#I miss my little mayoral candidate | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pentition · 6 months

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To be on the safe side... Spoilers:

I feel like the antagonists of this game were always clear to me (personally) just due to the lack of content given to them. Yeah, it was enough for players to determine whether or not they liked a character but in terms of missions and interactions I feel like there's a bare minimum. And because of that, it made it more obvious to me who the antagonists were set up to be.

Mayor Gale in Portia had some neat missions and interactions that made things more personal during your character's residency there. Mayor Trudy doesn't arrive in Sandrock until later, and while I can only recount one side mission I do also recount little interactions and commentary she made. Whereas with Minister Matilda, she only existed in the context of the main story missions for the most part. There was a detachment to become personal which contrasted her friendly demeanor.

I feel like with Matilda, it's a little easier to overlook her compared to the others initially. Minister of the Church means the way she carries herself is kind of to be expected. Especially for those who played Portia and when put beside Miguel - this reserved, friendly enough but still an authority figure demeanor is a given. It always felt strange to me that there wasn't much personalizing going on but it wasn't until Trudy returned to head Sandrock that the vibe I was getting became clearer. The way Matilda behaves towards Trudy is very condescending. Often being friendly and using a friendly voice even when her words aren't matching up. Or even her actions (being the face of Sandrock instead of Trudy).

We see more of a tonal shift of Matilda keeping her control over Sandrock and its citizens. Don't get me wrong, I understand why it can look like it's just people having connected to Matilda in Trudy's absence. They got used to the firm but kind all the same hand. And the mayor, by comparison, is so much gentler and less assertive to regain people's attention immediately.

With Miguel and Pen I just had red flags because people generated a decent amount of interest in them both I feel like, yet each update wasn't really adding much to them. They may not have been as popular as some other candidates, but even before Logan was announced they were still pulling at a decent level for interest from the players. And seeing that we got nothing time and time again it made me think of Portia once more - with Aadit.

Sandrock did a better job integrating these characters into the town, whereas with Aadit he kind of fell into the background and then faded out of even that. Which, for his character, made sense but from a gameplay perspective was a mistake I think. Unfortunately, the feeling betrayed by Miguel and especially Pen for me doesn't really stem too much from their actions. I more feel betrayed Pathea didn't commit more attention to them. If you want that betrayal, more missions and interactions should have been there. More diving into the characters. Hell, even more possible outcomes for them.

They do well in some instances, like with Unsuur, and his crush on the builder. How that comes up in interactions before you accept or reject his interest. Things woven in so nicely to determine the flow of a relationship and what it will be.

It feels like with Miguel, it's especially a missed opportunity. There's a lot in that fella that could be shared or conveyed in interesting ways. Mind you, I did a full restart of my game after the full release so I'm only going off tidbits of info I've seen cropping up on him post the Sandrock takeover. But even before then, in the lead up or during his imprisonment and realization of his actual role for Duvos, I feel like there's a loss of character development. Or... an expansion on what's already there so we can understand him more and see him in a more honest light.

With Pen I feel like there was potential whether he turned out to be good (what a twist!) but even also if he (likely) was going to be one of the bad guys. It makes sense for Miguel's perspective to view what they are doing as protecting Sandrock. He believes they are choosing a lesser evil, to some extent. But for Pen, it's interesting, he's the Protector of Sandrock but is also a man who loves violence. It feels like a missed opportunity to not have had him playing that up in missions or in the background more. And in doing so, earned more trust. Whereas him appearing as all talk makes him more suspicious. It calls into question his competence and morality early on. It's not like Pen hides when he doesn't given a shit about something but the comedic poor excuses or blatant disregard makes him look incompetent in the story. Whereas, if you hangout with him and take him on a stroll outside of town, you'll see how quickly he executes monsters. So we know he's not lacking in competence then when it comes to battle, so then it just instills it's a morality thing that he isn't rushing to play hero.

Which, to an extent, is definitely believable. Maybe if he was in the background trying to intercept Logan and we got more insight to that it would make more sense. As it stands, he really is just a lazy cat that gets up only when he wants to. For someone so violent and an outright bully, he doesn't actually do much beyond verbal stuff.

Pen also makes it apparent he isn't one to be ordered around. He humors Miguel and seems to only listen to Matilda on the more serious missions. But even that could be liable to change if he felt like it, I think. It makes me wonder if his loyalty to Duvos is because he can get the most fighting done via being on their side. Or, if the rumors are true and he was an experiment, if his loyalty stems from a soldier mentality. But that has me calling into question how loyal he'll be in the long run when he's so self-centered. Unless Duvos is providing his bloodthirst and other needs well, I could see him not having a reason to leave.

...Except, it would be nice to have that option, wouldn't it? I feel like Sandrock provided the perfect opportunity for it. If not in the main story of the game, then a possible DLC would be interesting. Let him have gained friendship and shoved it aside for loyalty to Duvos. Let him have played it off as no big deal to him when really, in the silence alone and imprisoned, he begins to feel the weight of it.

For the main game story, I could see him sticking to Duvos through the town takeover and even in his boss fight. If we're talking Pathea silliness, what if the mirror jogged his memory on how the builder made him that mirror and then helped free him from it? And how Burgess helped, too and then his epiphany to be kinder to him that he poorly fulfilled. Memories and emotions can work like a chain reaction, especially when instilled into a person who clearly hasn't known genuine friendship. He could have came around in the Matilda fight and space punched her up there, a prime opportunity. Then been taken in for questioning.

We have the builder put into the positioning of giving character statements to others in the game. Maybe the option to have Pen serve his sentence in Sandrock and actually get hands on in making it better after what he did would have been fitting? Portia allowed Tody to stay despite his actions - which, sure, are lesser than a Duvos invasion but were also still very damning.

If we're talking DLC potentials, why not have Pen break out and escape into the desert. Word comes back to Sandrock and the builder is the one to find him.

There is a lot of potential with integrating Miguel and Pen into Sandrock more without it changing Pathea's formula of storytelling and how they do missions and interactions. Also I'd potentially add Matilda to this but she's coasting in space last I recall, lmao. But her backstory interests me enough to want to have a dialogue about it in game.

Anyways, there are so many tidbits in the game that could really pave the way for such developments. I hope maybe future DLC will expand on them because I just like the idea of Miguel having a redemption arc and learning beyond his beliefs. Pen becoming compromised because he's in an environment that isn't Duvos and it's healthier for him. And Matilda, we'll see. Still collecting my thoughts with her.

At the end of the day this is just be airing out thoughts into the void but if you made it this far. Hi!

#musings #mtas pen #ha. proof reading? who do you think i am?!

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cerealboxlore · 1 year

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Meet my original Captain Marvel villain!

Some of you may know about my obsession with DC Captain Marvel, I know I hide it very well, but it's true. Billy Batson is my absolute favorite character, my silly little guy. He's inspired me to become a better writer and artist, and allowed me to meet incredible people on this platform. It was only a matter of time before my love of OC creation mixed in with my love for Captain Marvel (shazam).

I rarely create OCs for in canon things, but I just adore this one so much.

Her name is Amity Briargaard; a woman reported missing from the 1950's; a wife, a mother, and up and coming Fawcett mayor candidate, who was unfortunately frozen in time during a magical blizzard in Fawcett City now known as the "Fawcett City Freeze" incident.

Not only had the bridge covered in ice caused her car to swerve off a bridge and into the icy lake below, but her car had already been tampered with thanks to her opponent for City mayor. With the combined efforts of the car exploding with illegal chemicals and the ice of the magical blizzard, Amity was kept frozen somehow at the bottom of the lake, for several decades, until one day, she began to thaw.

She had been kept perfectly healthy and safe, encased in those layers of ice for decades, but her biology had effectively changed forever. As she thawed, her skin did, too. Her body melted into a mysterious liquid state, monstrous in nature and cold to the touch. Most would be counting their blessings just to be alive, but Amity was not so grateful. Decades of her life had been taken away from her, and now her own body had become something so terrifying. Her new body didn't even allow for her to cry in mourning over her children having grown older and dying before she did.

Wanting this wrong to be righted, Amity sought justice the only way her melted mind knew how: revenge. Revenge against the descendants of those who wronged her in her past, even if they were completely innocent. Time was something she lost, but she could take it away from others very easily now.

I'm still creating things about her and finding ways for her to fit in to the DC universe (my version of it), but I like to think her powers are hydro manipulation, along with magical properties/traits that were infused into her body during the blizzard.

I think she really wants to learn how to turn back time with ancient magical artifacts she tries to steal.

Amity would totally have beef with Captain Marvel, the champion of magic, over not being able to help her turn back time and change the course of events for the entire world in an instant.

That's all I have for her so far, but I can and will talk a storm about her at a moments notice

Do y"all have any DC OC's? Lemme know!

#dc captain marvel #original character #oc #Creating Oc's because I'm silly #drawing #If you see spelling errors #no you didn't

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leiamorgainedelalune · 2 years

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The Reckoning

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark’s Daughter OC

A Dark AU Fic

Chapter 1

Fear is withering the soul

At the point of no return.

We must be the change we wish to see.

Author's Note

The story starts prior to the prequel and will tell how they ended up as they were in the prequel. The italic lyric sections are from the song posted at the beginning of the chapter. You can also get the song info from the playlist. - Leia

See who I am,

Break through the surface.

Reach for my hand,

Let's show them that we can

Free our minds and find a way.

The world is in our hands,

This is not the end.

Alexandra Stark waited patiently for her interview. This could make her future with what she planned to study, not caring if her father approved or not. He was never involved enough with her life to truly know her as it was. She took a deep breath in to try to calm her nerves. She'd dressed in a nice pantsuit with heels, kept her dark hair to a conservative bun with her bangs hanging down, and her makeup simple just to be sure she looked like the perfect candidate. She just didn't understand why her stomach was in knots when she had been so confident.

"Miss Stark, he's ready for you," a woman in her late thirties called to her.

Alexandra stood up and smoothed out her clothes before following the assistant down the office corridor that lead to the Mayor's office. She was shocked to learn upon confirmation of her interview that she would be only meeting with him and his Chief of Staff, Elizabeth Pierce-Scott, instead of any other parties. She thought she'd only applied to be an intern in Mayor Pierce's office, yet she was being granted an interview like it was for a much bigger position. The door opened and she was lead inside to be greeted with smiles by both Mayor Alexander Pierce and his Chief of Staff daughter, Elizabeth. Alexandra found it a bit on the unexpected side to find them to be so warm.

"Miss Alexandra Stark," the assistant stated, introducing her to them before turning and leaving, closing the door behind her.

Alexander Pierce had to hide his feelings upon laying eyes on Alexandra Stark. She looked so much like her mother that it felt like a bittersweet reunion. His Kitty, his youngest daughter was the mother this poor, young woman had never known and tragically would never know. He could tell by the look in Lizzie's eyes that she saw her little sister in the girl too. Kitty was lost to them all before Alexandra's first birthday and the only person to blame for that was Tony Stark.

"Please have a seat, Alexandra," he spoke kindly, not allowing his smile to waver.

"Please call me Alexa, Mayor Pierce," she responded with a smile to match his as she took a seat. "Everyone does."

"Then you must call me Lizzie," Elizabeth chimed in with a slight laugh.

"When the only other person in the office present is Lizzie, you may call me Alexander," Pierce added. "I won't require such formality all the time."

"That is nice and comforting," Alexa replied.

"You Starks have been on the West Coast for quite some time now. I see you're back here for school, is there right?"

"Yes, sir. I'm attending Columbia despite my dad's objections."

"Your resume lists you as a double major in Political Science and Communications," Lizzie began.

"With a minor in English Language and Literature. My Dad is so disappointed I didn't follow in his footsteps."

Her interruption of Lizzie and quick sarcasm about Tony Stark's feelings on her chosen course of study causes Alexander to laugh. She took after him and not her father. He couldn't be more proud! Yes, she was brilliant, that he knew. He'd seen her school records and that she'd graduated valedictorian of her class at Prep School. She had every top university vying to get her to attend with scholarship offers.

"And your post graduate intentions?" inquired Alexander.

"Law school," she quickly answered.

"Oh I already know your father loathes that idea."

"More than anything in this world!"

"Do a good job for me, and I'll give my friends at Harvard Law a call for you when the time comes."

Her eyes lit up at his words. He smiled and she gave him one to match. Lizzie was giving him a look with a raised eyebrow, showing that she already had a feeling that she knew what her father was doing.

"You're going to make a great addition to the office," he expressed with a welcoming tone. "What do you think, Lizzie?"

"As long as you're willing to learn anything we need you to do that you don't already know how to do then I believe so as well," Lizzie agreed.

"Are you serious?" Alexa questioned in slight disbelief. "This is not the interview I expected."

"You gained skills at your Prep School and your grades were the top of your class. You're studying in one of the most ideal fields to be working with us. I don't see why we shouldn't give you the opportunity. Interns also are here to learn, not just work so you don't apply for these positions with mountains of experience."

"Lizzie will get you a schedule that doesn't interfere with school," Alexander explained. "Are you staying in your grandfather's penthouse? I knew Howard myself and even considered him a friend."

"Oh no, sir! That place is too big for me alone and I'd have to deal with dad when he visits," Alexa admitted. "I wish I had known him and my grandmother. I've only ever had my dad and that's not exactly been easy."

"Tony isn't the easiest person to know from my own experience and I've not spoken to him since your grandparents' funeral. I know he's not been the same since losing them. I know that loss does change a person. I know because the loss of one of my own children greatly affected my own family."

Alexa looked him directly in the eyes. She had listened to every word he spoke closely and carefully, paying attention to his voice for the changes in its tone. He was being completely sincere with her.

"Thank you," she smiled. "You're very kind."

"You'll find that he treats everyone on the staff like family," Lizzie divulged with a slight laugh. "Not just me."

"Welcome to the family!" Alexander exclaimed as he stood up and held out his hand with a wide smile.

"Very happy to join, sir!" Alexa beamed as she stood stood and placed a hand in his, firmly shaking in acceptance.

"Lizzie will take you to do the paperwork and scheduling. I'll have you mostly assisting her directly."

Alexa was beaming with happiness and excitement as she watched Lizzie smoothly stand up with her things and direct her towards the door with a warm smile. Her life in New York was starting out according to plan and she had three thousand miles of freedom between her and her father. The man was the most absentee parent in the world, but now that she was an adult, he wanted to be annoyingly overbearing. Alexa had sent messages through his assistant and closest thing to a real parent she'd ever known, Pepper Potts, to get him to back off or else. She was refusing to put up with Tony Stark's attempts to control her. She looked back at Mayor Alexander Pierce and gave him a last smile as he told his assistant over the speaker to "send him in" regarding his next appointment. Alexa then turned her attention back to Lizzie who was waiting for her at the door. Lizzie opened the door to the office and lead her back out into the hall, shutting the door behind them.

Alexa stuck close behind Lizzie down the narrow corridor of the office as Alexander's assistant walked the opposite direction, leading a man who Alexa assumed to be his next appointment towards his office. He was ruggedly handsome, though she tried not to stare, with a full beard and dark blonde hair. Alexa was finding it hard not to look at him. As they passed each other, the narrowness of the hallway forced them to touch and she could have sworn she felt sparks as they both came to a halt for a moment as their eyes met. She let her golden brown eyes longer on those deep blue eyes of his a bit too long because every part of her shuddered as he stared into her. This was way more than feeling butterflies. Who was he? We he let her hand to and the shock rocked through her, all she wanted to do was chase after him. She wasn't that girl. She was never that girl. This feeling though was something she could not fathom how to ever explain.

"Alexa, are you ok?" asked Lizzie.

"I have no idea," was her half breathless answer. "Who is that gorgeous man?"

Lizzie let out a laugh like it was an expected reaction to him.

"Oh, Alexa, that's Captain Steve Rogers and he has that effect on women," Lizzie informed her. "Let's get to HR so we can finalize your paperwork and schedule."

Steve Rogers had arrived at Mayor Pierce's office for another meeting with him. He was trying to get on the man's good side because he knew he had a huge grudge against Tony Stark. Steve just had yet to find out what had caused Pierce to basically hate Stark. He was determined to find out.

He was now being lead down the narrow hallway that lead to Pierce's office by his assistant. As he was being lead to the office, Pierce's daughter and Chief of Staff, Lizzie, was leading a beautiful young woman the opposite direction. Steve was trying hard not to stare but couldn't help himself between her dark hair, porcelain skin, supple lips along with perfect curves. He was looking at all the things he found attractive together in one woman and it was just enough to make his mouth water for a taste of her. He'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his life! The hallway was so narrow that as they passed by each other, they had no choice but to touch. Steve felt like he'd been struck by a bolt of lightning as he stopped dead in his tracks to find his blue eyes locking with her honey colored ones, eyes he wanted to get lost in. He wasn't sure how long he stood there staring into her eyes with his hand in hers but he felt drunk on the feeling of the touch of her hand. He found walking away to be so very hard, like one of the hardest things he'd done in a long time. He had to know who she was and he couldn't explain why other than the fact that barely touching her sent an electric current through him he never thought possible. One thing was for certain, those eyes of hers were going to haunt him until he did know her.

I'll come into your world,

See through your eyes.

I'll try to understand,

Before we lose what we have.

We just can't stop believing

Because we have to try.

We can rise above their truth and their lies.

The assistant lead him into Alexander Pierce's office, quietly introduced him, and left without a word. It seemed the Mayor managed to get himself on a heated phone call in the amount of time it took for him to be brought back to his office. The man motioned for Steve to take a seat as Steve watched him roll his eyes at the phone before telling the person on the other end that he "didn't give a fuck what they think" as he wasn't taking something back. Steve was now curious as to who he was talking to and what it was about. He quickly had his answer when Pierce sternly stared, "you don't rule the world, Stark" and slammed the phone down. Tony Stark was a man that he and Alexander Pierce had an equal and mutual distaste for, only for different reasons. Steve knew it would be much easier to take the man down with help.

"I'm sorry about that, Captain," Alexander acknowledged. "That man is insufferable!"

"That Stark is, sir," he responded. "Before I get into why I'm here, I must ask about the girl I passed by walking with Lizzie. Well, I shouldn't say girl, young woman, gorgeous young woman."

"She would be my newest intern hire and the reason I have a problem with Tony Stark right now because she's his daughter, Alexandra Stark. He wants me to rescind the offer."

"And, what did you say to him?"

"I said absolutely not. She's eighteen and applied for it herself. He doesn't rule my office. He can pull that shit in Los Angeles but not here."

"This is why I don't move."

"We make deals because I actually like you, Rogers."

"Thanks, Pierce. That's good to know. Now, I'm going to need an introduction to Miss Alexandra Stark, if you don't mind."

"She's not going to be another notch in your belt, Rogers."

"I wouldn't do that to her. It's not why I want the introduction."

"I'm going to need you to promise me that because I feel a special need to protect her from that asshole father of hers and anyone else that might hurt her."

"You know what type of man I am and it's not the kind of man like Tony. He uses women and throws them away without ever telling them his intentions. That's not my style as I'm always open and honest about my intentions from the beginning. You know I detest her father. I may even hate Tony, but I'd never make his daughter a notch in my belt."

"I do know that about you, Steve. Your reputation speaks for itself. You have the honor he's never had. What are you after then?"

"The key to taking everything from Stark is her, Pierce. She's his heir as his only child."

"People don't give you enough credit for your intelligence, Steve Rogers, and too many think you're just a dumb soldier. You just proved them all wrong. From now own, consider me your ally against Stark because I don't think I'd trust my own granddaughter in anyone else's hands but yours. I want to see Tony Stark fall myself."

"Excuse me did you say granddaughter?"

Alexander Pierce let out a slight laugh at the stunned expression that had formed in Steve Rogers' face. He was sure he'd heard of the rumors about Tony and Kitty. Steve shook his head slightly at the revelation. There'd been rumors of Tony Stark and many women over the years but Kitty Pierce was always more than a rumor. She and Tony had once been an item. The only rumor that no one could confirm was about her being his daughter's mother because Tony was determined to keep secrets there. However, Kitty Pierce had always made the most sense and Alexandra did look a great deal like her, except her eyes. Tony Stark truly did royally fuck up by crossing a man like Alexander Pierce.

Pierce laughed, "Oh, you mean you didn't figure out who her mother is already?"

"I should've known with all the rumors. It's not surprising and makes the most sense," Steve answered. "Did Tony have something to do with what happened to Kitty?"

"He had everything to do with it and after she'd given birth to his child, the bastard."

"Then consider us partners."

"I expect you to use your best charms at dinner tomorrow night and soon be calling you family."

"Dinner?"

"You and Alexandra will both have dinner at my home with my wife and I tomorrow evening. You will be a surprise for my granddaughter as I will ensure she's unaware of your invitation."

"You expect me to use that as a chance to ask her on a date?"

"Steve Rogers, I'm giving you my granddaughter and the only thing in this world I have left of my beloved daughter Kitty on a silver platter, so you better make it count."

"I will, sir."

"Be there at seven sharp. Jackie doesn't appreciate tardiness and don't forget flowers for Alexandra. And I swear, Rogers, if you hurt her I'll kill your myself."

"My intention is to hurt Tony, never her."

"Good. Then dress nice, but not for the theatre, as my wife would say. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

Steve gave the man a smile as he turned and left without a word, listening to him call Lizzie's office to have her extend the dinner invitation to Alexandra. He could feel a tinge of nerves as he left the Mayor's office and found his car in the parking garage. His loyal friend and head of security, Bucky Barnes, was leaning against it, smoking a cigarette.

"How'd it go?" He asked between hits.

"Better than I ever could have expected, Buck," Steve answered with a huge grin plastered across his face. "I actually laid eyes on her."

"Stark's daughter? No shit!"

"I've never seen a woman more beautiful."

"You're smitten, punk."

"Just because you got married, you big idiot, doesn't mean pick on me."

"Is Pierce going to help?"

"A better ally couldn't have fallen into my lap."

"I take it there's way more but you'll tell me at home?"

"Obviously. Besides I have dinner at Pierce's tomorrow night and she's going to be there."

"Whoa!"

"Can we just get home before you ask me more questions?"

The two friends shared a laugh before they got in the car and left the parking garage for Steve's home with plans for Steve to catch Bucky up on all the details about what happened in Pierce's office. Steve knew he would have to because his childhood friend would just drive him crazy otherwise. Bucky had never been one to settle for the word later. He loved driving Steve crazy for answers. The truth was that Bucky also listened and supported him, stood by his side no matter what. Steve never had to ask for a better friend or question Bucky's loyalty because he knew he had it. Now Bucky was going to be there to help him make sure he got the girl.

Come into my world,

See through my eyes.

Try to understand,

Don't want to lose what we have.

We've been dreaming

But who can deny?

It's the best way of living

Between the truth and the lies.

Author's Note

The action is just getting started. The prologue actually takes place in the future and we are flashing back to tell how Steve and Alexandra even got to that point. Chapter 2 coming soon! - Leia

Read more by visiting my Masterlist or the Steve Rogers Masterlist

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vaughn-markus · 2 years

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but I don't wanna fall down the rabbit hole — cross my heart, I won't do it again ; @coraxclark

A fun fair hosted by a mayoral candidate for his little, hometown of Providence Peak amused Markus. When did politics get so competitive here? He wondered. It was a mystery to a man who hadn't properly lived in the city for more than a decade, but he certainly took advantage of the festivities.

A kid at heart, Markus rode rides and played games with old friends. Locals he'd grown up knowing and missed more than he knew. They were split up in a fun house maze when a someone he missed more than most came into view. Sort of. He saw her reflection, distorted by a mirror and the flashing lights. It was like a fever dream. Seeing Cora after all this time. Whether he was purposely going towards her or away from her was as disorienting as the maze itself, and when they physically collided he was left speechless. Despite the novels he'd written her in his head. The countless, unreplied to texts he'd sent. Markus couldn't find a single fucking thing to say.

#coraxclark #cora tag #providence.event #closed starter

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reasoningdaily · 9 months

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Newbern, Ala., is not the proverbial one-redlight town. The flashing yellow light in front of the old post office merely warns folks to slow down. With a population of about 200, it’s an easy place to miss even when you drive right through it.

If you kept to the speed limit, you could pass from one end to the other in a couple of minutes. If you were a little less cautious, you might make it in one. Earlier this year, though, I stopped.

By the side of the road, I pulled out my phone to call the man I’d arranged to meet, but before I could retrieve his number, a black GMC pickup truck pulled up next to me and the driver waved.

“When I saw that Jefferson County license plate, I knew that had to be you,” Patrick Braxton shouted through his open window.

That’s how small Newbern is.

Braxton, who is Black, is one of two men who claim to be mayor here. The other, Woody Stokes, is white. Eights folks lay claim to the city’s four council seats.

Now control of Newbern town government is at the center of a lawsuit in federal court alleging blatant disfranchisement — a case that focuses, not on control of Congress or the delegates to the Electoral College, but over who gets their roads paved when there’s money for it and their ditches cleared after storms.

What also makes this an odd place for an election law case is that, as far back as anyone can remember, Newbern has never had an election.

Instead, the mayor and council have acted as a sort of self-appointing board. Stokes’ full name is Haywood Stokes III, who inherited the job from Haywood Stokes Jr. Likewise, other officials have passed control to new people after incumbents moved away, retired or died. The town is about 80 percent Black but most of these officials have been white.

And that has been how this town has worked, at least until Braxton qualified to run for office.

Small-town politics isn't like the pitched partisan battles on the national stages. In a town of about 200 people, everyone knows everyone else. A tour around town in Patrick Braxton's pickup truck takes less than 30 minutes.

Braxton, a contractor and volunteer firefighter, has spent most of his life living either near or in Newbern. A few years back, he had the idea to put up some American flags around town for the 4th of July. Town officials seemed indifferent, he says. Braxton scratched together the money to do it anyway, and folks seemed to like them, he says. It was then he had the idea to run for mayor.

Ahead of qualifying to run, Braxton learned what sort of paperwork he’d have to fill out and the deadlines for filing with the town clerk. But when he approached the incumbent, Stokes, for the forms, he started to run into problems. According to Braxton, Stokes told him Newbern didn’t have elections.

“His words to me were, ‘We don’t have no ballots and we don’t have no voting machines,’” Braxton recalls.

I called Stokes to get his side of this story and left messages, but those calls have not been returned. A lawyer for Stokes and the council members allied with him, Rick Howard, told me they would not comment on pending litigation and deferred to what was already in the court record.

Court records show that much of what Braxton says about the election is uncontested.

Stokes told Braxton he would have to fill out qualifying papers from the town clerk. Neither Stokes nor the clerk made it easy, but after trips back and forth between Newbern, the Hale County Probate Court in Greensboro and the bank where the clerk worked, Braxton managed to get the paperwork taken care of and a cashier’s check cut for his qualifying fee.

Meanwhile, Stokes doesn’t seem to have done any of those things. When election day came, Braxton was the only candidate to qualify and was named the new mayor.

It’s what happened next where the accounts begin to diverge somewhat.

Not only had Stokes not qualified, but neither had any of the incumbent city council members. Under Alabama law, the mayor gets to fill vacancies by appointment. Braxton recruited some folks he knew who were interested, and when the day came for him to take the oath of office, the county circuit judge swore in Braxton and what we’ll call Braxton’s council together.

Little did they know, the lame duck mayor, Stokes, and the incumbent council members had done something peculiar — they had held a special-called election without Braxton and the Braxton council knowing about it.

Here’s what the Stokes side would have you believe, according to their court filings: In a town of about 200 people and all 1.5 square miles of it, a place so small that Braxton found me within seconds after I got there — the Stokes council voted, posted notice, and opened qualifying for a special council election. Not only a special election but the first election this town seems to have ever had.

The Auburn University Rural Studio calls Newbern, Ala., home, too, and built the town a modern fire station and town hall. But the town hall has gone unused since a fight for power began over who's the town's rightful mayor, and Braxton says the fire department has responded to emergencies at white homes more readily than at Black ones.

All without Braxton or his future council appointees hearing about it.

Only the incumbent council members qualified and so they declared themselves the winners.

The Stokes council and the Braxton council both claim to be the rightful council members. At first, both councils recognized Braxton as the real mayor, although that would change, too.

Braxton wouldn’t meet with the Stokes council, as doing so would lend it legitimacy. The Stokes council declared Braxton AWOL and his office vacant. The Stokes council then re-named Stokes the interim mayor.

Which brings us to two mayors and eight council members in a town of less than 200 people — all without anyone having voted for any of them.

After the non-election election, Braxton says, strange things began to happen. One day he was run off the road. He says his wife began to notice drones following them around town, which he thought was crazy, until he saw them, too.

Braxton has tried to get access to the city’s bank accounts, but the bank denied him access. The same thing happened at the post office, he says. He has named both as defendants in the lawsuit.

Braxton says he won’t be deterred. He’ll run for office in the next election cycle if he has to, but he’d rather resolve this fight before then, in federal court.

Small-town power struggles aren’t as great as big-city politics, or pitched battles for national power — in some ways, they are much more intense. These aren’t political parties warring with faceless others, but neighbors at odds with neighbors, people they have known all their lives. It’s personal.

It takes less than half an hour for Braxton to give me a full tour of the town in his truck. He showed me where he lives and the homes of the other folks involved, before making our way back to town hall. Until recently, the most notable thing here has been Auburn University’s Rural Studio, an off-campus architecture school focused on sustainable design for out-of-the-way places. It’s the reason the post office looks like something from a movie set and the town hall and fire station something from a mountain tourist town, not the poverty-stricken Black Belt.

Since the last “election,” each side of the Newbern power struggle has changed the locks only to find the locks somehow changed on them — a bizarre war of wills that both sides now seem to have given up. The bespoke space for civic life sits mostly empty but for the dirt dobbers and spider webs taking over.

Between the town hall and the fire station is a barbecue pit and a small yard meant for community gatherings, only there aren’t any picnic tables or park benches. I point out the omission to which Braxton who chuckles grimly and then sighs.

“There’s no place here for people to come together,” he says.

#newbern alabama #A fight for rights and control in a Black Belt town without elections #Black Politics Matters #Patrick Braxton #white supremacy #white racism #systemic racism #homegrown terrorism

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truck-fump · 11 months

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The Hard Hat Riot: A Forgotten Flashpoint in America’s Culture...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/718943085984350208

The Hard Hat Riot: A Forgotten Flashpoint in America’s Culture...

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The Hard Hat Riot: A Forgotten Flashpoint in America’s Culture Wars

Missing from most history books is a key moment leading to the culture wars now ripping through American politics.

In 1970, hundreds of construction workers pummeled around 1,000 student demonstrators in New York City — including two of my friends. The “Hard Hat Riot,” as it came to be known, ushered in an era of cynical fear-mongering aimed at dividing the nation.

The student demonstrators were protesting the Vietnam War and the deadly shooting of four student activists at Kent State University that occurred just days before.

The workers who attacked them carried American flags and chanted, “USA, All the way,” and “America, love it or leave it.” They chased the students through the streets — attacking those who looked like hippies with their hard hats and steel-toed boots.

When my friends in the anti-war movement called to tell me about the riot later that day, I was stunned. Student activists and union workers duking it out in the streets over the war? I mean for goodness’ sake, weren’t we on the same side?

According to reports, the police did little to stop the mayhem. Some even egged on the thuggery. When a group of hardhats moved menacingly toward the action, a patrolman apparently shouted: “Give ’em hell, boys. Give ’em one for me!”

The construction workers then marched toward a barely-protected City Hall. Why? Because the mayor’s staff had lowered the American flag in honor of the Kent State dead. In a scene eerily foreshadowing the January 6th Capitol Riots, they pushed their way towards the building.

Fearing the mob would break in, city officials raised the flag.

The hard hats also ripped down the Red Cross banner that was hanging at nearby Trinity Church. They stormed a Pace University building, smashing lobby windows with their tools and beating students and professors.

Around 100 people were wounded that day, many of whom were college students. Several police officers were also hurt. Six people were reportedly arrested, but only one construction worker.

My friends escaped injury but they were traumatized.

The Hard Hat Riot had immediate political consequences. It was, in my opinion, a seminal moment in America’s culture wars.

Then President Richard Nixon exploited the riot for political advantage. His administration had been working on a “blue collar strategy” to shift white working-class voters to the Republican Party.

“Thank God for the hard hats,” Nixon exclaimed when he heard about the riot.

But rather than passing pro-labor policies to court workers, which would go against the values of the pro-business Republican Party, Nixon sought to use cultural issues like patriotism and support for the troops to drive a wedge between factions of the Democratic Party.

Nixon invited union leaders, some of whom were involved in the riot, to the White House. They presented Nixon with a hard hat inscribed with “Commander in Chief”and an American flag pin. Nixon praised the union workers as, “people from Middle America who still have character, and guts, and a bit of patriotism.”

Nixon’s strategy to use the Hard Hat Riot to appeal to blue collar voters paid off. In his 1972 re-election campaign against the anti-war Democrat George McGovern, he secured a victory with ease and gained the majority of votes from organized labor – the only time in modern history a Republican presidential candidate accomplished such a feat.

The Hard Hat Riot revealed a deep fracture in the coalition of workers and progressives that FDR had knitted together in the 1930s, and the later alliance of Black Americans, liberals, and blue-collar whites that led to Lyndon Johnson’s landslide re-election in 1964.

The mostly white construction workers who attacked the demonstrators had felt abandoned — and forgotten – as the Civil Rights movement rightfully took hold. They felt stiffed by the clever college kids with draft deferments, and burdened by an economy no longer guaranteeing upward mobility.

The class and race based tensions that Nixon exploited would worsen over the next half century.

I witnessed this when I was secretary of labor during the Clinton Administration. I spent much of my time in the Midwest and other parts of the country where blue-collar workers felt abandoned in an economy dominated by Wall Street. I saw their anger and resentment. I heard their frustrations.

Many Democrats, whether they will admit it or not, have not done enough to respond as Republicans have destroyed unions, exacerbated economic inequality through trickle-down nonsense, tried to gut just about every social safety net we have – and stood in the way of practically every effort to use the power of government to help working people.

Today, the right is trying to channel that same anger and violence against the Black Lives Matter movement, the LGBTQ+ community, particularly drag queens and transgender people, and whatever they consider “woke.”

It is the same cynical ploy to instill a fear of “the other” as a means to distract from the oppression and looting being done by the oligarchs who dominate so much of our economy and our politics.

As such, today we face the same questions we faced in 1970:

Will we finally recognize that we have more in common with each other than those who seek to divide us for political and economic gain?

Can we unite in solidarity, and build a future in which prosperity is widely shared by all?

I truly believe that we still can.

#Uncategorized

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charcherry-weekly · 2 years

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Charcherry Weekly - Issue 92

Hey, Nick Card Mage of Light here. Things have been happening, I think. At very least the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and making this place look even more anime than usual.

Enter the Jovinverse

Early this week, Page of Rage Jovin Castle was working on his soulbot project with his separated dreamself, Jo. Apparently Jo has heart aspect powers for some reason. Reportedly there was an explosion at their house and Jovin was found unconscious on the floor, sparking with Rage and Heart energy.

The next day, a number of dungeon crashers showed up to try and help. In this group was Samus Kitten, Brae Emit, Rogue of Heart Charles, Witch of Time Katie Kitten, and of course, Jovin's wife Page of Mind Samm. Using their heart powers, Charles went with the group into Jovin's metaphysical soulspace to figure out what exactly happened to him and possibly to try and fix whatever may have broken during the incident.

Reportedly, the group encountered a great deal of Jovin's various facets while in there, and a very large amount of halfpint mini-jovins as well. They soon found the version of Jovin that had been trying to take control of his body, to no avail. This version, known internally as "Asshole Jovin", is one particularly highly charged with Rage aspect energy, but reportedly there is a much more pressing issue still in there that will need to be handled at a later date. After some delay, the group exited Jovin's soulspace and found out that the damaged soulbot that was being worked on before the incident had gone missing. After that, most of the group went home for the night and Samm used her mind powers to assist Jovin in some manner while still unconscious.

The next day, the missing soulbot was found after Jovin's grist started going down slightly. It turned out, one of the jovins, likely one of the more prominent public facing ones, had been transferred to the soulbot during the incident. Brae discovered the occupied soulbot in Santa's Workshop at the top of Mt. Phoenix, with a number of alchemized rolls of duct tape. Reportedly, the one occupying the soulbot only had access to a bare minimum of memory. Brae sent the occupied soulbot back to the house and after some light shenanigans, Charles showed up to assist with the transfer process to get the wayward jovin back into his body.

Further details on this story are forthcoming.

Interview with Brae

On wednesday, my colleague and sibling Aeons Edgeworth did an interview with Brae Emit, one of the candidates for Unity Village Mayor. Here's the transcription of their interview together:

Aeons: This is Aeons Edgeworth, interviewing Brae Emit on the topic of her campaign to become the mayor of Unity Village. How are you doing today?

Brae: I'm doing well! A little worried about a friend, but optimistic things will be all right soon.

Aeons: Ah, that's promising. Let's get down to brass tracks then. What would you say is the platform you're running on? What do you plan on doing if you become the mayor?

Brae: Well, the village is still small and is still lacking in a gym leader. So I'd like to establish one, along with building more houses to encourage the village growing more.

Aeons: Makes sense. What would you say Unity Village means to you? Sentimentally and conceptually.

Brae: Conceptually? I would say it represents new beginnings, and sentimentally... The village makes me feel hope, for the continued growth of the relationships between people and pokemon.

Aeons: that's cool to hear. This village could use an encouraging direction like that. Aeons: are there any potential difficulties that you foresee potentially having to face in this role?

Brae: Well, besides the normal things like paperwork and permits, the usual government stuff? Brae: Well, pokemon have a tendency to draw in radical groups, as we've dealt with recently one such group. So I could see that reoccurring in the future.

Aeons: oh yeah, that stuff regarding team abyssal and bug 'em a while back. Considering your track record as a skilled pokemon trainer, and most everyone in the area also being decent at battling, hopefully that shouldn't be too much of an issue to grapple with.

Brae: I should hope that dealing with them is rather easy, but it's always troublesome when they show up, no matter what.

Aeons: True. Aeons: hmm... anything else you'd like to say before we wrap this up?

Brae: Oh, um. Thank you for having this interview, Aeons! And thank you to anyone that votes for me. I look forward to working on making Unity Village a place to grow and thrive.

Aeons: You're welcome, thank you for stopping by today. I hope your campaign goes well.

In related news, the voting period for the Unity Village Mayoral election will be from May 9th to May 16th.

This week's known market stands in Desertia Town:

Cotton ball stand (this week)

Harmonica stand (this week)

Katie's potion stand (*CaFAI filling in for Katie when unavailable)

Brae's canned goods stand (Prism filling in while Brae is busy elsewhere)

shinyjiggly pokesnacks stand

Samm's teriyaki noodle stand (closed until further notice)

That should do it for this week. Apparently Aeons has been working on that dungeon crashers website again. I do hope they get it online soon. Probably will take a while though. Meanwhile I've been busy with left beef and finally got to the punchline I've been wanting to get to for a while. I hope Jovin gets all patched up soon. I also hope Charles gets some sleep soon. https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/316/charcherry-weekly-issue-92

#charcherry weekly #sbargv2 #sbarg2.5dungeoncrashers

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americangirlstar · 3 years

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Now that both Courtney books are out and I’ve read and processed them both, I do want to say that I think they’re the least well-written of any of the AG books, but not through any fault of their own- let me explain.

(Note that for this discussion I’m ignoring the Doylist criticisms- Courtney and 3/4 of her friend group being white again, the lack of gay discussion in-text in regards to the HIV crisis, etc. These are valid complaints and concerns, but not what we’re talking about right now.)

The Problem with the Current Book Length

I think the main problem with Courtney stems from the fact her books are so short. American Girl has literally been doing the stupidest things in regards to their books lately, almost as if they’re trying to sabotage them on purpose. First they remove illustrations in 2015- when their target audience is about nine years old. I don’t know about you, but when I was six and getting into American Girl, the illustrations were the highlight for me. Not because I had no attention span and loved pretty pictures, but because it showed me firstly what the girl’s life was like, whether it be 1760s wilderness or 2001 Chicago. It was like stepping into their world, really helping you get into their heads, which was basically what the dolls were supposed to do, to let you know that girls like you exist throughout time and space.

As well as that, the illustrations were free advertisement. I can’t tell you how excited me and my sisters were as children to go to the American Girl place and look at the doll displays, shouting that that’s the dress Felicity wears to the ball! or look, Josefina’s goat looks exactly like the book! AG cut that from 2015 to 2020, as if they were trying to appeal to an older audience- while at the same time changing all the doll outfits, accessories and marketing to appeal to a younger demographic.

Now, this isn’t about the illustrations, as Courtney got those- it’s about what they did to the historical characters after the Illustration Outrage™ happened. See, they’d condensed the historical six-book format into two books- not necessarily a bad idea, parents would be more likely to buy two books for their kid than consider buying six. However, they then claimed that if they put illustrations back, they would have to abridge the books- literally my nightmare.

First of all, American Girl, we know for a fact you can fit all six books plus illustrations into ONE VOLUME, let alone two. You’re just being cowards here and trying to nerf your own stories for... some reason.

So that meant a lot of important things got cut- Rebecca’s Chanukah story, Melody’s cousin’s house search, Maryellen’s Christmas adventure... all things important to the girls’ histories and character.

The Problem with Courtney’s Writing

Now, Courtney was the first doll to be released after the abridging began, meaning her books were released, in their entirety, just as short as the abridged stories. So it basically means she gets four books while the others get six- and unlike the others, Courtney doesn’t even have mysteries or short stories to pad out. (And honestly, looking at her book’s amount of content, I’d even argue that she basically got two while everyone else got six, but I digress.)

The problem with her books isn’t that they have an author writing them poorly (I really feel like her author was doing the best with what limited time she had), but in how cramped American Girl made them. Because, well, Courtney has to deal with a lot in such a short amount of words.

Let’s compare her to Julie, for instance- Julie pretty much has a new 70s thing every book. In order: feminism, rising divorce rates, San Francisco’s Chinese culture, environmentalism, the country’s bicentennial, anti-bullying and deaf acceptance. And adding to this, we also have her own personal journies through her parents’ divorce and move, her basketball team, her friendship with Ivy (and later Joy), overcoming her fear of horses, student council, detention... It’s a lot, and yet her books don’t feel rushed or forced at all. It’s just a year in the life of a girl going through a lot of new and sudden events, and how she grows and changes throughout them. She may not be as deep a character as Addy or Kirsten, but not every girl goes through the trials and tribulations they do, and it’s a good series overall.

Courtney, meanwhile, does feel rushed and forced, because of the short timespan. Instead of fitting everything into a six-book format- or even at two-book format that is the same length and content as the six-book- everything has to be fit into two short books. Everything Courtney has to cover includes the topics of divorce and stepfamilies, feminist and technological advancement, the Challenger explosion, the HIV crisis, Hands Across America, and the founding of Pleasant Company. And in Courtney’s own journey, she has to cover her learning to stand up for herself, her relationship with her stepsister and Tina’s own character development, her mother running for mayor and how that affects her, how much she misses her Dad after he moves, her friendship with Sarah (note on that later), her basically getting hate-crimed after standing up for her friend... that’s a LOT of stuff, and I didn’t even include the non-AG 80s product placement they shove into her collection.

But without the longer format, everything is pushed together to its detriment. Tina’s development and Maureen’s mayoral candidacy are two plotlines that are literally dropped and almost completely ignored in the second book. The Challenger and HIV issues were handled decently, but the Challenger only lasted a few short chapters, and the HIV topic was not as informative as it could be, leaving out several things like Reagan’s refusal to treat it for so long, and its effect on the gay community. Honestly, the HIV scare was more shifted to focus on the mob mentality of a new and scary disease- which, while needed right now, also ignores many of the bigotry-related reasons it became an epidemic. Pleasant Company’s inclusion feels forced in, and I think was the only resolution she had to her Dad plotline?

And don’t get me started on the Sarah plotline- every Girl of the Year since Kanani- sans Isabelle and Luci- has had the story of “oh no I’ve been ignoring my friend and now they’re mad at me :(” and it’s SO old. Seriously, I counted the contemporary dolls that have had that storyline, and it’s thirteen*. Thirteen times we’ve covered this issue- almost all of it in quick succession- and now we have to deal with it in a historical character book while much more important things are going on! Yes, it sucks when a friend ditches you while you’re being attacked and bullied for something you’re standing up for, but once again, with how much is happening in such a short book, it just feels like a forced-in plotline that we’ve seen a billion times, and with their falling-out happening mainly due to the attention Courtney was given Isaac, it serves to make Sarah seem closed-minded at best and bigoted at worst- it’s clarified that she’s not, she’s just scared and upset with Courtney, but when you put those events so close together, it leads the reader to lump them together and get the impression that, you know, Sarah is a worse person than she is.

*Full count: Nicki (book 2), Chrissa (book 2), Kanani (2), McKenna (1 iirc?), Saige (both books), Grace (2), Lea (3), Gabriela (1 and 3), Tenney (2), Z (1), Blaire (1), Joss (1) and Kira (1).

It’s a bit weird, too, that Courtney’s... what’s the word? Vibe? with her how her story is written and marketed Is closer to the Contemporaries than the Historicals. Am I the only one feeling this? My best explanation for it is that the author, Kellen Hertz, had only written contemporary books for American Girl before- the third Lea Clark book and all four Tenney Grant books, both of which contained the Friendship Issues™ plot. I’m not at all saying she’s a bad author- I honestly love the way the Tenney books are written- and I’m not saying she couldn’t write a historical book, but it’s clear American Girl didn’t ask her to change up her style or content from what she’d done for them before, as well as giving her way too much to cover in such short books.

Conclusion

Honestly, this conclusion should be obvious- American Girl needs to expand their books again. Whether they simply allow the books to be unabridged, or go back to the six-book format, Courtney's books are too cramped to tell an effective story, let alone the poor abridged girls.

The other girls were given six-book length, so if they went back to that length or format, Courtney would have to be rewritten, at least a little- and that’s okay! There’s a lot of things that could use expansion or connection, such as her Summer trip with her Dad that was given basically one sentence in the text. Her growth with her stepfamily could be acknowledged- and honestly? I think that if these books were expanded, her mother’s mayoral arc should either continue through the books, or Maureen should become mayor before the book 2 arc. I’ve mentioned this before, but having Maureen as mayor (or even still a candidate) would put a lot of pressure on Courtney to be perfect so that nobody can say “look at how awful this woman is for doing politics instead of raising her family right”- which means that when the Isaac stuff happens, it has even more stakes for Courtney and her family. Does her Mom still support her with her own reputation on the line, and what does that say about Maureen’s character, how does it affect Courtney and the D’Amicos... that’s all fascinating stuff that was completely missed out on.

And if she was turned into a six-book format- honestly, here’s how I’d do it, just off the top of my head. It would involve a bit of event shuffling, but honestly I think it would work!

Meet Courtney - pretty much the setup for everything happening, her starting to get her Crystal Starshooter plans and her mom’s campaign beginning.

Courtney Learns a Lesson - her relationship to Tina, culminating in the Challenger incident.

Courtney’s Surprise - we move the founding of Pleasant Company over here, since Molly’s basically her Christmas Present. We’ll probably need an additional plotline- maybe similar to Julie, she can have a story on spending the holidays in different places.

Happy Birthday Courtney - end of summer, aka meeting Isaac and her trip with her Dad.

Courtney Saves the Day - Beginning of the HIV arc, ending at her presentation to her class.

Changes for Courtney - Continuation of the HIV arc as things get worse for her and Isaac, ending where Friendship Superhero ends.

Is that a perfect sorting? Probably not, I came up with it in ten minutes. But would it give Courtney space to breathe and more time to explore everything happening to her? Probably!

The tl;dr of this is honestly that American Girl are absolute cowards right now, and need to expand their books back. Their abridging is only harming their stories- which, as Courtney herself points out, are the reason girls got into their company in the first place.

#courtney moore #american girl #american girl dolls #american girls #1986 #negativity #mine #americangirlstar

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avatarvyakara · 2 years

Text

Tiles on the Roof

An Encanto Fanfic

Prompts 61-72

"The Mountain Pass"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36486091/chapters/91640209

First | Previous | Next

CAUTION: contains references to violence, particularly in the context of, well, La Violencia.

61. Contraste

(nm) contrast

Things turn strange around the time that Mirabel reaches thirteen.

Up until that point, she might not have had, well, a gift, but that was still less of a worry for her because there wasn’t that much difference in how she was treated. She always knew her family loved her, even Isabela (you know, from time to time), and Abuela even managed to remark on her sewing once in a while. That was kind of their thing, the making of clothing, the way they bonded. No hugs—much less ones Abuela instigated—but a touch on the shoulder? Almost as good. A reach across the gap.

And then the whispers start coming in, along with people coming to town with only the clothes on their backs.

By default and by common sense, the people of San Ambrosio do not vote. But then, the major issues of the Conservatives and the Liberals—particularly those relating to land ownership—are practically non-existent within the encanto. Somehow there’s always enough land to farm, and with Tía Pepa bringing the crops all the sun and water they need there’s usually a surplus. Nobody can buy up the land because it’s understood, quite implicitly, that the land is not for sale, even among the San Ambrosianos—nor are essential crops sold outside the valley. Mamá’s meals handle most ailments; the village doctor has been in friendly rivalry with her for decades, but accepts payment in kind like she does. Papá helped organize something or other for money made from the local variety of coffee grown by the whole village, which takes up a decent chunk of his day. Tourism money is up for grabs, calderilla at best, something for a little extra (there are never too many tourists around anyway). But—no big landowners, no mayor, no police.

Not like the outside world, el fuera as they called it. Not like the Colombia where presidential candidates could be murdered brutally, where uprisings caused chaos and destruction, where the backlash led, on Papá’s birthday of all things, to the consolidation of a Conservative-run military dictatorship. Tourists still come to the valley, but so do refugees—the town grows as others burn. Outside the encanto, the world is going mad.

And people say they've managed to escape pursuers at the borders. Others are trying to get in.

The magic is strong, Abuela says at breakfast the next morning (after a late-night conversation trying to reach Abuelo, she will tell Mirabel years later, asking for guidance that she can never quite hear). The magic will hold. The Miracle keeps them safe, and the mountains tall, and the pass only open to those that mean them no harm. The magic is strong.

But she almost always finds a way to avoid Mirabel after that.

62. Redención

(nf) redemption

“Does it work?”

Diego Valderrama gestures to the stumpy hand at the end of his right arm, missing all but the bottom-most joints of his fingers. “It does. It takes time, but it works.”

“It doesn’t look like much.”

“Oh, I don’t know. A couple of years ago there was nothing above the elbow.”

Julián Pérez stares at him with his one good eye. “Don’t play games with me.”

“No games. My prima Julieta works miracles.” Diego grins. “Quite literally, in my case. If anyone can fix your face, it’s her.”

“...it might be a relief. I wouldn’t be ashamed to show my face in public. To my wife and kids.”

“The encanto is for second chances, mi amigo,” says Diego. “Dolores told me about your little...mistake.”

“She what?”

“Calm down. The Madrigals are the reason we aren’t in the middle of whatever Hell is going on outside. In forty-nine years they’ve not done us damage even once. You’re not in trouble.”

“That’s insane! Señor Valderrama, I stole from the families around here. I hoarded the coins. I was going to take the lot if we had to run again. Why am I not being punished?”

Diego looks a lot like his cousin Agustín, if a few shades darker, an inch or three shorter, and with a much more luxuriant moustache. Unlike Agustín, the look in his eyes is patient and analytical—he stares into Julián’s eye like he can see right down to the soul.

“Hmm. If you had to run, eh?”

“Yes. That’s all our life has been, for months now.”

“Then what could you be if you didn’t have to run, Señor Pérez? What do you want to be?”

“...a teacher. I was a teacher back in Villa Carola. My wife was a nurse.”

“Visit prima Julieta first thing in the morning, then. Both of you. She can always use an extra hand in diagnosing and caring for long-term illnesses, and she can give you an estimate for how long the repair will take.” Diego’s face hardens. “As far as we’re concerned, what’s happening outside? That’s not who we are, not really. We may suffer through it, but how can anyone thrive in such violencia except the brutal and the unscrupulous? No. San Ambrosio won’t punish you for being afraid, Julián. The Madrigals make it so we don’t need to fear. What we will do is assess your character when you have nothing to fear.”

“How can we not be afraid? You don’t know, Diego. What they were going to do to my little girl...”

“I know.” Diego’s face is grim. “How do you think I lost my arm? But not here. Never here. The only trouble in this valley is the trouble you are unable to leave behind. Do you understand?”

No, Julián doesn’t. But he’s trying to.

63. Frontera

(nf) frontier, border, demarcation

"Do you know where the mountains that surround you are?" asks Señor Originario. He's speaking in Quechua, the slight slurring and clicking consonants making him sound like a living rockslide in the hills.

Bruno tries to concentrate, as they watch the jungle in the early morning, and to reply in the same language. "I don't know. I think Mamá said they rose near the Caño Cristales. That's where the…soldados?"

"Soldiers."

"Right, where the soldiers found them, and where mi papá was killed. Mamá doesn't talk about it much."

"I'm not altogether surprised," says the taita. "But somehow I doubt she would be able to find it anyway, if she tried to leave."

The sixteen-year-old scoffs, then flinches in anticipation of being hit. (Señor Originario does that from time to time.) "That…um…how do I say ese no tiene sentido?"

"Why doesn't it make sense?"

"It doesn't make sense, thank you, because people do come and go in the valley. There's that kid, Agustín, the one with really bad luck, he comes and goes every summer. And we get…turistas, too, people from the outside. So it seems to me like you can come and go from San Ambrosio."

"Good use of the inferential suffix," says the taita with a thoughtful nod. He switches to Wayuunaiki, which sounds a lot more fluid to Bruno—like a rushing river. "But you forget—he wants to find the encanto, every year, yes? And every year he and his parents come to visit his aunt Lorenza. But they know where to find her, and she wants them here. They could bring other people with them, yes, but the magic here is strong, very strong. If Agustín did not have family here, do you think he would be able to find it?"

"I…I do not know."

The taita sits back. "The encanto, this place, it is a place of refuge. And I tell you this: that we are no longer next to the Caño Cristales. And yet we are. San Ambrosio does not appear on any government records in the Republic of Colombia, or rather it appears in the records of several different departments. Because the land is removed, do you understand? It is land on its own. A symbol of what this place could be, if left to its own devices beyond the meddling of outside forces. We are in the Andes; we are by the sea. We are deep in the jungle; we are in the grasslands. And if you want to leave, then you can go anywhere. And only those the community wants to return can return." He grins. “That is why I do not leave, Bruno. Few enough people know I am here, and although I am no threat I doubt many see me as a friend. Better to stay high on the borders, where I can see without interfering.”

Bruno understands this. But something is niggling at him. "But…"

"Yes?" Back to Spanish.

"What happens if we leave…can we get back? The Family Madrigal? If Mamá goes back to that place, and I hope she never does, then she can get back in, right? Or Julieta, if she actually does fall in love with that kid and goes to live in, I dunno, Ecuador or something?"

Now Señor Originario switches to Romani, fast, crackling words like sparks off a fire. "Don't worry, Bruno. Your mother, scary as she may be—don't protest, it was a compliment—is loved and wanted by her family. Nobody thinks of her as a threat to the encanto. If she leaves, she can come back home again quite quickly. Same with your sister. Madrigal or not, it doesn’t matter. All they need is someone willing to call them home."

"I don't understand why you left, but…didn't leave."

"Oh. Well, because, huh, the mountains around the encanto are very tall…"

64. Actuación

(nf) performance, acting (occupation), action (accomplishing a purpose)

Camilo is a shifter, and at heart he’s an actor. And San Ambrosio is a stage, a great big show waiting to happen. Sometimes it feels like he and Mirabel are the only ones who know that—does nobody else hear the songs that she sings, that the world sings with her, that Camilo gets to join inon? Well, Dolores does, but the others? Not so much. But once you know, there’s no limit to what you can do with the audience.

The new arrivals are tired and angry and lost, and sometimes they’re so lost in poverty that they’ll try to swindle others out of what they have to keep alive. Camilo doesn’t judge—Abuela does that, and Padre Flores—but he does like to hang around people his sister has her suspicions about. And if he learns a trick or two, well, that’s between him and Dolores. But mainly he just makes them laugh. Laughing people don’t think as much about hunger, especially if he’s just the debut act before a meal.

To live in the encanto, you need a job. Something. He doesn’t have Mirabel’s skill with settling people in and finding their talent—his prima has always been the best at that—but he can always smooth the way in the meantime. And, well, if things get rough...nobody needs to know he doesn’t have Luisa’s strength. Plus, he has a whole set of figures that are...less than attractive.

(He had to give up the “Tío Bruno foretelling doom if you don’t get your act together” role after Mami found out, though. He hates getting his mother upset. Managed to successfully rehabilitate fourteen people with that act, mind you, so it was worth it. Especially since Nobody Talks About Bruno, so who was going to contradict his interpretation?)

65. Urbano

(adj) urban, urbane

Julieta is the only one of the triplets to have left the encanto before Bruno disappeared. She went back to visit Agustín’s parents when they got married, to get their blessing. And she honestly had never felt more confused in her life.

Bogotá of the 1920s is strange. It’s high on the altiplano, built into the hills like San Ambrosio—maybe not as lush, but then what ever is? And the buildings are enormous, the Colombian National Museum alone is big enough to house her whole village. It’s full of colour and noise of a very different sort than what she’s used to—there’s always the rattle of a tram through the city, the roar of an airplane overhead (more and more popular, Tino tells her, but they’re unlikely to catch on). The food is nice—she tries some ajiaco from a street vendor, tries making some ajiaco with the street vendor, accidentally cures the street vendor’s arthritis—but perhaps a little bit stale compared to the fresh-picked ingredients she has at home. There is a museum dedicated to gold, an actual bullring, literally the oldest library in the New World...the city is so big. And there are so, so many accidents in this city. Cars crashing, collisions of various sorts, objects falling from high buildings, the occasional fire—all of which Tino just stands aside for or shrugs off like it’s nothing. But the oddest thing? In the old neighbourhoods, where Agustín’s parents live, the two-story houses have practically no decoration on the outside. Beautiful balconies, yes, but not much outside the front door. Bogotá is not a night-life city, at least not in the sense that she knows it. It gives more attention to the night than the life, in a lot of ways.

“It’s just...mi amor, you know I have to go back. But I never realized just how different this place is. I can’t make heads or tails of it, and that makes me feel...well, a little stupid.”

Tino hears her voice even if he can’t really see her face. He takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. (Amazingly, he hasn’t had a single accident since they arrived here a week ago.)

“Mi vida, stupid is one thing you could never be. I don’t fit into San Ambrosian life very well yet, does that make me stupid?”

“You’re accident-prone, not stupid. And even then there’s supposed to be that silly curse on your family, right?”

Tino steers them gently away from a lamp-post before it crashes behind them.

“That old thing? It’s a nuisance. But it’s just part of life. Juli, you gave my grandfather relief from his dementia by helping him make breakfast. He’s talking more clearly than I’ve heard him do in years. And you know what? I don’t even think it was the food this time. It was just you being yourself. The most incredible person I know, with the biggest heart and the biggest brain of anyone in this city. So...is it okay if I—watch out—” a car skids past at about twenty miles above what’s safe for the inner city— “come back with you? Because, well, it’s up to you, but—”

“Tino.”

“Yes?”

“We are literally getting married next month. I think it’s safe to say that I want you to come back with me. Even if it means leaving your home behind. So long as you’re okay with that.”

Agustín holds her hand in both of his, presses it to her heart. “Never again. This is my home. If you’ll have me.”

She’s probably not blushing. Probably.

“I might do.”

“…besides, being honest with you, it’s far too loud in the city.”

“Much too loud. I like the ice cream, though. You don’t get that in the encanto.”

“Not yet, anyway...watch out for the bottle.”

The step over the bottle. It rolls away and nearly trips up a banker.

“How do you know to expect all this stuff?”

“Years and years of practice. Plus, the wildlife in this city has a grudge against everyone, not just me, so it’s spread out a bit more.”

She laughs at that.

66. Desarmar

(v) disarm, disassemble; feminine singular past participle desarmada

Luisa is not a fighter. None of them are, not really. If the valley were to be attacked, she’d have to act from the sidelines, or at a range, throwing things at the people coming to take her home for their own.

She doesn't like to think about that. For all her strength is greater than that of anyone she knows, Luisa can't imagine hurting someone. Not deliberately. That would be…wrong.

Better to hope that the encanto keeps them safe, then.

(But the pressure keeps building up, and building up…and when it finally gets too much, when she finds even the piano she first brought to her parents at five years old too heavy to lift, she despairs all the more. She's weak. She can't help. She can't do what needs to be done. And she never learned how to protect. And now the outside world is closing in and she can't help and they're all going to die and it's all her fault and what is she going to do she's never felt this broken before—)

67. Linaje

(nm) lineage, ancestry

"This is our home, we've got every generation…"

The song has been tickling away at the back of Félix's head all day. But it's got a point, the song does. Every generation in one house.

Los ancestores, parents or grandparents during the exodus from the town of San Cristóbal, now long-lost—that's Abuela Alma. Los migrantes, children or young adults during that exodus—that's Félix, just about, by all of two years but it counts, if only out of the smidgen of showmanship he permits himself—after all, he was old enough to remember the Miracle itself. Los milagranos, children born of or just before the Miracle—that's Julieta, and his Pepa, and Bruno (he's allowed to think about Bruno, he adds with a touch of defiance), and for that matter Agustín as well, now that he's living here full-time. Los campesinos, the children of the first settlers and those raised to help with the farms—that's Isabela, and his Dolores, and even Luisa. Los ayudantes, the "townies", who have never known anything except the well-worn village of San Ambrosio and do their part helping around town—that's his Camilo, and Mirabel. And now the most recent, the generation as yet unnamed, still yet to make their mark—that's his Antonio.

Six generations have lived in San Ambrosio, and six still live in the Casa Madrigal. Three generations, so far, have been granted gifts—four if you count the Miracle itself for Abuela Alma. Safe and secure and one after the other, and that’s how it always will be.

68. Decoración

(nf) decoration

Isabela’s role is to be perfect. She knows this. She knows she doesn’t really have much choice—her gift is to generate flowers out of thin air. What can you do with that besides make the town look beautiful?

But that’s important. As much as it frustrates her, as much as it feels like she could do so much more if only she could think for a minute, she’s the one on call. Isabela Madrigal is the perfect representation of what San Ambrosio can be—peaceful, bright, colourful, alive. She’s worked hard at that. And a part of her does truly enjoy being able to look down from the pedestal she’s grown for herself and show off a bit.

And then she looks at Mirabel, her sister who didn’t get a gift, who wasn’t pushed into one frame of mind from the start, who can choose to be and do anything that people who aren’t Madrigals can do and still chooses to support and love the family that she’ll never really be part of, and feels just the slightest spark of envy. Mirabel is a reminder of everything the family shouldn’t be just by existing, which means Isabela has to try even harder to keep up the family honour. And she still makes a halfhearted effort to act like a Madrigal and it works; Isabela is admired and adored in town, but her youngest sister is loved. Life would be a lot easier if she just...had a gift. Could be shunted to one side like Isabela was. Or maybe, because she didn't have anything binding her to the valley, she could just leave—

No. There are limits. Something in Isabela knows the world is bigger than their village, from the stories Má and Pá tell at least, but she also knows just how bad it can get out there. All the nightmare tales that Dolores hears from the New Arrivals, which sometimes make her come to Isabela in tears in the middle of the night, and for Dolores she’ll drop the sneer and she’ll listen and soothe because she is the symbol of the perfection of the encanto and she hates it but Dolores needs it—she wouldn’t wish that on her sister. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

(But the encanto is more than roses and orchids. Until she realizes that, she’ll never feel at home here, not really. Mirabel could leave but shouldn't; she can't leave but feels like she should. Another reason to feel…frustrated with her sister.)

69. Murmurar

(v) to murmur; 3rd singular present indicative murmura

Dolores' grandmother—her, well, other grandmother—wasn't originally from San Cristóbal itself. Her other grandfather used to travel around a lot, and on one of his trips to the Caribbean coast he picked up a bride from a village there. She spoke her own language, nearly Spanish but mixed together with another, rolling and booming like waves on the shore; sometimes Dolores can still hear her muttering phrases to herself as she wanders about town, and it's actually quite nice. And her Papá used to sing her lullabies in that language, so that's another thing she likes about it.

Still.

Once her room…changes, a little, and allows her to find new sounds as opposed to just blocking out the sounds around her, she asks Abuela's permission for her other grandmother to come by one day. As a birthday present.

"Hmm. Not too long, huh? You have work to do in the town."

Papi is thrilled to see his mamá up at the house, and Mami brightens right up too. Ofelia Castillo is short and a little stout but bright-eyed and grinning—Papi got her smile, and so did baby Antonio. She even gets a laugh out of Camilo, who is going through Adolescence when he’s allowed a moment to breathe (pobre Mirabel has been putting up with that the most).

"How are you, moná mí?" she murmurs—Dolores has tried to explain that she isn't hurt by loud sounds for the most part, but Mamá Ofelia always lowers her voice all the same.

"I'm alright, Mamá Ofelia," Dolores replies with a smile. "I just wanted to give you a special present for your seventy-fifth birthday."

"No need, no need! I'm a year closer to the grave, that's all it is." Mamá Ofelia grins again. "Is it something to do with the uangá?"

She nods, and wonders if she thought this through properly. The Castillos have always been a little wary of the Madrigals' magic.

But her other grandmother doesn't complain, just keeps on smiling.

"Then by all means."

Casita is nice enough to gently slide her up the stairs—even with Tía Julieta's meals (which she doesn't eat very often), Mamá Ofelia is a tad weak in the knees.

Dolores has her doubts about her gift sometimes. But she wants to know about the outside world, no matter what Abuela says, and she’s the only one who can do so safely. And it's worth it to see the tears of sheer disbelief and joy as her grandmother hears the ocean for the first time in fifty-five years.

70. Frío

(adj) cold, cool (temperature/mood)

Sometimes Pepa wonders what it would be like to be a cloud instead of just make them.

“Tell a story!” she demands.

Bruno sighs. “Ah, well. What kind of story?”

“A story about flying!”

“Hmm.” Her seven-year-old baby brother (okay, so she was his age forty-nine minutes ago, but that’s a long time) scratches his chin. “Well, where are we going?”

“Beyond the encanto! Somewhere new!” Pepa is feeling pretty darn happy about this idea.

“How about to Iceland?” suggests Bruno, who tends to pay more attention in geography lessons than she does.

“Iceland? What’s in Iceland?”

“Uhhh...ice. Lots of ice. The whole land is one big, huge, giant hailstone that fell out of the sky hundreds of years ago.”

Pepa nods. That’s practically at the beginning of the universe as far as she’s concerned.

“Why doesn’t it melt?”

“Uhhh...it is melting, but it gets very very cold up in the north, so it freezes again every winter. Anyway, we start out in the capital, Reino de Quique—”

“That’s not what it’s called!”

“It is in this story.”

“Fine. We visit El Reino de Quique, where they only eat fish—”

“Sharks,” says Bruno, wisely. “They eat sharks raw.”

“Ewwwww,” she giggles. “Imagine getting Juli to make that.”

“Oh, no, that would be terrible,” laughs Bruno. “Anyway, we’re still flying, right?”

“Yes. On a cloud. We get on my bad-mood cloud and I keep getting sad about missing Mamá and Julieta and that keeps it nice and thick so we can travel.”

“...why don’t we try that now?”

“Let’s do it!”

Pepa gets as frustrated as she can about little things, trying to ignore the feeling of excitement. Maybe they can visit Quique’s Kingdom in Iceland after all!

“Here I come!” calls Bruno. And jumps off the roof of the house.

“Bruno!”

Mamá is just in time to catch him as he falls through Pepa’s cloud and nearly hits the ground quite hard.

“What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“...sorry, Mamá,” says Bruno, quietly.

“And you, Pepa, what are you doing with that cloud? What’s gotten you so upset?”

Pepa doesn’t know why, but Mamá sounds more and more tired when she has a cloud these days. Like there’s something wrong with Pepa for having a cloud, instead of there being something wrong with Pepa so she has a cloud.

“We just wanted to try to fly to Iceland.”

Mamá blinks, and then says, in a voice that lightly chills Pepa's mind, “The two of you could have gotten yourselves very badly hurt. And what good would it have been then, eh? We are safe here. No more nonsense about Iceland, you two. No more talk of leaving the encanto.”

“But Mamá—”

“None. Now come back inside, it’s nearly time to eat.”

They have their own ways of rebelling. Bruno reads about fish non-stop for ages. ("When I grow up, I want a pet whale.") And Pepa starts practicing making snow.

In a way, Bruno’s story is rather a big part of the tale of how she met Félix.

71. Inocencia

(nf) innocence

By common consensus, they refuse to mention the world Beyond to little Antonio until he's (much) older.

Sometimes humans have an Understanding, take the time to see into the mind of one or two of the more thoughtful among them. The ones who try not to eat one another without making sure they can't Speak first, usually. But Antonio, the Shining Mind, is different—he calls to them, calls to them all, his thoughts lighting up the world around them like a tiny primate sun. So much joy there, when he Hears them. He doesn't just bond with them, he brightens their lives.

No-place-possible-for-discussion, says Parce. The jaguar growls, a little sadly. Forest-of-destruction. Destroyed-lair. Human-cavern-with-pelts. Guardian-Shining-Mind-too-precious. Guardian-Shining-Mind-protected. No-place-with-loss-mentioned. Lair-with-new-family.

When he's older, says Pico. We can ask him for help when he's older. The dashed arsonists aren't going away any time soon, and we have at last found some kind of sanctuary. You can feel it in the framework, you know, if you look hard enough. Shining-Mind will come into his own soon enough. For now, he deserves a little time just to be a chick.

Chispe the capybara looks at them both slowly, and twists his head to the side in a shrug.

Eh.

Eloquently put, says the toucan approvingly. Although your point about child development in humans could use some further elaboration.

Capybara-speaking? asks Parce, confused. Capybara-mumbling. Capybara-practically-unintelligible.

Parce, Parce, Parce…you've really got to learn to think under the emergent, let the canopy and the understory into your understanding of the world! It's no good being a beloved companion of the most remarkable human under the sun if you can't let your mind expand a little!

Parce-sane. Others-otherwise, the jaguar says pointedly. Parce-mind-open, Parce-mind-practical.

Meh.

Not the soundest argument made by beast nor man, old bean, but reasonable under the circumstances.

"Are you guys okay?"

Never better, dear boy, says Pico warmly. Did I mention your cousin nearly got herself thrown off a ledge but survived? I was really rather impressed by how she got down. Humans really do have remarkable survival instincts.

"She did what?"

72. Renacimiento

(nm) rebirth, revival

You took my husband from me, thinks Alma at the river. We had a good life. It was getting so much better. And because of the stupidity and greed and anger rumbling on the horizon like a flood, my Pedro died holding back the tide. Now the tide has broken and the dam has fallen, fifty years later but it has fallen. We are back in danger, and I failed us all.

And yet…here we stand in the sunlight. And Pedro is singing to us.

The river is calm and cool, and where once she fled across here under cover of night she comes back now at daybreak. She crossed without her husband. Now she crosses again, part of the way, to reach her granddaughter. Her Mirabel.

Alma is not well-versed in magic. She tried to be, tried to pretend to be, but she doesn't have the Knack, the aptitud, that her children and grandchildren do. She can't hear the song of the clouds like Pepa, feel the energy filling and fuelling her family like Julieta, see down the tunnel of years like Bruno. She is normal. And "normal" to Alma has for forty-five years meant "powerless".

And what she sees now is her granddaughter, no powers, no gift from the fallen house—but a gift nonetheless, in and of herself.

"He sent me you."

How close they have come to extinction. How quickly the tide could turn. And yet—how easy it is, to stand here in the river and hear Pedro's voice one last time.

The family is not safe, not yet. Alma wonders if they ever truly were. But the family is together. Nearly. And they can still stand together and work as they will, because they are greater than the powers that protected them. And she remembers that now.

It would probably be a little too much to ask if you know where Bruno is, mi media naranja?

And then her long-lost son charges out of the bushes on a horse and a mission and she can almost hear Pedro laughing in the waters.

(She ought to come back here more often.)

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blackjacktheboss · 3 years

Text

mob au • happy easter

Annabeth watches as the Annual Olympic Harbor Easter Egg Roll begins, and kids of all ages wearing their best pastel outfits frantically try and scoot their colored eggs down their grass-covered lanes. The mayor stands nearby, also watching the festivities take place, though he nervously glances in her direction every few minutes which puts a smile on her face. In the distance, she can make out the tall shapes of her security staff scattered through the throngs of people present for the public event and a feeling of pride swells in her chest. The sound of someone clearing their throat draws Annabeth’s attention, and she turns to her right to find her boyfriend with his camera pointed right at her.

Click.

“What did I tell you about taking candids?” she says, though there is less than no bite to her words.

Percy laughs and draws himself closer, lowering his voice so that only she can hear him. “I was hoping last night’s photo policy would extend to today.”

Annabeth can feel the blush that heats up her cheeks as she bites the inside of her bottom lip and tries not to smile. “You are incorrigible, you know that?”

Percy’s smug smile disappears for a moment as he leans in, placing a quick kiss to her lips. “I’ve heard that once or twice.”

Annabeth shakes her head as the smile she was battling begins to win the war. “I thought you were taking pictures of the boat parade later.”

“I am,” Percy answers as he turns to take a few snapshots of the crowd. “But I wanted to warm up a bit. Plus how could I miss the chance to see Annabeth Chase in pastels?”

Annabeth glances down at her light blue and white striped dress that rests just above her knees, and simple white tennis shoes. “It’s important to look approachable every now and then.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm,” she confirms with a nod. “One of my mom’s most important rules. People have to know that I am not to be messed with, while also believing me to be just a normal local woman.”

“Interesting,” Percy says. “May I ask a follow-up question?”

“Always.”

Again, Percy invades her space, and again, she does not mind one bit. “Does this approachable image involve sitting on the Easter bunny’s lap? Because that is something I definitely have to get a picture of.”

Annabeth steps just a little bit closer and loops her arms around his neck. “If I’m going to be sitting on anyone’s lap today, it’s gonna be yours.”

Percy’s cheeks are flooded with color this time, and he wraps his free hand around Annabeth’s waist more tightly, like he can’t possibly get her close enough. “Ms. Chase, are you trying to seduce me at an Easter Egg Roll?”

“Oh, I’m not trying, Mr. Jackson,” she says, her voice breathy. “I’m succeeding.”

“I think Easter just became my favorite holiday.”

#mob au #quarantine content

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ad1thi · 3 years

Text

underrated stevetony fics rec list (P1)

i feel like a lot of really good stevetony fics get swept under the rug because this is such a big fandom and sometimes people miss out on quality content?? so this is a rec list of some of the stevetony fics i feel like everybody should have read/ be reading

Edit (31.12.2020): this got very long (i had almost 50 fics on my list, so ive decided to split this list into two parts. part 2 will be out soon!!)

Edit (20.02.2021): part 2 is out now!!

picture me in the trees: @ifmywishescametrue

Tony and Steve were childhood friends that almost became more, but Tony moved and they lost their chance. Thirteen years later, a chance meeting brings Tony back into Steve's life.

Free: @iwanttopizzamanyou

"Steve reads, and the words dance in front of his eyes, because while this used to be his dream, what he wanted, all he can think about is how this Hell will soon become his full time life."

Steve discovers fame, with fans waiting for him in the lobby and girls passing him their numbers after the shows. It used to be what he wanted, he supposes. Except his future managers keep asking more and more from him, and he's not sure his old life will survive. Tony is ready to help, and compromise, but Steve maybe isn't anymore.

making it work: @/ironarm

“Just tell him you don’t want to see him anymore,” Clint replies, finishing the end of his burger and starting to crumple up the wrapper, “It’s not like you love him or anything.”

“Clint, if I thought I could get rid of him about a week ago, I would have. But for some fucked up reason, I can’t lie to him. It’s like, I see those baby blue eyes, and bam. Whatever barrier that I built up from childhood trauma is gone.”

Clint chokes on the last piece of his burger, almost resisting the urge to smack Tony on the side of his head.

Tony was a fucking idiot.

Boys Like Us: @naferty

The video had been a mistake. One of the biggest mistakes he had ever done in his life, and considering Tony Stark had done a bunch of shit in his younger years, and even older years, that was saying something.

It was just that none of those things were as embarrassing as that video.

He blamed Clint for everything

Stained Fingertips: @thesoundofnat

“I don’t really believe in magic,” he said, clearing his throat. “But I’m almost certain you’re a goddamn wizard, Steve Rogers.”

Steve would remember those words for the rest of his life.

(Or, Steve is maybe slightly obsessed with drawing Tony. Not that Tony minds.)

Inhale, Ex-Sail: @summerpipedream

"Rich pirates decked out in top-of-the-line black market gear,” grumbled Tony, ”why don’t I have the budget to make those again?’

Rhodey inched back so that he and Tony were back-to-back. “We’re apparently law abiding citizens now, which means having to pay taxes.”

Tony scowled. “Urg, right. Remind me why I wanted to do that again?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “What was it you called him last time? Your sweet tart? Your apple pie in the sky? The wind beneath your wings? Hopefully he’ll fly here fast enough so we don’t get killed. Or worse, mugged.”

Tony Stark Bingo K1 - AU: Steampunk

As Constant As A Star: @atsadi

The Swan Princess AU

As young children, Prince Anthony and Princess Natasha of neighboring Midgardian kingdoms are betrothed, and spend their summers together every year until they are wed. Tony adores his headstrong friend Nat: it’s her scowly little companion Steve he’s not thrilled about at first. But soon Steve goes from being a thorn in Tony’s side to being his dearest friend – and much, much more than that. Despite Steve feeling the same way about Tony, the pair still dance around each other for years as Steve struggles to accept his feelings for another man: especially one already betrothed to another. Not to mention that Tony is a prince, and Steve is nothing but a squire.

But before they can make peace, Tony is kidnapped and dragged into the beginnings of another conflict in the nearby magical kingdom of Asgard – he really hates magic. With his potential usefulness diminishing by the day, Tony races to escape even as Steve, Natasha, and their friends race to find him and bring him home.

And—just to make matters worse—Tony has been trapped by a powerful spell and turned into a swan, of all creatures. He really, really hates magic.

Always Yours: @hollyjollyhope

Getting kidnapped is normal for them, at this point. But there's nothing normal about this.

And suddenly, Tony has a choice to make.

Oxeye Daisy (patience): @s-horne

“You make me want things I can’t have.”

Steve startled at the voice from behind him and turned around to see Tony standing in the kitchen doorway. He stared straight at Tony for a long moment. The room was quiet, time stretching out in a thick and uncomfortable silence as neither man dare to move nor opened his mouth to speak first.

White Clover (a promise): @s-horne

“Hey, sweetheart.”

Tony lifted his head as he tried to focus on Steve’s voice. When he managed to open his eyes and blink a bit of the blurriness away, he was rewarded with a gentle smile being shone down at him.

“There you are,” Steve said. “Was worried I was going to have to talk to myself.”

Though his tone was light, Tony knew what he meant. It was no secret that Tony was physically weaker and a hell of a lot more human than Steve was and was therefore struggling more with the lack of regular nourishment that came with being held hostage.

“Course not,” Tony said back, voice hoarse but plastering a smile on his face all the same. His head was pounding and his eyes couldn't stay open. “Would I ever do that to you? You’d never get a sensible answer.”

Acta non verba: @firebrands

unapologetic fluff about two idiots who can barely keep it together with how hard they're crushing on each other

or:

tony has to help steve with math + a halloween party = a good time for everyone, eventually

you take me higher than the rest (everybody else is second best): @firebrands

tumblr fill for adi & anthonydarling, who asked for "'Prank' war, but the kind to see who can make the other blush the most in public" from this prompt list

Adjacent, Against, Upon: @firebrands

A political AU!

Steve Rogers is running as the Mayor of somewhere, America. Tony Stark, his campaign manager, deals with a candidate who isn’t interested in lying, and just wants to do good by these citizens, god damn it.

song of unrest: @omg-just-peachy

How was Steve supposed to reconcile all of this? The way he looked so different but still felt so much the same? It made Steve’s head spin. He knows he shouldn’t care so much, that he is what he is, but he just wants to know.

Paint The Town Blue: @omg-just-peachy

Ten years since he’d seen or spoken to Tony Stark, ten years since they’d broken up to go away to school. And now this email. It could be his only chance to see Tony again.

Camelot: @weethreequarter

For one shining moment, there was Camelot.

In 2019, Karen Page meets Captain Steve Rogers to conduct an exclusive interview on his late husband, President Tony Stark.

In 2007, Steve meets Senator Tony Stark and falls in love.

he thinks he’s lancelot (but he’s more of a sir lamorak): @theotherwasdeath

Tony knows firsthand that violence isn’t funny. So why oh why does he think that the scene playing out in front of him, Steve and Victor Von Doom in a knock-out, drag-down fist fight, is absolutely hilarious?

wildflowers: @tinytonysnark

“So,” Steve begins, clapping his hands together, “the city of SHIELD is in debt. The big ups have sent for financial advisors, all the way from DC! They’re gonna take a look at the city’s spending and make some cuts.”

He squints at the camera against the morning sun shining through the courtyard, “I’m not that worried. Everyone here in the parks department is an important member of the team and absolutely needed.”

The camera swings towards the office where from the large glass window, Natasha can be seen picking up the ringing phone before immediately slamming it back down onto the receiver.

[A Parks and Rec AU]

trinkets of your affection: @starklysteve

Kissed him once for every year I loved him, Steve had written.

By that count, Steve owes him five more kisses now.

Tony traces the words, hands trembling, and tips back a shot of Howard's ancient whiskey. None of it burns anymore.

One day, he'll have lived more days without Steve than there are words in the diary.

For the first time since he'd woken with shrapnel in his chest, Tony fears the future.

----------

Or, five things Tony keeps to remember Steve by, and one thing Steve gives him to remember.

#adi's rec list #stevetony #superhusbands #steve rogers x tony stark #steve rogers/tony stark #steve x tony #steve/tony #underrated stevetony fics #this is part 1 of this rec list #part two will be out soon!!#im planning on doing this for other ships!!#so let me know if there's any ships you wanna see this for

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tomtenadia · 3 years

Text

A Little Braver - ch. 5

So, here is ch. 5 for you all.

We finally get to meet the mysterious man that Aelin was kissing.

Also, the firehouse gets a great news

Enjoy it!

Ten days had passed. Aelin had been discharged from the hospital and allowed to move around in crutches providing she took it easy, a concept totally alien to her. She had gone back to the station as soon as she could do it.

The deadline for the performance review was fast approaching and she had spent the last few days at the station. They only got a week extension so she had offered to help but all she could do was sit and direct the show. Also, working kept her mind off… things… and as in things she meant a certain arsehole who had gone completely awol. She had texted him and never got a reply. Lately every time she tried to phone him she was told that the phone was not available. So she had stopped. He clearly was offended by what she had said. She just wished he had spoken to her, explained why her confession had terrified him so much. Just as she had finally found the resolve to try again after losing Sam, he had gone and ruined everything.

A glove hit her face “planet Earth calls Aelin.”

She refocused for a second and noticed Ansel’s red mane of hair in front of her.

“Dorian is looking for you. He is in your office and Aedion is there already.”

Aelin groaned “can they come to the couch? I am so comfy here.”

“Apparently not.”

“Fine.” She dropped the documents she was revising and grabbed her crutches and pulled herself up.

At snail pace she made her way to her office and once she got there she saw Aedion standing in front of her desk while Dorian had his feet up on it and was sitting relaxed on her comfortable chair.

“I don’t care if you are the chief. First, feet off my desk, second, arse off my chair.”

Dorian moved away and let her sit down and grabbed her crutches.

“So, what is so important that I had to leave my spot on the couch?”

Dorian passed her the documents he was holding, with a grin. He was positive this was going to cheer her up.

“No fucking way. You did it.”

He smiled at her smugly “Not entirely my merit.” He confessed “As you remember, the community protested in front of the government in the aftermath of the embankment accident. They did it just before the budget review was due. The government could not ignore them and what you all did that night. And I guess that the statement from your cheerleader had helped a lot as well.”

“Who?”

“Someone I am not allowed to mention in your presence.”

Aelin stare darkened all of a sudden.

“We are getting a second engine, but that engine needs staff.” She pointed out, her excitement taking a hit “I was just getting to that” added Dorian quite quickly, “Thomas has offered to give you a few men to help staff the second engine. It will have a mixed crew of newbies and experienced staff for a while. Aedion and I thought it was the best way to go.”

Aelin nodded “I want to help interview the candidates. Aedion is busy with drills. I, on the other hand, I have plenty of time.”

“As if I can sideline you. You are the captain after all.” Added Dorian knowing full well that if Aelin had her mind set on a task it was almost impossible to dissuade her.

“I want a bigger female presence. I can’t believe that from all the candidates that graduate from the academy there are no good female firefighters.”

“I can spread the news at the academy and see who applies and go from there.”

“Good.” Aelin relaxed on the chair.

“We have also have been invited to a party thrown by the mayor.”

“You are joking.” Aelin hated that kind of party. She had been to a few and it had been a nightmare.

“There is no escaping it. We have all the be present and dress mess is required.”

“My leg is in a protective support, if I wear dress mess I need to wear the skirt which means heels and can you see where I am going with this?” Aelin protested.

“I guess we can do an exception for you. Wear your regular blue trousers, make sure your boots are shining and wear your uniform shirt with the tie, not the t-shirt. And don’t forget the hat.”

“I can live with that.”

“When is the dreadful event?” Asked Aedion who hated those ceremonies just as much as Aelin.

“This Saturday.”

“We are on night shift, you genius.”

Dorian smiled dangerously “Not anymore. Second team is taking the night shift. Let me remind you that attendance is compulsory and pass the info to the team.”

“Yes, Chief.” And Aelin was very tempted to flip him off, but he was still her boss.

“Lys and Elide are to come as well. They are part of the team.”

“Oh so, no one is immune to this horrible shenanigans. Lovely.” Aelin sat back, still annoyed at the invitation.

“No darling, if I have to suffer, you will all go down with me.” And with that Dorian disappeared behind the door.

“Come on Aedion, let’s go and ruin the team’s day.”

Slowly the two made their way back in the common area where the squad was relaxing. Aedion had put them through a gruelling session of drills in the morning and now they needed time to unwind. No one had taken nicely the fact that the review has been postponed only by a week, but at least they hadn’t asked Aelin to attend as well with a destroyed knee. She would be there of course but on the sidelines.

“Ok, people,” Aelin shouted as she slowly made her way to her team “Brullo, switch off the tv for a minute.”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” complained Ren.

“Where are Lys and Elide?”

“In the ambulance doing inventory.” Replied Nox.

“Ok, can you please go and get them?” She asked him.

He nodded and ran away and got back a few moments later with the two ladies in tow.

“Ladies, sit.”

“Uh oh.” Said Lysandra, sitting on Aedion’s lap.

“Now that everyone is here, I have an announcement.” She smiled wickedly and the team shivered. That was her scary smile “Our esteemed mayor has decided to throw a party this Saturday. Bad news is… we are all invited so that he can show us how he appreciates what we do for the community.”

“Fuck no,” shouted Ansel, while finishing the bowl of cereals she was eating.

“We are on night shift.” Added Brullo.

“No we are not. Dorian gave the shift to second team. We are all free.”

A chorus of very rude words erupted from the team. Yeah, everyone hated those parties.

“Oh and by the way… it has to be dress mess.”

The protests grew louder. Aelin let them vent for a moment before putting an end to it.

“Guys!” She shouted, and the room went quiet “I know none of us like those parties, but my hands are tied. Dorian made it pretty clear that this is mandatory. So, protest how you want but there is no getting out of it.”

The team went back to their protest when Aelin raised her voice again “Did I say I was done?”

The group went silent again.

“The second piece of information is hopefully a bit more welcome.” And she really hoped so “we are getting our second engine.”

The cheers that erupted from the team were of pure joy.

“How did you do it?”

“You have to thank Dorian. He is the one who pulled the trick.” And Rowan apparently. No, she was not going there.

“He really is better than his old man. We have been pleading the old bastard for ages and nothing. A few months in charge and Dorian gives us the second engine. If it wasn’t that I am I straight I’d kiss the guy.” Said Ren happily and everyone laughed.

Good, Aelin thought, they needed the good spirits.

“How will we do for crew?” Asked Ansel.

“Thomas is willing to give us some of his experienced men from one of his engines and take a few newbies. We’ll man the engine with a hybrid crew. Half experienced and half newbies. I need everyone to help with training. Aedion and I will do the main stuff but you guys are involved in this as well. I am out of commission for a while so I can only do classroom training.”

“We’ll help you, cap.” Chimed Nox happily.

Aelin turned to Ansel “I have asked to have a few more ladies in the team.”

“Thanks for that. Far too much testosterone in here.”

Aelin sat back down on the sofa, her knee started to get sore again “We are going to have other women hopefully, just don’t break their hearts.” She told Ansel.

Two of the guys sprayed what they were drinking, Aelin laughed “Oh come on, don’t tell me you had no idea Ansel was swinging on both sides.” Joked Aelin smiling at the woman.

“Both…” asked Brullo still quite shocked.

Ansel drank her coffee very calmly “Men, women, on a few occasion both at the same time.”

Aelin laughed at the expression of the guys.

“Ansel, I think you broke our boys.”

Aelin mobile went off and for a moment she hoped. But that hope had been short lived.

“Give me two minutes,” she said at the person at the phone. She stood and very slowly she made her way back to her office.

Once she got off the phone she stayed in her office to work. Then the dispatch siren went off and she heard the team depart and staying behind broke her heart.

She worked a bit longer but her mind could never fully concentrate. So she decided to do something stupid while the team was out on a call. She booked a taxi and not long after she was in front of the station waiting for her ride.

The driver got her at the airbase pretty quickly. She took out her pass and she hoped it worked even without him about. The man at the main gate let her through after checking her badge. So apparently he had told people she was allowed on the premises. That was a start. Painfully she reached the second check point and a guard approached her. Ok, her luck had already ran out.

“Can I help you, miss?”

“Yes, I am here to see captain Whitethorn.”

The man looked at her with curiosity for a second.

Did she got to the right airbase? As far as she knew there was only one and the first guy let her in.

“I am sorry miss but the captain and his team left a week ago.”

“Left?” Her voice trembled.

“Yes ma’am. They have been recalled and deployed a week ago.”

“Oh.” Was all Aelin managed “Th— thank you.” She turned and made her way back to the exit. Her heart slowly breaking. She sat down on a cement wall and let the sobs come. She took the phone and dialled his number and it went to voicemail “You could have told me. Instead you left. You just left me. Do you really hate me that much?” She sobbed and brushed her hand against her eyes “I hate you and I wish I never met you. Don’t ever bother look for me when you come back… I don’t want to see your face anywhere near my station. I am done with you, captain.” She hung up the phone and lowered her head and kept crying. She was done with men. She was done with pain and a broken heart. It was not worth it.

Eventually she pulled herself upright again and started walking. She had no idea to where, which she then realised that with crutches was a really bad idea. She had to stop a few times, exhaustion taking root. But the pain in her leg was keeping away the pain in her soul. It was much later when she realised she ended up in the west of Orynth and decided to go to west station, perhaps she could bribe the guys to give her a lift back to her firehouse.

Once outside the station, Thomas was the first one who noticed her. He ran to her and Aelin collapsed in his arm.

“Aelin, what are you doing here?’

“I need to sit” was all she managed. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the section with all the bunk beds. He placed the crutches on the floor and sat on the bed at her side.

“What happened?” He asked when he noticed her puffy eyes “Why are you over here? On your own?”

“I was at the airbase.”

Thomas looked at her in shock “are you telling me that you walked in your condition from the airbase to here?”

Aelin nodded. “Can you give me a lift back?”

“Of course,” he patted her leg “let me go and tell the guys.”

He came back not long after, and lifted her in his arms “Let’s go.”

Once in the car Aelin relaxed and leaned her head against the window.

“Excited about the big night with the Mayor?”

Aelin groaned and Thomas laughed.

“Exactly the reaction my whole team had as well.”

She sighed “Dorian said it’s mandatory and I think for the very first time I have been this close to hit him. But he still is my superior.”

Thomas chuckled “If there is someone who can hit the chief without repercussions is you.”

Aelin turned and looked at him with a questioning stare.

“I mean because you are close. It’s not news that the man is madly in love with you. He might let you off if you beat him. Actually he might even like it.”

This time it was Aelin’s turn to laugh “Dorian and I… nothing ever happened. We are just really good friends. Not even a kiss.”

“So now the news is that you have your eyes set on a certain airforce captain.”

Aelin tensed at those words “You all are a bunch of crazy gossiper, you know that?”

Thomas shrugged “What did he do?”

“I don’t want to talk about him.” Her tone hard and the man at her side realised it was time to shut up. They were at her station anyway.

Aelin noticed the engine was back and she knew she was in trouble. They clearly had noticed her absence. When she decided to look at her phone again she saw a lot of message and missed phone calls from Aedion. Damn, she was screwed.

“Here you are, my lady.”

Aelin leaned over and kissed him on the cheek “thank you so much for the ride.”

“Anytime.” He opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped and tried again “if you need to talk, I am here. I know you have your friends, but if you prefer to talk with someone who is not around you all day, I am here.”

“You are wonderful.”

He helped her get out of the car, they said goodbye and he drove away again.

Aedion came marching on as soon as he noticed she was back “where the hell have you been? Why don’t you answer your bloody phone? We came back and you were not here, where you were supposed to be.” She felt bad for making them all worry but she did not feel like explaining herself so she just moved past him and in silence she dragged herself to her office and slammed the door shut.

She sat down at her desk and plopped her leg on the spare chair the guys had placed at her side so she could stretch her injured leg, hoping for the pain to subside. She took a few minutes for herself, then texted Lysandra telling her she needed her and Elide.

The two women arrived a few minutes later. They sat on the chair in front of her desk and Aelin knew that Lys was just as mad as Aedion had been.

“Where were you? We came back and you were gone.”

“I went to the airbase.” She confessed, looking outside the window, the sky looked heavy grey and she was positive snow was coming.

“As in the airbase. His airbase.”

Aelin nodded “I needed answers. I needed to know why he left that way. I had to ask him why all this hate.”

“And?”

Aelin felt tears sting her eyes again “he was gone.” She paused “the whole team has been recalled and left for a mission a week ago. No goodbyes. Nothing. He just took off.”

Lysandra stood and ran to hug her friend “what an arsehole.”

Aelin started sobbing again “all I could do was leave him an angry voicemail telling to get away from me forever.”

“I am seriously going to kick his arse.”

Aelin pulled back from the hug “Not worth it remember?”

“We all go to that stupid party and we’ll find you a man there. Perhaps a hot wealthy man.”

Aelin chuckled “You know what, screw it. I’ll remain single all my life and if I want a good time I might ask Ansel.”

The two women laughed “she might take you up on that, you know, right?” Added Lysandra.

“Can we just stop talking about it? Fine he is hot but is he not a nice man. I want to forget that I even contemplated the fact that I had feelings for the bastard.”

“Copy that. I will pass the message along.”

“Have you considered that he might not be able to reply to you because of where he is? Perhaps he is on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the sea.”

Lysandra and Aelin stared at Elide.

“What?” She said shrugging “Lorcan gave me his number, he told me to text him. But he added as well that in the case he was going to leave for a mission not to worry if he did not reply because sometimes their phones don’t work.”

“So you knew they were away?”

“No,” replied the woman lifting her hands “I haven’t heard from him in a while. He is not the greatest of texter and I haven’t spoken to him in a while. I had no idea he was away until now when you told us.”

“Basically airforce boys do not know how to communicate. Got it.” Sarcasm dripping from Aelin’s voice.

Aelin shifted uncomfortably in her chair and Lysandra noticed that.

“Are you okay.”

“Just my leg, bothering me like hell today.”

“Sure, if you only just didn’t walk from the airbase to west station…”

Dispatch alarm went off and the two ladies ran out as the ambulance was needed.

Aelin tried going back to work but her brain was not there.

Out of boredom and curiosity and probably a deep desire for punishment she looked up the captain online. The search engine brought up a page about him. He was only two years older than her. Native of Wendlyn but moved to Terrasen when he was quite young for his father’s job. According to the article he climbed the ranks quite quickly and was thought to be one of the most promising captain in the TAF in a very long time.

“Nerd.” She joked.

Then she scrolled down to personal life and she got even more curious but froze when she read the paragraph.

Fuck.

The man had been married. His pregnant wife had died in a car accident over a year and a half before. She opened the link to the newspaper article about the accident and noticed the picture of the accident site. Her eyes fell on one detail of the image and swore.

She stood and wobbling she went to the file cabinet where she kept the reports for the old cases. She found the one she needed and sat back down. Lyria Whitethorn, that was the name of the woman. She had a look through the case file. She did remember it. It had snowed heavily and the road and had been icy and pretty bad in some areas of town. That accident had been horrendous and it had involved quite a few cars. Lyria’s car had been stuck under a lorry. According to the police it seemed like it had lost control and smashed under the lorry that had crashed against the barriers at the side of the road. She died on impact. It had been an horrendous night. They spent hours working under the snow and only one person had come out alive from that disaster.

She leaned back and felt tears running down her face. They had one big thing in common. They both had lost someone they loved. And all of a sudden it hit her. His reaction. His fear. And for a moment contemplated that he was just as scared as her to get involved again. She closed the file and grabbed her head in her hands. How badly had she fucked up?

She took her phone and dialled his number. The number was not available and she left him a voicemail message again “Hey it’s me again. I know you are away and probably can’t get this message. If you listen to the old one as well, just ignore it. I was mad. I did not mean it. I… just… let’s just talk when you get back. Please. Be safe, okay?”

She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and cried for both of them, for what they had lost and for the fear of committing again.

Saturday eventually arrived and Aelin was at home getting ready for the party. Lysandra and Elide had joined her since Lys was going to drive them all.

Aelin had been in a bad mood since her discovery about Rowan but had not told anyone about it. To do so would mean reveal his secret and she could not to do that. It was far too personal.

“You’d think that being barely able to walk would excuse me from such horrible events.” She growled while tying her tie.

“You have been in a funk for a few days. Are you okay?” Lysandra had noticed her bad mood.

“Fine.” She snapped. “I am sorry…”

“Just don’t piss off any politicians, okay? We need them.”

Aelin sighed “I will behave.”

They arrived at the venue not long after and they noticed the already high number of cars present.

“Are we too late to bail?” Asked Elide who had been uncomfortable as well at the idea.

“Unless you want Dorian to rip you a new one, I would leave aside that plan for now.”

The three women made their way to the main entrance where someone checked their names against a list. Aelin for a moment hoped that someone had messed up and forgot to add them.

But that hope died quickly when the man greeted them a bit too happily.

“Ok, are we ready?” Said Aelin gathering the courage she needed to face such a horrible night.

They entered the venue and the notes of classical music hit them.

“At least they have great taste in music.” Commented Aelin staring at the great hall.

Dorian spotted them from the distance and walked to them with a brisk pace “Ladies, you made it. wonderful. Go, mingle, have fun. There’s plenty of food.” He grabbed Aelin’s hand “You come with me. The mayor wants to meet you.”

“What?” Blurted Aelin, sweating cold all of a sudden.

“The mayor would like to speak with you. He met Thomas already. Now it’s your turn.”

“I am not speaking to the mayor.”

“Aelin… this is an order from your superior.”

The woman growled back “Oh, so pulling rank, now?”

“Come,” he repeated.

Aelin turned to Lysandra and Elide “if I don’t come back soon, please come and get me. I love you both.”

Dorian rolled his eyes and he started walking and Aelin followed behind.

Eventually they arrived where the mayor was entertaining some guest and Aelin wanted to turn away, but Dorian sensed her intentions and placed a hand on her lower back in warning.

“Ah, Dorian, I see you have captain Galathynius with you. Wonderful.”

Aelin leaned on one crutch and extended her hand to the man “please to meet you sir.”

“The honour is mine captain. And thank you for coming even in your conditions.”

As if I had a choice and she looked at Dorian glaring at him.

“I just wanted to offer my thank you in person for what you do in the community and what you did the night of the embankment accident.”

“The community comes first.” She commented and Dorian gently nudged her sides at her comment.

“You are absolutely correct, captain. I am aware that you will be getting a second engine at east station, I hope this is a welcomed news.”

Aelin smiled “Very much sir. It has been a long time coming and we are very excited.”

“This is my email,” he gave her a business card “email me. Any idea, concerns or anything else related to your job. I will do my best to make it happen.”

Aelin took the card and was speechless.

“Now unfortunately being the host forces me to go around and be pleasant with all these strangers. I don’t think there is alcohol enough to survive such an evening.”

He gave her a huge grin, waved at Dorian and walked away.

“Are we sure that was the mayor?”

Dorian nodded dumbfounded.

“Do you think he was drunk?”

Dorian shrugged, just as confused as her “Just don’t loose that card.” The man then left her and she had a moment alone to look around and enjoy the music. She hadn’t been at a classical concert in a lifetime and missed it. Or at the opera. She wanted to go to the opera again.

She had her eyes closed when she perceived a figure at her side. She opened her eyes again and noticed it was Thomas, looking at her in a curious way “Hey you.”

She looked at him and froze. The man in front of her was gorgeous. She was used to see him in his everyday uniform or the fire gear, and his hair tied and under an helmet. She almost did not recognise him. He had his dress mess uniform on, and his hair was free and she discovered it reached his shoulders.

“I almost did not recognise you there.”

He grinned “I know, without soot and dirt on me it must be a challenge.”

She smiled back at him.

“How is your night going?” He asked, moving closer to her.

“Counting the minutes until Dorian tells me it’s okay to go home.”

She shuffled in her position and he placed a hand on her back “you should sit down.”

“Does this place have a balcony?”

Thomas grinned “Follow me, m’lady.”

“Did you meet the mayor?” She asked as they started walking.

“I did.”

“And?”

“He gave me his business card and told me to tell me if there was anything we needed.” He made his way through the crowd.

“Me too. I am going to email him and ask a bucket load of expensive equipment.”

“I have my wish-list ready.” Thomas commented smiling wickedly.

They arrived at the balcony and once there Aelin leaned heavily against the wall.

“Are you okay?” Suddenly Aelin noticed their proximity. Thomas was right in front of her.

“I am fine.”

“Want something to drink?”

“Please. Wine if they have it.”

He smiled and she noticed his dimples appear “I’ll be right back.” And she felt her face flush hot.

What was happening to her? Why all of a sudden she was attracted to him?

She saw Lys walking by and waved at her.

“What are doing here?”

“Hiding.” She said hurriedly “I have a problem.”

“What did you do?”

“I want to do something stupid.”

“As in?”

“Thomas.” She explained.

Lysandra looked at her friend with a puzzled face.

“As in he is the one one I want to … do”

“Holy fuck,” she exclaimed almost spilling all her wine on her uniform.

“How?”

Aelin looked up “I don’t know. He was here, he was nice, he smiled and I just… have you seen him tonight?”

“No I was with Aedion and the guys.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t do… anything.” Then she moved away “he is coming back.”

Thomas came back with the drinks and placed them on the ledge beside them.

She had known and worked with the other captain for a very long time. They had gone through the academy together. And never, not once she had ever felt a smidge of attraction for him.

He leaned against the wall just beside her, shoulders brushing gently “is your team ready for the performance review?”

Aelin nodded “Yes, Aedion and I are going through as many different scenarios as possible. They are ready. But I hate that I will have to stare from the sidelines.” She told him “How did yours go?”

Thomas drank some wine “We had a few bad moments. My newbie fucked up a couple of things and threw the whole team off track for a moment but they did recover splendidly. Manon was the best in our individual challenge.”

“Ohh I like her. Can I please get her and Asterin for my new engine?”

“We’ll see.” The man gave her a wide smile that made his dimples come back.

She pinched his side and he grabbed her hands to block her. She stopped and stared at him for a moment and then they both moved at the same time. Their lips met and he pushed her against the wall and she left her crutches fall on the ground. His hand behind her back to hold her up. The kiss deepened and Aelin opened for him and a small moan escaped her.

“Oh shit.” Said a voice at her side and Aelin recognised Lysandra and Aedion at her side.

She and Thomas broke apart quickly. Thomas coughed embarrassed, looked at Aelin and excused himself.

“What the fuck was that?”

Aelin’s hand went to her mouth, her lips still swollen by the kiss.

Aedion kneeled to pick up her crutches and passed them to her.

In that instant the rest of the team arrived.

“Why is everyone out here? It’s cold.”

“Aedion and I just discovered Aelin making out with Thomas.”

“Do you mean captain Hamilton?” Asked Brullo.

“I thought you liked the silver haired fox.” Added Ansel.

“Are you and Thomas a thing now?” This time it was Ren.

“I don’t know okay?” Aelin shouted, frustration rising “It happened.”

“You… happened to trip on his lips?” Nox gave her a smug smile and Aelin would have stormed out if she hadn’t been on crutches.

Aelin placed the glass back on the ledge and started to walk away. Lysandra caught up with her “I am sorry. It just came out.”

“Lys, I don’t care.”

The woman grabbed her arm “Aelin, please…”

“What? I don’t know what I was doing okay? We kissed. And I don’t understand my feelings anymore.” She leaned against the wall, her knee throbbing with pain “I haven’t known my feelings since Sam died.” She sniffled “I work. I throw myself into work because that it’s when I do not think that he is gone from my life.” She closed her eyes and tried to put all her pain back “it just felt nice for a moment to have that again. And I know I am sounding like a pathetic mess… I don’t know why I did it.” Aelin sobbed “I am so tired of hurting.” A tear appeared at the corner of her eyes “you have Aedion. I don’t have anyone.”

Lysandra hugged her friend “I am so sorry.”

Aelin leaned into her friend “we are fine.” She pulled back “but I am going home. I am in a ton of pain and I really want to lie down.”

“I’ll tell Dorian if he starts looking for you.”

“We are off tomorrow. Fancy a girls day? We can invite Elide and Ansel.”

“Yeah. Yeah, please.”

“Good,” Lys patted her shoulder “now go home and relax.”

She was outside ready to call a taxi when she heard a voice calling her. She turned and saw Thomas running to her.

“Aelin,” he stopped in front of her “I am sorry. I have no idea what got into me. I was there and all of a sudden I wanted to kiss you.”

She turned to him and moved closer enough to kiss him. His hand slipped to her waist and pulled her closer. She melted in his arms and felt his hand caressing her back.

“I was going home.” She said against his lips.

“I can’t let you piss off Havilliard on your own.”

She kissed him again and then detached so he could call a taxi.

Their ride home arrived not long after and the journey to Aelin’s flat was not too long.

They made it to her flat and he lifted her in his arms and walked to the bedroom. He dropped her on the bed and leaned on top of her and kissed her deeply, his hands trailing on the sides of her body and Aelin leaned into the touch. Her hand trailed up to his face and then fisted into his golden hair and pulled him down for another kiss. Maybe it was a mistake but she could not care.

Slowly he started to unbutton her shirt and Aelin did the same for him and not long after they were both naked and Aelin stared at his body and realised the man was so incredibly well built.

“You will have to lead the dances, captain.” He lowered himself again over her and kissed her in a way that made her forget all the pain and hurt.

It was later, after their adventure in bed.

Aelin smiled at him satisfied. The man had skills and for a while he made her forget the real reason why that night she had searched for comfort in him.

They were now sitting in bed, their back against the headboard and the blanket covering them up.

“Did we just mess up our friendship?” He asked turning to her “I am not complaining I just…”

She sighed at his side “I think we did it for the wrong reasons.”

He agreed “Epically awesome rebound sex?”

Aelin nodded and Thomas turned to her “you are stunning though, and if the captain can’t see it, well, it’s his loss.”

“You are a sweet man” and she caressed his face “and your ex is a bitch.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him down, “fancy watching stupid movies? We can also order in. There’s a place round the corner that stays open till late. I had no food at that stupid party.”

“I’ll get the beers.” He said getting off the bed and putting his briefs back on.

Aelin grabbed a discarded t-shirt “I’ll order the food.”

He came back with the beers and offered one to her “to our own party.”

They clinked the bottles and went to camp on the sofa.

TAGs:

@rowaelinismyotp

@swankii-art-teacher

@courtofjurdan

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #rowan x aelin #aedion x lysandra #fanfic #Throne of Glass series

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

Alright, I’ve been sitting on this idea for a while and I finally wrote it. Bird brain Grian hours time! Gonna do a few more short writing pieces, but then I got an idea for a multi chapter fic.

Grian groggily woke up. For whatever reason, he couldn’t get to sleep the night before. He wanted to just curl up and go back to sleep, but there was something keeping him from doing that. Or rather, someone. Professor Beak was chirping loudly and keeping Grian up. The avian tried to muffle the noises with a pillow, but he had little luck.

“Okay! Fine!” Grian finally got out of bed after more chirping. “What do you want?” The parrot flew over to the door of Grian’s bedroom, it currently shut. Grian groaned, but opened the door and let the parrot fly out. Not thinking he could get back to sleep, Grian followed behind letting his wings drag on the floor.

As he made himself a simple breakfast of toast, Grian watched as Professor Beaks flew out of the mansion, and then eventually return with another parrot. Being an avian, it was easy enough for Grian to tell the parrot wasn’t tamed, but he wasn’t really looking for a new pet, so he wasn’t going to tame it.

When Grian finished his breakfast, he grumbled at the situation past him had put him in, now needing to preen his feathers after dragging his wings on the floor. He went outside to not leave feathers everywhere in his kitchen, then started working. It didn’t take too long, so before the sun had risen much, Grian was out flying to the shopping district. His first stop was the barge, making sure to restock and put away his earnings. At least most of it. After the barge, Grian headed over to Aqua Town to buy from some of the shops there.

When he went into the Moo-Pop cafe, Grian was a little surprised to see Scar was currently there. Glad to see another hermit, the avian made a beeline over to the mayor. “Hi Scar!”

Scar looked up from his communicator. “Oh hey Grian! How are you doing.”

Grian shrugged, his wings opening a bit. “To be honest, a little tired. I didn’t really sleep well last night. I was hoping visiting the shopping district would help wake me up.”

“And did it work?”

“I’m not feeling completely awake, but it did help.”

Scar smiled. “Well that’s good to hear.”

Grian nodded, then moved so he could look over Scar’s shoulder. “So, who are you messaging?”

“Hmm? Oh, Bdubs was going to meet me. I’m setting up something so we can sell more land for Aque Town.”

Grian ignored the urge he had to frown. “That sounds nice!”

“Yeah. I’ve already built something for it. It’s- Grian, could you close your wings?”

Grian was confused for a second before looking behind himself and found his wings fully spread. He quickly closed them, giving an apology. “Sorry Scar. Didn’t realize I had done that. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” And then Scar pointed out the giant statues of him and Bdubs, explaining his idea of the Land Games.

Grian listened intently, giving Scar his full attention. He would have listened longer, but the sudden addition of a new voice made Grian jump. Bdubs had arrived.

The avian moved out of the way to let Scar join Bdubs, watching as the two walked outside. Grian stood in place for a bit before walking outside and getting into the air, shopping trip completely forgotten. While flying, he realized his hands were currently clenched into fists. He relaxed then and found his nails had dug into his palms, breaking the skin a bit.

Grian shook his head. Obviously he was still out of it. Flying hadn’t worked and obviously he wasn’t paying attention to pain. The next option was to splash water in his face, but the ocean was all salt water. But then he saw the large turquoise building in the middle of the ocean, and the mini water park on top.

With a flap of his wings, Grian managed to make it over to the top of Pacific and dive into the water. He knew he would probably be stuck up there for a bit now that his wings were wet, but the sudden cold water seemed to finally wake him up.

Grian just floated on his back, spreading his wings to help him keep afloat. He stared up at the sky, watching the clouds go by. The chlorine made the new cuts on his hands sting just a little bit, but since he hadn’t cut them deep enough to draw blood, it wasn’t too bad.

The avian wasn’t sure how long he was floating there, but a voice suddenly made him look up. “Grian? What are you doing here?”

Mumbo was looking down at Grian, standing on the edge of the pool. “Oh, hi Mumbo!” Grian said, smiling and glad to see a friend. “Didn’t sleep well and thought the water would wake me up. It did but now I don’t want to get out and have to deal with my wings.”

“Well, just so you know Iskall and I are supposed to have a meeting today. I doubt we’ll be up here, but you should probably have a heads up.”

Grian frowned, but he couldn’t tell why. Was it because he didn’t want to have to leave? That was probably it, that’s all. “Alright, well if you need me to move, just say the word.”

It turned out they didn’t need to use the roof, so it was perfectly okay for Grian to stay. And he would have, but hearing the conversation from the floor below him got on his nerves, for the avian got out of the pool and shook his wings out. He couldn’t fly with them in their current state, but he was at the very least able to glide. There weren’t many places in gliding distance, so Grian ended up back at the shopping district.

The avian ended up wandering back into Aque Town, mainly since there were so many plots of land nearby. Free open spaces, right in the sun, perfect for if you needed to dry something. Technically he could also go in the nether, but that was only really for emergency situations since the dimension was so dangerous.

Grian flopped down in an empty plot of land and spread his wings out, taking in the warmth of the sun. He just sat there, basking in the sunlight, wondering if maybe he could catch up on sleep right there, when he heard voices getting closer. Opening a single eye, he watched as Scar and Bdubs were coming closer to where he was resting. Another look showed him a trough of water that probably wasn’t there before, so that was likely involved with whatever they were doing.

Even though the two of them were being a bit loud, Grian just didn’t feel like moving yet again. Fortunately, it seemed that the two of them were more focused on whatever they were doing that they didn’t really notice Grian. The avian curiously watched them build up with scaffolding up past where Grian could see without craning his neck up.

Grian almost just closed his eyes again, but then he heard Bdubs shouting. “I don’t even see it- Oh I see it! I see it!” And then there was a crunch as Bdubs crashed into the ground. Bdubs of course respawned nearby, a bed having been set up, so he was fine, so Grian didn’t feel bad at all for laughing at what happened.

The laughter caught Bdubs and Scar’s attention, making them finally notice Grian. “Oh hey, what are you doing around here?”

Grian flapped his wings slightly. “Needed to dry these out. This was close, sunny, and open ground, so it was perfect for that. I’m guessing this is part of those land games you mentioned?”

“Yeah, right now we’re sort of competing to see who gets to sell what plot. We’re actually fighting on the one you’re in right now.”

Grian smirked before asking a question. “Does the winner get me as a prize too?”

“You know what? If you’re offering, sure!” Scar joked along. From there, Grian watched as the mayor proceeded to climb up and also splat himself on the ground.

Next Bdubs went again, And Grian found himself wanting him to miss the pool of water, which he did. Following that Scar first managed to fall off the scaffolding, but then also fail the jump, making Grian frown. The competing pair wondered if it was a bit too hard and made the trough bigger, but still Bdubs failed his next jump.

As Scar climbed the scaffolding once more, Grian watched, actually watching him get to the very top. He could just barely hear the mayor counting down before he jumped and then finally landed in the water. He cheered a bit and the plot of land was marked with some orange wool, Grian getting up and finding his wings only slightly damp at this point.

The avian watched as a platform was set up out of stone. The next competition was just going to be a fist fight, so Grian sat to the side closer to Scar. Since he was a third party, Grian was asked to start the match for them. “Alright, the feat of slapping strength! Go to your sides. Ready? Three, two, one, go!”

Grian watched as the two started slapping each other. Scar was calm during the match while Bdubs seemed much more nervous. As it got to the end of the battle, Bdubs started panicking, worried he would lose, but instead, Scar lost all his hearts first, respawning in the nearby bed. Scar looked away in shame while Bdubs bragged, neither of them watching as Grian got up from where he was sitting. The avian’s vision had blacked out, his body going on autopilot.

The next thing the avian knew, he was looking down at Bdubs, who was now unconscious on the ground, and his hands felt sore, the fingers currently curled into fists. He looked around, confused and trying to figure out what just happened. Scar was to the side, looking scared of Grian, which didn’t make the avian feel any better. He went to look back at Bdubs, but for a moment, he saw someone else.

“Oh my god! Grian what did you do?!”

“H-He was getting too close. He might have hurt you! You’re the mayor after all!”

“I’m only mayor because I was the only candidate left.”

“Yes, and obviously he’s upset about that and he-”

“Grian stop. You’re… you’re acting like he did…”

Grian looked at his hands. He had done this to Bdubs. He had hurt his friend. The avian jumped slightly as Scar started to say something, but immediately Grian panicked and flew into the air, heading towards his mansion. He messed up again, and the only thing that worked last time was staying away, so he would have to do that again.

It had only been a day since anyone saw Grian last. Normally that wouldn’t be too concerning, but news of what had happened in Aque Town had spread from Scar trying and failing to message Grian and ask what had happened. Because of that, everyone was a bit concerned for him.

Grian wasn’t answering any messages that got sent his way, having turned his communicator off completely. The only company he had was Professor Beak and his new friend. They were fun to watch, but also made Grian feel worse about having to stay away from everyone. But it would only be for a few days until he felt better, that was all.

But then Grian heard voices. “He’s not in this room either. Are we sure he’s even staying here at this point?”

“Xisuma said this was where his communicator was last active. Even if he’s not here, we should still be looking for that.”

Grian recognised Iskall and Mumbo’s voices. Half of him was glad to hear his friends, but at the same time, he was silently freaking out. What if one of them came in and he hurt them? He didn’t even want that to happen to Bdubs, so a second person was definitely not something he was after.

The only thing Grian had going for him staying hidden was the fact he had made a secret room to stay in. There weren’t any doors for them to look in, and the only window was there for the parrots to go in and out of. There was no way they would find-

“Is that Professor Beak? Where’s he going?” Iskall asked.

“He might be going to Grian, so we should probably follow behind.” Mumbo replied, and then Grian could hear as they started getting closer. The avian quickly looked around to see if he had any blocks to quickly plug up the hole, make it so the parrot couldn’t get in.

Grian carefully opened some chests, doing his best to stay quiet while also in a rush. Finally, he managed to find some left over from when he made the place and then flew up to the hole. He was glad to get there before Beak, closing the window, and then gliding back down to his bed. Now all he could do was wait.

Grian covered his mouth to make sure he didn’t make any noises as Mumbo and Iskall’s footsteps came from the other side of the wall. There was a bit of squawking from the other side of the wall as well as some scratching. At the very least it sounded like Professor Beak was at the wrong part of the wall, so if they broke in, they wouldn’t find him.

Still listening, it sounded like they thought Beak was just being an odd bird and weren’t going to follow him. Grian wanted to sigh in relief, though he still needed to stay quiet. Mumbo said something which made it seem he and Iskall were going to leave, but then Grian realized his mistake. The parrot Professor Beak had been with was still in the hidden room, and when it realized its friend was missing, it started squawking loudly.

Grian flew up to grab the parrot and force it to shut up, but it just flew away, making the avian struggle to grab it. He was panting by the time he finally grabbed the bird, but that alone seemed to work, until suddenly Beak was flying around him angrily. Grian swatted at him to try and get the parrot to leave him alone, but then stopped when someone spoke.

“Grian? Is this where you’ve been?” Grian looked over to where Iskall and Mumbo had broken through the wall, having heard the other parrot enough to find the source, Grian’s attempts at trying to catch it just helped, as he wasn’t that quiet.

Grian let go of the other parrot, and they flew away with Professor Beak, Grian considering flying off after them. “Y-Yes. Now go away.”

“No, are you okay? We heard about what happened with-” Iskall started to say before they were cut off.

“That’s exactly why you should leave!” Grian shouted at them. “So get out!”

Mumbo and Iskall looked at each other before leaving the room, Grian just watching the newly made entrance and trying to unpuff his wings. There was some whispering from the pair, which didn’t help calm Grian down. And It really didn’t help when they walked back in. “Okay Grian, Xisuma told us we should take you to Doc.”

“I don’t need to go anywhere! What I need is to stay right here!” Grian argued. He wanted to say more, but while he was focused on yelling at Iskall, Mumbo snuck up behind him and suddenly wrapped him in a blanket. Grian struggled a bit, but Iskall quickly came over and before long, Grian was wrapped up in the blanket like a burrito, finding it surprisingly calming. Since he still hadn’t slept well, it wasn’t long before the avian fell asleep in the blanket as he was carried away.

He was next aware of things as something nudged his side a few times, making him wake up with a slight trill, trying to move his wings, but he was still wrapped up and couldn’t move them. “You with us Grian?” Grian half nodded, feeling sort of like there was cotton stuffed in his head, making the voice a bit muffled, but he still recognized it as Doc. “Alright, open your mouth.”

Grian opened his mouth, and then something was put in and under his tongue. “Close your mouth.” Grian complied and then just sat there before there was some beeping from whatever had been put there. “Alright, temperature seems maybe a little high. That could just be from the blanket though, but we should still keep an eye on it.”

Grian felt himself being moved and then he was freed from the blanket. “So can you tell what’s wrong?” That sounded like Mumbo.

“Not yet. Theoretically there’s nothing that seems like it could be causing the problem since he was violent before locking himself away. What exactly happened with Bdubs?”

“That’s something you should ask Scar or Bdubs himself.” Iskall answered. “We weren’t there.”

“You weren’t?” Doc sounded confused. “Then can one of you see if Scar could come here. He might have a better idea of what’s going on.”

“Right, I’ll do that.” Mumbo spoke, and Grian made a sad noise before Doc patted his head.

“Don’t worry, he’s not leaving.” The creeper hybrid reassured Grian. “Looks like this year’s hitting you hard, huh?”

The question just left Grian confused, but before he could ask anything Mumbo spoke up. “Scar’s on his way over here. It shouldn’t be too long.”

“Right. By the way, where was Grian set up?”

“Er, well he had a room in his mansion.” Mumbo answered.

“Alright, so that’s probably not it either.”

“What does that tell you?” Iskall asked. “I mean, I thought it would be the obvious answer.”

Doc shrugged. “I mean, it would be, but that’s why I needed to ask. If he were somewhere else, that location might have been unfavorable and helped cause this.”

Grian half paid attention from there, half letting instinct take over because it felt easier. At the same time, his head still felt stuffed, so when he tried walking when everyone was looking away for a few moments, he ended up on the ground. He was given a glass of water after that, which helped his head a bit, and around a minute later, Scar finally arrived.

“Alright, so what exactly did you need me for?” Scar asked, Doc giving an answer. “Oh, Bdubs and I were in Aque town dividing up land to sell. Grian was there and watched us. We did a slapping battle for one section of land which I lost and then Grian suddenly started attacking Bdubs.”

“Right, I’m guessing that’s the big problem. Mumbo, Iskall, do either of you want to explain it?”

The pair just looked at each other confused. “Explain what exactly?” Iskall asked, having no clue.

“About Grian.” Doc supplemented, but there was still confusion.

“Doc, we came here because we don’t know what’s up with him.”

The hybrid sighed. “Okay, we don’t know exactly about the violent part, but I was talking more about the partner part.”

There was silence for a moment. “What are you talking about?”

“Wh- I’m sorry did you think this only happened once?”

“Once?” Mumbo asked, sounding even more confused.

Doc rubbed his forehead. “Alright, a year ago today, what were you guys doing?”

“I was working on my base. I think also doing my villager district around that time?” Mumbo answered first.

“I was also working on my base.” Iskall answered, and then they looked over at Scar.

“I killed Cub.” Everyone sort of stared at Scar. “What? It was the head games and I managed to hit him while flying and then kill him. His head was worth a lot of points and I didn’t think I could get a pvp kill so I really remember it.”

“Ah! I’m glad you brought that up. Alright, so likely he’s dealing with the fact that all of you were busy this time.”

“Doc” Mumbo spoke up. ��You seem to think we have some clue of what’s going on, but all of us are completely confused. Can you explain it like we know nothing at all?”

Doc sighed. “Alright fine, maybe that will make you remember.” He gestured to Grian. “Grian is an avian, specifically a parrot hybrid.” He paused to make sure they were all following along. “Hybrids often show traits from the animal they are a hybrid of, me being a good example.” The other hermits nodded. “While they’re usually adapted because of hybrids being more human than mob, traits will line up. Currently, it’s around the time of year where parrots are looking for someone to be their… partner in a sense and-”

Iskall cut Doc off. “And Grian’s doing that?!”

“Uh, yes. I thought you would be aware from season six but-”

“Hold on, I’m still a bit lost.” Mumbo spoke up, also cutting Doc off.

“Scar, please tell me you know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t have the slightest clue.” Scar replied, making Doc groan.

“Alright, I think we found the problem.” Doc said, sounding frustrated. “It’s that you three are all idiots. Long story short, when the bird species an avian belongs to have their mating season, the avians will be clingy and need companionship. I’m not sure how none of you noticed last year or the year before, but obviously, you somehow missed it and helped him at the same time.”

Before any of the trio of other hermits could ask any more questions, Grian was the one to speak up. “What are you talking about?”

Doc was quiet for a few moments before making some hissing noises that everyone was pretty sure were curses. “Grian, how do you not know that? What did you think was going on last year?”

“Last… year?” Grian tried thinking back, but he didn’t remember anything. “This didn’t happen last year. It hasn’t happened since Evo.”

“Ah, that would make this even more of a problem. You’re repressing mob traits. To be completely honest, this explains a lot.” Doc pulled Mumbo a bit closer to him and Grian’s wings puffed up. “Yeah. Your instincts are more pronounced which is making you a bit more violent.” Then he pulled Mumbo closer to himself, Grian’s wings puffing up in response. “He’s gotten to the point where the more feral side of him is trying to take control and further repression is making him violent. For now, I suggest taking him back to his mansion, give him plenty of blankets, stay nearby, and keep hermits he gets upset at or they could end up in a similar situation to Bdubs.”

“Anything else we should know?” Mumbo asked, feeling a little concerned for his friend.

“Oh definitely, but I’d like Grian to be more lucid for it, so I’m just giving the necessary information and you can come back here in a few days for the whole thing.”

“Wait, did you say a few days?” Scar asked, sounding a little concerned.

“Up to five depending on how bad Grian’s mob side is, but probably it’ll only be two or three days. Think of it like… a long slumber party where you’re hostages to a parrot.”

“That doesn’t make it better.” Iskall spoke up, but then Doc started pushing them out the door along with Scar, Grian and Mumbo.

They weren’t able to get far though, since Doc ignored his own advice and just made Grian upset. He pulled away after a few moments, but even then, that didn’t seem to work. That confused Doc a bit since obviously Grian had been protective of Scar with Bdubs and Mumbo with him. Though Iskall… Doc pulled Iskall away which seemed to help Grian. “Huh, guess I was wrong about that.”

“About what?”

“I thought since you three were so close last season, Grian would want Iskall around, but I guess that’s not the case.” Doc explained.

“Well I guess that means at least one of us can work on Pacific.” Iskall shrugged.

“Message me if you need anything about it.” Mumbo said before looking to Scar. “Well, I guess you and I are going to be hanging out for a bit, now aren’t we?”

“I guess so. Let’s get Grian back to his place.”

When they first got back to the mansion, Grian still seemed nervous about the whole thing, trying to lock himself away. Mumbo and Scar did their best to reassure him, and listening to Doc’s advice, they found some blankets.

The way Grian reacted had Scar laughing as he compared it to when Jellie saw a toy to go after. Grian had almost immediately pounced on the blankets and started forming them into some sort of nest before dragging Mumbo and Scar into it against their will. Since neither of them had wings, Grian instead groomed them by keeping their hair and clothes tidy. Mumbo did his best to reciprocate by helping to preen Grian’s wings, also showing Scar how it was done since he had little clue on what to do.

Because it was really just the three of them, Grian didn’t have many problems other than him worrying about himself. The worst was after a day into their hanging out that Jellie came looking for Scar and was not expecting what was essentially a five foot tall bird attacking her. The only injuries were a few scratches that the cat gave Grian, but some bandages quickly patched him up and he seemed to like the care that he was given from it.

It also seemed the scuffle helped Grian out, making him more lucid, instincts calming down a bit. He still felt a bit protective of Mumbo and Scar, but for the most part it was just him complaining as they stepped away to grab something to eat or just needed to stretch. And if Scar kept getting out, that was just because his bones get stiff easily, not at all because he liked watching how dramatic Grian got at him being two blocks away. Not at all.

“Grian, you’re fine. Scar is right there.”

“Nooo! He’s abandoned me! I’m unloved! I have no friends!” Grian complained, flopped on top of the blankets.

Mumbo patted Grian’s head. “That’s not true. I’m here too, aren’t I?”

“But you’re almost always around. This is different.” Grian pouted. “Besides, I have two hands! I can hold yours but also someone else’s. Like Scar’s.”

That left Mumbo a little flustered, especially as Grian took his hand and also grabbed towards Scar. Scar reluctantly moved close enough for Grian to grab him, surprised as he was suddenly yanked down and landed face first into a pile of blankets. Grian gave a chirpy laugh before trapping Mumbo and Scar in blankets before squeezing himself in there and wrapping the pair in his wings before settling down to nap. The pair tried to escape, but had little luck, and ended up stuck in the blankets and wings.

They weren’t as tired as Grian seemed, since he still hadn’t quite caught up with his missed sleep, so the two of them chatted for a bit, sharing plans and ideas. Still, in such a position with not much to do, already buried in blankets, it wasn’t long before they also nodded off.

Because he went to sleep first, Grian was the first to wake back up. He was finally feeling well rested and back to his normal self. He especially felt back to his normal self when he saw Scar lying there, making a smirk creep onto his face. Grian carefully pulled himself away, not wanting to wake the other two hermits. Then he crept over to a window and looked out, finding there were still chests sitting on the hill behind his mansion near the cows Zedaph left behind. Everything was in place, all except for Scar.

Grian moved back over to the pile of blankets and did a few stretches to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. He was pretty strong from always carrying building supplies and climbing all over the place to actually build, but just being an avian made him somewhat weaker than a normal human, his bones more like a birds to make it easier for him to fly. But despite all that, he was pretty strong, which is why he was easily able to lift Scar above his head and hold him there.

Scar woke up suddenly from being moved. “Hey! What’s going on?!”

“You still have to do the back of the mansion Scar! And you’re here right now so I’m putting you to work!”

“Nooo! Grian why?! I was just here to help you!”

“And now you can help out more. There’s already supplies down there, so just go until they’re all used up.” Grian said as he took Scar to the supplies, the mayor jokingly complaining the whole way there. Mumbo, who had been woken up by the scuffle, followed the pair outside with a yawn to see what exactly was going on. When Scar saw the redstoner, he pleaded for Mumbo to help, but he just watched as Scar worked on terraforming with some help from Grian.

Mumbo didn’t do much for a bit, letting Scar build for a bit before going down to stop them. “Alright, while I’m sure neither of you want to stop right now-” Mumbo paused from Grian snickering. “-Doc did want us to meet up with him again when Grian was feeling better, so we should probably do that. I’ve already messaged him and he says he’ll be at his base when we arrive.”

“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Grian pleaded, though Scar was ready to go.

“Nope, I’m sure this is really important. Much more important than the mansion.” Grian pouted a little, but then followed Mumbo and Scar to Doc’s base to visit the scientist.

“Yeah, it looks like Grian’s doing fine now.” Doc said as he finished giving the avian a check up. “It looks like the whole problem was mob trait repression, I had just never seen it that severe. Though that could also be the only case I’ve seen is from myself. I could barely deal with a few months, I’m surprised Grian was able to go years.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Grian asked. “I mean, I’m obviously bad enough on my own and I’m just an avian, I can’t imagine trying to deal with being a creeper hybrid.”

“See, that’s part of the issue. You’re not supposed to be acting violent like that unless you’re repressing traits. Think of it like trying to cage an animal. When they don’t want to be locked up, they’ll do what they can to get out. Being an avian doesn’t just make you lighter and give you wings, there are things you have to deal with. Sure you already deal with some of it, like always having a sweater on to deal with getting cold easier. But this is just another cookie incident.”

Grian crossed his arms. “I’m not actually allergic to chocolate, I just get indigestion.”

Doc just sighed. “Right, well, obviously in this case at least, you had no clue what was going on. Can I ask why?”

Grian ruffled his feathers. “It’s not like I grew up with any other avians. I just had to figure it out on my own. And even outside of that I didn’t have the best life growing up. Then the Evo experiment was a mess, but that was the calmest I had been, so when I… hurt someone-”

“Alright, that makes sense. Instinct took a back seat because you felt in danger. When it was finally calm enough, it had been repressed long enough that it made you more violent. That worried you, so you continued until you got to this point. And you had no clue that that was what was causing things.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess that sounds about right.” Grian answered, rubbing the back of his head. “So wait, is all this going to happen again?”

Doc shook his head. “Not to this scale. Just make a mark on your calendar to watch out for this next year. Then just contact Mumbo, Scar, or anyone else you need and just hang around each other for a few days. No one will get hurt and you’ll feel fine.”

“Hey, that’s great and all.” Scar cut in. “But I think he should probably learn from example, right Doc?”

Doc was slightly flustered and tripped over his words slightly. “I-I’m sorry? I’m not sure wh-what you’re talking about.”

“You’re forgetting the few times I had to shove you out of Area 77 because you were sizzling too much. I may not know what it looks like when avians are repressing instincts, but I know how it is for creepers.”

Doc sighed. “Alright, yeah. Just took a few days waiting for you guys. But a few days is still better than a few years, so it’s not that bad. I’ll just… have to follow you guys back to the jungle.”

“Why the jungle?” Grian asked curiously.

“Uh… creeper thing. Long story.”

“How about we meet a bit more so you can tell me some avian things and you tell me some creeper things?” Grian asked with a smile.

“I’m not so sure about-”

“Oh, what’s this? A stray cookie?”

“Alright! Fine! I’m not dealing with that and Stress isn’t close enough to take over. Let’s just go.”

#hermitcraft #grian #avian!Grian #goodtimeswithscar #bdoubleo100 #mumbo jumbo #iskall85 #docm77 #references to Evo

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derivativealigner · 3 years

Text

Well I haven’t watched sp all the way through for about a decade now, so I thought it was time

Sometimes I wonder how accurate the fandom is when it comes to how we interpret the characters. Like, why is Stan a football star so often in fanfic and why’s Kyle always the smart one? So I thought I’d rewatch the show and make notes along the way to see where the source of all these interpretations is. I also wanted to see if I could get some fun info to analyze, but season 1 is pretty sparse in that regard so there’s not too much of that in this post, but I’ll make a post for all the other seasons too as I watch them

In summary, it’s established in season 1 already that Stan’s a star quarterback and an animal lover, Kyle’s an A+ student, and Kenny is poor and knows a lot about sex and doesn’t have many qualms about doing crazy shit. Cartman is a bit weird since he’s mostly just a naive brat in this season, but he and Kyle have a mildly antagonistic friendship already

I have all my notes under this cut. They include a bunch of small details and other observations. I also listed every Kenny death just because

Ike has freckles

Cartman says “Weak!” and “You guys” and “Seriously” a lot from the start, also “Kickass!” He doesn’t say weak or kickass much in the later seasons iirc

Stan says “Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here” three times in this season but they dropped that catchphrase pretty quickly

Bebe got named in episode 2

Stan’s been an animal lover since s01e03 Volcano since he won’t shoot a bunny or anything else. He does shoot Scuzzlebutt at the end though

Cartman’s a pathological liar but in a childish way

Randy got named in s01e03 Volcano (and it only got worse from there)

The mayor went to Princeton

South Park is next to Mt. Evanson

Kenny will literally drink gasoline

Stan’s a star quarterback in 3rd grade

Clyde’s voice is wrong as hell in S01E04 Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride and he has a dog, Rex

Garrison says Kyle is an A+ kid

Shelly seriously abuses Stan, punching him, throwing him, maiming him with a lawnmower

Cartman had a pot-bellied pig called Fluffy

Cartman’s mom smokes crack and has sex with strange men

Dr. Mephesto is probably a Buddhist since he says “Thank Buddha” instead of “Thank God”

Clyde’s voice gets kind of fixed in S01E06

A guy called Mr. McCormick is killed in a protest, launched and splattered against a network building. He doesn’t look like Kenny’s dad though

Zombie Clyde attacks Bebe, rude

Wendy gave her costume contest prize (2 tons of candy) to hungry children in Nairobi

Cartman’s mom is on the cover of Crack Whore magazine. “Back do’ ho… Five on one action!” is the headline

Cartman genuinely cries at Kenny’s grave after the whole zombie thing but gets over it because of candy

Stan knows his mom’s credit card number and has no problem using it to adopt an Ethiopian child (the boys wanted a watch that came with the adoption, they weren’t doing it to be nice)

Cartman calls Stan a vas deference, Stan doesn’t know what that is so Kenny says “Dude, it’s a pipe for your peepee” (according to a transcript). Kenny sure knows male anatomy

Kyle sniffs Kenny after Cartman asks why poor people smell like sour milk and Garrison says “idk eric they just do”

Cartman thinks poor people should die and decrease the surplus population

When the boys get Starvin’ Marvin delivered to them, Cartman says “Hey mom, we found an Ethiopian, can we keep him?” and his mom says “Sure, hun.” She rarely says no to Cartman

Kenny’s dad is an alcoholic who drinks scotch according to Cartman. I mean, Mr. McCormick is seen drinking in multiple episodes and has a hat that says SCOTCH so it’s probably true

Kenny’s family says grace

Craig’s first appearance is S01E09. Also, S01E09 is the first time Kenny doesn’t die (Coincidence? I THINK yeah but it’s still fun)

Clyde got named in S01E10

Clyde and Bebe both spit on Pip’s face, friendship goals <3

Cartman and Kyle have their first fight at Cartman’s birthday party because Kyle didn’t give the right gift. Cartman slaps his face and screams “I hate you! I want you to die! Die!” while on top of Kyle who’s not really fighting back

Satan throws a fight with Jesus after everyone except Satan bet that Jesus would lose, which leads to Satan winning everyone’s money. Mr. Garrison says “What a mean thing to do!” and Jimbo says “He is a jerk!” and I thought it was quite a laugh so I wrote it down

In S01E11 Tom’s Rhinoplasty Bebe and Wendy are sitting in the swings together and generally appear together throughout the episode, then Bebe gives Wendy a makeover so they’re bffs obviously <3

Craig first appears in the classroom, though not sitting down, in S01E11

Wendy’s not happy about Ms. Ellen taking Stan away from her, she says “Don’t fuck with me! Stay away from my man, bitch, or I’ll whoop your sorry ho ass back to last year!”

Kenny gives Ms. Ellen a scrumptious looking sausage as a valentine’s gift and giggles deviously. Wendy’s gift to Ms. Ellen is a dead animal

Even Kenny doesn’t know what a lesbian is

Wendy’s grandma died in S01E11

Wendy gets Ms. Ellen killed by hiring the Iraqi government (?) to put her in a rocket and shoot it into the sun, then she and Bebe have a pool party (very cool, they wear sunglasses 😎) and watch the rocket hit the sun

Cartman and Pip play a game of kicking each other in the nuts until someone falls. Cartman calls it “Roshambo”

Kenny has a sack of marbles

The boys aren’t fans of Barbra Streisand, but Stan is a fan of the Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway (he’s not a quarterback anymore, he’s an American football executive and the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the NFL according to wikipedia.)

Officer Barbrady is a fan of Fiona Apple (who was 20 at the time and had only one album released called Tidal)

Ned knows how to pilot a helicopter

Kyle’s mom is a fan of Streisand unlike literally everyone else, she even gets an autograph from Mecha Streisand

The boys are fans of Robert Smith, the lead singer of The Cure. Stan says “Robert Smith is the greatest person that ever lived!” and Kyle says “Disintegration is the best album ever!” and Cartman says “Robert Smith kicks ass!” and Kenny’s dead so he doesn’t get to have an opinion

Cartman has tea parties with his toys: Polly Prissypants, Clyde frog, Peter Panda, and a dragon called Rumpertumskin

Kyle wants to make fun of Cartman for the tea party but Stan stops him because he’s concerned that Cartman needs help

Craig is in front of the school counselor’s office in S01E13

A young miss Cartman drinks like a motherfucker at the 12th annual drunken barn dance where Cartman was supposedly conceived

Stan lets Cartman borrow his bike like a good friend

Garrison wanted to have a threesome with Chef and Cartman’s mom. I don’t know why I’m making a note of this but uh… yeah.

Cartman’s mom has had sex with everyone at this bar that Garrison’s drinking at, including principle Victoria, the mayor, Father Maxi, and Jesus (and maybe Kenny’s dad since he’s at the bar but the camera doesn’t pan to him when Garrison says they’ve all slept with Liane). Later Gerald Broflovski is a possible father to Eric, so he fucked her too. Also Mr. Mephesto and his friend Kevin, that little guy, are candidates along with a lot of other people, including the 1989 Denver Broncos (and Mr. Tenorman is included in that later)

Cartman doesn’t make fun of Kyle for being Jewish much at all in this season even though the Christmas episode is all about Kyle not celebrating

Clyde and Token appear very early on and Clyde has always been in the classroom (along with Bebe, Red, Kevin Stoley, Wendy, and Pip and uhh DogPoo too I think). Craig appears later in the season and Tweek’s not in season 1 at all, so Craig’s gang isn’t really a thing yet

And here’s a list of the ways Kenny died in this season. He dies in every episode except episode 9, and he dies twice in episodes 2 and 3. Altogether he dies 14 times

S01E01 Killed after alien shoots him, cows stampede over him, then cop runs him over which finally actually kills him

S01E02 Killed in a play by a falling teepee, then a second time shot by Garrison which sends him in the air and he gets impaled on a flagpole on the way down

S01E03 Killed by a volcano rock that burns him then rolls on him but he’s alive again in the end but gets shot by Ned’s gun that he drops and it accidentally goes off

S01E04 Gets his arms and head torn off in an American football game

S01E05 Stan’s clone punches Kenny into a microwave where he gets cooked alive

S01E06 Death touches Kenny

S01E07 Kenny gets crushed by a Russian space station and turns into a zombie because he gets Worcestershire sauce in his veins, then Kyle chainsaws zombie Kenny in half, then zombie Kenny rises from his grave and is crushed by a statue and a plane

S01E08 Kenny is killed by a bunch of turkeys. His eye gets plucked out. It’s dark blue

S01E10 After Kenny gets turned into a duck-billed platypus, Jimbo and Ned shoot him

S01E11 Ms. Ellen throws a sword through Kenny’s face

S01E12 While Mecha Streisand and a giant robot Leonard Maltin fight, Kenny plays with a tetherball and gets the rope wrapped around his neck and it strangles him

S01E13 Kenny gets stuck on a go kart and it drags him around but stops and he’s still alive! Too bad the go kart stops on train tracks and a train runs him over. Stan’s grandpa sends a video of the event to America’s Stupidest Home Videos and wins $10,000

If you read all that, first of all hello. I’m not new to the fandom even though this is the first thing I’ve posted on this tumblr blog. I’ve been writing a fanfic called Caffetamine though so I’m not a complete non-entity. Anyway, I’ll watch season 2 soon and post my notes on that too probably.

#south park #sp rewatch #i made way too many notes #kenny used to get dialog in almost every episode #poor kenny #he really gets shafted later

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yesttoheaven · 3 years

Text

I SEE YOU – chapter II

pairing – arthur fleck x female!reader

wc – 2.4k

warnings – none, just some rude people. It's gotham.

a/n – I'm late with this chapter, I know... 🙃 but I hope you like it!

chapter one here:

English is not my first language. I am getting help from google translator and he is not always a good ally, so I apologize for any typos or grammar errors.

Y/N – your name

Y/L/N – your last name

A week has passed since Y/N met Arthur Fleck. It was a long week for her – with TV appearances, some biased rumors about a possible affair with her co-star and problems with the city's main NGO. The place was invaded and looters took what little they had to offer to the population. Gotham police were doing their best to find those responsible, but it would take some time.

Despite the problems, Y/N constantly found herself thinking about the brown-haired man. At some point he was always in her thoughts. Since the day she left him in front of a building on Winslow Avenue, they haven't seen each other anymore. Y/N would like to know what he thought of the movie, but the man never came.

Maybe he didn't like the movie, she thought. And that was totally fine. What was not right was this desire to find him again.

On Wednesday, Brian asked if 'the guy with the big shoes' had called her, but the actress confessed that she had not given him her phone number. What the young actress didn’t know, was that Arthur had crossed the city – more than once – just to tell her what he thought about the movie, but his attempts were marked by misunderstandings.

"The entrance for employees is on the other side." The receptionist informed, attracting the attention of Arthur, who was walking through the luxurious hotel lobby. He didn't know if she was talking to him directly, but he approached the counter anyway.

"Huh... Y-You talked to me?"

"You are the new janitor, right?" The woman stopped what she was doing and finally looked at him, repressing the urge to roll her eyes.

Arthur shook his head and with a small smile, he said:

"I'm looking for Y/N Y/L/N." The mere fact of saying her name made his heart run so fast. Arthur could not explain, but since he met Y/N, his days have become colorful. He still suffered from the brutality of the citizens of Gotham, but everything became more bearable.

"Y/N Y/L/N? The actress? Are you sure?" The receptionist asked incredulously and at the same time seemed to hold herself back from laughing. It really seemed like a joke to her. What could this strange man want with Gotham's Golden Star?

"I need to deliver this to her." Arthur showed the VHS tape, hoping it would guarantee his free pass. "What room is she in?"

"Listen, I don't know how you got through security... but you certainly saw all those people out there. Everyone wants to talk to Y/N or just ask for an autograph. The problem is that none of you are allowed to be here."

"Autograph? I'm not here for the autograph! She wants to know m-my opinion about her new movie."

"I'm sure the only opinion that matters to her is that of the Academy of Oscars."

"You are not understanding... We are practically friends, she saved my life in that alley! Ask her! Say that Arthur Fleck is here... S-She... She will remember me!" While Arthur was stuck in his own words, the woman called the security guards.

The moment two men approached, Arthur realized that things were going very, very badly. In his mind everything seemed easy. He found Y/N and she was happy to see him, but in practice he hadn't reached the elevator yet and the security guards were already putting him out.

"Wait! You got it wrong..." He tried to explain and get rid of the men who were holding him, but the receptionist just shook her head, telling them to get him out of the lobby before the residents showed up to see this show. This would not be good for the hotel's image. "I just want to see Y/N..."

"That's what everyone wants." One of the men said, laughing.

"And I wanted her to dance for me." The other security guard confessed, sighing sadly, while that desire would remain only in his dirty imagination.

Near the main door of the luxurious hotel, they treated Arthur like trash, throwing him on the sidewalk. The poor man managed to maintain his balance and remain standing with the little dignity that remained, but that disappeared as soon as a painful laugh cut his throat.

"Go back to your filthy home! You are too old for this fan and idol thing."

...

When the elevator doors opened, Brian left the metal box accompanied by two officers. Because of the police's satisfactory commitment in this case – obviously Y/N's status contributed to this – the actress received good news. The stolen supplies from the institution were found in a shed and a man was caught in the act. Other suspects are still being sought, but the only piece that doesn’t fit, is that the owner of this shed is Thomas Wayne, candidate for mayor and also owner of WayneCorp.

"Tell Miss. Y/L/N that we will capture the responsible."

"Or those responsible." The other officer added, reinforcing his commitment to the citizens of Gotham.

As soon as the officers left the building, Brian intended to go back to Y/N's room and check on her, mainly after receiving new information about the case, but his plans were interrupted by Susan, the receptionist. She showed a big smile, waving, and he approached the counter trying to look friendly.

"Hey, Susan! How was your day?"

"You know, check-in, check-out... The same things." She laughed, shaking her head. Her job was not exciting, but it paid her bills. That was enough. "I saw the cops... Do they have any suspects?" Curiosity was plastered on her face and Brian sighed, fully understanding why she had called for him. Gossip.

"Unfortunately I can't give too many details, but they are doing a good job." He stated, satisfied with the investigations.

"I don't know if that can help anything, but maybe he participated in the theft..." The woman murmured. The words seemed to be directed at herself, like a loud thought, but the bodyguard was unable to ignore and asked:

"What are you talking about, Susan?"

"A man was here looking for Miss. Y/L/N. His insistence scared me. He was determined to go into her room, only God knows what he intended to do, so I called the security guards, they put the man out. But Carl saw him across the street for three days straight."

"You did the right thing. It's unbelievable how Gothan became a fucking asylum!"

"Do you think I don't know? Sometimes it feels like we're living in hell... But the freak left his name. Arthur Fleck. I don't know if it's real, but you should check with the police."

"I will do this... Wait! Did you say Arthur Fleck?" Brian questioned, as confusion appeared on his face. That name was familiar to him.

"It's a strange name for a strange guy."

If it were possible, a lamp would be shining next to Brian's head right now. Arthur Fleck is the name of the guy with the big shoes.

Without any explanation, Brian ran for the elevator, leaving Susan extremely confused behind. When he arrived at the actress' room, he found her talking on the phone. She didn't look happy.

"Oh, he does not want to talk to me? Very busy, huh? You know I don't like to get involved in these problems... but he started it, Alfred!" Y/N had crossed her limit. The only thing she wanted to do was talk to Thomas Wayne about the NGO supplies that magically appeared in his shed, but that would be impossible. Alfred insisted, saying that the billionaire was at an important business meeting and that he had no connection to the theft. "Okay, I will not insist. Maybe when you regain your senses, you understand my side. Have a nice day, Alfred!" She ended the call and looked at Brian.

"I can't believe you called Thomas..."

"Likewise when he called the mayor’s office trying to ban the showing of Midnight Seduction." The actress argued, showing a fake smile. "These NGOs that I help, they are hindering his path, it is not very difficult to see. You know how men like Thomas Wayne build their empires. It's not pretty."

"God, I know... but be careful what you say. It is a very serious accusation." He advised, concerned for her safety. Y/N just walked over to the table in the center of the room, picking up her glass of scotch and drinking all the amber liquid.

"Don't worry, I'm used to white-collar men."

"Oh, I can see it, but I hope you're used to clowns too, because I have news about the guy with the big shoes." Brian started, capturing her attention immediately.

"Arthur was here?" Y/N's voice took on a hopeful tone and a beautiful smile formed on her lips. For a moment it was as if all her problems were gone.

"Well..." Brian cleared his throat, choosing the right words to tell her, but deep down he knew it wouldn't work. "Arthur was committed to seeing you, but Susan did not allow his entry."

"Why she did it? Usually she talks to me first..."

"It is the protocol, but in this case she considered his behavior to be atypical. I don't know if he was nervous and had another fit of laughter in the middle of the lobby, but she believed that he could present you with some danger or even be involved in the theft of the NGO... The security guards kicked him out."

For the first time in this conversation, Y/N didn't know what to say. The words were stuck in her throat. She felt stupid for not giving Arthur her number or simply putting his name on the reception list. Any of these options would have avoided the embarrassment he went through.

"Maybe you should talk to him. Do you know where he lives." The blond-haired man suggested. It was clear as the day outside that Y/N was silently blaming herself for what happened and that was not fair to her. "What do you think?"

"Arthur possibly hates me now..." She murmured, walking across the room. First he was beaten in a dark alley and now humiliated, practically compared to a criminal. All Y/N wanted at the moment was to go down to the lobby to clarify some points with Susan, but Brian was right. Talking to Arthur is the best she could do. "Prepare the car."

"What? Now?" The surprise was tangible in his voice.

"I don't know, maybe next month?" She rolled her eyes. "You have an appointment?"

"No, but you have." Brian added, crossing his arms. It took a few minutes, but as soon as the actress finally remembered, her mouth opened in a perfect O.

"The dinner with Charles is today! I completely forgot!"

"And before that I need to get Misty. If she gets here with the makeup artist and you're on the other side of town, we'll be in big trouble."

"Maybe not." Y/N smiled.

...

"If Misty finds out where we are..."

"First: You need to calm down. Second: She will only know if you open your mouth and tell her." Y/N listed it on her fingers and then took off her sunglasses, looking at the building across Winslow Avenue. "Just trust me."

"I think I will regret this later." He whispered to himself, leaving the interior of the car and opening the door for her. Y/N accepted the help and together they went to the entrance to the building. The next step would be to find out which floor Arthur lived with his mother. "And now what do we do, genius?"

"I confess I didn't think about that part..." The actress replied, looking around curiously. The place was nothing like the luxurious buildings in downtown. There was no lobby to ask for information and the reality here was completely different.

"Do you need help?" Brian and Y/N were surprised by a female voice and found a woman near the building's front door, holding some groceries from the market.

"Oh, hi!" Y/N smiled as the woman approached where they were. "We are a little lost... Do you know which floor Arthur Fleck lives on?" After that question, a mixture of confusion and surprise appeared on the woman's face.

She didn't believe it when Arthur said that a downtown girl saved his life, especially when that girl was the Gotham's Golden Star. It seemed impossible, but now Y/N Y/L/N was here, asking to see him.

Abandoning these thoughts, Sophie smiled, agreeing immediately.

"You are lucky. Arthur and I live on the same floor, I can accompany you there."

The actress smiled appreciatively and Brian offered to help with the bags from the grocery store. As soon as they were inside the metal box, the woman pressed the number 8 button and looked at Y/N, saying:

"By the way, I’m Sophie Dumond."

"Nice to meet you, Sophie. I am..."

"Oh, I know who you are." She stated, dispensing with the introduction. "I mean... Gotham breathes you!"

"Sometimes it is strange to open the window and see your own face on a billboard or on TV." Y/N confessed. The fame was glamorous, but sometimes suffocating.

"It sure is better than opening the window and seeing a pile of garbage. This is the privileged view we have here." The woman argued, laughing at the situation and the elevator stopped on the eighth floor. "Well, Arthur lives there." After leaving the metal box, she pointed to the end of the hall and while Brian helped her with the bags from the grocery store, Y/N thanked Sophie for the information and walked to the location indicated.

Looking at the "8J" sign, she took a deep breath, wishing she had a mirror nearby to check her appearance. She wanted to be presentable to finally meet Arthur again, even though he might be mad at her. Gathering courage, Y/N knocked on the door. To her disappointment, no one came. The apartment continued in absolute silence.

"Don't tell me there is no one at home." Brian appeared beside her. Realizing that the actress was anxious, he knocked on the door again, with more insistence this time. "We can come back another day..."

Without a better option, Y/N was ready to go back to the elevator, when the door was opened unexpectedly, revealing a woman on the other side.

"Hello, you must be Arthur's mother! I'm Y/N and this is Brian, we are friends of your son."

–––––––––––––––––

a/n – I really don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I would be happy to know what you think of the story :)

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