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starshipsofstarlord · 3 years

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A Stark Contrast | Bucky Barnes

Summary; living in the shadow of Tony, your brother, always was the way, and you accepted it. That was until he expected you to sign the accords, that was one thing that you couldn’t do.

Warnings; Angst, mentions of death, mentions of being controlled, funeral, mourning, anger

The form, bound in a weighty book laid on the table, making the room fill with utmost tension. Tony was hellbent on signing the thing, and handing away any freedom that all of you had.

No matter how long you had supported him, this was not one subject that you could agree with him on. Whilst you understood his perspective, it would only end up with you in a hamster wheel, running around and following the orders of executives.

They wanted less destruction. To put boundaries around their country’s heroes, and limit them to the lengths they could go to in order to save lives.

That was also wrong, the entire ordeal had you bent backwards with a conflict of interests. On one hand, it would be ordinary to sign for such a cause, whether you trusted their backgrounds or not, simply because your elder sibling had.

There was nobody that you trusted more than Tony, he had half raised you after your parents were killed, you felt indebted to him. But being an avenger, on a team where your personal opinion had been valued, it opened your eyes to a whole range of possibilities.

Whilst you were loyal to Tony, you had also became in tune with your own gut. It grumbled at the prospect of giving in to a contract, which decided what you were permitted to do. It was like a child’s parent permission slip, but on a much grander scale.

“People died!” He reminded the lot of you again, which inclined you to look down. There was blood on all of your hands, and he was making it as red as it could possibly be seen. “At least y/n agrees with me.” He reprimanded Steve, whom was still far on the fence regarding the entire ordeal.

Once he said that, all eyes had shifted towards you. Nat had already basically given in to your brother’s convictions, and Steve suspected that you would do the same. You were always one step behind Tony, you were far too loyal to your sibling for your own good.

“I have yet to make up my mind.” You spoke, standing, no longer wishing to be in the room where there was far too much tension. How you wished Banner and Thor were here, they would make an equal divide. The God of Thunder would not scribble his signature upon the paper, you thought to yourself, if he knew their reasons and affects.

However, your words were taken as an assumption that you would join your sibling in providing a peaceful surrender. It is what he and the public would assume of you, and to be truthful, you were tired of sticking to the stereotypes that were made of you.

“I’m surprised that you came.” Steve spoke, as you opened the boot of your car, and revealed the shield that he was so often adorned with, as well as Sam’s wings. He, like most others, had suspected that you would join your brother in his guilt ridden cause, however, thinking for yourself gave you a sense of freedom.

“Don’t be so quick to prevail into what everyone else thinks of me.” You smirked at the captain, your eyes drifting over to the other super soldier, whom had temporarily been imprisoned by the government.

But he had escaped, and if luck was not often a Stark trait, Tony would have died. You had watched from the cameras, but you could boil no bad blood in between the pair of you, Barnes was not in his right mind. He was controlled, and put into a incomprehensible mode of himself. That was, unless, he had managed to kill Tony.

Then you would have changed your own deciding mind, and stuck to what the eldest Stark believed in. “I won’t, ever again.” Sam smiled, picking up redwing from the composed pile, and kissing the machine.

“Bucky.” You reiterated his name, the one that he had chosen to correct the unknown and deceiving man on. The nod you earnt was brief, but it gave you a sense of hope that whirled in your middle.

It was clear that he was an attractive man, and alike his righteous friend, he was frozen through time to be in this current moment. As Sam and Steve began to get their things together, you walked over to the historical stranger, a smile upon your face. “I’m y/n Stark, I don’t believe we have had the fortune of meeting before.”

“You sure do speak like a Stark.” He softly spoke, a matching smile on his brawn face. “And you seem to have other things in common, like that necklace.” At his words, you looked down at it, a hint of anguish within your gaze.

“It belonged to my mother.” It was nice to reminisce about her for a moment, you knew that she would have made her own decisions too. In some retrospect, you were following in her footsteps.

A feeling grew in the back of Bucky’s throat, but he said nothing. If he were to spill, or reveal his dark secret, it would mean nothing more than the loss of a powerful asset, they could not afford that right now.

“Do you ever think about what would have happened if you got to return home?” It had been a stressful day, fighting your friends, and your last living family member. Bucky turned at your words, you had saved him from being killed, he felt indebted.

“Probably do what every other soldier did; find a woman to marry and have kids. But that’s far out of the picture in this modern age.” Steve was flying the aircraft as you and Bucky spoke in the back. It gave the two of you a moment alone, and you were truly knowing as though you knew the soldier.

He was a good man, misinterpreted by the deeds that he was controlled to do. No one chose to have pity on Barnes, they instead viewed him as a country danger, and wanted to lock him up in a cage, which was how he had come so far in the first place.

“I wouldn’t say that.” For a moment, you looked into his deep blue eyes, feeling as though he were freezing you with them. He didn’t want to look away, but you were inclined to, for you could feel the contrasts of hot and cold heat working its way up your neck, and onto your face. “There’s definitely a woman that would want all that and more with you.”

If things were simpler, you would be convinced that you could share such an intimate bond with him, but alas, everything had to be complicated. And if things could work out, they surely couldn’t last.

“We’re here.” Steve informed the both of you, as he slid out of his front seat, and you prepared to finish this for once and for all.

“How could you?!” You couldn’t defend him as Tony blasted him away, Bucky had played you, and done so well. He and Steve knew of the blood on his hands, and yet they hadn’t thought once to inform you of the one true treachery regrading you.

Bucky had killed your mother, from the intake of information alone, you felt sick. Physically sick. But you choked it down, and as Steve unsurely came towards you, you ran at him, angered by his lies.

From the start, the patriot of America, someone you had considered a friend had deceived you. You had helped him, stood with him, fought your friends for him, and not to mention Tony, and he had known all along.

“Y/n-”

“Save your apologies Rogers.” You stared him down, as he had Bucky held up by one arm, seeing as Barnes had lost one of his own again. “And you, you’re right, there’s no perfect picture, you’re nothing but a monster.”

“Listen.” Steve commanded, but you couldn’t. He was no longer considered your captain, he was a sick liar who had helped to break you. This was the last time that you made your own decisions. Tony was always right.

“You don’t deserve that shield, my father made that. It’s government property-” swiftly he dropped said item, an exhausted and tiresome expression upon Steve’s helmet wearing face.

As soon as they trudged by, you instantly went to Tony, checking his wounds. “You were right brother, I should have listened to you.”

“Your dad loved cheeseburgers too.” You laughed lightly to Morgan, blinking back the tears. It was Tony’s funeral, there were so many people here, even Fury, but there was someone else, who was walking towards you. “Why don’t you go and ask Happy, I have some business that I have to tend to quickly.”

“Okay auntie y/n.” She ran off. She was so innocent, she didn’t deserve to be going to her father’s funeral at five years old, it was truly cruel. But that was just the way the world worked, and Tony was a hero.

“Hi.” Bucky spoke, adorned in all black, same as you. It had been a long time since you had seen him, not since he was being carried away by Steve. You hadn’t fought in Wakanda, instead you had ended up on Titan with your brother, and you would have surely died without him.

“Hey Barnes.” You greeted him with a forced smile, but nevertheless allowed him to step closer.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He said, the guilt still burning behind his eyes. It seemed that his time in Wakanda had changed him, for the better.

“Which one?” You quipped back, instantaneously.

“All of them.” He gulped, he was going to give you one truth before you found out after. It was his attempt at redemption, and a sorrowful one at that. “Steve’s returning the stones later.”

“I know.” You responded, the captain had already informed you about that part of his plan.

“And he’s not coming back.”

“Anthony Howard and Steven Nathan Barnes, the two of you better get back here this instant!” Your voice hollered through the house, as well as the duo’s endless giggles.

The front door opened, no other than Bucky walking through. He was quick to recognise the flash of motherly anger upon your face, and quickly dropped his serene smile.

“What have they done?” Bucky asked, watching as you crossed your arms in an unimpressed manner.

“Why don’t you ask your sons?” Your husband sighed, but despite that, he was a happy man. He had returned from a war, and found a lovely wife, of which he had two troublesome boys with. For the first time in a long time, y/n Stark and Bucky Barnes were happy.

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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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OTP PARENT HEADCANONS PART 2

Because I'm bored.

And I want to give myself some serotonin.

And because I've put this off for a long time😅

RED QUEEN:

Shade and Coriane were never afraid of monsters under their beds because Cal would "scare them away" with a really bright flashlight.

Both children have a little bit of buidling and tinkering in them. Shade showed it by switching out lightbulbs and pointed out the ones he was putting in would be better at being adjusted than the ones before and Coriane showed it by fixing a clock.

Mare isn't exactly the best at cooking, but she's at least better than Cal. And her mother; sorry, Ruth.

Both children are excellent swimmers, much to Cal's chagrin.

Coriane remembers meeting her great Nanabel, and the smile she had at the sight of her great granddaughter.

Shade didn't really have a chance to meet her.

Both children wish they could have met their uncle on their mother's side and uncle, grandfather, and grandmother on their father's side.

Both Samos siblings are allowed to see the children, and neither of the children were excited; they'd heard "scary stories" about them and their father, who sounds scary; no, Cal didn't make it clear that Volo was dead, all he said was the Samos patriarch had fallen down and didn't get up, so they assumed that meant he couldn't use his arms anymore.

They were all pretty surprised to meet each other.

Ptolemus was more like a fun uncle than the berserker they all knew.

He did explain that Volo did indeed fall, but couldn't get up because of how high he fell.

The electricons love how entertained the children are with their lightning abilities.

Tyton is a pretty good babysitter. Coriane is allowed to stay up, but only after Shade has gone to bed.

Kilorn is not allowed to teach either child how to swim; there was an 'incident' where Cal tried to be brave and go swimming and Kilorn scared the living hell out of him.

That's fine because neither children like swimming.

Yes. Just because the children are good at swimming doesn't mean they enjoy it.

Mare has told Gisa she doesn't need to make the children outfits, but Gisa did it anyway because she loves her niece and nephew.

The court ettique stuck with Cal, which has led to him raising the children to be very formal.

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL(I'm naming Tedros and Agatha's son Anthony):

Both parents were kind of scared Anthony was mute because he didn't start talking until he was nearly a year old. He's not mute, he just doesn't talk much.

You have to catch him at just the right moment. Anthony is completely silent around large crowds or assemblies, but with his parents he's half of a chatterbox, at least.

Anthony and Agatha can have full conversations with nothing but facial expressions.

Tedros had a hard time getting Anthony to open up to him, and decided to give the boy space for a little bit.

It was absolutely worth it for the heart to heart they had.

Hester and Anadil hate kids, but Agatha's and Tedros's little demon spawn is the only exception to that statement.

Anadil was won over by how he didn't cry and even 'said' how her rats were cute.

Hester, however, only warmed up to him when she spent a longer time with him, and after getting a chance to watch him because Aunt Sophie kept stepping in.

On one such occasion, where Anthony was surprised by Hester's watching him, the boy was overjoyed to see her, hugging her closely. He then backed up and stepped back, giving her a wave and smile. As she understood his silence better than Sophie, Hester wrote to him on a paper, 'Did you miss me THAT much?' Anthony nodded and wrote back, 'Yes!'

Sophie is not a helicopter aunt, but she loves Anthony a bit too much for his liking.

She NEVER talks about how she'd been hoping he was a girl.

Anthony isn't a fan of pink, but he doesn't hate it. Pastel is fine. Anything more vibrant makes him puke.

Both Tedros and Agatha were surprised to see how good Anthony was on horse back.

Heart attack angst moment: A former supporter of Rhian and Japeth snuck into the castle and made an assassination attempt on the royal family, more specifically Anthony. Tedros threw his son behind him and drew hus sword and Agatha shot a spell at him and proceeded to tackle him to the ground, not caring about her dress or the fact that the assailant was still armed.

Anthony colud not watch the execution because he hates bloodshed. He's a vegetarian/vegan and tries to eat as little meat as possible because he often spends time in the stables and around animals.

Agatha and Tedros are aware of this and are okay with it, though Tedros has him eat a single steak for dinner and teo eggs for breakfast once a month on seperate occasions, just so he doesn't lack any iron or protein.

To clarify, by separate occasions, I mean that Anthony will eat the steak one day and the eggs later another day within the month. After that, he can indulge in as much vegan/vegetarian food as he wants.

Have fun trying to convince Tedros and Agatha to let him attend the SGE; it's not that they have unpleasant memories, they just want him to try and have as normal of a life as possible.

On a walk, and when the Tagatha child was a teen, Tedros noticed some girls trying to flirt with Anthony and that his son barely reciprocated their actions. He pointed out that they were showing an interest in him, and Anthony admitted that he knew and he just didn't really feel the same way; he didn't exactly see why they were so flirty when he didn't feel like giving it back to them.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS(The triplets I'm naming Jacob, the eldest boy, Luna, the middle girl, and Daemon, the youngest boy):

Jacob is 98% the triplets' father; he'd be a spitting image if it weren't for his mop of hair, he's sharp as a whip, but still puts the E in idiot(please tell me you git that Jenna Marbles reference!!!).

Luna is arguably the smartest, but good luck getting a, 'you don't say' out of her. She won't tell you she's smarter than you, she will show you. Good thing Jack and Sally keep her in check.

Daemon is the family's "underdog." He has the last minute, 'this will work,' Jack Sparrow plans. He's quiet, he sews, he sings, and if he's not trailing behind Jack, Sally, or his siblings, he's probably touching up his clothes.

Jacob was the idiot kid that got electrocuted to the point his red hair turned black. He barely remembers it, but now all he tastes is cold peanut butter. Daemon has often suggested and offered to do it again, but Luna stops him. Pro: he's spending more time with Luna and Jacob is safe. Con: he's spending time with LUNA and Jacob still doesn't remember.

Jacob, as the oldest, attends 'meetings' with Jack and the Mayor. It doesn't bore him, he just gets tired of the Mayor's whining.

Jacob doesn't get Christmas. Luna has the basic idea of it. Daemon is the only one that understands, but doesn't explain it fully out of spite; Jacob called him scatter brained because of an incident where, at the table, a cockroach crawled out of his eye socket.

Daemon is the only one of his siblings to have eyes.

Even though she's literal bone, Luna has stitches that are very close to Sally's.

Neither Jack nor Sally have nicknames for the children, besides terms of endearment.

You know you're in trouble when Jack looks at you and looks ready to dig your grave himself.

All three triplets have Jack's fire power, but no one's gotten hurt because of it, even though Jacob and Daemon had one close call.

Neither parent would ever even dream of raising a hand against the children.

It's safe to say that Luna and Sally use common sense the most out of all five of the family members.

Daemon smells like pumpkin and cinnamon. He finds both himself, cinnamon bark and small, apple-esque pumpkins, and eats them like skittles and popcorn.

Another result of the electrocution, Jacob is hard of hearing where is left ear would be, if he had ears. He can't hear at all in the "ear." Not even a ringing sound.

The only reason Jacob doesn't like something is because he doesn't get it. At all.

Luna sees the glass as half full, Daemon sees the glass as half empty, and wonder if it belongs to someone who drank out of said glass, hence its being hald empty, and Jacob just sees a glass of water, now can he just drink the rest?

Luna, the best with herbs, has poisoned her brothers. Sally found out and she was grounded.

Daemon, to see how much he could take, dived off the roof of Dr. Finkelstein's tower. It took Jack, Sally, Luna, Jacob, and Zero all day to collect all of him. He was grounded and locked in his room.

Jacob got grounded for a few things: setting his sister on fire(no one knows who started that fight.), hiding in a morgue to scare people only to end up falling asleep, even as they tried to cremate him, and then waking up in front of the humans, pretending to be one of the hanging men on The Hanging Tree, and dancing on top of the tallest Pyramid in Egypt.

The children do misbehave sometimes, but their parents love them.

Jack and Jacob don't see eye to eye exactly, but they still get each other.

Luna loves both her brothers, but she will hang out with Daemon more than Jacob.

Daemon has a lot of glow sticks he collected and they all still glow when it gets dark. Jacob used his thinking cap and had a moment of big brain time, and drank some of the glow stick juice.

One more thing he got in trouble for.

Daemon also got in trouble, but he was allowed to keep his glow sticks.

Luna is a good singer, Daemon is a great dancer, and Jacob is the best at succeeding their father

#red queen #school for good and evil #nightmare before christmas #marecal #tagatha #jack x sally #tiberias calore vii #mare barrow #sge tedros #tedros of camelot #sge agatha #agatha of woods beyond #jack skellington

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newtonsheffield · 3 years

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Many have asked headcanons about the romantic couples. But what about Kate and Edwina? And Anthony and Edwina? I mean, I'd love me some sibling headcanons here. 🧡 Because let's face it, I am addicted to this AU and I really love the love and interactions between the siblings, no matter how much this series is about Kate and Anthony. 😅

Okay, in the name of Full disclosure, I love and adore the Sheffield family! Mary Sheffield gave me such high hopes when Sophie got a stepmother in AOFAG That I was truly shocked and surprised when Araminta Gunningworth turned out to be truly the world’s biggest toad. I will never forgive Julia Quinn for killing off Mary in one line of the Second Epilogue of When He Was Wicked I had to stop reading and have a cry for several minutes solid. Nothing would make me happier than to give you some Sheffield Headcanons! (Below the Cut because I’m such an unstoppable monster)

Kate is five years old when Edwina is born and she remembers every second of the first time she held her. Kate’s grandmother had dropped her off to the hospital and Kate had hovered nervously by the door, watching her Dad and Mary with the tiny little bundle her father was holding. Mary had smiled at her and said Katie, why don’t you come and sit up here with me? Kate had scrambled onto the bed, squeezing herself onto Mary’s lap even as her father warned her to be careful, Mary was a little sore. She’d fine, Thomas Mary had whispered as she started running her hands through Kate’s hair. Kate had peered very carefully at the tiny baby and her Father had placed the baby in her arms and said This is Edwina, and she’s going to need you to help her as her sister. Do you think you can do that Kate? And Kate had looked into the eyes of the tiny Edwina, and known she would spend the rest of her life protecting her sister if she had to. A photo of his moment still hangs in Mary’s living room. And it’s on Kate’s desk as well.

Kate was at the christening when she heard Mary’s aunt, a very shrewd woman tut and say to Mary’s mother (Who was called Karen. Not granny. I’m Edwina’s Granny but not yours), Well it’s nice she has one of her own now. She won’t love Katharine so much now though I suppose. And even though Mary had called her over into a tight hug soon after. Kate had waited, and then waited some more for Mary to push her away. For her to tell her that she wasn’t her daughter after all, and it was time to stop pretending. Instead Kate heard Mary introduce her again, and again as My Daughter, Kate never Kate, Thomas’ daughter. And Kate loved her even more because of it

Kate was about 10 years old when she realised that people treated her and Edwina slightly differently. Edwina was a stunning child, completely skipping the awkward braces phase that Kate had to suffer through, Edwina didn’t need glasses, Kate did (though she switched to contact lenses in her adult years). Kate watched Time and time again, as people’s eyes slid over Kate and landed on Edwina where they stayed, but she told herself it didn’t matter, she loved her sister, and Kate was fine with her career. She didn’t need anyone else. She didn’t. Of course when she looks at Anthony playing with their children in the yard, she wonders how she could have ever been jealous of Edwina. How she could have pretended, even for a moment, that she didn’t desperately need him.

Kate had always wanted a puppy. Had begged Mary and her father for one, year after year. Please, Daddy! Please can I have a puppy for Christmas?! and he’d always smiled and said Sorry, Peanut, dogs make Daddy sick. We can get you a fish instead! Kate had gone to brunch the week she started at Bridgerton and Sons and felt like crying. This was supposed to be her big break! A sign her career was going somewhere instead she was stuck with Anthony fucking Bridgerton, smirking and sniping at her. As she sat at the table drinking her juice Mary had furtively sent Edwina a glance who’d then risen from he table rather suddenly and appeared carrying a box. We’re just so proud of you Katie, This new job is such a big opportunity and you’re going to be amazing! Mary had said as Eddie dropped the box ( a ribbon wrapped around the lid, tiny little holes poked in the side) in front of Kate. And she’d wanted to cry again because she couldn’t tell them now how much she hated the bloody job. And then she stopped as the box let out a tiny yip! She carefully peeled back the lid and Newton was staring up at her, his tiny tail wagging, tongue lolling out happily and Kate had burst into tears. Newton Sheffield started his new life at Kate’s flat, though if anyone had asked him, he far preferred Anthony’s house when he was introduced to it a year later. And he definitely approved of his human’s new friend, who always snuck him little table scraps.

The first time Edwina and Mary heard Kate complain about Anthony fucking Bridgerton, they had both raised their eyebrows at one another, saying nothing. The 75th time they heard Kate complain about Anthony fucking Bridgerton Mary had sighed. When Kate had gone into the kitchen to fetch a snack Edwina had sighed and said Do You think she knows she’s in love with him? or Do you think she actually thinks she hates him? Mary had clucked her tongue and said I definitely think she believes she hates him, even though it’s fairly obvious this could all be solved with 20 minutes alone in her office. Edwina is still cackling loudly when Kate walks back in, glaring suspiciously she says to Mary What’s wrong with the idiot? Mary just smiles and says Nothing sweetheart.

Thank you so much for reading my scrappy little fics! I love reading your tags!

#bridgerton and sons au #kathony #Bridgerton headcanons #Sheffield family feels #Kate Sheffield #Edwina Sheffield #Mary Sheffield #Kate Sharma #molly’s headcanons #Molly’s asks and answers

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

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Sweet Dreams

The Clarkes (The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope) & Child!Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: Domestic (Family) Fluff

Summary: When little Y/N is finally given a home by the Clarkes family, she’s rightfully very shy and apprehensive as any toddler would be when surrounded by strangers and finding herself in a new surrounding. Luckily, all the members of the Clarke family are nothing short of sweet and welcoming towards her, getting her warmed up to her new life almost instantly.

Happy birthday, @artlovingbre! I hope this reaches you in time despite the time difference and whatnot but anyhow - I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the best birthday you’ve had yet. Thank you for giving me the honor of writing this sweet and adorable fanfic as a gift for your birthday. I hope the final product lives up to your expectations. Once again, happy birthday! Enjoy your special day and this fanfic I’ve written you! Lots of love, Vy ❤

Safely strapped into the car seat with a seatbelt, the five-year-old Y/N fidgets with her hands resting in her lap, too shy to look up. Her reaction to the sudden change is completely understandable. In fact, the woman running the foster home mentioned that Y/N had handled the news of being adopted much better than other kids had in the past. The woman - Mrs. Jones - mentioned to James and Anne on several occasions how special of a girl Y/N is. Wise beyond her years and with a heart of gold, she had said the second Anne pointed the little girl out to James when they had gone to the foster home for the first time. Despite being quiet and reserved when she was sat down with James and Anne so she could meet them, the married couple already knew the little girl was the one they’d want to adopt into their family. Sure, she did come across as shy at the start, but having observed her as she played with the other kids, smiling and giggling like the children her age, Anne and James knew she was a wonderful girl. Truly, a heart of gold.

James is in the driver’s seat, a lot happier than he’s letting on. The idea of adopting another child was entirely Anne’s. After they had adopted Megan, he had never once thought about adopting another child into their already buzzing beehive of a household. Four kids, all at different ages and stages, it could get pretty exhausting and frustrating, especially when the older ones - Tanya and Dennis, to be more specific - would yell at each other from across the house. With these images in mind, James was very opposed to the idea, though he was aware that he’d cave eventually. He could only deny his wife’s wishes for so long but when she brought up the argument of Megan feeling lonely, that’s when she had him in the palm of her hand.

Anne, James’ loving wife is sitting beside the newest addition to the Clarke family in the backseat of their car as they get closer and closer to the house where their four curious children are awaiting to meet their youngest sibling. Anne had been looking at their family as it was - chaotic, dysfunctional even at times with the disagreements and argument among their four kids. Her and her husband had been hoping they’d grow out of this fighting phase and grow to be a lot more tolerant of one another, but the case seemed to be completely opposite. And the more time passed, the more the older kids would argue amongst themselves and occasionally pick on the youngest Megan. It goes without saying that they all love each other dearly, however they love getting on each other’s nerves just as much. Seeing no other way to put her family in balance and seeing her youngest daughter constantly left to the side, ignoring the arguing of her siblings, Anne had made the decision to incorporate a new addition to the family and she was determined to get over any obstacle to make it happen - the only obstacle being her husband and his will which was easily overpowered by her persistence.

The couple couldn’t have possibly chosen a better, sweeter, smarter child. The little girl, in their eyes, is a lot like Anthony and Tanya. Despite her age being closer to Megan’s, the two girls appear to have nothing in common except the childish excitement and goodness of their hearts and their friendliness. With that in mind, James and Anne know the girls would get on just fine. In fact, they know for certain that Y/N will be welcomed and accepted into the family no problem. The only member that worried them and the only one they seriously sat down to give a pep-talk to was Dennis but even he was offended because his parents felt the need to sit him down and instruct him on how to behave. Main reason for that was the fact that he too was just excited to meet his new little sister as was everyone. Of course, he never showed it or expressed it, but deep down he could barely wait for this day to come. He even supported Anthony and Tanya’s argument that they should come along to pick the girl up from the foster home - an argument that was inevitably turned down by James.

“You want to scare the girl before she even comes to our house? I won’t allow it.“ He said, mush to the disappointment of the aforementioned young adults.

In the meantime, as the car glides over the street only three streets away from the Clarkes’ house, all Y/N can do is wonder; think and rethink every possibility of what’s to come. No matter how many adults say she’s such a grown and mature kid, they have no idea what’s going on in her head. Just because she doesn’t go to confine in an adult about the monster under her bed or the one in her closet doesn’t mean she doesn’t fear those monsters. She does, but she’s never wanted to bother anyone else. Her main fear, however, was that haunting sound of the wind howling throughout the old house of Mrs. Jones. The eerie noises produced by the gusts of wind peeking in through the cracks and holes in the walls and around the door and window frames. Those sounds kept her up at night from the very first time she had to sleep in that small room she shared with another girl her age. She never outgrew that fear and on the autumn and nights she barely slept a wink. Now, she hopes she’ll finally be absorbed by the sweet slumber, confined in a warm bed with people that she can call family an arm’s reach away.

Pulling up to the house, Y/N finally looks up, eyes twinkling curiously as she looks up at the modest house standing tall above the vehicle her and her new parents are sitting in at the moment. Looking to the side, she finds Anne’s warm, caring gaze on her, accompanied by a small smile of genuine adoration.

“Here we are.“ James announces, unbuckling his seatbelt with a mildly trembling hand, “Let’s quickly head inside, the kids are probably lining the windows with excitement.“

And that they are. Tanya, Anthony and Megan are all aligned by the living room windows, staring at the vehicle expectantly, waiting to see their sister for the first time. Little do they know, Dennis is doing the exact same thing but by the kitchen window. He’s just as curious, but once again, not as willing to show it.

With her hand held in Anne’s, Y/N steps out of the car, finally getting a good look at the house she’ll be calling home from now on. There’s almost zero hesitation in the steps she takes towards the front door which opens before anyone even gets the chance to place their hand on the doorknob.

Light pours out of the brightly lit hallway out onto the porch, illuminating the married couple and the little girl standing in the slowly falling night.

“Welcome home.“ Anthony is the first one who greets them, more specifically Y/N, while Megan is restlessly shifting from one foot to the other, eager to run up to her new sister, six years her junior, and give her a hug. Tanya’s hold on her shoulders is the only thing preventing her from doing so.

The welcome wagon of three steps aside, allowing James, Anne and Y/N to walk in just as Dennis emerges from the kitchen, his gaze immediately seeking out the youngest member standing in the hallway.

“Y/N, these are your older siblings.” Anne says, motioning to the older kids aligned in front of her, simultaneously flashing them a warning look, “Why don’t you all welcome your sister while I get dinner ready?”

“I’ll help you.“ James chimes in, accompanying Anne in the intention of heading into the kitchen, allowing the kids to give a welcome to Y/N on their own. Though somewhat risky, they are hoping for the best outcome from their first interaction.

As the married couple walks away, the group leads Y/N into the living room where the girl, while still rather shy, finds herself feeling at home and comfortable. She’s curious above all else, though. Looking at the unfamiliar faces, all she wants is to learn more about them.

The one to break the introduction ice is Tanya. She crouches down so she’s at eye level with Y/N and gives her a warm smile. “Hi, Y/N. My name’s Tanya. I’m your older sister. It’s really nice to meet you.“

Surprising the older girl, Y/N steps forward and gives her a hug, opposing her shy and hesitant appearance. “Nice to meet you too.” She whispers before pulling away and looking around at the faces she still doesn’t have names to connect to. It doesn’t remain that way for long though - Megan, excited that she’s finally able to give her sister a hug, doesn’t hesitate to take the opportunity.

“Hi, I’m Megan! We’ll be sharing a room together! You’re gonna love it! I have a lot of toys we can share too!“ Not bothering to hide her enthusiasm, Megan approaches Y/N grinning at the younger girl who smiles right back at her.

“Do you have stuffed animals? Mine will come tomorrow, but I can’t sleep without them.“ She says timidly, embarrassed by the confession.

“Of course!“ Megan squeals, “You can have them all if you want!“

Anthony is next to introduce himself, earning himself a hug also. However, when Dennis’ turn arrives, he’s rather hesitant on how to approach the situation. He’s not used to these interactions nor is he known for being very nice or welcoming and the last thing he wants is to scare or upset the little girl, leaving her with a bad impression of him.

“And that’s Dennis.“ Tanya says, shooting him a glare as a silent ‘be nice!‘ before changing her expression entirely, giving a Y/N a sweet smile.

While Dennis remains still as a statue, death-glaring his older sister, Y/N takes a step towards him, offering a shy ‘Hi’ while avoiding eye-contact before giving him a hug too. Stunned and with a breath that has caught somewhere between his lungs and his throat, Dennis wraps his arms around the small girl as if on autopilot. Huffing out the quietest and most reluctant, “Nice to meet you, sis.”

James and Anne pick that exact moment to walk in with the intention of inviting their kids into the dining room where James has already set the table for dinner. They stop mid-step however when they see the scene in front of them - Dennis carefully - and fearfully - hugging his five-year-old sister as though she’s either a porcelain doll he’s afraid to break or an otherworldly being he’s never laid eyes upon before. The parents are debating between laughing and melting at the sight, simultaneously relieved at how well the newest addition to their family has been accepted by the rest of the members. Looking at Anthony and Tanya confirms that the two are thinking the same.

“Come on kids, dinner’s ready.” James announces, wrapping his arm around his emotional and teary-eyed wife’s shoulders, pulling her closer as a non-verbal way of reassuring her he feels the same way as she does.

To the surprise of everyone in the room, instead of letting go of the little girl, Dennis lifts her up into his arms as though she weighs as much as a feather, causing her to yelp and giggle.

“Bet you can’t make it there before Y/N and I can.” He exclaims, dashing past everyone and towards the dining room with the child giggling and squealing in his firm embrace.

If there was any shred of doubt left in James or Anne’s minds, it has now been erased and replaced with ease and joy they have been longing to feel since the moment they picked Y/N up from the foster home.

* * *

Following dinner, Megan and Tanya set up Y/N’s bed with the colorful sheets, pillow and blankets they had bought earlier that week. Megan didn’t forget to lay out a bunch of stuffed animals as well, remembering what Y/N had mentioned about those toys earlier. Meanwhile, Anthony and Dennis were giving Y/N a tour of the ground floor - or at least tried to. Y/N’s attention was immediately stolen by the box containing Dennis’ vinyl records and - much to Anthony’s surprise - he actually let her look through them and examine each and every record without giving her any warning or instructions when it came to how she held, picked up or put down his most prized possessions.

Being the youngest and also exhausted after such a busy day, Y/N was the first one to start yawning while the family sat watching TV in the living room. Anne and James were quick to react, taking the little girl up to the room she’s sharing with Megan. Tucking Y/N in with James’ storytelling filling her ears, Anne couldn’t suppress the pleasant feeling of joy and fulfillment. She plants a loving kiss on the little girl’s forehead just as James closes the story book and sets it on the bedside table, getting up quietly as to now awaken the already asleep kid. With one exchanged look they know exactly what the other’s feeling - shimmering eyes, glowing with fulfillment, genuine smiles, allowing their fondness to shine through. The two exit the room, allowing only the night light to stay one and leaving the door open a crack as a reminder that they are nearby. That she’s not alone. That she has no reason to be scared if she wakes up in the middle of the night.

But she won’t because for the first time the little girl is sleeping as peacefully as a child should be. Not at all bothered by the sound of any winds or thoughts of any monsters that might be lurking in the dark. She’s safe and sound, dreaming sweet dreams in her new loving home.

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scarpool-gmk · 3 years

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Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 4 (5/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings: N/A

Clarisse didn't think much of the place. It was just like any other bar, gross yet comfortable. Still, she hadn't survived her life by judging by appearance alone.

"Do you smell anything?" she asked Grover.

The satyr discreetly smelled the air. He made a face. "Alcohol, greasy food, some of these guys haven't taken a shower in a while, and the dumpster seems to have seen some unpleasant stuff. Maybe a slight whiff of monster, but that could just be from everything else."

Clarisse grunted. "Can't be too careful."

They walked up to the bar, and the bartender walked over. "Welcome to the Drowsy Owl," he said, and gave them a quick look over, "If you want to drink, I'll need to see ID."

"We're not here for a drink, Mr. Sachs," Clarisse said. She showed her badge. She had to admit, she loved doing that. Not that she'd ever say it out loud. "NCIS. Agent Clarisse La Rue, Grover Underwood."

"Navy? What can I help you with?"

Clarisse showed a photo of Michael in uniform. "Do you recognize this dude?"

"Yeah, heh- knew that haircut wasn't by choice. He came in here quite a lot during the past week or so."

"Did he come with someone or meet with anyone?"

The man shook his head. "No. He kept to himself. Always ordered quickly and quietly. Actually, he never got a drink either. Seemed to really want to keep to himself."

Clarisse nodded in understanding.

"Um," Grover started, "we have to ask, but…"

Clarisse sighed. "He paid in cash, right?"

The barkeep thought for a second. "Yeah. Every time."

"Do you know the validity of the cash he gave?"

"Oh, of course," Mr. Sachs said in realization, "Well, it was mostly tens and twenties, but I always check. Seemed good to me."

Clarisse could accept that. "I'll take your word for it." She handed him her card. "If you think of anything else, please call."

As she turned to go, she stopped when a familiar face walked by her.

"Mrs. Kahale," Clarisse exclaimed.

The woman turned, "Yes?"

"NCIS. You met with our partners earlier today."

"Oh, more agents," the woman smiled politely, "How nice to meet more of you."

"Really? Nice?" Clarisse snarked, "That's not what I heard."

Mrs. Kahale's smile wavered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I want to know why you aren't with your family. Why are you here, a place that your stepson visited nearly every day for the time he was here, a stepson you don't seem to care much about?"

Grover coughed behind her.

"That boy was nothing but trouble," Mrs. Kahale seethed. "No, I'm not upset about his death, and you won't catch me mourning for him. But my husband is extremely upset, and I would never do anything to hurt him. So, if you are suggesting that I killed the boy or was involved, then you really don't deserve that badge.

"As for why I'm here, there is nothing to it. Why can't I be here? I never saw Michael in this place, so it's all purely coincidence.

"That's all I have to say. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have many things still to do today." With that said, she stormed out.

Clarisse turned back to the barkeep. "That woman, does she come here often?"

"Yeah," the man said, "in fact, she's been coming here for a couple of months. Always meets up with some guys."

"Guys?" Grover repeated, "She's married..."

The bartender shrugged. "She doesn't arrive with them. Doesn't leave with them either."

"What kind of guys?" Clarisse inquired.

"Wide variety, but the most often is this younger-looking dude. He works at some fast food place; doughnuts I think it was."

"Do you have a description of him or a video even? Did you manage to hear what they were talking about?"

Mr. Sachs shook his head. "Sorry. Don't have cameras here. Didn't get a good look at his face either. And I don't get into anybody's business as it would potentially affect mine. Sorry I can't help you more."

"No problem," Clarisse reassured. "Have a nice day."

"You too."

They finally left the place.

"I don't think it was a good idea to anger Mrs. Kahale, Clarisse," Grover admonished.

"I don't like it," Clarisse scowled, "Michael hangs out for over a week in the bar his stepmother also hangs out in?"

"Well…" Grover hesitated but gathered himself. "We don't have anything to prove, well, anything. Besides, it could just be a coincidence like she said."

"I don't believe in coincidences." Clarisse had made too many mistakes believing in coincidences. "And you shouldn't either."

She trudged to the car. "It should be a rule."

-Ανναβετη-

"Come on, Wise Girl," Percy said as he drove the car in front of the Kahale residence, "Just because Ziva may say something about the knife in the house, doesn't mean Gibbs will think that both it and Michael's are suspicious. She wasn't even aware of it before I brought it up."

"Gibbs is a smart guy, Percy," Annabeth argued. "I just hope that all the stuff Chiron and I did is enough."

"Stop worrying. It's fine. There's no way you didn't think of anything."

Annabeth gave him a look.

"And if you did, which I doubt," Percy said, "we'll just deal with it as it comes up."

Annabeth sighed and knocked on the front door. Sure, they've been chased by cops before, but these were federal agents, federal agents that Annabeth and her friends were impersonating. Percy had no idea what he was getting into, and if she was being honest with herself, neither did Annabeth. The quicker she finished this investigation, the better.

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged man that Annabeth recognized as Jonathan Kahale.

"Good afternoon! How may I-" He stopped abruptly when his eyes locked with Annabeth's. He looked at her in shock, his face visibly paling. Annabeth suddenly felt very self-conscious.

Percy cleared his throat. "Mr. Kahale," he addressed, taking over for Annabeth, "We are NSCI-"

"NCIS," Annabeth automatically corrected, shaking the awkwardness away, "I am Special Agent Anne Lima, and this is my partner, Percy Jackson. I believe you were told of our coming."

"Ah, yes," Mr. Kahale cleared his throat a couple times, "Of course. Please, lead the way."

"Is your wife not coming, Mr. Kahale?" Annabeth asked as the man closed his door.

"No. She is out."

Annabeth opted to drive, if only that it gave her something to do while she was in the car with Michael's father.

"Where is this NCIS building?" Mr. Kahale asked.

"In D.C.," Annabeth answered.

Percy shot a smile at the backseat. "It's not too far. We'll have you back home real quick, Mr. Kahale."

The man nodded, falling silent. Annabeth nor Percy picked up conversation, and an uncomfortable silence settled in.

The man's deathly stillness was such a contrast to Percy's constant fidgeting. He looked lost in thought, which was always a bad idea for a demigod. Annabeth was unused to having someone without ADHD ride with her. It was kind of eerie.

After fifteen minutes, which felt like an hour, Mr. Kahale seemed to have the courage to speak up again.

"So, you two are," Mr. Kahale hesitated, and tapped his tongue on his lips a few times, "demigods?"

Percy froze in the middle of playing with the air conditioning vent.

Annabeth glanced in the rearview mirror to see the older man staring right back at her. "Why would you say that?" Annabeth asked.

"I will never forget what Michael's mother looked like," he said seriously.

Annabeth looked at the road. Oh.

"And, erm, when you misplaced the letters of the agency, Mr. Jackson was it? It alludes to your dyslexia. Also, how when you drive, Miss Lima, you tend to only read the symbols. When you had to change lanes, you did not see the construction signs that told that the right lane was right turn only. You only swapped at the last second when you saw the street arrows. And, you keep drumming your hands on the wheel, constantly moving them around. And although the consistent checking of your side and rear-view mirrors is a great driving practice, it's more likely due to your ADHD. Not that your driving is bad…."

Annabeth grit her teeth as the man kept talking. His nervous rambling wouldn't be so bad if only it wasn't critiquing her driving skills! Percy seemed to notice that things were going downhill and interrupted the man.

"So, did you ever meet up with Michael while he was here?"

"I didn't even know he was here," Mr. Kahale gloomed, "How long was he here?"

"Just under a week."

"Oh, I see." Mr. Kahale slumped further into his seat.

Annabeth felt for him. Michael was her brother, but he was one of many, and she had grown up with the tragedy of heroes she called siblings and friends. But for Mr. Kahale, Michael was his son, and the only tie he probably had left to the goddess he loved.

"I am sorry for your loss," Annabeth said.

Mr. Kahale looked up at her. "Do you know if he was happy at the camp?" He asked.

Annabeth nodded. "I believe so. He got along well with everyone. I only knew him for a year before he left for the Marines, but he always kept in contact and visited."

"It must have been really nice for him to be around family and people who could relate with him about his world."

"Michael was determined not to be held down by the divine world," Annabeth said, "And, although he may have been surrounded by all of the demigods, nothing beats true family."

She would know. No matter how bad things got between her and her family, they were always there. They were the stability in her crazy life. She remembered when her father came rushing in to save the day with his WWI plane. Then again, they could, if they needed to, be just as crazy.

Annabeth parked the car, and before getting out, she turned to look at Mr. Kahale. "Not everyone is a demigod or are even aware of our world," she warned.

"I won't say anything," Mr. Kahale promised.

Annabeth and Percy led him into the federal building. They made their way through check-in. For some reason, Percy insisted on waiting for them on the main floor. Annabeth and Mr. Kahale went into the elevator, going down to autopsy.

The elevator doors shut. Annabeth willed herself not to be affected by this man, as she noticed him staring at her, again. "Michael always looked like me," he finally said, "But you…" he took a breath. Annabeth realized that his hands were shaking. Were they doing that the entire time? "You have such a striking resemblance…" He finished.

Annabeth gave a light, breathy laugh. "Yes. You have no idea how much trouble it has cost me."

"I'm sorry," he said, "You know, I always knew this was a possibility. Michael told me the average age of demigods, but he was safe at camp, and when he joined the force, he was just a mechanic. I always told him to be careful. To be safe." He wiped his eyes. "But, I never understood the weight of the exact danger."

The doors opened up, and Annabeth led him into autopsy. Dr. Mallard had swapped out of his scrubs and was looking very professional in his bow tie.

It was a quick procedure, and they were able to leave quickly.

"It's not your fault, Mr. Kahale. You still have a family. Go be with them." Annabeth said before watching as Percy took him.

She pulled herself together. She needed to see Abby. Where did she say she was going to be again? The garage? She headed off in that general direction, and she was right.

Well, she was pretty sure. She found a pair of legs sticking out of a hole in the battered sports car, but she didn't think anyone else would wear those shoes.

"Abby?" Annabeth called out.

"Agent Lima?" A voice in the car responded. The legs started to swing around, as Abby attempted to escape.

"Yes," Annabeth affirmed, "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

"No," Abby said, "I'm fine. Perfectly-OW!-fine."

Annabeth took that to mean 'No' and started to haul Abby out of the hole by her legs. Except, this concept was a bit harder to carry out than Annabeth had thought.

"Stop kicking," Annabeth ordered, dodging what would have led to a broken nose.

"Sorry-Hey! Don't pull on the boots, man!"

"Gods, stop twisting! Just wiggle a bit."

"Wait, don't pull so fast! Just-just-"

"Okay. Here we go."

Annabeth finally lugged the lab rat out. Annabeth took a step back to catch her breath. Abby leaned on the car to do the same.

"What were you doing?" Annabeth blew out.

"Searching for any DNA samples," Abby panted, "Fingerprints, blood, spit, hair, nail clippings, sp-"

"Nail clippings?" Annabeth repeated.

Abby gave her a look. "You would be surprised where I've found nail clippings."

Deciding she didn't want the full list, Annabeth turned to the surrounding onlookers. "What are you looking at? Get back to work."

Abby looked on in amusement at the sudden scrambling of the NCIS personnel.

"Do you have anything, Abby?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I am still working on the car. It's a shame, such a nice car."

"What about the phone?" Annabeth queried.

"Where's Gibbs?" Abby asked, obviously avoiding the question.

Annabeth wanted to roll her eyes. Seriously? They were still on this?

"He went to Michael's apartment with Agent McGee."

"Oh…"

"Abby, you got the phone to work, didn't you?"

Abby sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I was able to get all the list of contacts he kept on the phone. It was definitely a burner. He only made one call with it, which was to this number. The contact name listed was Annabeth Chase. Unfortunately, the number he called is also unregistered."

"Alright. Thank you, Abby."

"Yep," Abby said, already crawling back into the hole from whence she came. Not exactly the best idea, but Annabeth resolved to come back later to see if Abby needed rescuing again. Now, she had a call to make.

-Τιμοτηψ-

"Now, you sure you boys don't need anything?" the bumbling landlady asked for about the fifth time as she led them to apartment Sergeant Kahale rented out.

"No, we're fine," Tim repeated, not missing a beat.

"Alright, then. Well, here we are."

Tim couldn't completely keep in the sigh of relief as they came up to the room.

"This is his room?" Gibbs made sure.

The lady nodded. "Yeah. You guys want-"

"We are perfectly fine, ma'am," Tim interrupted.

"Alright. I'll be in the lobby if you need me. Don't forget to return the key when you leave."

"Jeez," Tim exclaimed when the woman was out of earshot. "If I was staying here, I would do my best to not be in for most of the day either."

"Ah, she's not that bad, McGee," Gibbs lightly scolded, fiddling with the key.

"Well, at least let's hope she's not knocking…woah…"

"'Woah' is right," Gibbs agreed as he entered the room. Tim followed a bit more carefully. He didn't want to disrupt the network of link analysis that littered the room.

It was writing. And lots of it. The wall was layered with notecards, post-it notes, and even pinned up napkins covered in scrawls. The table reminded Tim of his school days when he was writing his thesis for his Master's Degree.

Tim was used to a visual plot having more images, like photographs. The only thing that came close was a map, littered in more post-it notes, rubber bands, tacks, and thread.

"Landlady is not going to be happy about the holes he made," Tim commented.

Gibbs hummed in agreement.

"What are we looking at here, Boss?"

"I don't completely know," Gibbs said quietly, "Most of it isn't in English."

Tim went closer and realized that Gibbs was right. "It looks like Greek to me." He felt rather than saw the deadpan look his boss gave him. "No, I'm being serious. I recognize these characters from the Greek alphabet."

"Is it a code?" Gibbs asked.

"I assume so," McGee said, "Wouldn't know why the Staff Sergeant would know Greek." McGee started to rewrite each Greek letter with the English equivalent. "Although, it's not really good as a code, as anyone can just type it in a trans…" McGee trailed off. Okay, so maybe he was wrong.

"What, McGee?"

"It doesn't translate into anything when I turn the letters into the Latin equivalent. I'm going to have to look at them later, maybe enlist Abby's help."

Gibbs nodded, "Do what you have to. I need to know what he was on to." Gibbs tapped one of the post-it notes. Tim was grateful that it was in English, but immediately wished it weren't after reading it.

"Boss," Tim said in shock, "this… this just got way more serious."

"Could have always been this big, McGee," Gibbs told him, "It's just that we're finding that out now."

"If he was after the Sinaloa Cartel, then this case just got a whole lot bigger," Tim said.

Gibbs said nothing to that and kept observing the Sergeant's laid out thought process. He was pretty sure he heard Gibbs mutter something about doughnuts-wouldn't that be nice- as Tim ventured deeper into the apartment. He was pleasantly surprised that Kahale kept the place nice and tidy. Gibbs's phone started to ring.

"Yeah, what have you got, Abbs?"

Okay. Nice job, I'll let Tony and Ziva know."

Alright, well, who did he call?"

Thanks, Abby." Gibbs ended the call and immediately set into making another one.

As Gibbs waited, McGee figured this would be a good time to let him know what he found.

"Boss," Tim said, catching Gibbs's attention. "I've got his duffle and his gun, standard issue. He didn't take it with him. He's got some clothes in the drawers, nothing fancy but obvious that he was going to stay here for a while. I've got nothing other than that."

Gibbs nodded in approval.

It was obvious that the main focus was whatever it was that apparently had a connection to Mexican drug cartels.

Tim looked around in helplessness as Gibbs calmly waited for Tony or Ziva to pick up. He wished he could act so calm like Gibbs, but the idea of getting involved in the Mexican drug war made him really nervous. It may be wishful thinking, but McGee truly hoped Gibbs would let the DEA handle this.

-Αντώνης-

"No, Tony!" Ziva cried in frustration, "We are not getting into this."

"I am just saying," Tony pressed. "What if-"

"There is no 'what if,' Tony," Ziva interrupted. "It would be a solid 'No.'"

Tony sighed as he drove into the rental car area. Ziva was no fun.

Ziva chuffed. "Fine."

Oh! Hold that thought.

"You wouldn't get past the second date."

Tony parked the car and looked at his partner. "A lot could happen in two dates."

"She would only go on the second for the food," Ziva taunted and slammed the door.

Tony winced. Ouch. He stroked the dashboard, apologizing for Ziva's rough behavior, before joining Ziva outside.

"Now, don't go growling at the man," Tony said, referring to the businessman, "I've had enough of that."

Ziva chuckled, "Yes, as you told me."

"Well, it made a better story than what happened with you and Jackson- which am I the only one curious if Gibbs thinks of his father because of that?"

"Oh, come on, Tony. It is a simple, common name. I'm sure it hasn't even crossed Gibb's mind."

"Gibbs is a man with some deep-reaching thoughts," Tony informed, "You can never know what goes on in the deep abyss of the Gind."

"The Gind?" Ziva questioned.

"Gibbs's mind. 'The Gind,'" Tony explained. "I was thinking about 'Mibbs,' but that didn't-"

"Oh, stop!" Ziva demanded. "Just- just keep that to yourself. Honestly, who thinks of stuff like this?"

Tony was about to retort, but Ziva waved her hands in front of his face to stop him.

"No! Don't speak! Marko Tarsibo!" Ziva called.

There was some ruffling in the office before the man swaggered out. "Ah, agents! How good of you to stop by, again. Is the case sorting out?"

"We are making progress," Ziva answered.

"Oh, I am sorry," Mr. Tarsibo said, "But I do not believe we have been introduced. An Agent La Rue accompanied Agent DiNozzo before."

"Ziva David," Ziva said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tarsibo."

"Please, call me Marko."

Well, wasn't he just delightful?

"We are going to need to see the video recordings of the time Michael Kahale was here," Tony said. He smiled. "Marko."

Something passed over the man's face. "Ah." He said. "I see. Unfortunately, policy does make me ask to see a warrant."

"If you insist," Tony said, "We can easily obtain one."

"We will also need to see video recordings of previous weeks," Ziva said.

Tony shot a questioning glance at her but played along. "We are trying to follow a couple of leads."

"Ahem," Mr. Tarsibo coughed, "Of course. That would be no problem. However, again, I will need to have a warrant."

"Alright then," Tony said, "We will be back with that for you."

He and Ziva made their way out.

"Boss isn't going to be happy about this," Tony groaned. He hated getting warrants.

"That's true," Ziva said.

Tony gave her a worried look. "Why did you ask for old video recordings?"

"I believe Agent La Rue's gut feeling was dot on."

"Spot," Tony corrected.

"What?"

"It's 'spot on,'" Tony educated, "not 'dot on.'"

"Oh, whatever!" Ziva rolled her eyes.

Hey! Not whatever! This was very important knowledge!

"Anyway," Ziva continued, ignoring Tony's mental rant, "He is definitely hiding something. Hopefully, we can find something useful on those tapes."

"Hold up," Tony said, stopping them in the middle of the parkway and bringing out his ringing phone, "It's Gibbs."

"Alright," Ziva consented.

Tony hesitated in answering. "He knows about the warrant. He's displeased."

"He cannot possibly know, Tony," Ziva said. "Now, answer it."

Tony prepared himself.

"Hi, Boss."

"DiNozzo, the car we found at the scene," Gibbs said.

"The beautiful, luxurious, red Maserati," Tony remembered. "What about it, Boss?"

"It was tampered with."

Tony frowned. "How do you mean?"

"The engine was modified so the car couldn't go as fast as it could."

Tony pressed the phone on his ear as the squeal of a car's tires sounded off nearby.

"Which means that our resident car renter tampered with the car that our dead Marine used."

"Bring him in," Gibbs ordered.

"Of cour-"

"Tony!" Ziva yelled. She tackled him, yanking him off the street. "Look out!"

As Tony stumbled and fell backward, he saw a black sports car speed past the spot where they were just standing. It screeched onto the main road and sped off.

Tony looked over Ziva to make sure she was alright. "I think your suspicions were just confirmed," he panted.

"DiNozzo!" The sound of Gibbs's voice came from the phone clutched in Tony's hand. "What's going on?"

Tony grimaced. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do.

"DiNozzo! Answer me!"

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#scarpool #fanfic #fanfiction #Godly Marine: Killed #NCIS #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Crossover #gen fic #PG/K+#Writing #Complete

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evien-stark · 4 years

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✧I Need You✧ Chapter 72

Forty-eight hours came. And forty-eight hours went. The beginning of which you and Tony came to a mutually unmutual silent agreement that you were going to keep away from him. Something devastating was happening to you. Something you had no idea how to handle. Your powers were very clearly going haywire. And you just didn’t know how to fix it.

It made sense. In an annoying way. Because your powers were emotion based- except for that thing you and Tony had. That deeper connection. And except for that one time you got so desperate you found a way to make Clint nearly end his own life- but those were separate special occasions. And what you were dealing with now was an inability to control yourself. You were leaking out from every pore. Feelings. Feeling too much. Too many. All terrible. And so you were infecting other people, because you couldn’t control yourself. And you couldn’t run the risk of hurting Tony more than he already was. So you stayed out of the office, focusing more on what you could do from home- and trying not to focus too hard on this Mandarin stuff.

Then at the end of of those forty-eight hours, JARVIS alerted you that Colonel James Rhodes had landed in Washington, and was attending his promotion ceremony. He’d done such a good job as of late, that the powers that be had lifted him up. And at this little ceremony, which you and Tony were obviously, pointedly not invited to, the military also unveiled that with his promotion he would be commanding the new and improved Iron Patriot.

After Rhodey’s ceremony was over, he called you while he was in flight, and asked to meet somewhere lowkey. Somewhere very down low. He suggested iHOP. Tony suggested Apple-Bees. To which you told them both you’d never be caught dead in either of those establishments-

“That’s the point.” Rhodey had told you. And so your little group decided to split the difference and meet at a TGIFridays.

Rhodey was there ahead of you. And you and Tony had decided not to lay into him about not being invited to one of his biggest career accomplishments in a little while. You’d also agreed not to talk about Iron Patriot unless he brought it up. Or the Mandarin. Or the bombings.

But then, you were all a bunch of liars, weren’t you?

“Iron Patriot, huh?” You asked first, taking a loud pointed sip of your soda.

Rhodey just sighed, putting a hand to his face. “See- this is why-”

“Why what?” Tony sat back, arms crossing. “We weren’t important enough to be invited to your knighting?”

“I was doing you guys a favor!” Gesturing loudly at the two of you, truly believing himself as he spoke. “You have no idea how many times President Ellis asked about you. And I know you don’t wanna talk to him.” Almost accepting this truth, you and Tony shared a look between one another. And then Rhodey quietly sped through saying, “Also my bosses didn’t want you around to usurp the moment.”

“Ah!” “See!”

The both of you pointing fingers at him. You further ruined it, “Come on, Rhodey. Iron Patriot? Really? And that color job…”

“It wasn’t my decision! It tested well with focus groups. And you hated War Machine, remember?”

“She did.” Tony, nodding in agreement. Trying to play for both teams.

You made a face at both of them. “So what I hated it. You think palette swapping the armor and giving you a fancy new name is going to fix anything? Everyone’s talking about it, Rhode. And not in a good way.”

Rhodey sighed, very deeply so, head lolling back. “You think I don’t know that? You think I’m unaware I’m being made fun of on all the network stations?”

Tony, taking a loud slurp of his drink, reached over to pat Rhodey hard on the back. “Welcome to the club, pal. If you didn’t want that, we should’ve been first on the list to talk to. I mean- PR was her job, back in the day. Military liaison. You forget about that already?”

“How could I?”

You scoffed. “PR is still my job, thank you.” It practically made up half of everything you did. “And I’ll remind you that that suit is still intellectual property of Stark Industries, and by tweaking its image you’re in direct violation of-”

Rhodey threw his hands up. “Oh. Here we go.”

“You got her started, don’t look at me.”

But you all looked at each other. And now with the pleasantries and ribbing out of the way, light smiles and little laughs graced each of you. Reaching out you gave Rhodey a little squeeze at his shoulder. “Congrats on the promotion.” While you might not have agreed still with Iron Patriot, Rhodey was doing his best. And you were absolutely just relieved to have him here, considering…

Considering for a hot second there you thought he might have been taken from your lives completely. That was the risk he ran, sure. That was really the risk you all ran now with the lives you led. But the thought was terribly devastating. If that had happened, you probably would have fallen in line with Tony’s footsteps, and done whatever necessary to take that man out. You still weren’t sure you shouldn’t be involved, even if you didn’t really want to-

And Tony was feeling much the same way. Slurping down the rest of his drink before leaning in after the small chatter had completely finished to say, “So. Really. Tell me about this Mandarin guy. What’s really going on?”

It was inevitable that the conversation would end up here. And now that it was out there, there was no taking it back. Even if you asked him to. ...and you kind of wanted to know, too. Not that you wanted to deal with more of Ellis. You waited quietly until Rhodey decided to answer.

“It’s classified information.” But when the two of you gave him a long look he sighed. “Alright. Look… there’s been nine bombings total.”

Your lips pressed together, still trying to figure out if you should be walking this line. “That’s six more since the last time we heard about them.”

Rhodey set his hands together on the table. “Yeah, well the public only knows about three- here’s the thing. Nobody can ID a device. There’s no bomb casings. No trace.”

Saying this already set Tony up for trouble. Evidenced by his sliding in closer, immediately after hearing that. “You know we can help. All you gotta do is ask- I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile- I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air-” He was stuck. Talking quickly. Trying to say anything that would get this to click.

Because much like you, he was over focusing. Running himself ragged. And it was Rhodey that finally took a good look at him- then you- and then asked, “When’s the last time either of you have gotten a good night’s sleep?”

“Why are you picking on me?” Asked with a hand to your chest. What had you done? It was Tony who was going off the rails. What gave Rhodey an idea that-

“You look like hell. And don’t think I don’t know about the little highway incident.”

At this you really were shocked. “It’s an incident now? I just had an anxiety spike- a terrorist took over national television, I think I’m entitled- and who even told you about that?” Now overly defending yourself. Which only proved your guilt all the more.

Luckily, Tony came to both your rescue. “Einstein slept three hours a year, look what he accomplished.” Though this really was not the most sturdy defense. But since you had none yourself…

Rhodey sighed yet again. “I’m just… I’m concerned, alright? I’m concerned about you both. My base was the one that got bombed yet you two look like you walked out of a warzone- ...hell, are still in one right now. What’s really going on? Is this still about New-”

Tony spoke over him quickly. “You’re gonna come at me like that?” Hackles raised, clearly. Not wanting to even hear those two words paired together. ...had it really gotten that bad?

You felt a small shift. He was uncomfortable. His mind was racing. Panic was starting to find its way to a simmer inside him. Reaching out you laid a hand to his arm. He couldn’t go off right now. It would no doubt have too much pull on you- and if you exploded again- “Tony…” Calm. Gentle. As kind as you could make the shape of his name.

Falling in line, Rhodey looked at him. “Look. I’m not trying to be a dick-...tator...”

His sudden stop and pointed look at the side of the table drew both your gazes the same way. You had visitors. Children visitors. There was no telling how long they’d been standing there. You hoped not too long. This was precisely the reason you should have met at the house. A dark crappy restaurant had been a good idea, but the fact was-

Well. Tony had parked the suit outside, while you’d opted to arrive in a car with Happy. That was a discussion for another time. The same one you kept putting off and off and off… It was like he couldn’t get along without it. And, right now, like he’d wanted to be caught here.

The little boy and girl held up their little pieces of art, no doubt worked on diligently with restaurant crayons. Siblings, perhaps?

“Hi there.” You greeted them with about as much warmth as you could muster. Now was no time to lose it. Not in front of children.

The girl, just a couple years older, smiled bright at you. “Do you mind signing my drawing?”

You took hold of it carefully, taking a look. It was a picture of the Iron Lady, blasting down a row of angry squiggle monsters. “Of course not. What’s your name?”

“Erin!”

“Sure thing, Erin.”

The little boy waiting patiently thrust his own drawing up Tony’s way. “What about mine?”

“Sure. You know, I loved you in a Christmas Story, by the way.” You really wished he wouldn’t sass the children, but luckily nobody seemed to have heard him. “What’s your name?”

“Anthony.”

At this Tony huffed, shaking his head with a small grin. “Of course it is. Great name.”

With you and Tony sufficiently distracted putting signatures on paper for your adoring fans, Rhodey leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. “Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it’s not…”

“Superhero business. I got it.” Tony’s head was still ducked, really focused on his signature. But you felt the spike in anxiety once those two words were uttered.

You, on the other hand, were slightly ruffled. “Well I don’t. If we’re not getting involved- which, by the way, I don’t want to- but then why is Ellis blowing up our phones?”

Rhodey shook his head. “He’s just as scared, and maybe thinks he should be able to rely on you guys- but, that’s a discussion for a different time. That’s a whole other fight.”

Tony’s tone was suddenly very curt. “I said I got it. I understand. I-...”

You handed Erin her drawing back, but then reached out as you felt Tony’s resolve waver. As you felt him dip underneath a new wave. “Tony…”

He pressed the crayon down on the paper, snapping it in half. Rhodey’s hand was on his other shoulder. “You okay?”

Tony put a hand to his face. “I broke the crayon.”

Rhodey soothed his hand over Tony’s shoulder. “Take it easy, Tones.”

You rubbed his back, but already you were finding it hard to breathe. He was overwhelming you so suddenly. “Honey, you’re okay-” Trying to will that thought into existence for him.

Erin looked up. “Are you alright, Mr. Stark?”

You hoped against hope that he was going to pull out of this and be okay. But he was spiraling- and he startled you as he sprung up to his feet, suddenly unable to catch his breath. “I gotta- I gotta-” And then bolted, shoving restaurant patrons out of the way as he ran. In his wake he left you gasping for air as you felt yourself drowning in the wake of his panic.

People were looking. Watching. Everyone was acutely aware Tony Stark had just pushed children aside and ran from a restaurant. You had to claw, had to grab tight of your better instinctual sense to protect him and his image. Because the rest of you had started disappearing so far beneath his waves you’d grabbed onto the table to keep yourself afloat.

“Rhode-”

“Go.”

Knowing he would clean up here, freeing you to launch yourself out of your seat- steady yourself- because everything was fine. Tony Stark was fine- you tried to will the thought into existence so everyone with their phones out recording you wouldn’t make tomorrow’s headline. The last thing you needed. Once you found your feet, you calmly walked from the restaurant.

Just barely outside, people were gathered around the Iron Man suit, which was kneeling on the ground. Inside you felt the tremble of his continued panicking and it smacked you so hard you wheezed an inhale, pressing a hand over your heart where you felt it start beating double time.

As soon as you found your voice- “Move, please. Move.” And when people continued to stand around and stare at the spectacle he’d become- the much more interesting focal point- wondering about him, already starting rumors about him, speaking unkindly about him-

You let anger take you instead. And after that you swept your hands up and then out in a motion just so. Literally clearing them out as you dropped into the dark space and saw each one of their nearby profiles. Every person standing too close to him, you poked with a little bit urgent need.

Don’t you all have something to take care of?

Walking around each unconscious being, a little tap tap on the shoulder. A little injection of worry. Thinking:

Did I leave the curling iron on? I need to make a phone call. The kids are waiting in the car-

Didn’t matter. You just wanted them away from him. And once the zombified quick shuffle of feet came on and the two of you were left alone, you knelt down to him, trying to catch your breath. Feeling all too light headed.

But you focused for him. “Tony.” Trying to level out your tone. Struggling. “Talk to me.”

You expected the helmet to slide back. To see his face. To hear his actual voice. But instead you heard that slightly mechanical pang as it was broadcast out to you. “I gotta go.”

Then with almost no thought at all he stood, practically knocking you back, and took off.

Just like that.

Leaving you half sitting on the pavement, staring up at the sky. Watching him disappear.

At that exact moment, almost every part of you wanted to give in. To lie down on the sidewalk and just…

“Hey.” Looking over your shoulder, your saw Rhodey’s hand extended out. To help you. Weakly with your last bit of strength and resolve, you put yours in his and let him lift you. “What the hell was that?” And then, when you took too long to answer, he waved a hand in front of your face. Called your name once. Then set his hands on both your shoulders and turned you to actually look at him. “You okay?” Asking with every sense that you absolutely were not.

A buzz took over your ear, and LUNA spoke, “Ms. Potts on the line for you.”

Probably not good. Probably alerting you to the fact that videos of Tony’s meltdown were circulating already. Gaining buzz. Wanting to know what to do next. Weakly to Rhodey, “I’m fine- sorry, one second-” And then turning your head to the side, you tried to prep for more bad news. “Put Pepper on.”

Pep’s voice started in in a flurry. “Hey, your five o’clock is here early. Which is bad because I kinda wanted to talk to you about this meeting before you went in- I know you’re probably busy, but can you come to the office?”

A meeting. Trite. Trivial. So small in comparison to the fact that you were pretty sure your life was falling apart. Had been for a while now. And you had no way to stop it.

That black hole almost swallowed you up, as you stared blankly into the distance. The feel of something on your face drew your attention back. Eyes picking up focus, you realized Rhodey had a handkerchief at your noise, and a gentle hand to the back of your head as he tilted you a little. “You’re bleeding.”

“I am?” Hadn’t something like this happened recently, too? You took the cloth from him, wiping at your nose. “I’m sorry- about that-”

“Don’t be sorry. Just be honest with me. You two are not doing so hot, huh?” Your frown as he said this, crossing his arms, probably told the whole story. “I have people you can talk to- and you seem like you need to talk to someone- I’m trying not to be overbearing here, but I think-”

A shot passed through your ears. Something painful. Terrible. You just started nodding at him as you cut him off. “Yeah- no, I appreciate it. I do. Just. Send them over. I’ll look into it. I have to go- I have to… Pepper needs me and then I have to see what Tony’s doing- it’s date night-” Talking over him. Silencing him.

When he really understood, he stopped trying and just shook his head. “Yeah. Look. I’m gonna be in town for a while. So just… I’m not far, alright? You want me to check in on him?”

Waving over, you got Happy’s attention, who’d just been sitting in the car watching something on his tablet. After he started the car again and pulled up to the curb you offered Rhodey a terrible weak smile. “If he’ll let you. That would be nice. Thank you.”

“Yeah. No problem.” His tone was quiet. A little defeated.

Weren’t you all?

#Tony Stark #Tony Stark x Reader #INY Chapter Seventy Two

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externally-upset · 5 years

Note

1-100

Alright going all in I see. Let's do this

1. I mainly use Spotify

2. I try and keep it clean but somehow always winds up messy

3. I've got brown eyes

4. y'know I've got a really generic name but I do like it. Why, I have no idea

5. I'm currently single

6. Scatterbrained, happy, adventurous

7. I've got natural black hair

8. So I don't drive because it actually hurts my leg to drive. Also I can't sit still for longer than 5 minutes

9. I shop everywhere that has toys lmao. I'm a toy collector so I'll go anywhere that has em

10. I don't really have a style. I try and live my life as cozy as possible

11. I don't really have a favorite social media account

12. I have a full/queen size bed

13. I've got lots of siblings. In all, I've got 6 sisters and 2 brothers, but some are step family. I've got 1 bio sister and 1 bio brother, both younger than me.

14. I've been looking into moving to Washington recently, but I think I'd rather travel the world than settle down somewhere, for now at least

15. I don't use the filters myself so I can't speak on that

16. I don't use makeup so I don't have a fave brand to talk about

17. I shower everyday, I get really sweaty so I gotta

18. I don't have like a definite fave TV show. It varies from month to month. Although this summer it was Nisekoi, which is an excellent anime

19. I wear a size 11.5/12 shoe

20. I'm 5'11

21. I wear almost strictly sneakers

22. I don't go to the gym, I should though. I really should

23. Dream date would be to have one lol, um I guess to go up to the mountains together and star gaze or something to do with the mountains. I just enjoy being outside

24. Too much to count 💸💸 lmao jk I've got $60

25. Ain't wearing any but if someone came through right now, I'd put some black ones on

26. I had four, but my mom stole 2 of them

27. I was working in drywall for awhile but I hopped out of that and am currently applying to places. I specifically was a taper, so like when drywall is put up in the house, there are gaps between the pieces put up. I covered those gaps up, all over the house. It doesn't seem like a lot but when you've got 15-20 feet ceilings, it gets hard

28. I've got quite a lot of friends and I love them all

29. I've know I've done bad stuff that others remember me for but I can't think of anything

30. Oh man I loooooove lavender scented candles. Lavender scented anything is the best

31. I honestly can't think of any boy names that I like

32. 3 girl names: Sochi, Lavender, and Laurie, which is actually the name of one of my best friends

33. Anthony Hopkins is my favorite actor by far

34. Fave actress is definitely Meryl Streep, I fell in love with her when I first saw the Devil Wears Prada years ago and it just snowballed from there

35. My celeb crush is either Bonnie Wright or Jessica Keenan Wynn

36. Fave movie has gotta be The Great Mouse Detective

37. I used to read a lot, not so much anymore. Of everything I've read though, Christine by Stephen King has been my favorite read

38. Everyone wants to say brains are more important and they are, but unfortunately in the world we live in money rules over all

39. I used to be called Chancho but not any more

40. I've been to the hospital more times than I'd like to think. I had a heart condition that flared up in high school so I spent a lot of time at the hospital. I'm still not even sure what it was and am sure the doctors made it up to take my money

41. TOP TEN SONGS:

Beauty and the Beast - Angela Lansbury

Beauty and the Beast - Celine Dion, Peabo Bryson

Higher - Creed

Eres Mi Droga - Intocable

Crossing Field - LiSA

Don't Blink - Kenny Chesney

Junkhead - Alice In Chains

Your Decision - Alice In Chains

Losing A Whole Year - Third Eye Blind

Forever Halloween - The Maine

42. Nah, no meds for me

43. I think I have an oily skin type

44. Biggest fear is leaving those I love behind when I pass along to the next life

45. I don't know how many kids I want

46. I always have my hair either in a bun or braided

47. I live in a medium sized family home

48. My grandma has been and always will be my role model

49. It was being told how wise I am

50. Last text I sent was to my homeboy, telling him "this school shit is wack"

51. I was 6 years old when I found out Santa wasn't real

52. A nice Truck is my dream car or maybe a souped up Subaru, with an anime wrap for shits and gigs

53. I'm cool with smoking weed, but no cigarettes and only smoke outside, don't need my stuff to smell

54. Yeah, I'm here in college, but I don't like it

55. Rural areas by far. I've always wanted my own farm

56. I wanna be a high school history teacher and that requires a degree, so that's why I'm in college

57. I don't like the shampoo and conditioner from hotels, don't like the way they feel. That being said, yes I'll take them

58. I've got freckles but you can barely see them unless were face to face

59. Yes and no. It really depends on my mood. I try to take more smiling pictures now

60. I've got quite a few, mostly memes though

61. Of course I've peed in the woods, with the amount of times I've been hiking and camping with no bathroom in site, you gotta

62. I watch almost strictly cartoons, if we're being completely honest

63. Chicken nuggets smack, no matter where they're from

64. If it calls for it, honey. If not, then sweet and sour sauce

65. Alright, so it depends where I'm at. If I'm home alone, just my underwear. If there are people here, shorts. If I'm at someone else's house, I wear whatever I have on

66. Never participated in a spelling bee in my life

67. My hobby is collecting. I've been collecting things since I was a kid. I've switched between many things in my life. I've gone from Wrestling figures, to sports cards, to vinyl records, to Funko Pops. I actually collect a little of everything I've mentioned now

68. I can't draw for shit

69. I don't play any instruments, although I've tried learning how to play the Ukulele

70. Last concert was seeing Four Year Strong and Seaway like 2 years ago

71. I prefer tea over coffee

72. I guess Starbucks as I've never had Dunkin before

73. Marriage sounds nice, but I don't need to. Like if I'm dating someone and they said they don't wanna get married, I wouldn't have a problem with it. As long as we're in love, that's all that matters

74. Aha, I'm not answering this one

75. If ever I get married, I don't know what the last name situation is gonna be

76. Burgundy and blue look absolutely fantastic on me

77. Yeah there are a few people I miss

78. I always sleep with my door closed and my closets too

79. I belive in ghosts, although I prefer to call them spirits. Used to see them frequently as a child, still do sometimes

80. Biggest pet peeve is when people try to tell me what to do. Not like suggestions but actually tell me what to do. Irritates me to no end

81. Last person I called I think was my Dad, but that's because I couldn't find him in the store

82. Black Cherry Vanilla is the best but no one sells it anywhere

83. Golden Oreos are pretty damn good so I'll go with those

84. If I have to choose, probably rainbow sprinkles

85. Just a plain white tank top

86. My phone background is a picture of Ricky from Trailer Park Boys saying "Man, maybe I am gay."

87. I can be outgoing, it kinda takes a bit for me to open up though

88. I fucking love when people play with my hair

89. My neighbors across the street are very nice, but next door neighbor is a dick, always judging shit

90. I usually wash my face in the mornings

91. I used to get high a lot, not so much anymore, although I'd really like for that to change

92. I spent a good portion of this year drunk, so that's a problem. I actually only started drinking when I turned 21 last September. Never been hungover either, so I've been blessed

93. Last thing I ate was some chips

94. "Thank you to the miracle that we are able to meet in a dirty and ugly world, even like this" My Song - Girl Dead Monster. This is from Angel Beats and these are rough English translations

95. I prefer winter over summer, but spring is my fave season

96. I love night time, always will

97. I will always pick dark chocolate over all other chocolates

98. September is my favorite month, not because it's my birth month, but it's the one month where everything feels right

99. I'm a Virgo

100. Last person I cried in front of was my homeboy Mason, albeit I was drunk as fuck and don't remember it but he does. Says I scared him

Goddamn that took forever, but I did get over being bored, so bless you Anon

0 notes

theradioghost · 6 years

Note

I MUST know the rationale behind the ranking of most dumbass podcast characters.

some spoilers because, you know, sometimes these people are so bad at making good decisions that it completely alters their worldstate,

Rudyard FunnLook at him. Look at everything he’s ever done.

Jon Sims/Doug Eiffel“got kidnapped/held hostage by horrible monsters four times in as many months” versus “flung offinto deep space at least four times”? how’s a girl to choose between them

Juno SteelDespite steady and promising improvement, the lady is working against 38 yearsof terrible, terrible decisions and has a long way to go yet. And I have yet to forgive him for the end of The Final Resting Place.

Dr. Howard YoungWhere do I start. Thought FUTURE wasa good idea. Told OCEAN to fuck off. Did not consider just how bad an ideareturning to Halcyon was. Did not consider that fleeing into Floor 13 was a badidea. Somehow acted like an idiot in every conversation he ever had with theAIs he built. Managed to die several dozen times.

Mark SollingerNihilistic eldritch cults and transformation into a terrible robot-creature isnot the most effective way to help your friend!!!!! And it didn’t even work

Esther RobertsI love her (most versions of her) but she’s the only person upon whom I would everwant to inflict a basic college-level ethics class, and maybe then a few more ontop of that.

The entire fucking Stamatis familyWOULD YOU THREE GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER

Anthony PartridgeLovely guy, deserved better, did drivehis wife away out of blindness and also killed a man

Julian, the JanitorSweetheart, please thinkbefore you act. Manages to be highly-ranked in bad decision making entirely within his own daydreams.

Martin BlackwoodAlso a sweetheart. Needs to stop idolizing his crush andrealize that said crush is plummeting headfirst down a well of eldritchdarkness and that maybe that’s not a healthy situation for either of them.

Carlos the Scientist circa It Devours!I don’t blame him, I’m just sad.

Antigone FunnShe deserves the world and is definitely the more sensiblesibling. And yet she is clearly also her brother’s twin.

Dr. Robert MontagueAccidentally died and then ran around the spaceship and yelledat his dad captain about thirty seconds after waking up from a coma andfinding out he had been dead.

Dipshit Poletti (formerly Extinction Event Poletti, formerlyPanda Bear Poletti, formerly Earthman Poletti, formerly Gerald Poletti)If those names don’t say enough I don’t know what I can tellyou, but also consider everything else he’s ever done, and the fact that he’s currently in prison because he’s willing to believe anything that ghosts tell him.

Mick MercuryHe’s so bad at everything. I love him. He’d be higher on thelist except that somehow he always manages to show up and produce the exact profoundwisdom that both Juno and real-world-me need to hear right at that moment. Also because he is a shining beacon of hope and love and light. I may be biased on this one but if you don’t expect that by now then I don’t know what to tell you.

Michael TateI’m so, so proud of him, and I’m so so proud of his recovery,and walking into that elevator on his own was such a significant moment for hischaracter and his growth, but it was also a stunningly dumbass move.

Neil Hastbury-RueBad at ghosts. Worse at judgment.

Dr. Sally GrissomMore ethically competent than virtually everyone at ODAR,but that’s not the highest bar in the world. Fell out of a ceiling and then smoked weed with her boss on a cafeteria floor while her secret government facility was in “a double agent is stealing world-altering secrets” lockdown.

Gemma Linzer-CoolidgeYOU CAN’T FAKE A CRIME SCENE SO THAT YOU CAN THEN BREAK INTOTHE CRIME SCENE

Gore“I said I was a vampire, I didn’t say I was a good one.”Also, terrible taste in women, no pun intended.

#To also answer another question #the only reason no one specific from TBCS Blackchapel is on this list #is that right now I blame all nine of them and the whole town equally #for somehow turning the entire place into a fortress against a group called The Apostles #and then deciding it was a fine idea to trust a mysterious helpful stranger named JAMES #Anonymous #asks #my posts

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dumbledearme · 6 years

Text

chapter five—a leap of faith

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act I — Storm At Sea

Part V — If only for one moment I had shared with you all I know, the sea wouldn't be a mystery.

They had to walk for a long time. That was tiring enough without Anthony going on and on about how it had been Andy's fault they had lost all of their stuff. "If you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—" he kept saying.

"What did you want me to do? Let you be killed?"

"I don't need you. I had everything under control. I would've been fine."

Andy didn't argue with that. Besides, she didn't know what to say to him. It was like walking on eggshells. She felt strange. Sad even.

He noticed it. "Look, I..." his voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

She sighed. "We need to have each other's back, right? That's the whole point of being a team. Isn't that why they send three half-bloods?"

Anthony was silent for a moment. "It's just that... I'm the one who needs to... I have to keep you alive. Because if you die... well the quest is over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

"Wow." Andy tried to keep a straight face. "For a moment there, I almost believed you cared about my safety." He was about to say something, but Andy decided she didn't want to hear it. "Wait. You haven't left the camp since you were nine?"

"Kind of," he admitted. "My dad... It didn't work for me living at home. Camp Half-Blood is my home. And there you train and train and that is all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good at all."

"Well, I think you're good," Andy said, surprising even herself.

"You do now?" he jested.

"Anyone who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." Andy couldn't be sure, but she thought he almost smiled.

As if in consequence to that tiny miracle, Andy collided with a tree and fell on her ass. Anthony showed his disapproval with a shake of his head but had the decency to help her up.

The deserted two-lane road had a weird roadside curio shop that sold statues. The neon sign was impossible for the dyslexic kids to read, so Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Nothing weird there. To Andy, the tasty smell of hamburgers was good enough.

"The lights are on inside," said Anthony, who now looked just as hungry as Andy felt. "Maybe it's open."

"This place is weird," said Grover. The others ignored him. They kept passing the statues until they reached one of a satyr playing the pipes. "Blah-ha-ha!" said Grover. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" They stopped at the warehouse door. "Don't knock," he urged.

Andy knocked.

The door opened almost immediately revealing a woman wearing a long black gown that covered everything but her hands and a veiled over her head. "Children," she said, "it is too late to be out alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're... um... We're orphans," said Anthony.

"Orphans?" she repeated.

Andy wanted to end that futile conversation and jump to things that mattered: "Is this food I smell?" She tried peering inside.

"Oh, my dears. You must come in," she said making way for them to pass. "I am Aunty Em." She led them to a dining area. Andy thought there was something very suspicious about the lady locking the door, but these days you couldn't be too careful. Some people were very cautious…

No, her only concern was the food. And Aunty Em didn't leave them hanging. She gave them lots and lots of good food.

"We don't have money for this," Grover said, suddenly.

Andy wanted to hit him.

"Well, no money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat," said the great Aunty Em.

"Thank you, ma'am," said Anthony, and Aunty Em sniffed, as if he had done something wrong.

"You have such beautiful gray eyes, Anthony," she said. "Don't you think, Andy?"

Andy nodded because her mouth was full. But how did Aunty Em know his name? Or hers? Well, they had told her, hadn't they? They probably had. Hadn't they?

"You make this statues yourself?" Anthony asked, glancing around the room. He'd stopped eating and was giving Aunty Em an accusatory look.

"Yes. Some of them don't turn out well. The face is the hardest thing to get right. Always the face... I had two sisters that helped me before, but now I'm all alone."

Anthony froze, realizing something. "Two sisters?"

"A terrible tale," continued Aunty Em. "A bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... boyfriend, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters shared my bad fortune as long as they could but... They faded away. I alone survived."

"Andy," Anthony called in warning. "It's time to go. It's late." He sounded so tense, the old man!

Andy gave him a shove. "Relax. How about a nap? This bunch of food made me want—"

"Andy!"

"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Anthony again. "A long time since I last saw those eyes." She reached out to touch him but Anthony stood up abruptly.

"We really should go."

"Yes," said Grover after swallowing the napkin. "Let's go."

But leaving was the last thing Andy wanted to do. She got up begrudgingly. "Are you guys sure? 'Cause a nap would definitely—"

Aunty Em reached up to undo the wrap around her head and Anthony shouted, "Don't look at her!" He put on his cap and disappeared. His invisible hands pushed Andy and Grover to the ground. There was a strange rasping sound.

"Run," Grover bleated.

Andy didn't move. From where she was, she could see one glass sphere to one side that reflected Aunty Em and her dancing hair. Her serpents hair. "The Gray-Eyed One did this to me," Medusa said. "Anthony's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."

"Don't listen to her," said Anthony from somewhere. "Run, Andy!"

"Do you really want to help the gods, Andromeda?" asked the monster. "Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear."

Grover came flying with his new sneakers and Andy took the moment to get herself together. She got up with her eyes closed and tried to think of something, anything. She wandered blindly avoiding the place where she could hear Grover beating Medusa until she reached the place she had aimed for.

Andy grabbed the glass sphere and uncapped her pen. Keeping her eyes on the sphere, Andy marched towards the monster. Medusa was about to lunge at Grover when Andy called her.

The monster decided that killing Andy was nicer than the flying satyr. She lunged at Andy who slashed up with Riptide. There was a sickening noise then the sound of a monster disintegrating. The head fell to the ground. Grover approached, his eyes still shut, he had a really good nose, and place Medusa's black veil back over her face.

Anthony materialized beside Andy.

"Where were you?" she asked, angrily.

"I told you to run!"

"How was I supposed to—" Andy glanced at the head. "Why is it still here?"

"Spoil of war," he shrugged. "But it can still petrify you."

"And we have Athena to thank for?"

Anthony flashed her an annoyed look. Andy was starting to think that was his natural face. "Your dad, actually. Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They met in my mother's temple. She wasn't happy about it."

"So now it's my fault we met Medusa? You're impossible."

"Well, you're insufferable."

"You two are giving me a migraine," complained Grover. "What are we going to do with the head?"

Andy stared at the thing. "Where did you say stayed Mount Olympus?" she asked Grover and he answered her promptly.

Anthony scolded. "Don't even think about it, Andy."

It was her turn to give him one of those looks. She grabbed the head and went to search the warehouse. She packed up Medusa's head and filled out a delivery slip:

The Gods, Mount Olympus, 600th Floor, Empire State Building, New York, NY.

With best wishes, Andy Jackson.

"They're not going to like that," Grover warned her. "They'll think you're impertinent."

"That's my middle name."

With the money they stole from Medusa, they paid for a train. Two days passed without an attack, but Andy wasn't able to relax. Her mind was racing. She was scared with the possibilities. And more than anything, she wanted to feel among friends. How about giving the old boy a chance?

"Tell me more about your dad," she asked Anthony. They were sitting beside each other since Grover had thrown himself on the other seats.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, uninterested.

"So I don't have to think about my dead mom."

The dead-mom-card was the only way to deal with his bitterness. "There's nothing to tell," he said. "He was not a good dad."

"Expatiate."

"He never wanted a baby," Anthony said. "He literally asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with work. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent. But for him... My arrival was the most inconvenient thing. Then when I was five he got married and forgot everything about Athena. He has a regular mortal wife now and two regular mortal kids and for him it's just easier to pretend I don't exist. It's easier for me, too."

Andy wanted to make him feel better, but she had no idea how. "Maybe—"

He stopped her. "Don't try to give me bull. He doesn't care about me. His wife was horrible to me and never let me touch my siblings. He never said anything to defend me. And when monsters appeared they would blame me for endangering their kids. I can take a hint. I wasn't wanted so I left. That's all there is to it and it's better for everyone involved."

She swallowed what she was going to say and tried to keep the conversation flowing. "And you got to camp by yourself?"

"Athena watched over me," he said proudly. "And I made some friends on the road." Anthony looked out the window at one of the skyscrapers. "I want to do that," he said. "Build things. Maybe I can build something as great as the Parthenon. Something to last a thousand years."

Andy caught herself smiling. The look on his face was priceless. The way he watched the buildings. The soft tones of his voice. The brightness in those eyes. There was nothing in the world that made her feel like that.

"An architect, uh?"

He, obviously, didn't appreciate her tone. "Athena expects her children to create things," he said, his neck reddening, "not just tear them down, like the god of earthquakes." Andy was silent. "Enough about me, Seaweed Brain. Go to sleep. I'll keep watch."

"Andy!" Grover exclaimed, looking glad. He even gave her a goat embrace. "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

Anthony was a little further away, trying to look pissed, but he was obviously relieved. "We can't live you alone for five minutes," he muttered. "What the hell happened?"

Well, here are the facts: old man Anthony wanted to go sightseeing. He thought this could be his only chance to go to the top of the Gateway Arch. Andy indulged him, thinking maybe that would improve his mood. So they went up in the little elevator that moved in a curve.

Horrible experience!

Up there, Anthony dumped every fact and curiosity he knew about the Arch. After about half an hour of that, he seemed satisfied and gave them permission to leave. But the elevator was full and Anthony and Grover went down, but Andy had to wait for the next car with a fat lady holding a chihuahua.

Who, as a matter of fact, turned into a monster seconds later—Echidna, the mother of monsters, no less.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the little dog also changed form and became a huge Chimera. Andy fought them well, until the serpent tail sank its fangs into her calf. Her leg was on fire. The Chimera hit Riptide that went all the day down the Arch. Andy was left hurt and weaponless.

She backed away and looked down. Far, far below, there was a river.

Echidna urged her to jump. Teased her, even. Dared her. Would she, a daughter of Poseidon, survive? Probably not, but even the monster seemed interested in the possibility.

"You have no faith," Echidna guessed. "You don't trust the gods."

And she was right, Andy didn't trust them at all. If she had to put her life in the hands of one of them... Well, she just would just rather not. But she had poison in her veins. She would die anyway. There was nothing to choose; there was nothing to lose. If there was ever a time for a leap of faith, this was definitely it.

Andy went for it.

She didn't die, which was a good thing. A woman, the color of water, a ghost in the current, appeared and handed her Riptide.

"Your father believes in you, child," the woman said. "He asks me to tell you that your mother's fate isn't as hopeless as you think. Go to the beach in Santa Monica before you descend into the Underworld. And Andy... do not trust the gifts." And Andy returned to the surface.

"We've got to get you to Santa Monica then," Grover said, after she was done telling them. "You can't ignore a summons from your dad!"

"First we need to contact Chiron," Anthony said and led the way to the nearest car wash. He explained to Andy how the rainbow goddess Iris carried messages for the gods and half-bloods. He made a rainbow and the offering. Then the mist turned into Luke.

"Tony," Luke said, surprised. "Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"Hi, Luke!" Andy shoved her head between Grover and Anthony.

Anthony pushed her back. "Yes, we're fine. Where's Chiron?"

"Down at the cabins. We're having some issues."

"What kind of issues?" asked Grover.

"Chiron had to—What's that noise?" Luke yelled. Just then a car pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum.

"I'll take care of it," said Anthony. "Help me, Grover." And the two of them went away.

Andy tried to fix her hair.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke was telling her. "Things are pretty tense. Word leaked out about your quest and Poseidon against Zeus. People are starting to take sides. Aphrodite, Apollo and Ares are backing Poseidon. Athena is backing Zeus, of course. But how are you doing? I wish I could be there. I can't help much from here but... Listen, it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice, I saw him. It's the only time he's allowed to visit, the darkest day of the year."

"But Chiron said gods can't take each other's symbol of power directly."

"True, but... Hades has the helm of darkness."

"What is that?"

"That's his symbol of power. It allows him to become invisible. Well, actually he becomes darkness itself. He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched or seen or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insa—"

"Okay, I get it, it's superbad."

Luke laughed. "I think you'd have to be invisible to enter the throne room and steal Zeus master bolt, don't you?" Andy stared at him a little shocked and Luke seemed to realized what he had said. "Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Tony. We've known each other since we were very little. We grew up together. He is like a brother to me." The water then shut off, the mist started to evaporate. "Take care, Andy," Luke shouted. "And tell Grover this time it'll be different. Nobody'll turn into a pine tree if he just—" Luke's image faded.

Later that day, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner thinking of a way to pay for their food when a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant pulled up to the curb.

All conversation stopped. The guy on the bike was one of the biggest man Andy had seen. As he walked inside the air got dry and warm. He walked over and sat beside Anthony.

"It's on me," he told the waitress. Then he turned to Andy. He was wearing sunglasses and she couldn't see his eyes, but immediately she felt the anger boiling in her stomach. She wanted—needed—to hit something. "So... You're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?"

Anthony's eyes flashed her a warning. "Andy, this is—"

"I know who he is," she cut. It was true. She could almost see Clarisse before her.

Ares smiled. "It's alright," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. I heard you were in town. I've got a little proposition for you."

"What could I possibly do for a god?"

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself," he shrugged. "It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little... date with my girl. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. Go fetch it for me."

"Go fetch it yourself."

Ares, very slowly, took of his shades. There was fire in his eyes. "A god is giving you the opportunity to prove yourself, Andy Jackson."

Andy crossed her arms. "I'm not interested. I'm already on a quest."

"You think I don't know that? When that item was stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful..." he licked his lips. "Well, if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I am trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Jeez, thanks."

"Hey, I'm a generous guy," Ares said, ignoring her sarcasm. "Just do what I asked. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

"We're doing just fine on our own."

"Right. No money, no wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out and I'll do the same. I know something about your... mom."

Andy's blood turned cold. "My mom?"

Ares grinned. "Now I got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancey. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride. I'll meet you back here when you're done." And he was gone.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Andy. This is not good."

"Well, he was lying, wasn't he?" she asked. "He doesn't know anything. It was a trick. We should just go."

"We can't," said Anthony. "I hate Ares as much as everybody else, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune."

"But... why does he need us?"

"Maybe his problem requires brains, which he obviously doesn't have," Anthony shrugged. "Ares has strength, that's all. And strength bows to wisdom."

Oh gods, listen to this old man…

Andy let out a grouch so loud almost everyone in the diner turned to look.

#andromeda #andy jackson #fem percy jackson #fanfic #genderbend #dfcrosas #storm at sea #child of land and sea #anthony chase #andony #male annabeth chase

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not-close-to-straight · 7 years

Text

Frost (Chapter Fifteen)

ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS HERE

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

Tony should have seen it coming, since he always saw these sort of things coming, whether anyone listened to him or not. He had always just known, right? When terrible things were coming?

But this time, he was distracted, and honestly could he couldn't be blamed for that.

Loki had started spending every night with him, whether it was appearing in bed next to Thor and Tony after the storms had ceased rolling across the sky, or when Thor crept under the covers of Loki's bed after the frost had started melting from the windows.

Either way, Tony never went a night without both their arms around him, and waking up between them was quickly becoming his favorite thing to do. Thor was all rumbles and deep morning voice, Loki stared at him like he couldn't believe it wasn't a dream, before kissing him so sweetly Tony always teared up.

Breakfast belonged to Thor, with Tony sitting on his lap being spoon fed his meal in between kisses and sips of the startlingly caffeinated version of coffee they served. Thor spent most days doing… whatever it was Kings did, which this past several weeks had included training with the soldiers and overseeing practice for the huge tournament that would be held in just a few weeks or so. He always lingered over breakfast with Tony, unwilling to leave a moment sooner than he had to.

Lunch was Loki's, usually taking place on the floor as he and Tony shared a plate and shared a book, trading light touches and easy snuggles between bites, with Loki showing him little magic tricks to make him laugh, and Tony being appropriately awed while still snarling at the lack of “real tricks”.

Afternoons in the rose garden were a regular thing, with Thor trying to make time as often as he could to join them, listening intently to every answer about the flowers, adding in his own information as he could.

In the early evening, Loki took Tony to the training grounds, laughing as Tony whistled wildly, made obnoxious cat calls and generally shouted sexually suggestive remarks as Thor trained and sparred with the other men.

It was relatively easy to find a balance with “who got Tony when”, and other than a few teasing remarks, there had been no jealousy between the two gods over their shared hjartslattur, and Tony-- well Tony had two beautiful, powerful mates who went out of their way to spoil him as best they could, as well as keep him sated and happy in bed.

Thor of course, always took Tony, taking him apart expertly over and over until Tony was a whimpering mess, exhausted but always asking for more. Their love inspired raging storms, thunder and lightning and black clouds for hours, and then Thor would hold Tony close whispering sweet things in all his languages as Tony fell asleep.

Tony and Loki, on the other hand, enjoyed switching with each other, wrestling playfully to decide who would top. Sometimes, after a long talk, or a particularly hard day, Loki would pull Tony on top of him, needing the reassurance of his love, the freedom to be still and let himself go entirely. Then it would be Tony telling him how beautiful he was, how wonderful he was. Other times Loki would grab Tony, snap his fingers and send them somewhere private before finding some way to make Tony scream for him.

Tony was as happy as he'd ever been in his entire life, in the month or since consummating his bond with Loki. So yes, of course he could be forgiven for not thinking of what could go wrong, of the worst case scenario.

Which meant, of course, he had no idea what to do when it happened.

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

It was a perfect afternoon, like most of them were, and Tony was lying on the ground under a peach tree, his head on Loki's lap as the Demi-god read aloud from a book of spells, taking the time to stop and explain why certain ingredients were needed, why substitutions wouldn't work, and any other question Tony had.

It was calm, peaceful, and so far removed from what life had used to be, that Tony looked up to whisper “I love you”, and Loki whispered it right back, brushing Tony's hair from his forehead, his voice full of adoration, his eyes just barely flickering to red.

After these last weeks, Loki had found himself changing less and less because of a flux of emotion, because he couldn't control it, and now really only let his glamour fall in bed. Even then, with so much of his self confidence back, holding tight to his glamour was an afterthought, not the chore it had been, and more often than not Tony found himself staring into green eyes instead of red as they lay together.

It was a relief, one less thing to worry about as they traversed the near minefield of Loki's past, of what he had been through during his time with the Other, during his time away from Asgard. Most of their talks ended with Tony in tears, his heart hurting as he held his love close. Thor would eventually come looking for them for dinner, and with no questions asked, would simply wrap his big arms around both of them, waiting until they had calmed before ushering them down to eat.

It was a relief for Loki to finally have his glamour under control, it absolutely was… but Tony also sort of missed the Jotunn form, the lack of control that came with it-- the way Loki growled… he missed it a little bit.

So today, when Loki's eyes barely changed at all, Tony pushed the book right out of his hands and sat up.

“Kiss me.” He demanded and Loki smiled, cupping his jaw sweetly and kissing him as tenderly as he could.

“That was nice.” Tony bit at Loki's bottom lip sharply. “But I meant kiss me. Show me something blue.”

“Anthony.” Loki laughed. “We are outside. Let me take you to the room and--”

“You've never wanted to do it under a peach tree?” Tony wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. “Could be fun.”

“You would want me to change though?” Loki's voice softened in uncertainty and Tony nodded.

“Only if you want. But I miss your blue. You’re always just a little less… inhibited in that form.”

“Darling.” Loki bumped their noses together. “I am nearly feral in that form.”

“I know.” Tony's eyes were sparking. “I mean, damn I'm so happy that you are… you enough that being together doesn't force a shift that you don't want but--” he tugged at Loki's shirt, playing with the buttons. “But when you do change for me, when you choose to, you're just---” he shrugged sheepishly. “It's just fun.”

Then Tony touched Loki's face gently, sweeping over his jawline. “And I know we've come a long way, and I know you know your Jotunn form doesn't hurt me, but I know you hate it still. So you don't have to--”

“I don't hate it when I'm with you.” Loki shook his head. “You make me feel beautiful in all my forms, Anthony. For the first time, I feel as if I'm not fighting within myself, because you accept all of me. My love, my hjartslattur you make me feel whole.”

“Damn it.” Tony wiped at his eyes. “I was trying to get kinky with you, not romantic with you.”

“You'll forgive me, of course, for waxing poetic when you are in my arms.” Loki crooned, twisting so Tony was pinned beneath him. “So I would have you then? Here beneath the peach tree?”

“Well yeah, that's sort of what I was--” Tony shut up when Loki let his glamour fall, when green eyes bled into a bright scarlet, when his skin seemed to flicker and then fade into blue. “That's what I was um--”

“Yes, my love?” Loki questioned, lowering his head to breath softly over Tony's cheek, to nip at his earlobe with suddenly sharp teeth. “What were you saying?”

Tony jolted when he felt teeth at his neck, his fingers digging into Loki's bicep when the demi-god growled low, the sound rumbling in his chest.

“Lo, um-- shit.” Nails on his chest, and when Tony arched into it, Loki's eyes flashed.

“More of that, darling?”

“So much more.” Tony groaned and Loki grinned.

“As you wish, Anthony.”

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

The group of young people weren't supposed to be in the garden at all, or at least not in this part of the garden.

The servants had been instructed to absolutely leave Tony and Loki or Tony and Thor alone, if any of the pairs happened to disappear into… well anywhere. Anytime Tony was with either of his loves, the servants had learned to leave them alone, as well as to block anyone who tried to find them.

So the teenagers-- the younger siblings of men and women who were here to compete in the tournament, or perhaps the children of visiting royalty-- were not supposed to be in the orchard, and when they stumbled upon Tony and Loki beneath the peach trees… it was not good.

Loki--only half dressed and in full Jotunn form--was lying over a writhing, screaming Tony, tearing the pale green tunic right in half and scraping his teeth down Tony's chest.

Tony, of course, was halfway to lost as Loki forced his knees farther apart and ground down against him, pulling another helpless cry from his throat. He was shoving hard at Loki's shoulders to push him down, desperate to get those lips around his cock, to get those long fingers stroking inside him.

So lost in their moment together, they didn't hear the noise, and six or seven young people spilled around the corner and into the quiet grove.

Screams first, the girls hysterical because there was a monster attacking a man, there was a Frost Giant trying to kill someone.

Then the young men, yelling and hooting because they had realized that it wasn't so much an attack as it was a romantic interlude, and what kind of freak willingly spread his legs for a Jotunn?

And then they started throwing apples, peaches, rocks-- anything they could get their hands on, shouting for the Jotunn to get lost, shouting for the Jotunn-lover to close his legs and run away.

And looking back, Loki could have sworn it wasn't him. He was furious of course, furious and horrified and humiliated, but he was almost positive that he hadn't done it.

The gust of wind, the heated blast that poured through the orchard and knocked the group off their feet, sending the lighter ones skidding back several feet-- sure there was a chance Loki's magic could have flexed in his anger and swept them away… but his magic, especially in his Jotunn form, was ice.

Not wind. And certainly not heat.

But he couldn't think about it just then, he was simply grateful for the distraction as he covered Tony to shield the brunt of the rocks and fruit being thrown, holding his love tight and summoning his magic to rip them out of the orchard and into his room.

It hurt, that jolt from one place to another. Loki knew better than to do it so abruptly, especially with someone in his arms, but he hadn't had much of a choice just then, and when they appeared in Loki's chambers, they both collapsed.

“Jesus Christ.” Tony was on all fours, pressing his forehead to the floor to stop his head from spinning. “Lo, that hurt. Let's not ever do that again.”

“Forgive me. I can't control it as well when I am panicking.” Loki mumbled and sank to the floor, his back against the wall, his head in his hands.

“Panicking? Are you ok?” Tony's voice pitched in alarm, watching Loki's skin ripple between pale and dark blue, watching his fingers shake as he dragged them through his hair. “Babe, you alright? What is it?”

Loki didn't answer, pressing his palms into his eyes, trying to block it all out.

The way the kids had screamed in fear when they saw him. The way they had booed and jeered and shouted at him, calling him names, calling Tony names for wanting to be with him. The rocks that had been thrown.

It was all so familiar, too familiar, just awful and horrifyingly familiar.

So when Tony knelt in front of him, grabbed his wrists and tried to meet his eyes, Loki tore away with a wild cry, covering his face as he ran from the room, calling his magic again and taking himself from the castle to… anywhere.

Because it was all so familiar.

And Tony's fingers had felt like shackles around his wrists.

And Loki never wanted to be chained down again.

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

#ncts fics #thunderironfrost #thunderiron #thunderfrost #jotunn loki #tony stark #thor

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sweetie-buttons · 5 years

Text

Fear Street commentary: How to Be a Vampire

Here’s what really killed Andrew: Emily thought she was perfect! She thought she was so good at softball. So smart. She thought she had a million friends. Plus she always bragged about her great taste in clothes. Personally, Andrew thought she looked like a moron, running around school in her little pleated skirts and stupid fake pearls. But here was the biggest joke of all—Emily thought she was gorgeous! Andrew knew he wasn’t great looking. He was skinny. His hair was somewhere between brown and red. His eyes were plain old brown. He had a million freckles. But so what? Big deal. At least his nose wasn’t stuck up in the air like Emily’s. This sounds suspiciously like someone trying to convince themselves they’re not jealous.

“It is too,” Emily said. “I read good books. I’ve read almost every book on Ms. Parma’s literature list in the library.” Don’t you just hate book snobs?

“I don’t remember seeing Vampire Secrets on Ms. Parma’s list,” Emily went on. “Or that thing you were reading last week.” “You mean The Mummies Are Coming?” Andrew asked. “That was totally awesome.” Sounds like rejected GB book titles.

Emily laughed. “Okay. Maybe you two are tied for weirdness. All you and T.J. ever talk about is monsters. No wonder neither of you has any other friends.” Lucy Dark should join those two.

“Oh, man!” he cried. “That was awesome, T.J.!” *insert Amazing Atheist joke*

“She kept making fun of one of his monster books, Alien Slime from Mars. Then one night he and T.J. arranged for her to see some slime for herself. Andrew giggled, thinking about how she stared in horror as green goo dripped down from her light fixture.” Was it made by a redheaded cat witch or mad scientist named Dr. Grey, by any chance?

“With a groan, Andrew made himself open his eyes. He needed more sleep. Much more sleep. He wished he hadn’t stayed up so late the night before, reading. He wished he could sink back onto his soft pillow again. And close his eyes . . .” Me every morning. Between this and the affinity for monster tales, our hero is basically me.

He could skip brushing his teeth for once. And washing his face. I agree, books are more important than hygiene.

HOW TO BE A VAMPIRE Roll credits!

“No!” Andrew’s voice hit a high note. “Nothing’s wrong! I can’t find my sneakers. That’s all.” Mrs. Griffin glanced at Andrew’s feet. “You’re wearing them, dear,” she pointed out. “Oh, right,” Andrew said. He pulled his head out from under his bed. “I mean, I couldn’t find them. And then I found them. Under my bed. There they were. So . . . I better tie them.” A+ lying skills

Andrew shut his eyes. He waited for T.J. to say the V word. *insert immature joke*

“What are you talking about?” T.J. asked him. “Um . . . you want the rest of this bagel?” What are friends for, if not to eat your food?

“But, Andrew,” T.J. said. “Think about it! You’re going to be around forever. Forever! And you’ll be able to fly. Every night you can go zipping around through the clouds!” I mean, there’s just the minor downsides of being destroyed by sunlight, allergic to garlic and addicted to blood. But apart from that, I don’t see the problem.

Andrew shrugged. “I’m starved,” he said. He didn’t waste any more time talking. He dug into that spaghetti. Mmmmm! The sauce was even better than it looked! He stuffed a whole meatball into his mouth. Are large appetites also a vampire trait?

“But ghosts have it easier. They don’t have to eat or drink or anything.” How is that easier? If you’re on a diet, maybe.

“We’re walking, Mr. Metz,” T.J. said. “Suit yourself.” The driver opened the door of the bus.” Are bus drivers allowed to do that?

“Vampires can’t cross running water,” T.J. went on. “It’s one of the rules. So the bus couldn’t go until Andrew got off.” It’s a good thing the bus could tell that one of the passengers inside it was slowly turning into a vampire and that vampire can’t cross running water, and was considerate enough to stop so Andrew could get out.

Now every dog began to bark at the top of its lungs. “Holy cow!” T.J. exclaimed.” No, those are dogs. Can’t you tell your animals apart?

“ ‘As a vampire-in-training,’ ” Andrew read, “ ‘you must obey the vampire rules. One. Avoid garlic. All parts of the plant will cause you to sicken and retreat.’ ” “Now it tells you,” T.J. commented.” To be fair, vampires being allergic to garlic is basically common knowledge about them.

In the basement, he found a battered cardboard refrigerator box. You mean the box the refrigerator comes in? At first I thought it meant a cardboard refrigerator, and I was about to question if those exist.

The dogs swarming around him? The cookie in his pocket. Except they attacked you after you offered them it.

But it was shaped like one—a coffin standing on end. So you’ll sleep vertically?

If a coffin cannot be found, any small, dark place will do. It could be his bedroom if it’s a small one and the lights are off.

“Talk with an accent,” he suggested. “Maybe he’ll think you’re a new student from some other country.” If he’s blind and deaf, maybe.

“Because then you can make me one!” T.J. explained. “It’ll be great! We can hang out together all night and play pranks! We’ll scare people out of their minds! And flying! Think about it, Andrew! Flying is going to be so cool!” There’s just the minor downsides of…wait, I said this already.

Maybe a snack would help. Milk and cookies. Hopefully vampires aren’t allergic to that.

An old cape of his mother’s. A long, black cape. Cool! Maybe she used to be a vampire.

“You figured that out all by yourself?” The vampire rolled his red eyes. I like him already.

“What are you, a genius?” The vampire shook his head. “Of course I left you the book. Of course I bit you.” He raised a fist and knocked on Andrew’s head. “Hello? Anybody in there?” I like to think this vampire’s had to coach so many children and put up with so much bullshit that he’s officially Done and now uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism.

“Count Humphrey Ved.” Alright. One. …That was lame.

“You’ll see. You will develop a taste for being a vampire!” He threw back his head and cackled at his own joke.”

“Your fangs will come, kid.” The vampire put an arm around Andrew’s shoulder. “Hey, maybe they’ll show up in time for Fangsgiving!” Again the vampire cackled at his own joke. Do all vampires have such a sense of humor?

“How could you do this to me?” Emily cried. “How am I supposed to explain this to my friends?” Her feelings matter more than his humanity. That’s siblings for you.

“Awesome!” T.J. exclaimed. “Totally awesome! You have to make me your first victim! Promise?” Does no one consider the downsides, minor as they are?

“Don’t do me any big favors,” Andrew said. “I’m not,” Emily said matter-of-factly. “It’s for me. You think I want to be known as the girl with the vampire brother?” Her reputation is worth more than his humanity. Again, classic siblings.

“Right.” Emily nodded. “Okay. I read about how vampires hate garlic and mustard seeds. How they hypnotize their victims. How, when they see lots of little things, they can’t resist counting them. How they get confused at a crossroads. How they don’t reflect in mirrors . . .” Due to some The Girl Who Cried Monster meta, I know they don’t show up in pictures and have OCD.

“You have to do three things,” T.J. told him. “You have to drive a stake through his heart. Then you have to cut off his head. And then you have to stuff his mouth with garlic.” Better safe than sorry, right?

“Wow! We should tune in to the weather channel,” Andrew told the vampire. “See what they make of all this. I bet it’s never snowed at this time of—” Reminds me of the unexpected snowfall in Life is Strange.

“I’m not sure,” Andrew said. “Could you go over the stalking part again?” I kind of wish he accidentally said staking because he was thinking of his plan to kill him and then quickly corrected himself.

“Stop!” the vampire cried. “I don’t care about your puny human activities! We have to get on with our hunt!” I bet hunting is a cakewalk compared to listening to the rambling of children.

“Loud and clear,” Andrew answered. “Oh, man! This kid is going to be so sorry he ever picked on me!” He was annoying in art class, so he deserves to get his blood drunk.

“You’re not getting the Dark Gift now,” the vampire said. “You’re getting death.” He smiled. “I’m going to kill you.” Anthony, this is your fault. You could’ve enjoyed being a vampire, but instead you had to try to kill your teacher instead of being grateful for his help. Sure, there’s the minor downsides of being destroyed by sunlight, allergic to garlic and addicted to blood, but that’s surely better than death.

“He can’t resist counting little things!” Does it have something to do with the “count” in his name?

“I made a mistake choosing you,” the vampire growled. “A bad mistake. But then, it’s the first mistake I’ve made in six hundred years. That’s not too bad. Still, it was a mistake.” I bet this is some kind of metaphor for your mom saying that about your birth.

“And one more thing!” he shouted. “Humphrey is a stupid name for a vampire!” He should’ve called him Humpty Dumpty to annoy him.

With a growl, Humphrey the vampire lunged across the room. It’s the first time he’s been called his name instead of “the vampire”.

The vampire shuddered. A thin wisp of smoke rose from the top of his head. A terrible scream escaped from his throat. Then his whole body vanished in a cloud of smoke. RIP Humphrey. Never will there be such a sassy vampire.

Sunlight. Why hadn’t he thought of that in the first place? It was much easier than staking the vampire. Much less messy too. And best of all—it worked. I feel like you’re forgetting something…

Andrew said, “Emily? Are you getting . . . bossy?” You act like it’s different for her, but you said it was regular behavior at the start.

T.J. frowned. “But, remember what my book said? Sunlight kills a vampire. But that’s all it does. It doesn’t remove the curse from the vampire’s victims. Only staking can do that.” I actually appreciate this twist. It isn’t shoehorned and addresses a plot hole. If it wasn’t there, it’s leave the reader noting that there was a specific way of killing the vampire that they didn’t execute. And at least you prevented Humphrey from turning more people.

#fear street #commentary #fear street commentary #ghosts of fear street

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tobiasmasonpark · 6 years

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Goosebumps Season 1 Episode 3: The Cuckooclock of Doom!

WARNING: TODAY’S EPISODE CONTAINS A MONSTER WE ALL FEAR: EXISTENTIAL DREAD AND THE FLEETING SANDS OF TIME!

Source: http://www.indianruminations.com/contents/poems/time-raj-yura-patiala/

Source: https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/70264616

This is Michael. As with Kat Merton in the previous episode, we don’t get to learn any personal details about Michael, except that he has a younger sister named Tara, who absolutely loves to torture him. We see this immediately, as the show begins with eerie music playing over a scene involving Michael investigating a creepy noise from the bushes. As Scream hasn’t been released yet, Michael doesn’t know that you should absolutely never investigate a strange noise when you’re in a horror setting. That’s where the monsters always are!

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/Tara_Webster

Ladies and gentlemen, our monster for the episode.

Tara is genuinely awful, and not in that kid-sibling-is-annoying-and-won’t-stop-bothering-their-older-brother way. I have a younger brother—hell, I am a middle child, so I was also an annoying younger brother. I also know people with younger siblings. Younger siblings can be pains in the butt, sure. But Tara is genuinely evil. She goes out of her way to make Michael look like a jackass, just for the hell of it. Michael refers to her as Tara the Terrible—which, while it is by no means original, is an incredibly apt nickname.

I mean, alright; realistically all she does is pour ketchup on the dude, call him a krej—which is Jerk backwards, get it?—and she trips him at both of his twelfth birthday parties. But something is off about Tara. Look at those cold, unforgiving eyes. She is looking down at her older brother—and by extension, us all in the audience—with the utmost disgust. The innocent little girl look is merely a façade. Behind those brown eyes is a creature far more fearsome than Slappy; truly more menacing than the Horrors at Horror Land. The only reason the Goosebumps movie wasn’t as big a success as it could have been, is that Tara was never the big bad.

Seriously. The moment Tara appears on screen I felt an immediate dislike—and that’s something I’ve felt toward only one other character in a movie

Source: https://www.pottermore.com/features/how-dolores-umbridge-made-our-skin-crawl

So, we get a flashback to three days earlier—Michael’s twelfth birthday party. All of his friends are there, including his love interest. I don’t recall her name, and I’m not gonna bother looking it up, because she is only there so that Tara can have a way to humiliate Michael.

The girl gifts Michael a CD, which Michael says he likes. But just like the monster she is, Tara calls Michael out on it, saying that he thought it was lame and threw out the CD the first time, but because he likes the girl he is willing to pretend to like this new gift. Michael’s mother calls him in to bring in the cake, which is odd to me. For every birthday my family has ever had for everyone, not once have we ever had to bring in our own birthday cake. I mean, damn, they didn’t even put candles on the thing. It’s just a cake that presumably lacks even Happy Birthday written in icing.

Source: http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/132563277792/goosebumps-rewatch-s01e03-the-cuckoo-clock-of

So, Michel comes in from the kitchen, holding his own nameless birthday cake in defeat, when Satan herself pulls a hilarious move and trips him. Michael falls head first into his own cake while his asshole friends all laugh at his misfortune.

We’re brought back to the present, when some moving men bring in a strange object concealed by tarp. Seems like Michael’s dad has purchased an antique cuckoo clock from a man named Anthony—who we later learn owns a store. In a scene that I think is mostly ripped off of A Christmas Story, we see that this is no ordinary cuckoo clock

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cuckoo_Clock_of_Doom/TV_episode

Seriously. The mom looks at the thing with a mixture of confusion and dislike. The dad is all proud of the thing. The kid’s are immediately enthralled by it. There’s even a fucking lamp right next to it. Homage, or blatant rip off?—Says the man who has copy-pasted images from other sites and blogs onto Tumblr.

We learn that this is a magical clock—because that’s what Michael’s dad tells us. In what is the laziest and vaguest “legend” ever, we learn that “a strange old man built the clock over a hundred years ago, and he put a magical spell on it. But they say that whoever discovers the magic must beware.”

That is barely even a legend, sir. Just because it was built over a hundred years ago and believed to be magic, doesn’t mean the thing itself is, in fact, magic. I could show a twelve-year-old a pay phone today and say, “About a hundred years ago, people used to make magical calls for just 25 cents per minute,” but that doesn’t make it a legend. Who was this man? Was he evil, like that guy whose coffin was eventually used to make the Slappy Doll? Other than being made by an old man from a hundred years ago, what about the clock is magic? Sounds like he was just an old clockmaker from 1895—which, spoiler alert, was not a super magical time in history. But I guess a hundred years is a long time to a twelve-year-old.

But that’s not all that’s vague about this legendary cuckoo clock. Michael’s dad says that the shop owner, Anthony, told him that “there was something wrong with the clock, but he wouldn’t tell [Michael’s dad] what it is.”

That sounds like an awful way to sell somebody something. I mean, I’m no business man, but telling a customer “hey, the thing I am selling you doesn’t work 100% the way it should,” sounds like you’re just asking for the customer to start haggling over the price. I mean, I’m not crazy, right? Was Michael’s dad so genuinely impressed by the fact that it was supposedly a hundred-year-old, magical clock that he was willing to shrug off the store owner’s own admission that his product is shit?

Anyway, Michael’s father is super strict about the clock, forbidding both kids from going near it. Later, while getting a glass of milk or something, Michael overhears his sister getting scolded for touching the clock, and he gets the idea to frame Tara, to get back at her for the birthday incident.

Well, Michael sneaks out of bed, and snaps the neck of the cuckoo bird inside the clock. The next morning, Michael wakes up to find that he has time travelled back to his twelfth birthday—just three days ago.

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/GroundhogDay

The second movie this show/book rips off is Groundhog Day.

So, Michael relives his twelfth birthday party, almost verbatim. He is visibly shaken by the fact that he has travelled back through time but tries to prevent his ultimate humiliation. Unfortunately, Tara is basically Hitler and manages to trip Michael again.

Source: http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/132563277792/goosebumps-rewatch-s01e03-the-cuckoo-clock-of

This book brings up some pretty heavy topics. Are we all doomed to repeat our most humiliating mistakes, even when we are capable of literal time travel? Will Michael spend the rest of his life trying to break out of this Phil Connors loop, only to be tripped, yet again, and taste a mixture of blue frosting and his own tears? This is truly the most frightening Goosebumps story of all.

Michael tries to explain to his parents of his situation, but they understandably think he’s just ill. The next morning, he wakes up as a six-year-old and rips off a third movie:

Source: http://stine.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cuckoo_Clock_of_Doom_(TV_Episode)

It’s not Christmas yet, Goosebumps! Stop trying to tell me it’s winter time!

So, Michael tries explaining his situation to his parents, but notices that there is no Tara. This is, in my opinion, only a good thing. Michael’s parent just assume that he has an imaginary friend.

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/My_Best_Friend_Is_Invisible/TV_episode

Silly parents. That’s not for another two seasons.

Michael reasons that the cuckoo clock is behind everything. He goes down to see the clock but remembers that his dad won’t purchase the magical hundred year old clock for another six years. Well, as luck will have it, Michael is celebrating his sixth birthday today. While everyone is celebrating, Michael sneaks away to find Anthony’s antique shop.

There’s this super weird moment where real scary things nearly creep into Goosebumps, when an older gentleman calls Michael over—presumably just for a pleasant chat—but Michael’s dad finds him just in time.

Later that night, Michael tries Phil Connor’s plan of staying up passed midnight to break out of the time loop. Apparently, Michael fell asleep before watching the rest of Groundhog Day, however, because we all know that that doesn’t work. No big deal, because Michael, already suspecting that he won’t be alive the next day, has resigned himself to his fate of simply fading from existence.

The episode ends fading to black, as Michael regressed into sperm, thus ending his hellish existence.

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cookooclock_09_one_again.jpg

Just kidding. He wakes up as a baby and has shit himself. No, really.

Anyhow, Michael’s parents take him to Anthony’s antiques, where he finds the cuckoo clock. He walks over to it, the cuckoo pops out, something bumps up against the base of the clock that knocks off the number 88, Michael fixes the cuckoos twisted head so that it’s facing the right way, and he is literally thrust into the future.

Ecstatic to be twelve again, and out of the time loop, Michael discovers that the world is not the way he has left it.

Source: https://katthemovies.wordpress.com/2017/10/07/in-for-a-scare-the-cuckoo-clock-of-doom-and-phantom-of-the-auditorium-goosebumps-review/

The Shyamalan Twist:

So, it turns out that the number 88 that was knocked off was the year Tara was born—1988. This means that, for some reason, Tara was never born. Which is the happiest ending in a Goosebumps episode thus far.

Michael says that he’ll go back and fix it one day. But let’s be honest, Tara will never be born and Michael will have her blood on is hands forever.

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Webster

I’m sure he’s really broken up about it.

Thoughts on the Twist:

I remember when I first saw this episode as a youngster. I was genuinely unsettled by the fact that Tara just gets erased from existence, and it’s left in the air whether Michael will go back and save her. As an adult I’m more sensible and know that the world is a whole lot better off without the little demon.

But here’s something I can’t stop thinking about. In the beginning of the episode—i.e. with Tara—Michael’s parents are really stern. The dad won’t let his kids go near a clock. Like, give it a day or two, they’ll stop being interested. Michael’s mom doesn’t seem to be the happiest person either.

Then we see Michael’s parents when he’s six—i.e. without Tara. They’re happier, they joke around with him. When Michael is a baby, they’re nearly unrecognizable. I wasn’t kidding, they were literally happier when Tara wasn’t around.

My theory: Tara was so freaking scary that the only reason the parents let her get away with tormenting her brother is because they’re afraid she’d turn on them. The constant stress of trying to appease the beast drains them every day. It’s no wonder they’re so cranky all the time.

Ah, you say. But what about when Tara is scolded for touching the clock? If he’s so scared, why’d he do that?

To which I respond with this: Michael is creeping down the stairs to frame Tara, and he steps on Tara’s doll, placed meticulously on the step. I think she left it there to either murder her father. That, or she was trying to kill Michael.

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/Tara_Webster

Even people on the internet—the most sensible and logical of folk—are ready to write Tara off as a sociopath.

Most Existential Line:

When six-year-old Michael says, “Today I’m six tomorrow I might be nothing.”

Best Time-Related Pun:

When the creepy stranger says, “Hey kid, got the time?” Geddit, because time?

Worst Tara Moment:

When Michael is creeping down the stairs, he steps on Tara’s doll. It’s supposed to be a jump scare, but I think that it’s actually a murder attempt. Why else would she have placed it so strategically?

Final Thoughts:

The episode focuses more on establishing mood than anything. There isn’t any narration, which automatically puts it over the previous two episodes. The first scene we get Michael is unsettled by something, and the music makes sure we know it. There are some not-scary jump scares, and a dream sequence that involves Michael running away from the cuckoo clock with Tara’s face on it, but all of that is silly.

The scariest part of the show—aside from Tara—comes from the dread Michael feels when he starts travelling back in time against his will. I remember it being done better in the book—I recall Michael breaking down in tears early on, when his family is teasing him about his claims of being caught in a time warp—but it’s still genuinely creepy. Have you ever tried to let someone close to you know that something was making you uncomfortable, but they’re ready to write it off as you just being silly? That’s pretty relatable. Michael is also powerless to stop it for most of the episode. Near the end he just sort of gives up, fully expecting to be dead the next morning.

The actor playing Michael is pretty decent, all things considered. The parents are rather good at playing both stern discipline and happy new parents. Tara is awful, but the girl playing her is only like, six. On the flip side, you could say she did a great job by making her character’s awfulness so believable. Michael’s friends are also there and are the weakest performances in the film.

I liked it way more than The Girl Who Cried Monster, and only slightly more than It Came from Beneath the Sink, since the monster in this one was scarier, and the episode has a happy ending.

Source: http://goosebumps.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cookooclock_11_where_is_tara.jpg

#Goosebumps #cuckoo clock of doom #time travel #existentialism #time #tara the terrible #viewer beware you're in for a scare #dolores umbridge #groundhog day #a Christmas story #home alone #my best friend is invisible #fratricide #evil sibling #monsters #Halloween #erased from existence

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nadbooks · 7 years

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My Favorite Books of 2016

So I know this is really late but I only just decided to start a book blog and what better way to start than with this kind of post. So here we go! Here are the top ten books I read in 2016, rank-ordered, all of which I gave 5 stars to.

10. Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

This book is about a pair of twins who like to pretend to be each other until one day, one of the twins refuses to switch back. It’s basically a look at how people’s perceptions of you can really influence your entire life trajectory. It’s the most insane case of a self-fulfilling prophecy I ever read about and as a psychology student, I’m a complete sucker for it. The story does get a bit dramatic and it seems that anything bad that can happen to our main character will happen. Still, it is a really interesting look at how the way we judge people can really influence who they become and also highlights some of the worst parenting I’ve ever read about. Kind of an eye-opening book which is why it made it onto my list!

9. Genesis by Bernard Beckett

This book... man, I don’t even know how to describe this book. It’s some sort of dystopian I guess but it’s a relatively short book that takes place over the course of a few hours. The story follows our main character as she takes a history exam about her society so we get to learn about the history of this society and how it came to be from her answers on the exam. It’s a really interesting way of introducing the world that was informative and felt genuine and didn’t feel like info-dumping. Other than the way the story is told, this book also discusses really interesting philosophical questions like how different is artificial intelligence really from humans and what gives humans our humanity? Overall, a really mind-blowing read which I did not expect at all, and one that will make you think.

8. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell

You will soon realise that I am a huge fan of dystopian books and I will likely feature many of them on my blog. This is one of the most classic dystopians out there so I thought I should give it a read if I wanted to proclaim myself a dystopian fan. It’s easy to see how this book became such a staple for the dystopian genre. It is creepy and unsettling in a quiet way, as all dystopians should be. I thought the idea of language as the thing that allows us to have independent thoughts was fascinating and the idea to severely limit the vocabulary of the society so that people cannot even think rebellious thoughts was the creepiest thing I had ever read about. That is essentially mind control in the subtlest yet most powerful way. There were so many quotable passages in this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy so that I can highlight them all! I also liked how the ending was different from many other dystopians in that it is a pretty bleak one and essentially nothing has changed. Much more realistic in my opinion, albeit a tad depressing. That’s just the way I like my books though!

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book is extremely well-loved in the book community and perhaps it is surprising that it is only number 7. Unfortunately, this is entirely my own fault as I saw the movie before I read the book (I know, burn me at the stake) so I knew what was going to happen in the end. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I still felt all the emotions that I was supposed to throughout the entire story (though maybe a little less strongly). I thought having Death as the narrator was genius and made the writing so interesting. It was dark but also funny. The plot of the story itself was a little lacking perhaps so what I really enjoyed about this book was the writing. I really do wish I had read this before I saw the movie because I think it would have packed a much bigger punch but oh well... Still a wonderful story and an instant favorite.

6. Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. This is a story about a girl who was raped and is trying to deal with that. I thought this book showcased a way of dealing with rape that is different from what I usually see in other stories. Our main character in this story is actually quite high-functioning and is able to go about her life like usual. It is only when she is alone at night that the nightmares come. I thought this was an interesting portrayal of that. I also loved the romance and friendship in this story. It is not a ‘love fixes mental issues’ kind of story but more like ‘love gives you the strength to face your issues’, which I thought was beautiful. The love interest was so kind and respectful and I just want every love interest to be like him. I am so done with the bad boy trope, give me more nice guys! Contrary to popular belief, they don’t finish last, at least not in my books. The mystery element and sibling relationship in this book were also really great.

5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This has got to be my absolute favorite historical fiction so far. The story follows a blind Parisian girl and a German boy sent to Hitler Youth and it is a slow build-up to when their paths eventually cross. I don’t usually care about beautiful or poetic writing but Anthony Doerr, man, you sucked me right in. The writing was truly, truly beautiful and was absolutely perfect for a story like this. I fell in love with all the characters and although this book was a chunker, I never wanted it to end. I wanted to keep following these characters forever. Unlike other historical fictions, I thought this one also had a pretty solid plot that had an element of mystery in it, which I loved. This book is just so beautiful (inside and out) and I can’t recommend it enough.

4. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

This is the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Last year, I read the whole Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Heroes of Olympus series and it was incredible. The world of Percy Jackson is so cool! I was always fascinated by Greek mythology as a kid and I only wish I had discovered Percy Jackson sooner! It is just as enjoyable to read these books even now when I’m 23 though! The Heroes of Olympus is definitely my favorite of the two series because I just love all of the characters and their character development was just incredible. You know Rick Riordan is an incredible author when he is able to fully flesh out 10 characters in the space of 5 books. The House of Hades is my favorite one because this was like the peak of all the character development (especially precious Nico!!) and it was also incredibly exciting because we were building up to the finale. Also, Percy and Annabeth are #relationshipgoals. I can’t wait to dive back into the Percy Jackson world with the Magnus Chase and Trials of Apollo series!

3. Champion by Marie Lu

Ahhh here we go again with the dystopians. Champion is the third book in the Legend trilogy. I was pleasantly surprised by this trilogy. I thought it would be just another dystopian, following the same kind of formula all dystopians seem to follow these days. And yes, it kind of did, but it did it well. I thought the Legend trilogy was a bit more political than most other dystopians which I actually enjoyed. I like seeing how people actually carry out decisions in these societies and the kinds of biases that pervade the people. I also think this series is different in that the characters actually work together with the government (or at least a member of the government) to bring about a better society, rather than to just rebel and cause social upheaval and violence. June and Day are also OTP and while many people hated the ending of Champion, I actually really loved it, especially the epilogue. It really struck me and left me thinking about them long after I closed the book, which I can’t say for many other couples in books.

2. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Whoo boy, how do I even begin to explain my love for this book and this series in general. The Unwind dystology consists of four books and is a dystopian series (surprise, surprise) set in a world where parents are allowed to harvest their children’s organs if they want to. Sound creepy yet? This world is so incredibly fleshed out (no pun intended) and I think that is largely due to the multiple POVs. We get so many interesting POVs throughout the series that really let us see this world and society from every possible angle. It is also the dystopian that seems closest to our real world which is incredibly scary. The process of unwinding really got me shook. Aside from the world and the multiple POV writing, our main characters are also so interesting and brave and just human. I love love love Connor, Risa and Lev and I think they are some of the most interesting but relatable heroes ever. Gaaaaahhhh I can’t say enough good things about this book and it pains me that it is not more well-known or well-loved. It has quickly become my favorite dystopian series, even surpassing The Hunger Games! If that doesn’t tell you to go read this series, I don’t know what will.

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I really struggled between Unwind and A Monster Calls for the number one spot but I decided to give it to A Monster Calls. This book packs such an emotional punch for one that I read in two hours. It is a story about a boy dealing with grief and I think it is such an important read for everyone. Another beautiful story with simplistic but beautiful writing. The story is just so incredible and I am amazed at how it is able to capture so many themes and ideas about grief in such a short and simple story. A must read for anyone who is dealing with grief and highly recommended for everyone in general. The movie was also incredible and really brought out all the raw emotions I felt while reading this book. Please, do yourself a favor and read this if you haven’t. You’ll get a whole new understanding of grief and life and eventually being okay again.

So those are my top ten books of 2016! I’m excited to start book blogging although I’m not sure how often I can do it. I planned to start in 2018 but I thought I would give it a go first with some posts. I will soon post my Least Favorite Reads of 2016 and also Booktube’s Favorite Reads of 2016 where I list out the definitive top ten list of books based on 30 booktubers’ Favorites of 2016 videos.

Cheers and happy reading!

#best books of 2016 #beside myself #genesis by bernard beckett #nineteen eighty-four #the book thief #faking normal #all the light we cannot see #the house of hades #champion #unwind #a monster calls #george orwell #rick riordan #marie lu #neal shusterman #anthony doerr #patrick ness #markus zusak

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