and her boys" by @riveluart (tumblr) Best Manga Coloring: "Fire & Lightning" by @fairy-edits (tumblr) Best Redraw Artwork: "Screenshot Redraw of the Raijinshuu + Laxus" by @sheltered-uno (tumblr) Best Overall Artwork: "Levy all soft and glowy" by @mavikiu (tumblr)

Congratulations to all the winners! Your awards are ready! Please send one of the mods or our ask box your preferred email address so we can send them to you!

And thank you to those who voted for the Roulette Category for next term! The Roulette fanfiction category for next term will be: Best NSFW Fiction. This will be defined as: Sexual Content/Smut with plot. Both one-shots and specific chapters from multi-chapter fics are accepted in this category. If coming from a multi-chapter fic, a link for that specific chapter is required and must include content depicting an act of sexual nature. (i.e.: intercourse, masturbation, heavy petting - etc.

As this term comes to a close, The Guild Awards will be taking a short hiatus. This time is always spent reviewing the process and seeing what can be revamped for the next term. We also love hearing from the fandom (ie: YOU!) for suggestions regarding any changes or additions.

We will officially be back in full swing on October 1st! We will still be around in case you have questions or concerns, but please take this time to read new fanfiction and find new fanart.

Want to stay immersed in all things Fairy Tail? Join our Discord! It's open to everyone!

You can also keep up-to-date with all current fandom events by checking out the @ftguildevents page!

As the day gets closer to the start of the next term, we will be keeping everyone in the loop when it comes to changes and updates. We hope everyone has a lovely summer! Thank you again for making this such a fun experience! See you soon!

~ The Guild Awards

@steviesbicrisis your Steddie Eurovision brainrot never left my brain, so now I'm thinking about Eddie going for the ultimate love confession by learning Stefano's song (Duolingo lessons paid off somewhat, he's got the pronunciation down at least and the lyrics can be memorized). He rearranges it into a beautiful metal power ballad, rents a studio, and they record the cover overnight (bless his bandmades for indulging his insanity when they could be out partying like the rest of the Eurovision crowd, but they end up having fun with it, too). Eddie uploads the song to their Spotify before he can chicken out and goes to bed to scream into his pillow.

Steve wakes up to about a hundred notifications of people texting him and tagging him in posts about Corroded Coffin's new cover track. He listens to it several times making sounds absolutely unbecoming of a grown man that he is, and kicking his feet, and texting Robin in all caps and heart emojis because he's absolutely GONE for that low gravelly voice singing HIS song. (Robin, who's currently in the US, texts him back a picture of her bedside clock showing 4AM, with a deadpan emoji. But then also "go get your man dingus" and an eggplant emoji.)

Later that day Eddie attends Steve's concert at a club, hoping to blend in with the crowd, but Steve notices him just as he's about to close with his Eurovision number, grins wide and says, "I think there's someone in the audience who might help me put a twist on this one. Hey Australia, get your ass on stage."

Before Eddie's brain even catches up with what's happening, there are lights on him, the crowd recognize him and all cheer and whoop and whistle; news travels lightning fast in the village, so all the Eurovision fans present have heard his cover already and are thrilled about what they're about to witness. Eddie's being pushed forward, his feet helplessly dragging him towards the stage, and there's an electric guitar shoved into his arms by someone.

It's only thanks to years of experience and muscle memory that Eddie manages to tune the guitar while his brain short circuits about being right next to this gorgeous man, hair a mess, neck all sweaty and shiny from the stage lights. And then he's playing, Steve's band follow his lead, and Steve sings the verses himself but pulls Eddie in for the choruses. They are both singing into the same mic, pressed together back to back, Steve's face and LIPS so fucking close the entire time, their cheeks almost touching, making Eddie buzz from more than just stage adrenaline.

The whole audience joins in on what was supposed to be the final chorus, Steve and Eddie turned around now to almost face each other; Steve throws an arm around his shoulders and grins so wide and dazzling as he sings, eyes moving between the crowd and Eddie, and Eddie can't stop grinning back at him; holy fuck, the man is so beautiful like this, Eddie never wants this to end. He repeats the chorus tune on the guitar over and over, changing up the rhythm to go faster and faster on what was initially a slow ballad, matching his own accelerating heartbeat. Steve's grin is absolutely brilliant as he matches Eddie's pace perfectly in this little improv, despite the lyrics going so fast now Eddie would never be able to do that, but Steve practically breaks into a rap by the end of it and he's ON FIRE. The crowd is going wild, everyone jumping up and down and just high pitch screaming when the lyrics get too fast for them to follow, too.

Eddie ends it with a quick improv guitar solo, Steve's eyes on him the entire time, wide and shining as he not quite headbangs, but keeps nodding to the rhythm. Then, with the final chord still ringing out, Steve leans into the mic to sing the chorus one last time a capella, slow and soft. The club immediately goes quiet as everyone listens, mesmerized, and so does Eddie. God, this man has a beautiful voice.

Steve's eyes are closed for the most of it, but they open on the final line and land on Eddie as he sings it, and Eddie remembers the translation of it. "Would you let me love you like it's our last night on this planet?" He is so gone, gone, GONE. When the set ends, and they both bow to the audience whose cheers are near deafening, it's only the fact that every single person has their phones out to record the performance that stops Eddie from kissing the guy right there on that stage.

Steve drags him backstage and slams him into a wall the moment they're out of sight, and it's kinda funny how they are making out like horny teenagers before they even had a single conversation, but after all, music speaks louder than any words.

February recs

All 9-1-1 this month (except for a handful of others over at Pinboard)! A mix of gen and Buck/Eddie sorted from shortest to longest, because why not.

Solid Ground by @kingreywrites (gen)

"Hey Buckaroo," she says conversationally, as if any of this is a common occurrence. "I'm glad to see you awake, but please, whatever you do, don't move, okay?" (Or, Hen is here to catch Buck when he falls. Literally.)

Tightly written rope rescue, with a warm Hen-Buck relationship and Hen being a badass.

flutter in the dovecote by KiaraSayre (gen + Buck/Eddie)

Buck, Eddie, and Bobby quarantine from a bird flu exposure, and everything's fine. Totally fine. They're handling it just fine.

This felt SOOOO MUCH like an actual (bottle) episode and now I dearly wish it was.

things you don't say reach me somehow anyway by @sibylsleaves (Buck/Eddie)

He writes CHRISTOPHER at the top of the page in capital letters. Underneath it goes BUCK. Then PEPA, CARLA, CHIM, HEN and so on until he has fifteen names listed out. Fifteen people to show his appreciation for. He starts with the easiest name first. or, Eddie tells the family he chose how much they mean to him. All of them except one.

So sweet and affecting, with plenty of bonus Fire Fam feels while Eddie's therapy homework leads him to figure out the true shape of Buck in his life.

Winter Prayer by @cal-daisies-and-briars (gen)

When a work conflict prevents Athena from accompanying Bobby to Minnesota for the ten year anniversary of his family dying, Buck and May offer to go instead. Over the course of the trip, they all learn more about each other, and Bobby faces his grief.

Quiet and occasionally devastating, with a truckload of soft found family dynamics along for the roadtrip.

piece by piece, you filled the holes that were burned in me by polish_amber / @the-amber-raven (gen)

Buck didn’t see Hen and Chimney exchanging knowing smirks and he was still muffling his groans against the table when they went over to the kitchen to refill their coffee mugs and had a hushed conversation: “Should we tell him that Bobby also asks for feedback?” “Nah,” Hen replied mischievously. “I kind of want to hear what he’ll come up with on the spot.” 5 times Bobby has feedback for Buck during his annual review, and the one time Buck gets a perfect score and has some feedback of his own.

Such a fun use of that bit of canon, and great snapshots of their changing dynamic across the years.

I'll Scrawl it on Every Wall I See by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (Buck/Eddie)

When Eddie joins the 118, he and Buck don't exactly hit it off on the right foot. Or continue to walk on the right foot. In fact they kind of can't stand each other. Good thing they each have a beloved anonymous pen pal to share their daily woes with, someone completely unlike their insufferable coworker. Or, in which Buck and Eddie love each other before they know each other, and know each other before they love each other.

Delightful epistolary identity porn! Very very classic set up but the execution is *chefkiss* perfect.

Evan Buckley & The Coma-Verse of Madness by @cal-daisies-and-briars (Buck/Eddie)

After being struck by lightning on a call, Buck experiences a plethora of alternate realities showing him different directions his life could have taken. Fighting hard to get home, Buck learns what, or who, is important to him in every lifetime.

Great varation on 6x11 (the coma-dream episode), with gorgeous characterization. Emotionally devastating at times, but also devastatingly romantic.

Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire is the third painting in my 4 piece series of illustrations inspired by pranayama and the four elements. --Elinore Eaton

In the ancient Vedic texts, the fire deity (also known as Agni) is mentioned in one of the very first verses. It represents the fire within the sun, lightning, as well as the fires lit within homes and for more specialised sacrificial uses.

As the guardian of the South-East direction, the fire-god Agni was traditionally a much-invoked deity alongside Indra (god of storms) and Soma (god of the moon, and also of a special secretive drug-like liquid consumed within rituals) within the ancient and elaborate yogic sacrifices to the gods. As time passed, agni came to be associated with the action of transformation in both a physical and spiritual sense, helping transform food into energy, ideas into actions, and offerings into the smoke that drifted up towards the gods.

Fire is one of the most powerful of the elements, and when we tap into its energy, we bring alive a sense of transformation within ourselves.

[in the style of the Finding Nemo seagulls] Id fic? Id fic? Id fic? Id fic?

ok id fic!!

the backstory is over the weekend i needed a break from editing wsbf, and i found a prompt on the dc kinkmeme, along the lines of: omega bruce foils an assassination attempt on kryptonian ambassador kal. this is probably a one off thing in this verse, it is not a story it's just a little. warmup

1.5k, gen, superbat, omegaverse, i was gonna leave this completely unedited but @januariat as usual saved my life

So this is it, Kal thinks, gasping for breath as he presses vainly at the side of his robes, trying to stem the blood. Krypton’s last hope, Krypton’s only hope, and he’s failed. Around him there’s noise, chaos, as Mala and Tor race after the assassin, as the humans’ voices rise in alarm. There’s another being next to him. Kal flinches as the black-garbed one presses primitive bandages to his side. There’s nothing he can do but wait for his skilorrosh, the death vision Telle grants as Flamebird frees his soul from his body and bears it home on her wings to Rao.

Can Flamebird even find him here, on this strange world? Is he doomed to be lost to Kythona’s darkness? It seems like it; there’s no warming red glow the poets of the brain-vaults had described, only cold and darkness and pain pressing in on his vision. Kal closes his eyes. Mother. Father. I’m sorry.

And then - radiant gold, beyond anything he’s ever imagined possible.

When Kal had been a young child, perhaps five or so, he had snuck into his father’s lab and found himself floating. Antigravity was nothing new to him - Jor had discovered the principle years before his birth - but his father had been experimenting with augmenting the machine, passing the energy through different wavelengths of light. Kal’s whole body had felt, for a brief moment, as though Rao himself had taken hold of it, like he was stronger than a drang, faster than a photon. And then he had gone out like a light, along with the power supply of half the city of Kryptahnugrhahs.

This overpowering, blinding sensation is the only thing that has ever felt close. His blood is made of lightning, his nerves fire. The scents and sounds of the room explode into infinite detail, and he jerks his hands to his ears instinctively, accidentally shattering the rock hall of the floor. He curls tighter, helpless against the smell of blood and panic in the air, Tor and Mala’s Beta and Omega scents united in fury, the mass of human scents impenetrable and alien. There’s one close to him, the one that’d been helping, pressure against his side, a little stronger. Kal curls into it, instinctively reaching for the wrist.

Something feels wrong with the glove as he touches it, though. It bends, and then the pressure’s gone, the hand withdrawn. Kal - had he hurt them? He curls tighter, distressed, an almost childlike whine escaping. He doesn’t want to hurt- 

“Just breathe,” a low voice murmurs near him. There’s something touching his face. Kal turns his hand into it blindly. The sounds around him - they’re fading a little. But so is the pain. Kal frowns and moves a hand back to his torso, where the bullets had gone in. His tabard is still slick with blood, his body’s…

It hurts. But it’s a lot better.

That low comforting voice starts to count, and Kal does his best to time his breathing to it. The noise and chaos is more distant now. Kal opens his eyes. It’s one of Earth’s protectors kneeling above him, the mysterious one in the mask. The Batman. The opaque, unnerving white lenses of his mask have been retracted, and his eyes are fixed on Kal’s.

“That’s it,” the man says reassuringly, and there’s a hint of a rumbling purr to the words. Kal blinks, the uproar of talking and breathing and heartbeats easier to filter out in favor of the man before him. There is something strange - the briefings had said that the planet still practices caste-based discrimination, and yet - this man has the alien but unmistakable richness to his scent, concealed though it is under neutralizers, the reassuring timbre to his voice common to the human Omegas of Earth.  

Omegas, on this backwards planet, would not be first responders, would not be public servants. Would not be what the briefings had called ‘super-heroes.’ And yet this man is an Omega.

He’s staring up into the man’s silvery-gray eyes, washed out like the color of rain, when the noise takes a sharp upturn. Batman looks away. Kal smells his fellow ambassador’s scents before he hears their voices. Mala is first to reach them, pushing through the crowd, fury roiling in her scent. “You animals,” she snarls, and Kal notes with alarm that she’s pulled the concealed raygun General Zod had insisted they carry. He pushes himself upright.

“Stand down, Mala Ro-Zan,” Kal growls, or tries to growl, anyway.

“We will not stand down,” Tor growls back to him Lurvish, teeth bared at the humans surrounding them. His diplomat’s staff has reformed into a vikhirn, its three points gleaming in the dim red light. “The outsiders shot to kill you, moliom! We came to them on our knees begging for help and the savages-”

The vikhirn’s deadly points of light focus on Batman’s cowl as Tor levels the weapon at the Omega, and something inside Kal snaps. “Stand down,” he roars, Alpha markings burning gold-bright across his skin. There’s a reddish haze across his vision, and he distantly realizes that he’s a few inches off the ground. Mala bares her teeth, furious, but centuries of civilization fold beneath millenia of evolution and her claws slide back beneath her skin. Tor, as a Beta, is less affected; he stops in his tracks, low challenge-growl beginning in his chest, but when Kal stalks towards him he ducks his head.

The hall’s fallen silent. Kal takes the vikhirn from Tor and inputs the dissolution override; the sunstone crumbles to sparkling dust. He holds his hand out to Mala for her raygun.

“No, moliom,” Mala rumbles. “I will not leave us defenseless in this - khaovrrosh.” She leaves the insult in Lurvish, the older language impenetrable to Lantern translation, but with the open disdain in her eyes as she looks at the assembled humans, Kal doubts that the insult will be lost on them. His Alpha hindbrain has retreated but it’s close under his skin, tense with the danger of the situation. Later that night, writing his report, Kal will look back on his loss of composure with some embarrassment. But in the moment it was the only thing he could have done, with the lightning still racing through his veins and the knowledge that Krypton is doomed if the mission fails. The last of the surge of power fades, and he drops to the ground, trying not to stagger. Mala moves in to support him, albeit begrudgingly. 

“A human has tried to kill our ambassador Kal-El-jran,” Tor says to the crowd of diplomats, tense. “Your kind has-”

“Stop, Tor,” Kal says. With the all-consuming radiance and the adrenaline of nearly dying gone, he feels exhausted and drained, his side throbbing with pain. But if he doesn’t take back control of the negotiation, Tor will continue with the formal withdrawal. For Rao’s sake, it seems like he’s the only one who remembers what’s at stake here. Kal straightens, leaning on Mala, and looks Tor directly in the eye. “Unless I’m much mistaken, a human also saved my life.” Kal nods to Batman, who’s retreated back into the stone impassiveness he’d greeted the ambassadors with. Kal looks at him a moment too long. His head is starting to ache, and he’s distantly aware of swaying a little on his feet, of Mala moving closer to brace him. “I - move to - let Rao set on the proceedings for today, and - convene tomorrow under a fresh sky.” The formal words are hard to remember.

Wonder Woman, the lead negotiator for the humans, frowns in soft concern. It’s a stark contrast to her warrior’s garb and poise. “Of course. Kal-El-jran, may we offer any medical assistance?”

“Your kind has done quite enough,” Mala snaps, her claws briefly poking into Kal’s side before she retracts them swiftly. Kal can’t quite bring himself to care. Dizziness is beginning to overcome him; he closes his eyes but that makes the swaying worse. Tor says something about having medical facilities on their ship, and there’s another arm around him, steadying him.

“Just promise me we’ll still be on this planet when I wake up,” Kal mumbles to Mala. “Swear it.”

Mala breathes out sharply in frustration.

Kal stops moving. He’ll collapse on the damn floor if he has to, damn Kryptonian pride.

“We will be,” Mala says. “Come on, Kal-El.”

There’s something still worrying him, though. “Did they catch them?” Is there any danger to his fellow Kryptonians, to this tense, frayed distal pack they’ve cobbled together?

“Yes,” Tor says, steadying him up the ramp. The serenity of Kryptonian architecture soothes the ragged edge of his Alpha a little, his instincts recognizing it as safety, even as the throbbing in his side is growing. Kelexo are hovering by the doors, and move in to support him.

“Good,” he tells the ceiling, as a Kelex rolls up his sleeve and injects his arm with medication. “I think - I think I’m going to pass out now.”

Sandor in the tub...

"Sansa," he calls out a few minutes later. "Come here, girl." Before long she is poking her head around the edge of the screen, eyes politely averted – a courtesy he finds amusing, considering the circumstances. "Have you ever shaved a man?"

"No," she tells him. "I've seen it done but have never attempted it."

"More's the pity," he grumbles, "I've no wish to be your first and end up bloodied for want of a shave. Can you trim a beard, at least?" She agrees to meet his eye and nods. "Pull up that stool, then, and do what you can."

She is soon perched at the side of the tub and wielding scissors. He lifts his arms from the water and drapes them over the tub's edge and she freezes. "Your arm. What's happened to it?"

He lifts and studies it, the scars still pink with new some two years after the fact. "It's a burn," he tells her, though he thinks it should be obvious.

She clucks her tongue. "I can see that. But how did it happen? It's not from Gregor."

"No. This was a gift from a lightning lord and his bloody god of fire." Seeing the question on her face, he shrugs it off. "A story for another time, bird."

She gets to work with the scissors, thumbing his chin to turn his face toward her as she combs through his beard with her fingers and snips at it, casting appraising eyes at her handiwork. Meanwhile he watches her, and their gazes lock for brief moments before she'll look away again. Finally she sets the scissors aside and folds her hands in her lap.

He scrubs his hand over his cheek and jaw. She's trimmed it short and close to his face. "How do I look?"

She moistens her lips. "Like a Northman."

"Half of one, anyway. Not much to be done for the other side."

She looks at him for a long time then, and he has the sense that she is collecting herself to do something. His hunch proves true when her eyes begin wandering across his arms and shoulders and then to his chest, exposed above the dingy water. He is not a vain man by any measure, but he knows he's strong and that his body is not unpleasant to look upon, despite the horror of his face. And so he accepts her silent consideration and waits for whatever may come.

Soon she is peering up at him, declaring, "You're quite hairy."

He shouts in laughter and then breaks into a verse of The Bear and the Maiden Fair, and she laughs along with him and joins her voice with his for the last few lines.

I called for a knight!

But you're a bear!

A bear! A bear,

All black and brown,

And covered in hair!

Their laughter fades and she goes back to her study, but this time hesitantly reaching to lay her hand on his unburnt arm. "You have so many scars," she whispers, tracing the closest and most notable with a fingertip. "So many. Do you remember where they all came from?"

"No. I stopped keeping count a long time ago."

"I remember every one of mine. I used to worry so, when I was young and would fall and scrape my knee or accidentally cut my finger. I didn't want to have scars. I thought they were ugly and no true lady would have them. But then I left Winterfell and found myself in a place that scarred me far more deeply than any blade might. Those are the ones that can't be seen. You have them too."

She dips a cupped hand in the water, brings it to his shoulder and empties it there. Her hand follows the water down, smoothing over the flat pad of muscle that covers his breast and then draws it back up. She fingers the scars along his chest, leaning in to follow one that begins above his heart and trails off beneath his arm and down his ribs.

He shivers at her touch, light enough that it is both tickle and caress, and follows the graceful line of her arm to the open neck of her gown. He watches the rhythmic pulse of blood beneath the skin and his memories of his small tastes of her flood his mind and begin racing through his veins. He can feel himself growing hard, a perfect and primal dichotomy to the softness of her hand against his skin.

"I have other scars too, now," she is murmuring as she pets him. "There are those on my thighs and back, no more than welts really, from Joffrey's games." He flinches, blinking hard, but she does not seem to notice, lost in her own thoughts. She looks sad and yet wears a faint smile as she talks, and he knows what it is to feel both emotions at once. "And more I've gained along the way. They are not ugly, as I had once thought; they are simply reminders of where we have been and what we have endured. And some of them," she reaches and cups his face with both hands, "some of them can even become beautiful, to eyes that know how to look."

A dozen things spring to his mind to say to her but only one comes out, ragged and low. "Why are you crying, little bird?"

These Scars We Wear - Chapter 19

Double anon answer cus similar ideas.

I can imagine that the immediate reaction from the Red Sons, is to cast fireball at the "imposter" DBK just in case its SWK playing a really complicated prank (he did turn himself into DBK in Jttw).

After a lightning round Q&A - including the infamous "When was the exact hour Red Son was born?", both families determine that they are in fact alternate versions of one another.

Princess Iron Fan is the first to notice something very off about her Au self.

Canon!PIF: "You look... exhausted." Au!PIF, smiling excitedly: "I am!" Canon! Ironbull, like a psychic lightbulb moment: *simultaneous gasp!!!* Canon!DBK, uber hyped-up: "LET US SEE THE CHILD!" *cue both pairs of the Ironbull parents charging off towards the Demon Bull palace's nursery*

The Second Son/"Black Boy"/Huoshan is about to have a bunch of confusing wake-up kisses.

The spicynoodles reaction to one another depends on whether or not spicynoodles has already occurred in the canon verse. Otherwise, if we're strictly canon; then this the first time Canon Red and MK have considered eachother anything but shaky powerful allies.

Canon!Red, at seeing their parents run off: "What was that about?" Au!Red: "Probably about my little brother Huoshan. He was a long time coming." Canon!Red, trying to hide his own excitement: "A baby brother!? How dare you not be overjoyed on our parents behalf!" Au!Red: "Normally I'd be running off with them too, but I too am exhausted. The twins have been running me ragged." Canon!Red, blue-screen-error: "wut?" (°∀°) Au!Red, too tired to wonder what the issue is: "Yeah the girls have been keeping Me and MK up at all hours. Monkey plus bull genes equals loud chirping calves." Canon!Red, blush covering face: "..." Au!Red: "Of course there was the whole debacle with Uncle True Compliant sabotaging mother and father's plans for more children, and trying to kill MK. That really stressed the situation." Canon!Red, hair starts steaming: "....!?!" Au!Red: "And thank buddha that jiā gōng [father-in-law] gave mother that vase from Guanyin. Would have never gotten rid of that curse from grandmother otherwise." Canon!Red, mouth agape: "!!!!!!" *making sound of a boiling kettle* Au!Red: "Thankfully me and my sunflower get a lot of help from-" *notices the look on Canon!Red's face* "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." Canon!Red: *hair flooms up like a pink wildfire* Au!Red, realizing: "AH. You uh... haven't gotten to those parts yet I bet?" Canon!Red: *nods head slowly* *the two MKs walk into the room* Canon!MK: "Hey Red Sons! Other me was just showing me the baby bull photos! The twin girls are super cute! Are they this Red's sisters or-" Canon!Red, flames growing higher: "AAAAaaaaaa...!" Au!MK, looking disappointed at his Red: "You told him the twins were ours, didn't you?" Canon!MK, interrupting before Au!Red can reply: "THEY ARE!?! OH MY BUDDHA! No wonder they have little monkey face patterns!" *starts squeeing loudly* *Canon spicynoodles are both screaming, and theres now a large fire in the Demon Bull palace entrance hall* Au! Spicynoodles: "Could have gone worse, right?" "I mean, the Nezhas had a little more flames."

The Canon MK & Red are in near shock for the rest of the visit, and refusing to meet eachothers gaze. Mostly cus they keep getting reminded by the Au!DBK about his "PERFECT GRANDDAUGHTERS!" (currently being babysat by their other grandparents), and by the baby photos plastered almost everywhere. A small fight does break out between the Bull Families at supertime though.

Canon!DBK: "So did your son release you from under the mountain as well?" Au!DBK, spoon-feeding little Huoshan: "Yes, in a sense. My body was trapped under the mountain for sometime until my Red and the little thief lifted the staff. Canon!DBK: "Ah. Much the same." Au!DBK: "Ingenious how he was able to contact me in the astral plane in the meantime though. Brother Pigsy and Sandy really helped Red bring out the best in himself." Canon!DBK: "...excuse me? The swine and the boatman!?" Au!PIF: "You seem shocked. We've known Chef Zhu and Sandy almost ever since I brought Red home from the Southern Ocean. Save for the whole, underworld and the staff fiasco, we've been nothing but amicable." Canon!PIF: "The Southern Ocean? But I brought Red Son home with me over... how long has your Bull been out of the mountain?" Au!PIF: "Physically? Only a few years. It's a bit of a long story. His physical body couldn't be released with the staff still in the mountain, but my genius little boy honed his mediatation skill enough so we could at least have some family time in the astral plane." Canon Ironbull: "...what." "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT!?" Canon!Red: "Hey! I don't know if I can do that! This is an entirely different universe father!" Canon!MK: "Yeah! And at least thank him for making the gauntlet in the first place. If he never made that, you would probably still be a bull skull underground." Canon!DBK: "Not another word little thief. I am still wondering why you and your simian counterpart are even here." Au!MK, already peeved at Canon!Ironbull: "Cus me and my Red are married!" *Table is quiet, esp on the Canon end* Canon!Ironbull: "What." Au!MK, realises that he shouldn't have said that: "Hehehe, yeah... married. Where do you think the twins came from? Hehe" *nervous laughter* Canon!Ironbull: "..." Canon!DBK, turns seriously to his Red: "Son... WHY HAVEN'T YOU MARRIED THE LITTLE THIEF AND GIVEN US PERFECT GRANDCALVES?!" Canon!Red, hair flooming up blush-pink: "Father! You just don't say that!!!"

So yeah, most of the Canon and Au crossover is Canon Ironbull getting dunked on + Canon Red Son dying of embarassment at learning that the Noodle Boy becomes his Noddle Boy in marriage in the alternate timeline. Canon PIF & DBK might have reservations on Red being with MK, but the thought of beautiful grandkids (and Red's confirmations that there's hope for more Ironbull children) really makes a compelling argument.

Immediately Blades swords would clash with the other as he held one in his mouth, as a means to replace his missing arm. While having the most enraged look on his face. "LIKE HELL IM GONNA LET YOU ESCAPE!!!! YOU FUCKING SHITTY GOD!!!!!"