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pxrxcxa · 2 years

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Opposite Ends

Chapter Eleven - I'll stay if you'll stay

C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C12 | C13 pt 1 | C13 pt 2 |

Chapter Twelve is out now, enjoy Sunflowers x 🌻

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending (fix-it-fic if you will), fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 9 K Word Count

Chapter warnings | Harsh language, swearing, heavy makeout, angst.

Authors Note | Forever grateful for you patience, I truly hope you enjoyed it, I cancelled my plans today (I told work to screw themselves because writing is what makes me happy and I was neglecting that) to finally get the posts out. Thankyou all my loves for reading x

As always, any & all comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Thankyou, P. x 🌿

Y/N | March 1986

“Come on.” I groaned into my fist, tearing strips of skin away from my bleeding nails beds with my teeth as the still trees skirted past my window at an agonizingly slow pace, watching the wide wings of the Eagle sinking into the blinding sunset. My thoughts flashed to a matching bird that adorned the cover of a book I had seen Eddie’s uncle read a hundred times over.

“Can you pick it up a bit Steve?” I snapped, turning back towards the driver’s seat as Robin chattered away nervously next to him. Dustin was pinned between Max and I in the back, his twitching knee sending shaky vibrations throughout my whole body. Steve’s brown eyes flashed up in the rear-view mirror with a storm brewing behind them.

“Oh forgive me y/n if I’m not racing towards a fugitive wanted for murder possibly hiding in a big all time dealers house.” His face reddened as he ran out of breath, ripping his gaze away from mine as I stared back angrily at him, but to his credit he did push the accelerator down a few inches.

“He’s not a murderer Steve!” Spit flew from Dustin’s mouth as he leant up between the front seats.

I cut off their arguing as I recognized the turn off to Holland road. “Turn down here!.” I gasped for breath as the sharp swing of the steering wheel sent me flying into Dustin and Max, jamming them against the door. The packed forest gave way to the slim opening of the concealed road as the cracked asphalt turned to dirt, flicking up little rocks beneath the car.

“Slow down.” I breathed, squishing Dustin as I pushed off of him to sit back up.

“Oh now you want me to go slow.” Steve snapped as his headlights cut through the quickly falling darkness, illuminating the aged brown panelling of Reefer Ricks house as it came into view at the end of the way. My breathing turned harsh as my thoughts fell to the last time I’d been here.

“Well if Eddie is hiding here, we don’t exactly want to go in all guns blazing and scare him off.” Robin strained against her seatbelt as Steve hit his breaks and shot her a frustrated look.

“Stop here.” I interrupted, unclicking my belt and reaching for the door handle.

“Wait.” As my fingers curled around the cool metal, Steve’s hands shot out to push down the lock on his own door, trapping us all in as a snapping noise surrounded around the car.

“What the hell Steve?” I yelled, pushing against my door hopelessly as I sent him a betrayed scowl.

“Considering everything we’ve been through – can we just be cautious please?” He sighed and banged his hands against the steering wheel, peering out through the windshield towards the rundown house in front of us. Dirt, dust and dead leaves littered the front porch like it had been untouched for a long time, likely since its owner was sitting in a cold jail cell.

Darkness flooded into our seats as he killed the engine and switched the lights off, the only sound was the gentle waves of the lake lapping at the shore and our mixed breaths of anxiety swirling together in the silence as I fumed in my seat.

“Stuff this.” Dustin grumbled after a still moment, I yelled out in surprise and anger as he reached out to roll down my window and launched himself through it, trampling my knees as he pushed off against them to struggle through the slightly too small opening.

“Hey! Don’t do that – Jesus Christ.” Steve panicked and fumbled quickly with the lock as I leant up to follow suit after my brother, checking that the ground was clear after he landed with a loud and painful thud beneath the window, before I pulled myself through it.

“Just use the damn doors.” Steve sighed and rolled his eyes as I had my arms halfway through it, throwing himself out his side of the car as Robin turned in her seat to shoot me an amused smile.

“Eddieeeeeeee.” Dustin took off tearing towards the stairs of the main house, sending up clouds of dust as his sneakers slapped loudly against the gravel, leaving us to speed up after him as he disappeared into the dark.

“Here – flashlights.” Robin whispered, sliding up next to me and pressing the cold metal into my palm, tossing a matching one towards Steve as he clapped and held his hands out.

“This is where you got your drugs from y/n? Pretty creepy…” Steve’s voiced carried out across the wind as Max shot us a concerning look, huddling closer to us as the screech of a hidden bird made her jump out of her skin. I pushed on the button at the bottom of the flashlight, blinding beams of light swept across the grey dirt beneath our feet as we side stepped out of the way of sharp rocks and uneven ground.

“You must have really hated Eddie to go to Reefer Rick.” Robin side eyed me, caressing me out the shell I’d curled into with each step that brought us closer to the house. I couldn’t tell which option made me sicker, finding Eddie and facing him for the first time since what happened between us on the field, or not at all, and someone else with entirely other – sinister – intentions finding him instead.

“Must have.” I shrugged, pressing my lips together and scanning my light over the disturbing trees that lined the side of the house, sending menacing shadows across the empty road. Dustin’s heavy footsteps echoed into the night as he mounted the stairs, Steve sighed and ran ahead of us to keep up with him.

The crossed beams of our lights shone into the darkened house through the dirty glass panes of the front door as we bunched close together behind Dustin on the deck, the rest of us swung our heads around to keep an eye out as he reached for the doorbell.

The high-pitched shriek sent a tingle up my spine as we waited for a sign of movement inside, when we were met with complete tranquillity we all let out a collective sigh as Dustin reached up to bash his finger into the buzzer again.

“Okay, well that’s settled. I guess he’s not here.” Steve waved his hand as Dustin mashed down the doorbell in quick succession, giving up and banging his fist against the wooden door frame.

“Eddie it’s Dustin!” I reached forward to pinch at his arm as his voice reverberated into the empty night, shaking my head as he brushed me off.

I exchanged a frustrated look with Robin with the same thought behind our eyes. Subtle

“Great.” Steve murmured, holding his flashlight higher as he shone it over his head.

“Look we just wanna talk okay?” Dustin yelled out, banging his fist against the withering door.

“No cops, I swear. We just wanna help.” He wrapped his hand around the nob and rattled loudly.

“Dustin shut up!” I hissed, swinging my head back and forth as the others looked queasy. “You’re going to bring anyone in a ten-mile radius straight for us.” I turned my back on him and made my way across the weathered floorboards towards the front room window, peaking through the open blinds.

“I thought you cared about him; don’t you want to find him?” Dustin’s words, spat at me with an angry look on his face, brought me up short. I realised he probably had no idea what had happened between me and Eddie, and even though the truth was, was that I was barely hanging on by a thread, the thousand painful images of him in dangerous predicaments sent stabs of agony through my core. But the neutral expression that was exerting all my effort to keep in place, and my tight lips that kept me from crying or screaming – or both, probably made me look awfully blasé about the situation.

I shot Max a probing look as she leant against the banister, but she just gave me a slight shake of her head before turning back to look at Dustin’s quivering frame.

“Of course I do.” I whispered; half my words drowned out from the sudden gust of wind the rifled my hair around me face. He ignored me entirely and spun back around to the door.

“EDDIE!” He slammed his hand back against the glass pane, making it rattle dangerously before reaching for the bell.

“Shh.” Robin and Max’s flashlights trailed after me as they followed my footsteps, staring into the messy room as our lights reflected off empty beer bottles strewn across the tabletop.

“RICK.” He rung the doorbell for what felt like a thousand more times.

“REEFER RICK” Dustin switched back to banging with his fist as I jumped down from his deck lightly, stumbling as Max landed with a thud beside me.

“Don’t scream that.” Steve sighed, pushing him away from the door.

“He’s not there.” His tone softened as he stared down at Dustin.

“He could just be really high.” He argued back, ducking his head to peer in through the cleaner glass panels.

“Is that a foot?” Steve’s voice rose with panic and disgust.

“No it’s a shoe.” Dustin shot back, laughing lightly at Steve’s expense.

I turned away from Max to face them, shining my light across them as they raised their hands to protect their eyes. “He’s not there, he’s in jail.”

“And you just let Dustin scream like that knowing this Reefer dude isn’t even here?” Steve dropped his hand, anger clouding his face as he glowered at me.

“Rick wasn’t the one I was hoping for.” Overwhelming sadness tugged at my heart, rendering me speechless as the pain almost had me doubling over.

“Okay. So Eddie’s not here –“ He continued, not noticing my ache as I spun away from the group and wrapped my arms around my chest, smothering the beam of my flashlight in the crook of my elbow.

“Hey guys!” Max’s voice rung out, loud and urgent. Steve fell silent as we all shuffled over to see what she had her light pointing at. There, nestled behind the swaying trees, was a boat house resting against the water’s edge.

Steve and Robin barely had time to share a worried look before my legs took off running of their own accord, speeding down the dangerous slope and across the ground, dislodging loose rocks that caused Dustin to trip as he followed close behind me. A cold wave of realisation washed over me as I halted to a stop, pausing at the open doorway of the shed as an off smell floated through it.

My heart stopped for a second before I forced myself to banish the evil thoughts away, Eddie was alive and well until I saw with my own eyes that he wasn’t. I was purged back in darkness as I let my flashlight fall to my side, catching my breath as the others caught up to me, their rushed footsteps thundering to my side where I stood shaking.

I looked up to meet Steve’s eyes as he wrapped his hand around my wrist, holding me in place as his chest heaved from being out of breath.

“Just – wait. Always in a Goddamn rush.” He breathed, placing his hands on his knees as he leaned forward. We all looked at the whiteish panelling softly glowing in the new moonlight that filtered down through the crowds, faltering as the door swung back slightly in the wind, exposing a pitch black beyond it.

“Well?” Dustin gulped, turning expectantly towards Steve.

“Why the hell do I have to go in first?” He snapped back, standing up straight and placing his hands on his hips.

“Oh my god.” Robin retorted, reaching out to push the door open further, holding her flashlight to her chest as she poked her head through it, I quickly stepped up to follow her in, Dustin practically stepping on my heels in his haste as he headed in after us – Steve bringing up the rear.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” If my nerves weren’t practically on fire, I would have laughed at Robin, but I kept quiet as we all filed in silently after her, the aged floorboards creaking under our weight as we swung the flashlights across the room.

“What a dump.” Steve clicked his light off as he reached for an oar leaning up against the wall as Dustin passed by him, taking off with the others as we spilt to search separately.

I walked after Robin as we made our way across the other side of the room, I slowed as she and Max picked up empty pieces of food wrappers of the grainy workbench. Everyone jumped in fright as a loud smack and crinkle of fabric boomed off the walls, I spun back to see Steve prodding the tarp carelessly draped over the small fishing boat that was suspended on the middle of the room.

“What are you doing?” Dustin whisper-yelled in surprise at him as I stared at him in shock, Steve glanced up to meet our stunned stares as he shrugged his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” He demanded again, his voice a little surer as Steve made several more stabs at the lumpy piles under the tarp.

“He might be in here.” He grunted, I grinded my teeth together angrily as confusion swept between us over which ‘he’ he was referring to.

“So take the tarp off.” Dustin waved his hand between them madly as he glared as Steve.

“If you’re so brave you take the tarp off.” He shot back angrily.

“Hey, look over here.” I swivelled to face Max as she gestured towards the half-eaten candy bars and beer bottles, I froze in place as I joined her. Just slightly, almost barely even there – if I hadn’t been waking up to the scent for the past three months, I wouldn’t have even noticed – but under the stench of rotting fish and growing mould, was a hint of Eddie’s cologne.

“Someone was here.” Max’s beam shone across the bench.

“Maybe he heard us, got spooked and ran?” Robins voice jolted me out of my trance as I spun around to face the guys.

“Don’t worry, Steve will get him with his oar.” Dustin’s face contorted in a half smile half grimace, my yell of warning stuck in my throat as Steve raised his makeshift weapon back towards his shoulder, angle towards the suspicious lump under the tarp.

“Ahh I know you think you’re being funny Henderson but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slightest –“ My yell of warning turned into a scream as Max stumbled back into me and Dustin yelled out across the room.

It was hard to tell who was who and if it was Max or Robin standing on my foot and digging their sharp nails into my arm, or if it was my hair or someone’s else blurring my vision. In the mass of confusion and combined screams, I watched through the curtain of hair in my face, a large dark shadow spur from the depths of the boat and tackle Steve out of sight. The chains that suspended the boat rattled loudly as he screamed out.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” Steve’s voice was smacked out of him in a rush of breath as he was pinned against the wall. My stomach dropped in a mixture of nerves and almost giddy excitement as the familiar outline of the Eddie’s vest reflected in the moonlight.

“WOAH WOAH WOAH.” The beams of our flashlights swung around the room madly, illuminating pieces of a terrifying puzzle that didn’t make sense. Robin tripped as I shoved her out of my way to race them around to the other side, scrambling to reach him before the fragments of the image in front of me really came into focus. Steve was frozen against the exposed metal sheets of the wall, pure fear clouding his face as the veins of his neck strained away from the broken beer bottle held to the thin skin under his jaw.

“Eddie, EDDIE! STOP.” Dustin’s arm slammed out against my chest and knocked my breath away, shoving me back into the unsuspecting arms of Robin and Max as they caught up with me.

“Eddie.” Dustin’s voice was low and careful, like he was dealing with a startled animal as I struggled beside him. Max had her hand clenched around the tail of my jacket as I thrashed against her, not caring about Steve whimpering under the threat of the exposed sharp glass, just needing to get to him. All I could see, all I cared about was that Eddie was here. Living and breathing just mere inches out of my grasp, I needed to hold him, to be able to reach out and touch him to make sure he was really here.

But that’s when I looked at Eddie and really saw him. His hair was wild, plastered to his forehead in sweat and swinging madly around his chin because he was shaking from head to toe, his eyes pinned to Steve’s face like. He didn‘t recognise him, or any of us. If Steve looked scared, Eddie was downright prettified, like we were monsters. My still heart beat once, and then clenched painfully as the possibilities of what could have possibly had Eddie so terrified, flashed through my mind.

I’d failed, whatever new cursed happenings were befouling our town again, had Eddie clutched in the depths of its claws. I hadn’t kept him safe, and a gnawing sense of gloom in the pit of my stomach, told me I was the reason it had captured him in the first place.

“Edward.” I whispered, hanging off Dustin’s arm as my knees shook, Steve gasped out a cry of pain as the broken bottle dug in deeper and Eddie’s eyes flashed to mine. I buckled completely at the look in them as our gazes met, there wasn’t a trace of the love and adoration I’d woken up to most days, there wasn’t even any of the disbelieving pain that filled his eyes with tears when I lied to him on the field yesterday.

Only pure, unyielding rage and fear stared back at me from the depths of his now black eyes, narrowed in suspicion as he either refused to or didn’t recognise me.

“It’s us.” Dustin pleaded, holding his hand out in front of him slowly as I stopped struggling beside him.

“It’s Dustin, and Steve.” He probed further, taking a step towards them as Eddie’s shaking eased up.

“He’s not gonna hurt you, right Steve?” Robin slid her hand into mine and squeezed as our eyes locked on the pair of them.

“Right, yeah.” Steve nodded as much as he could without risking further injury, glancing over to us in panic as we hesitated.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” Dustin suggested, it clattered to the ground beside us with a resounding crack, the muscles in Eddie’s arm tensed as he dug the bottle in further, drawing a dark dribble of blood that curled down the curve of Steve’s neck.

“He’s cool! He’s cool.” Dustin yelled out, half to us because Robin tensed to charge forward at the look of pain on Steve’s face.

“I’m cool man, I’m cool.” Steve agreed, panting heavily.

“What are y’doing here?” Hearing him finally speak caressed my burning soul, even laced in anguish and disbelief, he still sounded like Eddie.

Like my Eddie.

“We’re looking for you.” I trembled, reaching out and curling my fingers hopelessly in the empty air in front of us as Eddie refused to meet my gaze, tightening his lips at Steve as he held back tears.

“We’re here to help.” Robin encouraged, her grip around my hand turning vice like as I wobbled dangerously.

“Eddie, we’re your friends.” Dustin pleaded, his voice cracking.

“You know Robin, and you know Max, and y/n-“ Dustin stopped as Eddie’s glassy eyes shot back at me, the hardness in them softened as he slowly ran his gaze up and down my frame, going wide like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Eddie, we’re on your side.” Dustin promised, my throat tightened as the need to speak up overwhelmed me, but I let my brother take the lead.

“I swear on our mother,” Dustin snapped to look at Max, Robin and I huddled half behind him to get us to agree. “Right guys?”

“Yes, yes we swear.” Max narrowed her eyes in earnest.

“Yeah, on Mrs Henderson.” Robin breathed, swivelling her eyes back and forth from where Eddie still had Steve pinned tightly against the wall.

“Yeah Dustin’s… Dustin’s mother.” Steve gasped for air as his grip loosened and Robin shot forward to catch him as he slid down the wall, his hands flying up to cup his throat as the others went to check on him. I’m sure I’d feel bad about it later, but I only had eyes for Eddie,

“Eddie, we just want to talk.” Dustin followed him as he crumbled against the far wall, sinking down onto a crate as he began to shake madly.

“We want to know what happened?” Eddie flinched at the sound of my voice, closing his eyes as I crouched down beside him, he recoiled but then relented as I reached out to wrap my fingers around his wrist to steal the broken bottle from him, the others breathed a sigh of relief and moved in closer around us as I passed the weapon back to Dustin.

“You won’t believe me.” Eddie’s whimper caused his pain to feel like my own and I moved to grip his hand in both of mine, his lip trembled as he met my stare, running his eyes over my face as I soaked up the scratches and light bruises across his cheekbones. I tightened my hold on him so hard my own hands began to shake.

“I will.” I promised. In the moonlight that glowed softly through the open space of the back wall, the ring that Eddie had given me glinted on his pinkie. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying, reaching out to twist it along the length of his finger. He glanced down at me as my skin brushed his, a thousand unsaid words flashing between us the memories of yesterday reared its ugly head, accusations and confusion reflected in his gaze while apologies and admissions flared in mine.

Eddie | March 1986

“Her body just liked, lifted up into the air and, uh, she just like hung there. In the air. And her bones… Uh, she… Her bones, started to snap. Her eyes, man. It was like there was something, inside her head, pulling. I didn’t know what to do, so I… Ran.” I hunched over and pressed my hand against my head, digging my fingertips deep into my skin like I could pull the images through my skull to throw them away.

“You think I’m crazy right?” All of their faces stared down at me in what had to be shock and scepticism. I was the one saying it and I still didn’t believe it.

“No we don’t think you’re crazy at all.” Dustin sounded so sincere, I almost believed him for a moment.

“Don’t bullshit me man, I know how this sounds.” My voice rose to an unattractive shrill as my thin veil of patience snapped and the panic seeped through, the sounds of what I described echoed in my mind as I dug my nails into my head, trying to rip them away.

“We’re not bullshitting you.” Max’s fierce face shone with truth as she scowled at me, almost endearingly as my violent words hung in the air between us all. I’d paused for a moment to wait for the screaming, for the accusations and disbelief but they’d just stared back at me with shared expressions of timid worry – like they’d been expecting bad news for a while and here I was handing it to them on a silver platter. This entire thing had to be some cruel nightmare, or maybe or bad trip because there was no way they’d barely had any reaction to me admitting to being a witness to a brutal supernatural murder.

“I believe you.” Her words sent an unwelcome thrill through me, and I was slow to look back at her where y/n crouched beside me because I didn’t want to feel the things I knew I would, that I wasn’t allowed to anymore after what happened on the field. Because even here, under the looming threat of evil killer forces and angry towns people out for my head for a crime I didn’t commit, seeing her still made me heart clench and my stomach twist excitedly. My gaze travelled to her lips as they trembled and she ran her tongue over them, sending a jolt of desire through me that I tried to ignore. She shrunk under my unblinking stare as I met her eyes.

I’d been right, she believed that I wasn’t the one to hurt Chrissy, and had come looking for me, or maybe Dustin had dragged her along with him. Either way, her face shone with blinding truth, urging me to open up to her and trust that she meant what she said. As much as every fibre of my being yearned to rip her up into my arms and into melt into her with gratitude for not giving up on me yet, her cold and cruel words that broke and shattered my heart yesterday resounded in my ears , undermining everything she was telling me and showing me now.

“Look, what I’m about to tell you might be a little … difficult to take.” Dustin broke the silence between us as the heaviness between our gazes began to suffocate me. Y/n shot up from her position and dropped my hand, turning on little Henderson as black rage filled her features, a warning burning in her eyes.

‘Okay.” I dragged out, doubting there was anything he could say that could top the events of my last twenty-four hours, and noticing the uncomfortable glances that the others shot each other as he leaned towards me eagerly.

“Dustin… Don’t.” Y/n snapped, advancing on him and trying to block me from view. Robin’s face grew alarmed as Steve moved forward, placing a hand on Dustin’s shoulder as y/n shot him a betrayed look.

“You know how people say Hawkins is… Cursed?” Dustin leaned around her to stare me down, ignoring her as she snapped at him to stop, turning on the others with a furious scowl as they murmured agreements that Dustin was right to tell me ‘it’.

“Dustin, stop.” She warned, clenching her fists by her sides as the hairs on the back of her neck raised.

“They’re not, way off.” Dustin’s mouth turned down as he shot his sister an apologetic look, keeping his eyes trained on her as she stormed away from us and reached up to tangle her hands in her hair, a quite sob drifted through the air as she turned her back. Dustin’s gaze, as was the others, was full of turmoil and pity as he looked back to me.

Even without my wristwatch I knew what time it was, I was stiff and sore from sitting in the same position by the opening in the wall all night, watching the moon dance across the sky and now the blinding sun take its place, the glittering water of the lake turning from a deep dark blue into a dazzling sister of the sky above it.

The warm breeze that floated through and rifled my loose hair around my chin, also swirled around y/n’s exposed skin. I glanced over at her sleeping form in the gently swaying boat, she had taken off her jacket and rolled it up as a makeshift pillow that she’d tucked under her head and the gritty tarp was resting around her waist. She’d drifted off around three or four, after a deep silence filled the charged space between us as our stiff words trailed off into the dark night.

Dustin’s implausible story had been playing on repeat all night, jolting me awake whenever I was lucky enough to nab a few seconds of slumber. I couldn’t believe him, the words tumbling from his mouth belonged in one of our DnD campaigns, not real life. Not our lives, we lived in boring old judgmental Hawkins, things like this didn’t happen here. Except apparently they had, because y/n and the others didn’t counter what little Henderson was saying, they only spoke up to add details as they offered up a different, darker, sinister retelling of the past few years.

“There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins, sometimes, it bleeds into ours.”

“Like ghosts and shit?”

“A curse.”

“Vecna’s curse.”

“An undead creature of great power.”

It was enough to mind fuck me for the rest of my miserable life, as short as it might be, but it was what y/n had talked about once the others left that had kept me on edge as I watched the morning sunshine crawl slowly across her. The group had agreed that someone should stay with me and after one look at her face after Dustin told me the truth, no one had tried to argue with her when she offered to be the one.

Henderson tripled checked the lock on the door as she slid it closed behind the others, pocketing the walkie Dustin had left her as they muttered goodbyes and promised to be back at dawn. I watched her stalk past the front windows as she pointedly avoided my gaze, busying herself with the rusted locks on the glass panes.

“So… upside down hey?” She flinched slightly as my voice cut through the heavy silence, her eyes were guarded as she slowly turned to face where I sat in the middle of the swaying boat, twisting my rings as the moonlight reflected off of them. I sounded a hell of a lot calmer and confident than I felt, and her eyes searched my face like she was thinking the same thing.

“…Yeah. It’s a lot to take in. I know.” She fiddled with the hem of her jacket as she stood awkwardly ridged, glancing away quickly whenever our eyes met. She looked the same as she had yesterday, just completely sober and with darker circles under her eyes. But it was like I was looking at a completely different person.

“You didn’t tell me.” I accused, anger flowing through me as the realisation came crashing down all at once. A tingling heat danced across my skin as she met my gaze with a scathing stare.

“What was I supposed to say Eddie? It’s not exactly first date material.” She scoffed, pacing across the flooring as she clenched her fists menacingly, as angry as I was I couldn’t deny how cute she looked when she was mad.

“I don’t even know who you are.” The truth of the words broke my heart as they stumbled from my lips, and from the look on her face as she froze in place and swivelled her eyes up to meet mine, they stung her just as bad.

“Me? I thought I knew you.” She spat the words at me as her chest heaved, stomping a few steps towards me glared down at me. The words flowed from her like a broken dam as she tripped over some of them twisting on her tongue.

“Like I get that you saw me with Jason and you don’t know why you don’t know anything I mean Dustin told you some things but not everything because I haven’t even told them everything so you don’t understand the whole story and I wasn’t doing it to hurt you I swear but I had to keep you safe so I said those thing things I didn’t mean and oh god they fucking hurt me to Eddie but you had no idea what I was trying to keep you safe from and it didn’t even work because look at what’s happened now but that’s why I tried to stay away from you in the beginning but I fucking couldn’t and I know I said it wasn’t but I thought what we had was real…”

Her shoulders slouched as the words wrapped in honey sprang forth, I sat still, shocked for a moment as their meaning washed over me. It took me a second to wrap my head around it and my heart barely had time to beat alive again before she threw another curve ball at me.

“I saw you with her… with Chrissy.” How well I knew y/n, because under the pain and anguish the filled her face as she brought up the traumatic event that now involved both of us, undoubtedly affecting if not ruining the rest of our lives, I could still see the jealousy beneath the surface.

“It was drugs y/n.”

“What?”

“Drugs, she wanted something stronger than weed. And I… I never would have done it, but I wanted to get back at Jason… for y’know.”

“Nothing happened between me and Jason. They found me after I ran out of class, and I was destructing. What Dustin said to you, about the fire… and how it wasn’t actually a fire that killed Billy and the others. It haunts me Eddie. Billy wouldn’t have been flayed or dead if it wasn’t for me and after… I dreamed that I was the flesh monster and I killed Billy… and I liked it – in my dream. It feels so fucking real, I can hear his bones snapping apart and feel his blood dripping down my arms and hear everyone’s screams. I don’t know why it happens, when we tried to save Billy the monster sliced me.” She reached down to tear the end of her shirt up her stomach as she pushed down on her pant line, turning to the side so I could see the jagged, red scar again.

“I thought that some part of the monster buried itself within me and changed me – poisoned me - or maybe I’m some sick psycho, and then after a while I started dreaming of a flayed version of me, and she turned grotesque and messed up, I don’t know. I couldn’t sleep, like at all. I was literally going crazy, and I started seeing this shit in real life, that’s why I started smoking weed. Everything felt so fucking real, and then the headaches started… I killed Billy every night in my dreams Eddie, and after a while…

…He turned into you. I couldn’t be the reason you died or got hurt Eddie. Just imagining it was enough to drive me crazy, if it actually happened, I had to do – say- something to keep you away, I am so fucking sorry for what I said. None of it was true Eddie, I-“ Her frame relaxed in defeat as she spoke, dropping her eyes from mine like she was expecting me to react in disgust.

“I’ve made many mistakes, so many that I have to fix for the rest of my life. But you Eddie, are not one of them.”

The boat swung manically, and the chains rattled off the wall as I sprung up and jumped down onto the creaking floorboards, given that I was probably wanted and being hunted for murder at that very moment, and everything I’d seen and heard in the last twenty-four hours made absolutely no fucking sense, I shouldn’t have been thinking about kissing her.

But y/n was the person I loved more than anything on the planet, no matter what she said or did to push me away, she’d have to tie me to the heaviest boulder at the bottom of the deepest ocean to keep me away. But I all knew was that she was in pain, and it was all I needed to know, but it was my responsibility to protect her from everything. Ironic since she was the one sitting in a drug dealers boat house trying to save me.

It didn’t matter what my excuse was because I needed her back in my arms where she belonged and never should have left. The wounds her words on the field had created, screamed in joy as the feeling of her wrapping herself around me as I swept her up and pinned her against the wall, lapped at the festering sores healingly.

The stale smell of our sweat mixed together but it was the most intoxicating thing I’d ever inhaled as I buried my face against her skin, pressing my lips against anything and everything I could get to. Y/n tightened her legs around my waist, and she tilted her head back, crying out my name as tears sprung to my eyes.

Fuck, I needed her.

More than I needed air to breath, my mouth travelled along the soft curve of her neck as she twisted her hands in my hair and my hands tightened on her hips, helping her grind down against me as I moaned into her collar bone. She tugged my head up as her lips searched for mine, moulding to them as we devoured each other. I had never cried from happiness, but the tears swelled over my cheekbones as I crushed y/n to me. I was finally home now, she was home, and no matter how fucked my life got – and it was pretty fucked right now – if I had her, I’d be okay.

The crackle of static from her pocket made us both jump apart in fright, spurring towards the window before we realised it was just the walkie talkie, I let her down to the ground so she could reach for it, but I kept my arms around her waist and my eyes on hers as she brought it between us.

‘Stay safe out there tonight guys, we’ll be back as soon as possible. And we’ll figure this out, we always do. Over and out.” Little Henderson’s optimistic voice signed off as silence surrounded us again, we stayed locked in each other’s embrace before y/n reached up with a steady hand to wipe away the fallen tear that betrayed me.

“It’s going to be okay; I’m going to get you out of this.” Her angelic face moved towards mine purposefully and softly to place one lasting sweet kiss against my lips, when she pulled back her own eyes were glistening with unshed tears as her lips trembled around unsaid words as she stared at me like it was the last time.

Y/N | March 1986

I sprung up in a panic as Eddie launched himself across the room, crouching behind the dirty window as he peered out into the empty forest beyond.

“What is it?” I whispered, sitting up further and letting the tarp pool around my waist. His rings strained against his knuckles as he gripped the windowsill, turning to look at me with fresh fear in his face.

We both jumped a foot high as the door swung open with a loud bang, I let out a frightened scream as Eddie held up his sharp beer bottle that I thought I’d hidden.

“Jesus.” Eddie let out an annoyed sigh of relief as Max, Robin, Dustin and Steve all sauntered through the door, sheepish grins on their faces all still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. Steve gave us an offhand half wave but I could see the relief under his face that we were still here, and seemingly okay. Robins wicked smile grew as her eyes flicked back and forth between Eddie and I, his crumpled jacket in my hands.

“Delivery service.” Dustin grinned, holding up a bag of food that surely didn’t hold any nutritional value, I groaned internally as I thought about how nice a hot shower and my bed would be right about now. Eddie let the bottle clatter to the ground with a smash as he lit up and swiped the bag from his hand, jumping down into the boat across from me as I sat up and crossed my legs, pushing my nest of hair back from my face as they others drew up chairs and made themselves comfortable.

“So we got uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?” Dustin asked as Eddie shoved his hand into a box of honeycomb cereal, shoving a fistful of the food into his mouth before his eyes flicked up to me and he held it out with a half-smile, I returned it with a tired smile of my own and grabbed a handful, bringing it to my lips one piece at a time as I listened.

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie grumbled through a mouthful of food as he reached to take a swig of his yoo-hoo.

“Alright bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebo, and they’re definitely looking for you.” I let the cereal tumble through my fingertips as Dustin confirmed what I already knew, but it hadn’t made it easier hearing it out loud. The ghost of Eddie’s smile dropped from his face as his gazed lowered slowly to mine.

“Also they’re uh, pretty sure you killed Chrissy.” Dustin cringed over the words as my stomach shrunk.

“Like a hundred percent kind of convinced.” Max butted in before anyone could react. Silence fell between us as whatever slim veil of hope we’d vainly been holding onto, vanished up in smoke and despair filled the air around us.

“And the good news?” Eddie scoffed, rubbing the knee of his threadbare jeans.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet. But if we found out about you, then it’s only a matter of time before others do to. And once that gets out everyone and their shallow minded mother will be gunning for you… and anyone close to you” Robins eyes rested on me, worry raging in them. Eddie voiced my thoughts before I could.

“Hunt the freak right?” Eddie had his eyes locked on me as rage filled me, I wouldn’t let anyone touch a single hair on his head, I could see the anger in the lines of my face reflected in his wide-doe eyes.

“Exactly.” Robin agreed.

“Shit.” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he hung his head.

“Robin.” I snapped, shaking my head at her. The outlook of our situation was pretty bleak, but I didn’t need her feeding into Eddie’s fears.

“So before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence.” Steve nodded alongside Dustin as shrugged his shoulders like he was talking about taking a stroll in a park.

Eddie wasn’t so easily fooled. “That’s all Dustin? That’s all?”

“Yeah no, that’s pretty much it.” He shot back.

“Listen Eddie, I know everything Dustin’s saying sounds totally delusional, but I’m sure y/n told you some stuff last night. We have actually gone through this kinda thing before-“ Eddie cut Robin off as he chewed on his cheek, turning back to look at me as I picked at my raw nail beds.

“Yeah, y/n filled me in. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.” Eddie gulped and didn’t look convinced at Robin’s reassurance, she glanced at me for back up, I planned on doing everything it took to save Eddie – even if it meant my own life- but I wasn’t going to lie to him.

“Well, bottom line is, collectively… I feel like we’ve got this.” Robin smiled and gave a satisfied shake of her head as everyone else spoke up over each other.

“Theres nothing to worry about.” Dustin waved his hands to get Eddie’s attention as his eyes flung back and forth between Steve, Max and Robin arguing over Demogorgon’s and Russians. Steve scoffed in agreement as Eddie shot them both disbelievingly looks.

My blood ran cold, and everyone froze for a split second as the inclosing sound of police sirens blared fast and loud before everyone sprang into action.

“Shit.” Steve muttered, leaning up from the wooden support beam and turning towards the door.

“Tarp, tarp tarp.” Robin reached down and hastily threw the blue fabric over my back as Eddie launched across the space between us, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me down with him as I quickly spread the tarp out over both of us.

The sirens blared closer until they quickly passed, speeding off as the sound died in the distance. Steve let out a deep breath and turned back to us, tugging the tarp down to tell us it was all clear.

“Here, we’re gonna go check that out. Keep the walkie on you, we’ll be in touch. Just – stay here.” He picked up the walkie and tossed it into the boat where it landed against the seat with a clang, swiping his keys and waving his hand for the others to follow.

“Y/n?” Robin called, turning back when she noticed I made no move to follow them, she raised her brows at me but after a quick glance at Eddie’s face, I knew I couldn’t leave. I doubted I’d even be able to, the thought of not being able to see him so I knew he was alright, choked me. If we were separated I would spend the entire time being worried sick that he’d been found or something worse had happened, plus we didn’t know the whole story about the Vecna thing and if it came after Eddie again, I couldn’t bare to let him face it alone.

“You’re gonna stay?” Eddie asked shocked as I shook my head at Robin.

“Always.” I promised, and this time, I meant it.

It had been hours, more than hours. Days, well, technically just one but I was starving and dramatic. The others had kept us updated with their every move, radioing through on the walkie every few hours, they’d told us about Fred, running into Nancy and what they’d found about Victor Creel.

I’d had to pass the walkie to Eddie when they radioed last night to tell us about Max and her symptoms of Vecna’s curse and what it meant, my hands had been shaking so bad I kept pressing all the wrong buttons. Eddie wanted for murder and Max on a death countdown? With the group spread thin and wide, things couldn’t get much worse. They were on Max watch, and hadn’t checked in in a few hours, but it was well past dawn now and I was getting angsty, Eddie as usual, was trying to keep me distracted.

“So… have you thought about where you want to visit first? I mean, once we’re out of this mess.” He was standing at the edge of the hole in the floor beneath the boat, dipping his shoe into the water below and swirling creative patterns. He glanced up to grin at me with a lopsided smile, but his face dropped as he watched mine fall.

“Eddie, I was telling the truth last night when I said that what happened on the field was because I was trying to keep you safe, but… I’m still not good for you, and you need to stay away from me.” My heart clenched horrifically as I watched a spasm of pain cross his features. Water droplets splashed and stained the dry floorboards as he stormed across them to back me into the wall, slamming his hands against it beside my head as he closed in on me.

“Tell me I’m not stupid.” He begged.

“You’re not-“

“Tell me that you love me.” He demanded; his eyes were fierce as I struggled to breathe.

Love

“Please tell me I haven’t been imagining this y/n, if you’re telling the truth and you just said that to keep me safe then tell me that I’m not crazy and you love me.” His gaze searched mine as he bent to my level, forcing to look at him.

“I don’t-“ My voice caught in my throat as a wave of pain threatened to drown me, after what he had already been through, how could I be selfish enough to keep him close to me and in the constant path of danger?

“Please y/n.” His voice had me tittering on the edge.

“I can’t-.” I tried to fight back but it was no use.

“Do you love me?” He pleaded, his dark eyes shining as they flashed between mine.

God, if my love was a grain of sand, there still wouldn’t be enough in all the oceans of the world.

But still, my words failed me.

I curled over as a wrecking ball of physical pain floored me, a ringing sounded in my ears as my head felt like it was about to blow apart, in a flash Steve’s voiced echoed in my mind about what they’d discovered about Vecna’s curse. The headaches and the visions, it all matched up. But the timeline of it was off, I’d been having them for months, how was I still alive?

Eddie’s hands gripped my shoulders as I slowly straightened up, his face contorted in a multitude of emotions as he came to the same realisation. His grip tightened as Dustin’s voice crackled through the walkie in a panic. I stood frozen to the spot as Eddie tore away from me briefly to snatch it up.

Robins quick voice floated through the machine in a frenzy, her words were a blur as my mind spun in a panic and my stomach turned, the words of ‘Victor Creel’ and ‘Music’ broke through my trance as I watched Eddie’s eyes go wide. Dustin’s rapid panicked response shot back through as Eddie raised the walkie to his lips, his eyes locking onto mine as I reached deep into my jacket pocket to pull out the mixtape he’d made me, had it really only been a few days ago? It felt like a lifetime.

I tightened my grip around my lifeline as my entire body shook.

“DUSTIN! Play Max’s favourite song now.”

“What?”

“I DON’T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN! PLAY HER FAVOURITE SONG.”

I traced soft circles around the pretty patterns Eddie had drawn on the tape as my headache returned ten folds worse and my vision blackened around the edges.

I was never Eddie’s protector, he was mine.

Chapter Twelve

Let me know what you thought about this chapter, take care sunflowers 🌻

➢ Eddie Tag List } @dotslabyrinth @chanaaaannel @lem0nb0iii @xcarabear @projectcampbell @munchabunch @grungegrrrl @sammararaven @ches-86 @alinepichi @halbhohehalluzination @kalalikalas @thetrashqueen23 @bruh-tato-chap @sagittariughs @c0rroded-coffin @averagemisfit03 @eddiesgffff @churchmuffins @mrsdollardog @ms1oftheboys @pearlsyeaaa @hanahkatexo @bex-tk1 @thatonecluelessbitch @briasnow-blog

#eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie smut #eddie x reader #eddie stranger things #eddie fanfic #eddie munson headcanon #stranger things 4 #eddie munson one shot #eddie fluff #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson smut #opposite ends

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levmada · 2 years

Text

based on this meme @postwarlevi sent on discord SO LONG AGO IM SORRY the other day LMAO

content/warnings: post-canon (no spoilers), worth a giggle, Levi hates driving

wc: ~.5k

“Levi.”

No answer. Frowning, you glance over at him behind the skinny black wheel that’s used to steer. His eyes are flickering between a dozen things at once, including every needle on the dashboard.

“Levi,” you whisper, squeezing the so-called ‘grab handle’. Same as you, his knuckles are pasty from holding on so hard; what muscles you can see of his arms from his elbows down veiny and hard.

You should’ve listened to him when he said that renting one of these three-ton “death machines” would be a bad idea; he didn’t know what the grab handles were, either.

“Levi.”

“I’m focusing,” he snaps, and shifts the clutch as you take a turn. “Quiet. Or I’ll drive to a shop and buy some duct tape.”

You laugh out loud, feeling hysterical. “We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

Not entirely true. You insisted on starting out cautiously, practicing on these deserted, rural roads with green land stretching in all directions after passing the written test to drive, which you also insisted he do.

Levi wholeheartedly agreed with one of these suggestions.

“I have one functional eye,” he retorts. “And eight fingers.”

“I couldn’t even tell!”

A scoff. “Neither could the Marleyans who sold us this thing.”

“Look, we have three eyes, and eighteen fingers between us. It’s fine. This is just a learning—” you laugh again, “—a learning curve.”

He glares at the asphalt ahead. Fact is, he never would’ve agreed to any of this hadn’t he thought it would be useful.

And you really wanted him to. Women aren’t “allowed” to have license to drive, whatever that means.

His mood is already so shitty that just remembering that fact pisses him off more. Women dedicated their hearts to fly through the air and get eaten by Titans where he’s from. They can’t drive one shitty death machine here?

Then you softly gasp, and he’s ripped from his train of thought just as this black death machine is almost run into a ditch. He swivels the wheel just in time to the tune of you squealing, and stops.

He puts the death machine in park, and stares at you above that hand clapped over your face. The engine idles softly.

“Sorry,” you breathe, high in your throat. “We were going so fast, the trees started blurring.”

“Blurring,” he deadpans. “They blurred when you flew through the sky, too.”

“That’s my point!” You’re whispering this for some reason. “But it’s not like a horse. We have to follow a guided path, between lines, with other cars, which are…” You settle back in your seat, sighing long and loud. “…bigger.”

He settles back too, or tries, and cracks his knuckles. That ache in his leg is starting up again... he’s been tense, to say the least.

All his life it’s been easy to take after new things, but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees you frown. “You want me to take over?”

While against the law, you mutually agreed it’s a stupid law, so he’s had you practicing, too. But mostly the written test.

“Yeah,” he grunts. “I won’t freak out and make the driver crash.”

“I won’t freak out when my passenger makes a little noise, causing me to crash.”

He smirks a little behind his good hand. “Then it’s agreed. Knock yourself out.”

| levi masterlist | main masterlist |

#levi fluff #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman x you #levi ackerman x reader #levi drabble #levi ackermann x reader #aot fluff #levi x reader #aot levi #attack on titan x reader #captain levi x reader #g.scribe

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scribbledquillz · 1 year

Text

WIP Wednesday

Big thanks to both @melisusthewee and @siriskulksnerding (you'd tagged me earlier this week and like a fool I completely spaced it lol) for thinking of me and tagging me to share something of mine still in the works. You guys are the best and I hope you find a $20 in your laundry. <3

I'll tag back: @blarrghe, @shivunin, @antivan-beau, @jinakadaisy, @wild-houseplant, @malewifezevran and @mage-propaganda as well as anyone else who'd like in. As always no pressure to participate, but tag me if you do! :3

This snippet is from a chapter of Your Fire that's been drafted for literal years and yet to see the light of day. It's next up in the series, but is going to need some heavy editing before it's ready to post. Looking back at three year old writing of mine is a hell of a trip lol. But I've prettied up this section some, and hope you all enjoy!

Shrieks like shattering glass and broken bones tore their way through the stillness of the trees and Titan's baying. From beneath it something hollow snapped, the sound nearly lost in the din.

"Look out!"

An arm wide as a tree limb collided with Revka’s shoulders, the blow sending her stumbling backward. Her feet found their bearings in time to watch Alistair throw himself to the side, a pair of blackened blurs flying within inches of where his chest had been moments before. The arrows landed with a thud; one vanished back into the darkness, the other buried in the side of a nearby crate. From the woods the shrieking grew impossibly louder, new howling building into the mangled chorus.

"Well." Alistair's voice rasped, his eyes snared by the arrow. "Looks like they've found us."

This time, her hands didn't hesitate.

"Get the others," she said as the weight of her daggers settled in her grip. Wide eyes narrowed on the forest, the first glimpses of the monsters lurking there turning visible through the darkness. "Send Titan to Bohdan, hold the front. I’ll cut 'round back, see if I can take the archers."

"Are you mad?" At Alistair's back the rest of the camp was quickly turning frantic, confused shouting mixed in with the rustling of weapons and armor. "There could be a dozen of them out there, they'll tear you to shreds!"

"Not if they don’t see me." Her feet had already turned her, a gesture to Titan staving him off her heel as she drew her hood over her head. “Can move quieter on my own. Keep the bastards busy for me, would you?”

And with that she was gone, vanishing before Alistair could offer up any further protest. The night opened itself readily to her, and she slipped into the swath of darkness easily as a shadow. Purpose drove her onward, blood and adrenaline pushing her as swiftly as silent footfalls could through the first line of trees and beyond. She could handle it. These were only beasts, only monsters, and they bled the same as all the rest which came before. Sweat cold as winter rain beaded at her brow while she ran, a sour, creeping ache churning something awful in the pit of her stomach. She could handle it.

#wip wednesday #lilou writes #dragon age #dragon age origins #revka tabris #your fire burns in my veins

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funkypoacher · 2 years

Note

How about: “Never do that again. Please” + Kaidan & Hestia and/or "I'd hate to be a burden..." || "It's alright, (Name). I don't mind taking care of you" + Joseph & Trudy?

it's been a minute since I wrote Hes/Kaidan!! this prompt was fun. based off my post-war canon which is explained here (dont worry, its short). Will be doing the Trudy/Joseph one as well (because how can I not??) in a seperate post.

"Hes—Jesus!"

She almost can't hear him over the wind howling through the canyon between them. But before she can give Kaidan his hollered concern its due credit, she's got priorities to sort out, and those are hauling herself up the cliff-edge she's clinging to. Half-dangling from her stomach over a vast wilderness of beautiful north Vancouver splendor—yep, it'd be a shame to bloody-up the cuts of soaring rock and birch going orange with the season.

Shepard lifts herself to the plateau and stands. How she got sand in her crack is a mystery for the ages.

"Are you okay?!"

Kaidan is horrified. Jiggling a little to dislodge the grit, Shepard just eyes the crevice she flung herself across. It's a thirty meter drop, easily, into a sea of trees.

"Guess it was a bit bigger than I thought, eh?"

"You think?!"

Shepard smiles to herself. Readjusting the jostled zipper of her jacket, she loudly asks "you want me to throw the rope across, or—?" but before she can wholly offer to toss him a line, Kaidan is floating across the expanse, lit up with the blue light.

He lands a foot away. Kaidan's handle of his biotics is, as always, lithe. His body, though, moves like a soldier, so he hits the ground running. His boots dig into the earth; he grunts. Yes, Kaidan is both refined and gruff; as rigid as he is ridiculously adaptable. Kaidan is… Well, he's a lot of things, isn't he?

For now, he's the guy giving her stink eye, the blue of his biotics receding like water.

"Nice job, fly-boy," Shepard says, arms across her chest.

"And there was room for one more," Kaidan answers somewhat sourly. "Seriously, we could have piggy-backed. I thought you were going to use your biotics, not… throw yourself at it."

"With my implant fubared like it is, no. No way. Biotics are a no-go for a while." Sighing, sucking in that pine-fresh air, Shepard nods west. "Come on. We're losing daylight. Got a few clicks until the next camp and no one likes when you show up after dark."

Kaidan sighs, too. "Fine." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Just… never do that again. Please."

Her skin pricks into a shiver. And now it's Hestia's turn to look scared.

"What?"

In answer to Kaidan's question, Shepard shrugs; turns away.

"Nothing. It's a little like old times, I guess." She smiles small, voice quiet but not soft. "You. Me. You asking me not to complete a totally viable maneuver."

"Completely?" Kaidan's consternation becomes something else real quick, however. Walking closer, his voice reaches for her. "Hes…"

"We need to go."

"We need to talk."

"No, Kaidan," Shepard answers. She looks down. "It's too soon."

"Too soon?" Kaidan takes a step back. "It's been four years since we talked about anything that wasn't the war. But it's over, now—"

"If you think this isn't still the war, then you're wrong," Shepard replies quickly. "This is the war. We're still in it. And this is more real than…"

She knows by the shift in his eyes that she's gone too far. She's drifting in and out of that headspace where the Reapers were a bad dream; where this is all it's ever been—a world in ruins and its populace starving—and Shepard was never any commander because how can she live with that guilt? She misses the simplicity and denial. She misses where Kaidan was just a daydream, simple, and soft.

But things are never simple.

"We're going," Shepard says. And even if she's only there to act as Kaidan's guide, she's going with or without him.

#stupid far cry distracting me from this story #ah well #hestia shepard #kaidan alenko #mass effect

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garlic-gun · 2 years

Text

shit dust says

(do people still use that format)

after four months (EXTREMELY on and off), i've officially watched half of dbz. to commemorate this milestone, i invite you into my mind... i've been taking notes for each episode, and honestly sometimes i just kinda be saying shit. without further ado, notes without context

(also it got kinda long so it's under the cut but there are also image descriptions for each image)

[ID: Text that says "Mole", followed by a smiley face. Below the text is a screenshot of Dragon Ball Z of a small brown creature peeking out of a burrow in a field. End ID]

[ID: The first image is three screenshots of Dragon Ball Z. Goku, holding Raditz's tail, asks "You really mean it?". Raditz, incapacitated on the ground, pleads "I really do! I'm begging you, Kakarot! Believe me!" End ID]

[ID: The second image is a screenshot in which Raditz, after being freed, elbows Goku, sending him flying back. The image below is a dramatic, black and white edit of a dog in high winds with the words "He was lying" along the top in all caps. End ID]

[ID: Text that says "creatura", followed by a pleading emoji. The "creatura" in question is a small orange mammal with a face vaguely reminiscent of both a rabbit and a small dog. It has whiskers, longer hair on its head, and arms tucked near its chest that end in claws. It is in a somewhat alien jungle, with vegetation in a blue-green hue and trees bearing fluffy blue fruit. End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Gohan, at about 4 years old. He's visibly trying not to cry, with tears in the corners of his large, round eyes. Text below says "boy said (pleading emoji)". End ID]

[ID: The first image has "E023" on the first line, acting as a label for episode 23 in my notes. The next line is "it hurts." Below is a screenshot of the title card of the episode, titled "Saibamen Attack!", with the captions reading "Yamucha dies! The terror of the Saibaimen." End ID]

[ID: The second image is a screenshot of Yamcha with a smirk on his face, saying "Let me handle this. I'm going to take care of the other five all at the same time." I salute him in the form of text. End ID]

[ID: This first image is exclusively text, in which I reflect on the artstyle shift from late Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z to what Dragon Ball Z will look like later on. It reads "Okay, looking back, it's a thing that varies but I think there really is some precedent to the idea that 'the way it looks during fights' ends up becoming just 'the way it looks', with the straighter stress of the tensed eyes. But again, from what I've seen, it doesn't really take full effect until... probably post-Frieza." The focus quickly shifts completely, in all caps with typos as I frantically type, "It's unhinged Salmon Run for the next hour and a half I gotta finish this fucking episode right now". End ID]

[ID: The second image is also only text. It's dated May 30th of 2022. The notes read "Thirteen hours later I am fucking... It started with deciding to play Splatoon and it ended with... 4AM. Anyways". End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "Goku, meanwhile, is itching to leave, having recovered significantly, and Chichi is knitting the world's smallest sweater. I don't think it would fit Gohan so I can only assume someone has a chihuahua." End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "Oh, also Goku turned himself into a piñata". End ID]

[ID: This image is a mixture of text and screenshots of Vegeta in which, frankly, his ass is fat. It's labeled episode 106, with two lines following which say "I am being killed", with emphasis placed on the words "being" and "killed", and "I saw this and started fucking breaking down", though "started" is misspelled. Directly below is Vegeta turning toward the camera with a strange smile. The next lines are attributed to Vegeta. Facing away from the camera, he starts, "What is it, Kakarot? Could it be..." He turns with a smirk. "You're craving my McNuggies?" End ID]

[ID: A note for episode 109. It says "I want to leave", followed by a smiley face. End ID]

[ID: Notes taken while watching an episode. I wrote "You know, I think purling is basically just knitting but coming around the other side of the needle so hypothetically I can just—", I interrupt myself, incredulous, "His hair is prehensile??", before returning to my train of thought "Hypothetically I can just go on and do whatever." End ID]

[ID: The first image is Future Trunks looking downward with a smile, though his forehead is a little large. Text below reads "I think this is an omen". End ID] [ID: The second image has text reading "Boy's forehead got me flabbergasted", emphasis on the final word, followed by two screenshots of Future Trunks, one in his base form and one as a Super Saiyan where his forehead has so much real estate on his face that he looks like Jimmy Neutron. End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, and Krillin with the caption "All right, let's go! We have to find it before Vegeta does!". Text above says "Bald podcast". End ID]

[ID: Android 17 smirks with a forehead somehow larger than usual, while Android 18 stands in the background. They're in Gero's lab. Text above reads "No future?" End ID]

[ID: Notes for episode 141. The text says "Stop making me look at Mr. Popo". End ID]

[ID: Text that reads "The Kamehameha is a Son Goku Original (Trademarked). He invented it when he got really annoyed at a car because it wasn't a firetruck". End ID]

#dust watches db #dbz #the image limit has gone from 10 to 30 and im going to use it to the fullest #i tried to strike a balance between being detailed succinct and varied and fun to read with these ids #but i dont have very much practice so please feel free to send feedback on them if you'd like!#or send an ask just in general id love to chat #i dont often go into the main tag so if this is the first thing youre seeing from me. hi welcome to my dragon ball sideblog i love men #and women! but so far they are in short supply in this series 😔 not to mention the Toriyama Choices.#alas this franchise currently has me in a death grip despite The Horrors and there is no escape for me #honestly these notes are outliers. much more often im just thinking really hard instead of just like. emitting words #if this was for the majority of my docs rather than just the sillies it would be mostly observations and analyses lacking in full context

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travelingtheusa · 2 years

Text

NEVADA

2023 Jan 5 (Thu) – I have been spending the last few days hip deep in paperwork confirming reservations for campgrounds, meals and activities on our Alaska caravan. One campground had been sold and the former owner never put our reservation in the system. Luckily, I called early in the year and the new owner still had space for us.

At 6:30 p.m. we met Joan & Peter and Adam, Diane & Devin at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ for dinner. It rained all day and everything was wet. The food was disappointing – Paul’s brisket was dry and my ribs were tough and chewy. The potato salad was out of this world! We said good-bye to everyone as we are leaving tomorrow. It’s been two long months and we are anxious to get back on the road. It’s off to Texas to buy a new truck. Hope the one we scoped out is still there. Fingers crossed.

2023 Jan 4 (Wed) – We stayed in all day. I spent the day confirming reservations and coordinating deposit payments for our Alaska Caravan.

The contract agency working for the VA called me today to go over my medical condition. The doctor asked me lots of prepared questions about my lymphoma and its current status. This was in response to the claim I filed under the PACT Act for disability.

I also got a call from my gastroenterologist. I have been having indigestion since September and nothing seems to work. I also have been suffering from a frequent cough that feels like it’s coming from my stomach. He advised me to see an ENT. I guess I’ll have to schedule an appointment to see one when I go back to New York next month. I spent the afternoon making doctor appointments. Paul is working on our route to a major airport so I can fly back to New York. I will wind up going back about 2 weeks earlier than I had planned to.

2023 Jan 3 (Tue) – I cooked up some egg cups and blueberry muffins this morning. They’re nice to have when we are on the road. We ran a bunch of errands today. We stopped at Lowe’s for wing nut that broke on Paul. Do you know how hard it is to find one little tiny wing nut among ALL the nuts and bolts in Lowe’s??? He finally found something but it turned out to be the wrong size. He’ll have to go back and hunt through the drawers for another one.

We stopped at O’Reilly Auto so Paul could get some sticky spray for the fan belt. He thinks it’s slipping when the gear shifts. Then we drove to Skechers where I got two pairs of shoes. After that, we tried to find a post office. The first one we stopped at did not have a service window. How weird. The next one was a full service office but it was packed. I got on line (I was number 12) with one agent at the window. There was another one but he was only handling passports. About half way through the line, another agent opened a window but it was still slow despite having two windows open.

I mailed a packet to the NYS Tax Department in answer to their claim that we do not live in New York. It had a deadline and I sent it registered mail on December 7. I have been checking it and the website just tells me “it’s in the network.” What the heck is that? I asked the mail clerk and he said it means it’s probably lost somewhere. I’ll have to send the documents again and hope the department doesn’t blame me for the post office’s shortcoming.

2023 Jan 2 (Mon) – We took down the Christmas tree today. The place seems empty now. We went food shopping, got fuel and had lunch at Jack in the Box. We were the only people in the restaurant. There was a fairly regular stream of cars going through the drive-in. I guess people don’t like going inside any more.

2023 Jan 1 (Sun – New Year’s Day) – Peter cooked up biscuits and gravy for breakfast. After visiting for a while, we went over their neighbor’s house, Maggie. They wanted us to see renovations she had made to her condo. It was fantastic.

We went back to Joan & Pete’s where Joan made pea soup (for good luck), ham with cherry sauce, and mac & cheese. Everything was delicious.

We left at 3:00 p.m. Sheba sure was glad to see us! We napped then took some ornaments off our tree. We will do a few each day till it’s done.

2022 Dec 31 (Sat – New Year’s Eve) – We met Joan & Pete at the Red Rock Casino for dinner at Hank’s Steakhouse. Barbara & Preston also met us there. We played the slots (all lost), then had dinner. It was late. Our reservation was for 9:15 p.m. We didn’t get seated until almost 10 p.m. We were finishing our meal at 11:40 p.m. We had to rush out of the restaurant to catch the fireworks show. We were parked in the garage overlooking the Strip in the distance. It was a great place to see the entire show. All the casinos released fireworks. I guess they were in sync because they released the fireworks at the same time and were the same color: red, green and white.

After the show, we went back to Joan & Pete’s and spent the night there. Didn’t want to take a chance with drunk drivers on the road.

2022 Dec 30 (Fri) – We stayed in today.

2022 Dec 29 (Thu) – We joined Joan & Peter for dinner at their friend’s home. Barbara & Preston are a delightful couple with lots of European experiences. Barbara is from Germany and sells medical items. Preston is a real estate agent. She made rouladen, potato dumplings, red cabbage, and an orange dessert. It was all very good. Afterward, we taught Barbara & Preston to play 31.

2022 Dec 28 (Wed) – We went to Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ. Adam & Diane gave us a gift card for Christmas. It turned out I put the wrong address in the GPS and we took a long ride out of the way. We finally figured it out and got to the restaurant. The food was good and we have about $10 left on the card.

We also stopped to get some propane. The weather is starting to get warmer. A terrible winter storm hit the northeast area. Over 30 people died in Buffalo alone. It’s been cold here but is slowly warming up.

2022 Dec 27 (Tue) – We met our friend, Linda, for an early dinner at Juan’s Flaming Fajitas. We met Linda and her husband, Mark, on the Canadian Maritimes Caravan. They were the Tail Gunners on the caravan. Mark passed away about 9 months after the caravan. They were a wonderful couple and she is a very nice woman. We enjoyed our visit very much.

2022 Dec 26 (Mon) – We were invited back to Adam & Diane’s for leftovers. Afterward we played 31.

2022 Dec 25 (Sun – CHRISTMAS) – We went over Adam & Diane’s house for dinner. They had 19 people over. Of course, there was lots of food and drink. It was a fun day. They played a game where something (a gift card, I think) was wrapped in saran wrap along with other things. They passed the ball around the table and you had to try to unwrap the saran wrap with one hand while the next person rolled the dice. When they got doubles on the dice, they took control of the ball. As it unwrapped, little things dropped out, like candies and such.

We also did a gift exchange. Everyone brought a gift. When they arrived, the gift as given a number. Then we shot a nerf gun at a bunch of dixie cups covered with tissue paper. When the bullet penetrated the paper, you got a number inside the cup. After everyone got a number, we sat around the room and picked the gift with the matching number. One guy got a “STEAL” rather than a number. So he stole my gift! I had a nice portable cooler and he had chosen my gift of assorted cookies. So he took my cooler and gave me back my cookies!

2022 Dec 24 (Sat) – I spent the afternoon calling all my brothers and sister to wish them a Merry Christmas. We went over Joan & Peter’s for open house tonight. We stayed until 10:30 pm, then drove down the street to a United Methodist Church. The service felt a little cold but it had a nice candlelight service. We had communion and stood in a circle with our candles singing Silent Night. We got back to the campground around 12:30 p.m.

2022 Dec 23 (Fri) – We worked around the RV until lunch time. Paul is busy making a beanbag baseball table. I was working on emails and drafting the book for the National Muster next year.

At 11:30 a.m. we drove into town to pick up some groceries at WalMart. We stopped at Lowe’s so Paul could pick up paint and a rotor blade. On the way back, we spotted a liquor store and stopped in to see if we could find Forty Creek. We have been in several liquor stores throughout Nevada and no one has had it. This store did! We bought 4 bottles. 😊

2022 Dec 22 (Thu) – We did laundry this morning. What a pain in the arse! There are only 3 washing machines and 3 dryers in a tiny room. Two washers were being used so we could only do one load. We put the clothes for another load on top of the machine and left. When we returned, one dryer was open. So the wet clothes went into the dryer and the next load went into the washer. Having to do laundry like that makes it twice as long to do. Ugh.

There was a campground potluck today. We brought Godiva chocolates and gummy dice. As usual, the food was plentiful and delicious.

2022 Dec 21 (Wed) – We met Joan & Peter at Tuscany Gardens for dinner. It is an Italian Steakhouse. We arrived first so had drinks at the bar while we waited for them to arrive. Then we sat at the table and enjoyed a delicious meal. After dinner, we went to see the Rat Pack. It is three performers who represent the original Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.). The Dean Martin look alike managed to resemble Dean. The Frank Sinatra impersonator did not look anything like Frank but had a voice that sounded just like the original. The Sammy Davis, Jr. character did not resemble nor sound like Sammy. The show was good any way and the guys were pretty entertaining.

2022 Dec 20 (Tue) – We went to the factory again today. Paul worked around the place, moving inventory and restocking shelves. I sorted chocolate coins all day. By the end of the day, my back was squawking from standing all day long. I was glad to get home and sit on a heating pad.

2022 Dec 19 (Mon) – We went into the chocolate factory today to help. Paul and I packed net bags with chocolate coins. Peter made cotton candy all day. Joan bought us lunch after working on accounts all day. Adam was out making calls on stores up and down the strip. I also finished closing out all the 2021 accounts. It is kind of thrilling to see the big name casinos flash by – Mandalay Bay, MGM, Luxor, etc.

After we finished helping out, we drove home to feed Sheba. Then we drove to the Palace Station Casino to watch the new movie, Avatar. It was over 3 hours long but the graphics were amazing. We saw it in 3D. It was pretty good.

2022 Dec 18 (Sun) – I decided to file a claim in person with the VA. I made an appointment for Wednesday. We’ll see how that goes.

We went to the Candy Cane house tonight. It is a home owned by two men who open their home to the public for the Christmas holidays. They have their home decorated in steroid fashion! There were 50 trees in their house. Decorations were hanging from the ceilings. There were lights, and garland, and the decorations everywhere you looked. It had to take them 2 months to do all those decorations.

2022 Dec 17 (Sat) – We spent all morning in the VA today. The PACT Act was passed in August and has far reaching implications. Over 20 medical conditions have been added to a list of maladies that the VA deems as “preemptive.” That means that if you have the condition, you do not have to prove you got it from your military service. It is presumed that if you served during a certain time period in a particular area, you contracted the disease even if it didn’t show up immediately. Lymphoma is one of the conditions recognized for Post 9-11 veterans. I served in Iraq/Kuwait/Afghanistan in 2005 and was diagnosed with lymphoma 12 years later in 2017. I wanted to see how to file a claim. The VA held a town hall that told everyone about the PACT Act but wasn’t much help that. They had a number of departments present with information and giveaways in the atrium. We collected information and left. I will file a claim online.

We met Joan, Peter and Janice at the Italian American café for dinner at 7 p.m. It was a delightful Las Vegas style meal with entertainment. A singer with a small 3-man band sang and joked with the audience. It was a lot of fun.

2022 Dec 16 (Fri) – We went to the PX today to get Paul some jeans and shoes. I got a notice from the PX that they were giving 15% off on purchases made with the military card. Add to that the fact that we pay no sales tax and the savings are significant. We wound up getting Paul two pairs of jeans and a shirt.

After the PX, we went to the commissary and got some groceries. We stopped for lunch at the food court. I ordered at Sarku Japan. Boy, was that a mistake! It took over half an hour to get our food. They kept goofing up on the orders. They ran out of chicken and had to cook a new batch twice. Along with me, there were about 10 people standing around waiting for their orders. I like Sarku but I don’t think the wait and worry are worth it.

At 4 p.m., we drove toward Joan’s place. Their friend from New York, Janice, flew in today and is staying with them for a few days. We stopped at DSW to get Paul some dress shoes. They didn’t have the make he wanted so he got something else (:-/).

We arrived at Joan & Pete’s, met Janice, talked for a bit, then drove to the Green Valley casino for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The food was good and plentiful. The margaritas weren’t that good. After dinner, we played the slots.

2022 Dec 15 (Thu) – I continued to work on the caravan today. Paul continued working around the RV. We never left the campground. Miranda’s birthday is tomorrow so I ordered flowers to be delivered.

2022 Dec 14 (Wed) – Paul finished up on the wheels today. I spent the day working on caravan and SMART correspondence. What a job trying to arrange an excursion to the Arctic Circle. We can either fly (5-6 hours) or drive (14-16 hours) but we can’t fly and rive, which would be perfect. We may wind up renting a car and driving to the Arctic Circle. It will be the cheapest way to go, short of taking our own truck, but it will be a looooong day. We had planned to have the excursion on the last day in Fairbanks but if we wind up having a problem and being held over, it would be a problem as we are scheduled to leave the next day. So I called the company that we scheduled a bus tour of Fairbanks two days earlier to see if we could switch the days. It was like juggling 4 balls in the air.

2022 Dec 13 (Tue) - It was a laid back, lazy day. Paul worked around the trailer, greasing the bearings and getting the tires changed. I did email and correspondence with folks on the Alaska caravan. I called Sloan Kettering to have a refill of my medication sent. My cousin, Kathy, called yesterday and we had a pleasant talk. She’s going to Florida for a few months. It’s coming up on one year since her father – my cousin, Claude – passed away. The change will do her good.

We ran a lot of errands today. Poor Paul. He was working on getting the wheels of the trailer greased and ready for travel. Unfortunately, he could only get two wheels done. He drove around trying to find parts but everywhere he went, they didn’t have them. Finally, he drove to the warehouse but it turned out to not to be the warehouse. The guy called over to the warehouse for Paul and arranged to have them ship the parts to the NAPA store near the campground. Later in the afternoon, after we had gone food shopping, we stopped at NAPA and the parts were there.

2022 Dec 12 (Mon) – The search for a new truck and RV is on! We searched on line and the kind of truck we want (diesel, 2 wheel drive, camper package prep, long bed, etc.) seem to be mostly located in Texas. The RVs, however, seem to be in Arizona. We are changing our travel plans. We had planned to go to Arizona for the next 3 months. Now, we are headed to Texas first. The truck is the most important item to replace first, then the RV.

2022 Dec 11 (Sun) – We drove to Boulder City and met Joan & Peter and Lynn & David (their friends) at The Patio, a restaurant next to Chilly Jilly’s. We enjoyed brunch then drove to Henaway Park and saw 3 bighorn rams grazing in the park. There were no signs of the rest of the herd but they didn’t seem fazed by all the attention. They simply went on eating.

We returned to the camper for the afternoon, then at 4:00 pm, we drove to Joan & Peter’s for dinner. Joan made chicken crust pizza. She shredded chicken, put in in the oven for 10 minutes, mixed the chicken with eggs and spices, put it back in the oven for 10 minutes, then put toppings on it and put it back in the oven to brown. It was tasty.

Their friends, Barbara & Preston, came over to visit and we had a delightful evening. Barbara is German and the way she talks makes everything sound funny. She is a delightful, spirited personality.

2022 Dec 10 (Sat) – We mailed off the last of the Christmas packages today. Ouch! It cost $142 to mail a box to Miranda. We could have bought a nice gift with that money! The price of postage seems to be getting out of hand real fast.

We stayed around the camper today. I have been coughing and hacking since my return from New York. I probably should go to the doctor but I don’t want to. We picked up some decongestant and cough syrup at Walgreens.

2022 Dec 9 (Fri) – We stayed around the campground all day. At 4:00 pm, we drove to Joan & Pete’s to join them at their condo Christmas party. It was a small group crowded into a small room. At 6:30 pm, a group of students from the local college came in to sing. There were 8 of them – 3 men and 5 women. They sang a Capello and were phenomenal! We enjoyed their singing very much.

After dinner, we drove to one of Joan & Pete’s friends home in the condo community and played 31. I won the first game and she won the second.

2022 Dec 8 (Thu) – Paul dropped the truck off at Diesel Specialists this morning then walked the four miles back to base because we couldn’t get the Uber app to work. Late in the afternoon, when Paul called to see if the truck was ready, they told him they had to keep it overnight. He had brought it in for a small oil leak and asked to have the gasket replaced. It turned out that Ford uses a seal rather than a gasket on the oil pan. The seal needed ten hours to cure.

Christy flew back home on the red eye. It was nice to see the siblings visit with each other. The only other one left is Fred who lives somewhere down south. He is estranged from the rest of the family.

2022 Dec 7 (Wed) – We drove to the Valley of Fire State Park to meet up with Joan, Peter and Christy. We then drove through the park, stopping at a couple of sites before pulling out the coolers and enjoying lunch in the middle of the red rocks. It was cool and you needed a jacket. It was overcast and there were occasional sprinkles. We briefly a trail to Mouse’s Tank; Christy quit half way up.

After the park, we drove to Juan’s Flaming Fajitas for dinner. It was a great Mexican restaurant with good food. We all (except Christy) had margaritas. Paul & I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home because Sheba was out of can food.

2022 Dec 6 (Tue) – We met Joan, Pete and Chris at the Rio. WOW Las Vegas, a variety talent show, was playing. The show was very good. Afterward, we drove to Fremont Street. I really like that place! It is bright and noisy and filled with people. There are circles on the floor where beggars can sit and beg or performers can do their street act or vendors can sell their wares.

2022 Dec 5 (Mon) – Today was a day we took Christy around the strip to introduce her to the Las Vegas life style. We went to Circus Circus for dinner then walked through the Palazzo, the Venetian, and the Bellagio. The Bellagio had their Christmas display on with giant trees and characters as well as a large ginger bread house you could walk through. Christy was very impressed. And who wouldn’t be?!?!?

2022 Dec 4 (Sun) – We went over Adam & Diane’s house today. The plan was to decorate their Christmas tree. Joan, Pete, and Christy also came over. I lay down and fell asleep on the couch. I must have been very tired. They made a delicious corn chowder and a kind of chicken pie. Everything was very tasty. Diane was not feeling well so she stayed in bed.

After Adam’s, we went to the PX. I ran out of Christmas cards so we had to buy more. We also picked up gifts for the gift exchange at a Christmas party we will be going to.

2022 Dec 3 (Sat) – Joan & Paul’s sister, Christy, flew in last night and is spending the week with Joan & Peter. We drove over at 2 pm and spent the afternoon decorating their Christmas tree. Adam, Diane and Devin also came over to help with the decorating.

At 6 pm, we all drove over to the Sunset Station Casino for dinner. The reservations apparently didn’t go through so we had to walk around the casino for while looking for a place that could accommodate 8 for dinner. When it didn’t work out, Adam and his family decided to leave. Then the 5 of us went back to the pasta place for dinner that we were originally going to eat at. We all enjoyed a fine meal. And the charges weren’t too bad – at least, compared to what we’ve been spending lately.

Paul, Joan, Peter, and I all played the slot machines. I lost $20. Paul won $47. Joan won $35. Peter won $70. A successful night for most of us.

2022 Dec 2 (Fri) – We drove to the shop again where Paul and Peter continued painting and repairing the floor. Joan and I went to the nearby beauty school and got facials. It was the first time I have done that. I’m sure I really cared for it. But we did walk away with smooth and moisturized skin.

The guys went bowling while we got our beauty treatments. We met them at the Station Casino and went to Fatburger for lunch. After lunch, Joan and Peter went to Costco to pick up groceries. We went to WalMart to pick up a few things then met them at their condo. We all changed into nice clothes then went to the Gambit, a jazz dinner club. We had steaks and drinks and watched the jazz band with singer perform. It was a very expensive night!

2022 Dec 1 (Thu) – Wow! It’s December. The year is almost over and another one is set to begin. Time is flying by.

We drove to Joan’s business, Vegas Image, this morning. Paul and Peter worked on repairing the floor while I got on the computer and closed out accounts for 2021. Adam was out delivering product on the strip. When we were done, we drove to Joan & Pete’s to change, then went to dinner at Don Juan’s Mexican Restaurant. It was good.

2022 Nov 30 (Wed) – We went out for breakfast to IHOP. The food was good. The menu listed our meal at $11.99 each for 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon or 2 sausages, hash browns and toast. The waitress gave us a senior discount and we only wound up paying $7.99 each. That was a VERY nice discount.

We then rode over to the VA Medical Center on Pecos Rd but we couldn’t find a parking space. The place was packed. So we gave up and went in search of a supermarket. We came upon a WalMart and shopped there.

When we got back, I threw on some vegetables to bring to a potluck the campground was sponsoring today. We were a few minutes late but there was plenty to eat. Lots of pumpkin pies and sweet potatoes show people had leftovers from Thanksgiving. We spoke with a widow who lives full time on the road but spends six months in one place then six months in another. Can that really be considered full timing?

At 7 p.m. we went out to see if we could catch the ISS flying overhead. There was way too much light in the area. Most of the stars were indistinguishable. We could not spot the ISS. Maybe tomorrow.

2022 Nov 29 (Tue) – I spent the morning paying bills. We ran out of propane overnight and Paul ran out to get the tank refilled. We spent time searching the internet for trucks and RVs. This is going to prove challenging.

2022 Nov 28 (Mon) – We rode over to the UPS store in the PX and mailed off another package. Then we went to the post office, bought stamps, and mailed off the first batch of Christmas cards. We stopped for lunch at Farmers Boy. It was a fast food restaurant that offered burgers and several salads. Paul got the southwest salad and I got the cobb salad. They were very large and I couldn’t eat all of mine. There was a guy sitting outside the restaurant with a little dog holding a sign stating he was homeless. We bought him a breakfast sandwich and a plain burger for the dog.

2022 Nov 27 (Sun) – We spent the day decorating our tree. Boy, do we have a lot of ornaments!! There were twelve shoe boxes packed full of ornaments that we put up. And there are STILL boxes that were not unpacked. Whew!

We went out to dinner with Joan & Pete tonight for Italian food. The place was named Prosecco. Paul had clams and I had a sole. The food was good and, yes, expensive. After dinner, we went over to their house where they invited a friend to join us for cards. We played three rounds of 31. Paul won two and Joan won one. It was fun.

2022 Nov 26 (Sat) – Paul spent the day putting together our Christmas tree and I worked on our Christmas letter and sending out cards. I cooked a turkey breast for us and we used some of the leftovers Joan gave us from Thanksgiving dinner.

We ran out to ship off a box to Travis. While in the PX, we picked up a few items then drove to the commissary and got a few groceries.

2022 Nov 25 (Fri) – Paul found a number to call at Amazon for help with the packages that can’t be delivered on base. After some frustrating discussion, I had the four packages rerouted to Joan & Pete’s house for delivery.

I spent the day working on gathering a list of our activities for the year. This is for the annual Christmas letter I send out with our Christmas cards.

2022 Nov 24 (Thu – Thanksgiving Day) – We went over Joan & Pete’s for dinner tonight. Adam, Diane & Devin were there as well as their friends, Ty, Robin & Sophie. Of course, there was way too much food and we were all stuffed to the hilt when all was said and done. After dinner, we played 31 then had pie and coffee.

2022 Nov 23 (Wed) – Wow! It’s been a bit of a challenge to get back on track. We have been hanging around the campground, doing laundry and taking long walks. Paul’s sister and husband, Joan & Peter, and their son and family, Adam, Diane & Devin, have visited and we will be having Thanksgiving dinner at Joan & Pete’s tomorrow. We’ve done some Christmas shopping for the kids and sent off a couple of packages. The price of shipping has really jumped! It cost us almost $100 to mail off two packages yesterday. It’s as bad as buying gift wrap, cards, and ribbon. You spend more on the wrappings then the gift! We’ve been having a problem getting some items we ordered. Apparently, the postal service USPS is not allowed on base. All deliveries have to come via UPS or FedEx. Unfortunately, the companies I ordered from have all been sending them USPS and the shipments have been rejected. Trying to get hold of companies you ordered from when the order was placed through Amazon is a real challenge.

2022 Nov 18 (Fri) – Whew! What a wild three weeks. I arrived in New York on October 27 and the very next day, began coughing and hacking. Three days later, I was positive for COVID. In addition, my son-in-law had just come out of the hospital and my daughter went into the hospital. Both of them suffered chest pains and disorientation but nothing was found. Now, they have a series of follow-ups and tests to try and figure what happened. Also, my grandson got sick and we all came down with COVID. I wound up staying until November 16. During my stay, I saw the oncologist who said my bloodwork was perfect. I also had a checkup with the ophthalmologist who also said my checkup was perfect. At least the doctor visits went well. I got to visit with my sister, Susan, and had dinner with my daughter, Gina. I got to go to church twice. There was a Veterans’ Day ceremony at town hall that was nice.

Paul moved from Pahrump to Las Vegas while I was gone. We are camped at Nellis AFB Desert Eagle RV Park in the new part. Ugh. We don't like it at all. We did the laundry today. The weather here is cold. It’s high 30s/low 40s in the morning and doesn’t get much over 65 during the day. I think it’s colder here than in New York!

2022 Oct 26 (Wed) – We left Pahrump at 9:50 am. It was almost two hours to the Lake Mead RV Village in Boulder City. We were here with the Utah Caravan in 2019. This is a beautiful area, right on the lakeshore. We face the water and overlook the water surrounded by mountains.

Right after we set up, we did the laundry. What an exercise in frustration that was! You had to buy a card; the machines didn’t take quarters. Paul tried to buy a card for $25 but when we tried to get the washers working, things didn’t work out. So, in exasperation, I pulled out my phone and downloaded the app. I was able to put $15 on my credit card and we got 3 washers working, then 3 dryers for a total of $2 a machine ($12). It cost us $5 for the card that never worked. Grrrrrrrrr.

Joan & Peter came over at 5 pm with chicken from Chilly Jilly’s. The place makes broasted chicken. It was excellent! There were also French fries, cole slaw, and biscuits. Everything was very good. After dinner, we sat around the campfire talking. It was very pleasant.

I fly out to New York tomorrow and will be gone for five days. See you when I get back.

2022 Oct 25 (Tue) - An agent from NY Life called to review our annuity with the company. After some discussion, we decided to leave everything the way it is for now. We are approaching the age where we will have to withdraw funds from our annuity so the government can get their taxes.

We went out after lunch to a shop that sells military paraphernalia. I was looking for a sticker that said something about the Cold War and anything that said I was a lady Army veteran. Didn’t find either. Didn’t find anything for Paul that said his spouse was in the army. Oh, well. I did find a ninja mask to give our grandson for Christmas. So, it wasn’t a total loss.

2022 Oct 24 (Mon) – We drove to a model home neighborhood and toured two newly built homes. The quality of construction was good and Paul was impressed with their workmanship.

After the tour, we stopped at Burger King for lunch. Then we picked up a few items at the supermarket. We saw that the rum distillery was open (we tried it yesterday but thought it was closed). We stopped in and tasted 8 different varieties. The tasting was fun and the conversation with the bartender was very pleasant. We bought the coffee flavored rum.

2022 Oct 23 (Sun) – We drove over to the Moose Lodge for breakfast. Paul had sausage gravy on biscuits. I had eggs, bacon, hash browns and a biscuit. We both had a bloody mary but it was bitter.

We met Joan & Pete and Adam, Diane & Devin at Sanders Winery at noon. We enjoyed a free tasting then drove to El Jefe’s for lunch. It was a great visit and we look forward to more interactions over the holidays.

2022 Oct 22 (Sat) – We drove 20 miles down the road to the town of Crystal. It turned out to be a pretty desolate place with no open facilities. The two or three bars in town were all closed. We didn’t see any grocery store or gas station. There were many trailers that were old and abandoned. Many houses were dilapidated and falling apart. Yet, there was a small section of homes where folks living there and their homes and cars were in decent shape.

At 4:00 pm, the Elks Lodge had a dedication ceremony for their new Elk statue out front. The wind was blowing fiercely and everyone had to hold on to their papers very tightly. That did not discourage the lodge from holding their ceremony outside or giving it its full measure. After the ceremony, we all went inside for dinner. It was a special event because the State President of the Elks Association and several other officers were present. The meal was excellent: beef stew in a bread bowl with a pumpkin crumble for dessert.

2022 Oct 21 (Fri) – We packed up and left Beatty at 9:50 am. It was only 75 miles to Pahrump so we took it easy. The drive was pleasant, always with mountains surrounding us. We arrived at the Elks Lodge at around 11:15 am. We were here in 2014. It turns out we were parked in the exact same spot 8 years ago. And neither one of us remembers this place. Weird.

There are 8 spaces in the parking lot for RV hookups. They only have electric and water stations. The lodge opened at noon. We went in and signed in but they wanted cash in payment. So we went into town to get some cash, fuel and groceries. After we returned, we made lunch then napped. At 4:45 pm, we went into the lodge for drinks and dinner. The meal was pork loin, potatoes, green beans, and ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie. We took the cookies back to the trailer to have with our coffee. While the coffee brewed, we took a walk down the road and back. It was twilight and the edge of the mountains in the west were backlit in golden light. It was beautiful. The lodge is on a higher grade than the town so we can look down on Pahrump and see all the twinkling lights at night.

2022 Oct 20 (Thu) – We drove 8 miles out of town to Death Valley, intending to just get our picture taken at the sign into the park. When we got there, we found the entrance to Death Valley National Park closed. The road was washed out by flash floods. The security guard let us walk the short distance into the park to get our picture taken with the sign.

We drove back down the road to the historic mining town of Rhyolite. We had been here back in 2014. There are few crumbling buildings and a bottle house, built entirely out of empty bottles. There had been three in town but Tom Kelly’s is the only one remaining. There was a train depot, turned casino that was fenced off. There is an attempt to save and restore it. It was used as a casino to attract tourists to the area after the town was abandoned but that, too, collapsed. There was a small museum with outdoor sculptures. The artist had friends pose for the last supper. He covered them with paper mache and after the cover hardened and they stepped out, he covered the forms in fiberglass. There were other forms he made, too. These life size sculptures stand out there in the middle of the desert like some kind of weird beacons calling visitors to come explore the area.

We drove back into town intending to have lunch at the VFW. It was an old church converted to a post. Unfortunately, they did not start serving food until 3 p.m. It was only 1:30 p.m. So, after looking around the converted old church, we drove into town and had lunch at Smokin’ J’s. The food was very good. We had leftovers to take home for tomorrow’s dinner.

2022 Oct 19 (Wed) – Paul woke me and we went to breakfast at Mel’s Diner across the street. Later, we walked across the street to a small shop selling jerky and honey. Otherwise, we spent the day hanging around the campground, working on our various projects. It was cold in the morning but got very hot in the afternoon.

2022 Oct 18 (Tue) – We left Hawthorne at 9:30 a.m. It was a long drive to Beatty. The landscape was endless miles of mountains and deserts. What few towns we passed were very small, most showing disregard for the buildings and yards. We arrived at 1:20 p.m. It turns out, we were here in 2014. And the two burros that were here then are here now. At least, I think they are the same two. They were grazing when we stepped out of the camper after set up. Of course, we had to offer them carrots which they liked very much.

This is a nice campground for a desert location. There are three rows of pull thru sites on dirt. Many trees are in the area, to include some palm trees. The owner is a former marine and very talkative. It was hard to get out of the office – he just didn’t want to stop talking.

We did the laundry. The campground has 9 washers and 4 dryers. The two dryers we first chose wouldn’t take more than 2 or 3 quarters. So we waited while they ran out their time (6 minutes for each quarter), then moved the wash to the other 2 dryers. They were working fine.

2022 Oct 17 (Mon) – We pulled up stakes and left Minden at 10:50 a.m. It was a pleasant drive through the mountains. We drove through a mountain pass with mountains rising on each side of the road. It was so impressive. We arrived at Whiskey Flats RV Park in Hawthorn around 1:15 pm. The campground is very nice. There are 4 rows of RVs; all pull-throughs. We have full hookup with 50 amp electric. There are some trees around the campground. Three rows have concrete pads; we have a dirt and gravel surface. We will only be here for tonight.

After set up, we drove into town to get fuel and lunch. There were a couple of gas stations. The cheapest was $5.69 a gallon. We stopped at the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum. It was a small place with free admission. They had many different kinds of bombs and missiles on display. The collection was a kind of mish mash of military items from WWII, Korea and Vietnam with a few things thrown in from Desert Storm.

We had lunch at El Capitan. There were about 4 eateries in town; all were casinos with cafes. I got meatloaf and Paul got butterfly shrimp. The food was decent and the price was reasonable.

2022 Oct 16 (Sun) – We went into town today to fuel up for tomorrow’s move. We also stopped at Tractor Supply to get propane and pick up cat food.

At 4 pm, we arrived at Carl & Gwen’s for dinner. Scott and his girlfriend, Patti, were there, too. We had a delightful visit. Carl was trying to cook a pork loin on the smoker but apparently he wasn’t happy and wound up cooking it on the barbecue. The dinner was excellent and Gwen made a delicious dessert. Patti got ill in the middle of dinner and Scott took her home. It turned out that she had been to a party before coming to Carl & Gwen’s and she was properly imbibed. Scott came back and we had a great visit.

I called a campground between Minden and Death Valley to make a reservation. We were supposed to drive to Death Valley but it would have been at least a six hour drive. Too long, in our book. So I found something about 120 miles down the road. That will make the next drive’s more amenable.

2022 Oct 15 (Sat) – We drove to Reno this morning. It was about a 40 minute drive. Reno bills itself as the Biggest Little City in the World. It certainly is spread out! There were 12 exits off the highway for Reno. We first went to the National Automobile Museum. There were fantastic displays on exhibit and we enjoyed the museum thoroughly. There were many one-of-a-kind vehicles and the stories about most of the cars were amusing.

Afterward, we drove to the riverwalk. Lunch was at Smith River, a restaurant right on the river. We split a cheese plate and a tri tip sandwich. As we sat looking out the window, we noticed several people walking by with wine glasses and maps. Paul remembered reading about a wine walk that takes place in Reno every third Saturday of the month. Today was the third Saturday. I asked a lady where they got the maps and we went there after our lunch. There were 20 restaurants participating in the wine walk. You just had to pay $30 per person and you got a map, bracelet and hand painted wine glass. Unfortunately, we needed to get back to Carson City to keep my appointment with the Geek Squad at Best Buy. So, we did a little walking along the river then left.

At Best Buy, the tech seemed to be confused at first but he seemed to work the problem out. I will see the next time I have to send out an email.

After Best Buy, we went to WalMart and got a few groceries. We are going to Carl & Gwen’s house tomorrow for a barbecue and want to bring wine and dessert.

2022 Oct 14 (Fri – My Birthday) – We drove to Genoa today. Genoa is the oldest settlement in Nevada. Folks still live there. We toured the Courthouse Museum then walked across the street to look over the Mormon Station. That used to be a stop on the Pony Express. What a fascinating history that is! The Pony Express only ran for 18 months until the trains came across country and made the Pony Express non-essential. It was very dangerous and demanding work. The riders were usually teenagers and they wanted them to be orphans. The route was 1,900 miles long with 184 stops of between 12 to 25 miles. The operation had 120 riders, 400 horses, and several hundred support personnel.

After the visit to Genoa, we drove back to Gardnerville where we ate at the Basque Restaurant again. The meal included stew rather than soup, bread, salad, French fries, wine, and the main dish. We brought home lots of left overs.

We tried to bring my laptop to Best Buy to see if they could fix my email. My sender name keeps coming up as TEST TEST. It happened when I first got the computer and set up my account. They did not have room for any walk-ins and I had to make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

2022 Oct 13 (Thu) – We were back in Carson City today. We went to the Nevada State Railroad Museum. They had some nice pieces but it was a small museum. After touring the Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA, this one was very disappointing.

After touring the RR museum, we went to a very eclectic place for lunch – Sassafras. There were very unusual items on the menu. We ordered and enjoyed our meal very much.

We drove around Lake Tahoe today. The California side of the lake is very built up with multi-million dollar homes dotting the lakeside. Prices were pretty high. Gas was more than a $1 more than in Nevada. We did not stop to buy anything on that side of the lake. We wanted to hike a trail or two but there was no parking. Just like the other day, crowds filled the lakeside and there was no room to stop. We did stop at a visitor center but there were 2 busloads of school children running around the place. Now I understand why old people don’t like to be around youngsters. It was a pleasure to get back on the Nevada side of the lake. There was mostly pine forest with very little build up. It was a beautiful drive that we enjoyed very much.

2022 Oct 12 (Wed) – We drove into Carson City today. It is the capitol of Nevada and we toured the capitol complex. Actually, they have a capitol complex and we only went into the domed capitol. It was small; only 3 floors high. All the guards were super friendly and were very interested in our living arrangement.

After the self-guided tour of the capitol, we had lunch at Great Basin Brewery. The food was ok. After lunch, we went to the Nevada State Museum. It consisted of some log cabins that served as out buildings – a storage shed, blacksmith shop, stable, etc. The Museum contained many exhibits describing Nevada’s history. It was quite interesting.

2022 Oct 11 (Tue) – Since we only had 70 miles to go today to Minden (suburb of Carson City), we doodled around until 11 am before leaving. The ride was an easy hour to the Carson Valley Inn & RV Park. It is a campground next to a casino. This is one of the nicer campgrounds owned by a casino. It has asphalt roadways and campsites, like a parking lot, but there is grass and many trees to soften the effect. Our site has full hookups with 50-amp electric. There is not enough room for our truck so we have to park it in the nearby parking lot.

After set up, we walked over to the casino hotel lobby to sign in. We were given key cards that allow us access to the swimming pool and hot tub in the hotel, and the laundry and bathrooms in a building in the campground. We called our friends, Carl & Gwen, to let them know we had arrived. They picked us up at 5 pm and took us to dinner at JT Bar & Dining Room. It was a Basque restaurant, like the one we dined at in Elko. And it was just as delightful! There was wine, vegetable soup, beans, French fries, bread, salad, and our main course. Three of us had steak and Carl had lamb chops. Everything was excellent.

2022 Oct 10 (Mon) – We went out to get fuel for tomorrow’s move. Lunch was at the Black Bear Diner. We also stopped at WalMart to get a few things. We spent some time looking out at the field at the cows and the coyote. The owls were no where in sight.

2022 Oct 9 (Sun) – We enjoyed our vigil of the field next door, looking for the coyotes in the grass and owls in the trees, but it is time to mosey on. We packed up and left at 9:10 a.m. It was a long drive – over 200 miles and we expected everything to go smoothly. Sadly, it did not.

I had called the Rye Patch State Park Recreation Area to make a reservation a while ago. I was told they do not take reservations; it is first-come, first-serve. But, the agent said, it is not busy and we will not have any problem finding a site. When we arrived, there was no office. There was a sign posted, giving the price for non-hookup and hookup sites. As we drove around the campground, we noted that nobody seemed to have any hookups. When we got to the end of the loop, we found 3 sites with electric but they were occupied. It looked like the group had just arrived and were setting up. One of the men told us they were the only sites in the campground with electric.

We got back in the truck and drove down the road 50 miles to the Candy Beach Campground in Lovelock. The office was closed. I called and left a message on the phone that we were at the office and looking for a campsite for two nights. Then I walked around the campground. It seemed like all the campsites were taken by full timers, probably workers in the area. I found an empty site and knocked on the door of the RV next to it. The occupant came out and told me she thought the site was open. The man who was there left this morning. She gave me another phone number to contact the owner. I called the number but there was no answer there either. I, again, left a message. We kabitzed about it, then decided to take the site. Paul parked it, we opened the RV up, made lunch, then settled in front of the TV. I picked up my phone and found a message there (my phone never sounded). The owner said the site was taken and we could not stay.

So we packed up again. This time, I called a campground in the next town of Fernley, 58 miles an hour south. The Desert Rose RV Park said they did have a site for two nights. We drove down and found a very nice campground with four rows of campers filling in 117 sites. The campsite we are on is concrete pad and has full hookups. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got set up and settled in. We didn’t arrive here until 4:10 p.m. Those were long hours.

2022 Oct 8 (Sat) – Today, we drove 10 miles out of town to the Ghost Town of Metropolis. It was established in 1910 and by 1924, the town was virtually deserted. They tried farming but the founders had neglected to file for water rights. The townspeople killed all the coyotes which caused a large rabbit population to eat their crops. Add a cricket plague and a drought and you can imagine why they left. There were two foundations with crumbling cement structures. One had been a school and the other a fancy hotel. We walked around the area looking for clues but there really was no sign that 700 people once lived and farmed there. A monument had been erected to the lost town and was fenced in.

We returned to town and got fuel for tomorrow’s move. Then we went into the Iron Skillet for lunch. The service was decent and the food was OK. The cost was as much as yesterday’s meal at the Star Hotel for only half the cost.

When we got back to the campground, we took a walk around the area. Then using the binoculars, tried to spot the coyotes and owls. The female coyote was working the field yesterday. A rancher had put his cows in the field and they didn’t seemed fazed by the coyote at all. We spotted the male great horned owl but couldn’t find the female. It looked like a hornets nest on the side of the branch until we looked closely at it. They blend in really well.

2022 Oct 7 (Fri) – We drove into Elko today and toured two museums. The first one was the Northeast Nevada Museum. There were lots of displays about the history of the area. It included the fossil bones on a wooly mammoth that had been found in the area as well a large exhibit about the original inhabitants in the area before the settlers came.

After the museum, we drove to the Star Hotel for lunch. It was a Basque run restaurant. The meal was one of the best we had. They served cabbage soup (Paul paid $3 more for clam chowder), salad and bread with the meal. The large bowls of soup, whole loaf of bread, and big helping of salad filled us up. We wound up taking our sandwiches home and had them for dinner. The price was very reasonable to boot. We really enjoyed the ambiance, service, and history of the place.

Next, we drove to the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum. The building used to house the Garcia Saddlery. It was famous shop and some of the Garcia saddles sold for thousands of dollars. The museum was quite small with saddles, chaps, spurs, and other paraphernalia on display. The little old man who ran the museum was not very communicative and I don’t think we spent more than 30 minutes in the place.

2022 Oct 6 (Thu) – We drove to Angel Lake today, about 12 miles outside of town. The drive up the mountainside was a white knuckle thrill as the road wound around turns and twists with a steep drop off. We arrived at the lake. It is nestled in a glacier made indentation and rather small. I thought it would be a glacier lake with its beautiful emerald green-blue color but it was just a regular lake. The lake is stocked regularly with trout and bass. There were two men in boats with fishing poles plying the water. Two other couples were there, too. We hiked around the lake. The first direction turned out to be very difficult with bushes and brambles in the way. We wound up trying to hike around the other side of the lake. It was smoother going for a while, then got steep and rocky. We sat on a boulder to admire the view, then hiked back to the truck and took that exciting drive back down the mountain.

2022 Oct 5 (Wed) – We had the most delightful drive today. We drove to Elko, north of us to take a scenic drive up into the mountains. First, it was lunch at Wingers, a kind of sports bar eatery. The next stop was at the visitor center where we wanted to find out how to get to the scenic drive. The center was located in a log cabin that had been moved from another location, along with several log outbuildings. The house was quite large for a log cabin, compared to what we have seen over the years. It also had a second floor. The clerk told us the house had been owned by a family with 12 children. No wonder they needed the space!

After talking to the clerk at the visitor center, we took off to find the Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway. It was a 12-mile road that wound through a pass in the Ruby Mountains. The scenery was awesome. We were at the foot of great mountains. One side was covered with changing foliage, the colors of green and gold were stunning. The mountains on the other side of the road were stark, bare, and very rugged looking. We came to the point where the glaciers formed the Lamoille Canyon. We got out to admire the geography of the area. There were a couple of campgrounds along the drive. Those are for those rustic individualistic wilderness lovers.

We got to the end of the road and turned around to come back. When we got back to the intersection, we turned right and drove along the back farm roads. It was mostly packed gravel and dirt. The ride was very rough and we saw miles and miles of open, undeveloped land with cattle happily grazing. The entire area is so breathtaking with the view of mountains wherever you look.

This morning we saw two coyotes in the field next to the campground. We were watching them move back and forth in the meadow looking for food when three dogs came backing out from the house next to the field. The coyotes ran off. That was disappointing but they have to protect themselves. The owner drove up on his golf cart and we spent some time talking about the wildlife in the area. Two people in the campground have lost their cats. He thinks one went to the coyotes but he doesn’t think the second one did. It might have been the owls. We stay close to Sheba when we let her out.

2022 Oct 4 (Tue) – We packed up and left American Falls, Idaho, at 9:20 a.m. The sky was a beautiful blue and the drive was pleasant. A good deal of the driving was on back farm roads. Paul was a little nervous but all the roads were capable of supporting our RV.

We arrived in Wells, NV at 12:50 p.m. PST (we gained an hour), at the Welcome Station RV Park. There isn’t much around the campground. It’s kind of like an oasis in the desert. The campground is very pleasant. There is grass and shade trees. It is small with only 21 campsites. It sits next to an open field. This afternoon, we got to see a coyote, a moose, and two great horned owls. What a delight! We will have to keep a very close watch on Sheba.

The couple who own this campground were full-timers for 16 years. They found this campground and decided to buy it. They run it as a seasonal place; only open from May through mid-October. The husband said they take off for 7 months, going down to Arizona and Mexico during the colder months. Sounds like a great lifestyle.

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hikari-kaitou · 3 years

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Capcom's Official AA Fanclub Surveys - DGS Edition

Many Western fans may be familiar with the Turnabout 4koma comics that get posted on the official AA fanclub site that Capcom runs, thanks to some lovely fans on tumblr and elsewhere who have shared their translations. What fewer people seem to know about is the character surveys.

Back in the old days, they used to hold a survey on Capcom's official AA fansite every few months where they'd write about the seasonal activities of a handful of characters and ask fans to vote for the funniest/most pleasant/strangest/etc answer.

They stopped doing them in like... 2016? 2017? The original text is lost for good as far as I can tell. Even the wayback machine couldn't help because the content was password locked and you can't get past the password wall while remaining in the archived version.

Fortunately, I saved some of my translations of them so I thought I’d share them.

Cut for length...

"February has begun, and the DGS cast is nearing the end of their journey aboard the RFS Alacrei. Which of them acted the most strangely?"

Ryuunosuke ~ Exhausted from his intensive study session, he decided to try some katana swinging practice as a change of pace and to combat his recent lack of exercise. But because he wasn't used to handling the katana, he swung it too hard and it went flying out of his hands and got stuck in the wall right next to Sherlock, who had just entered the room. Sherlock asked him, "aren't you supposed to be studying right now, Mr. Naruhodo?" and handcuffed him to his desk.

Susato- worked on developing a curriculum for Ryuunosuke. 'If we keep going at this pace, he won't be able to learn it all in time... It'll be hard on Naruhodo-sama, but we'll have to work hard through a couple of nights together.' With that thought, she created a harsh study schedule, and almost seemed to be looking forward to it for some reason.

Sherlock- Driven by excitement over the thought of returning to England after a long absence, he went up on deck to stare at the ocean. Being February, it was very cold out there and he ended up being chilled all the way to the tips of his fingers. He returned to the ship cabins and amused himself by putting his frozen hands on Ryuunosuke, who was stuck in his room studying.

Van Zieks- Upon hearing from Vortex that there was a Japanese exchange student coming to England to study law, he smashed a Lord's Bottle. He apparently also didn't care for the fact that that Japanese student wouldn't be alone, because he proceeded to shatter his chalice, too.

Hosonaga- in order to provide a respite from studying, he provided some hot chocolate. They enjoyed a pleasant tea time, marveling over how sweet and delicious the drink was until Sherlock piped up with some unnecessary trivia: 'Actually folks, chocolate has long been used in Europe as an aphrodisiac!' Everyone promptly spat it out."

"The long winter is nearly over and spring is on it's way, putting the DGS cast members in a celebratory mood. Who found the best way of enjoying spring?"

Ryuunosuke: the Yuumei University faculty members were holding a flower viewing event, and he joined the assistance committee. He exhausted himself keeping the blankets clean so the intense shower of flower petals wouldn't pile up too high on them, delivering sake and snacks, and mediating whatever pointless fights arose. To top it all off, for some reason his compensation was only a single piece of leftover candy. Talk about a sad result!

Susato- her father and the others living in his dormitory were holding the flower viewing event, so she got up early to prepare the bentos. But her father carelessly forgot to tell her that they wanted tea cakes, so she had to go around the house and neighborhood collecting sweets. For some reason, she ended up being able to gather caramels, biscuits, candy sticks, basically everything but tea cakes, for the tea ceremony.

Sherlock- he disguised himself as a beat officer and infiltrated Scotland Yard to have some fun. There was a real beat officer napping on his feet in the spring sunshine, and while observing him, Sherlock ended up falling asleep too. Detective Gregson gave them a good scolding when he found them, but then Sherlock revealed his true identity with a "hey, it's me, folks!" "What the blazes do you think you're doing?!" Gregson shouted, his rage growing even more, and Sherlock ended up making a run for it.

Van Zieks- went to the vineyard to oversee the production of the contents of his Lord's Bottle. As he viewed the still unopened grape blossom buds, he thought about how they would someday grow up to fill his Lord's Bottle, and ended up going around to look at each one. But the farm hands couldn't stop wondering whether the bottle itself or its owner's heel might come flying at them and were quite uneasy.

Asougi: exhausted himself running around since early morning helping with the professors' flower viewing event. When it was over, he took a break, sharing his reward candy stick [the name of the candy literally translates to 1,000 year candy] with Ryuunosuke, who had also been helping out.

"I wonder if the candy's effect is halved if you share it with someone."

"That still gives us 500 years."

They laughed and enjoyed looking at the flowers until dark. Then they parted ways with a handshake and a "see you later, best friend."

(This one was something about celebrating New Years. For some reason I didn't save the original question)

"Ryuunosuke ~ To celebrate New Years, he planned to pound mochi with everyone at the office. He somehow managed to get his hands on some mochi rice and he and Sherlock started pounding. Iris was having such fun watching them that she steamed a whole bunch more mochi rice so they could have some to share, and he and Sherlock spent the whole evening pounding mochi like crazy.

Asougi~ Because it's New Years, he went around to a bunch of shrines. When he drew his new year's fortune, he got a "horrible luck" result. "I'm not worried about it," he claimed, and headed up to the mountains early on New Years morning and work hard on a full training course of purification by water, meditation under a waterfall and wooden sword practice. It seems that he was working really hard to clear his mind of all earthly thoughts

Sherlock- Agreed to help Ryuunosuke pound mochi. As Ryuunosuke was flipping the mochi over, he carelessly dropped his badge into the bowl and Sherlock mixed it in without noticing, so they had to crack open both the hard and soft mochi to look for it. Fortunately they found it in the 4th one they checked, but apparently Sherlock got his hands and face covered in sticky white mochi in the process.

Susato- Wore a furisode and went with her father to do the first shrine visit of the year. The shrine was incredibly crowded and they had to wait in line for a long time, but she brought the Encyclopaedia of British Law and a copy of the Strand Magazine in her sleeves to secretly read as they waited so she actually ended up enjoying the wait.

Van Zieks- Ryuunosuke cheerfully gave him some mochi as a New Year’s (which at that time was celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New Year) gift, which he accepted confusedly, wondering “...Can the Japanese not even keep track of when the New Year is?” Because Ryuunosuke referred to it as a rice cake, he tried to eat it like a regular cake without softening it with heat first. It was so hard that he couldn’t imagine how it could possibly be food, and ended up misunderstanding the Japanese even more!

"Autumn has arrived, and the weather is starting to cool off, which means that everyone is becoming more active. Which character chose the most pleasant autumn activity to keep busy with?"

Iris was making bread but her hands are small and it’s difficult for her to knead the dough, so she asked for Ryuunosuke’s help. She wanted to make enough to hand out to Gina and all the other homeless children in the East End, so she made a massive amount and Ryuunosuke was stuck kneading this massive mountain of bread dough all day. Apparently he became such a expert at kneading that he could be a baker now.

Asougi was practicing with his sword, slicing autumn-colored ginko leaves as they fell from the tree. He cut so many leaves, though, that he ended up making a big mess on the ground, the number of fallen leaves now having increased, and it took him a long time to clean it all up.

Sherlock: Ryuunosuke told him that he was making anpan (bread filled with sweet red bean paste, the bane of my Asian-dwelling existance) and asked Sherlock to help by being in charge of getting the poppy seeds they’d need to sprinkle on top, so Sherlock went out and gathered a ton of poppy seeds. In fact, he got so many of them that no one knew what to do with them all cuz they had a huge amount of leftovers. Sherlock said, “Well, they’re only the size of poppy seeds! Surely you two can deal with them somehow! Ahahaha!” and Iris scolded him.

(I couldn’t capture it in English, but Sherlock’s line contained a pun, and a pretty stupid one at that, so that’s part of why he got scolded)

It’s grape harvesting season, so Van Zieks commutes to the winery regularly to direct the production of the contents for his “Lord’s Bottle.” He demands perfection in everything from the selection of the grapes to the way they’re squeezed, and the winery staff is terrified by the “grim reaper’s” gaze and heel swinging (i.e. the leg thing he does in court) so they grumble as they work.

"Hearing that there’s a holiday in the West called Halloween, the people involved with the court in Japan decided to try it out themselves. Naturally Halloween is a big deal in England as well. So, which member of the DGS cast had the best celebration?"

Team Ryuunosuke and Asougi- Asougi got Naruhodo up on his shoulders and they draped a white sheet over themselves to make a ghost costume. They went out like that, but Naruhodo had such exaggerated reactions to the fear of the people who saw them and to bumping his head on tree branches that they ended up losing their balance and falling on top of each other?!

Sherlock Holmes- went wearing a horse’s head mask. Iris used her skills to make it a fancy horse covered in stars, but the eye holes weren’t well made and he had to wander around blindly. Because of that he tripped hard over a pile of coal! He ended up getting so dirty that the stars on his costume were covered up!

Van Zieks- took inspiration from his nickname and dressed up as the grim reaper. He covered himself up with a skeleton mask and hood figuring no one would know it was him. Unfortunately he got angry when he saw Megundal (McGilded) pass by and started throwing bottles and glasses and ended up giving himself away.

"November has arrived, and autumn is nearing its end. However, the DGS cast is still keeping busy, even on their days off. Which character chose the most interesting way to spend their late autumn day?"

Ryuunosuke- Thinking that he’d better learn more about British culture if he was going to be a defense attorney in Britain, he went down to the East End with Gina for a little observation. However, because an Asian like him stood out so much, he got mobbed by the other children. On top of it all, his arm band got stolen from him and he had to send a replacement request to Yumei University on the other side of the ocean.

Asougi- He went for a meal at La Quantas. The customer at a nearby table got a persimmon for dessert and scarfed it down, saying “Mm! This is it! This sweetness makes it worthy of being called a treasure among foods!” Asougi tried to comment on this by saying, “The customer at that table sure is enjoying his pershim--gak!” but he may or may not have accidentally bitten his tongue in the process and been unable to finish his sentence.

Iris- She accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and prepared a bagpipe and kilt costume for him. “This outfit sure is breezy,” Ryuunosuke said shyly upon trying it on. With Ryuunosuke now dressed, he, Iris, and the others from their office headed over to Gregson’s place to get him to treat them to some fish and chips.

Sherlock- He accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and cooked up some European style curry for dinner. Thanks to the fact that his secret ingredient was a large amount of Chinese herbal medicine style spice, it caused some strange side effects and Ryuunosuke, who’d eaten it, ended up passing out and falling over.

“Another taxing trial for Ryuunosuke has finished and now it’s December. As the year draws to a close, which character acts the strangest?”

Ryuunosuke- he was recruited to help with snow removal around Yumei University and the courthouse and he enthusiastically began his task with the help of a large shovel. He got a little carried away, though, and ended up accidentally burying his umbrella, which he’d left propped up against the side of the building, in the snow he’d just finished shoveling. He had no choice but to share Asougi’s umbrella on the way home.

Asougi- On the way home, he nods silently to Ryuunosuke’s question of whether he’d finished his travel preparations and changes the subject: “...Come to think of it, it seems that tomorrow is celebrated in the West as God’s birthday.” “I’ve heard that they eat chicken as part of the traditional celebration. Wanna try it?” Ryuunosuke asks invitingly. Asougi is strongly opposed to that particular menu item, however, and they end up going out for their usual beef stew that night instead.

Susato- in addition to her year-end travel preparations, she also was busy with straightening up the book room in her home. She managed to get the law books in order when she suddenly stumbled upon some old issues of Strand Magazine! She hurried through the rest of her cleaning, then began flipping through the magazines she’d found, trying to decide which to take with her on her trip. She accidentally lost herself in her reading and didn’t realize it until it was already the middle of the night.

Sherlock- he was in the middle of a long ship voyage when Christmas night came. His mind on his partner in a far-off country, he made a toast alone on deck, when suddenly the crew began shooting off fireworks with a cry of “Merry Christmas!” Sherlock had to dart back and forth across the deck to prevent the fireworks from hitting him and setting off the explosive chemicals he carries with him.

Main series edition

#dai gyakuten saiban #tgaa #naruhodo ryuunosuke #asougi kazuma #mikotoba susato #dgs sherlock holmes #hosonaga satoru #barok van zieks #iris watson #gina lestrade #translations #official content #my translation #mikotoba yuujin #ryunosuke naruhodo #kazuma asogi #susato mikotoba #iris wilson

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azaleavi · 3 years

Note

okay alright i got something!! what about Yelena stealing a car on a mission while reader is still in it?? Like i bet when she rips open the door and sees the look of shock and reader stammers something about really needing the car she’d be like ‘okay. You can stay but sit still and shut your mouth’ akdbzk this reminds me of a b99 scene hahahah

(also if you wanna do themed days you totally should bby💗)

hi ariel! 💖i absolutely loved this idea and i hope i did it justice lol

Word count: 942

The car

The traffic of Budapest is constantly horrible, but right now it feels like it is way worse than it usually is with the sun blaring down on you. Cars honking and the music coming from the radio fills the air as your fingers drum on the steering wheel impatiently. Your eyes travel along the water of the Danube as you wait for the car ahead of you to finally move.

Suddenly a motorcycle speeds down from the sidewalk next to you onto the road. A woman falls off of it but she is quick to stand up and you can basically see the gears turning in her head. Her eyes come in contact with yours and your heart drops. She starts running towards your car and your eyes widen as she rips the door open on your side.

"Get out of the car" she pulls a gun out of nowhere and points at you. Her accent is thick but you can understand her just fine.

"I just paid off this car" you shout the first thing that comes to your mind back at her. The surprise on her face is clear as day but it is gone in a few seconds.

"Then move to the other side and keep your mouth shut" she shakes the gun in your face, pointing at the other side. You quickly climb over the console in the middle and fall into the passenger seat.

She is in your previous seat in a second and the engine revs up as she presses on the gas to get out from between the cars. She drives on the wrong side of the road and you can't help but grab the handle above the window and hang on for dear life. She drives around as if she knows the city like the back of her hand.

You look behind you and you see a woman dressed in all black following you on a motorcycle.

"We are being followed" you shout at her again, the adrenalin pumping in your veins.

"No shit sherlock" her voice is just as loud as yours as she makes a harsh turn which makes you let out a scream "I told you to shut up" her head is frantically looking around for a way to get rid of your follower.

"Oh, I'm sorry I can't keep quiet when my life is being threatened" the sentence ends in another scream as she whips the car around fully so now you are going backward, face to face with the woman in black.

"Stop screaming" she kicks the door open on her side and it breaks off as you drive past a lamp post. It slides across the ground and makes contact with the woman's motorcycle, pushing it out from under her. The speed makes her fly forward and she rolls on the ground a few times as you drive away from her. Before the woman next to you turns the car back you see the other one lie on the ground motionless. Is she dead?

"Oh my god" the words bubble out of your mouth as you realize that you don't have a door on your car anymore. What just happened?

She drives for a few more minutes and finally stops in a secluded and quiet street. Both of you sigh in relief and slump back into your seats. The synchronization makes you look at each other. When your eyes meet both of you look the other way.

You gulp as you look around the houses towering over you and you just now realize how pretty this particular street is. Trees line the road giving it a cool shade, a few benches under them. The old two-story houses fly you back in time and into the era of the 1980s.

A small smile plays on your lips as your eyes dance along the scenery, completely forgetting the person sitting next to you until her voice breaks you out of your stupor.

"So thanks for the car" her feet are already out on the ground when you turn to her. Oh, she is not leaving just like that.

"Wait, hold on" you lean over to her and grab her arm but immediately regret it as she turns and grips your wrist so tightly that it leaves a red mark.

"Sorry" she mumbles under her breath when you hiss at the pain.

"If you are sorry then pay for my door" you raise your eyebrows as she lets go of your hand. You get out of the car and walk to the other side where she is and you put your hands on your hips.

"I don't have money with me" she shrugs, not looking into your eyes.

"Then give me some way to contact you" you hold out your phone to her.

"What a weird way to ask for my number" she chuckles as she takes the device and types in her number.

"What a weird way to take me out on a first date" you talk back and point at the hole where the door is supposed to be.

"Fair" she nods as she gives back your phone. You look at the screen and see that she typed in Yelena as the name.

"I have to go now" she takes a step back. Turning around she starts walking away from you but you can't let her have the last word.

"I will call you" you shout at her back and she only holds up her hand over her shoulder to signal you that she heard you "Yelena" you add under your breath with a small curve in your lips.

send in Yelena drabble/headcanon requests

#yelena belova #yelena belova x reader #yelena belova x female reader #yelena belova x fem reader #yelena belova drabble #yelena belova fic #yelena belova one shot #yelena belova headcanons #yelena belova fanfiction #yelena belova fanfic #yelena belova fluff #yelena belova reader insert

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unloved-cadillac · 3 years

Note

Maybe something like fem reader getting in a bad accident one day and losing her memory but Levi is the only thing she remembers, so she’s clinging on to him like a lost puppy while he tries to help her regain her memories

C/n: “a lost puppy” why is that so adorable? Thanks for requesting and I hope that you enjoy🤍

——————————————————————————

Remember You. (Levi x Reader)

It was just a stupid training exercise. A stupid field day where nothing bad was supposed to happen.

But cadets, who were no older than 15, were bound to make mistakes and fuck up a couple of times before getting the handle of a 30kg gear. You stood on a branch, munching an apple while watching the new recruits shoot across the forest. “Pick it up! Activate your gas if you need to! Watch your sides and don’t slow down!” You shout and take a bite of your apple. “How ya doin’, Y/n?” Jin asks as he lands next to you. “Alright. They need to work on their speed though.”

Jin was about to reply but a young girl, who was named Christa, shouted as her gear stopped mid air. You acted quickly and shot your gears towards her. “Hey now. Don’t panic.” You say as you fiddle with her anchor shooters and unjam it. “Alright. Shoot it there and when you’re done, go straight to squad leader Hange. She’ll help you sort your gear out.” You smile and Christa nods. When she leaves, you were about to go to the parallel branch but then you heard a loud “WHOA! WATCH OUT!”

But this person slammed into you, and instead of saving yourself, you became a human cushion to save the person from slamming into a tree. You did though and you hit your head first and got knocked out cold.

~~~~

Levi stood watch as the doctors examined you. He leaves for five minutes and comes home to the news that you’ve been in an accident with a cadet. Apparently, Yeager was too caught up in his own world to watch where he was going and rammed straight into you. “I’ll see to it that Yeager is on stable duty.” Jin says and Levi nods. He didn’t care. He just wanted you awake.

The doctors said that you suffered a major concussion due to you taking the fall on your head. You were in a mild coma that should last a couple of days and when you wake up, you had to be on leave for a month to regain your strength.

Levi never left your side. Despite having duties a Captain has, he couldn’t bring himself to leave you. One night, Levi placed his head down and held your hand as he drifted off to sleep. Maybe he was too tired and sleep deprived, but he felt your hand squeeze his.

~~~~

The next morning, you slowly opened your eyes to bright lights. Where were you? What is this?

You looked down to see Levi facing you as he slept. He woke up as soon as he felt you shuffle and looked at you, wide eyed and smiled. “About time, brat.” He leans forward and cups your cheek. “How are you?” He asks in a hushed tone that could make you fall back to sleep.

“L-Levi. Where am I?”

“The infirmary. You took quite a knockout, my love.”

You furrow your eyebrows as he speaks. A knockout? You don’t remember a knockout. “How did that happen?”

As Levi was about to answer, the door slams open to reveal Hange. “Ah! Y/n! You’re awake!!” She squeals and you grip Levi’s hand harder. “Wh-Who are you? Who is she, Levi?” You turn to him and he tilts his head. “That’s..Hange, Y/n. Your best friend?”

“Yeah! It’s me!” She exclaims.

You lean closer to Levi as you eye her. “Levi is my best friend. I don’t know where I am or who you are but I know Levi is my boyfriend and best friend.” You pout and turn your head away and nuzzle Levi’s neck. He looks at Hange who looks back in the confusion. “I’ll get a doctor.”

~~~~

Short term memory loss.

That’s what you were diagnosed with. Apparently you knew nothing about the survey corps or how you got here. But you remembered him. How he saved you from a titan all those years ago but to you, it was a few months back.

You went with Levi back to your shared room and sat in the bed. “Comfy?” He asks as he fluffs up your pillow. You nod and he kisses your forehead. “You really don’t remember anything do you?”

“I remember you. That’s all that matters, right?” You smile as you cup his cheek. He takes your hand and kisses your palm. As much as he loved that, you were an important person to the Corps. A leader. Your squad needs you but now, your mindset is back to when you lived in the village and he rescued you.

“We need to do something to get your memory back. Let’s take a walk. I’ll be right with you.” He offers and you nod. “Okay.”

So now, Levi walked down the corridor with you on his arm. Many soldiers stood and saluted the both of you but you just hid your face in his arm. Levi jerks his head to dismiss them and continues your walk.

You both head to the mess hall where many soldiers sat and ate and talked. With you on his arm, everyone looked at you. They never saw him so open with affection with you before but it was different now.

You were a town girl. A civilian in your head.

Erwin stood up as you sat down with Levi at the table. “Y/n. How are you?” He asks as you hold Levi’s hand. “I’m ok. Thank you. You are?” You stick your hand to shake his. Erwin knew that you couldn’t remember him and he missed seeing the shy girl that used cling to Levi before. “Erwin Smith. Commander here at the Survey Corps. Lovely to meet you.”

Levi glares at Erwin as he used the same line he used back then. He looked at you to see you close your eyes and sigh. “You alright?” You look at Levi with a confused expression. “Yeah. I think.” Hange decides to make an appearance and sits next to you. “Hiya! I’m Hange! Hange Zoe. I see you and Levi are quite the couple.” She remarks and you blush.

“Yes. He makes me very happy. I’m glad to have met him.” You say as you lock eyes with Levi who smiled at you. Suddenly, many youngsters stand by you as they introduce themselves to you.

“I’m Eren Yeager! Lieutenant L/n, I’m so sorry for causing your injuries. I assure that I’m working harder on my control and speed on the ODM gear.” A young brown-haired boy says and you tilt your head. “Huh?”

Levi glares at Eren who cowers away. You smile at the bit when your head starts to pain. “O-Ow.” You cry as you hide in Levi’s shoulder, holding your head. “What happened?” He asks as he holds you. “M-My head. It hurts, Levi.” Levi eyes Hange who gives him a cup of water and he holds it to your lips. “Here, drink.” You quickly gulp down the liquid and then look at Levi.

“Le…vi?”

~~~~

A warm bed and strong arms surround you as you start to wake up. You look up to see Levi watching you. “Hi.” You greet and he hums as he kisses your head. “How’s your head?” He asks as he touches your cheek. “Much better apparently.” You tear away from his arms and wake up to stretch.

“Do you…remember how you got hurt, babe?”

You turn and face him as you rub your temple. “Uh..yeah. I helped a cadet and another came flying towards me. Then..I..,” you widen your eyes and look at Levi who had a small smile on his face. “Oh my god. Did I really do that?” He nods and you cover your face.

Levi gets up and hugs you from behind. “I really liked having all shy. Like we were first together and you were blushing.” He mumbles as he kisses your shoulder. “Did my squad see me like that?”

“Yeah. They had a really good laugh, by the way.”

Great. Now the whole army knows how much of a blushing girl you were before you became a hardcore lieutenant of the Survey Corps.

——————————————————————————

“Thomas Shelby. That’s it. That’s the post. Send tweet.”

🖤🤍Thanks for reading🤍🖤

-Caddy.

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tanoraqui · 3 years

Text

There actually are enough good fics about postcanon tentative reforging of assorted pairs and even the whole of the Gusu Summer School No Brain Cell Trio to satisfy my niche itch, so pls enjoy these stray snippets of a fic I don't have to write:

Nothing would've happened if the cultivation conference wasn't at Cloud Recesses. But it was, Cloud Recesses with its pale stone and gracefully winding walkways and too many memories, including Lan Xichen sitting the whole thing out in seclusion somewhere... If it'd been at the Unclean Realm, Nie Huaisang would've been busy and if it'd been at Carp Tower the memories only would've been manageably bad, and if it was Lotus Pier or one of many smaller sects, it would've been...fine. Just fine.

But it was Cloud Recesses this year, this first conference since Jin Guangyao's downfall, and specifically it was half past ten at night, and Nie Huaisang was wandering the elegant pathways with a mostly full jar of wine in one hand. The previous jar, now entirely empty, had been left back in his room. He was a Nie, so he was only half as drunk as he'd always used to pretend at these things - but at least twice as drunk as he'd ever actually been.

After da-ge's death, of course. Before that, he used to get plenty drunk. Playfully drunk. With friends.

It would be a terrible idea for him to go appear on Lan Xichen's doorstep. Neither of them was ready for that yet.

So he appeared on Jiang Cheng's.

[ . . . ]

"Fine." Nie Huaisang pouted and turned. "I'll go ask Wei-xiong - "

And Jiang Cheng was easy, he was so easy, he'd always been easy, the only new thing is the faintest edge of wariness to his fury -

He grabbed Nie Huaisang's elbow in a flash and snapped, "Ugh, fine, I'll go - but I'm holding the wine."

Nie Huaisang laughed and handed it over. Jiang Cheng immediately took a deep swig.

[ . . . ]

It must've been a quiet night at the Jingshi. Wei Wuxian's sleeping robes didn't look the least bit hastily pulled on, and his lips were only the slightest bit red and puffy.

[ . . . ]

[for the record, this takes place in a book-show postcanon fusion wherein immediately post-Guanyin Temple, WWX and LWJ ran off to fuck in the bushes at least once a day for as long as possible, but in their absence, various sect leaders voted that Lan Wangji should be Chief Cultivator now, and alas some messenger caught up with them about six months into their honeymoon. Definitely caught them in flagrante delicto. Tragic for all. I’d probably communicate all this hereish somehow. It was definitely NHS who finally tipped someone off on how to actually find them.]

[ . . . ]

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Wei Wuxian said, with a lidded look at Nie Huaisang, and Nie Huaisang burst into a giggles because the two most unequivocally lethal people he knew were afraid to leave each other alone with him, and it was satisfying to be recognized but also what's he going to do, personally? Cry at them? It'd taken him years to destroy Jin Guangyao, and at this point it'd take him months, if not years again to re-destroy the Yiling Patriarch, much less Sandu Shengshou. Especially when they both kept doing things like watching each others backs while pretending they weren't.

[ . . . ]

"Of course we need more!" Wei Wuxian declared. "This isn't even Emperor's Smile!"

[ . . . ]

"It's just a rat or something," Jiang Cheng scoffed.

"So?!" Wei Wuxian cried grandly. "Are we not noble cultivators? Is it not our duty to investigate this woman's complaint, and to slay whatever monster plagues her good inn’s wonderful cellar, whether deathly or monstrous or rodential it be?" He turned to Nie Huaisang and begged, "Help me out, Nie-xiong. You agree with me, right?"

Nie Huaisang clutched his cup against his chest, eyes wide, and shook his head in sharp jerks. "I don't know! I don't know!"

Wei Wuxian laughed and elbowed him in the side.

[ . . . ]

[while waiting for Wei Wuxian to send some sort of signal]

"You know I don't bear any grudge against Jin Ling, right?"

Jiang Cheng's impatient glare snapped to him, darkening with threat; his hand shifted on Sandu's hilt toward a drawing position. "What?"

"I don't bear any sort of grudge against Jin Ling," Nie Huaisang repeated, holding only the last jar of Emperor's Smile. "That's why you've been side-eyeing me all night, right? All conference." He took another sip (it really was the best!) and added recklessly, "If I wanted Jin Ling dead and disgraced, or all Carp Tower burned to ash, they already would be."

Sandu slid an inch out of its scabbard and Nie Huaisang watch it with fascinated curiosity. From a greater distance, he wondered if that was entirely healthy.

"What about Lotus Pier?" Jiang Cheng asked abruptly.

It took Nie Huaisang a blinking moment to focus on him.

"What about Lotus Pier?"

Jiang Cheng sat beside him on the cold earth and yanked the jar out of his hands, cruelly before Nie Huaisang could take another sip.

"Where's your grand terrible vengeance against me and mine? I get it, but if you're being honest for once right now, you could at least tell me when it's going to hit, and how."

"What?" Nie Huaisang pushed himself against his tree trunk, genuinely confused. "Why would i have a terrible vengeance planned against you?"

"I benefitted from Nie Mingjue's death, didn't I?" Jiang Cheng took another swig of wine of his own, and swung the jar illustratively. "My disciples have hunted in your territory while you 'weren't paying attention.' I absolutely fleeced you in that trade deal four years ago. And I worked with that bastard as much as anyone but Lan Xichen, especially on those damn watchtowers, and you broke him. So when's it my turn?" He pointed at Nie Huaisang, finger only wavering slightly. “If you fuck with Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian, or my sect, I will fuck you back.”

"You- oh, gimme that. Gimme. Gimme!" Nie Huaisang leaned forward and tried to grab the wine jar, and more importantly whined until Jiang Cheng handed it to him.

He stared at it for a moment, thrust it back and ordered, “Drink,” without letting it go, and once Jiang Cheng had dutifully tilted it back, pulled it back and slugged down the last swallows. He needed more alcohol for this much honesty, and so did Jiang Cheng.

He set the jar down very carefully, because the ground seemed to be moving, and leaned forward with even more care. He enunciated clearly, “Everyone fleeced me, and hunted in my territory, and I acsh- ass- let them. Why would I expect you to go looking for trouble with Jin Guangyao, when he had your heart locked in a box in his treasure room?”

Jiang Cheng, who was a respected master of all five arts but probably hadn’t actually read poetry for fun since an instructor had officially declared him as such, and who was himself at least a full wine jar in, squinted in angry confusion.

Nie Huaisang rolled his eyes. “He had final say over where and how Jin Ling spent his time, and could’ve tried to poison him against you. What would you have even have done if I had come complaining?”

Jiang Cheng’s face only fell further, with the very sort of drunken moroseness Nie Huaisang was out here to avoid.

Nie Huaisang attempted to swap him sharply. He failed on both the swap and the sharpness.

“Stoppit! Stop thinking you’re not useful! You weren’t! I needed to pry er-ge away from him and for that only Lan Wangji would work, and I needed someone to watch his back through thick and deadly thin, and to be so disruptive that even Meng Yao couldn’t...circle, sneaky, planning...”

They were waiting for the pulse of a light talisman from the other tunnel entrance, half a mile away. There was a small but very bright explosion. laced with resentful as well as spiritual energy.

“Motherfucker!” Jiang Cheng cursed, leaping to his feet and drawing Sandu in one hideously coordinated motion.

“Just Lan Wangji, I think,” Nie Huaisang said, because Nie Mingjue himself couldn’t have stopped him. He groped for his own weapons - fan, check; wine jar -

“Oh no!”

“What?” Jiang Cheng snapped, as he bent and dragged Nie Huaisang to his feet with one hand. (Hideously coordinated. Sword people, honestly...)

“He’s going to be so mad that we finished the wine without him!”

[ . . . ]

[three grown-ass men, two sect leaders and one Yiling Patriarch, flying at high speed through Caiyi Town on one sword, all screaming. Nie Huaisang is clinging to Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian is flinging to Jiang Cheng, a little bit to Nie Huaisang, and most importantly to a chicken, Jiang Cheng is flying the sword. There is a bedsheet draped over all of them from where they ran into a laundry line. It’s 2am. Again I say, all are screaming]

[ . . . ]

[it probably wasn’t a rat - not just one, at least. Wei Wuxian does something incredibly clever, possibly including a creative use of that bedsheet; Jiang Cheng singlehandedly defeats something in combat, probably after he and Wei Wuxian shove each other out of the way of blows without either of them acknowledging it. Nie Huaisang shoves them both under cover and then with perfect professionalism tells whoever came to check on the ruckus that they handled the problem exactly as planned with absolutely no involvement of alcohol, and the Chief Cultivator will foot the bill for the unfortunately absolutely necessary property damage. Overall, they did handle the problem, but the local cryptid they were chasing will only have its reputation swelled and its continued existence assumed by all locals. it is possible that they themselves made this cryptid up two decades ago, but idk how heavy-handed we want to be.]

[ . . . ]

Nie Huaisang was leaning heavily on Wei Wuxian by the time they got back to the guest quarters. He could hold his alcohol, he was a goddamn Nie, and frankly he’d had it adrenalined out of him at least twice this evening. But he’d also had rather a lot, and he didn’t have Jiang Cheng’s golden core or Wei Wuxian’s blithe lack of sleep schedule.

“I missed this,” he admitted, head on Wei Wuxian’s (Mo Xuanyu’s) shoulder while Jiang Cheng opened the door.

Wei Wuxian leaned his head on Nie Huaisang’s. “Me too.”

“You’re both fucking annoying,” Jiang Cheng grouched, which meant, Me too.

Wei Wuxian stripped off Nie Huaisang’s muddy outer robe and tucked him into bed, and Jiang Cheng poured a glass of water from the pitcher by the door, drank it, poured another, scowled at Wei Wuxian for a moment, and set it on the bedside table. Wei Wuxian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, finished with Nie Huaisang and started backing out of the room.

Nie Huaisang sat up more or less abruptly. “Both of you have got to stop that bullshit. I miss my brothers, okay? I’d I had a second chance...” He sagged back down with the plural, and flung an arm over his damp eyes. There was a glimmer in the sky; it’d be morning by Lan standards soon. “I fucking miss them.”

“...Ah,” said Wei Wuxian, who always spoke even when he didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said abruptly, and, “Drink your fucking water.” And the door slammed behind him as he walked out.

[...a few lines of dialogue later...]

“Seriously, you can go.” Nie Huaisang flicked a few tired fingers in dismissal.

“Are you sure?” Wei Wuxian added with an audible smirk, “Because if I stay up for another half hour, I can wake Lan Zhan with a morning...big ol’...loving...”

Nie Huaisang finally adjusted his arm to crack one eye up at him.

“People usually cut me off before I get that far,” Wei Wuxian admitted.

[ . . . a bit more dialogue and the end.]

#mdzs #the untamed #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #to the shick of no one i did write more in this than i thought i would #it's still like...no connective tissue though #and i'm not bothering with anything more #my fic #ficlet #i'm not gonna lie that plural snuck up on me #love when that happens!#incidentally you can’t prove that there ISNT a classic ancient fantasy China version of a telltale heart so my reference stands

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

Text

The Voyage So Far: Enies Lobby

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

this is still one of my very favorite nami panels. i think she’s really great through all of water 7 and enies lobby in general, actually, even though she isn’t really one of the characters in focus for a lot of it- like zoro and sanji, she stays pretty steadfast and very badass even though everything that happens, and never gives up on robin for a moment despite being one of the ‘weaker’ members of the crew. and it’s always fun to see her playing with lightning.

one of my favorite jokes from the first half or so of enies lobby is the strawhats both being completely unsurprised that luffy charges in ahead of them as soon as they arrive AND being able to find him immediately by following the explosions. they know him so well.

luffy’s never been scared of dying, going all the way back to when he told coby he was fine with dying for his dream back in chapter two or three. that conversation is what his exchange with blueno here reminds me of- blueno asks him how long he intends to keep fighting, and luffy says until he dies, like there’s nothing to it.

it’s always been a trait of his to face death unflinching with a grin, so long as it’s for the sake of something he cares about, be it his crew or his brother or his dream, and i just really like that about him.

i’ll go into it in the dressrosa post too, but i think it’s really impressive just how long oda held off on giving luffy any sort of significant power-up. he gets his first big power boost in the whole series here, forty volumes in. i’ve always liked that oda is very conservative with power boosts like this, because it both keeps the series’ powerscaling in check and makes the times it does happen much weightier. this is a monumental moment, and it feels like it.

also, i love the way gear two is drawn pre-timeskip, especially with the steam. it looks very cool and atmospheric.

i really like how united the strawhat crew feels throughout enies lobby, after all the internal turmoil and discord of water seven. even though the matter of usopp leaving the crew is still unresolved, they’ll all together once more, on the same page, and fully united in the goal of saving robin, whatever consequences it might bring.

the tree of knowledge has such a cool design- it looks massive, and even more than that, it looks old. you look at that tree and you know its been there for easily thousands of years. its seen entire eras of history, and it would be priceless even without the countless books stored inside it.

and then it burns.

i’m so endlessly sad about the tragedy that is robin’s relationship with her mother. they never even got to see each other until their world was ending, and even then only for a couple minutes.

olvia is a very interesting character, because she’s someone who chose her dream over the people she loved. that’s not an inherently good or bad choice, but it is a choice she made, and it’s what led to the ending she and robin had to have. i’ve wondered a lot what might have happened if she chose the other way, if she never left or if she came back sooner or if she chose to flee the buster call with robin, and how different (and almost certainly better) robin’s life would have been if she had.

in a way, olvia reminds me a lot of kouzuki toki. they both die in order to fling a light of knowledge and hope into the future, and they both send their children away and choose to stay behind to choke on ash for the sake of a better tomorrow.

i didn’t really notice until putting these panels together, but a lot of things burn in enies lobby. ohara burns, and the pluton plans and the world government flag, and enies lobby itself, and at the end, the going merry burns, too. if you extend it back to water seven, there’s the galley-la headquarters, too. in an arc that deals so much with the preservation and destruction of history and knowledge, it’s a fitting motif.

the world government flag burning is still to this day one of the most striking panels out of a series full of them, in my opinion. in one act, the strawhats proclaim their absolute defiance against the world government, and their willingness to make enemies of the greatest power in the world for the sake of their friend.

it’s also another one of those moments that’s interesting to think about in the context of luffy’s past. it was a ship flying that same flag that shot sabo down, and while luffy wasn’t there to see it, i don’t think he’s oblivious to that fact, especially given how he says just before this he understands robin’s enemies perfectly.

dadan told him and ace that there was nothing they could do against the whole world, and luffy went and did it anyways.

sometimes i just think about how scary it must have been for robin, someone who’s been weighed down by the shackles of her past with no escape in sight for so very long, to open herself up and let herself hope, for life and freedom and a dream that’s always been out of reach.

franky has a lot of really great moments between this arc and water seven- his conversation with usopp as usopp is working on merry and his talk with robin on the sea train are two others. it’s almost impressive how quickly he becomes an immensely likable character once we start getting to know him, given how he’s first introduced as an absolute piece of shit.

his burning of the pluton plans is a favorite of mine, and i think it might be because, like so many people before and after him, he’s choosing here to stake all his hopes on the strawhats, on luffy’s ability to pull off the impossible and on robin’s goodness. when robin’s only ever been chased and hated and called a demon by the world, franky chooses to trust her and luffy with the legacy his dad died for, and neither of them let him down.

monster point looks SO FUCKING TERRIFYING in enies lobby, and i LOVE it. look at that. franky is seven and half feet tall, and in front of monster point he’s tiny. monster point is huge, and dead-eyed, and a force of absolute destruction. i do kind of wish we got to see chopper go completely feral like this more often. he deserves to be terrifying!

i love how much FAITH all the rest of the strawhats continue to have in usopp throughout enies lobby. he left the crew and they really would have a right to be angry at him if they chose to, but it doesn’t even seem to cross any of their minds. they’re just happy he’s okay, and they include him again without missing a beat, because he’s still their friend and they know down to their bones they can trust him, even after everything.

i’ve always really loved zoro and kaku’s little moment of post-battle banter here- zoro relays paulie’s message about cp9 being fired, kaku says he’s out of a job, zoro tells him to try the zoo, and kaku cracks up.

it feels very real to me for whatever reason, and i think part of it ties back into how well one piece handles morality with its characters- zoro and kaku are genuinely pretty similar people who get along decently, it just happens that they wound up on opposite sides. there are series where you’d never see moments like this due to the lines between good and bad being so firmly drawn, and i love how one piece blurs those lines so much they may as well not exist a lot of the time.

this is the other sequence, along with luffy climbing the drum rockies barehanded, that always makes me physically cringe to look at. it looks so painful. robin is so nearly powerless here, but not quite- she can still buy time for her crew to catch up, even if it’s only seconds, even if she risks shattering her teeth or even her jaw in the process. she’s spent so long giving up and has only just started daring to hope- she’s not about to go gentle.

there aren’t many panels that give me catharsis like this one. there really aren’t.

oda’s villains are usually complicated and awful and often a little admirable, if only for how clever or how terrifyingly powerful they are, but every now and then he comes up with someone who’s just pathetic and cowardly and pointlessly cruel. spandam is like this, obviously, and so is orochi, and the celestial dragons, and i’d argue flampe from whole cake island as well. and there’s nothing like seeing characters like them- weak, cruel people so assured in their own power and rightness- get obliterated.

one of the things i really like about enies lobby is that nobody really gets sidelined- everybody gets multiple chances to shine. luffy, usopp, and obviously robin are the most in focus, obviously, but zoro, sanji, nami, chopper, and even franky all get a bunch of individual awesome moments. oda’s ability to handle his cast satisfyingly is consistently really impressive (if sometimes strained in huge ensemble arcs like dressrosa or wano) and it really shows here, i think.

i just really love the entire climax of enies lobby. much like the arc as a whole, it just feels triumphant, even though the situation is extremely dire. luffy unlocking gear three, robin’s cuffs getting unlocked, usopp shooting spandam and the marines all the way from the tower of justice- it’s all just good, a long chain of much-needed victories and catharses, and it feels very good to read.

i’ll always be impressed by just how much characterization oda manages to give merry, a boat. she’s only really a character in water seven and the end of enies lobby, only about two chapters of which she actually speaks in. and yet i don’t think you’d find a single one piece fan who disagrees that merry’s death is easily one of the most heartwrenching in the entire series.

i love the reactions of the strawhats to robin’s thanks. they’ve just gone through hell to save her, most of them are beat to shit and they all risked their lives, and yet they all just smile, or brush it off, because to them there’s nothing else they could have done. it’s all worth it, so long as they got her back, so long as she’s safe and happy.

merry’s funeral just hits me in the chest every single time i read it. it’s tragic, of course, but there’s also something almost lovely about it, something peaceful about her getting to go out on her own terms, carrying her crew to safety one last time, defying every rule of the universe to do it. just like a strawhat pirate.

oda’s ability to communicate emotion through expressions really comes through here, too. merry has the only lines in this scene, fitting for her death in the limelight, but the shots of every other crewmate’s face let us know at a glance just what they’re all feeling and just how strongly they’re feeling it.

you know, i’d forgotten we only learn the name of the new world after enies lobby. we only get proper exposition about the revolutionary army and the yonkou here, too, despite them being set up since loguetown and jaya (or alabasta, or even chapter one if you count from shanks’s introduction) respectively. oda’s ability to parse out exposition and explanation so we always have just the right amount of information is really impressive- we always have more questions, but we also always have the feeling that those questions have answers, and that sooner or later they’ll be revealed.

points at shanks. i just think he’s neat.

it’s my opinion that one of the great joys of one piece is seeing luffy and the crew rise up in the world, and seeing them gain more and more notoriety. i love nothing they do ever happens in a vacuum- everything has impacts, and there are always outside eyes watching, and often those impacts are things that they never could have predicted.

ace and blackbeard is still, i think, definitely one of the coolest looking fights in the whole series. it’s not all that often we get to see two people with extremely flashy and showy abilities go all-out against each other, and the resulting fireworks are still really something to behold, despite how badly it all ends.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #long post #arc: enies lobby #arc: post enies lobby #not japanese

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paunchsalazar · 3 years

Note

hey!! i loved your hoo playlist! can you explain more or less where which book begins and ends? or just your thought process behind picking the songs?

omg hi!! this is going to be really long I’m so sorry... I vaguely broke them up by book and sorta character/event/theme, it’s not super strict or anything but that was the logic!

I kinda imagine it playing out like a movie or tv series.. and so some of these kinda play over a scene or transition to the credits in my head? some more than others! otherwise it’s like punny titles or just songs that remind of plot points!

Lost Hero

- Goodbye Stranger - for Jason, since he has no idea what’s going on lol

- Teenage Dream - for the three of them, but mostly Piper!

You think I'm pretty without any makeup on You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong

- Parachute - kinda Jason and Piper, I think as she realizes their relationship isn’t quite what it seems? (and just playing with his flying lol!)

- Metal Guru - Leo!

- Pretty Girl - Piper, I was imagining this when she clashes with Drew/learns about the Aphrodite cabin

And I could be a pretty girl Shut up when you want me to And I could be a pretty girl Won't ever make you blue And I could be a pretty girl I'll lose myself in you

- The Sky’s The Limit - when the three of them take off on Festus

- Snowqueen Of Texas - this was for Khione lol

I'm on my knees, your majesty; Snowqueen, save a cold kiss for me I'm on my knees your majesty

- Sweet Talkin’ Woman - this is book-wide but it’s for Piper’s charmspeak!

- Are You Gonna Be My Girl - is sorta general but I was imagining it when Jason and Piper kinda decide to be together/give it another go

- It’s Not Unusual - I think this was sorta the entire book/wider series but I just think it’s cute and fun and a Guardians of the Galaxy type end credits song? And just them accepting their very bizarre situation

Son of Neptune + Mark of Athena

I put these together because there wasn’t really a set bookend in my head!

- Hello Stranger - finally reuniting with Percy! (and I wanted the Percy and Jason songs to mirror each other)

Hello stranger (Ooh) It seems so good to see you back again How long has it been? (Ooh it seems like a mighty long time)

- Diamonds - Hazel

- Don’t Go Breaking My Heart - Frank trusting Hazel with the wood, also Percy + Annabeth, everyone really

Don't go breaking my heart You take the weight off of me Oh, honey when you knock on my door Ooh, I gave you my key

- Beautiful Soul - I literally don’t know why I added this I just wanted an excuse to add a Jesse McCartney song (which feels so tonally correct to me?) but also I think it’s Frank liking Hazel in spite of her big secret and Percy loving Annabeth

- Pocketful of Rainbows - encountering Iris!

I don't worry Whenever skies are gray above Got a pocketful of rainbows Got a heart full of love

- Am I The Same Girl - Annabeth’s POV upon reunion!

Why don´t you stop And look me over Am I the same girl you used to know?

Why don´t you stop And think it over Am I the same girl who knew your soul?

- Bizarre Love Triangle - Frank, Hazel, and Leo

- Treasure - Hazel again + the literal treasure?

Pretty girl, pretty girl, pretty girl you should be smiling (you should be smiling) A girl like you should never look so blue (blue) You're everything I see in my dreams I wouldn't say that to you if it wasn't true

- The Sweet Escape - off on the Argo II

- Okay Okay - to Italy! and I just think Italian disco is so fun

- On An Evening in Roma - walking around Rome, seeing all its history

Though there's grinning and mandolining in sunny Italy The beginning has just begun when the sun goes down So please meet me in the plaza near your casa I am only one and that is one too few On an evening in Roma Don't know what the country's coming to But in Rome do as the Romans do Will you on an evening in Roma

- Stuck on the puzzle - Annabeth + the Mark of Athena

- Coca Cola - I was imagining the pirates+sacrifice to Dionysus/ his appearance

- Edge of Seventeen - I think Annabeth remarks to herself something like am I really going to die at 17? so this is for her and all the kids just on the cusp of being 17

And the days go by, like a strand in the wind In the web that is my own, I begin again Said to my friend, baby (everything stopped) Nothin' else mattered

- Landslide - when everything goes wrong and they start falling to Tartarus

Oh, mirror in the sky What is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changin' 'Cause I've built my life around you But time makes you bolder Even children get older And I'm getting older too

House of Hades + Blood of Olympus

these are more thematic I think? but a few moments in particular

- Head Over Heels - falling down...

I made a fire, and watching it burn Thought of your future With one foot in the past, now just how long will it last?

Something happens and I'm head over heels I never find out until I'm head over heels Something happens and I'm head over heels Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart Don't, don't, don't throw it away

- You and Me - Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus

If the stars don't shine If the moon won't rise If I never see the setting sun again You won't hear me cry as I testify Please believe me boy you know I would I lie As long as there is you and me

- Don’t Worry Baby - Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, on the shore of the river

Well it's been building up inside of me For oh I don't know how long I don't know why But I keep thinking Something's bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes And makes me realize And she says "don't worry, baby"

- It’s Only A Paper Moon - the mist and Hazel starting to understand it

You smile, the bubble has a rainbow in it Say, it's only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me

- Money, Money, Money - Hazel + Pluto

Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world

- Magic - the whole story, but particularly with the presence of Hecate

- Summer Wind - Jason harnessing the winds!

The summer wind came blowin' in from across the sea It lingered there, to touch your hair and walk with me All summer long we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand Two sweethearts and the summer wind

- Mala Femmina - the return of Khione

- Would You? - Leo and Calypso

Well, you know she took my hand And we walked away And I can't understand why she would stay Would you like to fall in love with me?

- Love is Like a Fire - Leo and also Frank

- Don’t Wanna Fight - Percy and Annabeth

Take from my hand Put in your hands The fruit of all my grief Lying down ain't easy When everyone is pleasing I can't get no relief Living ain't no fun The constant dedication Keeping the water and power on There ain't nobody left Why can't I catch my breath? I'm gonna work myself to death

- Love Really Hurts With You - Leo after leaving Calypso’s island

- What Makes the Sunset - Percy and Annabeth (and by extension Bob and Damasen)

What makes the sunset? What makes the moonrise? What makes the tide remember to hide and why does it soon rise? What makes a star fall? Where does it fall to? Why does its flight make us stop in the night and wish as we all do?

- Dedicated to the One I Love - everybody, but an ode to Bob and Damasen (their goodbye made me cry!)

While I'm far away from you my baby I know it's hard for you my baby Because it's hard for me my baby And the darkest hour is just before dawn

Each night before you go to bed my baby Whisper a little prayer for me my baby And tell all the stars above This is dedicated to the one I love

- Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, I was thinking about this post-curses and them being so done with everything

Good times for a change See, the luck I've had Can make a good man Turn bad

So please, please, please Let me, let me, let me Let me get what I want This time

- Lonely Boy - Nico

- Fantasy - indulging all their visions... the mist, etc.

- Stupid Cupid - Nico and Cupid (of course)

Stupid Cupid you're a real mean guy (stupid Cupid) I'd like to clip your wings so you can't fly (stupid Cupid) I'm in love and it's a crying shame (stupid Cupid) And I know that you're the one to blame (stupid Cupid)

Hey hey, set me free Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

- Suzanne - still Nico, looking over at the couple (sorry... all the mopey songs)

- Dream A Little Dream of Me - dreams... also Percy’s wishes of the future

Stars shining bright above you Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you" Birds singing in the sycamore tree Dream a little dream of me

- Our Day Will Come - I think Annabeth says a line almost like this? somewhere at the end of HOH, I think when they’ve just gotten out of Tartarus and are all sitting together, like haven’t they had enough? won’t their day finally come?

Our day will come If we just wait a while No tears for us Think love and wear a smile Our dreams have magic because We'll always stay In love this way

- Call Me - all of them! also Nico and Reyna, just being there for each other

Tell me and I'll be around Now don't forget me 'cause if you let me I will always stay by you You've got to trust me, that's how it must be

- Nobody - Nico... oh buddy

Venus, planet of love Was destroyed by global warming Did its people want too much too? Did its people want too much?

And I don't want your pity I just want somebody near me Guess I'm a coward I just want to feel alright

- I’m a Believer - Jason and Piper

I thought love was only true in fairy tales Meant for someone else but not for me Love was out to get me That's the way it seemed Disappointment haunted all my dreams Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer Not a trace of doubt in my mind

- Summertime - Piper singing and it being the end of summer

- Happy Trails - more singing ( I want to include the songs actually mentioned!)

- The End of the World - the big battle!!

Why does the sun go on shining? Why does the sea rush to shore? Don't they know it's the end of the world? 'Cause you don't love me any more

- Too Late To Turn Back Now - departing with Festus (I think Leo almost says this too!)

- Here Comes The Sun - day comes, the Athena Parthenos is back

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here

- Walking On Sunshine - Will Solace

- Evil Woman - Gaea fight

Evil woman, how you done me wrong But now you're tryin' to wail a different song Ha, ha, funny, how you broke me up You made the wine, now you drink a cup I came runnin' every time you cried Thought I saw love smilin' in your eyes Ha, ha, very nice to know That you ain't got no place left to go

- Seven Wonders - the seven! also traveling the world... making it this far

If I live to see the seven wonders I'll make a path to the rainbow's end I'll never live to match the beauty again The rainbow's edge

- This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) - to me this is just after Annabeth and Percy’s kiss, shots of everyone back to camp, wides of people running around, new cabins under construction, the sun is shining, the camera pulls out

Loving you is some kind of wonderful Because you showed me just how much you care You've given me the thrill of a lifetime And made me believe you've got more thrills to spare, oh!

- Love Makes the World Go Round - like the end credits! last pov with Piper, love makes it all happen

Without love flowers wouldn't grow in the spring And without spring, yeah the birdies just couldnt sing Everybody needs love to watch the twinkling stars above It makes a boy and girl, Say they feel so fine, now

#SORRY I REALLY WASTED A LOT OF TIME ON IT #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #heroes of olympus #piper mclean #annabeth chase #jason grace #leo valdez #hazel levesque #frank zhang #Anonymous

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forasecondtherewedwon · 3 years

Text

3 Simple Rules for Dating a Centenarian - ch. 2

Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes Rating: T Chapters: 2/2

Read chapter one on Tumblr.

Chapter two summary: Sam and Bucky talk after their date op in Germany.

“Four,” Bucky says.

Sam, plodding down the road beside him, turns to stare. His sidekick (and fuck him if Bucky’s thinking of Sam in the same terms) has his chin lifted, moving his gaze back and forth across the horizon in a slow sweep. With the lines of trees planted as windbreaks around the fields, they can’t see the highway from here. It could be nice, without the rushing noise of cars and trucks, if Bucky knew how to shut up. That sorta pout his mouth does when his face is in its sour resting position—that’s what Sam wants to see. Only because it means Bucky wouldn’t be talking and Sam could maybe find a few minutes of peace, some quiet in which to consider the Flag-Smashers they just fought.

“Four what?” he demands when Bucky doesn’t continue.

Can’t be hostiles. If Bucky had spotted anybody, he wouldn’t still be striding along, looking unconcerned. No, he’d be running flat-out towards their adversaries like the rash moron he’s always accusing Steve of having been. Trying to leave Sam in the dust until Sam kicked off and spread his wings.

“Four stars,” Bucky says, carefully, clearly, like that clears anything up.

“What are you doing? Rating our trip down the highway? That was a transport truck full of medicine and super-soldiers, not an Uber.”

Sam’s grinning to himself when Bucky turns his head to glare. Ah. So gratifying. Amends sound good in theory, but Bucky’s irritation is so much simpler in practice. Sam knows how to handle that. He’ll take the grouchy stewing post-mission over having to meet Bucky’s eyes across a table, the promised snapper dinner laid out in front of them. They haven’t gotten around to that yet.

“I’m not rating the ride,” Bucky says, “I’m rating our date.”

That trips Sam up, but just for a second.

“No, no, no, dates don’t end with me rescuing you from the underside of a truck.”

“You didn’t rescue me.”

“Man, those wheels would’ve turned you into ground beef,” Sam says with a snort.

“I doubt it. Fell two hundred feet without a parachute today and I’m fine.”

“You want a second opinion on that?”

Instead of watching Bucky’s scowl deepen at the joke, Sam sees his expression flatten out. It makes Sam narrow his eyes in suspicion.

“What?” he prompts.

“You’re wrong,” Bucky states plainly.

“About what those wheels would do to you? We can test it when we’re back stateside if you want. I’ll requisition a truck.”

“Not about that.”

Sam’s looking closely, so he spots the smile. A curl at the corner of Bucky’s mouth. He hopes, secretly, that Bucky is scanning the surroundings well enough for both of them, because Sam’s attention is homed in on this little sign of Bucky’s amusement.

“About the end of the date,” Bucky finally clarifies.

“Mission. The end of the mission, when I rescued you.”

“The end of the date, when I was on top of you.”

Something to throw with all his strength, that’s what Sam needs right now. Some physical outlet for how badly he wants to fling the creeping, seeking, aching things he’s feeling very far away from himself. He wonders if Steve ever just whipped the shield as hard as he could to vent his frustrations. It’s hot as hell out here under the sun and Sam can feel the dampness of his chest inside his suit, the sweat riding his spine.

He takes a deep breath through his nose, fine with the scent of manure and getting nothing but grass instead. Like inhaling the colour green. Smells like the field they landed in. Landed in and went barreling across until, yeah, Sam wound up on his back with Bucky above him, their arms fastened around each other like life preservers or umbilical cords or anything else tight and necessary for keeping people alive. Goddamn nose-to-nose. Over the phone, Sam could brush Bucky off. When he says this shit in person, Sam has nowhere to go, besides extending the wings and launching himself into the sky. But he doesn’t want to overreact (doesn’t want Bucky to see him overreact).

“You just calling it a date because you don’t have rules for those?” Sam asks, deflecting.

“My three rules, you mean?” Bucky asks. He loses the smile.

“Right.”

“They’re for… everything. Supposed to be a blanket rollout, not doing anything illegal or that’ll hurt anybody in any aspect of my life. I’m sure the rules go for dating too, though Dr. Raynor and I didn’t really talk about those specific circumstances.”

“I think you might’ve mostly stuck to those rules today. I don’t think we hurt those guys.”

“Maybe you didn’t—”

“Get over yourself.”

“You’re a rude date,” Bucky notes. He’s looking straight ahead. No, not looking, staring. Like he does.

“I didn’t even invite you,” Sam says, refusing to correct this bonehead again about what kind of outing this was. “You walked onto that plane.”

“You wanted me to come.”

“Didn’t need you.”

“Oh really?” Bucky challenges. Sam clenches his jaw as he avoids meeting Bucky’s gaze.

“Hey, I was still in the air while you were clinging to that truck like a toddler to their dad’s leg.”

“You were in the air, but for how long?” Bucky asks, halting and grabbing Sam’s arm. Sam shakes him off in annoyance but stops too. “Until the Flag-Smashers knocked you out or broke your wings like they broke Redwing. They were mopping the floor with you.”

“And it was so damn useful to have you there to be the other mop,” Sam says sarcastically.

“If you’d put me back on the truck instead of in the field, we mighta had a shot at them.”

Bucky’s hands go to his hips, his Vibranium arm gleaming in the sun. He’s going to have to say more about that White Wolf thing. Wondering where the hell Bucky’s sleeve went and refusing to ask, Sam crosses his arms tightly over his chest.

“We had no shot. Not today, not without more information.”

“Information takes too long.”

“That’s what a successful op is,” Sam stresses, chopping the side of one hand into his opposite palm. “Intelligence gathering, corroboration, planning, execution. Information is what tells you to hang back instead of throwing yourself into a fight you’re not prepared enough to win.”

“We were already here. We couldn’t just let them leave.”

“Don’t worry about the hypotheticals now; them leaving is exactly what happened.”

“Unless Captain America has ’em on the ropes,” Bucky says deadpan.

“I hope they pushed him off the back of one of those trucks.”

“Were you thinking about that while we were up there with him?”

“At the time, I was thinking about pushing you off the back of the truck for getting us into that situation,” Sam explains, “that’s why I can picture it so clearly. See, Buck? I always have a plan.”

“Just like Steve.”

“No, not just like Steve.”

Sam pushes past Bucky to start walking again. After a couple steps, Bucky’s back at his side.

“You think the new guy had a plan?” he asks. “I don’t.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“Sure you do.”

“Are you trying to get me to talk now? Mr. ‘I’m not a words guy’? Fine,” Sam huffs, tired from everything inside him that’s pushing to get out rather than their leisurely walk down a country road. Even so, he walks faster, almost stomping, and Bucky has to lope up next to him to stay in step. “I don’t think he had a plan. I don’t think he could fasten that dumb helmet on his head without a direct order. I don’t think he and his partner found us on their own initiative.”

“They work pretty smoothly as a team though,” Bucky tosses out.

“That looked like familiarity, not the result of inspiring leadership on the part of the Captain.”

“And not as good as us.”

Sam sends Bucky poisonous side-eye.

“I’m not trying to lead you.”

“I don’t wanna be led,” Bucky replies. “We fight together better than they do and that’s with you pretending you hate me.”

“Oh, I don’t need to pretend.” The comment is habit.

“All I’m saying is that it’s better. The two of us being out here doing this stuff together.”

“Especially with that dick waiting in the wings.”

Bucky stares at him long enough that Sam turns his head to stare back. When he does, Bucky glances away, but Sam knows where he was looking—at his back, where his wings are folded away.

“Waiting in the wings is a figure of speech,” he tells Bucky angrily.

“It’s perfect though. I always think of you as that dick in the wings.”

Sam exhales hard through his nose.

“I hope you don’t always think of me as anything.”

“I do. I always think of you.”

Freefall doesn’t jar Sam, no more than what he can remember it feeling like when he was a little kid and his dad would toss him into the air before catching him again. But what Bucky says changes the physics of his insides, the gravity all wrong with his organs. Heart plummeting then trying to sail straight up his throat like a balloon somebody just let go of.

Then Bucky adds, “You and that shield.”

“Drop it.”

He could just fly to the airport, leave Bucky here with plenty of time to think his stupid, shield-related thoughts. Maybe this smartass would have all the answers by the time he reached the plane, or Munich, if they went wheels-up without him. The truth is that the shield—and the Captain America persona—are on Sam’s mind just as much as they’re on Bucky’s, only he manages to keep those thoughts locked up tight. He has to make sure that shit’s contained, particularly if the new poster boy’s going to turn up like this. Sam doesn’t need that in his face.

As they walk, he glances at Bucky, who’s probably as aware of it as Sam is when Bucky gives him that stare. Blue as the sky overhead and heavy as a boulder. The realization that, although he didn’t mean to lead, Bucky followed him here, and continues to stick with him, is staggering. The pages of his mental photo album flip and he sees Steve crack a grin. It’s not like that, Sam tells that blond do-gooder, young in his memories. The only blond do-gooder who ever has or ever will look right with his arm threaded through the straps of the shield.

Maybe, maybe, this thing could work. Him and Bucky running ops, doing better at not getting their asses kicked in front of the government’s hand-picked hero. But Bucky’s gotta let that shit go. Since the Blip, Sam’s been trying to fly under the radar and that’s what he wants to continue doing. He doesn’t need to be showy, just effective; he doesn’t want to get dragged into some Cap vs. Cap contest, the inheritor against the upstart. If Bucky would take the time to think and listen, they could figure this out and be good. And do good. Understanding each other the way Sam wanted when he called Bucky up and they talked about Tunisia and rules and fish dinners. Bucky could make his jokes and, the next time, Sam could call his bluff. Show that gruff, rusty motherfucker what a real date looks like. What kind of team could they be? All kinds.

“Are we even going the right way?” Bucky asks after a half-hour of silence.

“Yes,” Sam says firmly.

He actually hasn’t checked. After they untangled themselves in that field, he just started walking, too keyed up to establish their position. He wonders if the grass still shows their path, crushed where they rolled to a stop.

“You sure?”

“Uh huh.”

“Got any thoughts you wanna share?” Bucky asks. Sam frowns and steals a glance at him. “What? I told you I’ve been going to therapy. I know the importance of a healthy dialogue.”

Sam tries to force his mouth to keep curving down, but he really wants to smile. Bucky’s not the worst company and he is obviously capable of growth.

“A question,” he says.

“If it’s sarcastic, I’m not—”

“Four outta what?”

“What?”

“You said four stars,” Sam reminds him. “Is that four outta five or four outta ten?”

Bucky’s smile spreads slowly, smugly, and Sam rolls his eyes hard. He’s no more aggravated by Bucky than he is by his own need to know. ‘Four stars’ was an incomplete assessment! Typical.

“I hate you,” he says.

Still smiling away, Bucky sways into Sam as he walks, their arms brushing. Could be an accident.

But probably not.

#my writing #story update #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #sambucky #Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes

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claybefree · 3 years

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Seeing as it's the twentieth anniversary, I guess I should post this again

September Third, Two Thousand and Nine

For years whenever anyone asked me when my son Henry was born I’d start to say September instead of August 25, 2001. Sunday he had his eighth birthday party at his mother’s house, and I stayed here. Most of his mother’s friends don’t care for me much. The feeling is mutual. Tonight coming home from work I started stitching what I’m about to write together in my mind and suddenly got very afraid. I thought for a moment that I was about to go get drunk, which might very likely be death for somebody like me. I was sure I was going to change direction of the truck, that I’d drive the same route I always did back then, that I would stand by the register and stare at the bottle in my hand without really knowing I where I was. I think it has to do with the weather finally changing and perhaps that Henry’s mom and I are no longer together. I sat on the porch of my little house and called a friend and told him all this. He listened and after a while I felt better, which is exactly how these things should go. When we decided we were done he told me I should go in and write all this down.

I worked on through that whole day. Most everybody else on the job had stopped and listened to each of the radios on the different floors or cried. The asshole Turks I was framing a bathroom for wouldn’t let me quit. They had tile to run. I found it made me feel better to keep going anyway. The laborers cussed me when I asked them to move so that I could use the table saw, a natural gathering spot on any job. They seemed to think I was calloused or hard-hearted and it was because I was from Tennessee. It just now occurred to me that maybe they were right.

That afternoon, when it was determined safe to walk across the bridges, most of the job, the other carpenters and trades-people, wandered home to Brooklyn or Queens. Me and the two left to close everything up had it different as we lived in Jersey. Anthony, the boss, was big and red-haired, red faced and lived in Hoboken. Duane was in charge of demolition and waste, was a little shorter and darker, and lived in Secaucus or maybe somewhere west of that I think. They squared off on each other frequently. It always reminded me of two walruses going at it on a beach.

Whenever we went out to the bar afterwards Anthony would have a Bud tall boy in each hand at all times, the waitress would come up with four for him whenever we sat down. On the job we liked to yell at each other, I once told him I was doing him a favor by giving him such an easy target, and he never missed an occasion to oblige me. Duane was a single dad, dark haired with deep sunken yet kind eyes that always seemed to have bags under them. One of the black laborers told him once he was the most Uncle Fester looking motherfucker he had ever seen. I tended to agree.

We locked the job up at four I think, humped it across the park through the smoke to the A-train. There was smoke forming a mist around the trees of central park that day. There were no flower children loitering at Yoko’s “Imagine” monument to barge through. Our thinking was to get downtown to the Path train. We had no idea that two of the stations had been destroyed. It didn’t matter, we were underground fifteen minutes before Anthony vetoed the idea. People were running wild through the stations, on the trains, everything was panic and Oh Fuck and Anthony had no intention of being underground. He had a funny look on his face that I couldn’t figure out. It wouldn't occur to me until later that the big man was very afraid.

In the years since I have always wondered why people have reacted so strongly from that day. Later we would go to war because of a something that happened one day in New York City and this has always seemed really strange to me. I guess what I mean is that I was there and never wanted to kill anybody because of it. Most of the time I just thought it was very strange and sad and mostly just very interesting. I only remember ever crying about it twice. The first time was a few months afterward, I had quit Anthony to stay home with Henry. Part of our routine was to watch Sesame Street. One day in the winter there was a skit where Elmo got very scared because of some smoke and noise that was never identified. I suppose in this case it was a nameless fear. A New York City fireman came on screen and hugged him, told him it was okay to be scared, Elmo, and that everything would be alright. I remember little red furry Elmo hugged the fireman tight. I held Henry in my lap and cried into his fine blonde hair.

It was the fireman that did it. I still get upset when I think about the firemen. I have had a lot of trouble with cops in different times in my life, but I never had a problem with any fireman I ever encountered, drunk or otherwise. They seem to me to be a different animal entirely.

Anthony, Duane and me ran into two firemen on the deck of the cruise boat that carried us across to Weehawken. They came in and collapsed on the painted metal floor, shedding boots and letting their helmets roll away. Some people applauded weakly, others asked questions, they just stared at us and said nothing. It didn’t occur to me until much later they were probably the only ones from their station who lived. Other men that for years they worked with, ate and fought with, got drunk with were dead. There was a bar I frequented in Jersey City a few blocks from our house where a couple of weeks later I saw three firemen in dress uniforms. One was between his partner on a stool and the third who was older and may have been a captain. The captain was clearly upset, swaggering and poking the other two in the chest. Everybody else was trying hard not to pay attention to what seemed about to develop into a fight. I think later I saw the old man leaning against the bar and weeping openly, he must have been sixty at least.

I got drunk in this bar Sept. 10th while my wife and kid slept back home. She’d start nursing and pass out with him and I’d head out to roam. The thing I liked about this place was the Sinatra on the jukebox, so that night I loaded it up and sat at the bar listening. I think it was the first time I’d ever heard “Summer Wind.” The tattooed brunette tending bar must have thought it was cute because she serenaded me, singing along with a couple of the songs. There was another man with a mustache further down the line who was putting the blast on her and didn’t seem to like me much so I got the fuck out early. By “early” I mean I didn’t close the place.

I won’t tell you what we saw on the boat ride across the Hudson, you’ve seen it already. We unloaded at Weehawken and everyone, thousands of high end refugees really, started walking south towards Hoboken where we had been told there were buses waiting to take us home. I noticed that even wearing boots, the three of us walked faster than the others. We were construction workers living and working around Manhattan and we were very good at walking. I remember being comforted by walking with them. Hundreds of buses lined the streets of Hoboken and the three of us walked the length of that town. Anthony broke off about halfway to head home. A couple of weeks later I showed up having laid out drunk for two days and told him I had come for my tools. He looked at me and didn’t say a word. He mailed me my check. I haven’t seen the man since.

Duane and me trudged the rest of Hoboken together. I heard that not soon after I left he was let go to cut costs and that not long after that he got into a bad time with a prostitute on rt. 1 & 9. The smoke in Hoboken was thicker than in the city and the fumes from streets filled with idling buses finally got my hangover to officially kick in. I told Duane about how I’d had “Summer Wind” playing as background music in my head all day. He laughed and began singing the song, each line perfectly. We got through the crowd easily, after hours of walking together we had finally hit a stride together. We were marching, really. There was the giant blue sky of the day broken intermittently by smoke and there was the roar of diesel noise and Hoboken and Duane singing Summer Wind to me; some punk kid from Tennessee who had no business being there.

The only other incident I remember having to cry because of some assholes who decided to fly planes into tall buildings was coming across the Manhattan bridge one night after carrying my sister-in-law home to Park Slope. She would come over most nights to hang out with the baby, and around eleven or so and in various states of sobriety I’d be asked to drive her back home. I never hated the terrorists for invoking a War of Terror, I hated them for causing enough terror that it fucked the roads up. Shit got closed for what seemed no fucking reason whatsoever. One day coming back from the pediatrician’s office, Henry got stuck howling in his car seat for four hours because the Holland Tunnel was handling too much traffic and we were too afraid to take him out of it because of the cops everywhere. My sister-in-law and I spent a lot of time in the Saturn together on the nights I drove her home. I can’t remember what we talked about, probably everything. I haven't spoken to my sister-in-law since I moved out last summer.

This particular night the Brooklyn Bridge was only operating east-bound into Brooklyn so after I dropped her off I was diverted back across the Manhattan Bridge in order to get back into the city and eventually home. The Manhattan Bridge back then was still under renovation and I guess has always been the ugly, cross-eyed cousin of the Brooklyn Bridge. I got stuck on it, moving slower than shit, and staring at trash and old faded plywood encasing the little bit of wrought iron and Neo-Classical elements that were left up by the arch. Off to the left t seemed as though the entirety of Downtown was illuminated from the work lights that were set up down by Ground Zero. Downtown glowed with lights that were set up to look for people that weren’t there anymore. The DJ on WFMU that night was playing a super slowed down cover of the B-52’s Song for a Future Generation. If you’ve heard it, you’ve probably laughed, it’s a ridiculously chirpy pop song. I’ve always loved it. The lyrics go a little like this:

Wanna be the ruler of the galaxy

Wanna be the king of the universe

Let`s meet and have a baby now

In between each stanza, the different members give spoken-word tidbits of information about themselves. For example Ricky, the original guitarist, was a Pisces and “loved computers and hot tamales.“ Ricky also died from AIDS back in 1985 when people still had no idea what the disease was.

The version I heard that night had slowed the tempo to that of a blues song. The dip-shit ironic hipster that sang it reflected this. Stuck on the bridge it felt as though I was listening to a lament. What reduced me to tears, smoking Winstons in my little Saturn station wagon, was the feeling that whatever was left of innocence had recently been or was about to be brutally murdered by pig-face, ignorant men. Wanna be the first lady of infinity. Wanna be the nicest guy on earth. Let's meet and have a baby now.

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themurphyzone · 3 years

Text

BatB AU: A Provincial Life

Summary: It’s an ordinary day in ACME Village for Pinky. Until it isn’t.

AN: This oneshot adapts the opening number ‘Belle’ and village scenes, up until Pinky sets off for the castle in search of his father, which leads into the entry Imprisoned.

AO3 Link

Pinky scooped a ladleful of oatmeal into a small, earthen bowl, humming dreamily as he added a dash of cinnamon and several apple slices into the mixture.

Today was a very special day for Papa, and Pinky wanted him to eat a healthy and nutritious meal before he went off to the fair with his invention. It would be a few days of travel, and Papa would need his strength for traveling there and back.

“Papa, I’m going out!” Pinky called as he carefully pushed a large woven basket of acorns outside. “Your breakfast is on the table, so make sure you eat it all!”

There was a sputter and cough of machinery and a trail of smoke from the small room that served as a makeshift workshop next to the kitchen, followed by a loud bang.

“Just getting ‘er warmed up for the final test!” Papa shouted. “C’mon, Madeleine! You may’ve fallen apart for the 264th time, but you can do it!”

Oh, Pinky had no doubt people were gonna love the woodcutting, ax-wielding, only occasionally threatening to take fingers off machine known as Madeleine. She was definitely gonna win that gorgeous blue ribbon at the fair! And even if she didn’t, they’d love her all the same anyway.

He opened the door and stepped into the beautiful autumn morning, taking in the cool, fresh air as he carefully maneuvered the basket of acorns into a red wagon. The leaves were varying hues of crimson and gold, dancing along a gentle breeze that ruffled Pinky’s fur. The sun was peeking over the horizon, slowly bathing the world in light as it rose.

Two songbirds flew merrily above him, their sweet morning song filling the air with beautiful music. Pinky reached up, and one of the songbirds briefly landed on his outstretched hand before flying after his partner, leaving a red feather behind.

“Thanks for the feather!” Pinky shouted to the sky as he tucked the feather behind his ear, where it fit perfectly.

He picked up the wagon handle and pulled it along, the wheels squeaking along behind him.

In the meadow beside their quaint little cottage, Pharfignewton chewed placidly on dew-covered grass. She neighed a greeting to Pinky, and Pinky cheerfully waved back. As much as he loved taking the beloved family horse into town for company, she needed her strength to lug Papa, Madeleine, and all their supplies later. So he had to let her rest.

Reeds and wildflowers of all sorts grew along the banks of the pond that separated the little cottage from the rest of ACME Village. A pair of ducks paddled along in the water, trailed by four adorable, fluffy yellow ducklings. Several tiny turtles sunbathed on an old log, while a large green frog sat on its lily pad and caught insects unlucky enough to stray in the path of a long, sticky tongue.

Pinky took his time crossing the cobblestone bridge over the pond, watching the wild animals go about their day without hustling, bustling, or rushing from place to place. Their lives were very different from their neighbors, despite living so close together.

Little animals, little pond, and little humans in their little town.

Or was everything just bigger than him? He was a mouse after all. It wasn’t hard to be bigger than a mouse, unless one happened to be an insect.

As Pinky crossed onto the other side, he spotted a smooth, pretty gray stone poking out of the reeds. He plucked it out of the damp soil, cleaning the dirt off with the inside of his apron.

It would be a perfect stone for his collection. And he didn’t have any that were this smooth. Most of the rocks he picked up were half-crushed or broken from city streets or well-worn paths. He tucked it into a pocket that he’d sewn on himself, because for some odd reason dresses never came with pockets.

Then he faced the little town, with all its timber and stone buildings lining a narrow cobbled street that quickly filled with half-asleep, half-awake people trying to get an early start on their sales and trades.

To think he and Papa had lived here for three years. While not the most exciting town in the world, Pinky was just happy they didn’t have to move again. He’d spent too much of his life being bustled from place to place since Mama died. The cottage was the loveliest place they’d ever owned.

And while the townsfolk had the same ol’ familiar routine every day, Pinky tried to vary his activities. From baking to horseback riding to volunteering for odd jobs around town, or just taking a day off to nap under a tree and roll down the hilly meadows while grass stains formed on his back.

Just a normal provincial life, yet Pinky often wondered what laid in the big blue yonder. Did the stars and sky look different elsewhere? Do the clouds form big, fluffy, and silly shapes in South America?

“Bonjour!” a man called out as he threw open his shutters.

“Good morning, Emile!” Pinky replied as he skipped past his window.

“Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!” The echoing chant swept across rooftops and streets alike as a new day dawned upon ACME Village.

Everyone from chimney sweepers to merchants to coachmen responded with vigor and cheer, all of them satisfied with their occupations in life.

Pinky greeted everyone he passed, though not all returned the gesture. Everyone was staring at the feather tucked behind his ear, the bulge of the stone in his pocket, or the red wagon with the basket he pulled along. He didn’t think he was that strange-looking.

Unless he had a bit of cabbage stuck in his teeth again. But he flossed really well last night, so he didn’t think that was the case.

“Marie, hurry up with the baguettes!” the baker shouted as he carried several loaves of bread outside.

Pinky inhaled deeply. There was nothing quite like the scent and sound of fresh bread.

“Narrrrrrf! Smells just like heaven, Mr. Baker!” Pinky exclaimed.

The baker set his tray of bread on a windowsill, tapping his foot as he impatiently waited for Marie. “Morning, Pinky. You off somewhere this morning?” he asked, though he didn’t turn around.

“Yup! I’m delivering this basket of acorns to Slappy!” Pinky said, pointing to his basket of acorns. “She really likes the acorns near our cottage but doesn’t wanna make the trip herself. She says it’s too far for her aching joints and she can’t take Skippy along because she’s still trying to convince him that we’re not gonna be shot like Bumbie’s mom if we venture into the meadow, and-”

“Yes, yes, that’s all very nice,” the baker said, half-leaning into the open window. “Marie, I said hurry up with the baguettes! The morning rush is coming soon!”

“Well, if you’d bought the ingredients from Francois instead of Vincent like I suggested then maybe we wouldn’t be running behind, Pierre! But no, you always act like you know best!” Marie snapped.

Not wanting to get embroiled in yet another argument between the baker and his wife, Pinky followed the cobblestone path further into town, where the usual market sprung up, full of local farmers, tradesmen, and merchants.

Villagers bartered and argued and traded like always, and as Pinky stopped to admire a small yellow daisy poking out from the cracks of the street, he could feel eyes follow him closely in that looking-at-you-but-pretending-we’re-not sort of way.

“There goes the funny mouse again.”

“Gets distracted by the littlest things, I swear.”

“Does he even have a useful skill?”

“Besides being the village idiot? Doubtful.”

They’d made those comments ever since he and Papa had moved in. Everywhere they went, people asked Pinky for his trade, and Pinky always told them he took care of Papa and worked various odd jobs around the area for money.

But that wasn’t considered a useful role in society.

He didn’t mind helping Papa though.

Oh well though. He couldn’t delay getting these acorns to Slappy, so he hauled his wagon alongside a horse-drawn carriage that steadily cut through the crowded streets, clearing Pinky’s path.

“Bonjour!” the coachman called to a young woman walking down the street. His eyes were trained on the girl rather than the road, and his horse plowed straight into a farmer’s cart, knocking his produce into the road.

“MY CABBAGES!” the farmer screamed, tearing out his hair as several pigs devoured his vegetables.

The coachman let out a nervous laugh and flicked the reins, spurring his horse forward and blithely ignoring the despairing farmer’s demands for compensation.

“I need six eggs!” a woman cried as she tried to hold several fussing babies at once.

“That’s too expensive!” a man complained to someone selling pottery. “Twenty coins for a pile of cheap clay? Bah!”

Pinky and the carriage parted ways as the cobblestone street changed to an unpaved dirt path. The gossip and chatter of ACME Village faded to background noise.

Slappy had made her home in a hollow tree on the outskirts of town, close enough to get supplies but far enough to deter most from knocking on her door.

Pinky passed by many warning and danger signs that kept most people from bothering the old squirrel. There was a new post up today, right next to Slappy’s front door.

LAST WARNING

NO SELLING, NO PREACHING, NO TAX COLLECTING

KNOCK AT YOUR OWN RISK

Well, what was life without a little risk? Pinky knocked on the door anyway.

He was trying to decide if one of the clouds overhead was shaped more like a monkey or a strawberry when a small brown squirrel in a blue nightgown and cap opened the door. Despite the early morning, he was wide awake and hopping in place, his excitement only growing as he spotted the basket of acorns behind Pinky.

“Morning, Skippy! Got the basket of acorns your aunt wanted!” Pinky exclaimed.

Skippy grinned as he took the basket from the wagon. “Thanks, Pinky! Aunt Slappy will love these!”

He popped a few acorns into his mouth and loudly crunched the shells.

“Skippy, what’d I say about answering the door at this godforsaken hour in the morning?” a cranky voice yelled from upstairs.

“It’s just Pinky with the acorns, Aunt Slappy! No door to door salespeople, preachers, or tax collectors in sight!” Skippy shouted. Then he turned back to Pinky and pointed to his ear. “I like your feather, by the way.”

“Thanks! I like your nightcap!” Pinky said, returning the compliment with his own.

A few moments later, Slappy joined Pinky and Skippy downstairs. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, her long gray tail dragging behind her.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Slappy asked. She tossed several acorns into her mouth and nodded her approval. “Crunchy with a pinch of salt. This is gonna be a good topping for my world-renowned creamed spinach later.”

“SPEEWWWWWWWWW!” Skippy cried, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

Pinky just smiled politely. Slappy took a lot of pride in her creamed spinach recipe, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying it tasted like soggy socks.

“Hey, when I was your age, I ate lots of creamed spinach for dinner. And now I have enough muscles to wield a hundred ton mallet,” Slappy retorted.

“Wow! Was that when dinosaurs roamed the earth?” Skippy asked.

Slappy gave him a light smack on the back of his head. “Little brat. Go grab a few coins from the bureau in my room. Gotta pay the mouse for lugging this stuff across town.”

Skippy blew a raspberry at her and ran up the stairs.

“Your tongue is never gonna go back in your mouth if you keep doing that!” Slappy yelled.

Funny how the Squirrels were his best neighbors, even though they lived on the opposite side of town. They’d helped out so much when Pinky and Papa first moved into the countryside cottage, from showing them all the best places to buy from and all the best trees to climb. Everyone else usually stared at them strangely for not knowing how to find a shop and moved on with their day.

Still, Pinky didn’t want to impose on them or anything. Collecting the acorns was no trouble at all. And he knew money could be a little tight in the village at times.

“You don’t have to pay me,” Pinky said. “Poit. I don’t mind the morning exercise.”

“You’re walkin’ outta here with those coins whether you like it or not,” Slappy said in a tone that invited no room for argument. “Don’t be one of ‘em honor before reason types. That sorta mindset is nothing but trouble.”

Slappy’s long tail flicked in irritation, accidentally knocking a framed painting askew on the wall next to her. She sighed and fixed the crooked painting so that it hung straight. “Can never keep this darn thing straight,’ she muttered.

Pinky had been inside the hollow tree many times, but he’d never seen this painting before. It contained a colorful cast of characters, from a carrot-munching gray rabbit to a crazy black duck to a short gunslinger with an enormous bright red mustache.

In the painting, a youthful Slappy with a manic grin on her face and giant firecracker in her hand was chasing a bald hunter. Her smile was brighter, and her eyes didn’t seem so world-weary there.

“Like it? Old pals sent it to me two weeks ago,” Slappy asked, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “The Looney Tunes Troupe were a rascally bunch, that’s for sure. All the money for a detailed painting, and they can’t afford a better frame. Our shows were legendary back in the day, you know.”

“Never heard of them,” Pinky admitted.

“Course ya haven’t,” Slappy sighed. “Your generation doesn’t know good comedy when it hits them in the bum with a mallet. Troupe’s faded into obscurity now, but they’ve never stopped traveling and being annoying yet lovable nuisances to everyone from Albuquerque to Kalamazoo to Timbuktu.”

Pinky tilted his head. “But you don’t travel anymore.”

If the Squirrels needed something they couldn’t get in ACME Village, they usually asked Pinky to run the errand for them.

“Yeah, well, that’s life,” Slappy said. “Sometimes you’re a nomad with total freedom and other times you gotta flee with your nephew to a different country.”

Before Pinky could ask more questions, Skippy barreled downstairs with as many coins as he could carry. “I didn’t know how much to grab so I just took a handful,” Skippy said, dumping the currency onto a small side table.

Slappy picked up six coins from the pile and dropped them into a small drawstring bag, then tightened the strings and tossed the bag into Pinky’s wagon. “You can have these. I’ve got plenty more lying around,” she said.

“If you're sure then,” Pinky said, picking up his wagon handle and turning it around. “Love to stay, but Papa’s leaving for the fair soon and I gotta see him off!”

“Tell him we said hi!” Skippy shouted, and Pinky saluted back.

Slappy yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “And I’m hitting the hay again. It’s too damn early, and I’m too tired to censor my swearing in front of kids.”

o-o-o-o-o

After his visit to Slappy’s tree, Pinky decided to kill some time at ACME Village’s fountain, where he could enjoy the fine spray of water and run in circles along the stone rim. It was always fun seeing how fast he could go without tipping into the water.

“Sorry!” he shouted as he accidentally trod over freshly washed sheets that a woman had been folding next to the fountain. She made an indignant noise and carried her basket of laundry away, nose high in the air.

And the whispers started up again.

“That mouse may be a beauty, but he is way too peculiar for his own good.”

“You have to wonder if he’s feeling well.”

“Always a dreamy, far-off look on his face.”

On his tenth lap around the fountain, a flock of sheep strolled by, guided by a young shepherd from behind. Two fluffy ewes jumped onto the fountain rim next to Pinky and drank the water. Pinky smiled and stroked their soft wool, and the ewes bleated in contentment.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Pinky whispered into their ears. “Don’t go blabbing this to anyone now...but I believe Papa’s a shoo-in for that blue ribbon!”

One of the ewes turned and nibbled on his ear, and Pinky laughed as her blocky teeth tugged and tickled his fur. He gently pried her jaw open and his ear popped out of her mouth, dripping wet with sheep saliva.

As Pinky prepared to slide off the fountain rim and onto the small bag of money he’d gotten from Slappy, a regal fanfare went off in the distance, thundering hoofbeats growing ever closer.

A messenger in a white powdered wig blew his coronet and cleared his throat.

“HEAR YE! HEAR YE! MAKE WAY FOR HIS ROYAL MAJESTY, PRINCE SNOWBALL AND HIS HUNTING PARTY!”

The messenger’s declaration sent every man, woman, and child running towards the plaza, gathering in front of the entrance of the local tavern, the centerpoint of all social activities in ACME Village.

The hunting party rode in on their enormous horses, spearheaded by the ruler of the province, Prince Snowball. Though only a small hamster, he was famed by all for his keen mind and ability to get results on whatever he set out to accomplish.

Though dressed in only a simple red shirt and breeches for hunting, the only signs of his higher status being the golden crown upon his head and the expensive black horse he rode, his presence commanded respect and awe.

Behind him, a hunting party consisting of the best huntsmen and archers in the land dragged an enormous buck, two wild boars, and several pheasants into view.

“People of ACME Village, tonight we shall dine on these fine specimens of the animal kingdom!” Snowball announced as everyone bowed in fear of a noble’s anger. “Everyone’s presence is required, for I have a further declaration that shall lift this derelict province out of the ashes and into a glorious future!”

His pink eyes were sharp, but beneath that layer of intelligence, there was an undertone of something that didn’t feel right. Pinky couldn’t explain it, but he always just had this odd, icky feeling that crawled up his spine whenever he saw Snowball.

The crowd straightened up, cheering and clapping and praising Prince Snowball’s name for bringing them such good fortune with the promise of more to come.

Pinky’s ear twitched. There was a soft, desperate sound mixed in with the roars of the captivated audience.

And to the left side of the crowd, there was a tiny lamb whose back leg was tangled in a large fishing net. The mother ewe was both nuzzling the lamb in comfort and trying to pull the net off with her teeth, but to no avail.

The shepherd never noticed his sheep were in trouble, too caught up in hailing Prince Snowball to notice one of his charges was stuck.

Pinky hopped off the fountain and slowly walked over to the thrashing lamb and his mother, putting his hands up to show them he wasn’t a threat. The lamb bleated in panic, and the mother eyed Pinky warily.

“May I help? I’m good at untangling stuff,” Pinky asked. He’d gotten a lot of practice when Papa occasionally tangled himself up in threads and wires.

The ewe regarded him for a long moment, then nuzzled the back of her lamb’s head, letting him bury his head into her wool. The lamb’s trembling stopped, his back leg still.

It was a sweet gesture, one that seemed so familiar to him, even though his own mother had long passed. He remembered that feeling of warmth and safety from so long ago, the last time he felt like he was truly home.

Wiping a stray tear from his eye, Pinky untangled the mesh from the lamb’s leg, starting from the top and slowly moving down to the hoof.

“There you go, baby,” Pinky said once the leg was completely free. The lamb pulled his hoof out of the netting, gave it a good shake, then joyfully pranced and bleated around his mother and Pinky.

The mother gave Pinky a tiny nod, bleated to her little one, and together they rejoined their flock. The shepherd was still ignoring his flock in favor of Prince Snowball. Pinky couldn’t see him anymore from the ground.

Pinky picked up his wagon handle, ready to go home and help Papa hitch everything up to Pharfignewton.

Then he felt a pair of fingers pluck the feather he’d lovingly tucked behind his ear. Pinky turned to get his feather back, and jumped when Snowball was just inches from his face.

“Hello, Pinky,” Snowball said. He smiled, but it was more out of smugness than a real smile.

Pinky’s ears lowered, but then he remembered his manners. “Bonjour, Prince Snowball. May I have my feather please? A really nice bird gave that to me.”

Snowball frowned, holding the feather out of Pinky’s reach. The feather crinkled in his tight grip. “How could you possibly need this? It’s hardly good quality for even the cheapest quills.”

“Poit. It doesn’t need to be a quill to make me happy,” Pinky replied.

Snowball rolled his eyes, tossing the feather behind him. Pinky tried to grab it, but it was caught on a gust of wind and drifted to the ground. It landed in a mud puddle, soaking the barbs of the feather and staining it brown.

“Pinky, get your head out of the clouds and pay attention to important matters,” Snowball’s lip curled as he blocked Pinky from retrieving his feather. “Such as showing royals courtesy when they address a peasant like you.”

“Excuse me, Snowball,” Pinky said politely, going around the hamster to pick up his feather. The damage didn’t look too bad. Still, he tried to be careful when he cleaned it with his apron.

Snowball crossed his arms, and the town’s whispers started up again.

How dare he not show proper respect to Snowball, does he fancy himself higher than a prince, why would Snowball pay him any individual attention and not someone more deserving.

“That’s Prince Snowball to you.” Snowball’s fur bristled for a moment, but he took a deep breath and put his arms around Pinky’s shoulders instead. “The whole town's talking about you and your lack of...purpose. And we can’t have that, you realize. After all, a machine requires all of its cogs and gears to run smoothly, otherwise it won’t work.”

“Bet his crackpot father would know something about that!” one of Snowball’s men chortled.

Everyone laughed, even Snowball, who rarely did so. An unfamiliar feeling boiled in Pinky’s stomach.

“Don’t talk about my father that way!” Pinky snapped. His inventions were amazing and he was going to do well at the fair! They didn’t know how hard Papa worked on his inventions!

Snowball glared at his men. “Yes, don’t talk about his father that way, you fools!” he hissed like Pinky hadn’t heard him laughing just seconds ago.

“He’s not a crackpot! His invention’s gonna win the blue ribbon cause it was made with smarts and love, you’ll see!” Pinky declared, just as an explosion went off in the distance.

And he knew exactly where that explosion had come from.

“I have to go. Goodbye!” Pinky dragged his wagon behind him, setting off for the cottage he and Papa called home.

“It’s a pity and a sin,

He doesn’t quite fit in.

He really is a funny mouse,

A beauty but a funny mouse,

He really is a funny mouse,

THAT PIN-”

The sharp, high-pitched crack of a rifle interrupted the village’s song, and everyone ran for cover.

“WILL YA SHUT UP? SOME OF US ARE TRYIN’ TA SLEEP!” Slappy shouted from her tree, her screech blowing tiles and lumber from the roofs of buildings.

Just a provincial life in this little town. Pinky ran across the cobblestone bridge, wondering if he truly had the right to ask for something more than that.

o-o-o-o-o

He hurried over to the cellar, where smoke trailed from the gaps of the heavy wooden doors. Pinky opened the entrance, and a smoky cloud blew right in his face. He coughed and waved it away, hiding his nose in his dress as he hurried over to Papa, who’d been thrown onto his back. A pile of broken wooden planks covered him.

In the corner, Madeleine sputtered, her gears and dials spinning wildly before she finally quieted down, one loose spring sending a gear crashing into a wall.

“Dagnabbit, Madeleine!” Papa cursed, stumbling as he extracted himself from the pile of wooden planks. Pinky grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet, checking him over for any injuries. Luckily, there were no bruises or splinters to be found. “Don’t you stall out on me now!”

Pinky smiled. Papa’s string of random gibberish and mutterings of smart inventor words he couldn’t understand was something he’d been familiar with from a young age. No matter where they lived, it was just one of those things that came with home.

Papa huffed, untying his apron with all his tools and tossing it to the ground. “She’ll never work in time for the fair! What was I thinking?” he lamented. “It’s not too late. Maybe I can cobble something else together quickly! Yes, I’ll just take the doowhatzit out of Madeleine, combine it with the kaleidomajiggy from the old washer, and-”

“You always say that, Papa,” Pinky said, hugging his father around the shoulders. Papa rested his hands over Pinky’s with a sigh. “Don’t worry. I believe Madeleine will work, and she’ll win you that blue ribbon and help you become an inventor for the history books! Narf! Just like Benjamin Franklin, ‘cept without all the kite-flying.”

“You really think so?” Papa asked, his frown turning to a hopeful smile.

“Course I do,” Pinky grinned.

A determined look crossed Papa’s face, and he tied his apron around his waist, nearly tripping over it in the process.

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s fix ‘er up!” Papa said, laying down on a flat, low cart and pushing himself under the broken stove that made up Madeleine’s main body. “So how was your morning in town?”

“A little birdie gave me a feather. I found a pretty stone by the pond. And I delivered the acorns to the Squirrels. Did you know Slappy used to be a part of a traveling troupe? I didn’t.” Pinky recanted his morning to Papa as tools clinked and scratched against metal. “Oh, and I guess you’ll be missing Prince Snowball’s feast tonight. They’ll have venison and wild boar there.”

“A feast? That sounds nice. Much better than inn food,” Papa mused. As usual, only part of what Pinky said ever registered with him. “Are you going?”

“I don’t know yet,” Pinky admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I love a good party...but Prince Snowball is-um, what’s a good word for him?”

“Rich? Smart? Confident?” Papa suggested. “He’s been talkin’ to you a lot lately.”

So everyone’s noticed, even Papa who spent much of his time in the cellar that doubled as a workshop.

“He has,” Pinky agreed. “And he says he can give me a purpose. But...I don’t know. I don’t think he’s right for me. Maybe I’m just as odd as they say I am.”

It was the same everywhere they settled. No matter what Pinky tried to do, the whispers always followed him. He noticed strange things, he wore strange clothes, he and Papa were always strangers in towns where everyone knew each other from birth.

Papa slid out from under Madeleine, wearing a silly helmet on his head that gave him huge, bug-like eyes.

“My son is odd?” Papa asked in disbelief, and Pinky laughed. The helmet always made Papa look silly. “Don’t know where these folks get their ideas from…anyway, I think Madeleine’s all ready to go. Care to give her a whirl?”

“Zort! Am I!” Pinky clapped his hands together. Papa pointed to a lever, which Pinky pulled with all his might.

Madeleine’s bells and whistles sounded, water steadily pumping through her system while steam filled her stove. Pulleys and gears turned along her sides, reaching the front. Her dials quivered until they reached the red zone, and the ax at her front swung down, scoring a deep cut in a block of firewood. The ax swung faster and faster, until one final split the firewood in half and sent one chunk flying.

Pinky and Papa ducked, and the chunk flew over their heads and landed perfectly on a pile of firewood against the wall.

“She works!” Pinky shouted in joy, kissing one of Madeleine’s wooden wheels. “You did it, Papa!”

“I did?” Papa murmured. “I did! 265th time’s the charm, Pinky! Look out fair, I’m on my way!”

o-o-o-o-o

Within the hour, Madeleine was wheeled out from the workshop, covered and tied up with a tarp, and hitched to Pharfignewton.

“Bye, Fig,” Pinky said, hugging his beloved horse’s muzzle. “Keep Papa on track to the fair, okay? You know how he likes taking shortcuts.”

Pharfignewton whinnied gently, planting a sloppy kiss on top of Pinky’s head.

Then Pinky embraced Papa, who returned the hug with the same enthusiasm. And he was reminded of how the mouse and horse he considered his home would be leaving for some time. He wished he could go with them, but someone had to keep house and he was the best one for the job. It wouldn’t be for long, but he’d miss them all the same.

A stray tear dropped. Just another reason he was considered odd. He cried so easily.

“Chin up, Pinky,” Papa murmured, rubbing a soothing circle into Pinky’s back. “I’ll win that blue ribbon along with the prize money, and we’ll begin our lives anew within the week.”

Through his tears, Pinky gave him a wobbly smile. Then he helped Papa onto Pharfignewton’s back.

“Take care!” Pinky called as Papa flicked the reins, and Pharfignewton trotted off at a steady pace, dragging Madeleine behind her. He watched them from atop the highest hill in the meadow, as they went further down the well-worn trail that merchants used for their travels.

Then they were nothing but specks in the distance, swallowed by the thick, twisted branches of the forest. It was an unusual forest, one where the trees lost their leaves in early autumn, making the trees look scarier than they actually were for half the year.

With nothing else to do outside, Pinky went back into the empty cottage. He’d had three years to become familiar with this house, full of odds and ends from Papa’s inventions alongside their meager belongings.

Mama’s cloak hung from a place of honor on a coat rack by the door, one of the few belongings Pinky could take along no matter where they lived.

Hours passed, and Pinky already missed the banging and exploding and sputtering of Papa’s inventions. It was just too quiet without them.

He cleaned the red feather and pretty stone, then added them to his collection. Feathers and rocks didn’t take up a lot of room, and like Mama’s cloak, they could easily be taken to new places as well. He was just very careful not to lose them.

The wagon was tucked away by the door, and the small bag of money was tucked inside a flower pot. It was how Papa always stored money, and Pinky had picked up the habit.

There wasn’t much to do. He’d cleaned the cottage several days ago, cellar notwithstanding. That was Papa’s territory, and he always had trouble finding tools when Pinky put them away.

Suppertime approached.

He could either cook dinner or go to the feast.

Didn’t matter what he chose. He would be lonely either way.

A sharp rap on the door startled him out of his thoughts. How strange. People only knocked at this time when there was an emergency.

“Sorry for taking so long. I wasn’t expecting-” Pinky opened the door, and he immediately stood face-to-face with Prince Snowball. They were so close that their noses nearly touched. “-to see you here, Snowball. Um, this is a surprise. Poit.”

Snowball’s pink eyes narrowed in annoyance, and Pinky remembered that Snowball preferred to be addressed with his full title. “Yes, it’s not often that someone of my standing chooses to grace a peasant’s home with their presence.”

Behind Snowball, there was an entourage of townsfolk. Many wore their Sunday best, which was still quite cheap compared to the royal finery that Snowball bore. A fine red coat, a decorative golden cape slung over one shoulder, and white dress pants. A shiny crown embedded with rubies and emeralds sat atop his head.

“I thought you were all at the tavern for the feast,” Pinky admitted.

Snowball laughed, but it was a joyless laugh. He stepped across the threshold without being invited in.

“Why, Pinky. Your hovel is positively primeval,” Snowball said, wrinkling his nose in disdain. He tugged Mama’s cloak off its hook, stared at it for a moment, then carelessly tossed it behind him. “If this is how you live, then it’s a truly auspicious time for me to come and offer you an opportunity out of this squalor.”

Before Pinky could ask what auspicious was, though he figured it had something to do with Austria, Snowball harshly dug his fingers into Pinky’s shoulders. Pinky tried to pry them off, but the fingers just burrowed further into the fabric of his dress.

“Not to worry, dear Pinky,” Snowball said. “Today is the day all your dreams come true.”

“You mean my dream to find a home and a porpoise? Because I don’t know if we have enough money to live by the ocean. Beachside properties get very pricey, you know,” Pinky asked.

Snowball waved off that concern. “You forget that finances are of no consequence for me. But I digress. For now, allow me to plant the image of a wonderful future in your vacant mind.”

“Okay, but I don’t know how you’re gonna water it,” Pinky said.

“Picture this,” Snowball demanded, leading Pinky around the cottage. “A magnificent castle. Two golden thrones, mine higher than the queen’s of course. A few summer homes to expand my sphere of influence. A court of other royals, lesser nobles, while the servants do all the menial work around the fires and kitchen. We’ll have...oh, six or seven.”

“Servants?” Pinky grinned nervously as Snowball leaned in with a chuckle.

“Castles, Pinky. How else would I showcase my power?” Snowball corrected. “And the townsfolk shall become our servants. It will save me the trouble of setting up a hiring process anyway. Besides, you’d appreciate having familiar faces around. Less of an adjustment period.”

Pinky freed himself from Snowball’s grip. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t,” Snowball shrugged. “But in simplest terms, I require a queen. One who is good at smiling, waving, and entertainment.”

Wouldn’t that person become a princess rather than a queen though?

Snowball must’ve seen the question coming. He paused in front of the mirror to adjust his crown.

“There is but one title higher than a prince, Pinky,” Snowball said once he was finished. “In order to qualify for the kingship, it’s required of me to marry first. And do you know who that queen will be?”

“Elizabeth? Victoria?” Pinky wilted under Snowball’s intense stare. “Um...Cleopatra, final answer?”

Snowball shook his head. “It will be you, Pinky.”

A queen? He’d always just been the inventor’s son. An outcast no matter where he lived. How could he possibly be a queen?

“That’s a very generous offer, Snowball,” Pinky said, once he finally found his words again.

“Isn’t it, though?” Snowball said smugly. “You and your father will live in an extravagant new home as you perform your queenly duties, and I will be forever hailed as King Snowball. Both of us shall benefit.”

Maybe he and Papa could live in better conditions. Maybe they didn’t have to move around anymore. Maybe they could afford shoes for Pharfignewton. But at the same time…it wouldn’t be right.

It wouldn’t be home.

Smiling, waving, entertaining. Was that all he was good for? Was that all Snowball thought he could do?

“I thought...marriage was for love,” Pinky said softly. “That’s what Papa always said.”

Snowball rolled his eyes. “It’s a political marriage. It doesn’t have to be built on love.”

Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.

It was one of the earliest morals Pinky had learned.

Wish for a home, only for it to be a castle. Wish for a purpose, and it’s to be married without love as a foundation.

“Snowball...I’m speechless,” Pinky said, backing out the front door. He nearly tripped over the welcome mat, but regained his footing. “I...I really don’t know what to say.”

Not even a narf would help him out of this situation.

“Say that you’ll marry me, Pinky,” Snowball replied, and he stalked toward Pinky like a cunning predator, backing him against the edge of the porch. “And after you say yes, I will announce our engagement to the rest of ACME Village at the feast. Attendance is mandatory for a reason.”

“I’m really, really sorry, Snowball,” Pinky said. He’d backed up too far, and the heels of his feet dangled precariously over the edge. Instincts kicking in, Pinky grabbed Snowball’s shoulder to pull himself to safety, though he underestimated his strength. Snowball yelped as he was pulled over the edge, falling into the mud puddle by the staircase.

Oops.

“Sorry, Snowball! But I just don’t deserve you,” Pinky admitted.

The mud-covered crown slipped around Snowball’s head, covering his eyes until he took it off with an annoyed grunt.

Pinky slipped back into the house, grabbed a small towel, and handed it to one of Snowball’s men.

Claude, if he remembered right.

“He can have that one,” Pinky told Claude, who gingerly took the towel like it was a fragile item.

Snowball crawled out of the mud, his royal clothing covered in gunk and sticks. He stomped out of the mud, hands clenching against his sides.

Snowball’s brow lowered, his pink eyes hidden in humiliation and a quiet, seething fury.

Slowly, Pinky retreated into the cottage and hid behind the door. There was something about that look that terrified him. And it wasn’t the fun kind of fear, either.

“You will consider my offer, Pinky. Make no mistake about that,” Snowball spat, his scrutinizing gaze directly on Pinky, despite the door between them. “Claude, quit being daft and hand me that towel already!”

Pinky waited in the cottage until he could no longer hear their voices or footsteps. They must’ve gone back to the tavern for the feast.

He didn’t feel hungry though. Snowball’s proposal left a sour taste in his mouth, like he’d just sucked on a lemon.

“He asked me to marry him,” Pinky said to his mother’s cloak, which was still crumpled on the floor. He gently picked it up, brushed off the wrinkles, and put it on. The fabric was warm against his back, like being wrapped in a ginormous embrace. “But he doesn’t love me. Narf! You can’t have a marriage without love!”

He thought of all the married couples he knew in ACME Village. The baker couple, who were constantly at each other’s throats. Gerard the butcher was always making googly eyes at any woman who bought cuts of meat, much to his wife’s frustration. There was the stressed lady who had to drag her six kids around town while her husband played cards and darts at the tavern.

And Pinky thought of his parents. His mother had fallen in love with his father’s inventive streak when she was the daughter of a town official and Papa was just the crazy mouse whose inventions blew up a lot.

He tied the cloak tighter around himself. Unable to take the silence of the cottage and the stifling influence of the village much longer, he allowed his feet to carry him out of the cottage and to wherever they wanted to go.

He sprinted into the unknown. He wouldn’t be afraid of whatever he found there. The autumn wind blew golden, red, and brown leaves in whichever direction it wished as Pinky climbed the highest hill in the gorgeous flower-filled meadow.

The peak of the hill was his favorite spot, and he was surprised that nobody else came out here to enjoy the view with him. Trees lost their colorful leaves so they could sleep for the winter, the river splashed and babbled along its banks, and proud mountains with mysterious cloud-covered peaks rose high above the landscape.

What laid beyond villages and towns, he didn’t know.

There was something in that great wide somewhere for him. Just a feeling, an inkling, a hunch.

But could he truly go exploring it when his home was here?

Maybe he could convince Papa. Somehow. When Papa came back with the prize money, they could fit Pharfignewton with her shoes and they could all explore together!

Staring into the autumn landscape, Pinky sank to his knees, careful not to squish the daisies and dandelions around him.

Maybe that was home, but…

He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Would he ever figure that out?

He loved Papa, but he couldn’t really talk to him. And Slappy had her hands full with such an energetic nephew. Pinky didn’t want to impose. Everyone in the village gossiped about him, like he couldn’t understand.

But he did.

And it hurt.

“Would be nice to talk to someone. Anyone, really,” he whispered, and he blew on a cluster of dandelion puffs. His wish scattered along the wind.

Pinky picked up more dandelion puffs. If he blew more around, maybe his wish would come true. And dandelion flowers were very pretty.

Maybe they were considered weeds, but how could anyone call such a sunshine-y yellow flower a pest? He didn’t get it.

Then a distant, familiar neigh caught him off-guard.

Pinky thumped his hand against his ear. Maybe he was missing Pharfignewton so much that he heard her voice?

But he’d recognize her magnificent white coat and spirited blue eyes anywhere.

“Easy, Pharfignewton! It’s okay!” Pinky cried. He scrambled up Pharfignewton’s leg, avoided her flailing hoof, and held onto her muzzle as she bucked and reared in sheer panic. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay…”

Pharfignewton quieted down, her frantic neighs melting into soft, worried nickers as Pinky stroked her nose. She stopped kicking, though she was wide-eyed with fear.

Madeleine wasn’t hitched to Pharfignewton. Nor was she wasn’t the only one missing…

And Pinky suddenly understood his horse’s panic.

“Pharfignewton, where’s Papa?” Pinky asked. “Is he okay? How did you get separated? Did he try another shortcut when I told him not to do it?”

Pharfignewton’s hooves shuffled, and Pinky forced himself to take a deep breath. He was scaring her with all these questions, so he nuzzled her between the eyes in apology. Still, his heart raced with panic.

From the top of the hill, he saw thick, gray clouds rolling in from the mountains. The temperature was dropping fast.

An early winter would be upon them. They had to find Papa quickly.

“Please, Pharfignewton. We’ve gotta find him,” Pinky pleaded.

She whinnied in agreement, and galloped into the strange forest with all its dangerous, twisted branches before Pinky had a chance to settle in his usual spot at the base of her neck.

Don’t worry, Papa. I’m on my way.

End AN: Well, this is beast is complete (no pun intended).

Yeah, poor Pinky’s usual charm doesn’t really work here. Poor mouse.

Slappy is fun to write, not gonna lie. Love her cartoony antics. She’s also led quite the interesting life in this AU.

The reason Snowball didn’t show up sooner was because I wasn’t sure how to tweak the proposal scene to fit. Cause for one thing, Snowball is way smarter than Gaston, but just as arrogant to boot. So I changed Snowball’s motivation into marrying Pinky because it will help him gain a higher title than a prince. He doesn’t actually love Pinky in this AU, but he’s very annoyed at him for that stunt with the mud puddle (though it’s accidental on Pinky’s part rather than intentional like Belle’s).

The reason Snowball doesn’t go seeking a princess’s hand to gain the kingship is cause he tried that already. It was Billie of a nearby kingdom. It didn’t go well.

Also yes the village is named ACME Village because I’m lazy and can’t come up with anything better.

#pinky and the brain #patb snowball #beauty and the beast au #patb fanfiction

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