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hideawayintheimaginationworld · 4 years

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I am Machine: Chapter 6

“Let's watch something together Alec!

It was 3:56 pm, Alec and Helpy had made themselves comfortable on Lefty's large bed with pillows all around. It was now obvious Lefty had a lot of pillows on his bed which Helpy had arranged into a pile for them. Helpy had set the tablet on a stand so he didn’t have to hold it in front of them.

“What should we watch?” Helpy asked.

“I dunno, I don't know what you have....” Alec shrugged.

This was the only way to spend time, Lefty was working, most likely singing a happy tune on stage while Helpy explained since the encounter with the rotten teen, going out to see guests just didn't appeal to him anymore, he even said to Alec he was also nearly torn in half once by some grubby kids but Foxy intervened.

Helpy looked at the screen, “Well we have Disney movies like Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Lilo and Stitch... Ooh, I just remembered! Mike finally put the rest of Phineas and Ferb on here!”

“Phineas and Ferb...?”

“A show about two boys who invent all kinds of crazy things and their pet platypus who is a secret agent.”

“I know, I know, my sister sometimes watches it.....” Alec nodded, “It’s a thing for little kids isn't it?”

“No, me and Lefty watch it!” Helpy was kind of defensive.

“Okay, okay!” Alec did not want to start a fight at this point.

“How about we watch the first episode and you decide what you think!”

Alec never sat down and watched it with Hazel. She had asked if he wanted to watch it, but he always looked at her with a scowl and said “No”, then he'd go find something better to do.

Well he didn’t have anything important to do, “Alright. Let's watch it.”

Alec had seen the animation style before, he and Helpy were both engrossed in it by the end, when it finished, Alec felt kind of disappointed, he found it was actually more enjoyable than he thought.

“Can we watch more?” Alec asked Helpy immediately.

“Sure!” Helpy nodded.

Alec wasn’t sure what time it was when somebody knocked at the door.

Helpy paused the video as they were now watching episode 5, he then turned towards the door and called out, “Who is it?”

“It's Lewis!”

“Oh come in Lewis!” Helpy nodded happily.

Lewis walked into the room, all dressed up, closing the door behind him, “I washed this, it kind of smelled.....” He looked at Alec.

He looked puzzled, he then nervously chuckled slightly, “Okay, you weren’t broken, I suspected you weren't but I didn't know... You were so still when I held you...” He scratched the back of his head.

“This is Alec!” Helpy had introduced him. “We're watching Phineas and Ferb! Do you want to watch with us?”

“Ummmm not today...? Do you want this back?” Lewis held up the blanket Alec would drag around, “I gave it a wash because it had a strange smell on it...”

Alec walked over and grabbed the bottom of it. Lewis allowed it to fall onto the ground.

“Thanks Lewis....”

“You're definitely not a Lonely Freddy... Lefty wouldn’t let one get so close to Helpy when he’s not around..... Ever since what happened that night... The fact he left you alone with Helpy means Lefty has some level of trust in you....” Lewis spoke, sounding very unsure.

“I'm human....” Alec had wrapped himself in the blanket, “Umm... Do you remember a birthday party? For a girl named Hazel? That happened in April?”

“Not particularly....” Lewis frowned and shook his head. He had done so many parties here that he didn’t remember all of them, especially not one that happened months ago, heck he couldn't even remember the ones he did last week. They were all kind of the same.

“She's my sister. I remember you were there, you were playing a ukulele on that day...” Alec did remember seeing him strumming his ukulele.

“I do play the ukulele.....” He nodded. “I’m sorry, I don't know you are. It happened some time ago so I don't remember it, ” He shrugged.

“I was a teenager....” Alec was trying to jog his memory reasoning that he may remember something. “Blonde hair, green eyes... I... Ripped the arm of a Yarg Foxy...” He was absolutely ashamed to admit it now, especially in front of Helpy.

“Wait... I remember something,” Lewis froze, recalling back to an event he did remember happening that could be connected. “A woman with a child... She was a little girl with blonde curls and green eyes. They approached me asking if I had seen an “Alec”, telling me he ran off after he tore the arm of the toy......”

Lewis then nodded as he started to see it clear, “I did see some teenager run pass me about twenty minutes before but I wasn’t sure if that was Alec because he ran by quickly and I barely had time to react before I realise he just ran out of my vision. I saw the toy in question and said we could repair it or replace it... They chose to get it repaired at the workshop in the back of the pizzeria... I think the woman was named Meg... Is that your mother?”

“Yes! Yes! That's her!” Alec nodded.

“I saw her later, she said she found you???” Lewis looked absolutely confused.

Alec knew he must be talking about the Lonely Freddy, “She did... But I was... Helpy said mind swap was the proper term... I'm the real Alec... Lonely Freddy is in my body.”

“It explains why Lefty has left you both unsupervised... So... You are a teenager? I know a little about what Lefty does... So I guess this is magic somehow?”

“Lefty explained what happened was some sort of trance... Hypnosis...” Alec remembered that conversation they had.

“Creepy... I don’t understand this pizzeria at the best of times... Kind of strange rules..... We aren't suppose to mention the legend of the Shadow Puppet... We aren’t told why we shouldn’t....” Lewis muttered.

“Wait the doll! Is it still in the repair studio?” Helpy asked.

“No, it was fixed on the same day... We usually like to fix those things on the same day... Both so we can get that stuff out of the way and to please the customers. They were happy with the repair and I remember I said goodbye to them as they left, I remember because the little girl came up to me and thanked me for taking the toy to be repaired quickly.”

That sounded like something Hazel would do.

“I also spoke to.... Alec... But I guess that wasn't you....”

Alec shook his head, “I need to go home! I'm not suppose to be here! I was ready to apologise for being a jerk and Lonely Freddy stole that from me! He stole my body and he’s stolen my family!!!”

“Alec you need to calm down...” Lewis said.

“No, no, no, no! No! I'm suppose to be human like you! I'm stuck like this and I'm scared I'll never go home! I don't want to be here! This place is creepy at night and this... This is too much for me....” Alec held his head in his hands.

Lewis looked around, he had to take in a lot at once. All he really understood was that this thing was suppose to be a child who was trapped in the worse kind of prison. Alec, this poor kid... Was breaking apart. Lewis couldn’t possibly imagine how much pain and grief he was feeling, all at once. Anger, depression, such powerful emotions a child should never have to experience, especially when the circumstances were considered.

Lewis looked at Helpy, who looked the exact same as he did. Trying to process this and figuring out what to do next.

This was the first time Lewis had to ever deal with an intense mental breakdown, especially with someone older, he usually would tend to kids who were younger and their problems could be fixed as quick as a snap of his finger. Teenagers never would get upset.

“Alec....” Lewis started, “I... I... I can't help you...”

Alec expected that answer.

“But I will do you anything you ask of me in regards to this.”

He didn’t expect that.

“Would you like a hug? I usually allow kids to hug me when they're sad, they say I'm cuddly.”

That was really unexpected.

Lewis kneeled down and stretched out his arms, Alec slowly walked towards him then crashed into his arms, he felt himself cry but it was strange, his tears felt really hot.

“Helpy, maybe go find something to calm Alec down..? Maybe something sweet like a chocolate chip cookie?” Lewis asked.

“Okay...” Alec heard Helpy leave the room and his eyes rested on the ground.

“Alec... Are you okay?”

“No,” Alec answered.

“It's okay to feel your emotions... I’d probably have a breakdown also if I was a teddy bear....” Lewis spoke and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, he then handed it to Alec who was using it to wipe his face.

“I can't imagine being away against my will, in a strange place, away from my family... I can't imagine how much you are hurting... Alec... When did this happen if you don't mind answering...?”

“April...” Alec answered in a weak voice, “How much time has passed Lewis?”

Lewis honestly didn't want to answer, because he knew it was going to shock him, but he did, “It's now August the 2nd... You've been like this for about four months..... I'm sorry Alec.... We got rid of the Lonely Freddy's in late April. I read the official decommissioning documentations, they were taken out of service because they kept breaking, and there were multiple complaints about them acting strange. They apparently were asking questions that they aren’t programmed to ask, things like “what’s your biggest regret?”, they shouldn’t know let alone be asking that sort of stuff... It's insensitive and rude.”

“It.. Asked me that..”

“It shouldn't have. Either it learnt that...” Lewis remembered he was told it would learn from conversations, which made it sound like a listening device. That thought always made him paranoid.

“Or bad programming existed....” Lewis muttered.

“I.... Heard you say you didn’t want to leave your nephews alone with it...”

“I couldn’t explain why I felt that way, maybe it was just a gut feeling that I always had, something inside me would always scream at me, whenever I saw a Lonely Freddy approach, my mind would scream at me: “Watch your nephews, don't let them go alone to anywhere, avoid the eyes, and keep them safe”.... I care for my nephews.... I don’t have children and I'm unsure if I want any... I would only have them with the right person... Kinda difficult though... When the majority of the people I feel love for are men....”

“So... You’re gay then..?”

“Polysexual, I'm interested in most people, it's a sexuality that's sort of on the same level as pansexuality...” Lewis explained, “I've had relationships with mostly men, non-binary people... It's kind of adventurous...”

“Is it good? Your relationships?”

“Most are good... I've instantly broken relationships when they cheat or show red flags... Kind of like the Lonely Freddy... Showing multiple red flags.”

“I was foolish to not see-”

“Lefty told me the Lonely Freddy's were manipulative, cunning and sneaky...” Lewis interrupted him to say that, “They were always hiding their true intentions... Did... Did Lefty tell you about Lucky?”

“Lucky?” Alec frowned not recalling that name ever being said.

“It was a Lonely Freddy that came into the room while he and Helpy slept.... I'm not telling you exact details.... But Lefty didn’t always have one eye..... Ask about it...”

One eye.

Did Lefty get into a fight?

How could Lonely Freddy fight a bear that was almost triple his size? Alec found Lefty intimidating still and he had known him for three days by this point, Alec had seen Helpy being completely calm around Lefty because he was super kind to him.

Something wasn’t right here. Lefty's hatred for Lonely Freddy must have started somewhere and it left Alec wondering about the existence of the lock again.

Next Chapter will contain both some answers and Lefty (It's opening hours that's why Lefty is absent).

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

#five nights at freddy's #fazbear frights #Lonely Freddy #FNAF Alec #Helpy #Lewis Anthony- Human Music Man #Lefty isn't here but he'll be in the next chapter #I am Machine Story

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dragonstoravens · 4 years

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Babylon Vol. 1: Freeze Frame, Little Victories, Handled

[ID: a blue patterned banner with text reading “BABYLON.” End ID.]

(Ok this one’s a LONG one, I’ll admit it! But these three chapters-- one Big Boy and two much shorter epilogues-- really go together very well, I didn’t want to separate them. This is one of my favorite parts of book one honestly, so I hope you guys enjoy it too.)

CW: Panic attack

8. Freeze Frame

There wasn’t really any reason for it, it had just been a very long day. A very long day punctuated, of course, by yet another endless fancy dress event, one Trinity needed out of right now. The problem being that he wasn’t alone at this event. He was used to being the brooding wallflower, the kind of man who was noticed when he needed to be, but who no one would notice if he slipped away. Having Azzy there, even though they’d been to several events together by this point, was a very slight change to his usual strategy that made everything just a touch more difficult. Which meant that, right now, it made everything seem pretty much impossible. Trinity wondered if Azzy had noticed how long it had been since he moved his eyes. Or took a breath. He wasn’t sure himself, and if that awareness was slipping it was really time to go. He couldn’t do this in front of her.

“I’ll be right back, dear. Restroom,” he murmured to her, hoping those were the actual words that came out of his mouth. He felt a bit like he was staring at the back of his own head, or watching a vaguely interesting silent film from the back of a drive in theater. He walked away without waiting for a response-- it wasn’t as if he’d hear it, anyway-- making a conscious effort to swing his arms in opposition to his legs as he walked. In his head, he slowly began listing prime numbers, with just enough forethought to pull away from the comm link beforehand. 1. 2. 3. 5. 7. 11. 13? 13. A bead of sweat formed on his temple and rolled slowly down his face. He knew a spot that would be deserted at this time. 17. 19. 23. He turned the corner, and disappeared out of sight from the main ballroom.

Trinity had left all too quickly. Azure wasn’t used to the crowds quite yet, but something in the urgency with which he left concerned her. The comm had been giving her something like static before it turned off entirely, and he almost never turned that off unless he had to. He liked to know when she was getting nervous. Was the link malfunctioning? She was here, alone, and she didn’t even know where he went. Before she could begin mentally mapping the ballroom out to figure out where the bathrooms even were around here, someone in an all-too-boring suit and his date in a tacky, glittery number walked up. She blinked, plastering a smile on her face.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure, Mister…?”

“Please, just call me James. Where is Trinity? I just saw him around here a minute ago, then he disappeared!” Whoever he was, he seemed friendly. Even if his date was sizing her up something fierce. She ran through her last few events, looking for a James in there somewhere to remember. Maybe she should start sticking around for the tax talk. Oh! This was the one from the security agency. She could field that without fucking it up, he’d mentioned it before. She just had to be really noncommittal. Pretend like she knew anything. That’s how Trinity said he used to do it as a teenager.

“Trinity’s currently takin’ care of something elsewhere, I’m sure you understand.” She picked her words carefully. “He should be back in a moment, but these things are always so busy, hardly any time to actually get from A to B without some stops in between.” She tried to remember the way Trinity danced his way through small talk to get to the heart of these issues faster. She’d never understood how he did it, but she’d have to try. She tested the comm and got nothing back. “Honestly, I’m sure the borin’ work things can wait until you see him next time. Please, go enjoy yourselves! I’ll gladly let him know y’all came to see him, he’ll be sorry he missed ya.”

That evasion seemed polite enough for the two of them, as they gave their sincere apologies for not getting to him before he left and went on their merry way. She gave a big exhale, some small sparks shaking off her hands. She shouldn’t stay in one spot or it’d happen again, and this brand of over-polite and accommodating was not her base setting. If she was too formal for too long, she was almost certain she’d begin to chafe. She began a beeline for the refreshments table, eyes always looking out for her date, the stubborn line of her jaw covering for an increasing amount of concern for him.

Her shoulder brushed against someone, jostling her from her thoughts slightly. She really only saw a pristine suit and a hand covered in rings. No, that wasn’t something she could handle right now. Too rich for her blood, and literally.

“Excuse me, my apologies-” was all she offered, continuing on her way. By the time she reached the table, full of wine glasses, she realized too late she’d been followed. But not by the person she’d bumped into. She plastered another smile to her face, picking up a glass and masking her urge to wrinkle her nose at the smell of the wine. She recognized this one: Usually she was with her boy-toy of the week, but today she was alone.

“Denicia, to what do I owe the pleasure? Where’s that darlin’ blond of yours, or have you broken another young man’s heart within the last week?” She punctuated the sentence with a laugh, making sure it was clear she was telling a joke. Internally, she cringed. She wished Trinity was with her, this was where he’d let out a big breath and quietly note some disheveled detail to pick on to make her leave. She didn’t have the eye for it, nor the vocabulary to really properly pull off that particular exit. That was really more Crim’s thing. Which meant she was stuck.

“I was about to ask you the same thing, I’ve looked for him everywhere and I simply can’t imagine you’d cut him loose as quickly as I cut mine, Camilla.” The woman gave a smile full of teeth and Azzy wondered if they were fake or if she just had that big of a mouth. No soft chuckle and joke in return. The silence in the comm made her lonely, but she pushed it aside.

“Oh he’s around. Probably drawin’ up a contract somewhere, you know how he is, always work, no play.” She affected her best pout. This was her least favorite face to put on, the spoiled and slighted lover. If anyone looked at her hands, calloused and scarred, they’d know she was bullshitting, without a doubt, but these people simply weren’t observant or ballsy enough to try and call her on it, and somehow that was worse.

“You poor dear, he’ll come around soon I’m sure. Inboxes don’t stay full forever when that’s the pace you work at.” Denicia patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. “I suppose I won’t bother you with my business then, you’ve got a man to locate before he forgets you’re here. Good luck dear!” and with that she whirled around to disappear into the crowd again, leaving behind a thick floral perfume that made Azure gag. She shook out more sparks and gave a long sigh. She had no idea how Trinity had done this on his own for so long. She looked around to see if anyone was watching too closely, and finished her drink in a single gulp. Then she turned, bumping into another someone with way too many rings.

“Oop, my bad, excuse me!”, she offered a small curtsy and continued on her way, beginning her hunt for Trinity anew, wherever he was. A piercing gaze followed her, but with so many sets of eyes on her already, what was one more? She was so, so close to the bathrooms when a man exited. He recognized her, and plodded in her direction. She wanted to groan.

She knew this one too.

“Camilla! Powdering your nose I assume? The lady always looks ravishing, I can assure you that from where I’m standing you don’t need to.”

“Great to see you, Mister Phineas.” She gave a coy smile, keeping an eye on the doors behind him, mentally cataloguing anyone entering and exiting. She prayed Trinity would save her from this one. “Has your evenin’ been kind to you? You seemed to be spinnin’ one helluva yarn when I passed by earlier.”

Mister Phineas gave a deep belly laugh, and she narrowly kept her smile on well enough to avoid wincing. God, he was so loud. Trinity hadn’t left the bathroom yet, and she wasn’t sure he’d leave her hanging out here if he knew it was Phineas she’d been cornered by.

“Ah Camilla, that’s more a story for your lad Trinity! Something for us men to share.” He patted her shoulder, and she threw up in her mouth a little. “Where is the boy anyway? I haven’t seen him since the two of you entered.”

She wanted desperately to just leave. Tell him to fuck off, turn heel and go. He was useless to Trinity by the man’s own admission anyway so a tiny little shock really wouldn’t hurt him too much, with all the insulation he had. Instead of any of that though, she tittered. No point in being violent because someone’s annoying, that would be unladylike at best and evil at worst; her whole reason to be here was making things easier for Trinity. “He’s indisposed, handlin’ some affairs he said just couldn’t wait a minute longer. Shall I pass somethin’ along? I’ve got no idea when he’ll be back around.” She tapped at the comm one more time. Nothing. Ugh.

“Oh, poor form, leaving a pretty thing like you to wander a wolf’s den like this.” For once she thought maybe Phineas had a point, but she’d never admit that. “I’ll handle my business with him myself, would hate to make you work harder than you need to.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it and she smiled, while internally screaming. He waved and off he went, and she fought the urge to wipe the slime his mouth left on her hand off onto her dress. She looked around.

Trinity still hadn’t returned. She couldn’t reach him in the comm, and in the minute or so she’d kept an eye on the men’s room, he hadn’t entered or exited. At least out in this hall, she could get a feel for the size of the building. It wasn’t huge, just fancy with a lot of gardens. Trinity wouldn’t leave the building she didn’t think, not if she was going to be stuck here. That left a few stairwell corners and some alcoves she already knew were full of the sort of illicit rendezvous Trinity wasn’t really inclined to. She exited the hall with the bathrooms, knowing full well that’s where the alcoves were and not the stairwells. She took a deep breath and entered the throng, smiling and waving where her attention was drawn but not stopping to converse. Crimson’s voice rang in her head: “If you look purposeful enough, anyone with sense will get out of your way, and anyone without sense should follow suit.”

So through the crowd she strode, head high, step as sure as she could fake it, a wake of static left behind her every step as she tried to quell her rising concern for Trinity’s well being. Her face was set as neutrally as she could manage, knowing her default was an expression of stubborn irritation. To others, she was a woman on a mission. To herself, she was mentally planning every step she took, desperately praying she’d see him pop up in the corners of her vision.

She was almost to the set of hallways on the other side of the room when, in her desperate focus to Get To The Other Side Of The Room, she barely registered the bejeweled hand on her shoulder. Internally, she sighed. Externally, she carefully took the hand off her shoulder, barely sparing a long enough glance to be heard. “I’m very sorry sir, I’ve got somethin’ urgent to attend to.”

“Urgent?” The man lifted a perfect dark eyebrow in a bone-pale and starkly handsome face, and pulled his hand back slowly from where it had been draped in the air after she’d removed it from her person. The nails were painted blood red, and gold and silver rings glinted in the light. His voice was far more polite than any of the others she’d talked to, soft and smooth as silk, but she still really didn’t have time for that.

Did I fuckin’ stutter, sir?

A slight static from the comm answered her unspoken question, then nothing.

“I’m afraid so. I assure you,” she tossed over her shoulder and began walking away, more static in her wake. “I’m a horrible liar.”

He only blinked. “I believe you.” The words were quiet, but followed her down the hall anyhow. He turned with a flash of purple-- was that a purple velvet suit, really?-- and was out of sight, finally. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out or give a loud sigh or do something, anything to vent the frustration she felt at being stopped again, but she managed to keep it together. She wandered the thinning crowds in the hallway, ascending a set of stairs with purpose to a floor that seemed almost deserted.

“Trinity?” She called softly, not wanting to alert anyone to his disappearance. If he wasn’t here, she’d look like a crazy person, and she already had enough of that. She stayed quiet and listened over the din of the event downstairs. She didn’t hear anything, but there was a slight shadow down one of the empty hallways, unmoving, but vaguely human shaped. She strode towards the shape, slowing as she went.

“Trinity?” she called softly from a few feet away.

It was him, she could see as she approached. He stood, leaning against the wall in the deserted hallway, perfectly still and unmoving. He didn’t even seem to be breathing. His face was expressionless, gaze vaguely fixed at a point across the hall where the wall met the floor, eyes frozen in place. He hadn’t blinked since she’d been watching him, and her eyes started to water in sympathy. He didn’t react to her presence. After a long moment, he blinked. The movement began and ended in only his eyelids.

She stopped only a few feet from him, just outside his periphery. She reached a hand out, hesitant. She had no idea what was going on, he’d completely shut her out this whole time. No warning, just silence. If she was honest, she’d been pushing the thought that maybe she’d messed up somehow away all night. But she couldn’t find what she’d done, and it wasn’t like Trinity to give a punishment like the silent treatment. He’d call in a drone strike, or something. Ruin her credit score. Tease her mercilessly until she apologized. She turned off the cybernetics in her arm, reaching for his shoulder.

“Terra to Trinity, pagin’ Hotshot. We need you back here on the ground, buddy.” Her voice came out softer than she’d known it could ever be. He was so still. She frowned, glancing around them. No one. He was certainly good at finding hiding spots. She moved into his line of sight. “Trinity, what’s goin’ on?”

As she got close to him, she could see why it looked like he wasn’t breathing. He was taking incredibly shallow breaths, so much so that his chest and mouth didn’t move at all, and the breaths were coming far faster than was healthy. He didn’t respond to her voice or even to her touch except to blink again— the only hint that any stimulus was reaching him. She’d never seen him do anything even close to this before, he was always so well put together she’d begun to think he was a robot designed exclusively to chat easily with the rich and powerful. She couldn’t piece together what the hell was going on. Was he having a seizure? It didn’t look quite like the ones she’d seen Cadet have, but maybe there were more kinds. Or maybe it was something else. Had something happened to him? She wouldn’t know until either he could talk or passed out, and who knew when that would be. If he was having a seizure she’d know soon enough, and then maybe she’d be able to help. But in the meantime?

She plopped onto the ground, back resting against the wall as she stretched out to lounge right there on the floor. Her arm was pressed lightly but firmly against his leg. Something to anchor himself to, if he needed to for some reason. She gave an exaggerated yawn.

“Yeah I don’t blame you for bein’ quiet, this is stressful. I was downstairs on my own for a fraction of what you usually deal with and I’m already done with it.” She spoke as though he was going to respond, giving his silence some time to fill the air in response. “I ran into Phineas and he left some of his mouth slime on my hand. I think he got….rounder.” She puffed her cheeks out and made a noise one would attribute to a Large Formless Blob. “I think it’s all the shit he talks, he’s swallowing some. The methane’s inflating him AND his ego.”

She chanced a look up at him before she continued. “I think that probably he’s the worst. He’s just so damn loud. It’s nicer up here. Quiet and you can actually breathe a little without catching someone’s four thousand credit perfume in your mouth. Have you noticed how overdone the smells are? I was thinking about makin’ a little particle-incineratin’ barrier for my nose just to come to these things without havin’ to leave with a headache.”

A slightly louder inhale and exhale this time. Maybe something… or maybe not. Still, his chest moved a little with the breath, just the slightest twitch. He blinked. She grinned and continued in her lounging, gesturing dramatically. “I mean, how many innocent flowers died in the making of that migraine? How much you wanna bet they don’t even like the smell themselves? It’s the luxury of it all. Poor posies never imagined it would end like that, slathered on a high-falutin’ neck for the drama.” She was trying to be funny, in the hopes he’d maybe smile. She also tried to keep her voice low enough that only he could hear her, even from her ridiculous position splayed out on the floor. She made an attempt at keeping a cadence to her inflection as well. Something easy to follow, soothing.

His head made a robotic movement, up and down almost imperceptibly as if mimicking the idea of a nod. It seemed like more of an automatic response, something cultivated to try and convince people there was nothing wrong, rather than an indication he understood or processed what she was saying. Not that it would convince anyone, it was the least natural motion she’d ever seen from him, but at least it meant he could hear her.

She took a deep breath and moved a little, stretching out in front of him now, right at his feet, still making sure some part of her touched him. She looked around. Still no one, not that it mattered much. This was the most comfort and fun she’d had all night, which really said something about the company they kept at these events. She smiled up at him. “And some of these people are tacky as hell. I have no idea who let them out of the house lookin’ like that. Though I guess honestly I’m not sure who let them out in general, they don’t know how to act right.” She rested her head on a gloved hand, stabilized by her elbow on the floor. She hummed a little in thought. “I wonder what the market would be like for a little robot that tells you when you’ve got a few too many rings on. Absolutely ridiculous, you jack off with that hand?” She lifted her head and counted on her fingers. “I think more than like three per hand is pushin’ it. How do you even lug your own limbs around? Do something useful that’s not stoppin’ me when I’m busy.”

He actually stopped breathing for a moment at something she’d said in there. Hard to say which part, she’d said a lot of shit. She could ask later. If she remembered. For now she was just looking for something, anything to talk about. “...Yeah, you’re right, it is a little rude not to even try to act like I care.” She continued as if he’d responded to her. “Like I said, I got no idea how you did this on your own for so long. It’s awful. I can only imagine how much more you’d rather be home, curled under a blanket or something. Some hot cocoa instead of this weird champagne with alien fruit in it. I’m not even sure what it is. Do you know of any green fruits with a rind like an orange and the texture of an apple? Tasted awful, and I even double checked, you are supposed to eat it.”

She was about to barrel on, but some instinct told her to wait. After a moment, Trinity twitched at her side, seeming to struggle for a big enough breath to speak. “Zmenclok.” His voice was empty of all emotion, a blank monotone without inflection. “Antrian fruit.”

She nodded thoughtfully, a wave of relief crashing over her to hear him speak at all. “The Antrians are a strong people then, because that was the worst fruit I’ve ever put in my mouth by a long shot.” She examined her nails, as though she really cared much. “Left a smell on my hands, I’ve washed them twice already.” She’d also tried to burn the smell off with electricity, but that also hadn’t worked. “I wonder if instead of water soluble sugars, it’s made of something else? That would explain why I hated it, humans might not actually be compatible with the chemical makeup. We’ll know when the bathroom lines reach out to the cars, I suppose.”

“Uh… huh.” It was almost a sound of agreement, or at least meant to sound like one, with about twelve of those fast, shallow breaths between the syllables. When she glanced up at him, his eyes had gone unfocused and cloudy.

He could kind of talk, which was good. She didn’t want to push her luck by drawing attention to the state he was pulling himself out of. So she just kept going, starting with a very long, deep inhale and sigh. Maybe he’d get the hint. She usually did when Crim did it, but everyone’s different. “Y’know, I talk a lot of shit, but I do have fun at these sometimes. It’s not the worst thing to look nice and eat weird food. Can’t say I’d recommend the “whole spoonful of just Gensoran caviar” thing but it’s a great story since I’m at these things all the time lately anyway.” She thought for a moment. “The dancin’s pretty alright too. I get some of my best thinkin’ done when I’m not hangin’ upside down, it turns out. I sent off a blueprint to my shop back home, they’re doin’ the rough fabrication for me so I can get the fine tunin’ out of the way on my own. I used to drive ‘em all nuts, gettin’ way too precise.” She had a faraway look in her eyes. She really didn’t think he’d notice. “I kinda miss my mechanics. With just Kelly to watch all of ‘em, I’d hope they can focus hard enough to get anythin’ done.”

He might have attempted to follow her example of a deep breath, but he didn’t make it far. His breathing got harsher as she spoke, but no slower or deeper. “A-Az—ure.” He could barely get the word out through his tight, shallow, breaths. His hand closest to her flexed, opening like he was searching for something to grab onto, and she could feel his leg start to tremble against her. He swayed on his feet, unsteady. He was moving now, but it seemed like his frozen state had been compensating for the lack of oxygen he was getting. Any clarity he’d been grasping for answering her questions was fading, and as it did that odd static fuzz picked up through the com again. Somehow, the sound was almost frantic, making her tense up as it invaded her mind.

She shoved the static away. She could have a secondhand panic at home, with Crim or Perry or something. Priority one: Trinity Jericho does not pass out on the floor of the balcony level stairwell in a ritzy ballroom. Priority two: Trinity Jericho does not get his panic revealed to the general public. In one fluid motion, she got to her feet. Somewhere, a violin bow began a slow trek along its strings. She caught the hand that had been flexing in her own, her other wrapping around his waist as she stepped in close. The same way he’d kept her upright countless times while she was still stumbling around in heels like a newborn giraffe. She was a lot shorter, but her cybernetics kicked in a little to help. Someone walked up the stairs and she gave them a shy smile, brain endlessly working. They passed by with little thought given to the couple dancing in the empty hallway. She thought into the comm, as soothingly as she could.

Lean in. I’ll lead this time. I promise you’re not heavy. Breathe, Trinity.

She wasn’t completely sure she was reaching him, but once he had something supporting him at least he could stop fighting so hard to hold himself upright under his own power. Almost his full weight dropped into her, and his head fell to her shoulder. She could feel tiny, hot puffs of air against her neck, as he fought to slow his breathing. His face was still blank of all emotion or expression, but the comm registered his terror— he couldn’t stop, couldn’t control it. His hands twitched, tightening around hers. She gave him a gentle squeeze back.

Breathe with the music. In-two-three-four, out-two-three-four.

She continued counting for him, keeping time with the lazy tune playing on the floor below as it floated up to them. She took no real steps, but kept a slow, steady, easy sway. She did the breathing herself, trying to drown his static with her own soothing patterns. Eventually, the rhythm of the swaying and the music started to break through the static— he managed a deep breath in, struggling to release it again as it caught in his chest, until he finally let it all out with a choking exhale. The next time he tried, it was slightly smoother, and he staggered in place. He would have fallen if it weren’t for her arms holding him up. His chest heaved in and out a few more times, and his legs trembled slightly.

“I’m. Fine. O—ok.” The words were robotic and clipped.

“That’s a lie, but you can talk now so I’ll take it.” She continued their swaying, keeping her breathing deep and slow. Her head turned to hide her mouth in his shoulder, away from anyone nearby who might be able to read lips and was piecing it all together. There was no one, realistically, but at this point she also just enjoyed the warmth. “I think I got cornered by every friend you’ve got at these damn things while tryin’ to find you. We can probably dip as soon as you’re ready. They can wait. You can go home, Hotshot. You don’t have to stay on this time.”

“Yes. I want to go… soon.” It was like he was reading a teleprompter. They swayed for a bit longer, as his breathing evened out, and after a moment, he tapped her on the shoulder, like he was trying to get her attention. “Can… we sit.”

" 'Course we can sit." She slowed them to a stop and let him onto his own two feet as gently as she could, easing him to the ground after that. She flopped down beside him with much less care and ceremony. She nestled herself into his shoulder, just in front of him enough to suggest she was ready to support his weight sitting, if he needed it. "Better?"

He braced himself against the wall as he slid to the floor. In the back of her mind, through the comm, she could hear what sounded vaguely like numbers, prime numbers, she realized after a moment. Soon enough, they stopped, and he took in another trembling breath. “Yes. Better.” He still didn’t sound like Trinity. It was hard to hear him sound so... absent. “I’m. Coming back.” He paused. “Know where I am. Sorry I… left.”

She leaned into him gently, lounging as casually as you can in a floor length gown. If he'd been mentally present, she'd have looked like a really old Terran lounge singer. All she was missing was a piano. Her mouth curved into its standard lopsided smile. "If you were just dealin' with what I think you were, I can't say I blame ya for dippin' out. Not exactly fun, Crim's told me." She rolled her shoulder a little. "I wasn't kiddin', you know. I managed to excuse you from the clutches of three of our favorites for the night. We really can just go home once you're back to basics."

He nodded stiffly, before letting his head loll back against the wall, as if he couldn’t quite hold it up on his own. “Panic attack. No reason. Just too much.” He pressed his hands to the cold tile of the floor, seeking something to feel. “In… a minute. I want to leave. Soon, I can… fake it. Enough to get out.”

She nodded back, eyeing another set of people making their way up the stairs. She sat up straight, shielding him from view, leaning in a little farther than she might normally, even for what she was here to pretend to be. "Take your time, Trinity." She whispered quietly. He couldn't really keep up an act right now, so she was going to have to put up twice as much. Sorry about this. I'm going to touch you, I'll try to make it as little as I can. She settled her arms around him, head on his shoulder. Her face said adoration while her eyes betrayed the thought involved as she tried to keep the touch as minimal as she could.

A shudder ran through him as the sounds of the other couple reached them, and his green eyes stared through Azzy instead of at her even as she leaned in close to shield him from their view. His breathing had begun to speed up just slightly, but he managed to at least keep it steady and deep with the help of a quiet chant of prime numbers that slipped into the back of her mind from his, clearly a strategy he had to keep focus and not fall back into whatever empty place he’d been before.

The passersby soon left their immediate vicinity, and Azzy pulled away from him slowly. With Crim, there was a 50/50 chance she'd be forbidden from moving and letting him go after a panic attack, so she wanted to give Trinity the option, if he could tell that's what was being offered. She searched his body language for what he needed, other than an opportunity to leave. She briefly wondered if just breaking down a wall and making their own door was that bad of a plan.

Trinity made no move to keep her in place, and his body language, like his face, was so still and blank that she couldn’t glean much of anything from it. She wondered what in his life had taught him to panic like this— silent and so absolutely contained that he nearly ceased to exist entirely. She took a deep breath, letting herself also slump against the wall and, for the first time since she found him like this, she looked away. Her eyes remained fixed on the stairwell, quietly willing the partygoers below to stay away as she continued to count the beat of the current song. She took herself away from being pressed to him entirely, giving him some few inches of space. Her part in this was done. All that was left was to wait it out. He’d pulled away from the comm again, closing his thoughts off, but she could hear him breathing steadily behind her as he pulled a bit more fully back to himself.

It took a few minutes, but eventually she heard movement behind her as Trinity shifted, clearing his throat. “Alright. I think I should be ready to go now, as long as we don’t have to stop and talk to anyone.” His voice moved up and down in a manner very similar to its usual inflection, but somehow after witnessing what she just had she could tell that it was all very intentional. It wasn’t his real voice, just a very clever approximation that would probably fool anyone who didn’t know him very well. With luck, it would be enough for them to make it out of the building. She got the feeling that it wasn’t going to get any better than this as long as they were still in the place where it had happened.

She stood and brushed herself off, rolling her shoulder and setting her jaw in its usual stubborn position. She offered him her hands to pull him to standing. “I’ve got it on the way out. Smile and nod like I’m sure you were plannin’ on anyway.”

In response, he simply smiled. Very convincing, except his eyes were still faraway and empty. “Of course. I’ve had to do this a couple of times before.” He didn’t say ‘alone,’ but she knew what he meant. It was maybe as close to a thank you as he could manage to get out right now. She gave a slightly sadder smile in response. She’d always been easy to read. It made her easy to talk to. Eyes becoming steely, she pulled him up.

“Okay, let’s go back to hell.”

“Already there.” He gave that same empty smile and followed.

She took his hand in hers and led him down the stairs. The difference from the lazing, relaxed person who’d just sat with him and held him literally upright, to the person leading him through the throng of the rich and forgettable was astounding. She’d never walked this tall at an event before, each step falling exactly where she’d intended it to. In her head, she tracked where she’d entered from, where there were the fewest people they knew and where there were the fewest people in general. She kept an eye out for people who’d been looking for him, breezing past Phineas without him sparing either of them so much as a glance. The usual easy gracefulness she was trying for was replaced with a purposeful stride, static in the air where she stepped.

She really just wanted to leave as soon as possible. Her brother’s voice rang in her head once more: “People with sense will get out of your way”. She hoped he was right, Trinity needed some fresh air at least. She wove through the crowds, exchanging passing pleasantries through kilowatt smiles and an ever so slightly played up drawl. Trinity barely had to look at who she was speaking to.

Somewhere along their way, so close to the exit, she turned a bit quickly, bumping into someone in a purple suit with an overabundance of jewelry. She heard the tinkle of breaking glass and the splash of liquid scattering from the broken cup. The man she’d just spilled wine on looked up from the tablet he’d been occupied with, his face, which might have been familiar had she bothered to think about it, written over with genuine surprise. Trinity’s hand tightened on hers, and she could feel his pulse pounding where his wrist pressed close to hers. She gave a quiet noise of surprise before collecting herself and trying to mind her manners without getting trapped by conversation. “My bad, s’cuse me sir-” She quipped out as she pushed past, pulling Trinity with her without a second thought, stride still sure. Was his breathing starting to speed up again? All the more reason to get out as fast as possible.

When they finally made it through the doors with no further issues and reached the empty stretch of driveway the car had been called to, Trinity dropped her hand and took a few more breaths to calm himself down again. He didn’t always trust what he saw in this state, but…

“Oh God,” He muttered, his voice dropping back into its low monotone. “Tell me he’s not following. I can’t…” words failed him, and he rubbed his hands together, trying to generate some feeling. He prayed the car would arrive soon. She looked behind them. No one.

“No one followed us, Hotshot. What’s got you bent outta shape again? I said excuse me.” Her words were callous, but she sounded genuinely concerned. She thought she’d done well, and he certainly seemed like he had more important things to worry about than her being a little rude on accident.

“I know.” He took in a breath too fast, and forced it to exit more slowly. “But he’s too observant. I can’t let him see… this. You-- you know how he is, don’t you.” It should have been a question, but the phrase didn’t go up at the end to indicate it.

She raised a brow, moving to touch his shoulder lightly, hoping to steady him on his feet a little better and give him something to ground with. “Tacky?” She, again, sounded genuine, making a little joke to lighten this bizarre mood they’d cooked up.

He turned to face her, and somehow her response shocked an actual expression out of him, his eyes slightly widened. “Azure. That man was…” a very slight twitch of the corner of his mouth, like this was something he really didn’t want to address. “My employer.”

Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ the moment the final syllable was out. It closed a moment later, and her brow furrowed, guilt all over her features. “That really is a problem then, ain’t it? Shit Trinity, I’m sorry. I was just tryin’ to get us both outta there. It’s not like its exactly my forte, bein’ in crowds.” She ran her hand through her curls, bunching them up at the base of her neck. Her hands sparked some but she didn’t shake them out. “Still I’m...shit, I’m sorry.”

He took a few calming breaths, trying to look reassuring, but he was clearly still struggling to be expressive. “It’s alright. He… didn’t notice anything. Won’t bother with it… once it’s not interesting anymore.”

Azzy bit back her Sounds like a real peach to know comment, only to realize a moment later she still had her comm in, and the sardonic tone was not subtle. She cleared her throat. “As long as you’re fine. I don’t exactly have a lot to fear from ‘im, so if you think you’re fine then you probably are.”

“I’m not afraid of him.” He sighed slightly and glanced down the road impatiently, waiting for the car to arrive. “But showing weakness is dangerous.”

Somehow, Azure managed to say nothing for long enough to choose her next words carefully. “Guess it’s good I didn’t see anythin’ then.” Her mouth molded the words in such a way that when they left her mouth, they carried the clear reminder she was technically a vigilante by trade as well as a cybernetic engineer: She was offering him the option to ask her to forget. To ignore the whole night, act like it had never happened. Nothing gained, nothing lost. Just a black box of a night she’d never bring up again.

He looked at her, putting together her meaning. After a moment, he gave a slow nod of his head. His eyes held hard steel that said he understood, and a flash of gratitude that she assumed was the last indication she’d get that anything happened, before he turned away again.

“I appreciate your company at these events, Azure. It certainly serves its purpose.”

She simply nodded in understanding as the car finally pulled up the drive, jewelry glinting in the moonlight and features placid. Face blank. Like nothing had happened. She glanced around to make sure there wasn’t anyone outside, before opening the door for him. A friendly gesture.

He smirked at her, this one closer to genuine than she’d seen all night, as he got into the car. “What a gentleman. Come on, you have to get back to the ship.”

She rolled her eyes and got in the car herself. “The lady’s in a rush to be rid of me. Forsooth, my heart. It breaks.” His smirk reflected back at him. He smacked her shoulder lightly as she got in, and the car finally pulled away from the event, headed for home.

9. Little Victories

Azzy’s feet hit the cold metal of the ship over and over, shoes in one hand and excessive skirt bunched high in the other as she ran clear across the entire crew quarters level from the entrance, leaving a trail of static in her wake. She’d long since abandoned any idea of propriety now that she was back on her own home turf. Her run stopped at the end of the hall, where hers, her brother’s, Periwinkle’s, Indigo’s, and Smalls’ cabins were clustered. Breathless and eyes alight with excitement, she knocked on Perry’s door, finally doubling over to pant and wait for them to answer.

The door opened on Perry’s confused face. “Azure, what—?”

Azzy stood up straight once the door opened, beaming if a little embarrassed by her own energy. “I want you to guess what I did today, you’ll think it’s hilarious.”

“Ok, well…” they blinked at her, clearly baffled. “You were off the ship today. With a ‘friend,’ wasn’t it?” It was an affectation— many of the people on the ship had figured out at this point where Azzy went when she was planetside and who she was with, and Perry specifically had probably known since date number two, but it was an unspoken rule to pretend they didn’t.

Azzy rolled her eyes at the implication. Trinity was a friend, and a good one. Even if he was, by every account, very shady. So were all of them, so who were they to talk? She pushed the retort back in favor of continuing to beam. “I ran into Fate. Quite literally, I might add. Spilled wine on him, heard the “oh!”, all of it. Ruined his shirt, I guarantee you, maybe that awful purple suit too. Not sure he knew it was me, because I sure as hell had to be told who he was. Why didn’t you tell me he was so tacky?”

Perry blinked, expression caught somewhere between abject terror and the sort of expression one might make after being smacked upside the head with a brick— and then he laughed out loud, the sound ringing down the halls of the ship. “I’m sure I’ve mentioned all those goddamn rings at least once.” She grinned, sharklike. “Bumping into him, spilling on his shirt, and worst of all, not knowing who he was? That sounds like his worst nightmare.”

Azure loved seeing her friend smile. Made her all fuzzy inside. She grinned back. “I think I might have blown him off a few more times before that too. I was tryin’ to find my date and he just kept puttin’ himself in my path. Like I didn’t have better things to do. I’m a livin’ taser, he’s lucky he wasn’t fried. I was already anxious as hell, it was more than possible.” She gave a little yawn. “Anyway, I’m beat. Have fun eatin’ puddin’ with my brother.”

Perry’s soft chuckle followed her down the hall as she left.

10. Handled

It didn’t hit Trinity until much later that night what exactly Azure had done while he’d been… incapacitated. He knew he was still far too anxious to sleep, no matter how exhausted he was, so he’d taken the advice he vaguely remembered from while Azzy’d been chattering to him earlier that evening and wrapped himself in a blanket on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate. There was no need to wake up his sister this late-- he’d just sleep tomorrow.

He’d already had the cocoa made when he remembered that it was Azure who’d mentioned it in the first place, and as he’d sat and slowly unraveled his tangled, panic laden memories of the night, he’d begun to piece together everything else she’d said and done. The first thing was how she’d handled finding him in that state. Others who’d stumbled upon him in the past had done everything from trying to shake him out of it to calling an ambulance, and not one had actually been helpful. He knew his attacks were strange and unfamiliar even to people who had ones of their own, but she’d simply waited, using sound and touch to bring him back until she could see what he needed. In some ways, he barely knew her, and yet she’d helped him out of it more quickly and painlessly than anyone except perhaps his sister ever had. How had she known, and honestly, why had she bothered? He’d almost believed she would just leave once he disappeared for long enough.

The next fact that rose to his mind as he considered everything else she’d said was the reason they’d been able to leave so quickly in the first place. Not only had she expertly hidden his compromised state from passerby while he recovered, but she’d been on her own in the crowds the whole time he’d been gone. He had no real concept of how long that had been, but it was impressive at any amount. Not only had she been able to wade through the masses of humanity successfully, she’d apparently expertly handled each business partner or contact he’d been meant to speak with tonight, to the point that not a single person had accosted them or vied for Trinity’s attention on the way out. Even the run-in with Fate, as stressful as it had been at the time, he was sure had been purely accidental. This one night alone had given Trinity more confidence in Azzy’s ability to conduct herself well at these events, more than any dancing improvement or small talk or perfect dinner etiquette. More than that, it was yet another example of something she absolutely didn’t have to do, but did anyway, for a reason he couldn’t puzzle out.

The final piece to the puzzle was her very last gift to him as they waited for a car-- an unspoken promise to forget this moment of weakness, never to bring it up again. It was easy to forget the real business she was in sometimes, that she traveled with a ship of vigilantes with checkered and secretive pasts and plenty of issues of their own. It was unlike him, but somehow he felt he could trust her with that weakness. Not only did he believe her when she said she would treat it as though it never happened, but he wasn’t afraid of it coloring her interactions with him. Even subconsciously. His memories of the night were still hazy and sorting through them was exhausting and painful work, but if he knew one thing, it was that he could trust Azure. If he’d thought it before, now he was sure.

Trinity pulled his blanket tighter around himself and took a sip of cocoa. She was right, this was much better than being in a crowded ballroom. He should do this more often.

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leejihoonownsmyheart · 5 years

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Gitchee Gitchee Goo

Summary:

Jihoon has never seen Phineas and Ferb. You can’t let it stay that way.

This is a very specific fanfiction, for a very specific type of person who grew up watching Phineas and Ferb. But either way, I wrote it so I hope you guys enjoy! And if you haven’t ever watched Phineas and Ferb,,,, Just know you are really missing out.

It started out when you realized just how different growing up in Korea was to growing up in America.

Sure, somewhere deep down you realized that Jihoon hadn’t grown up with the same television shows as you, but there were certain shows that had just made your childhood that you had simply assumed everyone had seen.

Like Star Wars or Die Hard, no matter what country you were in, you had at least heard of it.

But when you walked into Woozi’s studio one day, simply stating “hey Jihoon, whatcha doin’?” And he hadn’t understood the reference, it had totally turned your world upside down, and not in a good way.

“What do you mean you’ve never seen Phineas and Ferb?” You asked for possibly the millionth time that day. Jihoon glanced over at you looking somewhat unamused.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t watch those kinds of shows when I was growing up,” Jihoon replied. You sat next to him on the bench and tried to just eat your noodles like the rest of Seventeen were, but you couldn’t keep to yourself.

“But it’s Phineas and Ferb,” you blurted. “What kind of life can you be leading if you haven’t watched Phineas and Ferb before?”

Jihoon looked at you again, his own noodles partially in his mouth, partially not. You scrunched your face in frustration and looked across the table at Vernon.

“You really never showed him Phineas and Ferb? I mean I’d expect it from Joshua but from you? I’m disappointed,” you stated. Vernon only looked moderately offended, it was Joshua who was surprisingly enough the most hurt.

“Hey I watched Phineas and Ferb too,” he grumbled.

“Why does she keep talking about Phineas and Ferb?” Seungkwan asked slightly annoyed. “What is Phineas and Ferb?”

“It’s a children's show,” Joshua explained. You scoffed and crossed your arms.

“It is a staple in every American’s childhood,” you insisted stubbornly. “It’s the best cartoon ever made ever.”

Every member of Seventeen stared at you blankly. You pouted and leaned back slightly. You tried to stay silent, forget about it, but for some reason, you just couldn’t get it out of your head... Phineas and Ferb had been such an important show in your young life, that dating someone who never had the chance to appreciate it just felt... Wrong.

You stared at your noodles, honestly feeling a bit upset, but you didn’t have to feel like that for too long. After only a few moments, Jihoon was nudging you in the side with his elbow.

“Do you want to stay up all night watching it?” He asked. Your eyes lit up.

“Are you serious?” You asked excitedly. He nodded, a small smile crossing his lips.

“If the show is that important to you then I don’t mind watching it with you,” he agreed. You whooped your excitement and wrapped your arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips.

“Jihoon, you’re the best.”

Half the boys at the table groaned at the public display of affection, but you didn’t even care.

That night you two settled on the couch at your home, wrapped in a blanket with all sorts of snacks surrounding you. You had so much popcorn already in your mouth that Jihoon had already made three jokes that you ate a lot, which you, of course, countered with the fact that you ate just as much as he did.

You hadn’t actually watched Phineas and Ferb in years. For crying out loud you were an adult now. Your days of pretending to be sick just to stay home and watched Phineas and Ferb all day were in the past.

But when the theme song began to start playing, it was like you were in middle school all over again.

“There are 104 days of Summer Vacation and school comes along just to end itttt, so the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it... Like! Maybe!”

You began to sing the opening with just as much energy as Phineas and Ferb were on the television screen. You sang to each trumpet blow, blurted out every line that Phineas and Ferb said during the opening and even jumped to the very end break right before the finale of the song.

“Mooommmmm, Phineas and Ferb are creating a title sequence.”

You violently strummed to the last guitar strum in the air and burst into laughter.

“Oh my gosh, you’re going to love this Jihoon!” You insisted excitedly. You slid yourself back into his side, smiling widely. He chuckled softly and kept his eyes on the captions before him.

By the time the first episode had ended he already had questions.

“So these boys-”

“Phineas and Ferb,” you supplied.

“Right, Phineas and Ferb,” he agreed. “They just build crazy inventions and spend their summer days driving their sister wild?”

You hummed and nodded.

“Pretty much. They have really quirky lines and some really fun catchphrases along with it. The show isn’t afraid to make fun of itself.”

Jihoon was silent for a moment, and then he tilted his head, resting it against your head.

“Aren’t they a little too young for that?” He asked.

You giggled slightly.

“Yes, yes they are.”

That made Jihoon glance at you, obviously wondering why that question had made you laugh.

“What? They get that a lot,” you replied. “It’s one of their funny catchphrases.”

“This show seems like it’s kind of everywhere,” he replied skeptically. You nodded your agreement.

“Yeah, it kind of is,” you admitted. “But that’s what makes it so incredible. Somehow it works despite it being totally chaotic.”

“But-”

“Shh, shh pay attention!”

You guys hit, all of the classics. You watched Swintr, the Rollercoaster episode, The Beak, the aglet episode.

With each episode, you fell back in love with every line and every quirky moment.

During “Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together” you couldn’t help but sing along to every song, even Jihoon couldn’t help but to tap his foot to “I ain’t got rhythm”.

You guys started watching so many episodes that even Jihoon started to giddily say the catchphrases with you. “Ferb I know what we are doing today.”

He fell in love with Jeremy and Candance, making quips at you asking if she was why you had been so obsessed with him because you learned how to have a crush on someone from her.

“But when I turned around Jeremy was standing right behind me!” You said completely in unison with Candance. “Well, actually he was sitting, and he was a couple of blocks away but he was right there!”

Jihoon laughed, his whole body bouncing with the motion.

“Doesn’t that just prove what I said earlier?”

You responded to such an accusation with a sharp glare, which only made him laugh more. You even had to pause the episode because he seemed to think he was so funny.

“Oh my god, I almost forgot about this episode!” You blurted excitedly. “Phineas says it himself, but they do the Rollercoaster episode again, but with a musical spin.”

“But isn’t the show itself already a musical show?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. You laughed.

“Isn’t this show the best? The end dance break is even choreographed by Kenny Ortega!”

“Kenny Ortega?”

“The guy who choreographed Highschool musical, duh.”

By four in the morning, when you would have thought that he would have been tired of watching the show, the two of you were still going pretty strong.

“See it occurred to me that I should be fighting fire with fire. And by fire, I mean Perry the Platypus. And by fire, I also mean Perry the Platypus. It occurred to me while I was on fire,” you rattled off, perfectly nailing the timing on every line that you said.

Jihoon turned to look at you, his eyebrows raised in amusement. You wondered briefly if maybe you had gone too far. You had kept him up till all hours of the night, making him watch a children's cartoon show with Korean subtitles, annoyingly singing along to every song, and randomly blurting out every line that you knew perfectly.

Most people would find that annoying.

“What?” You asked nervously. “Something wrong?”

Jihoon shook his head.

“No, I was just thinking about how cute you are,” he replied. “How many guys can say that they are lucky enough to have a girlfriend so obsessed with kids show that they would keep him up all night?”

“You’re actually quite unlucky. Now that I know you haven’t watched Phineas and Ferb, I also know you haven’t watched Gravity Falls which is another huge tragedy.”

“And here I spent the last few months assuming you were just a normal girlfriend.”

You laughed.

“You silly boy,” you stated softly, patting Jihoon’s head. He rolled his eyes and batted away your hand.

“You about ready to get some rest?” He asked. “I know you are loving this, but it is getting late.”

You went through the checklist silently in your head.

You had watched all the important episodes you could think of and of course you had watched everyone’s favorite episode Summer Belongs to You. There wasn’t really much more to add to this important experience. You wrinkled your nose.

“It was nice to see Meep,” you mumbled. He laughed.

“And now you’ve become delirious,” he said pleasantly. “Let’s get you to bed.”

You got up and shut off the television, watching as the animated characters on the screen turned to black. You sighed happily.

“Thanks again,” you said. Jihoon looked at you, the surprise evident as he hesitated to continue folding the throw blanket the two of you had been using to stay together.

“For what?” He asked. You shrugged offhandedly.

“Watching the show with me. I know that it is kind of dumb-”

Jihoon interrupted you by holding his hand out in front of him.

“Hey, it was part of your childhood. It wasn’t dumb,” he said pleasantly. Your face reddened slightly.

“I love you.”

“I Gitchee Gitchee Goo you too,” Jihoon replied. You laughed, and couldn’t help but think about just how lucky you had gotten, getting to date a boyfriend as great as Jihoon.

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tchaikovsky-at-midnight · 6 years

Text

10.

@unicorn5454 asked:

So, would you like to write #10 ("If you two don't work things out, you're gonna end up regretting it.") for Barlyle? It sounds as if it could turn from angst to fluffy, which would be perfect

/Sorry I cut you short here haha :D but thank you again and yes I agree, absolutely perfect! Enjoy /

Unbeta’ed, I’m not a native speaker

(word count: 1881)

10. “If you two don’t work things out, you’re gonna end up regretting it.”

__________________________

“This can’t work. It’s just not. No. No-“

Anne comes to stand next to Lettie, who watches the door to the circus’ office closely. From behind the door two voices grow louder with every new exchange. Anne sighs.

“Again? Why can’t they just talk like normal people.”, she asks Lettie and wraps herself into the scarf she has thrown over the thin attire. She finished a new trick with W.D. they rehearsed for days now and it finally looks like they imagined it. Initially she wanted to show or at least tell their ringleaders about the good news. Judging from Lettie’s position, leaned against one of the buildings pillars, it might take a while. She purses her lips and wonders, what has gotten into the men recently.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. But it’s been like this for a few days now and I can’t deal with another round of fake-happy Barnum. It is so wrong.”, the singer answers. She values the show man, as a business man and as a close friend, but she doesn’t want to see him this miserable. He would never show that openly, she knows, but it’s obvious to everyone in the troupe. After the discussions behind closed doors, Philip stormed off the last days. Didn’t show up in the evenings and avoided conversations. Barnum on the other hand put on his brightest smile and pushed on and on, rehearsal after rehearsal, new ideas and switched choreographies. It was exhausting and it made Lettie mad.

She wants her family to be happy and not to argue all the time. Anne smiles at her, but takes off again. Lettie will talk some sense into them, she is sure of it. And she certainly does not want to deal with these two. “If you need help, just say so.”, she grins when she leaves. Lettie gives a firm nod, already planning out her approach. When the door opens, she leaps forward. If she let one of them escape, the viscous cycle would start again. Not on her watch.

With confidence she grabs Philip’s arm. The young man notices her only then and his gaze softens a bit. He still looks livid beneath. Lettie shakes her head and takes him back to the door. The ringmaster leans on his desk, arms crossed and just as fuming.

“What is going on with you two lately?”, she demands to know and releases Philip. The younger man lingers at the doorframe.

“Nothing.”, Phineas grumbles, but doesn’t look at her. His gaze is fixed on the wall opposing him, his jaw tightened. Lettie can almost see the distaste radiating off from these two. Philip chuckles humourless and rolls his eyes.

“If you two don’t work things out, you’re gonna end up regretting it.”, she states.

“Oh, regret is a good cue.”, Philip spits out. Lettie looks up to him and now seriously worries what they argued about all the time.

“Really? What do you regret, Carlyle?”

“Where do I start?”, Philip bites back and steps into the room, accusingly.

“Maybe right where everything began. You ruin my life, you know that? I bet you do, you just don’t care. You don’t care for anyone. It’s all lies, lies, lies and pretence; I don’t know who you are. And I don’t want to know.”

Lettie gasps and looks horrified from Philip to Phineas. She would have never expected such harsh words from the young aristocrat who became family so fast. All she can do is stay in the doorway, watching the fight unfold.

“I ruin your life? You hadn’t had a life before me! What have you got – parents that don’t love you? Plays the people don’t like? A job you hate and a mind you drown in alcohol? It was a wonder you weren’t dead in the Hudson by the time we met with your sorry excuse of a life.”

Philip stumbles back as if the words hit him physically. Lettie thinks they might have. She can’t put the horror she feels into words. She tries to, anyways:

“Please don’t say such things. Neither of you.” She slips the key from the window into her palm and leaves the room. Fighting back tears, she locks the door to the office. She raises her voice, banning any tremor from it.

“I’ll come back in an hour. Just don’t kill each other.” Then she hurries back to the others, the key pocketed and a hand over her mouth. She cannot believe how they acted towards one another. She hopes her plan works out, she really does.

“You are the worst person I ever met.”, Philip sighs and tries to open the door. It doesn’t budge. He chews his bottom lip and goes over to the window that faces the corridor. Lettie is gone.

“Likewise.”

Philip chooses not to look back. He can’t. He hears the older man slowly step away from the desk. A chair creaks. He doesn’t look. He buries his face in his hands.

“Maybe I should just go. And don’t come back.”

“Maybe? Make a definitely out of it and I would be honoured to show you out.”, P.T. snarls and Philip can physically feel him come closer. He smells him, hears him. He drops his hands and looks up at the show man, expecting anger.

“Then why...”, he wonders, but doesn’t finish his sentence. He is too focused trying to read Phineas’ facial expressions. There’s irritation, of course, but – and this confuses Philip the most – concern, even fear?

“Why what?”, he’s prompted biting. But Philip is now unsure how biting and fuming the show man really is or whether he conceals something else. He shrugs and takes a small step back.

“Why do you look so worried.”, he finishes and his voices cracks at the end.

P.T.’s eyes widen. He hasn’t thought the younger man could see through him. He should have known better, over the last two months they have become friends, best friends and dare he admit to himself, he developed deep feelings for his partner. Philip’s gaze pins him down where he stands, still insecure but also awaiting. Prompting P.T. to explain himself.

“You don’t remember?”, the ringmaster asks, although he knows the answer. He was there after all. All aggression he might have had before has gone. Philip can see the tension flooding off and the man’s shoulders slump down. He goes backwards till he hits the broad desk and carelessly sits down on its edge. When he looks up, Philip just shakes his head. He doesn’t even know what he is supposed to remember, what situation, or even what day.

“Phil, you nearly died last week.”

“I – what? No, what are you saying.”, Philip starts. He cannot believe what Phineas’ tells him. He should have noticed if he was close to dying, shouldn’t he? He was pretty sure that’s something you would remember. Unless – it was intentional.

“I thought you’ve been getting better. But then I had to see you in that bar – which is fine, you know, it is. We’ve been celebrating, mourning, and what not together over one or another drink. But that wasn’t “one or another” now, was it?”, Phineas’ reminds Philip of the night he wanted to forget so badly. And apparently he did so until now. He was good at repressing feelings and experiences, but he shouldn’t be proud of it. It was a self-destructive way of coping.

“No, it wasn’t. Have I – did you talk to me? Oh my god I don’t remember.” Philip paces the office, his hands tugging at his shirt restlessly. He is not able to meet the showman’s intense eyes.

“I did. You told me about your parents. I’m so sorry Philip.” Phineas knows exactly what happened that night. He had wanted to go back to the circus to try something out, in the middle of the night because he didn’t want to forget this brilliant idea, but saw his business partner and friend in the bar. He got hit with whiskey-clouded breath and slurred words. Regardless, the story was pretty easy to make out of Philip’s clumsy speech. He talked to his parents – involuntarily and they got into a fight – verbal and physical assault, as Phineas’ understood it – and parting words along the lines of “you’d be better off dead”. He recounts their conversation but sticks to the important information, as he doesn’t want to aggravate the younger man’s state further. He looks pale and sick enough, hearing the evening’s events from a sober perspective.

“Did I tell you about the...”, Philip stops at the window. He finally meets Phineas’ worried gaze and vaguely gestures but doesn’t dare to finish his sentence. He can’t think about it, not with P.T. looking at him like he does. Heart-broken and sympathetic.

“Yeah. And I got you home, I mean – I got you to my place and made sure you didn’t simply die on alcohol poisoning if I didn’t let you kill yourself on other ways.”, the blunt words feel like a slap. Philip thinks he might deserve that. But he can’t remember waking up at Phineas’ house.

“You slept half of the day and I got you to the circus to sleep off the worst hangover ever there.” Ah. Philip stood at the window this whole time, unable to move. Finally his body takes over his mind. Numbly, he lets his legs take him down. With clouded eyes and parted lips, he looks right through the ringmaster. He leans back until he hits the wooden walls. There he stays, thinking about all he heard. Phineas was there. If he wasn’t, they may not be here today. He wouldn’t be here probably.

Phineas gets up from his desk and folds himself down next to the young man, who still tries to comprehend the situation. Or rather, his problems. Because they were problems and he should face them. He exhales shakily. Phineas regards him with a cautious look, and then he drapes an arm around the younger man’s shoulders. Together they sit under the window; Philip’s breath’s become quieter. After a while, he leans into Phineas and the ringmaster feels tears slowly soaking through his shirt. He pulls Philip closer, rests his head against Philip’s.

“I’m so sorry. I would ne-ne-ver really...I-didn’t wa-want to figh-t or-“, Philip wants to assure Phineas’ that he hasn’t lost his will to live just yet. At least not at this moment. And he didn’t want to argue constantly. Phineas hushes him softly and the younger man can feel him nod.

“I know. We’ll figure it out, okay? You’ll be fine. I’m here for you.”

Philip holds onto the older man, not able to get out any more words. Phineas watches him and continues to whisper calming nothings and weaves tender fingers through the man’s hair.

Lettie makes her way back to the office, slightly afraid on what to find. She looks through the smudged windows and is startled when she sees neither man. She unlocks the doors and carefully looks around the room. On the floor, propped against one of the dusty walls she finds them. Asleep and cuddled together. A gentle smile spreads over her face and she sighs.

“Oh, boys.”, she places the key back on the desk and silently goes back to the others.

______________________________________

/ send me prompts, ideas, whatever :) /

#that was intense #sorry if i hurt anyone #angst #tw: sucide mention #the greatest showman #barlyle #we got some kind of happy end okay chill #tgs #greatest showman #fanfiction #prompt #pt barnum #philip carlyle #phillip carlyle

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aidanchaser · 4 years

Text

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Everyone Lives AU

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero, @magic713m, @ccboomer. @aubsenroute, @somebodyswatson

Chapter Twenty-Six The Battle for the Tower

Sirius was only mildly envious as he watched James and Lily walk into Hogsmeade with Dumbledore, Diggory, and Williamson. While a drink with friends sounded preferable to hours of patrol at Hogwarts, he was not sure he could stand any more small talk with Williamson. He had done plenty of that this year already.

If James and Lily wanted any time to themselves while Aurors were on their property, it was Sirius’ job to keep them occupied. He was happy to do it, but it had grown tiresome. He had heard enough about Williamson’s strange collection of Muggle garden gnomes, Savage’s unhealthy obsession with professional Gobstones, and Marcy Longfellow’s ongoing feud with her wife’s mother over the correct way to prepare a rhubarb pie.

What Sirius really wanted was to know where Dumbledore was off to. He did not think Dumbledore was leaving Hogwarts so he could sit down at the Three Broomsticks with James and Lily for a chat. Sirius would even have liked to go with Dumbledore — maybe he could be useful — but Dumbledore had been especially secretive about these missions. While Sirius trusted Dumbledore with his life, he did not care for secrets. Secrets bred liars, and Sirius hated liars.

Once the Potters, Aurors, and Dumbledore were no longer visible on the path, Sirius closed the enormous iron gates. He double-checked the lock and triple-checked the wards. Everything seemed to be in order. No Death Eaters would be getting through Dumbledore’s protections, not even Voldemort himself. He walked back up to the castle.

Bill Weasley stood waiting at the castle doors, eyes on the sun as it began its descent over the mountains in the west. “Did Dumbledore say how long he would be?”

Sirius shook his head. “Said he hoped to be back before sunrise. Didn’t give me even a clue where he was going.”

“I’m sure it’s important, or he wouldn’t leave.”

“Seen Remus or Tonks?” Sirius asked as he locked the castle doors.

Bill shook his head. “Tonks and I arrived together, but she said she’d take the sixth and seventh floor.”

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Remus told me he was planning to keep an eye up there.”

“I’m sure they both want to be close to where Harry is.”

Sirius wondered if it would be better or worse if they ran into each other. He wanted Remus and Tonks to be friends at the least, but after everything Remus had said to Tonks, he wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to Remus again.

Sirius and Bill checked the Great Hall first, since it was nearby. The students were still at dinner, and there were many loud giggles as the two wizards, both long-haired, sporting leather jackets and leather boots, waved to the staff to let them know they were there.

Bill grinned as they left the Great Hall and headed downstairs. “Merlin, I would have faced a dragon if it meant getting that reaction out of girls when I was in school. Not that I wasn’t popular, but…” Bill laughed and shook his head.

Sirius snorted. He’d had his fair share of girls that tried to win his attention. He’d never been interested in them. There was only one person he had ever wanted at Hogwarts, but he had been young and stupid, and he had made too many mistakes. He was only just now starting to figure out how to set those mistakes right.

“How’s wedding planning?” Sirius asked.

“Complicated.” Bill ran a hand over his face. “There’s so much more to do than I could have thought. I looked at Fleur’s list the other day and she had ‘napkins’ written down. I hadn’t even thought about them, and when I asked her why they were on the list separate from the food, she said she hadn’t decided on what colour they would be, how they would be folded, or if they would be folded, or if she wanted rings, and what sort of rings she might like — I can’t keep up with half of what has to be done. Her parents’ll be here soon, and I hope her mother can take on a lot of what we’ve been doing. It’s exhausting.”

Sirius could not help but laugh. He had only met Fleur a few times, but he was unsurprised to learn she was both extravagant and particular. “I’m sure it will be beautiful when it’s all done.”

“Oh, absolutely. Fleur’s incredible at planning. I think it’s driving Mum a bit mad, though. She didn’t do anything like that when she and Dad got married.”

As they headed downstairs into the lower corridors of Hogwarts, Sirius said, “If we bump into Regulus, maybe ask his advice. He’s always been fond of weddings.”

Bill laughed, then realised that Sirius was being serious. “You’re joking. He’s never struck me as the sentimental type.”

Sirius shrugged. “I’ve never understood him myself.”

They passed the Hufflepuff dormitories and grabbed dinner for themselves in the kitchens. Sirius asked if Remus had been by, and was assured that Remus had eaten.

“It’s funny coming down here now,” said Bill as they walked past the Slytherin common room, “casually walking into all these places we weren’t allowed to go as students.”

“Can’t say that ever stopped me before,” Sirius laughed.

“No,” Bill grinned, “I suppose it didn’t stop me either.”

Patrol was quiet, as Sirius had expected. He and Bill didn’t have to walk together, but the company was pleasant. They talked about the upcoming wedding in more detail, and traded a handful of mischievous adventures from their days as students. They made their way upstairs slowly, occasionally checking secret passages, making sure nothing was amiss. The only problem they ran into was a pair of students using an empty classroom for privacy, and Sirius, as much as he hated enforcing rules, asked them to head back to their respective common rooms for their own safety. One of them tried to convince Bill and Sirius that they were just using the classroom to study, but Bill reminded them that exams were over, and they ought to get to their common rooms before one of the professors caught them instead.

Sirius was just beginning to think those two students were going to be the most interesting part of his evening when Harry came running into the corridor.

“Sirius!” Harry shouted. “Quick — it’s Malfoy!”

Bill and Sirius had their wands out before Harry reached them.

“Where?” Sirius asked. “What’s happened —”

Bill put a hand on Sirius’ arm. “Harry, we want to help, but can you prove you’re you first?”

“What?” Harry looked exasperated, which did not surprise Sirius. “What do you want me to say? Sirius got me new Quidditch gear for Christmas. I know where Headquarters is —”

“Who’s in that portrait in the room you stayed in at Headquarters?” asked Sirius.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. “Merlin, Sirius, I don’t know. Some former Headmaster of Hogwarts? Phineas or something?”

“Good enough for me,” Sirius said. “What’s Malfoy done?”

“He’s in the Room of Requirement,” Harry was already leading them up a hidden set of stairs. “I sent Ginny and Luna to get Mcgonagall and Flitwick, and I came to find you, because Dumbledore isn’t here. I don’t know what Malfoy’s done — I thought he was looking for something in there, but he disappeared into a Vanishing Cabinet.”

Sirius frowned. He did not think that boded well. “The Room of Requirement’s on the seventh floor, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s not far —”

“We’ll find it. You go up to Dumbledore’s office. Tell Fawkes what’s happened and he can get word to Dumbledore to return quickly.”

“But —”

“We can handle Malfoy,” said Bill. “Get Dumbledore.”

Harry did not look pleased to be sent away, but he hurried off in the opposite direction.

“Disappeared into a Vanishing Cabinet doesn’t sound too dangerous,” said Bill, as he and Sirius reached the corridor with the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

Sirius scanned the solid stone wall. “The real question is Vanished to where?”

“What do you mean? I thought they just let you disappear for a while, then bring you back.”

“Some of them. Not all of them.” It was entirely possible that Harry was overreacting, and Malfoy had simply ducked into a Vanishing Cabinet to avoid another duel with Harry. Sirius hoped that was the case, and that Harry was going to call Dumbledore back for nothing.

“So… how do we get into the Room of Requirement?” Bill asked.

“I’ve never done it before. Really thought it would be more obvious… I guess we can at least wait here until —”

The wall began to move. Stone blocks parted to reveal a small wooden door. The door opened, and Sirius saw two things: Draco Malfoy, holding a shriveled, dried-up, skeletal hand, and behind him stood Corban Yaxley. And then Sirius saw nothing at all.

The corridor became filled with a thick, dark smoke. Sirius could not even see his wand in front of his face. He tried lighting his wand, but even that could not penetrate the darkness. He fired a curse blindly, in hopes Bill had not charged forward, but when a return Stinging Jinx struck him in the shoulder, Sirius decided it was best not to stay in the darkness.

Sirius moved backwards until his hand brushed against the cloth of the tapestry, then used that to guide him out of the corridor. He stumbled out of the darkness just in time to see Malfoy hurry towards the Astronomy Tower, with two adult wizards on his heels. Sirius did not recognise them as any members of the Order, and his stomach turned.

There were Death Eaters in the school on his watch. How many? And what did they want? And where was Harry? And Bill? And Remus and Tonks —

Bill came out of the cloud of darkness coughing. “Merlin, that looked like some of Fred and George’s Peruvian Darkness Powder. What the hell are they doing selling it to Malfoy?”

“How many did you see?” Sirius asked, already running after Malfoy.

Bill hurried to keep up. “Just Yaxley. Just had a Ministry lunch with the bastard last week.”

“Hope that won’t keep you from hexing him.”

“No, he made enough terrible jokes about goblins that he’s lucky I didn’t hex him then and there. Though now I wish I had.”

If there were only two Death Eaters and Malfoy, they could handle this easily. Sirius was daring to feel hopeful when he heard a familiar shout, followed by an inhuman snarl. Sirius doubled his pace and rounded the corner to find Remus and Tonks, back to back in front of the stairs leading up to the Astronomy Tower, completely surrounded by eight Death Eaters.

Eight.

One of them was Fenrir Greyback.

There was no more time to think. Sirius hurled a Stunning Charm at the back of the nearest Death Eater, then ducked as two turned and fired on him.

It was not unlike dueling in the corridors as a student. There was limited cover, and success relied on speed, accuracy, and numbers. Unfortunately, they were outmatched in at least one of those respects. And, unlike when he was a student, these opponents were cursing to kill.

A green spark shot over Remus’ shoulder and cracked the stone wall behind him. Sirius was not entirely sure who threw it, but he pointed his wand at the witch nearest to Remus and thought Crucio. She yelped and fell to the ground. Focusing on his Unforgivable, however, left Sirius defenseless, and he was unprotected when a white light struck the ground by his feet. He was thrown backward, into a wall. His vision went dark as his head struck solid stone. The light dinner he had eaten in the kitchen just an hour ago threatened to come out the way it had gone in, but he swallowed and struggled to his feet. Then someone was beside him, helping him stand.

“Sirius!”

Though his vision was still spotty, he was just able to make out Harry, lending him support with one hand and in his other… was that a sword?

But there was no time to ask questions. Fenrir Greyback lunged at Harry. Sirius tried to Stun him, but it bounced off of a Shield Charm. Harry’s Stunner hit, at least, and Greyback tumbled into the floor.

“Where’s Malfoy?” Harry asked. “Did he have anything in his hands?”

Sirius blinked, trying to refocus his vision and his thoughts. “Yeah, he had a…” Sirius winced and touched the back of his head tenderly. It was wet.

“Protego!” Harry shouted suddenly, Shielding Sirius and himself from one of Yaxley’s curses.

Sirius’ vision cleared enough to see Malfoy slip past Remus and up the stairs to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Before Sirius could even warn Harry not to follow alone, Harry was on Malfoy’s heels.

Sirius pointed his wand to yank Harry back to his side, but Yaxley threw another curse at him. This time it bounced off of one of Remus’ Shield Charms, and Sirius watched Remus crumple from another hex, undone for taking a moment to defend Sirius.

Sirius let out a snarl, not unlike Greyback’s, and shot a Blasting Curse at Yaxley. It was a poor choice in the confined space, but Sirius wasn’t known for wise choices. The force cracked the flagstone floor and everyone, Death Eater and Order member alike, was thrown apart. Sirius barely managed to throw his hand up to protect his head from a second blow as he fell against the wall.

“Goodness!” a high-pitched voice squeaked. “Surely we taught you to duel better than that.”

Sirius turned to see Flitwick hurrying into the fray alongside McGonagall, with Ginny, Neville, Ron, Hermione, and Luna running behind them.

McGonagall quickly threw a Stunner at a Death Eater, knocking him back down before he was halfway to his feet. “Inelegant but efficient, Sirius. Are you alright?”

“Concussed,” he grunted. “I’ll live. Harry and Draco are up on top of the tower.”

McGonagall pressed her lips together and hurried for the stairs. Yaxley, however, got in her way.

The battle picked up quickly as the disoriented rejoined the fight. Tonks and Travers were locked in a duel, and Remus provided McGonagall assistance as they tried to retake control of the Astronomy Tower staircase. Sirius desperately wanted to know what was up there, and if Harry was alright, but two identically ugly Death Eaters were suddenly throwing curses at him and Flitwick.

Flitwick cast a Shield Charm twice his height, and three curses bounced off it, unable to reach him and Sirius, nor the students behind them.

“We’re not leaving, Professor!” Ron shouted. “We’re going to help.”

“Fine, yes!” Flitwick grunted. Apparently the argument had been had all the way here. “But Ginny and Luna, go and get Professor Snape!”

“Just because we’re the youngest!” Ginny snapped.

“We need additional assistance! Go, two of you — you’ll be better protected as two. We don’t know if there are more in the castle.”

Sirius, glad as he was to have extra help, wished Flitwick had not said that. He wondered if some Death Eaters had slipped away, if some had not followed Malfoy to the Astronomy Tower. What could their goal be? Why had Malfoy brought them here?

Flitwick maintained his Shield Charm while Luna and a reluctant Ginny hurried down to the dungeons to get more help. When they were clear, Flitwick dropped the Shield and engaged the Death Eaters with Neville and Hermione at his side.

Bill was only just staggering to his feet, and Ron helped him up. Before they could assist anyone else, Greyback charged at them with an inhuman, guttural growl. Sirius moved to help, but Thorfinn Rowle shot a burst of flames at Sirius, and another Death Eater joined the fight against Flitwick.

Sirius' reflexes were not what they should be, and Rowle easily side-stepped the Disarming Charm that Sirius aimed at him. Rowle shot a bright blue light at him, and it broke through Sirius’ half-formed Shield and struck him in the chest. He tasted blood, and his knees went weak, but Sirius held his ground. He retaliated with a silent Incarcerous. The ropes that shot from his wand wound their way against Rowle’s feet and pulled him to the ground. Sirius hoped that Rowle’s head hit the flagstone hard.

Sirius heard the snarls of Fenrir Greyback and turned to see the man with his thick, sharpened nails buried in Ron’s chest and his teeth about to close on Ron’s throat. Sirius threw a Stunner with everything he had as Bill tackled Greyback. Sirius hoped his Stunner had not hit Bill, but he did not have time to worry because McGonagall shouted as a curse sent her sprawling and Yaxley took control of the archway.

“Come on!” Yaxley shouted.

It was not a taunt; it was a rally. Greyback, with blood dripping from his hands and teeth, threw Bill aside and charged up the stairs. The identically ugly Death Eaters turned back to back; one blocked spells from Hermione and Flitwick while the other cursed Remus. Remus was blown backwards, not unlike Sirius had been earlier, and the two Death Eaters charged up the stairs. As they passed him, Yaxley cast a spell that shimmered in the archway, then disappeared up the stairs himself. Neville abandoned his duel to run after them. He threw himself at the barrier but bounced off of it and hit the ground. The Death Eater he had been dueling shot a red spark at him, but Sirius threw a Shield Charm between them, just barely protecting Neville.

“How do we get through?” asked Hermione, as she fired a Full Body-Bind Curse at the Death Eater. He crumpled to the ground.

“Someone help Bill!” Ron shouted. “He’s bleeding —”

“No, you’re not getting past me,” Tonks snapped as another Death Eater made a run for it, and she knocked him to the ground. He got right back to his feet, and she barely ducked under a bright green curse that struck a torch sconce on the wall. A bright flash and a loud bang filled the corridor, temporarily blinding and deafening Sirius.

When the hot white light had faded, and Sirius’ eyes had readjusted to the dim light, he saw Snape stride into the corridor, a black cat on his heels.

His ears were ringing, and he could not hear his own voice, but Sirius shouted, “Harry’s up there — alone — there’s a barrier —”

He did not know if Snape heard him. He did not know if his words were intelligible, but Snape walked through the battle. Neither Death Eater nor Order member attacked him, and he passed through the barrier blocking the staircase, wand drawn.

Regulus shifted into himself and hurried to Sirius’ side. “Sirius — where are you hurt —” but Sirius pushed him aside, and stumbled towards the barrier.

Remus, too, hurried to follow Snape, but he was thrown backwards as Neville had been.

“No!” Sirius shouted, and, though he knew it was foolish, pounded his fist against the invisible wall that separated him from Harry and shouted, “Harry!”

“Sirius — no!” Regulus shouted, and then an explosion followed.

Sirius did not know who cast what, but the ceiling overhead crumbled. A chunk of stone struck his shoulder and he crumpled to his knees. He barely had the sense to scramble backwards as bits of the archway fell, and one stone landed on his ankle, crushing the bone. He held back a yell, and then Regulus’ arms were under his shoulders, hauling him away from the rubble.

“Harry,” Sirius gasped. “If the arch is fallen —”

But before Sirius could try to stand or crawl over the rubble and up the stairs, Snape walked down with Draco Malfoy at his side. Harry was nowhere to be seen. Sirius’ breath came short and fast. Malfoy was no longer carrying a shriveled hand. Instead, he half-carried, half-dragged the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, dripping with blood.

#hp everyone lives #sirius black #hp fic #hbp

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a34trgv2 · 7 years

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Top 10 Disney Disasters

#10. Renewing Pickle and Peanut: I acknowledge from a business stand point, if a show is popular, it should get another season. Pickle and Peanut, however, is not that popular. Not only have ratings declined since it’s premier, but less and less people are talking about it, and when they do it’s not positive. But apparently, no one at Disney Television give a shit as it’s been renewed for another season. If you thought less people were watching it by the end of Season 1, then no one is going to watch it at the start of Season 2.

#9. Giving up on John Carter: After being in development limbo for over 80 years (I’m not kidding, Hollywood’s been trying to get this character of the ground since the 30s), Disney finally gave John Carter his cinematic debut. Despite under performing at the box office and getting mixed reviews from critics, audiences were very accepting to it and wanted more. However, instead of let’s say attempting to make an animated show based on it like one of their other cult films (Tron) or having the character find new life in video game form, Disney just gave the film rights back to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ estate. Really? After decades of being stuck in development limbo, John Carter is just thrown back in? I know Disney lost money on the film, but they could’ve saved the character from falling into obscurity again by making a tv show. But, that’s reality I guess :/

#8. Ripping Off Ren and Stimpy: I’ve talked about this before, so I’ll keep it brief. Disney is a company that has made a name for themselves in pushing the boundaries of animation and story telling. So they should be more than ashamed of themselves for mooching off the success of their competition instead of making their own original show -.-

#7. Ending Wander Over Yonder: Just, why? About a year ago, Disney decided not to renew Wander Over Yonder. Why? Honestly, I don’t know. I know Craig McCracken said they “felt 2 seasons and 80 cartoons was enough,” but he never explained WHY they felt that. And no, it wasn’t because of the ratings nor was it because Disney didn’t like it. It really does baffle me how Phineas and Ferb got 4 seasons and 222 episodes before getting the axe (not bashing the show, I actually like it, I’m just trying to prove a point) and yet they felt Wander Over Yonder was just a 2 Season show and a 3rd would spoil it. What?!

#6. Canning Potentially Good Sequels: I know the direct-to-video sequels are notoriously unpopular, but that doesn’t mean they’re all without merit. Cinderella 3 told a fairly solid story and had some genuine stakes involved. Tarzan 2 you could argue is just filler, but kid Tarzan does go through a real character arc in this movie. And Return to Neverland is my personal favorite of the bunch and that’s mainly because of Jane. Disney Toons had plans for sequels to Dumbo, Chicken Little, Meet The Robinsons, and Pinocchio among others before John Lasseter shut them all down. I respect his dislike for these films, but I honestly believe some of them could have been more than just run of the mill. Like, more adventures with Pinocchio or The Robinsons; I actually wanted to see a Mulan 3 (Mulan 2 isn’t in my top 10 Disney sequels, but I don’t think it’s that bad). At the very least, these movies could’ve been decent with the right amount of effort, but like with Circle 7, John would like the rest of the world to pretend these ideas never happened.

#5. Bad Timing on Release Dates: Winnie The Pooh, Muppets Most Wanted, The Rescuers Down Under, The Rocketeer and Treasure Planet. You know what these movies have in common? They were all released at the worst times for their respected genres. I’m not a box office analyst (check out Grace Randolph for those statistics; yeah, yeah I know “she’s terrible” “kys” blah blah blah -.-), but last time I checked, you shouldn’t put something as innocent and family friendly as Winnie The Pooh up against something massive like Harrry Potter. Nor should you release a goofy family comedy like the Muppets in the spring if you expected similar results like its predecessor. Also, who’s idea was it to release one of, if not THE best Disney sequel the same week as Home Alone? I don’t know about you, but that’s not very smart if you ask me. Why? Really think about it; this was Disney’s first sequel and it’s set in the desert of Australia. They put in alot of effort to make this an improvement over it’s predecessor; from the animation, to the characters, to the story, even down to the humor. All that effort and yet they decided to release it around the holiday season, as opposed to, I don’t know-SUMMER?! I know no studio is perfect, but there should be no reason why they messed up these release dates so bad.

#4. Sitcom Overload: You know how many sitcom are on Disney Channel right now? 6. And they’re all about preteens or teens going through their everyday lives with wacky hijinks and some character bonding along the way. To be fair though, they are better than the Stupid Sitcoms on Nickelodeon, but the quality of them isn’t the problem. The problem is that there’s so many of them and not enough animation. Like I said earlier, Disney has made a name for themselves in pushing the boundaries of animation and storytelling. So, where on Earth is the animation on television? Answer: Disney XD. The reason why this is bothersome is because when people think of Disney, they think of the animated content first and the live action stuff after. Disney has made some good live action movies and tv shows for sure, but they’re not nearly as remembered as the ones that are animated. As such, the Disney Channel is generally regarded as the Disney Sitcom Channel. Yes, from a business standpoint, sitcoms are profitable, but too many sitcoms can damage you brand as an animation company and in a sense it has. Also, on a minor note, can we change Disney XD back to Toon Disney? I’ve honestly never understood the name change so can we turn it back? No? Worth a shot :/

#3. Controversial Jokes: I know comedy is subjective, but that doesn’t mean joke’s can’t cause an uproar if handled poorly. And boy were these handled in the worst way possible. Making a joke about models barely eating on paper, sounds exactly what you think it sounds like: a joke that inadvertedly sounds like an eating disorder joke. And it was. The joke was from an episode of Shake It Up and while that joke was removed, this wouldn’t be the last time Disney did something like this. Did you know Jessie has a character who eats a glutten free diet and they made an episode revolving around this? No? Because alot of angry parents saw that and Disney was forced to change it or risk getting doxed. Disney should really remind themselves that they can’t make light on topics like these as it does more harm than good. They didn’t joke around with racism, so eating disorders should obviously be a no no.

#2. Producing Dumb Ideas for Bad Movies: Mars Needs Moms, Alexander and the God Awful Title, The Santa Claus 3, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Prom. All of them were terrible ideas made into equally terrible movies. Mars Needs Moms, from the title alone is their worst film, no contest. You know it’s bad when the title sounds like a 4 year old thought of this film. The plot is nonsense, the characters are awful, not even the animation does it any favors. This isn’t the first time I’ve ranted on this film, so let me explain the biggest problem with this movie: the concept. Why would an alien race need our human mothers to grow the species? They were doing just find before. Alexander, meanwhile, is based on a kids book. Wouldn’t be so bad if A. The title wasn’t stupid and B. The plot wasn’t a light version of Everybody Hates Chris. I’m aware The Santa Claus has its fans, so it wouldn’t be fair to put it on the list because of my hatred for the film. Objectively, however, The Santa Claus 3 should not have been made with the generic It’s a Wonderful Life plot. I don’t care if It’s a Wonderful Life is a classic, it should not be remade and retold over and over again. The other two were based on a joke or dare, I swear. Who was asking for a movie about going to the prom? And don’t people hate Lindsay Lohan? And drama queens? Especially if they’re teenagers? I’ll refer you back to my point at #s 4 and 8 because I hate repeating myself -.-

#1. Ignoring Song of the South: In the Tom and Jerry Highlight Collection, Whoopi Goldberg did an introduction explaining why the cartoons featured in the DVD included Mammy-Two Shoes despite her being criticized as a racist stereotype (I’m with BenTheLooney in that this criticism is bull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl01VhWbC74). Whoopi said that taking her out of the DVD would be the same as pretending she didn’t exist. Don’t get me wrong, racial stereotyping is bad, but so is pretending films and cartoons involving black characters didn’t exist. Case in point, Song of the South, I feel, is one of Disney’s underappreciated films simply because of the portrayal of blacks in the Post-Civil War era. I get it, slaves were miserable after the war; that said, that’s not what the film’s about. Its about a boy living on a plantation who listens to the stories of Brer Rabbit, told by Uncle Remus. The film was last seen in theaters in 1986 and never received a home release in the U.S.. Bob Iger calls it “fairly offensive” and you can debate all you want, but not giving this movie a home release isn’t helping your case. That only makes people want to see it more. Whoopie Goldberg herself wants this movie to have a home release. Sure you can just bootleg it or watch it online, but if you were to own it on Blu-Ray, you could get some insight into the process of making this movie, a brief history of racial stereotyping in movies. They still play the Zip-a-dee-doo-dah song, and they put alot of effort to the theme park attraction. This movie should not be ignored because the company wants to stay family friendly. Families don’t keep things from each other, just saying.

Conclusion: I love Disney, just about everyone loves Disney; but they’re not perfect and to think otherwise would be foolish. Pointing out their flaws and criticizing their actions is the only way they can get better. I’m aware of the Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar problems, but I wanted to focus on Disney specifically. Know any other Disney slip-ups? Let me know in response to this post. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

#Disney #Walt Disney Pictures #whoopi goldberg #song of the south #uncle remus #Disney Channel #disney xd #disney television animation #cartoon #sitcoms #like #share #reblog #follow #pixar #marvel #star wars #Wander Over Yonder #savewoy

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elljayvee · 7 years

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Severus, Harry, Albus, & Tom

(This post is based on some thoughts I spewed all over Twitter a bit ago.)

I was thinking about the final duel in Deathly Hallows, which first of all has Albus Dumbledore’s fingerprints all over it -- Harry calling Tom “Tom”, lots of talking intended both to drive Tom right up a wall & to reach for his humanity. There’s a lot of talk of love in it, which is something Harry understands and Tom doesn’t. (Has Tom ever loved anyone?)

Tom understands sexual desire, and knows that sexual desire is not love -- but he doesn’t understand that Snape loved Lily. As far as he is concerned, there was only desire there, and he clearly perceives desire as fairly shallow. He says that Snape agreed that there were more worthy women: basically that Snape just wanted to fuck Lily.

Harry understands love a lot better. (He’s been protected by love all his life. There were limits and flaws in that protection, but it was still there.) Harry knows that Snape could both desire his mother, & love her in other ways as well: for their shared past, for his childhood friendship. (I mean I'm not denying that Snape was kind of a creep, here, because there's all kinds of ways in which he was.) But I am saying that Tom only understood "Snape wants to fuck this lady" & not "Snape has a complicated emotional relationship with this woman that includes sexual desire."

Also, re-reading that scene after reading Cursed Child puts a new complexion on Tom's knowledge of sexual desire.

The whole duel works its way through two of the major triads in the series: Tom-Snape-Harry and Tom-Dumbledore-Harry. (Rowling uses triads & 3-vs-1 setups a lot, which I love. They’re very appealing. One of the notable things about the Horcruxes is that they aren’t triadic; they are unbalanced and scattered, symptoms of Tom’s broken and irredeemable soul.)

The Tom-Dumbledore-Harry setup is about their relationships to love and power. They're all extremely powerful wizards who have very different approaches to both love and power.

Harry cares much more about love than he does about power. There’s a deep satisfaction, for me, in seeing Dumbledore's infuriating dueling style used against Tom by Harry, a wizard whose strength lies in his ability to love. Harry understands love AS a force, as a power in its own right, but a power that lies in being given away. In open-heartedness. This makes Harry naming his second son after Snape more understandable: he understands love's complexity & has a generous heart himself. It also makes his complicated relationship with Albus Severus in Cursed Child more understandable: Albus Severus sees that same openness as nonspecific and uncaring.

Dumbledore craves power & only resists it out of love, & only after tragedy. He is never again open-hearted as he was with Grindelwald, because for him love has been complicated by fear, pain, resentment, manipulation. He does love -- it seems to me that he loves both Snape and Harry -- but his love is always at a remove, never letting anyone too close. Dumbledore, at the liminal King's Cross, tells Harry that going to Hogwarts was resisting power; that’s either a bit self-deluding or he’s straight-up lying. There's a lot of power in controlling the education of generations of children, Albus. People make fun of the Slug Club, but at least Slughorn is open about what he's doing. Dumbledore cultivated people, too, and he used Hogwarts to do that cultivation -- which included recruiting children to war under his command. Dumbledore knows he has a lust for power, & maybe he honestly tried to avoid power, but he failed. I mean: "You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me." Come on, Albus. I think he's VERY clear that he wants power too much & shouldn't have it, but NOT clear with himself on how much power he has via Hogwarts.

Tom loves only power and nothing else. It’s not clear to me that Tom has ever loved another person.

Albus Dumbledore is very present in that duel, and so is another: Severus Snape. Harry, in talking to Tom, in centering a narrative of love, protection, and remorse, talks a fair bit about his mother, & about Snape, & he does it in front of EVERYONE. Snape spent his time living "no one must know"; Harry, by contrast, is about emotional accessibility. Everyone must know. It is all right to love people and not to hide it.

The Tom-Snape-Harry triad is one of the most interesting in the series. It is formed by similar heritage, early lives, their relationships to Hogwarts, to Albus, to power, and to love. There are so many ways in which they are three men who could have been similar, but their choices define them. (Love. Choices. Respect. Names. These are some of the recurring themes of the series.) They’re all abused/neglected halfblood wizards who found their first real home at Hogwarts. Tom & Snape both loathe their Muggle fathers, & let that lead them to a very nasty belief system. In Tom’s case, he picked up his belief system at Hogwarts. We don’t know exactly how but there are implications that it was at least in part through a fascination with Salazar Slytherin -- his ancestor and fellow Parselmouth. In Snape’s case we know he probably didn’t start out with those beliefs, and also adopted them to a certain extent at Hogwarts. He tells Lily, before they go to Hogwarts, that birth doesn’t matter. He apparently doesn’t start using the word “Mudblood” until sometime after that. He leaves the Death Eaters and began to distance himself from their views for love, & renounced them entirely in at least two timelines (in Deathly Hallows, he tells Phineas Nigellus not to use the word "Mudblood", and in Cursed Child he says that he came to believe as Lily did). Harry...did not learn to hate Muggles or Muggleborns at Hogwarts. He had as much reason to hate his Muggle relatives as Snape or Tom, and he DID, but unlike them he didn’t generalize.

Tom, Snape, and Harry also all had relationships with Dumbledore beyond usual teacher-student relationships.

Of the three of them, the one whose relationship with Albus is the most obscured is Tom’s -- partly because so much of it was so far in the past, but partly because Tom doesn’t have normal human feelings. Albus knows a lot about him, and Tom hates that. (If you were trying to be a powerful Dark Lord, would you like it if your old teacher kept reminding you of when you were a young, vulnerable student? If you were trying to be more than human, would you like it if someone kept pointing out how human you still were?)

Severus Snape might have the most complicated relationship of all of them with Albus, and we see a lot of that in his memories in Deathly Hallows: there’s genuine dislike and disgust, there’s friendship, protection, sacrifice. How much Albus saw Severus as a tool to be used vs how much he cared is, I think, something of an open question. But I do think he did care, and that Severus cared for him -- Severus’s reaction to Albus putting on the Gaunt ring, for example, shows that. (Sidenote: given Albus’s issues with power, you’d think he’d be more understanding of Severus’s cravings for it. Shut up, Albus.)

Harry is very clear that he is “Dumbledore’s man”, despite a fraught relationship at times. He knows that Albus is manipulating things, and he isn’t exactly pleased about that, but he is also very clear that he knows which side is which and on whose side he stands. Even when he’s angry or frustrated with Dumbledore, he is still loyal to him. (As a sidenote, I think it’s clear in-universe that Dumbledore’s sexuality was either not secret or an open secret, at least among the adults. The Daily Prophet article by Rita Skeeter says Albus had an “unnatural interest” in Harry. “Unnatural interest” is a specific anti-gay term used to indicate sexual abuse of male children by gay men. Skeeter is using a homophobic slur towards Dumbledore. The Prophet article is written to imply to adult wizards that Albus had been AT LEAST magically & sexually grooming Harry, if not molesting him. It’s meant to cast aspersions on Dumbledore and on Harry’s emotional stability. Given how Rowling uses the Prophet and Skeeter throughout the series, I suppose one could say that readers were not intended to see any truth in that article -- but what always made Skeeter’s work effective was that there was just ENOUGH truth in it to build belief on.)

All of Tom, Severus, & Harry have a lot of anger (& a lot of JUSTIFIED anger) but how they direct it is very different & it comes down to love.

Tom doesn’t love. He thinks of love as silly; he tells Harry that love didn’t save Dumbledore or his mother, after all. He mocks Lucius Malfoy for caring about Draco; he treats Bellatrix callously when she shows him affection (because I do think Bellatrix loved him, in her way). Tom only cares about power: the power of his weaponry, of his army.

Severus comes to understand the power that love can have but he remains always twisted up about it, ashamed & secretive. That’s real tragedy of his life, I think. If he could have learned some openness he probably would have been happier. Moved on from Lily, at any rate. He did care for Albus, who up until very late rather thought that Severus HAD moved on from Lily -- I think, to an extent, Dumbledore also felt that Severus’s love was mostly desire-based, and so was surprised that almost two decades later it was still strong.

And then there’s Harry. When thinking about choices, and about love, and about anger, Harry has at least as much reason as Ariana Dumbledore or Credence Barebone to become an Obscurial & doesn’t. He has at least as much reason as Tom Riddle or Severus Snape to hate Muggles, and doesn’t. Rowling implies that a lot of that has to do with Lily’s sacrifice, with her love protecting her child. It also has to do with Harry himself, though, and his choices: his choice of Ron over Draco, his choice to go after Ginny in the Chamber, his choice to be offended on Luna’s behalf when he sees she is being bullied, his choice to love Sirius, to share victory with Cedric, to trust Albus Dumbledore, to free Dobby, to bury Dobby. Not all of his choices work out for the best, and his anger at Snape (which is largely justified because Snape really is a jagoff to him) clouds his judgment at times. But largely, he is making choices that show him to be a caring and loving person -- when, like Tom and Severus, he has plenty of reasons not to be that kind of a person.

#harry potter #severus snape #tom riddle #albus dumbledore #chamber of secrets #cursed child #deathly hallows

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justforbooks · 7 years

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Our lives are a mess. Reading “The Blazing World” I’m reminded of a performance by the brilliant artist Bobby Baker I once attended. She delivered a monologue about her life that included a scattering of memories, disappointments, happy highlights and concerns about contemporary issues. With each subject she added dry ingredients into a pot collecting them all until it overflowed. She poured it over herself till her clothes, hair and face were completely soiled and a floury cloud floated around her head. She stared around at the audience solemnly proclaiming: “What a mess!” The sight was comical, but through the manner in which she delivered the monologue it was understood that her whole being had tragically unravelled. In a similar way, the life of this novel’s central character Harriet Burden (or Harry as many intimates call her) is a mess. The narrative reflects her state of mind as it is a loose collection of fragments: personal notebooks, statements from family, friends and an art critic as well as gallery show reviews. It is an assemblage which is incomplete, meandering and circuitous. But in its fragmentation it becomes a truer portrait of a person than any straightforward narrative could hope to represent. This account is a more meaningful reflection of the many facets of personality and the multi-layered ways in which a person can be viewed.

Harriet is an artist in her sixties living in New York City who is frustrated with the way female artists don’t get taken as seriously as men. She devises a grand artistic project to expose this prejudice and take revenge by exposing the art world’s sexist nature. Three living male artists are selected by her to present original shows as their own work when really Harriet is the true artist. Only after the third show does she reveal her grand prank through an indirect route by writing an article for an obscure art publication under the pseudonym of a fictional critic. With so much subterfuge going on, people naturally question whether Harriet has made all this up or if she’s created one of the most ingenious artworks of our time. The book begins with a preface from someone attempting to answer this riddle by compiling the various accounts about the late Harriet Burden into a somewhat chronological order. This may all sound exhaustingly convoluted, but it’s actually quite straightforward to follow the story once you get the gist. At it’s heart, “The Blazing World” is really about the more profound question of personality.

It’s as if “The Golden Notebook” were written by Susan Sontag, but of course the writing is totally unique and purely the innovation of Siri Hustvedt. It’s a brilliant assemblage of knowledge full of clever word play, innovative narrative technique, psychological insights and dramatic twists. It’s sparked by a feeling of real anger: about our complacency to accept things as they are when there has been so much hard intellectual work dedicated to progress. It’s a passion which burns on every page. Harriet is a voracious reader and thinker. Therefore, her notebooks are layered with a heady amount of references to great works by psychologists, artists, philosophers, writers, scientists and theologians. I love it when I finish a novel with a long list of books and authors that I want to look up and learn even more from. This novel has given me a list longer than most. But this isn’t a showy intellectual feat by Hustvedt. This knowledge is layered into her central character’s reasoning because it relates to the ontological issues which stir her heart and cause her to create such an elaborate complex deceitful artistic project.

Going even further, accounts from both Harriet’s friends and enemies offer counter arguments to the statements Harriet makes. For instance, the primary question at the centre of this novel asks if art by women is taken less seriously. On one side a psychoanalyst named Rachel said: “With almost no exceptions, art by men is far more expensive than art by women. Dollars tell the story.” Harriet echoes this thought when she says: “Money talks. It tells you about what is valued, what matters. It sure as hell isn’t women.” However, an art critic named Oscar states: “To suggest, even for an instant, that there might be more men than women in art because men are better artists is to risk being tortured by the thought police.” Whereas a bi-racial artist named Phineas muses upon the superficiality of the art in general world concluding that: “It was all names and money, money and names, more money and more names.” Later on Harriet suggests that the question of gender isn’t even her central preoccupation: “it’s more than sex. It’s an experiment, a whole story I am making.” Points of view jostle against each other until a multi-layered portrait of this and other questions are presented and the reader must come to their own conclusions.

The accounts which struck me the most in this novel are Harriet’s own recorded in her various notebooks. One of her preoccupations is her fight against time, against being marginalized forever as a footnote rather than having made a grand statement about life. She states: “I am writing this because I don’t trust time.” Her tireless efforts to create and communicate show how desperately serious she is about the issues she raises. Having spent her life living somewhat quietly as a wife and mother she has reached middle age and is now keenly aware that if she doesn’t make her statement soon time will defeat her. With great precision she observes that: “Time creeps. Time alters. Gravity insists.” The razor-sharp language used cuts right to the heart of what she means and is merciless in its exactitude. Through short dramatic fragments of memory she recollects scenes from her past: her father who didn’t want her, the discovery of her husband’s infidelity, the cruelty of schoolmates who misunderstood her and finally the pernicious betrayal which threatens to dismantle her grand artistic project.

There is plenty of humour to be found in this novel as well. The comedy is of a highly intellectual sort – plays on words and jokes that need a footnote about a French cultural theorist to fully understand them. But there is also humour of a more bawdy nature cutting down the ridiculous importance men place on their manhood “He worries over semen flow, a bit low, the flow, compared to days gone by. You’d think he had walked around with a volcano down there for years, conceited man” and a satirical humour that slices apart Harriet’s perceived enemies in a merciless way. Harriet pokes fun at the art world and its parade of ego-driven denizens, but somewhat sadly she finds little to laugh about in how seriously she takes herself. For it is perhaps the most important characteristic of Harriet’s personality that she takes the world so seriously and expects everyone else to as well despite her partner Bruno trying to tell her differently: “Harry’s magic kingdom, where citizens lounged about reading philosophy and science and arguing about perception? It’s a crude world, old girl, I used to tell her.” Because no one seeks to understand the world with as much intellectual vigour and passion as she does, she desires to take revenge upon the people who don’t take her or the world so seriously. The fact that she does this through an artistic prank so elaborate it can only be comprehended after her death is a tragic joke itself. What she really desires is recognition, not revenge. She daydreams that after her death someone will come upon her work and “nodding wisely, my imaginary critic will stare for a long time and then utter, here is something, something good.” The creation of any art is an act of faith that the artist's vision will be recognized and understood and influence the culture its a part of.

Siri Hustvedt is a supremely talented writer and this novel might be her great masterpiece. Feminism and experimental forms of narrative have always had a strong presence in her novels like “The Blindfold” and “The Enchantment of Lily Dahl” while in “What I Loved” she created a novel about the NYC art world and the breakdown of a family. “The Blazing World” seems to synthesize all her primary concerns and turns them into an astonishing story. The truth lies not in any one account in this collection of fragments, but in between the pages and how we construct an idea of Harriet/”Harry.” This is what novels artfully do for us when they are written as brilliantly as this book: give us an incomplete picture of the world to fill in with our own understanding of it. But in the end it's not the artist herself who really matters but the art she leaves behind. As Harriet notes: “I am myself a myth about myself. Who I am has nothing to do with it.” At a certain point personality dissolves and the integrity of the art work's ideas are what determine whether it will stand throughout time. It's my hope that this novel will survive to be read for centuries.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS

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loosecatspen · 6 years

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RP.2 Ch.2 The island

Tread lightly, this one is dark

-.Ice.-

Ice faintly heard someone walking around. Strange, she didn't remember falling aslee-she got up with a start and winced when her head protested. The world was a blurry brown and green as if she was racing in the forest back in Maine while sitting down. She was off balanced and not the only one there. Zolotoy boy walked-stumbled around while trying to get a feel of the land and Ike was also on the floor but looked to be unconscious.

Is this the work of reality benders again? Or did we actually get to the mission and I just spaced the travel again? Ice wondered as she tried to focus her eyes.

The blurriness stayed to spite her. She looked up and saw the edges of a thick canopy that could only belong to a jungle. Now that she thought about it, the air did seem thicker but this was still cooler than Arizona.

Yep. Must be reality benders. Information did not detail this level of- either Zolotoy is unsatisfied with the way that he’s seeing things or he's actually losing it. Ice observed him punch a tree. He shook his hand off and went to another and punched it.

“What are you doing Zolotoy?” she finally asked.

The russian paused. “Lines are blurry, this helps.”

That doesn't sound right. Ice thought as she moved so that she was sitting upright. So-wait, why the f*** does my mouth taste like earwax?! Ice tried to get the taste off of her tongue and onto her shirt collar, but the taste persisted.

“Zolotoy I think we’ve been drugged.”

“No kiddin,” Ike grunted behind her.

She turned around. “Hey there sleepy stud,” Ice teased.

He sat up and rubbed his face with both hands. She stood and walked over to him. He kept rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“That tough eh?” she asked.

“Kind-” he looked up and past Ice. “A-are those trees?!”

“Yeah, have you not seen a tree before city boy?”

“Call me a city boy all you want but, I didn't know they can get this big!”

And I didn't know that people could get as big as you until I met you. “Have you never been in the woods?”

“There's no woods in Chicago or Normal. Tallest tree was a standalone and it was twenty- but holy f***ing quarks. I've seen tall trees in text books but I just never-” Ice had never seen this much astonishment at trees before.

“This is nothing Ground. Where I’m from you can't walk through the woods because of how big they are,” Zolotoy stated while walking to him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Ike looked like he didn't believe him.

“Obviously since you’re feeling better, you take rear. I found a path,” Klesmolv stated while pointing to a opening in the trees. He started walking towards it when he stumbled and nearly fell on his face. Quickly righting himself, he kept going but with a rapier pointed at the ground like a cane.

How does he even store that? Ice thought as she followed.

-.Ground.-

“What are the chances that this is some reality bender’s forest?” Jo asked Molotov.

“High,” he responded curtly.

It's not. The monster’s thought rumbled through Ground’s head.

There you are you piece of s***. The f*** do you mean?

It's the work of Myunchers. You aren't even in the same dimension anymore.

The f*** do you mean by that?!

He was hit with a familiar anger and frustration from it.

Don't walk away you-!

“Cmon already Ike!” Jo shouted.

He blinked and refocused on the path that his team was walking down. The large trees surrounding the path were oddly welcoming. Their leaves coating the path in pleasantly cool shade. Which just made it more suspicious in Ground’s book. His hand fell to his side and brushed against the compact stock of his shotgun. He turned around, unfolded it, and walked backwards with it facing the way they came.

He heard a branch rustling. It increased slightly and a familiar scent caught his nose.

Smells like trouble. “Scatter check,” he ordered. He collapsed his gun before going into the brush. He paused and took in his surroundings, thankful for the uniform switch to a dark blue instead of white. The forest was much darker here. Forcing him to squint. Thick brush pressed up against his sides. Making moving stealthly difficult. Ground could just barely make out some of the bushes around him, and a female figure backing up slowly and quietly.

“Hi. Ground right?” She whispered.

Even though he had been identified, he decided to not answer and got close and personal with the earth.

“Ground? Grou- oh crap!” She backed off and started running. “Guys we have a hostile situation!”

She has friends. Need to cut her off. He thought as he charged after her. He zeroed in on her yellow skirt, the world around him falling to darkness. It ducked and weaved, trying to shake him off but, it's hard to be yellow when everything around you is brown.

At one point it went out of sight. Damnit no! He thought he tried to stop. But his speed was too great and his head collided with a tree, knocking him out.

-.Marina.-

Marina skidded around and scrambled up a tree. She hardly risked a look back as she heard him hit. Gotta get to the others. Gotta get to the others. She broke into the sunlight and headed towards the path. “Annilyse have you-”

“We’ve made contact. Where's Ground?”

“Rammed his head into a tree. Don't know what's going on with him.” Marina jumped onto another tree branch. She dangled from it before pulling herself up. “I’m heading back.”

“Okay. Keep an eye out.”

“Go shoo!” Marina shouted at a horde of monkeys. They shrieked and scolded her as they jumped away. “I will.” Marina headed down towards the base of the tree, then remembered that one one the trees had fallen. She sighed and went in the opposite direction. Hoping to find a way around. Two trees over, and she found a set of trees going where she needed.

“Annie get the others to the village. I’ll see if I can meet you there.” Marina radioed.

“Roger that. Any sign of hostile?”

“No. I’ll -”

The screams of several monkeys erupted and stopped from behind her.

“Never mind!” Marina jumped to another tree and started climbing. “I need a strike squad over here stat!”

“Melody is organizing.” Candice replied immediately. “Keep broadcasting location.” Marina felt the bottom of her earpiece detach and settle in deeper in her ear.

“Will do.”

The trees to her right started to shake and she could hear a thudding coming up behind her. Marina risked a glance under her arm to see a large, clawed hand grab the lower branches of the tree next to her. She didn't have any time to react as another hand appeared on her midsection. Marina cried out as she was yanked down through the tree top. The world spun and she was faced with a large open maw.

She shouted and splayed her hands. A large expanse of crystal sprouting between them and wedging the mouth open. The hand grew another finger and pinned her arms to her body as the head shook the crystal mass out of it's mouth.

Marina took the moment to breathe and clear her head. She didn't have long. Magic swelled around her forehead. The head snarled and the hand thrusted her into it's mouth. She screamed and lashed out at the wet flesh with a pair of crystal knives. Kicking at the top of its mouth in hopes of hitting its nasal passages. There was no effect and the hand pushed her into the throat of the beast.

-.Melody.-

There was a love-hate relationship with incidents. Love because at least something exciting was happening, and Hate for when someone got hurt. Like Marina.

Again.

“Talk to me, what are we dealing with here?” She asked, quickly handing Wolverine a metal vest.

“High intelligence, adaptability, and impossible to destroy by all current efforts. Now the last doesn't mean we can't kill it, it just means we can't keep it dead,” the russian hacker explained.

“And it took over one of your people right?”

“Correct unfortunately. Had a solid month without it intruding but...” She could tell that he was shrugging on the other side of the line.

“How do we break its grip. Wrong way Quinn.” Falcon blushed and turned his vest around.

“Prior data suggests that we have to terminate it while causing massive damage to it's body.”

“Looks like we’ll have to kill it before it can kill us. Annilyse that means you’ll have to be part of the team. Ace, how’s Marina's bio?”

“He’s whittling away at her ma’am. Doesn't seem to have an issue breathing though.” Candace reported.

“Keep me updated. Alright we have a limited amount of time.” She addressed the hastily assembled team. “We have a victim and a hard to kill reptile on the loose. Starfire, I want you and Wolverine to stall as much as you can. Help Annilyse to rip out as much of its head and upper body as possible. Falcon, keep tabs and snipe from the air. Cyborg, Phineas, Ferb. Set as many traps as you can. Just make sure they don't hurt the victim. Understood?”

“Yes Ma’am.” They all saluted.

“Alright now let's go!” Melody ran out with them. “Alright what can you and your friend do?” She asked the hacker.

“Seeing that we have our weapons limited drastically...But, I have rapier, AK-12, and dual 50 pistols. Companion has a 7.56 mm bullpup,” he reported.

“How about in way of abilities?” Melody started climbing a tree.

“Companion has decaying skin, I…” Melody could hear a muffled argument. “Have sharp shooting.”

“Alright. Tell her to go with Annilyse. I want you sniping as best to your ability.”

“Ten- vhat do you have?”

“We have an Angel who can heal and shoot fireballs. An alien who has an array of abilities such as invulnerability and immense strength. We have a cyborg, a mutant with swift regeneration and dangerous claws, finally two boys who are ingenious with machines.”

“You are planning to sacrifice children? We already tried that.”

“Actually we are quite skilled in fighting monsters. And no one will die under my watch.” Hopefully.

-.Marina.-

Slowly, the pain stopped. Marina tried to move her limbs again, only for them to feel numb. Probably not even there. She thought. Gasping as hot, fresh air was blasted in her face. Again. Why did he even preserve her like this? Surely-

Just focus on breathing Myuncher B****.

Marina cringed. That would explain why she wasn’t so hot anymore though. You’re in my head.

Breathe.

She felt it's claws close around her chest. Holding her delicately between the tips. She was no longer trapped in a sac, but unfolding to float limp in the darkness. It's claws holding her up above an empty void.

Breathe.

Where are you? I can't…

Breathe.

Can’t…

Breathe.

...see…

All energy left her. She watched the claws through half closed eyes. So big, so dark. Holding her light enough to be only uncomfortable. Her arms and legs weights on her shoulders and hips. How long? How long had she been-

The world jolted and suddenly the claws held her in a tight fist. Marina gasped as breathing suddenly became difficult. Hot, useless air. She clawed futilely at the talons as she choked. Slowly, they disintegrated around her and she was free falling.

We will meet again life Myuncher… it's voice was like a villain's caress on her cheek. Sooner than you think…

The darkness pulled away and she was surrounded by blinding whiteness.

When Marina pushed herself off of the ground and looked around she saw a dark land covered in dark metal and fleshy cones. Strange, lizard like creatures paced back and forth the area she stood in. A long path wound before her. One of the lizards stopped and looked at her, cocked it's head, and bounded down the trail. Slowly, she followed it. The path eventually became lined with teeth and fingers. The metal platforms seemed to be at war with their fleshy counterparts as they overlapped on innumerable occasions.

Someone is having a really hard time of it. Marina thought. Either that or he has a very dark side.

Whispers started around her. They were mostly unnerving babble that sounded similar to people she knew that Ground knew. Her own voice coming out in the noise. When she focused on it the words “No, please no” and “Why did you do that” repeated often and ran over each other at times.

Surprised, Marina focused on other voices she recognized. There was a few of the planetary crew saying “Monster” and “Take him down.” Dr. Gore was there, and said “Prepare to euthanize.” Marina also heard the raspy voice of Chartreuse, that bastard, order many scientific things along with devastating insults. Klesmolv was more of the same but more personal. And Ice-

“What are you doing here?” Ice asked behind Marina. The whispers quieted to a dull background noise.

“Are you real?” Marina replied, Stepping back.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Well, I guess I should ask how you got here because the gorgon, Melodi I think?, gave me an amulet that she said would let me into Ike’s ‘Mindscape.’ And I’m guessing that this is it?” she asked while looking around. “Why do I have the feeling that this shouldn't be it.”

“Well one part depends on Ike, the other on life. So it goes.” Marina shrugged. She lowered her fists and extended a hand. “I don't think we’ve had a proper introduction. My name is Mari.”

“Frankie,” she shook. “Well he sure did get rass helvíti by life. You still haven't said how you got here.”

“Well, the giant lizard swallowed me. Great way to get me to trust you guys.” Marina muttered as she turned and led Ice down the path. “He must have ‘eaten’ into me as there was this intense burning all around except my face. Kept blasting air into it so he probably wanted me alive for some reason. Anyway, he got into my head and forced me to breathe. Shown by his claws holding me by the chest. Then he took full hold of me, disintegrated, and told me “we shall meet again” before I landed here.” Marina dropped as the path wound to the right.

“Not to freak you out but, your back is missing.”

The teen paused, and twisted around to see it. Sure enough where her spine was supposed to be, there was a emptiness. The surrounding tissue was burned but it was just gone.

“Yes it is.” She observed. “Crap. That thing might have a hook in me. Be fun riding that coaster again. You had a look at my file?”

“Girl, I’m a mobile task force member, I don't have access to that. And speaking of coasters, before I got in here I was on the lizzard’s bucking spine.”

“Yeah, you haven't seen anything yet.”

“I would argue that I’ve seen a lot since I’ve joined the force.”

“Yes, but have you- have you ever been connected to a killer? One that reduces your body to a mere puppet, and replays its deeds before your eyes?” An image of Lightning appeared next to her. Code covering her as she shifted to look like Marina. The cruel, cold smile remaining. A knife held obscured in her hands.

“No and I think we should keep moving as the guy I know with the same problem feels like he’s just up ahead,” Ice said as she grabbed Marina’s left wrist and marched forward. Flipping off the illusion as it faded.

Marina allowed herself to be dragged, feeling foolish. Why was she so worried about proving herself right? It was childish and stupid. There was no reason…

She let the thought drop. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, we all have our issues but comparing them won't do anyone any good,” Ice stated as they came upon a clearing.

Strangely there was Ground laying on a sheet of metal underneath a flesh spire and another thing watching them from behind it. Ice’s pace quickened until she stood over him. He was missing his left arm and part of his chest. Ice kneeled and put a hand on his chest.

“While I try and get him up, check out that thing out back will you?” she asked.

“My pleasure.” Marina summoned a bo staff and headed towards the figure. It shrank back and hobbled away as fast as it could.

Marina relaxed her posture and expression. Using the staff as, well, a staff. “Hey, hey I’m not going to hurt you.”

It winced and tried to go faster. It tripped over it's bum leg with a yelp. Marina thrust her left hand out and it stopped in midair. “Easy. Easy…” she said. Gently lowering it to the ground.

It whimpered and Marina could get a good look at it. It was a sickly shade of grey with skin meshed with scales. It's gangly limbs were uncoordinated as it tried to crawl away from her. It was bleeding from it's open wounds on its left side. Multiple lacerations across it's back and tail festered with green puss. The right half of the head looked to have been caved in with a metal baseball bat.

“Oh...boy…” Marina approached it with her hands extended. “Uh, Ice? I think you're trying the wrong Ground.”

“The hell do you mean by that?”

“Well, in my mind there is not one me, but several. Each representing a different aspect of my personality. No matter how small. Raven’s and Melody’s are the same. Who’s to say Ground’s would differ? Besides, I distinctly remember being catlike one time.”

“What the he-”

The creature suddenly shuddered then dissipated.

“OW F***!” Ground shouted shortly after.

“Shite are you okay?”

“No, f***, the f*** did you do?”

“I, ah, accidentally slipped into your empty socket. Why is that anyway?”

“That would explain that.” he grunted. “It's hard to explain actually.”

“You can tell me later anyway, the gecko went rampant but it seems like the guys outside chased it off.”

Marina walked back around to where the couple sat.

“Really? All I remember was I ran into a tree.”

“Yeah about that. Why were you chasing me anyways?” Marina was tempted to fold her arms but decided against it. “Before you hit the tree I mean.”

He opened his mouth as if to replay but shut it in confusion. “I...really don't remember. I was walking 6, then I smelled something funny then it just… too hazy. I haven't killed anyone have I?”

“Walking 6?” Marina cocked her head.

“Rear guard, walking 6, same thing,” he explained.

“Ah. Also you might have killed me but only time will tell. Especially since Mel is involved.”

“S***, but wait. How are you here then?”

“All-destroyer gave me air for some strange reason. Fused with my spine, practically gave me life support, probably devoured my limbs but a literal bloodbath should heal that.”

“Ookay.”

“Well, it did have some pink armor this time around that was hard to get through. Gecko must’ve used you as a shield generator,” Ice nodded.

“I can- it can do that?”

“Apparently.”

“Ohhhhhh. I will probably be drained then.” Marina bit her lip. “D***. I really will need Gorgon blood.”

“Language,” Ice reprimanded. “How can blood have healing properties outside of transfusion?”

“Ask Melody. She knows all the bio stuff that goes with her abilities. I think it's part of the Medusa mythology though.”

“I haven't read any-” Ground started before the mindscape violently shook. Ice disappeared and Marina felt hands tearing at her limbs. He looked up at her before her vision went black.

-.Frost.-

I am not looking. Jack purposefully watched the upper body shrink and become more like that of a man. A large lump formed below its-his- chest. Making him look extremely pregnant.

Melody approached it with her shield at the ready. She pulled a hidden lever and blades popped out at its rim. Jack barely looked away in time, but couldn't help but cringe at the sound of tearing flesh.

“This is not good.” Melody said. Jack wandered away from the rescue group to where Klesmolv and the unconscious Ice were sitting.

“So, where are you from?” He asked cheerfully. I am going to be so busy tonight.

“Near Yekaterinburg, Russia,” he answered.

“Oh! Same country as Santa.” Jack lightly swung his staff and leaned against the tree. He glanced back at the others, and swiftly back to the Russian guy. “What's it like? I know it's cold, but how are the people?”

“Isolationist at best, wood chip at worst. Who is Santa?”

Jack sensed Pitch Black level of Emo from this guy. Not good.

“He’s a big guy who brings presents to kids every Christmas. He's a nice guy. You should meet him. Really fun to be around,” he offered.

Klesmolv looked at Jack like he was the weird one for knowing what it is. Sheesh, what a hard case. Maybe a magic snowball would- nope! Guy was blind. There went that option.

“Sheesh, are you sure you're from the same country as Nick?”

“It is very large country,” Klesmolv stated.

“Well I guess that's true. Hey how's it-” Jack caught a glimpse of Marina's mutilated body. “Ah, soooo… what do you like to do for fun?”

“Solve possibilities of interest.”

“What kind of possibilities would those be?”

“Classified.”

“Oohhhhkay. Anything else?”

“Drag racing.”

“Cool. How do they usually go?”

“Go as long as possible until run out of gas or too many police show,” he shrugged.

“So it’s a regular race. Cool.”

“We got her!” Melody called. Jack risked another glance and saw with his relief that Marina was bound up in a sheet and the big guy had been put back together. No longer looking quite as pregnant.

Ice’s eyes slowly opened, then blinked a few times. She sat up and ignored Klesmolv’s attempts to help her.

“Alright we have to move.” Melody moved quickly, Wolverine right behind. Marina in his arms. Jack followed right after, as did everyone else. He spotted Starfire beside him, carrying the man over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Somehow, she looked furious and disturbed at the same time.

“How are you doing?” Jack asked quietly.

“Bad,” she replied. “We will talk when I don't have to carry him,” she spat the last word.

Oh boy. Jack drifted towards Raven. “What’s going on with you?”

“I’m fine.” Raven replied nonchalantly.

“Okay.” Jack held his staff over his shoulder with one hand and put the other in his pocket. He cast a quick glance at the sun, which was obscured by the trees. They broke through the underbrush and onto the dimly lit path. Melody led them to the fork and took them to the safe house.

Phineas, Ferb, and Cyborg looked up as they came into the building. Jack waved at them as Melody crossed the room. Not too beat up. Nice. Jack gave Phineas a high five before sitting next to Ferb. Boy, what a long day. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

-.Klesmolv.-

Klesmolv followed the redhead who was burdened with his subject into a side room filled with hammocks. She unceremoniously dumped him into one of the lower hammocks and stormed out. He walked over to the hammock and noted his condition. He was lightly bundled up in thin white sheets soaked with his blood. A particularly nasty set of gunshot wounds on his shoulder knitted themselves back up.

The palm leaves rustled and Melody came in, a cup of blood in her hands.

Peculiar, do they know that he can do that or are they just guessing? Klesmolv thought as he stood to the side. “What is that made of?”

“It's my blood, from the right side.” The Gorgon answered. “It has hyperactive healing abilities.”

If only I had my suitcase. He thought as the gorgon held Ground’s mouth open and tipped the cup. The blood flowed thickly and Ground choked a bit. He shifted uncomfortably, then began to cry out in pain. The wounds knitted up faster, leaving small indications that they were even there. He underwent many body wide muscular spasms as his healing was accelerated. Klesmolv lifted up the sheet to see that even the scales on Ground’s chest were receding.

Not only does it have healing properties, it is potent enough to counter that? Interesting. He thought as Ground fell limp. The fissure where the spliced, parasitic, scales met human flesh started to form blood blisters. They bursted and blood shot out of the many openings.

Melody brought out a cloth and quickly wiped it up. The cloth left no smudges. Melody straightened and waited. The spouts weakened then stopped completely. The arteries carrying the blood came to the surface by scale growth underneath them.

“Probability that this is an adverse reaction to the blood?” Klesmolv questioned.

“Or the the lizard reclaiming its property. That’s not good. I’m going to check on Marina.” She slipped off.

“Well that would be an adverse reaction,” he stated after she left. He felt around his torso until he found a familiar bump. He opened the small pocket and pulled out a scalpel.

“AND NO DISSECTION!!!!” Melody shouted.

“I am just removing the exposed arteries,” he stated as he preemptively touched the arm. The hand flexed but nothing above that. Good. He thought as he started on a thin artery on Ground’s pectoral. The blade went through easily and he placed the tissue onto the cloth. He repeated this process with additional looks at the vile hand to make sure that it wouldn’t kill him like all those other times. He got to the shoulder when the hand made a fist. Klesmolv stopped and watched expectantly. It opened and closed a few more times and Klesmolv took it as the chance to leave. He grabbed the material that he had removed and calmly walked out of the room.

He walked out of the hut a small ways, made a small hole with the heel of his shoe, and dropped the material inside. He covered that up with the displaced dirt and walked back inside.

No one spared a glance. Frost was still resting. Ice was explaining Ground to the redhead. The purple girl, cyborg, and the angel were talking softly among themselves. The brazilian was probably with her fallen friend, and Melody was in the large kitchen. Frying something.

“How do you feel about Tacos?” Melody asked.

“I’m fine for right now.” Not sure in a few hours however.

“I’ll make you some just in case. How do you like it? Extra lettuce? Olives? Tofu?”

“Tofu.”

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Alright. Tofu and lettuce it is then.” Melody pulled a square of Tofu out of her pocket and began slicing.

That can't be sanitary. He thought as he left to look for a sink.

-.Ground.-

Ground woke up with a grimace. His shoulder stung and he had a nasty case of heartburn. But besides that, he was missing the usual soreness that comes post possession. Strange. He heard faint conversations from somewhere nearby.

Maybe one of them can tell me what happened. He thought as he tried to move in an upright position. This caused the thing that was holding him to flip over and dump him onto the hard floor with a ungraceful thud. He groaned and pushed himself up off of the floor with his right hand. Aand I can't use it again. Great. He thought as he got on his knees.

The conversation in the next room stilled. He moved to a lunge when he heard people moving towards him. Hopefully these aren't tribals. He thought as he faced the doorway.

The palm fronds separated and a red headed girl in purple clothing looked down at him. Her clothes and especially her boots looked fairly modern. “Are you alright?” She asked. Her voice was sweet and ponderous.

Well she ain't tribal. “Somewhat. Bad case of heartburn though.”

“Oh. Like the kind Robin sometimes gets?” She offered her hand.

He took it. “Not sure who that is but probably.”

The girl had a surprisingly strong grip and hauled him to his feet with ease.

“Woah okay. Uh, you are?” he asked as his hand brushed the side of his thigh. And I’m not wearing pants. I’m fine with that. He thought as he readjusted so that his hand rested on his hip.

“Starfire. Ice told me you were Ground.” She deliberately focused on his eyes. “Are you...you?”

“Considerin I can't move my left hand now, yeah. Bastard always does that after I come to.”

She nodded innocently. “There's clothes under your hammock. Dinner’s finished. There are still some leftovers of you like.” With that she turned and left.

Clothes under- f*** they're covered in blood. Ground thought as he crouched down and pulled out the soaked garments. The looked like they were supposed to be white or light grey sweatpants and t shirt. He looked behind him and saw a thin sheet that wasn’t covered in as much blood. If he wanted to, he could tear off the bloodiest section and make a loin cloth out of it.

Or I can just ask for some new clothes. “Ay starfire?” Ground called. This better not be the only set they have.

“Yes?”

“Do you have another set? I apparently bled all over this one.”

“Hang on. Melody!” Ground heard cloth thump and Starfire’s gloved hands stuck through the fronds. Holding a fresh set of clothes. He stood, wiped his hands on the sheet, and walked over to the entrance. He took them and walked back a step and a half. It was a white t shirt and very light grey sweatpants. He put them on, making sure to tuck in his shirt, and walked out of the room.

A girl in all black and a purple cloaked girl looked at him. As did two boys. One with red hair and a triangular head. The other with green hair, trousers pulled up to his chest, and a face that looked a bit like a fire hydrant.

The redhead boy waved. “Hi! I’m Phineas, this is my brother Ferb.”

“My names Jack.” An icy blonde boy waved his hand tiredly. He sounded more awake than he looked. “Metal guy is Cyborg.”

“That's Raven.” Blue and black pointed at purple cloak.

“Hi.” She said monotonously.

“I’m Annilyse.” The black clothes girl said. Ground noticed a pink and purple stripe in her left bang, and a blue stripe in her right. “Melody’s in the kitchen.”

There was a collective hiss from the kitchen. Though that could have been a frying pan.

Ground spotted Molotov at a chess board, moving the pieces in tandem with his thoughts. Moving a bit too quickly to get out of the central gaze, he sat across from his friend.

The majority of the people went back to their business. A boy wearing a blue hoodie, however, got up came over to the chessboard. He had an easy demeanor and a bounce in his step. His Shepherd's staff balanced casually on his shoulder.

“Hi.”

Why does he have one of those? Ground thought as he opted to stay quiet.

He must’ve caught where Ground was looking as he playfully swung his staff. A swath of intricate looking frost covered the floor. “Ah, I didn't introduce myself fully. My names Jack Frost. Guardian of fun. Ground, right?”

For some reason, the teen struck oddly with Ground. “What’s it to ya?”

“Well just about everyone is going to be asking your name at some point or another. Figured I’d better get mine outta the way before it's drowned out.”

“Hmph.” He rubbed his chest. Man, this hasn't dulled a bit. “Do you guys have anything for heartburn?”

“I’ll che-” a pill bottle hit Jack in the side of the head. “Yes we do.” He said as he effortlessly caught it and handed it over. His hands were freezing under Ground’s.

Knowing his weight, he took three. He crushed them on his molars so that the medicine could work faster. Relief came in small waves after a minute. He relaxed as the burning sensation ebbed away. Half of him wanted to know what was going on and what had happened, the other just wanted some food. The food wanting half won with a loud complaint from his stomach.

“Alright geeze,” he breathed as he got up and headed toward the kitchen.

“He’ll get it sorted out eventually.”

The kitchen was large and smelt like taco meat. Jo was leaning on some counters facing the other person in the room.

“Hey babe,” Ground greeted as he walked over to Jo.

“Hey stud,” she smiled and got off of the counter. “Want something to eat?”

He chuckled. “You know me too well, what is there anyway?”

“Plain hamburger meat, taco sauce, chicken, and tofu. Lettuce, tomatoes, olives, white onion, green onion, and sour cream. Condiments are a variety of sauces.” The girl said. Her black hood rippling oddly.

“Do you have any large tortillas?”

She pulled a box of them out of her pocket. It was so big she could barely

hold it in one hand. “There's a lot more where that came from but it's a good start just in case.”

He took them and put them under his arm.

He gave Jo’s hand a squeeze. “Help me with the meat?” He asked.

“Sure.” She went over to the cook and got a bowl of hamburger meat. They walked out of the kitchen together.

“Clean up any messes you make.” The cook called after them.

“Got it,” Ground called back.

The table was large enough to fit twelve people easily before feeling crowded. Two of each dish was laid out, and sauce packets were in little piles all around the table. The plates were all missing with the exception of one. He set the box down next to the lone plate and gathered toppings. Jo sat across from him.

“I swear if you're going to deep throat the burritos-”

“Only one of them!”

She stared at him.

“Aw cmon Jo.”

She continued to stare.

There was a loud thumping from one of the rooms nearby. Something splashed and a door creaked open. He turned to look at the source. A side door had opened. Revealing a young girl peering out. Blood running down her black and white hair. Her face, remarkably, was clean. Her neck was far better than it appeared in the dreamscape. She peered around before the goth rushed up with a set of clothing. She passed the clothes and shut the door in one fluid motion before pressing her back against it.

“Looks like she wasn't kiddin about the bath,” Ground noted.

“She looked like the Grudge,” Ice compared.

“I can see the resemblance.” He started making his first burrito.

It was only after his sixth burrito he thought to ask, “What happened after I went into the brush?”

He heard shuffling around in the background.

“Zolotoy went right and I continued ahead. He got himself captured and I made acquaintance with Annylise. He was brought out with Raven and the Frosty teen.”

Marina sat down at the table with a large plate of chicken. She started pouring the pieces into a taco shell and loading it up. Meanwhile the cook frowned at something exposed on her back. She wore dark shades and appeared to have dreads hanging just under her hood.

“Ana heard Marina over here start to have some trouble with the gecko so we joined up with them to take it down and you up again. We were joined by Melodi and her crew. She gave me an amulet that let me into your mindscape while the others blasted away at it. I'm not sure what happened after the first trap because that's when I got into your head. So, why are there metal spires and flesh cones in your head hon?”

“I don't know, it's just been like that for the past while. I was only made aware of that particular place recently.”

“Hey Ground? Do scales replace any flesh absorbed when you turn?” The cook asked. Looking at him with some concern.

“I'm not sure what you mean. It covers more area on me if that's what you were wonderin.”

“Well, I think I need a second opinion on this.” She waved her hand for him to look. Marina's eating slowed, but she kept her gaze determinedly on the wall opposite.

He followed her and noticed for the first time that Marina was wearing a scarlet dress, which tied in the back. Revealing the majority of her spine. Through the crossing cords he could see black veins surrounding her spine.

It looks awfully similar to the first month. “You sure that it isn't just some weird brusing?”

That's odd. It kinda looks like- He compared her back to his arm after he got the splice. The patterns were similar enough to warrant concern.

“That has never happened before. Course this is only what, the fourth or fifth time this happened outside? So there is room for weird s***,” Ground stated after turning to face the cook.

She put her hand on her chin. “So he’s taking her over.”

“That greedy-” Jo started.

“Now let's not jump to conclusions! It could just be a weird reaction that goes away soonish,” Ground defended. It has to be that. It would nice to not be alone but, no one should go through this s***.

“And if it doesn't? What do you recommend doing then?”

“Pick a false god and to pray to that that it doesn't have her. And or we both don't get possessed at the same time.”

A small smirk twitched the cooks lips. “That's mighty presumptive of you to call another's gods false.”

“They’re all just superficial constructs made by people of old to explain the world around them,” irritation started to creep in.

There was a hiss from under the cooks hood. One of her dreadlocks moved. The light shining off of what was supposed to be hair. “Clearly you were unaware that you were just speaking to Jack Frost. The boy that heralds winter.”

Are we seriously having this conversation already? Ground bristled at the thought. “Look-”

“Hmm. It's using your anger as a leeway. Marina be mindful of your emotions.”

“Yes Melody.” The teen sat up and stretched. “Are you guys done yet? I’m not comfortable being stared at.”

He leaned back on the table. “Yeah. Wait, be mindful of back scratches. If it is bein a greedy a**hole.”

“Alright.” She took her plate to the sink. “It's going to be fun watching you figure it out though.”

Melody joined her at the sink. After a few soft words Marina went to the living room. The girl took a sponge and began cleaning. Her hood still rippling like before.

Ground leaned over to Jo. “Ay, is it ripplin to you?” he whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Are we still drugged?”

“I don't think so.”

“Well s***. And I don't feel a breeze that could make it move like that.”

“Possible anomaly?”

“What the hell would that look like. Snakes?”

“You're on fire.” Melody replied. “I’m not from your dimension though. Keep going.”

The adults shared a look of “f***” before getting up. They walked together over to their last team member who was looking at the chess board with minor contempt.

“What's not computing Molotov?” Ground asked.

“How I don't have the time and the limited reports of others,” he replied.

“How do you not have the time?” He took the seat next to him and Jo sat on the other side of the board.

“Under review.”

“Apparently we got mugged along with being drugged,” Jo bitterly stated while resetting the board.

“That would explain why I don't have my- wait. Did anyone grab my shotgun?”

“Same boat.” Everyone in the room said in unison.

“Well f***.”

“Didn’t think to grab it,” Jo sighed.

“An’ I’m assumin that I can't go back to grab it. Great.”

“Well do you have any other weapons?” Marina asked. Sitting down next to her goth friend.

“Once its awake yeah. ‘Member the fire?”

“I think so. Whoever kidnapped us could have thought that counted so you might not have a gun at all.”

“No, I remember havin it.”

“Then you can go grab it in the morning.” The winged teen across the room yawned and stretched his wings. “Night all.” He headed into the room separated by palm fronds.

Wings aren't weird. He thought as he watched him go.

“I think I’ll follow Falcons example. Night.” Marina got up and headed out. She was soon followed by purple cloak, Starfire, Phineas, and Ferb.

Molotov’s head jerked slightly forward. He made a small coughing sound before sitting upright.

“When was the last time you slept doc?”

“Today was twenty first, correct?”

“No doc. You need to go to sleep. An’ just in case, because I know you, gimme your visor so you actually sleep with your eyes closed this time,” Ground held out his hand. The russian tensed in thought, then sighed and handed it over. He got up and walked over to the separating leaves. He walked with confidence into the wall next to it.

“It's to the left Doc!” Ground called.

He stuck his left arm out along the wall. He found the entrance and walked inside.

“Sooo…” Jack asked, still lounging with his head dropped behind the couch. “How are you holding up?”

“Good enough to not need sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Ice yawned. She got up from her chair and sat on Ground’s right side. He shifted so that she had more room.

“So how long have you been a reality bender?” Ground asked pointedly.

“A bit over three hundred years.” The teen shrugged, the frost on his shirt glittering as he did so.

Bulls***.

Melody roped in Jack and Anilyse to help her with setting up the table. Once all was set in the modern European fashion, she put the divided meats and toppings on the table. Melody: evening meal is ready! The teenagers looked up and headed for the kitchen. Klesmolv and Ice followed slowly, sitting next to each other at the end closest to the living room. Jack simply went to the chess board game and watched the white Queen nag her King.

Melody noticed the adults position and placed a bowl of tofu in front of Klesmolv, then she took a seat at the middle of the table. She bowed her head and muttered softly in Ancient Greek while an amiable conversation started up between Raven and Anilyse.

#fanfiction #crossover

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