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alwaysthinkingoutloud · 3 years

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Hannibal Episode-by-Episode Meta/Analysis: Episode 3, Season 1 (Potage)

The first scene of the episode takes us back to Abigail’s memories of hunting with her dad. That whole memory provides us with a brand-new aspect to who Abigail is what Hannibal might see in her. Suddenly, it makes us question if Hannibal saw her as something more than a tool to draw Will in. Afterall, Hannibal’s philosophy would not sound too strange or bizarre to Abigail than what she already is accustomed to. She grew up being taught to normalize killing and eating what she kills with maybe different reasons than Hannibal, but obviously she still is the most fitting instrument to whatever he is planning.

Alana comes to Will’s house to talk about Abigail’s waking up from the coma and when Will expresses his concerns for Abigail’s being left alone, she says “Dogs keep a promise a person can’t”. And Will replies it with “I am not collecting another stray”. While she is trying to warn Will before he makes a huge commitment he probably cannot keep, because of guilt; she compares Will to a dog and Will compares Abigail to one. In the previous episode’s article I had already expressed my thoughts about Will’s relationship with dogs and how I think it represents his animalistic, urge-full side. So I find this set of metaphors to be a touch-on to Abigail’s yet-hidden killer side and Will’s subconscious recognition and acceptance of that, along with his own.

The conversation of Alana and Abigail is pretty informing about who Abigail is. When Alana walks into room and says that she is a psychiatrist, Abigail’s curious, if not tactical, question of what kind? and Alana’s saying family trauma (and not, for example, criminal something), ends up Abigail’s facial expressions to suddenly change into one that looks victimized. I do not believe it was an emotional transaction, I think it was one on purpose. As Alana later will say, Abigail shows enough-to-be-considered-healthy emotion about her parents’ deaths but also enough detachment from what happened to falsely suggest a lack of connection on her behalf. Her jumping from the topic of her parents’ being dead and her dad being a serial killer to making plans about college is not a mere denial caused by being traumatized but also a strategical move that someone of guilt would do. Her lying to nurses and trying to analyze Dr. Bloom is not a very victim-like behavior, she manipulates and tries to establish a position of dominance. I am this close to almost suggesting that this is something Hannibal would do. Hannibal made a fantastic move, bringing Abigail into the equation. (Abigail’s yet-to-come talk with Freddie is another example to what this paragraph is telling too.)

When Jack, Alana and Hannibal come into the same room together; everybody’s priority is different. Jack wants the case to resolve at all costs (at the cost of Will’s or Abigail’s stability), Alana wants the best for Abigail and Will, protecting their mental health and Hannibal wants neither. He wants the case to stay unresolved or resolved in a way he is pleased, and he wants both Will and Abigail in a position that is furthest from being stable. Actually in his thinking, he does want the best for them. Afterall, that is how Hannibal operates. He wants people pushed to their darkest potential, to unleash their beast, in whatever form it may come. He does that by increasing chaos around him and he feeds on that chaos. He sets things into motion to ends that even he sometimes does not know what of. So of course, he will agree with anything that stirs up the pot, which is right now Will and Abigail coming together.

Hannibal and Jack walks into classroom when Will is giving a lecture about the Copycat Killer. While doing so, he describes the killer in detail and to our knowledge, quite accurately so too. Hannibal seems to be listening to him intrigued and almost fascinated at Will’s deductions about the killer since they are so right and his smile reaches its max (well… max at Hannibal standards) when Will points out that the unidentified caller is in fact, the Copycat Killer. He is not just enjoying the thrill to be discussed as a killer in the same classroom he is standing in, without a soul knowing; what he enjoys the most is Will’s closing in. His spot-on deductions on what kind of person the killer is. Maybe this is the first time Hannibal hears someone speaking about the real version of him who is not wearing a person suit and doing that quite accurately too. Will is getting to know him, real him, and Hannibal enjoys it.

Will and Hannibal take Abigail for a walk in the greenhouse, Will supporting Abigail’s arm with his own. There is a one-second scene where Hannibal also touches Abigail’s arm (but that is all it is, a very no purpose-serving touch) to try and help her sit just like Will does and looks at Will, almost hoping to find appreciation or approval, which makes me smile.

During the conversation of Will and Abigail, the camera focuses on Hannibal only right after Abigail says, “That’s not all I brought out in him”. Up until then, Hannibal seems almost bored with their conversation about her mom. But that sentence makes something in him move, suggesting that he may be hoping Abigail to bring out something in Will too. Maybe that something being protective feelings against her which can be manipulated to familiarize Will with normalization of crime. Abigail continues to express her concerns about being messed up and having nightmares. But Hannibal only says “We will help with the nightmares.”, so they will not with her being messed up part? Well, why on earth would he? That is exactly how Hannibal wants her, messed up as others would say, or perfect as Hannibal would. Then, Abigail finally asks a question to Will that intrigues Hannibal the most, “Does killing somebody…feel that bad?”. Hannibal almost holds his breath waiting for Will’s reply. In return, Will gives a very interesting answer. He does not say yes it does, he does not confirm. He says, instead, that it is the ugliest thing in the world. He maybe right, but ugliness is not equal to badness, is it? Ugliness is a measure of visual taste, not a measure of morality. He almost suggests, killing may be an ugly act, but does not necessarily feel bad.

“It is not very smart to piss off a guy who thinks of killing people for a living.”

says Will to Freddie, in response to her threats about badmouthing him to Abigail. Obviously, Abigail already became family for Will. He protects her and shows a very different face of his when his relationship with Abigail is threatened to get compromised. A face that Hannibal loves seeing Will with. So when Jack asks Hannibal why he let Will say those words, Hannibal gives some Hannibalistic answer while smirking in a very non-subtle way. Of course, he would not stop Will in one of those rare times that he reveals his inner demons, Hannibal counts on it, even.

The second time Alana and Hannibal have different opinions (the first time was about Will going to see Abigail) is about if it is right for Abigail to visit her home where all the crime happened. While Alana disagrees with the idea on an attempt of saving Abigail from possible trauma, Jack chooses to go with Hannibal’s idea which is that confronting everything that happened in her home could be healing for Abigail. Jack is so blinded by his professional ambition to figure out everything hastily that he does not even realize how much damage he is causing unknowingly by each time not taking Alana’s professional opinion over Hannibal’s, whose motive actually is the opposite of Jack’s.

I think right about here is a good place to express my thoughts about Hannibal’s effect vs Jack’s effect on Will/Abigail. Although Hannibal is supposed to be the so-called ‘villian’ in this show, the serial killer, the cannibal, the person who drives people’s minds off the edge, the person standing opposite of law enforcement; he has a moral code. A code that is very different from the consensus but nevertheless, a code. And all the mind games he plays with Will and Abigail are meant to serve a purpose of helping them achieving their highest selves. Not forcefully making them into someone they are not, not harming them of out nowhere, but watering the seed of whatever it is inside them. To his thinking, he is elevating them. Helping them. On the contrary, Jack being one of the good guys in the show, the FBI director, the voice of justice; he manipulates and uses Will and Abigail never having their best interest in his mind. The only thing he cares about is the crimes and criminals; and everyone else’s stability and sanity, if lost on the way, is considered collateral damage. Unlike Hannibal, he does what he does to Will and Abigail knowing that it might end up harming them. So it is open to discussion, if Jack’s morality is any better than Hannibal’s. Or if his even is half consistent as Hannibal’s. I will come back to that in the coming episodes.

While still in the office and the four are talking, we learn that Jack’s motivation to take Abigail home is about gaining information about the Copycat. That is probably when the wheels started turning in Hannibal’s head about diverting FBI. Hannibal’s acts are never well-planned or calculated until the moment of actually killing someone. Although he is spotless on his murders, he rolls the dice and works with the material he is given on the events that lead up to those murders. Yes, he has one great big plan that consists of bloodshed, severed limps and a few people on specific positions; but he does not have one definite way to reach that. He goes with the flow placing the pieces into their places, which is what makes him that exciting: His unpredictability.

The short conversation happening between Will and Abigail about Will’s empathizing and his putting himself in her father’s shoes are seemingly pleasing for Hannibal. Afterall, more bonded they become, greater the chance of Will protecting her on all costs and consequently that cost being slipping away from the light side into Hannibal’s lap (sigh). When the topic of why they came there (to find out about the man who called the house that morning) comes up and Will asks her about the caller, she throws a very quick glance at Hannibal while saying that she did not recognize the caller’s voice, which suggests that it is a lie. Hannibal looks a little surprised, either for the fact that she remembered his voice, or that she did and did not blurt it out. Considering Hannibal’s thick accent, it is unlikely that someone would not recognize it after hearing it. So the second option weighs more heavily, just as her suggesting Hannibal being the man on the phone on a reenactment proves it so.

“One cannot be delusional if the belief in question is accepted as ordinary by others in that person’s culture or subculture. Or family.”

says Hannibal and it says a lot. Is not this the very thing Hannibal is trying to do? Putting together a family where his beliefs will be accepted as ordinary? Providing the same freedom to other members of his family as well? Making a family to set them all free, along with himself?

When Marissa shows up and somewhere in between the events calls her mom a bitch, considering the look Hannibal gave her (a very similar look he had given to Franklyn after he blew his nose and placed the dirty napkin on the table), her death was expected. The combination of that and finding the stone stained with Nicholas Boyle’s blood would be an obvious one-stone-two-bird solution to Hannibal’s diverting FBI from the Copycat Killer plan.

The second time Will dreams about the stag is at least as illuminating as the first one. He dreams about the stag right after the Copycat Killer kills someone. The first time, he saw it after Hannibal killed Cassie Boyle. And this time, we will learn that he sees it after Marissa was killed. I do not think that is a coincidence. This time though, as a difference, Will sees himself as the stag getting into a defensive position against Abigail’s throat being cut, again by himself. So he has no way out, either he is the guy killing Abigail or he is the stag who we already know is a killer, although is in defense right now. This almost suggests that deep down he knows regardless of the path chosen, there is no escape from blood. There is only a lesser evil, maybe, and that is killing to save. And the stag is the representative of this lesser evil in the dream, which is interesting because well, we know the stag will turn into Hannibal. Almost to suggest that, Hannibal’s true evil self without the person suit and Will’s maybe acceptable lesser evil sides will be one, to complete one another. (I may be reaching with that one…)

When Alana, Abigail, Will and Hannibal reach to cabin; the look on Hannibal’s face when Will asks Abigail if there is anyone else beside her and her dad who has been to the cabin and she says no, suggests that it is not true, although she is not aware of it and it also suggests that the plan of Hannibal is put into motion. In a little while, he also loudly accuses of Nicholas to kill his sister and Marissa, suggesting he is the Copycat Killer.

While Hannibal is making remarks about this killer not being Garret Jacob Hobbs because of leaving a body behind and not eating all of it, Will gives him a little disturbed look. Either because Hannibal looks too certain speaking, or because deep down, Will is smelling something suspicious. He actually gave a very similar look to Hannibal when he came into his classroom in between his lecture about the Copycat Killer. I do not think it is a coincidence, but it is very arguable to what degree Will’s awareness was at that point, even on a subconscious level. (There is another possibility that Will’s looks at Hannibal are just/also because he finds Hannibal glamorous with the way he thinks and everything ;)) )

Hannibal, hearing Freddie talk about someone else lurking around the house, asks her if she saw Nicholas. So we conclude that by putting the blame on Nicholas, what Hannibal hopes to achieve is to draw him out to the house to talk to Abigail to clear his name and… Well, there is no “and”. That is probably as far as his plan went and Hannibal did not know that Abigail would kill Nicholas but we can say he hoped she would. Creating a bond (preferably) and/or leverage (that can be used if Abigail did not turn out to be compliant) between them perfectly.

After Abigail escapes from the hospital and comes to Hannibal’s office, in between the conversation Hannibal says, you climbed over the wall, which means, apart from its literal meaning, that after she killed Nicholas, she is now free. By killing him, she broke her restraints and now in new territory. Then, he tells her to come down from there, suggesting after climbing over the wall, what you do is to come down, where Hannibal is also standing. Meaning, Hannibal also had climbed over the wall and now they are at the same side, so she can relax. This is the family where the belief is accepted as ordinary.

While Hannibal convinced her that if she did not hide the body, nobody would believe her innocence right after she killed Nicholas, insinuating she had no choice but to ask for Hannibal’s help; now that it is all over, he tells her that most people actually would believe that she was innocent. Abigail who understands that she has been manipulated, puts the pieces together and reveals that she did know Hannibal was the one who called the house. Not trusting her enough yet, Hannibal does not deny what she is saying so that she would feel let in, but not so much to let her in all the way either, creating a balanced relationship dynamic (of course, in the eyes of Abigail) between them. Then, by saying “No more climbing walls, Abigail, he makes sure she understands they are in the same side now, as equals (he lets she thinks) and there is no going back.

#hannibal #hannibal lecter #will #will graham #hannibal and will #hannigram #brian fuller #nbc hannibal #hannibal meta #hannibal analysis #will and hannibal #mads mikkelsen #hugh dancy #murder husbands #abigail hobbs #will loves hannibal #hannibal loves will #potage

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Rapunzeltopia

This episode, much like many other plot important episodes of the first two seasons, is decent on it its own, but becomes retroactively worse due to season three’s bad writing and behind the scenes bullshit.

Summary: Matthews reveals himself as another dark spirit and disciple of Zhan Tiri, and traps Eugene, Lance and the others in unbreakable vines similar to the Great Tree's evil magic. He has Rapunzel live the perfect life while he prepares to hand over the mystical powers of the Sundrop to his master. Fortunately, Rapunzel is able to make contact with her brown-haired dream self and attempts to convince her to let go.

Timeline Alert

So what does almost a year ago mean? The Great Tree was six months out, and then in Mirror, Mirror, Lance said that they been fighting for three weeks since. So how long have then been stuck in this shell house? Because You’re Kidding Me was just the next day after Mirror, Mirror. Was Lance’s ‘three weeks’ comment meant to be after Brothers Hooks and Rapunzel: Day One and not Great Tree? Are we 7, 8, 9, or 10 months out from Secret of the Sundrop? Like be clear about your time frame guys if you’re going to use it as a plot point.

I’m going to say we are 9 months along on this trip, just cause that sounds closer to ‘almost a year ago’ without keeping them all trapped in the shell house for months. So Great Tree is 6 months, Brother’s Hook and Rapunzel Day One is 7 months, Mirror, Mirror is going on 8 months, and at the end of this episode they’ll be heading into the 9 month period...I guess. Lets just say they were trapped there for a week or two.

This Episode Only Highlights How Self Centered and Immature Rapunzel Still Is Rather Than Showcase How Much She’s Grown

The point behind this episode is show how much Rapunzel has grown since season one, and how she is accepting of responsibility now, but it actually backfires because she’s not actually being challenged on her selfish desires but on her lack of agency. Which is the wrong lesson that she needs to be learning at this point in her development.

Rapunzel in her subconscious mind doesn’t wish for what’s best for other people but what’s best for herself. People she must interact with on the regular have to be superficially happy even if it completely warps their character. While people she doesn't care about, like Lady Caine, can just be simply banished and ignored regardless if they deserve such an end or not. She doesn’t see people as people with individual thoughts and feelings, but as satellites to herself and her narrow worldview.

Also, ‘I believe everyone deserves a second chance’ my eye! Caine never gets even a first chance in Rapunzel’s own fantasy world. Because Rapunzel is a selfish hypocrite who’s ‘redemptions’ always comes with strings attached.

Here Comes the Dumbest Plot Point In the Show

I’ll talk about this more when we get to season three, but this scene is the beginning of the end for any dignity the show once held.

Also why would ‘I don’t trust anyone’ Cassandra follow a creepy voice calling her name through a doorway inside a magic house that’s tried to kill her twice now?

If you gotta make you character act out of character in order to get your plot rolling than you haven’t a good plot. Think of something else.

What’s the Point of Having Two Names?

They did this both with Sugarbee and Matthews here and it makes zero sense. Why would they need to bother with fake names if the heroes wouldn’t even recognize their real names to begin with? Such revelations add nothing and fails to tell the audience anything new about the characters. It’s also not consistent as it turns out Gothel was a disciple too and she only gets one name, so what gives?

So How Does This All Work Again?

So Zhan Tiri needs ‘a clash of the sundrop and moonstone’ in order to be freed from her prison. Why? I don’t know, but holding Rapunzel prisoner for life actually undermines that plan, and it’s a plan that Zhan Tiri is currently setting up with Cassandra off screen during all of this.

So does Tromus/Matthews just not know that Zhan Tiri is already ‘free’ and has her own plans?

Is Rapunzel’s power being drained what gives Zhan Tiri a foothold in the real world?

Or was Zhan Tiri released back in the Great Tree with the removal of the spear and that’s why she knows to go after Cass?

What was up with the Great Tree and the sealed tree back in Painter’s Block? Did they have any impact on Zhan Tiri’s plans?

Were any of the disciples actually useful at all?

So What Do the Disciples Gain From All This?

Sugarbee, Matthews, and Gothel were all once real people who actually lived so what are their reasons for following Zhan Tiri? What do they gain from going through such complicated plans? Why continue to follow someone after you’ve been dead for centuries and are a ghost now, and were presumably trapped and or killed by Demantius for following her? Real people don’t just hold on to such fanatical devotion without reason.

This Conflict Over Choices Does Not Work Without Varian

Going back to how this episode fails to develop Rapunzel; it wants to have Rapunzel take responsibility for difficult choices, but much like Painters Block, it completely ignores her biggest fuck up thereby undermining why she has trouble with owning up to hard choices.

Rapunzel ruined a child’s life. She may not have meant to but she did, and thus far she has done nothing to make amends for it. She’s not even spared the poor boy a single thought beyond seeing him as the boogeyman in a nightmare once.

You can’t have Rapunzel take responsibility for anything if you won’t hold her accountable for anything.

Varian was meant to appear in this episode, and indeed he should have for the above reason.

But of course Chris had to give us a bullshit excuse for why he cut the most plot important character from the series.

I’ve already spoken about how Varian’s cameo in Happiness Is did nothing to actually further develop Rapunzel nor explore her guilt back in that review. In this episode, however, I want to discuss how hollow the comparisons to Gothel is and why there shouldn’t logically have been any competition between the two.

Varian and Gothel provide two completely different conflicts and two completely different points of development for Rapunzel’s arc. Gothel is the instigator of her conflict with Rapunzel. Rapunzel, as the victim, has only one thing to learn, self esteem. She learned it back in the movie, she relearned it back in the season one, and here she’s re-contextualizing it for this episode’s mini-arc.

Meanwhile Rapunzel is the instigator of her conflict with Varian. She’s the one with the power in their relationship and her choices matter. She doesn’t need to learn agency because she already has it. What she needs to learn is responsibility and she can’t do that without confronting Varian and what she did in some manner. So unlike with Gothel there only new ground to cover here rather than rehashing old conflicts.

Chris Sonnenburg has things all backwards. Rapunzel’s agency/self-esteem issues and her need to take responsibility for her actions are not interchangeable conflicts. Addressing one does not automatically address the other, and of the two her conflict with responsibility holds more weight because it’s ongoing. We haven’t seen the resolvement there. It also affects more people than just herself so the stakes are higher there as well. And to top it all off, it fits with the themes of the episode better.

Also, you very much could have had both characters because they both reflect different conflicts and serve different purposes in the narrative. Time management in television is a very big deal yes, but you have little grounds for defense when all you’ve shown is how poorly you’ve managed your time until now.

In short, Chris is full of shit.

No, It Wouldn’t

We’ve already established that there’s no need for Rapunzel to go on her quest in season two. The black rocks are inactive, there’s no ticking clock she has to beat, and her staying at home would have actually prevented the conflicts in season three.

Unless dream Rapunzel is referring to Zhan Tiri being released, but even that is false because Zhan Tiri is already floating around a little blue ghost girl off screen right now. What Rapunzel choses or chooses not to do does not change that.

Lack of external conflict undermines internal conflict.

Just Cause You Make A Meta Joke About Your Heroes Being Dumb For No Reason, Does Not Make Them Any Less Stupid

Jokingly admitting a fault in your writing doesn’t not excuse that fault. If you can’t have a plot without handing the idiot ball to your characters than you haven’t a good plot. Time to go back to drawing board.

Season Three Will Go Back On This Episode’s Message and Prove the Villian Right

I’ve liget seen fans unironically praise the show for it’s message of ‘be content with what you have’. Not only is that a terrible lesson to teach children; it’s actually the exact opposite of what the show is trying to achieve.

“Be satisfied” is suppose to be the wrong motto. Rapunzel is suppose to be fighting against this message. In the episode itself it’s the villian who is saying such things in order to tempt her to stay put.

So how could anyone look at the show as a whole and come away with idea that the one off villain was right along?

Because season three does a complete 180 away from its original messages regarding agency and responsibility. All consequences disappear from the story and the mains are given convenient scapegoats to distract from their decisions. Characters actively regress and are rewarded by the narrative for either not doing anything or for victim blaming others for their actions.

But most damaging of all is the fact that nearly everyone winds up back where they started out at, or aren’t given a proper ending at all. Tangled’s story is just one giant circle and that in of itself contradicts the idea of progress.

Cassandra’s Hurt Hand Is Only Relevant When The Story Wants Rapunzel to Feel Guilty About Something

Oh but we can just throw Cassandra’s burnt hand in here as a substitute Rapunzel’s guilt over Varian. Even though the two incidents should actually complement one another rather than compete for dominance.

Tangled doesn’t trust its audience to remember things. It acts like if it’s off screen or not being focused upon than it’s not happening or isn’t relevant. This undermines any ongoing or overarching conflicts.

Why should we care about Cassandra’s arm if she’s been shown as being fine with it for four episodes by now? Especially since it’ll never come up again after this point? And on the flip side of things, why should the audience not care about the 15 year old who has been sitting in a dungeon for almost a year now due to Rapunzel’s neglect?

We’re not magpies who are quickly distracted by shiny new things. We are capable of retaining information and informing decisions based off of that. Especially if Chris was shooting for the teen audience as he claims he was.

Oh But We Got Time For Godzilla-Pascal

Can’t spare even half a minute for a Varian cameo that would be relevant, but we sure got time to waste on a pointless action sequence that does nothing to further the character in what is meant to be a character development episode.

This Scene Is Out of Character

That’s not how abuse works!

The whole reason why Gothel was able to keep Rapunzel under her thumb for 18 years because Rapunzel always sought her approval. Never at any point, even when finally choosing to break away from her in the movie, did Rapunzel wish to harm the woman. That goes against who she is as a character and it’s not how abuse victims respond to abusers even after cutting things off with them.

If anything, Rapunzel’s treatment of Frederic in Happiness Is is more in line with how a victim goes about mourning the loss of an abusive relationship. Victims grieve for what might have been. Victims mourn the loss of what good times they had with their abusers, because yes, abusers aren’t abusive 100% of the time 24/7. They can’t be or they risk losing their victim quicker.

I initially was ok with flashbacks to Gothel on occasion because no victim ever makes a completely clean break from their abuser. Even ‘moving on’ isn’t some triumphant singular action when you stand tall while you knock your opponent down in a wish fulfilment fantasy.

No. ‘Moving on’ is slow. It’s understated. It’s routine. It’s about being able to do the dishes without getting triggered. It’s sitting at lunch with friends and being happy and calm without the fear of returning home hanging over your head. It’s not skipping out on work because your anxiety is through the roof over just meeting with your boss. It’s not devolving into a yelling match over something minor because you internalize your abusers behavior.

Abuse victims don’t celebrate violence as strength. We celebrate being an unmovable mountain of clam fortitude. Being in control even as the world rages at us, because we’re self assured.

The fact that this scene exists, while Happiness Is shows Rapunzel behaving the opposite way to the father who abused her the same as Gothel did, only proves that a man shouldn’t have been in charge of this show. Certainly not without a woman by his side giving equal input.

Stop Using Destiny as a Shorthand for Everything!

Destiny isn’t a catch all word that can mean whatever you want it to. Words have definitions for a reason. Destiny isn’t a goal nor does it equate to agency and responsibility; kind of the opposite in fact.

Well That Was Redundant

All we did was rehash Rapunzel’s season one arc in under half in hour. Nothing new was learned. It’s like writers don’t know how to resolve any conflict that isn’t a repeat of the first movie. Meanwhile actual unique conflicts are just sitting off to the side being ignored. All because the show’s creator doesn’t want to hold his precious self insert accountable for anything.

Bye Bye Smart Cass, Hello Dumb Cass

So from this point onward the Cass we’ve known for nearly two seasons is gone. She’s just been replaced by the dumbest bitch on the planet. Because the writers don’t understand how manipulation and trauma actually works. Nor do they comprehend the importance of giving characters actual goals.

Conclusion

Season three is what retroactively spoils this episode. Cass’s dumb decision here, Zhan Tiri’s lack of a coherent plan, the uselessness of the disciples, and even the lack of Varian could have been glossed over had they writers given us a satisfying pay offs for any of the main conflicts. But they didn’t and so here we are.

Also a small update, but after this review and starting next week, the Salt Marathon will go from bi weekly updates to only one a week. This is a combination of real life work getting in the way and the growing length of the reviews. This means we’ll hopefully be done come March, which would mark the show’s anniversary. I got some plans to celebrate if that works out.

#tangled #anti-tangled #anti rapunzel #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tangled the series #varian

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paraclete0407 · 3 years

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That my favorite JLC novel was ‘Call for the Dead’ - a reference for the Black Death

Nora Roberts’ ‘Holding the Dream’ - ‘Project 521′

‘[Japanese word for bouquet] super-cruise

‘Afterburner’ - hands on shoulders

‘Disbelief in math’ - you [stole presence of breast]

‘Why am I so dumb’

Drinking boiling tea on empty stomach till fly, leap weightlessly

‘Mariposa 2016′ - why not be ‘wheeled out’

‘Speak while breathing in’

10.

Oxygen from outside not needed; breathing is crutch

11.

Do backflip; test of will

12.

‘Germantown Lake’

13.

Instant respect University School of Milwaukee

14.

‘UW-Milwaukee (once) respected me’

15.

‘The infliction

16.

‘H3B’ - ‘Mutt Riley’ drug-dealer w/ heart of gold (fake stock character) ‘Malaysian Camille,’ fingers intercostal, ‘Liesl,’ point to books w/ furry boot-toes, ‘I want to kick that cat.’ Some kind of gov’t agency. Girl w/ marmalade hair,

17.

‘Gangster Opera’ - ‘__-ya what _ _ _ _’ - ‘penalty life’

18.

‘Flamenco dance-hall poison gas massacre’ - ‘First Love’

19.

‘The Persian Girl’ - NYC container-ship nuclear terrorism

20.

‘Oxygen Girl and Lithium Boy’ - W. Allen ‘Jupiter Symphony’ - Green R-33 - ‘Yeppeo Harkke’ - ‘I’m not Allen; don’t want to know everything; I groom no one; I expect not to live forever; IDC abt ‘sexual awakening’ + doesn’t need to be taught. Unoriginal sinner, un-special sophistication, ‘nubile’ - well f--- you and praise God f---face

21.

Distributing the apple-baskets to the poor

22.

‘Epipen’ hostess-bar; [fake name spoken by munch-crumple-idiot].

23.

‘The Coalminer’s Wife.’ Rutgers is Pyongyang; Mason Gross School of the Arts is Pyongyang; spiral staircase, why am I so dumb. ‘Poetry-writing is like _ _ but novel-writing is like coal-mining.’ The small room, loom / weave. Sleep in uniform apron / visor. Blindness. Hairband. ‘If you wear this shirt on college 1st day will meet fut. husband.’

Sitting in subterranean culvert, bride, pink silver white, orange light. Kneeling in matte white in coal-hill. ‘The village headman’s daughter.’ Candle. Roman Catholicism implied.

24.

Legalistic, fat on health-foods. Friend is skinny always burning self down, love of pizza. ‘Sungjin.’

25.

‘Minister of the Right’ - ‘Scholar Jin and Lady Periwinkle’

26.

‘Eternal Protector YSS his face was white to blacks black to whites spoke breathing in, racist in immutable divine capacity, picking up valuables from ground even if stolen property =/- smashing store-window to steal. Terrible elephant-trumpet, sinking, PCH will burn me w/ cigarette-tip in Eternity.

27.

‘Sospira’ - mandatory euthanasia for piano-teacher after ‘genius student’ graduates

28.

‘Man is woman and woman is b _ _.’ ‘Women are floors.’

29.

The bird says ‘laoshi.’ The rabbit approaches me; my son. Little kids w/ armored lower legs will crush me.

30.

‘So tired from writing strip-club accounts by hand shoulder fatigue the RU Aryan Nation (inc. blonde Jewesses) easily bent her arm to make it look like suicide.’

31.

‘I caused WW3 due to collective hallucination and/or CCP deepfake; casus belli

32.

‘We’ll give you a five-course meal then f--- you up + also plant bomb in stomach

33.

‘I f---ig TOLD YOU

34.

Mom trusted me with absolute trust-ness as we walked; Jew ‘Take your family _____!’ ‘Carlos Park,’ ‘I HATE Jews; they think they’re the only humans.’ ‘At least we can all agree about Obergefell(?!).’

35.

Why Episcopalians sing about Socrates?

36.

Tell parents, ‘Don’t you know how easy it is to generate deepfakes and say anyone did anything?’ They drove away leaving me outside Best Buy.

37.

‘He’s like the Palestinians.’ ‘I really like you.’ Black boy in pom-pom-hat, tooth-smile, tinfoil.’ My Tibetan bracelet, Diamond Gym Maplewood

38.

‘Meta-wolf.’ Painterly resolution of cinema. Die at piano. Stab self in right thigh.

39.

Looking in to the PC screen 2003 I saw the future; at the very end of the _ _ vid the katana right through her mouth and head / brain / skull. Dads to plan Covid ultra-vengeance. YSS, ‘I killed my sons to _ _ _.’

40.

St. Peter in sky

41.

‘Delight of bread; it befits Man’s dignity... Xi Jinping likes _... delight stomach nursing school, orange sherbert, all ight getting beaten

42.

The Black PhD woman wants me to apply lip-gloss(?!), will not expand on educational philosophy of institution - ‘I blah blah blah Harvard, middle class can’t live within means - Shanghai novel ‘What We Were Not Promised’ - ‘

43.

Guidance counselor you f----- it up - incompetent reprobate self-hypermasculinizing crop-hair Jewess man up Derek Chauvin

43.

‘The neural math Yuki Katakura, mirror neurons, decoupling, cannot ride the vestibule, Matt Chai, “Correspondence and Correlation’ Berkeley CA, ‘Catherine Chai’ emerald dress, McDonalds in the days when seats were fixed outside. Michelle WAi funeral; she played guitar; commanded submarine, assassinated by RPG Arab terrorist. G-36. ‘Fantail.’

44.

‘What’s Myeong Hyeongeso up to?’ - I really love my friend Cunningham whose heartrate spikes probably b/c he knows there’s CCP Yakuza assassins somewhere al the time thinking of murdering him

45.

Daejin McDonald’s one night, I start singing ’Star Spangled Banner.’ Kim Jong Un launches missile arcing over cereal grain fields, I start singing ‘Star Spangled Banner.’

46.

Literally 2015, ‘Trinity of Happiness.’ Later ‘finally enter.’ Gold label lite cigarette, ‘I’m gonna have my day!’

47.

I gave the little kid money + he flipped out; he later tried to freeze himself to death as Texas Bill is manning up worried about magazine cliches, contributions to ROKA(?). Kid quit due to voice but he’s still better than me! Fire all these people, CDF, ‘Charles David Framingham,’ nuke Milwaukee, I don’t trust his data. ‘I had so much sex before marriage’ - just die I read your magazine 3,0000 years ago. I can’t believe anyone wants to be you; my grandfather was B-24 co-pilot, main pilot KIA, landed without landing-training, grapefruit morning, infinite wrist-strength. I smashed up his house but he didn’t get mad, just stutter. Dead-eyed f---face shooting every animal in Texas.

48.

Very much fear of P2 holiness but holiness-shyness even worse than love-shyness even more blasphemous, I sincerely hope he strangles me very soon

49.

The evillest thing I ever thought, the ‘death of deaths,’ Kim Jong Il, what was he thinking? I used to toy with TW-1, say word ‘zombie’ ‘How could you do that?!’ I didn’t liquefy girls’ skeletons or sth; it’s like Schindler’s List soundtrack; I just don’t know words for it. ‘Final Gesture’ - Jesus to Judas ‘friend?’

50.

Iraq War Day trail-running, later cognizance of Noam Chomsky Hiroshima Day. Wanted to say Op. Olympic noble but in retrospect ‘Bells of Nagasaki’ + ‘swamp of Japan.’ My grandfather’s funeral, dad is, ‘We have all drunk from wells we did not dig.’ Chinese chicken eat, nap, I can run all the way up of the hill w/ African chat. I like YooA ‘Bon Voyage,’ check CNS high reps, atrial fibrillation.

51.

SHINEE fangirl ‘Stella(?)’ - noli me tangerine I know that stuff is ‘little stars.’ Awed at my gait ‘If only they had stayed in hot pursuit.’ I wanna believe in all that stuff as well; I am also a dead-ender or last-chancer or last-caller; I admire Mari Iijima, ‘’Uncompromising Innocence.’ ‘Little Heaven’ but that’s Kim Jongilism or I’m worse than Kim Jong Il for thinking about ‘Agents Running in the Field.’ Timothy Keller, ‘I don’t like broccoli.’ I felt it was an innuendo and it made me think of HJ that gave me her number but I didn’t call b/c I’m against prostitution and I felt it’s fake number b/c everything is the Shadowplay. I made stupid lewd stuff for years despite ‘Anointment’ and ‘When To Care’ - ‘toucan, macaw, demi-bra.’ Everyone thinks I’m a rapist but I’m not pressing my case; I don’t mouth-breath; I don’t spit. I read ‘Sentimental Education’ and pre-targeted; I gave up; I wish Gen. McChrystal could be President or GWB 3rd term, conscience of Moon Jaein, ‘Weary Head.’ Thought I was ‘all hard’ for reading Natsume Soseki’s ‘Meian’ with ex-girlfriend’s smile at the end but he as dying then I started seeing kisses + wife-smiles and stuff; what’s Francis Chan up to?, does Mike Pompeo know I am real? I liked 2nd Inuyasha movie, that song was about Mochida Kaori’s unborn niece or nephew, Kinokuniya Edgewater Mitsuwa. The ‘Many Pieces’ live version ended with bass-note - ‘cantus firmus’ - instead of fadeout and wail. Stone Lake NK Mountain morning. Fav. Bible book 2 Timothy - ‘grievous wolves.’ & I used to listen to ‘Arirang’ and hear the Latin, ‘Respondemus’ - my favorite person said that Latin’s ‘quaint’ but it’s the lingua franca of the Roman Empire and that’s the final empire of this world that never went away; but this is a specific era, the great wave Delta and it’s not even the last iteration If I know anything about biological war or Satan. Unironically fall on your face; ten billion jewel-souls tonight and this terrible fire rolling over. I just simply pray for mercy on Milwaukee + somebody suspend their infinity-war-dueling over all the ills of yesterday back to Original Sin nd the Fall of Lucifer. I’m unhappy that I know all this pop-culture; ‘worlds are swaying / someone is praying / please let us come home to stay’ or Kahi’s ‘One Love’ where at the end it uses the word for ‘I’ in the subjective case which is ‘arm confirmed identity’

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reggierightsactivism · 4 years

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4, 18, 22!

Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

I like both these parts from Like A Tough Guy Would:

Sometimes, though, he starts talking again even before he’s aware that it’s happening.

“Hey Munroe,” he starts, catching a rogue black olive and piling it on a stray piece of sausage so he can eat both together. “Now are we even?”

“Hm?”

“You know…” Reggie glances over, sucking some salt and grease off his fingers. You know how I was a dick to you and never really apologized, probably never really intend to either (at least not in so many words), but then you kept quiet for me, and I bought you food at Pop’s and gave you a ride home, and you let me stay the weekend, and I helped you do yard work, and you gave me football tips, and I ordered us all pizza… “Like, in general.”

Munroe shrugs, which is not the answer Reggie was hoping for, but also one that doesn’t surprise him.

“I haven’t been keeping score,” he says. “But I’m good if you’re good.”

“Yeah,” says Reggie with a slow nod. “I’m good.”

“NYU? Right,” laughs Marty derisively. “So you can major in Philosophy and Tap Dance? Or-- Lindy, what was that music class you said they had?”

“Music Therapy.”

”Music Therapy.”

“They’ve got a good--”

“Why don’t you just save us the tuition money and drop out of school now? Go down to the Southside and get fitted for a Serpents jacket so you can spend the rest of your life slinging sugar and blowing homos in parking lots to get your next fix. When did you become such a damn sissy, Reggie?”

Reggie says nothing, wrinkling his nose as his dad shakes his head and shovels more food into his mouth.

“And then answer me this, who’s going to run the dealership after I retire, huh? Maybe I should hire that Munroe kid, since clearly he gives a damn. Does that sound good to you?”

Reggie glowers silently, prodding at his food.

“Well? Does it?” Marty whacks the back of Reggie’s head with his palm. “I’m talking to you.”

“Ow-- no!”

God, he hates it here. The amount of times he’s seriously considered getting into his car and just driving until he gets to New York City is not insignificant.

“You know, when I was your age I had these dreams of moving out west and surfing all along the coast,” Marty goes on. “I didn’t have what you have, Reggie. Your problem is that you have it too good-- I didn’t go west, I invested in my future and built that damn dealership from scratch, you hear me? From the ground up. And do you think your grandfather just stroked my hair and gave me handouts? Hell no. This?”

He gestures around the dining room, but what he means is bigger than just this room; what he means is ‘the dealership, this house, this life.’

“This is all thanks to me and your mother.”

Reggie can’t stand this lecture no matter how many times he hears it. His parents are both assimilated to hell and back, especially his dad, but that never stops them from digging their heels into a good lesson on bootstraps whenever they think Reggie isn’t falling into line fast enough to their liking-- like it isn’t enough he’s already basically resigned himself to a lifetime of selling cars for the family business instead of figuring out his future for himself.

Not that he really knows what he’d do instead, though. Reggie has always told himself, and anyone else who would listen, that he is not going to peak in high school, but all the same he hasn’t given much thought to what his life could or should be like after graduation. He always figured college would help clear that up for him, because growing up in Riverdale makes it hard sometimes to imagine ever actually leaving, or growing out of whatever identity high school creates for you.

Who is Reggie Mantle without football, without Riverdale High, without his reputation in this town and the comfort of his family’s money? He doesn’t really know. If he takes over the family business, he doesn’t ever really need to.

“I don’t need an MBA just to sell some old cars,” he mutters, although he knows he won’t change their minds.

“He thinks he doesn’t need business skills to run a business, Lindy,” Marty quips. “A kid whose only A’s have been in gym class since he was in middle school.”

“Reggie, while you’re grounded I expect you to catch up on your music lessons,” Melinda says, looking at him sharply from across the table. “At least an hour per day. Honestly, when is the last time you’ve even touched your violin?”

“Mom, everyone plays violin! Do you know how basic that’s gonna look on my transcripts?” Reggie has to bite back a more inflammatory version of that comment, but then continues with: “I’d rather play guitar.”

“Everybody plays guitar,” Marty says dismissively, sipping his beer. Melinda makes a hum of agreement. Reggie can only imagine she’s thinking something like, ’Fred Andrews played guitar, and now he’s dead. What do you have to say about that, Reggie?’

Death would probably be preferable to this conversation, but Reggie soldiers on.

“Archie said he’d show me how. He could give me lessons,” Reggie says slowly, chewing a mouthful of noodles. “He has this bass he doesn’t use that I could--”

Neither of his parents are listening anymore. Reggie stops talking and just eats in increasingly sullen silence.

“Oh, some good news,” says Marty after about ten more minutes, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. “I talked to my insurance this afternoon, convinced them to cover at least a third of the repair cost. Maybe more. The guy I tore into on the phone said his higher ups wouldn’t be in until tomorrow.”

He looks at Reggie, who just flinches and nods.

“We’ll stick to half your allowance and every other weekend at the lot. After school I want you focused on improving your football game.”

“Yes sir.” Reggie resists the urge to roll his eyes. Like he doesn’t want to be doing his best out there? Please.

“Great.” Marty looks satisfied. “Good talk.”

Because 1) I just like working in things that canon should have digged into and finding a way to explore them, or even examine their lack of exploration, in an in-character way that helps paint a better picture of the characters and their dynamics. And 2) I weirdly enjoy fleshing out the Mantle family.

Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Yes and no...! I feel like I don’t diverge on my characterization very often, except in whatever minor ways are necessary to serve the differing plots of my stories (e.g. what ship I’m writing, what the character(s) do or don’t still need to work through, etc.) (though I did once receive a very lovely comment about how much my writing had improved between one fic and another), although I definitely have a lot of plot lines I’ve gone in very different directions from what I’d first intended.

WRT Riverdale specifically I just haven’t written enough yet, I think, to have a lot of abandoned ideas of things I’ve actually published in some form, but in the case of When The Morning Comes I’ve already got a lot of competing ideas of how to do certain things, as well as discarded plans. I guess one thing I “abandoned” was a Joaqevin horror fic idea that involved Joaquin being brought back to life, but it’s only abandoned in so much as I decided to just fold it into this fic.

Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Sometimes... I get so nervous about this because I’m so easily embarrassed by my old writing, I’m always afraid I’ll look back and notice how poorly written it is or how I went on and on about something that doesn’t actually fit the story. Which is why before I wrote Everybody’s Lonely I went back and edited out portions of Lightning in a Bottle 😭

✍🏽Ask me meta fic questions ✍🏽

#replies #meta fic ask meme #satelliteinasupernova

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drawlfoy · 5 years

Text

Mirror, Mirror P.3

masterlist request guidelines requests are open! just please be sure to read my guidelines before sending one in :)

pairing: draco x femravenclaw!reader

request: the original idea is all mine, but p.3 has been requested

summary: while on their prefect rounds, y/n runs into both an issue and a mirror that she knows nothing about (but her partner certainly does).

warnings: foul language, light physical violence. i hesitated to write the slap since i don’t believe that anyone should ever hit someone. especially in a romantic relationship. but also this is magic and fictional and this draco is getting on my damned nerves

a/n: fr i’m so flattered that you all wanted a third part, i really am, but oh my GOD this particular draco is being such an intolerable dickwad and not cooperating with anything that i want him to do. thank you for your patience

music recs: i listened to the hp soundtrack while writing this so that’s pretty meta

word count: 1,239

tags! tags! @accio-rogers @geeksareunique

Y/N huffed as she stamped off to find Professor Flitwick, her hair falling loose from her bun as the sharp movements jerked it out of place.

That git that git that git that git that git....

How had he known? Y/N was secretive and so were her friends...as far as she was aware of. Perhaps she had fallen asleep in Potions that day and uttered her undying love for her fantasy Malfoy, but while the Slytherins were cunning and sly, there was no way they all wouldn’t have laughed at her. And she wasn’t even tired, thanks to the Wide-Eye she was permitted to take after her 10-12 shifts.

She was pondering the thought as she neared the end of an unfamiliar hallway, suddenly struck with the realization that while she was deep in concentration, she had missed the turn to Flitwick’s office. The end of the corridor was oddly familiar, though, and when she turned to the left, she knew why.

The mirror she had seen with Draco was right in front of her. If she squinted in the dark, she could make out the letters ERISED on the top, something she committed to memory for her next library visit. But before she could spend too much on her many tricks to memorize a word, a movement in the mirror distracted her.

“Aah! Malfoy!”

He had appeared next to her, gazing into the mirror with a teasing expression on his face. A smirk formed as he closed the distance, resting his chin on top of her head and shutting his eyes contently.

The only problem with the picture was that when Y/N looked to her side, Malfoy was nowhere to be seen. He only existed in the mirror, and it appeared as though her reflection wasn’t a perfect copy as well when she looked closer. Y/N was donning formal ministry robes that only high ranking members of the Ministry wore...the very career path she wanted to follow. She laughed, lacing her fingers through Malfoy’s and squeezing.

Y/N watched, speechless, as the pieces all began to fall into place. Just like the many riddles she had had to solve in the past to enter her common room, the confusion slowly drifted away until she was left, staring right at the answer.

Erised was simply the word Desire reflected. She desired a high ranking career in the Ministry and Draco Malfoy. That was no secret, at least not to her.

But Malfoy knew now. She had confessed to seeing their reflection in the mirror when she was holding onto his sleeve to make him stop. While she thought the claim of it being a regular old mirror innocent enough, she had been dead wrong. And, somehow, he had known what the mirror was.

Now she had to find Professor Flitwick.

“That’s kind of funny,” Rena admitted, dicing her beetroot with practiced precision. “But mortifying. What are you gonna do?”

Y/N sighed, adding her own ingredients to the shared cauldron between them. “I don’t know. I talked to Flitwick, but he refuses to switch us. Something about house unity and maturity. I would push harder, but I want him to choose me as a prefect next year too, so I’ve just got to roll with the punches.”

“So how are you going to act around him? Are you gonna be the same or come clean?”

“Well, he knows now,” Y/N mused. “But I was thinking that instead, I could tell him that he was getting his knickers in a twist about nothing because I went back there and just saw my simple reflection.”

“That’s evil, and you know it.”

“You say that as if he’s not evil.”

“Fair, fair.”

The two worked in silence, finishing up the extra credit assignment in the cold dungeon air. Y/N shivered as she began cleaning up the ingredients and noticed that Rena was yawning profusely.

“Rena, you don’t need to stay. I know you stayed up late studying last night. I’ll take care of it, you hurry up to our dorm and I’ll be there soon with some tea.”

Rena smiled. “You sure? You don’t look too well-rested yourself.”

“Absolutely. You forget that I fell asleep watching you lean over your desk last night. You deserve to sleep a little more.”

“Okay. Love you, Y/N!”

“Love you too.”

Rena skipped off, suddenly revived. Y/N rolled her eyes but smiled after her, gathering up the rest of the ingredients and washing the cauldron.

While she knew that she had done the right thing sending Rena back to their room, she couldn’t help but wish that she hadn’t. The dungeons were creepy at all times of the day, but especially so if it was 11pm and you were alone. Y/N thought that she had heard some suspicious sounds from the corridor but brushed off the notion.

No one’s down here except for the Slytherins, and they’re all holed up in their swanky common room.

Ah, yes, the Slytherins. Y/N cringed at the thought. She was in Malfoy’s territory, something she wasn’t too pleased about. The most disobedient part of her mind wanted to catch a glimpse of Malfoy in his natural habitat, but she knew that that was a bad idea.

Before she knew it, her station was completely clear and it was time for her to depart into the dark and freezing corridor. Gross. She didn’t understand how Rena had managed to look so cheery skipping into a corridor that probably had its own budding rat civilization.

She shut the door quietly behind her, hissing as a water droplet fell on top of her head. The chill as it slipped down her neck caused her to yelp, jumping nearly a foot in the air. In her surprise, she almost didn’t hear the amused snort from the shadows somewhere to her left.

“Who’s there?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Shit. She could recognize that drawl anywhere.

Draco Malfoy stepped into the dim lighting by the torch, wearing his signature silk suit. Does he ever take that off? His hair was annoyingly nice looking considering how late it was, and its silver glow, brought out by the torchlight, made her knees weak.

He cocked his head expectantly, waiting for her scathing comeback. She just stared, her eyes wide and dilated from the dark. What could she say to him?

“I went back to the mirror after our rounds.” The words just tumbled out of her mouth, quick and shaky.

“And?” His mouth quirked and his eyes sparkled.

“And I don’t know why you’re so enchanted by it. I just saw my reflection again.”

He frowned, but she could still see a shadow of amusement dance across his features. “Really, now?”

Y/N was frozen in place, but she so desperately wanted to run away from the situation. “Er...yeah?”

Before another word could come out of his very well-shaped mouth, the frozen spell over her had broken and she was already speeding halfway down the hall.

“Hey! I wasn’t done talking to you!”

Refusing to look back, she turned to the stairs and began jogging up them, praying that he couldn’t hear her feet on the stone as she was literally running away from him.

This was so, so embarrassing. Ravenclaws didn’t run, they remained and outsmarted their opponents with their wit and wisdom. But, for some reason, when it came to Draco Malfoy, all of that went away.

final a/n: so the wait for this one was long and it didn’t even turn out that cool, but i want a lot more time to actually construct the next meeting of them during their rounds, and that should be out soon. i’m sorry for making this one so short!! i’m thinking there will be either 1 long part or 2 more short parts before the end of this is reached. thanks for reading!

#draco #draco malfoy #draco x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #draco imagine #draco x y/n #draco x oc #draco x you #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x oc #draco malfoy x you #slytherin #ravenclaw reader #harry potter imagine

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mousehole5000 · 4 years

Text

tgcf lb part 5 chapters 34 - 42 wow i keep cranking these out

okay i do care about feng xin. cranky but quietly forgiving debts. he was the one who stayed with xie lian in banishment for a while thats interesting

lmao yeah thats for sure. secrets are funny. “dont tell xie lian i want his debt forgiven.” “no problem buddy he wont hear it from me ;)” i imagine this happens a lot. gossip in the heavenly court must be something else.

i think its cool that the officials can transform their appearances including gender presentation i think it would be boring to live for hundreds of years and never mess around with that if you could. not so sure that anything cool is going to happen with it wrt commentary on gender but that sure would be neat. considering how few major female characters are around im not really expecting much but idk its something

if they ever do a live action tgcf i hope they preserve its comedic nature and do it kind of like lingjian mountain with some sort of modern day fourth-wall breaking meta humor. some of the items and mechanisms essentially function as smartphones and i think it would be great if they leaned into how funny that is instead of making it super serious

spoiled rich boy seems to be quite a theme among mxtx characters i know but here with wind master qingxuan its being commented on interesting. i like him tho

the thing about the wind master and ling wen being more powerful when they appear as the gender that mortals worship them as is pretty interesting!! something kind of interesting is happening wrt commentary on gender!! will it continue? we shall see

death becomes her 1992 again this is funny ghost humor is funny more please

corpse bride 2005 GHOST CITY BABY. oh please more weird undead stuff please please i get it i get hua cheng now please

god i hate when im at the market with but my friend gets taken away for a ghost facial and im left all alone to deal with an extremely aggressive ghost prostitute but at least i was raised in abstinence so im chill about it

ADKJLKFJLflkasjf . KLFJASLKFJSLF. LKFJLDKSAFJSLJK. no further comment at this time

actually no i kind of love that as an excuse to get out a situation. love in general that xie lian does not hold others opinions of him that highly love a protagonist who is not too proud. to be fair for 800 years i dont think hes been around anyone whos opinion he would need to care about long term. also i was afraid that hua cheng was going to show up and have to rescue xie lian from the eww nasty dead girl prostitute and im glad that didnt happen

:Oc :Oc ^ thats xie lian and wind master. lang qianqiu was not wrong tho. dont be risking other peoples lives for your business smh

xie lian trying to bet on a low number and rolling high.... sorry beloved but you should have see that coming a mile away

this little dice shaking “teaching” scene is giving me hardcore dafan mountain flashbacks with hualian having a little moment while behind them theres an entire gambling den full of ghosts just watching them like. um. hello? guys? where is the violence?

lang qianqiu jock i think. wind master long suffering friend

that tumblr post thats like “no actually i dont want to fuck busty russian singles in my area” “i do. outta the way gayboy!” but xie lian and me respectively about the ghost city dancers

also love that hua cheng’s idea of pretending not to know xie lian involved personally calling him up to touch his hands for an extended period of time. i mean to be fair it worked but xie lian agrees with me on this so im right

makes sense love it. to be fair if i was a heavenly official i would also come to ghost city to party it up. goth central as rey called it

bandaged boy..... :(

i sincerely hope any adaption would include stuff like this and make it as funny as it is in my head

essentially the equivalent of those little doorknob covers you use to babyproof a house fjadlkfjfasd

hua cheng goth game hard af for having a sentient scimitar that can stare back at you

xie lian closet goth for this one

hua cheng is able to lend out his luck.. interesting. this feels like something that has the potential to end up sad lets see if that happens or not

okay just gonna cut it here. i do like the relationship between hua cheng and xie lian they clearly like each other and find each other funny and interesting and thats nice to see. still not sure what was going on in that first meeting but im guess we’ll find out more and im sure ill have more thoughts as time goes on im not even done with book one

#okay i should take a break #this is like all ive done today other than go to the post office and stare out the window #tgcf liveblog #mouse mumbles

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banditthewriter · 5 years

Text

Electric Love - Billy Russo - 5

I’m sure you all have forgotten about this story, but I wanted to get this posted since I’m going to be without internet. And you guys have been great with me not writing or posting since I’ve been so distracted lately.

Here we are, part 5! I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Smut! Sorta! Yes, this is the smut that I was thinking about when I was with Chaotic Neutral.

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

*gif is mine*

Enjoy!

*****

It looked like headlights, but how could that be? You were in a room, weren't you? It was dark, but there was a wall behind you.

The headlights grew closer, twin circles that seemed to glow white. They got closer until you could see something dark in the middle of each headlight.

Not headlights. Eyes.

Eyes that looked like flashlights and they were looking right at you. As they came closer, you could feel the presence creeping up the back of your neck.

Suddenly he was visible, his pale white eyes stood out as beacons on his pale face. There was a darkness on his forehead where the bullet had entered, but it was mostly healed.

And he was right in front of you. In your fear, you couldn't move. A gloved hand came out towards you, inching closer and closer.

Just as the hand clasped around your throat, you heard your name yelled from behind you in the distance.

"Y/N? Y/N, baby, wake up!"

You snapped out of the nightmare. With yelp, you sat back and away from where Billy had been hesitant to touch you.

Your entire body was sparking. The sheets were singed. And it looked like Billy hand a red blistered mark on his side where you had been resting against him when your powers kicked in.

"I'm so sorry," you cried as you nearly fell from the bed, forcing your hands under your arms to keep from accidentally blowing a hole through the floor.

"I don't care about that," Billy exclaimed as he got out of bed too, coming to stand in front of you. "What was that? It was like you were under attack."

You had been so focused on the fact that you were a danger to Billy that you'd forgotten your dream, but his question brought it screaming back to you.

Those eyes, the wound on his head, the hand around your throat. It'd felt so real. You could still feel the creeping feeling up the back of your neck like you did when the creator was trying to contact you.

"It was just a bad dream," you said as you slumped a little, barely holding yourself together. "I could have killed you over a stupid bad dream."

Billy tugged you into his arms despite your protests. Your powers were still tingling but he didn't flinch. Once you were certain that you weren't hurting him, you wrapped your arms around him as well.

"I don't care about that," he repeated as your hand went to his side where you must have shocked him pretty bad, "I didn't even feel it. I just care about you. That wasn't just a bad dream; your power lit up like you were fighting for your life."

That's what it had felt like. The fear that seeing the creator stirred in you had made you feel, even in your dream, like you were fighting for your life.

"It was about the creator. He was back and was going to kill me."

Billy wrapped his arms around your waist. You tucked your face into his neck and took a deep breath.

"He can't hurt you anymore. He's gone."

------

Frank and Billy had been planning non-stop on how to end Rawlins. You helped when you could, explained more about your powers, but they were the ones that knew him so they were the ones giving the information.

Billy stayed at Anvil a lot, using his contacts there to try to find the man. It seemed that the warehouse was completely empty so they didn't have a starting point.

You couldn't even use your powers to pull information off of the computers because there wasn't any electronic connection to the man.

The CIA wasn't big on paper trails. Even electronic ones.

While the men did their part, you were left to try to hone your powers. Meditation had helped before, so you did that. You also did little exercises to keep your powers in top shape.

Since finding Billy again, your powers had been unpredictable. Sometimes they were dormant around him, other times it was like they wanted to crawl out of you and into him.

And you still didn't understand how you could feel his emotions. It wasn't part of your powers as far as you could tell.

You had picked an abandoned warehouse for your practice. It meant being in an unfamiliar area, but it kept you from attracting attention once you started to light up like a Christmas tree.

Power built up in the pit of your stomach and you willed it through your left foot and into the ground. Then you did your right foot. You focused on each limb and felt the power move through you like water.

A halo of residual energy built up around you as you worked. You could feel it build, grow into something visible and nearly tangible. It was shaped… no, it wasn't possible.

You stepped back to get a better look and sure enough, the energy had formed an almost human figure. It was taller than you, wider in the shoulders.

A noise made you drop your concentration and the halo disappeared. It left sparks and a black circle on the ground, but you paid them no mind. Instead you turned towards the noise.

An inside door pushed open, revealing Gregory. His body was covered in the metallic sheen of his impenetrable power. You felt electricity flicker to life in your finger tips as you stared at him.

"How'd you find me?"

"Clive can still sense all of the metas that are alive," he explained, referencing one of the metas with a powerful mental capability. "He told me where you'd been staying but I didn't believe it. But when he told me you were out here in an abandoned warehouse, I knew it was my chance to talk to you."

Talk. You raised an eyebrow at him. Without much effort, you flicked one finger and watched a spark dart from you and then bounce off his chest without doing more than leaving a mark on his shirt.

"If you wanted to talk, you wouldn't have gotten all dressed up," you said as you looked at his tactical gear.

The kind of stuff both of you wore when you worked for the creator.

"You left me a note."

You had. In the days since you'd broken into his safe house, you wondered if you should have left that note. It was too late to take it back, but it meant he would look for you.

"You owe me. My half of everything we accumulated in our time together."

He pulled on a strap over his chest to reveal a black duffle bag. He unzipped it to show you the contents—and to show that it wasn't booby trapped. Then he threw it to your feet.

You bent down to examine the bag. Money, a few weapons, jewelry and gems. Then you saw the little black box that made you see red.

"You disgust me," you said as you tossed the box at his feet. "I wish I'd never met you."

Gregory bent down and picked up the box, his hands turning it over gingerly before he tucked it into one of his pockets.

"You found him, didn't you? Russo. That's who owns the penthouse."

You stood up and slung the bag over your shoulder.

"Don't say his name," you threatened before you turned to head over to where you left your things. "Billy is twice the man you'll ever be. Five times—a hundred times the man. You don't even deserve to say his name."

Gregory scoffed behind you.

"He's a murderer."

You spun around and pointed a gun at him, aiming for his head. Even at close range, the bullet wouldn't do any damage with his power activated. You rolled your eyes before you put the gun back in the bag.

"And what does that make us, huh?"

------

The black duffle bag was tucked under the edge of Billy's bed. You needed to talk to him about a few things before you could show him what you had.

When he got home that evening, you were a ball of restless energy. If it hadn't been for your control, there would be scorch marks on the floor. Instead you nearly launched yourself at Billy when he walked in the door.

"Well that's a greeting I could get used to," he remarked against your lips as you held on to him.

"You might have to," you joked as you sank back to your feet. "Have a good day dear?"

He laughed as he pulled off his suit jacket, undoing the button at the top and tugging off his tie.

"Work was work. Frankie had an idea for how we might find Rawlins. He's gonna work it with his buddy from the NSA."

You reached out to take his jacket and tie. Your hand touched his and you felt a zap, a little more than usual.

"Shit, sorry," you said quickly as you pulled your hand away, "I'm just a bundle of nerves tonight."

Billy dropped his stuff onto the floor, not caring at all. His hands went to yours and he tugged you closer.

"I've told you before, I don't care about that shit," he promised as he ducked his head down to give you a kiss. "Why are you a bundle of nerves? What's going on?"

You pulled away from him, but kept your hand in his. You guided him over to the couch and sat him down. Then you paced in front of him for a moment.

"A few nights ago during dinner, you wouldn't let me talk to you about something, but now we need to."

Billy leaned forward, his forearms braced against his thighs.

"You have my attention."

You rotated the ring on your finger back and forth as you tried to get the words in order. It felt like you were trying to pull the words out of your own heart.

And your powers were making the lights flicker a bit.

"You gotta calm down before you fry the lights babe, come here," he said as he tugged you down onto the couch with him. "What's going on?"

Finally you took a deep breath and let it out slow. You could do this.

"When I was working for the creator, I was involved with someone. He was another meta."

There was a flicker in Billy's eyes, but he didn't pull away from you. But that flicker didn't lessen at all.

"Involved, huh?"

You glared at him and shook your head.

"Oh and I'm sure you were a monk while I was supposedly dead, right? That's why you're so desperate to get me in the sack, because you've been celibate since I–"

He tugged you to him, his mouth a harsh press against yours. It felt like he was trying to devour you.

"I may not have been celibate, but I wasn't involved with anyone. No one could fill the hole that was left when you died. So I'm allowed to be jealous that while I thought you were dead, you were moving on."

Your heart felt like it was breaking. Carefully you moved so that you were kneeling next to him on the couch, your hands on his jaw to make him look at you. Yes, you could see he was jealous, but there was an ache in his chest as well that you could feel.

Distance. He felt so far from you right now and it hurt. You gently pulled him in for a kiss, soothing the hurt feelings between the two of you.

"I didn't move on from you Billy. I thought I'd never get to see you again or that you would have moved on. I thought I was a danger to you," you added as you traced a hand down his neck, letting him feel your power ripple across his skin.

"Y/N–"

"No, please, I just… I need to tell you all of this."

You stood up but kept one of his hands in yours. The rest of this would be hard to say, but you wanted him to know it was in the past. Needed him to believe that.

"I was involved with him but I didn't love him, not really. His power made his skin impenetrable so I felt like I could touch him without hurting him, but it wasn't love. Not for me."

Gregory had been a lifesaver when your life had been turned upside down. He had been there for you when you needed someone. You felt safe with him, but you never imagined your future with him.

Not like you had Billy.

And you told Billy as much, wanting him to know how you felt.

"You were—are—the only man I could ever want to be with, the one I want to spend my life with." You swallowed thickly and moved to sit beside him. "He tried to give me a ring, to propose that we get married and spend our lives together, but I refused."

It had felt so wrong when you saw the ring in the box. It was beautiful, without a doubt, but the man giving it to you wasn't Billy and it was wrong.

"Things moved pretty quickly after that. Most of the metas wanted to leave the creator and Gregory led the charge, got most of them away from him."

You remembered the night it happened as if it was yesterday. With most of the metas gone, the compound was quiet. The creator hadn't even reacted to learning he had been abandoned by his creations. Instead he'd taken one look at you and told you that he had a job for you.

The pentagon.

"This Gregory guy. That's who you went to see when you were gone for a few days."

It wasn't an accusation, just a statement of fact. You nodded, but then immediately shook your head.

"I didn't go to see him, not technically. I went to get my half of the things we had gotten over our time with the creator. When he left, he took it with him. But he wasn't at his safe house in Jersey and I wasn't able to get into his safe."

You left the living room and grabbed the duffle bag. Then you dropped it on the coffee table, unzipping it and showing him what you had.

"He knew I'd stopped by and brought this to me when I was practicing my powers today."

Billy barely looked at the bag. Instead his eyes moved around your face.

"So he knows how to find you."

You wanted to growl at that. Why couldn't he shake this jealousy? It was obvious that you had made your choice.

"He used another meta to help find me, yeah, but I'm trying to show you that I have–"

He cut you off.

"I can see what you have," he said as he nudged the bag, letting piles of money fall onto the coffee table.

He didn't care about the money or other valuable items you had amassed. You'd go as far as saying he didn't even care about how you had gotten those items, especially since his hands weren't exactly clean.

He was still hung up on your relationship with Gregory.

You could have screamed. You had the power to fry a man where he stood and shut down the electrical grid for the entire east coast, but Billy was worried about a guy you had already admitted to never loving.

"Do you know why Gregory sought me out? He came to me, he started the thing between us, he pursued me. Do you know why? Because the creator told him to."

You moved over and sat down next to Billy, grabbing his hand and making him look at you.

"The creator knew that I was hung up on you and that I'd likely never get over you. He told Gregory to distract me, to seduce me even. And he did it. Sure, his feelings became real, but what did he do when I was unable to return those feelings? He left me alone with the creator and stole the things that I had kept in order to get away."

You would never forgive Gregory for that.

Billy leaned his head in to rest against yours, his hand coming to squeeze the back of your neck.

"You walked around for two years with a ring hanging from a key chain when you believed I was dead," you reminded him emotionally as you held on tight to him.

"I'm sorry; I don't like sharing," he explained as he gave you a kiss.

"Billy, you aren't sharing me. I belong to no one but I chose you." You swung your leg around so that you could straddle his lap. "I'm waiting for us to sleep together because when I'm with you, I want the only sparks flying to be harmless."

You almost burnt down the bed after a nightmare. You were terrified about what could happen if the two of you had sex.

He shook his head as he tugged you closer, his lips finding yours easily.

"I'm not rushing you here, not really. I want to be with you, but I want you to be comfortable. If that means waiting, I'll wait."

You loved Billy so much in that moment. Of course you always loved him, had from almost the moment you met him, but you were learning there was no limit to how he made you feel.

And you wanted to be with him too. You had missed Billy in your time not-dead. You loved being back in his embrace, without a doubt, but you did miss being with him.

Billy rubbed his cheek against yours, his hands settling on your waist. You still sat straddling his lap, your knees tucked against the back of the couch and your hands perched on his shoulders.

You turned your head and brushed your lips against his.

"I want to try something," you mumbled as you straightened your back, your hands folding into fists against his chest. "Hold my hips."

He gave you a look, confusion marked with interest. He lowered his hands to your hips as you had asked and waited for you to explain.

Instead of explaining, you gave a slow roll of your hips, forward and down so that you could drag against his groin. His mouth dropped open a small amount as he realized what you were doing.

"You gonna hump me like we're in high school?"

You laughed as you did it again, feeling his cock twitch in his pants as you did. He swore something under his breath as his hands tightened on your hips.

"It's not much, but it's something," you responded with a breathless laugh as you continued to roll your hips.

It was definitely something. As you moved on top of him, your hands carefully pulled away so that you wouldn't accidentally burn him, Billy began to move his hips as well.

With him thrusting up into you and you rolling your hips down to meet him, you found yourself moaning. He was hard in his pants, the friction and heat of you turning him on more and more. And the way his hard cock felt pressed up so close to where you wanted it—needed it—was making you wet. An ache raised up in the pit of your stomach as you moved against him.

"Billy," you gasped as he moved harder against you.

He nodded to show he knew what you were saying, twisting his hips harder and faster, holding you still as he did most of the work.

Electricity hummed over your skin deliciously. The lights were flickering overhead, the television coming off and on, but you tried to ignore it. Instead you kept moving, your hands up and fisted tight.

It was getting more and more intense, the scent of Billy in your nose and on your skin. He leaned in to kiss you, groaning into your mouth as he got closer to his climax. As your own snuck up on you, your hands shot out in either direction. A shower of sparks erupted from you, but you barely noticed. Billy finished thrusting against you, his head falling back as you felt his cock twitching in his pants.

His arms wrapped around your body and he tugged you forward. You still had sparks running under your skin, but Billy didn't seem to mind. He nuzzled into your neck, pressing kisses there as he did. You sighed as your own hands went to wrap around his neck, tugging him in for a kiss.

"I know it's not the same," you mumbled against his lips, but he shook his head and silenced you with a kiss that stole your breath.

"I love you."

You pressed your forehead into his shoulder and let out a little laugh, hoping your eyes would be dry when you leaned back.

"I love you too."

After a few moments of rest and snuggling, you got off of Billy's lap and flopped onto the couch next to him. He got up and rearranged himself in his pants, making a face as he did so.

"I'm gonna clean up," he said as he shifted his hips, heading towards the bathroom.

You needed to as well, the dampness between your legs making you feel good but also gross. You'd let him finish up in there and then clean yourself up as well.

When you stood up to go get some clean underwear, you remembered the little light show you had put on when your orgasm hit you. The two of you obviously didn't feel the sparks, but you needed to make sure you didn't burn anything.

There didn't seem to be any scorch marks, nothing fried. None of the nearby electronics looked ruined either. Even after that impressive showing, there was nothing damaged?

Maybe you could trust yourself not to hurt Billy after all. Whatever it was in you that protected him from your powers, maybe it would continue to protect him.

You didn't want to take the risk, not yet, but it was something to think about at least.

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#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #billy russo fanfic #my writing #electric love

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charlottedabookworm · 5 years

Note

lols, I kno I've sent in a bunch of these, so feel free to opt out if you're not interested. How about a fix-it Doctor Who crossover for FFXV? Teen Noctis and Prompto end up being Companions to The Doctor (I'm partial to 13, 9, and 10 but it's up to you) and somehow, this saves everything.

1) Prompto actually meets the Doctor first, when he’s 10.

(Prompto first meets the Doctor when he’s just a few months old, when a blonde wearing rainbows happens to run past a man carrying a baby in a lab.

The lab blows up.

Surprise)

He’s maybe somewhere he shouldn’t be, camera in hand and glasses perched on his nose, when he walks into the weirdest fight ever.

(That guy was a fish)

And, just as he freezes, thinking he’s about to die, a man in a trench-coat sweeps in - a redhead a half step behind him, already yelling at literally everyone - and breaks it up easily, even if it takes a couple hours. Prompto is amazed.

The red-head - Donna, my name is Donna - sits with him while everyone else argues (occasionally yelling at the trench-coat guy) and walks him home and makes sure he’s got food and that’s he’s okay (and maybe she has some words for his parents who aren’t home again but he mostly ignores that because she’s so cool) and then they sweep out of his life.

(Or not.

The first letter comes days later, dropped in the letterbox with Donna’s signature scrawled on the back and Prompto feels so warm he could burst)

(The letters last for a couple years, telling him about dangerous exciting adventures and her idiot best friend and giving him tips with people and getting things done around the house and…

and then, one day, suddenly, they stop)

(He’s pretty sure he knows why)

2) Still, for all he’s met the Doctor, Prompto has never really seen the TARDIS.

Which is how he and Noct end up accidentally inside when on the run from a couple kidnappers.

The TARDIS promptly takes off. The bloke in a leather jacket demands to know where they came from.

Prom and Noct just stare.

(Best. Kidnapping. Ever)

3) So- the thing is.

The TARDIS? Still a little damaged by the Time War. And by ‘a little’, there’s a lot of damage, and a rather large dearth of spare parts.

And Eos? Not easy to get to.

The Doctor has no idea how the TARDIS got through the energy barrier surrounding the planet in the first place but she does not want to go back.

Which- considering that the Prince of Lucis is currently staring at him in horror - is not the best thing.

Noctis looks a lot less worried and a lot more confused when he reassures them that he will be able to get them back, and at the same moment they left, it just might take a while.

Prompto just nods.

(He’s already figured out that this isn’t the Doctor he knew. But Donna had told him a lot about Time Lords and the TARDIS and the Doctor - he’s realised, as he grew up, that maybe she just wanted someone to talk to about it all - and he definitely recognises the name Rose so)

4) Prom is bouncy and Noct is calmer but they both fall in love with the TARDIS so easily and they love the adventure and the travelling and meeting new people and it’s amazing.

Their enthusiasm helps a Doctor who is struggling so much to see any joy in the universe. They bring life to the TARDIS and the sound of their laughter intertwined with Rose’s (and with Jack’s) fills him with something almost like happiness

And the boys- they’ve grown up in the Crown City of a country in a century old war.

They might be young, might be fairly sheltered from the worst of it, but they’ve spent more than enough time around war veterans

They don’t push, on the days the Doctor can’t handle it, and they distract Rose and it helps

5) Eventually, almost 6 months after they were ‘kidnapped’, the TARDIS is well enough to take them home.

They almost don’t want to leave.

They do anyway.

The Doctor lands exactly where they’d entered, at that exact moment, and they say their goodbyes - get the hugs and the phones in their back pockets and the promises to pop back sometime and they leave with bags that are expanded far beyond what they probably should be (but the Doctor knows things and he will not leave these children with nothing)

Nobody noticed they were gone.

Technically they weren’t.

6) Noctis lays Gladio flat with a move he picked up from an archaeologist he met on one of their trips

Prompto’s flirting now makes people blush like crazy, nobody knows how he’s suddenly so smooth

Jack is proud

7) Nobody understands the sudden banana obsession

8) Prophecies are one thing

Fixed points in time are another

It isn’t hard, to figure out what being The Chosen King means

But 6 months travelling all of time and space makes someone a lot less likely to bow down to fate

(If it’s Fixed, you’ll die anyway, Prompto whispers to him fiercely when it looks like he’s about to give in to it all, but we’re going to make sure you live)

9) The thing is- by the time they hit 20 (or so their birthdays say) they’ve seen more than one peace treaties. The Doctor has a habit of ending wars and, sometimes, he’ll stick around for the treaties and even the parties

So they know what they look like

They also know what a trap looks like

Noctis refuses to leave the Citadel, Prompto by his side

and, well, everybody’s rather thankful later

10) The square gun (totally not stolen from Jack) in Prompto’s hands takes a nice square out of Glauca

Might have taken a lot of tinkering to get around the safeties but totally worth it

11) when a phone box that appears between Aldercapt and his father it doesn’t surprise Noctis

he can’t say the same about the rest of the room

and he might not recognise the face that pokes out of the TARDIS with a grin but he knows the Doctor and the time lord still feels the same

Prompto waves cheerfully, bouncing on his toes like he hasn’t just taken out Niflheim’s best General in a single shot

Six, Noct loves his best friend

then a woman steps out behind the Doctor and Noctis grins

“River!”

(The archaeologist winks. and promptly threatens the Emperor. very bloodily. the Doctor looks very smitten. and also very confused about how they know each other.

if he wanted to know he shouldn’t have lost him in that jungle, Noctis thinks, still feeling a little spiteful)

12) Everything gets wrapped up pretty quickly after that - at least with the empire

and then the Doctor runs into a man who is almost a fixed point but not (like Jack but artificial, not of time like he is, and oh, oops, do the boys know about Jack? spoiler alert, they do, they aren’t happy but Jack said he’d already punched him so) but this one he can fix

it isn’t hard to just reach out and tweak

there’s a reason his kind were called Time Lords after all

Ardyn disappears, still angry, still vengeful, but mortal

the Doctor leaves not long after

River promises to visit and the boys grin

everyone with any sort of common sense fears everything

13) A few months later, when they call him up again because they need someone to yell at a giant lizard about making people immortal against their will and trying to get teenagers to sacrifice themselves, the Doctor who appears is grey haired and grumpy

Prompto hugs him, just because

The Doctor flails

Bill - who introduces herself while the Doctor is flailing and is around their age - is brilliant and they exchange stories while the Doctor gets all Scottish-Grumpy and Value-of-Life and Oncoming-Storm on Bahamut and the dark-haired evilish one - Missy, Bill calls her - rolls her eyes and Nardole does

-something. He does something. He maybe goes and makes a cuppa tea

It’s great, reminds the boys of exactly what they missed about being 15 and travelling with the Doctor

(for everyone else, it’s a dawning realisation about why Noctis and Prompto are so good at dealing with chaos in general)

and then they totally dart off for another trip, just a short one dad we’ll be back for dinner!

Prompto asks this Doctor, who knows him, who recognises him from both times, about Donna, that night in the console room, and it’s not what he thought - she’s not dead - but she doesn't remember anything and he just

he cries

so does the Doctor

(later, Noctis decides to test if potions could help with the whole, meta crisis thing. because Prompto is sad

they do. because i say so

Donna gives Prompto the best hugs)

#ahahahaha #aniseandspearmint #i have no idea what happened here #ask #ask meme #5+ headcanon meme #ffxv #doctor who #crossover #this got so long sorry #also i had to work 12 into there cos he's my favourite doctor sorry

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tigereyes45 · 4 years

Text

Delta!Grif AU

Working on an AU where Grif somehow ends up with Delta. Here is a little snippet of what I have so far:

“I can not allow you to abandon Private Caboose.” “Oh yeah?” “Sorry allow me to clarify, Seargent Grif. I will not abandon Private Caboose.” Grif rolls his eyes. “Of all the times for you to be stubborn, you had to pick the worst.” “He reminds me of someone. If we leave his chances of dying increase by 89%. I would not feel right leaving him.” “And you say you aren’t human. Fine. Let’s go save him.” ____________________________

Grif stands with the knifle aimed at the Meta. His black and yellow armor was off-putting, but he wasn’t the only one that had multiple components. The yellow shield dome blinks as another round of bullets bounce against it. They fly away back towards the monster trying to kill them. Grif risks looking away from their enemy. His blood pumps louder in his ears, reminding him of the danger. This simple act of looking back at Caboose could be the one that kills him. All his attention had to be on the fight and maintaining the dome, or else they were done for. Internally Grif rationalizes that he would be able to remain calmer if he knew just how badly Caboose was injured. He was lying on his side, hunched over on to his hands. His helmet had fallen off and rolled over to the edge of the dome. Dirt and blood cover the golden-orange tinted visor lense. The blue soldier was looking at Grif with a mix of awe and excitement in his eyes. Somehow he was able to smile despite almost dying. The orange soldier looks away with a new feeling in his chest. It was how he felt when he dove into the pond by their house to save his little sister all those years ago. Delta was right, they couldn’t leave Caboose behind. “Your healing is at max capacity. Any more shots and it will be more difficult for you to recover.” “No worries Delta. I got this.” “The shield will collapse in three minutes.”

“That would be smart .” As Delta flicks away Grif could still hear him talking just behind his back. The AI’s tone had shifted. From his typical annoyed, reading to sass back at any moment, he was talking softly. Taking time to check up on and answer all of Caboose’s questions. Half the time he didn’t even bother trying to answer Grif’s. The green AI always claims it’s because Grif already understands. Then the questions about why he pretends to be incompetent and simple-minded start and it’s like Grif was talking to his first sergeant all over again. People already expect so much, and it had taken years for Grif to destroy those expectations. Delta on the other hand, well it was somehow harder to convince an AI stuck in his head. “Give up!” “Hah! If I was allowed to I would have hours ago. This fight wasn’t really my idea.” Grif barks back. The Meta growls and for a moment Grif couldn’t tell Sigma from David. How the Hell was this Washington? The former freelancer jumps into the air right at them. Grif drops his gun behind his feet and holds his arms out. Forcing all of his body and mind to focus every ounce of his attention on running the fucking dome. He could feel it give under Wash’s weight for a moment. The mirroring spot of his head erupted in a volcanic like an explosion of pain. The feeling quickly spreads all over causing his body to shake under the weight. Grif looks up to see he was now sliding down the dome. That didn’t stop him from punching at it as much as he could before falling off. Digging his feet into the sandy stone, Grif pushes his hands back out. Alarms and red flags bing throughout his helmet as Grif pushes the dome out further. It was draining his suit to quickly. Pushing it out would only increase the speed of depletion. Delta’s voice rings out louder than the rest of the noise. It was little more than just another part of the background to Grif though. “Grif if you continue on like this you’ll lose the dome before Private Caboose is ready to run.” “I’ve,” he pants before taking another step. “I’ve got to push him away Delta. Just a few feet more.” “I would not recommend this course of action.” “Fuck,” his chest felt like it was caving in on itself, “off.” His left leg gives out from under him as a bullet makes it past the left edge of the dome. Wash pauses and Grif can picture the fucked up smile that must be there under that helmet. He imagines it was almost identical to the one he wore when he held Simmons at gunpoint. “Thirty seconds left.” “Caboose can you move yet?” Somehow he was still able to shout. His throat was sore, and his body was slowly quitting on him, but as long as Caboose heard then nothing else mattered. They would get out of this. Wash holds out a hand towards the shield. He takes a step back just out of it’s every slowly growing reach. With a pose that spoke volumes about his confidence, he holds one finger out and flicks the dome. It shatters into a million little pieces of reflected light. Somehow the power behind such a small move was enough to push Grif back. He falls off his collapsed knee onto his ass. Wash strides over to him and draws out his small arm, pistol. He holds it towards Grif’s head while holding his other hand out welcomingly. The smile on his face could be heard all over his sickeningly arrogant voice. “Delta. I know someone who’s been dying to see you again. Why don’t you come out Theta?” Grif looks up to see a purple and pink glow appear next to Delta. His form was smaller then he remembers. It also seemed to shake more. Was he struggling to keep it up? Why? “Delta! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” “Theta?” There was an emotion he had never heard in Delta’s voice before. It causes his audio to shake somewhat, under the rest. Was it fear? Surprise? “Come with us Delta. We’re going to find Alpha.” Grif holds his tongue as Delta looks down at him. There was plenty of bad blood between the two of them. Delta never let Grif relax, and Grif hardly ever listened to his advice. The Alpha was a goal the two often discussed, hardly ever at length. It was something Delta wanted to do. Not Grif. “I-i-” “Delta? Are you alright?” As Theta reaches out towards his counterpart Wash pushes the gun closer to Grif’s head. Enough that this time it actually pushes down against the top of his helmet. If he was faster Grif would knock the gun right out of his hand and, ‘I can not go with them.’ Grif blinks a few times before realizing Delta was talking privately to him again. ‘No shit, but I’m not seeing another way out of this Delta. Either they kill me and take you, or they take you and maybe let Caboose and I live.’ ‘Agent Wash- I mean the Meta will kill you either way. He has not shown a history of mercy.’ “I must admit that it surprised me how long you managed to evade us Grif. I seem to remember you barely able to finish a lap, let alone remain hidden so well for so long.” “What can I say, being lazy has its perks.” Grif quips back slowly moving his hand back behind him. If he could just get to his knifle. It had only fallen just behind him. A quick grab and a quicker finger then- “Come on Delta!” Theta urges again now taking Delta’s hand inside his own. ‘This is not the Theta I knew Grif.’ ‘That’s not Wash either.’ ‘I know.’ ‘What’s the plan Delta?’ ‘Caboose should be able to move now. It may be best to have him run before initiating a transfer of power.’ ‘So you’ll leave me for dead? Figures.’ ‘I do not want to.’ ‘You’re an AI. You aren’t supposed to want anything. Don’t worry Delta. I understand. Can you power up the dome for a few more seconds? One more time?’ ‘Possibly. I see so that’s your plan.’ ‘Cut the healing. I just need the dome. Stay with me for a little bit longer, alright?’ ‘If you say so. It was a pleasure working with you Grif for as short a time as it was.’ ‘Some times more than others Delta.’ Grif grabs his gun and waits. The moment he sees the dome begin to apparate into place again he pushes himself up. Headbutting the bottom of Wash’s gun the pistol goes flying from the force of the dome and his head. Theta was gone as Grif shoots at Wash a couple of times through the holes within the dome. “Take that you ass! Caboose, run!” He turns around to run away. Caboose was already on his feet but he looks confused. Gazing back and forth between Grif and Washington. Damn, why was he so dense sometimes? Grif fires a few more shots behind himself as he pushes Caboose ahead with his other hand. Delta strategically chooses a few well-placed pieces of the dome, reflecting bullets back at the freelancer. The man let out an inhuman grow before switching weapons. Grif pushes Caboose to run faster as Delta summons multiple panels to cover them.

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thelastarchangelaskblog · 4 years

Text

Session 16

This is our most recent session! Our DM ( @the-grey-hunt) titled it “Oh Boy Guys” in her session notes after we were done, which goes to show just what...uh...happened.

A lot. An...unexpected amount. Including something our DM didn’t expect to happen for another three plot points but I don’t know what she was expecting with that curve ball she threw at us. (Her status on Discord is now back to RECALCULATING.)

Anyway, our entire party was present but for @imagine1117, which was a bit...unfortunate.

So what happened anyway?

(Read more.)

It’s still raining outside, and we’re no longer in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters and have never been in Ankh before but really do need somewhere to stay.

@heliocentricgeometric: I'm thinking about what this anxious weirdo would do.

Tony just asks a random gnome where an inn is that they can stay at, and they’re directed to a nice boarding house that has 3 rooms we split between the six of us. Once we’re dried off, we reconvene in one room to discuss S.H.I.E.L.D.

Zira is adamant that she’s joining but no one else has to. Rhodey ( @rebaobsessions) is just as adamant that she’s not going to join it alone and DJ (doxblogsstuff) agrees.

But what about Tony? He’s not a fan of joining a shady organization, although he doesn’t specifically list his reasons for why. He does state he’s willing to ally with them as an independent contractor.

Tony: I'm not going off by myself.

Rhodey: Good.

DJ has doubts about this plan, since he doesn’t think Fury will agree to an independent contractor role.

DJ: Cranky Pants made it sound like it was a black-and-white choice. I don't know if he's been paying attention, but there's a lot of grey out there.

Tony: Shady organizations that think in black-and-white aren’t organizations I want to join.

Bob ( @thechaoticwave) hasn’t agreed to joining either! He states he needs more information and just left with more questions after talking to Fury and getting some answers.

There’s a meta joke among us about the fact that Bob occasionally also has the name Tony and he and Tony can make a detective club. Zira suggests Tony become a detective and the joke spirals from there.

DM: Tony & Tony Private Detectives

thechaoticwave: Tony-squared.

Dox: T-squared. Their calling card is a t-square nailed to the door.

Back in game, Tony is stating his own decision shouldn’t affect anyone else’s, but Rhodey doesn’t want to leave him alone.

Rhodey: You’re not going anywhere without me by your side.

Tony: I’m not asking you for that.

Rhodey: You don’t get to ask or not ask me that— It’s already given, Tony. It’s already given.

(MY HEART, GUYS)

The conversation doesn’t really have a resolution since Bob still needs more info and Tony is resolutely not joining S.H.I.E.L.D. We wait for the rain to stop before heading down and do some errands.

DJ wants to visit the store his relatives have here since it’s an Artificing store. He invites Tony since it’ll be cool for Tony to check out. Tony agrees to come along but will have to leave for his own errands.

DJ asks the head of the inn where his relatives’ store is, actually using their name. He tries being stealthy but it’s not quiet enough to get past our groups’ passive perception.

There are...reactions among the players.

DJ last name reveal.

inu: wait WHAT WAS THAT

Everyone else: JAMJAR

There are Jar Jar Binks gifs going around in the lurking chat, and Tony in-game is going what very, very quietly.

In the meantime, Zira is interested in why DJ is wanting to go shopping and what is this about holidays?

Zira: We need to jump back. We need to jump way back. What holiday?

An explanation later that involves the practice of gift giving.

Zira: Does this mean I should be getting gifts for you? I don't even know what you like! I mean...explosions?

Some other folks are like...I don’t know if I can find a good gift since I’m terrible in real life. (coughrebacough)

inu (in lurking chat): Now I have an idea for DJ's gift.

Everyone else in voice chat: Oh no.

We do eventually find our way to JamJar Jar Jar Artificers.

The proprietors: Welcome to Jamjar Artificers ...Have I met you before?

DJ, their relative: I'm Junior.

Madi and Mani are the twin proprietors of a store that sells absolutely nothing made by actual artificers. Tony is familiar with almost everything in the store and is an actual artificer. The stores’ contents are also super expensive and we don’t have the funds because our DM hasn’t provided us with a ton of loot drops...

Zira: Being hunted for sport actually doesn't pay very well.

DJ: I could have used a little more gold and a little less near death experiences.

Madi and Mani would really like DJ to buy this cat figurine that has been in their store for absolutely ages. (Please guess which cats this figurine is modeled after. Please.) It’s still 75 gp but they’re willing to knock down the price!

After some more exploring, Tony eventually gives DJ everyone else’s money bags and leaves on his own errands.

He manages to find his way back down to the first floor, upon which he...senses a little something...a little something familiar.

It’s Balthazar.

Balthazar is here.

Balthazar is physically here.

He’s here and painting a mural on the wall!!

Tony has absolutely no idea what to do, but he’s too curious for his own good to just leave without acknowledging his brother in some way. It’s been two years since he’s last seen him in person!

Tony says something nice about Balthazar’s painting, getting his attention. Balthazar turns to him, presumably about to say something nice,

There’s a moment, and then Balthazar sees the signet ring Tony has.

Balthazar: What’s that ring you're wearing?

Tony looks down at this ring he has always worn and never even considered.

Tony (to himself): Oh shit.

Balthazar tries some kind of spell but Tony aces the wisdom save.

Balthazar keeps asking where Tony got the ring from. Tony is absolutely truthful that it’s his ring and he stole it off a table and not any fingers. Balthazar is incredibly doubtful and suspicious of this because his brother would never let go of that ring and why does Tony have it

I want it to be known that everyone in the lurking chat is losing their minds over Balthazar being physically present and ALL OF THEM IN A STORE AND NOT PRESENT.

Bob ends up leaving because he’s uninterested in what the rest of the party is doing. Zira follows after him.

thechaoticwave rolls a Nat 20 on perception.

DM: Bob, you go up to the balcony, look down, and see this dude about to throw hands with Tony.

Bob flies down, and Zira is right on his heels to see what’s up and is like HEY, WHAT’S GOING ON. This gets everyone else’s attention, and soon they’re all trying to find their way down to the first floor.

Bob interjects himself smack in the middle before Balthazar can throw any punches. His presence is enough for Balthazar to back off a little, but he’s still insistent on the ring being his brother’s (Gabriel) and why does Tony have it?

Bob makes the offhand suggestion that maybe Tony’s his brother! :D

The rest of the group sprints to Tony’s defense, and Balthazar is now faced down by a 6′6″ tall aasimar with sharp teeth, Rhodey who has a ton of weapons, a bird, JARVIS, and a halfling. (Luna is off to parts unknown.)

Rhodey asks Tony if he knows what’s going on here. Tony just nods because anything else would be a lie, wouldn’t it?

Balthazar is now amenable to moving this conversation somewhere more private because Tony isn’t having this discussion here.

They go into a side alley. Balthazar reiterates that the only reason his brother wouldn’t have this ring would be if he was dead.

Tony: He’s not dead.

Balthazar: And how do you know that?!

Tony: Because...he’s me.

There’s...a stunned pause. Helio is accidentally ejected from voice chat while Bob is trying to give Zira a high-five.

And then Balthazar is instantly in denial because how???

Zira: Well, is he your brother then?

Balthazar: NO!

Balthazar is insistent he’d know if Tony was his brother. He’s spent enough time with his siblings to know them! And Tony doesn’t look like any of them!!

This means...is Tony under a disguise??

Helio: 465 is now in the front y’all!

reba: Oh, NO

465 is mad. She is so mad, guys. She demands to know what Tony’s real name is. If that’s even his actual face!!

Tony doesn’t answer, just says they need to go somewhere private if he’s going to do this. Balthazar leads them to his place because he doesn’t want to be led somewhere unfamiliar.

Tony takes off the amulet, and it’s Gabriel.

Helio: Can we pause for a second

DM: Yeah, let loose.

(three to four simultaneous meltdowns)

Balthazar is having emotions. Gabriel is having emotions. Everyone else in the party is just probably in varying stages of wtf-ery and 465 is apparently startled enough and Zira startled enough that Zee is back in the driver’s seat because 465 and Zira are now fighting.

Zee: Mr. Tony... Gabriel. Mr. Tony-Gabriel.

Balthazar eventually tells everyone to make themselves comfortable. He’s found solace in a chair himself.

thechaoticwave: Bob just flops down as soon as he says make yourself comfortable.

DM: Like, on your stomach?

thechaoticwave: Yeah.

Zee is super talkative and introducing herself and the Zira collective to Balthazar. DJ puts a hand over her mouth. He’s wearing the gauntlets of ogre strength and I think Zee licks it?

DM: It tastes like metal and dead people. The dead person is mostly on the inside.

Balthazar swears a little as Gabriel talks; he doesn’t like what he’s hearing.

Zee: That was a bad word. Also is your shirt broken?

Balthazar: No. I'm hot.

Zee: Why don't you take it off?

DJ: Zee, darling, Mr. Balthazar looks a little stressed out right now. Why don't we not critique his clothing choices right now?

Balthazar: If you’re going to call me Mister, use my last name Quill.

Gabriel keeps telling Balthazar about what happened back home. That he left because he if he hadn’t then he probably would have gotten himself killed. And he’s going after the ones who left to join the Horned Crown.

Balthazar looks like he doesn’t want to hear this and doesn’t know whether to believe this. He’s curled in on himself in the chair.

Gabriel eventually reaches out, but something he says upsets Balthazar and he withdraws. Gabriel doesn’t try again.

Gabriel tells Balthazar they’ll leave and are heading to their boarding house. Balthazar can find him there and bring Hannah if he wants.

Balthazar snidely asks if he’s going to skip town. Gabriel glances over to the group and Rhodey and DJ are very adamant on going LIKE HELL with their eyebrows.

Gabriel puts the amulet back on and leaves before anyone else does. Rhodey eventually follows after, leaving Zira, Bob, and DJ to follow.

Rhodey tries to touch Gabriel’s shoulder, but Gabriel actually flinches and puts space between them. Rhodey doesn’t try again.

They end up back in the boarding house. Rhodey and Gabriel are in the room they share. Rhodey lets him know he can take time to think and Rhodey’s here if Gabriel wants to talk. And that he still trusts him and loves him.

There isn’t a verbal response from Gabriel, but he does nod.

Rhodey rolls a Nat 1 on insight against Gabriel’s 19 (17?) for deception. It’s...uh...bad.

Rhodey leaves the room, closes the door, and starts crying against it because he thinks something really awful, guys.

I’m just going ahhhh in the voice chat because owwww

DM to inu: This is your bed that you made and you're going to lie in it.

Zee and DJ find Rhodey crying against the door. Zee is instantly jumping to comfort and gives Rhodey a hug.

reba: Helio, your characters are too perfect and you have three of them.

DJ shoves Rhodey aside while he’s hugging Zee. Zee and Rhodey head downstairs for some water while DJ goes to talk to Gabriel.

DJ: Oh my god, you are so fucking DUMB

Gabriel doesn’t respond to anything. DJ accidentally injures him on trying to pull his hands away from his face because he rolled a Nat 1 and so the gauntlets catch on Gabriel’s skin. He’s rubbing at the wounds angrily but still kindly and is telling Gabriel to go talk to Rhodey because he was crying.

Gabriel: You’re a good kid.

DJ: I’m an adult.

Gabriel: A good kid.

Gabriel goes downstairs, but Rhodey and Zee are sitting together and drinking some water. Zee has managed to cheer Rhodey up some, and Gabriel doesn’t want to bother them.

Zee catches sight of him and waves him over. Rhodey catches sight and raises a hand. Gabriel makes to go to a corner table and Rhodey droops.

Only DJ is there and keeps poking Gabriel in the back, but JARVIS headbutts him because that’s just rude and stop poking Gabriel! DJ hauls Gabriel off to Rhodey and Zee because he’s not leaving them to not talk about this!!

DJ: Zee, sweetheart, let's go over and talk to Neil and Luna, who is invisible. Because Rhodey and Tony need to have a conversation like two adults.

Gabriel sits down but has a chair of space between them. Neither of them speaks.

inu: Two guys at a table sitting in awkward silence.

DM: Two bros sitting in a hot tub.

Rhodey gathers his thoughts and eventually tells Gabriel he’s still there for him.

Rhodey: I still trust you. I still love you

Gabriel: You don’t know me.

Rhodey: Are you going to say that, after all we've done? That it’s all a lie?

Gabriel: ...no.

Gabriel tells Rhodey it was a mask. Rhodey doesn’t like hearing this. He wants to know if everything about them was a lie. If anything was real.

Gabriel tells him a little about leaving and that none of this was intended. That he made attachments he never intended to make but he’s made them.

Gabriel: I don’t want to leave.

Rhodey: And I definitely don’t want you to go.

Gabriel: Then...I guess we can try.

(There is a part where Rhodey says he loves part of Gabriel already. Can’t he love the rest? my heart)

Rhodey reaches out a hand, and Gabriel gives it a look before grabbing hold of it. He’s holding it pretty tightly, and Rhodey’s squeezing back just as hard.

And that’s where we end the session!!!

see, so much happened

#d&d campaign #imagine1117 #doxblogsstuff #thechaoticwave #the-grey-hunt #rebaobsessions #heliocentricgeometric

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madokasoratsugu · 5 years

Text

meta on what happens to each character post ‘moonlight is but reflected sun’ . this is as close as it’s gonna get for an actual epilogue to the fic, i hope you enjoy! as usual, read on ao3 if possible for formatting - bullet points aren’t too bad for this meta, but i personally think the ao3 version’s format might flow better.

read on ao3

Fritz still doesn't get along with most of Marchen for the rest of the rebellion (overthrowing Hildyr, taking back the castle and rescuing Genaro). an enemy of an enemy is a friend, but knowing he nearly killed at least two people present is. hard to get over instantly. Fritz understands, Lucette doesn’t. Fritz jokes about how Lucette may run off again because of this, covers his mouth and looks the most surprised by his own words. he is more like the wolf than he’s starting to realise. maybe this is a good thing.

Parfait and Delora are the ones who accept Fritz the fastest. Parfait does so the moment he steps into Marchen, Delora the moment he steps out toward the castle. there is a special kind of courage to be recognised (and feared) in a man who willingly throws himself back into the jaws of death just to get the truth from the one he loves, the very one who condemned him

“You’ve done well.” Parfait tells him, soft like no parent has spoken to him in years. “You’ve had courage, and kindness. Not many would have had that strength. Thank you.” Parfait never says a name. she knows that that is not important. and then she hugs him, and hugs him tighter as he lets out an aching sob into her chest.

Parfair still dies to stop Hildyr, magic is still lost. but with Mythros' influence over Varg gone, Delora lives. the gate scene pretty much never happens; once Hildyr flings the first spell at Lucette, Delora has thrown her shield up, thrown herself in the role of Lucette’s mother, and she’s not fucking budging. no one is taking another child from her again.

Alcaster is long dead at the hands of Hildyr by the time they storm the castle. Mythros is caught for questioning, but escapes during the post-revolution chaos/celebration. Fritz never gets his answers this time, either. maybe it’s better this way. Fritz certainly doesn’t think so.

a rescue for Lucette was attempted, but quickly aborted when Lucette was found missing. two is enough to cover each other's sixes, so Garlan doesn't die. but he does get severely injured, especially at the knee that puts an end to his career as a knight. its ok though, because as Karma puts it: "He can start a new career as Jurien's house husband instead". and he does. as well as become one of Lucette's newest minister of defense.

Fritz becomes Prince Consort cum Head Knight, Lucette the Queen. compared to facing your worst fears and standing up to a long loved parent, these responsibilities almost seems like taking candy from a baby.

until Fritz starts taking etiquette classes and attends rigorous prince training. he’s never wanted to die more. Lucette laughs, but helps him out with his academics anyway. they have so many dance lessons together in empty ballrooms and corners of the garden, even though both are already excellent dancers. but most days it is Rod and Emelaigne who guide him, and it’s through many an etiquette class that they grow closer. the trio def eventually all see each other like siblings.

Emelaigne tells him one day when they’re rearranging knives that she doesn’t blame or fear him. it’s a stupid decision, Fritz subtly hints at when he says thank you. Emelaigne smiles at him and says i know, when she puts the butter knife next to his pinky finger. Emelaigne smiles at him and says i trust you, when she lifts the steak knife and hands it to him to arrange next.

things are weird around Lucette and her step-siblings for a while. having a near death experience together caused by your fiance does that to people. but Lucette goes to town with Emelaigne more often now, though she sticks to the shadows with Rod. Lucette learns to bring a book while waiting for Emelaigne to finish conversations in shops, make small talk with Rod over such novels, with Emelaigne between shop shelves over everything and anything. it is easier work than Lucette imagined it to be, if such tasks that slowly turn into enjoyments, can be considered work at all.

“Does Rod like chocolate?” Lucette asks, absentminded as she stares at a flower shop. that is when Emelaigne knows, truly, that maybe at least one family has the hope of being rebuilt.

“Cinnamon! He likes that flavour best!” “Then let’s go to the best bakery in town.” “Not the best baker?” “No, unless you have a craving for chocolate croissants.”

Fritz immediately clears Jurien and Garlan’s names with the Order of Caldria, and Jurien becomes co-head knight with Fritz. she takes care of the training and soldiers most days, while Fritz does paperwork and acts as the figurehead leader. most soldiers will never respect the two of them as much as they did Alcaster. most soldiers will also never know the things the two of them have sacrificed to protect all their lives, all the lives of those they treasure in town.

Jurien and Fritz silently make peace with this with a shared bottle of whiskey under the moon. “Varg was a total dick.” Jurien abruptly says, bottle half empty. Fritz laughs. “Is that an indirect insult to your superior?” Jurien grins. “Yes.” Fritz laughs, again. it’s good to have friends.

among her immediate family, Ophelia expresses her joy for their union the most readily. she loves Lucette, but in the end she is still the one her father chose over Lucette. Lucette understands and forgives, but it is hard to forget. she asks Fritz if that makes her cruel. Fritz smiles sadly, and says no, it just makes you human.

Genaro doesn’t quite know what to do with himself or his daughter after everything. neither does Lucette, nor Fritz. it’s a weird situation when your fiance’s father was plotting to kill his former best friend, who also happens to be your father. it’s an even weirder situation when you learn that that father that nearly died may not have hated you for your entire life after all. it takes many years and many awkward conversations, but Lucette can at least see her father as someone to depend on now. as for seeing him as a father, and him her daughter - well. she’s lived without one for seventeen years. she’ll live another few decades without one. at least with her as nothing but his ward, his successor in line, he can look at her without flinching now.

it’s all Lucette’s ever wanted, so she hooks her arm through Delora’s, and lets her mother lead her down the aisle instead.

Fritz is what makes Lucette happy. it’s all Genaro ever wanted, and so Genaro’s blessing is quick, and immense. happiness is something Genaro was unable to give Lucette, will never be able to exceed Fritz in giving. it is a secret he takes to his grave. this world’s cruel truth has hurt his daughter enough.

Karma is the one who’s the most suspicious of Fritz for the longest time. he’s clashed swords with him, he knows murderous intent when he sees it. he may see him in a better light after fighting side by side to take down Hildyr and brainwashed soldiers, but some days he glances at Fritz, smells the metallic tinge that never leaves him and thinks blood, and doesn’t dare to think whose. trust is something to be earned. Fritz doesn’t earn Karma’s for years.

it’s a good thing, Fritz tells Lucette after yet another argument she’s had with her redhead friend, it means he cares, that he wants to think the best of us - or, me, i guess. he doesn’t tell her some nights he still dreams of gilded cages and his mother, and Lucette. he tells her with a smile having doubts may save her life in the future and she slaps him. he tells her about her dreams then, and she kisses the cheek she slapped and cries because he won’t. it’s not a fairy tale romance, but it’s theirs, and Lucette reminds Fritz of that. Fritz nods, and sinks into her hug, and tells her about another childhood memory of his mother. maybe this time it’s a happy one. maybe it’s not. but it’s their romance, and this way he is letting go of his parents’, and that’s what counts.

“I don’t trust you.” Karma says. his voice carries in the wide training ground. “Doesn’t mean I don’t trust that you won’t protect her, or make her happy.” Fritz mirrors his gentle smile, and lifts his longsword. “My sentiments exactly.” Karma lifts a brow, his rapier, and strikes true.

Rumpel continues working on breaking his curse, and every time he returns to the palace, he comes back wiser. his words do not change, but they hold gravitas now, a sure assuredness behind every syllable. he was the first to look Fritz in the eye, after Parfait. he continues to do so, even after they’ve retaken the castle, even after seeing Fritz wielding a sword bloodied by innocents. his gaze is saddened, but he holds Fritz’s eye. Fritz is the one who looks away. he is more of a knight than he realised. maybe this is good.

when Rumpel returns, he always returns with advice and tea leaves for Lucette. Lucette takes both with an eye roll and a smile. he ruffles her hair, asks if she is alright and she always says, yes. he always sees through her, and tells her what she needs to hear - ‘tell him how you feel’, ‘then just kiss him, if you want to so much’, ‘be selfish with him’. often Lucette isn’t sure if Rumpel is advising her, or airing wishes left undone. but they always help, so she always thanks him, and gives advice of her own back, do not forget about yourself, and only once does Rumpel smile wrinkled, fingers curling around an old journal beneath the table. not anymore, he promises.

Waltz takes to Fritz after a while. it starts with both realising the other is someone also irrefutably screwed over by an adviser that slipped out of their grasp. it really starts when Waltz confides i should have broken her out, when Fritz replies so should i. shared regrets and trauma makes fast friends. Waltz understands Fritz in a way that no one else has, no one else will. there is darkness both wield with strength, command with ease and make bend to their will. it is a frightful thing to know you can do. it becomes less so when someone else kinder than you can do the same.

Lucette asks Fritz once, how he took to Waltz so easily. Fritz only smiles, and kisses her temple, says, ‘secret’, in lieu of ‘our mothers died because of us’, ‘the most vital moments of our lives were stolen from us by the same person’, ‘we would have given our lives for you in that tunnel if it meant you never had to see your mother and let her hurt you again.’. sometimes it is easier to lie. sometimes Lucette knows, so she just sighs, and tells him to pass on the message that they are both fools and she will not condone death. Fritz grins and asks how she will punish him if he is dead? Lucette deadpans necromancy, and Fritz laughs, kisses her again. he promises, swears to live for her (again). he is more like a prince than he realised. maybe this is a good thing.

Waltz doesn’t tell Lucette about their history all at once. he asks Lucette once, if she remembers anything happy at all in her childhood. her eyes film over, and she says maybe, i can’t -. and her knees are buckling. repressed memories, enchanted amnesia, where does one draw the line between the two? Waltz doesn’t want to find out. all he does is wrap her in a hug, say you don’t have to remember and wish she did. eventually she will, but by then Waltz is in Brugantia and Karma is healing the wounds she would only have torn open wider. when they meet again and her once-bleeding wounds are scars like his is, they will laugh about poorly sewn dolls and the sweetness of sweets stolen from kitchens, and laugh more over their respective betrothed's horrible accents.

‘could have been’s are dangerous, Waltz tells her one night, with a knowing smile. ‘do not dwell on them, little star.’ black and velvet and two instead of one. thoughts Lucette brush aside as she brushes Fritz’s odd lock of black away from his face. she will remember, but she will not wonder. she kisses Fritz’s temple where the black tresses end, and sinks in the familiar smoky laugh that tumbles from him.

"What do you love about me?" Lucette asks, another night, the first one they spend together. everything feeling terribly new and odd, their fingers intertwined in the space between them, every other part kept to their separate halves of the bed. Fritz blinks, staring up at the canopy, thinks."How high can you count?"

“How do you love me?” Lucette asks, another night, curling into Fritz’s warmth. Fritz pulls her in closer, hums sleepily into the top of her head. “Deeply, and truly.”

“Why do you love me?” Lucette asks, another night, curled into herself, back to Fritz. Fritz combs his hand through her long hair that pools around her and over the bed. slowly, he makes his way up to her roots, hand buried in auburn and thumb smoothing over the shell of her ear, her lashes blending into her flushed face. at the lack of resistance, Fritz moves closer, the crinkling of the sheets tangling around his legs the only indication he is moving at all. slides his other hand over the bed, softly shifting the folds, pausing next to her hip. fingertips barely grazing her tailbone as he slips his other hand lower to the nape of her neck; her breath hitches as he leans forward, fingertips tipping into the dent where her spine ends, tracing over her hipbone, her waist, her stomach. closes in, hand shifting down from her nape so his lips can take it’s place. “Because.” Fritz murmurs into her skin, as if trying to etch the words with breath alone. “I couldn’t have done anything else.”

like a snare, his words draw her back in, away from then and back to them. an exhale leaves Lucette, her chest caving in as she relaxes into Fritz’s languid frame behind her. he is more like a hunter than he realised. maybe this is a good thing.

"I know - I know we’ve discussed this, and it’s pretty much already set in stone but -.” Laughter. “Will you marry me?”

“Of course. I - oh - Of course.”

their romance is not a fairy tale but it is, finally, theirs. and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

#cinderella phenomenon #cinderella phenomenon spoilers #cinderella phenomenon visual novel #lucette riella britton #fritzgerald aiden leverton #mentions of other charas #im not tagging #melon writes

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saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.9: A Partner’s Beginning // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Summary: Belén and Barry are just starting to figure out how to work with each other as partners. Around the same time, Barry comes face to face with an old childhood bully that still manages to hurt him. It’s only when he remembers that he’s no longer alone that he’s finally able to leave the past in the past.

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Rayan Palayta couldn't stop reading articles and reports of the new vigilante that had made her debut in Starling City with the Arrow, Black Canary, Speedy and so on. That same vigilante was now one of the top stories being sold by the CC Picture News despite it being weeks after her first initial appearance in the city. Iris West was one of the lead reporters in that area and Rayan couldn't help suspect that the woman had no idea who this new vigilante was.

"So-" Maritza's voice made him look up from the laptop in front of him, "-this is where you're keeping yourself up now?" she made a gesture to the abandoned warehouse they were in. She walked into the small office where Rayan had secluded himself in for almost the entire day - as stated by Angela (or Pixel as she now liked to call herself).

"It was part of the gang of robbers I took care off a while ago," Rayan gave a shrug of his shoulders and clicked the link to a new article on the computer. "Decided to use it since Pixel's beginning to give me headaches," he rubbed his temples where he could feel an echo of said headaches.

"Pixel?" Maritza repeated, musing on what the switch of names could mean. "Is that what you're calling the ex?" Rayan rolled his eyes but said nothing. Instead, he focused on the article that gave origin points of the new vigilante. "Can't say I'm not happy to see that ending," Maritza said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "Angela's kind of weird, but even I have to say that it's not technically her fault she nearly killed our dear sister."

At the mention of Belén, Rayan's eyes raised from the computer again. His face was stone cold and yet...he was guilty. He was guilty he nearly killed his sister without realizing. He had given the order to eliminate the new vigilante that was seemingly in the city to help out the Flash. He couldn't believe his ears when Pixel had returned with the news that the new vigilante had turned out to be none other than Belén. Rayan had raged, and somewhere along there, had blasted Pixel across her own living room, crashing several of her ornaments.

"If it helps-" Maritza leaned off the wall and moved towards the desk, "-my friend has nothing new to report on Belén. I thought that maybe Belén knew who the Flash was so I set my friend up in her job but she's been perfectly normal with no vigilante business."

"That he can see," Rayan reminded. "Let's not forget that he's not exactly friends with her."

"Alright, so he becomes closer to her, makes friends with her," Maritza shrugged. "Then what? What are we going to do now that we know Belén is a metahuman?"

"Metahuman," Rayan rolled his eyes at the silly name they'd been branded with apparently.

"Rayan," Maritza called again, sharper. "The plan was to get Belén away from the city but now that it's clear she's not going anywhere, we're going to need to do something else."

"What else can we do?" Rayan rubbed his temples again. That headache was starting to come back. "If she's a meta like us, then we should get her to join us."

Maritza blinked and straightened up. "A-are...are you sure about that? Let's not forget Belén thinks you're dead."

"I know, I know, but...once I explain to her what happened...she'll see why I preferred to stay dead. If she's so keen on finding me...what's the big deal?"

"I think the 'big deal' has to do with that speedster already getting into her head. Let's not forget the fact she's already been a hero in Starling city with the Arrow. Why would she want to join us?"

"Because we're her family," Rayan stood up from his chair. "Who else would Belén choose over us?"

Maritza leveled his stare for a moment before looking away. "It won't be easy...but...maybe you're right."

"Of course I am," Rayan smirked. "So we should start working on that before she really becomes a hero and loses us."

~ 0 ~

"Cisco, I'm not wearing a skirt," Belén shook her head in the most polite way possible, but the action still had Cisco groaning in frustration. Caitlin sat at the other end of the desk, laughing to herself but giving the appearance of working on something else.

"But why not? It'll be a very pretty skirt, I promise, see?" Cisco gestured to the computer in front of them with the design of what would later become Belén's new super suit.

Now that they had began examining Belén's new biology and grasped a basic understanding of her powers, Cisco felt it was time for her to suit up. He would rather die than let her continue on with the outfit given to her by the 'Arrow cave'. Belén was excited for it, honestly, but they were just having creative differences.

"I'm not wearing a skirt if I'm gonna be out there helping Barry," Belén still refused much to Cisco's dismay.

Cisco made a motion with his hands for them to be calm and start over. "Okay, hear me out now," he said, warning her to let him speak first before she shot him down again. Belén got comfortable in her seat, crossing her arms and legs, to listen to him. "You need your suit to be more open to accommodate your powers. You said your vines can come through your hands and body which means the suit needs to have some openings. True or not true?"

Belén rolled her eyes but gave her confirming nod. "Yes, I know. And I am all for it if it means it'll make it easier to use my powers. That, however, does not mean that I have to go out in a miniskirt. Caitlin?"

Cisco glanced back at the silent brunette who of course had a side to choose. "She's right," Caitlin said with a small smile.

"You can't send me out there barely clothed, Cisco. I fall and I scrape my legs. I like my legs, Cisco, and I want them to be protected. Don't you?" Belén raised a questioning eyebrow. Cisco couldn't help give her legs a look-over. She chuckled and playfully hit him in the arm. "Stop looking at my legs!"

"Then work with me here!" Cisco let his head fall on the desk with a thud, causing Belén to lose it with another round of laughter.

"I think I broke Cisco," she told Caitlin, quite victoriously.

"Oh, he's finally quiet, thank you," Caitlin patted Cisco's back.

"Shut up," came Cisco's muffled order.

"Bells?" Barry had come into the room, making the ombre-blonde look back. He was about to say something when he saw Cisco still with his head on the desk. "What's…"

"I broke the great Cisco Ramon," Belén giggled and poked Cisco on the arm. "And over a skirt."

"Over a skirt?" Barry scoffed and came up to the three.

"When you say it like that of course it sounds bad!" Cisco pulled himself up and shot a warning look to Barry. He would not have Barry also ganging up on him like that.

"Cisco's trying to help me with a new suit," Belén finally explained. "But we seem to have disagreeing ideas…"

"Many," added Caitlin.

"It's not my fault Bells is being complicated!" Cisco exclaimed, earning himself a sharp look from said woman.

"You're the one trying to make me wear a mini-skirt for me to fight crime!"

"A mini-skirt?" Barry raised his eyebrows, barely getting a minute to think about that when someone smacked him on the stomach. He doubled over, groaning.

"That was for thinking about it," Belén got up from her seat then turned to Caitlin. "Honestly, Caitlin, I don't know how you put up with these two."

"I try my best," Caitlin dramatically said, now earning herself some sharp looks from Barry and Cisco.

"Bells, c'mon," Cisco began but the ombre-blonde cut him off.

"No! I don't want skirts," Belén left it clear for him. "I'm not made of steel, I do get hurt."

Barry was recovering from the blow and exhaled deeply. "Follow her instructions, Cisco, please." He then made a gesture to Belén for her to walk ahead.

"Hm," Belén threw him a look before grabbing her bag off the desk.

"Don't forget your treats," Caitlin reminded as she got up and walked across the room.

"Cait, that makes me sounds like a dog," Belén crinkled her nose.

"You know what I meant," Caitlin returned holding three wrapped up bars in her hands. "These should help you with your sugar levels."

"Yay," Belén said meekly as she took the bars and shoved them into her bag. As it turned out, her dizzy spells were part of her new metahuman abilities. Because her body was now divided with new Azalea genetics, her body required more sugar that she was not ingesting.

Cisco joked it was her needing to do photosynthesis.

Belén had promptly smacked him upside the head for it.

The bars that Caitlin and Cisco had made were specifically created to raise her sugar levels on a daily basis and thus prevent anymore side effects from harming her. Belén could definitely go without those min-episodes.

"Let's go," Barry told the ombre-blonde metahuman. She gave him a nod and in a second he had sped them to her block.

"That's still weird," she giggled as they began normally walking towards her house.

"Didn't seem so weird when 'the Streak' did it to you," Barry smirked. "In fact, you looked more in awe. And you certainly liked it."

"Shut up befoe I smack you again," she warned then came to an abrupt stop. "So, um, when exactly were you planning on telling me that you and Iris are on a no talk basis now?"

The question froze Barry in his tracks. He turned around and met her expectant look.

"I know I'm a bit slow sometimes but I've figured it out. It's been a while since I got back, and coincidentally the next day you stop talking to her. What, was it my fault you argued?"

"No," Barry quickly said to her, coming back to her, "It's just…" he sighed, "...she's been writing about us, Bells. Joe asked me to talk to her and it didn't work. I got frustrated with her not listening so I...may have asked her not to talk to me."

"Why would you do that, Barry?" Belén whispered, looking horrified. "She's your friend - practically sister!"

"I know-"

"And if there's anyone you should be upset with that she's still writing it's with me! I visited her and now I gave her more fuel. Don't be mad with her. Be made with me."

"No, it's not your fault. I'm genuinely worried about what could happen to her…"

"I get it, don't think I don't. Joe wants to keep his daughter safe and you just want her to be okay. But in the long run, I think it's Iris who should make the decision. I understand completely what it feels like having this passion for writing. It's my life, honestly. And once you find your subject, there is hardly anything anyone can do to make you stop."

"Hardly?" Barry repeated and noticed a strange shift in Belén's face.

"Let's just say...I had to leave some things..." she said and left it to that. "Thanks for bringing me home. Dad's been a bit on the fence of where I'm at now that I'm back. He thinks by having me hitch rides it's a sure way that I'll come home early." Because when she came back to the city, her father had taken the car privileges away for a while. Belén thought that was a bit fair.

"Tell him you were with me then," Barry then blinked when he realized how it came off and immediately set to correct it, but his stammering prevented a full sentence, "I-I m-mean...y-you know...like, uh...l-like...w-well...I mean…"

Belén covered her laugh with a hand and walked past him for her front porch. "I think I'll just say I was with some friends." She turned around, taking small steps backwards to the porch. "Cos if I say I was with the Streak he wouldn't get a kick out of it like others would."

"Yeah…"

"Take my advice about Iris though - just tell her already." And with that, Belén bid him goodnight.

~ 0 ~

Some time later that night, Belén had pulled out her laptop to finish her work for CC Pictures. Her father walked by with a coffee mug and sat down beside her on the couch. When Belén realized he was staring at her she gently closed the lid of her laptop and met his eyes.

"Hi, Dad," a fleeting smile graced her lips. "Can I help you with something?"

"What were you reading?"

"Um, well, to be honest, I was giving Iris' blog a glimpse. She posted something new a couple minutes ago." And Belén was not happy to see it. While she stood by her statements she didn't want Iris getting hurt. Perhaps if she knew the truth it would sway her from that specific topic, or at the very least make her articles more cautiously.

Belén's father sighed and shook his head, clearly disapproving as well. "That girl is just looking for trouble. I like Iris, she's a very sweet young woman but this blog is going to get her in trouble. The city's not safe anymore with all these people with powers. They're all evil."

"Not everyone," Belén softly disagreed.

David scoffed, picking up his mug from the coffee table. "Honey, you've seen the news. Lots of people are getting hurt out there."

"Yes, but many of others are getting saved. Let's not clump all metahumans as evil."

"What?" David gave her a sharp glance.

Belén's eyes widened and coughed nervously. "Nothing. I said we shouldn't brand all people as bad."

David tilted his head and stared another minute at Belén. Sheepishly, she rubbed her arm and tried upholding his look. "Are you okay, Belén?"

"M-me? Yeah, Dad," Belén lightly smiled.

"You know, ever since you got back, you're...you seem different."

"D-different?"

"Yes. Time was you used to be completely engulfed with school and your friends and your internship."

"Dad, I graduated..."

"Yes, but your friends, they're not around anymore."

"What are you talking about? I do have friends-"

"Not the same ones." David put his muttered on the coffee table and shifted in Belén's direction. "Hilary, remember her?"

"Of course I remember Hilary."

"And then Jason, and Meghan, and all the others. They're not around anymore."

Belén sighed. "Dad, Hilary is getting used to her new job across the city. Jason moved and Meghan went on to graduate school. Everyone's got things to do."

"What about Iris?"

"What about her?"

"Haven't seen her in a while either."

"She, um...she's a having some complications with, uh, with Barry. She's not exactly in the talking mood."

"But you are," David gave her another look that she didn't understand. "It's just, since you got back I rarely see you with Iris now. It's either that Caitlin Snow-"

"Dr. Caitlin Snow," Belén wagged a finger. "She didn't go to school for people to overlook her title."

"Right," David playfully rolled his eyes. "Dr. Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon, or Barry. They're not exactly the people I would expect you to be around…"

"They're good people and I like being with them," Belén smiled. "Don't go all 'They're from STAR Labs so they can't be good' on me."

David shook his head. "No, I wouldn't do that. despite what Harrison Wells caused to the city, I do respect his employees' loyalty to him. But sweetie, how long have you known Cisco and Caitlin, again?"

"Ten months."

"And then you met Barry how?"

"Through...Iris…?" Belén was barely making the connections when her father finally explained.

"You've known Iris for years and I don't think it's right you sideline her for these new people you haven't known for long."

"Oh my God Dad!" Belén chuckled. "I am not sidelining Iris for them! I just happen to have, um...a connection with them. That's all."

David raised an eyebrow and said nothing for the next minute. Then suddenly, he asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm fine," Belén couldn't help smile out of flushness.

"Alright," David clapped his knees and got up, appearing to be done with the subject but Belén doubted it would be the last she would hear about it. He grabbed his mug and walked by, planting a kiss on her head. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Daddy," Belén smiled after him.

She waited for him to leave before diving back into her computer. There was much to do after all!

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was in utter shock as she went over the various injuries Barry had managed to get in the span of a five minute fight with another metahuman.

"13 fractures," she began listing off to Barry, who laid in bed wincing at her scolding tone, while Cisco and Dr. Wells listened silently. "That's a whole new record! And not to mention that's only just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal."

When Dr. Wells was sure Caitlin had finished, he made the question all of them were curious to know about. "What exactly did you hit?"

"A man," Barry sighed, recalling the terrible fight. "A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like, it turned to metal."

Wells raised his eyebrows as he thought about the new metahuman. "Interesting. A man of steel."

"So you went after a meta-human alone?" Even Cisco was disappointed in Barry for his abrupt encounter with the metahuman. "Dude, why didn't you call us?"

"I didn't know what he was," Barry said meekly before adding, "Besides, I was off-duty." And he would rather not go into detail about what that meant exactly.

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth," Cisco pointed seriously. "Those puppies don't grow back."

"The strange thing is I feel like I knew him…" Barry admitted, still confused himself.

"What do you mean?" Wells inquired.

"He said something that was familiar, but he's gonna hurt someone if we don't stop him. So how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?"

"We will find a way. Tonight, you heal."

Barry had no energy to fight about that. He nodded his head and prepared for some sleep, or at the very least a nap.

~ 0 ~

Belén was close to finishing her article for the day and couldn't be happier about it. It was nice getting back to a normal life - especially one with a good income. CC Picture News had been happy to receive her back as an official employee and had already tasked her with several important articles. She'd even made some new co-worker friends besides Linda and Iris.

"Scuse me?" a young man stopped by her desk with a manila folder in his hands.

Belén looked away from her computer to meet the freckled-face of a dark-haired man with blue eyes. She'd seen him around but never actually talked to him. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry about it..." the man started, chuckling nervously. Belén raised an eyebrow, confused of course. The man cleared his throat awkwardly and smiled at her. "Um, I'm Noah Gilan and I'm sort of a cub-reporter..."

"Oh, you're the new one Linda took on, right?" Belén recalled the various times she'd seen him tail Linda around.

Noah nodded his head. "Yeah, and she said you might be helpful in helping me write an article."

"Me?" Belén repeated, sounding (and looking) surprised. "I don't know, I mean...I'm sure there's plenty more experienced writers. I literally just started as an official employee a couple weeks ago."

"No, that's good - I mean, for me, cos...you know...some of the older people around here are sort of..." Noah leaned forwards to whisper, "...rude."

Belén chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Anyways, Linda said that you might be interested in being partners for a while. Just until I get the hang of things around here."

"I mean...if I can help then I will," Belén shrugged, not finding a problem. "It'd be nice to co-write some articles. I've done some already with my friend, Iris?"

"West?" Noah recalled. "Yeah, I've talked to her but I don't really know her."

"Well, she's a fantastic writer too if you ever want to find another partner," Belén said. "But in the meantime...you got any ideas for some new articles?" she asked with a sly look.

~ 0 ~

Come lunch time, Belén found herself swept by a certain speedster only a couple steps from CC Pictures. She was all fond of the easy manner of getting around but not when she had literally promised her new co-worker/partner she would have lunch him. She already wasn't very happy with Barry and the others for not informing her about his encounter with the new metahuman last night. Getting a simple text in the morning was not sufficient.

"Woah, new guy we need to talk about?" Cisco immediately raised an eyebrow at the ombre-blonde, apparently having selective hearing because that was the only thing that caught his attention.

Belén rolled her eyes and hopped onto a table, letting her legs dangle. "I'm helping someone," she shot Barry a look, the latter currently taking a seat on the edge of the gurney-bed. "Next time call me, no?"

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted," Barry sighed. "I found out who our new metahuman is and I happen to know him."

"From where?" Caitlin came into the side room with a mug of coffee.

"His name is Tony, and he was my goddamn awful bully when I was eleven," Barry still appeared angry about the whole thing. "He used to bully me whenever he got the chance, and I was never able to do anything about it."

"Your childhood nemesis is now an unstoppable meta-human," Cisco gawked at the idea. "That is seriously messed up."

"I had a childhood nemesis. Lexi La Roche," Caitlin narrowed her eyes as she thought about her own bully. "She used to put gum in my hair."

"Jake Puckett," Cisco pretended to shiver. "If I didn't let him copy my homework he'd give me a swirly."

"I didn't really have a bully," Belén had her head tilted to the side, seemingly trying to think about one bully in her childhood. "Everyone just...seemed to like me…"

The other three traded looks among each other while Belén continued to think.

"Now that we've established that we're all uber-nerds," Barry began and glanced towards Belén, "except Belén who was clearly one of the popular girls-"

"Hey," Belén frowned his way. "It's not my fault no one wanted to bully me. I was nice to people, unlike you who speeds people out of their lunch plans." And as a mature gesture, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Nice," Barry remarked, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, what are we gonna do about Tony?"

Cisco clapped his hands together, smirking. "Glad you asked. We're gonna train you, man. Karate Kid style."

"Hmm, I'm interested in seeing how this plays out," Belén said to Caitlin as they followed after Cisco.

He led them into another side room where a metal figure had been set in the middle. With its makeshift head and metal bar arms, it could almost be seen as a punching bag.

"Behold! I call him Girder!" Cisco gestured to the figure as he went over to a table.

Barry raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Caitlin. She, seeing his thoughts, immediately said, "For the record, not my idea."

"What is this supposed to be?" Belén seemed oddly amused by the metal figure as she walked around it. "It looks kind of funny...oh!" she clapped her hands, "Like one of those villains on movies!"

"I don't understand how you didn't get bullied," Cisco returned with a control hanging from his neck. "You just have that…thing people want to mess with."

"What thing?" Belén stared at him a long while, not understanding his insinuation.

"Nothing," Barry reached out for her arm and pulled her away from the metal figure.

"But he just said…"

"It really doesn't matter, he's wrong," Barry left her by the doorway where Caitlin was and turned back for Cisco, making a cutting motion across his neck. The last thing they needed was to further annoy Belén for the day.

"So," Cisco received the message and focused on the 'training' that was supposed to happen, "fighting is physics. It's not about strength. It's not about size. It's about energy and power. Channel your speed the right way and you can totally take this bad boy down. Now obviously your Girder is a moving target. So... I have ice and bandages standing by."

"What a reassurance," Caitlin mumbled so that only Belén was to hear. Both were completely disapproving of the idea. Nothing good would come out of it.

While Barry wasn't so keen on the idea of fighting this metal thing, he realized his options were oh-so-limited. He started to punch the figure in a speedy manner while dodging its movements Cisco enacted via the control. He would switch sides every so often but in the end the device proved a little quicker and punched him near the shoulder. Barry fell to the floor with a loud thud...and a crack somewhere.

"I'm pretty sure I just dislocated my shoulder," Barry groaned and clutched said shoulder.

While Cisco remained back to fix the Girder, Caitlin attended to Barry in another room. Seeing it was definitely a dislocated shoulder, she prepared him for the worst. "Okay, not gonna lie. This is gonna be quick but extremely painful."

"This was a stupid idea from the start," Belén was watching them attentively from the threshold. "Even I'm not that clueless!"

"Thanks, Bells," Barry winced. "I can always count on you to make me feel better."

Belén shrugged. "Great that you can!"

Barry heard his cellphone go off and struggled to answer it with one arm. "Eddie, hey."

"Allen, we found the stolen Humvee in the alley at Fremont and Lawrence. Need you down here to do your thing."

"Great. I'll see you in a sec," Barry hung up and looked at Caitlin, resigned to what would come next. "Okay…let's do this."

As he laid down on the bed, Belén rushed over to his side and grabbed his hand. "It hurts less if someone holds your hand. Trust me, I've broken and sprained bones so many times."

"You?" Barry asked, clearly doubting her words.

"Mhm, from when I did my aerial dancing," she said casually, but because of his coma-state Barry didn't know about that part of her life.

"What!?"

Caitlin chose that moment to snap Barry's shoulder back into place. The metahuman screamed and unintentionally squeezed Belén's hand in the process. She ended up screaming too and nearly fell to her knees in response.

~ 0 ~

"You were an aerial dancer?" it was now Barry who was standing on the side of the bed while Belén was treated for a broken hand. Feeling incredibly guilty for what he'd done, Barry had gone out (or sped out) and brought her back lunch that she had missed...because of him as well.

"I really was," Belén laughed at such doubt she received from him.

"And a good one," Cisco spoke up on her behalf. "I've seen videos."

"Very graceful," Caitlin added while she wrapped a gauze around Belén's hand. "I don't think I could balance myself with silk ropes..."

"It's not that hard if you got the practice for it," Belén shrugged.

"You don't look like the sort," Barry said to the ombre-blonde. "But what happened, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Um..." Belén's smile faltered a little bit but it came right back before she responded fully, "My Mom said that it wasn't a real career. See, my plans weren't to become a writer at all - I wanted to dance. But my parents talked it over with me - over and over - until I just agreed to leave it for journalism. I found that I actually love to write, but..." she sheepishly looked down, letting the other three figure it out.

"You wouldn't mind going back," Caitlin said it for her.

"Yeah," Belén nodded her head, looking pretty excited just at the thought of returning to her dancing. "I had a team, actually, here in the city. I haven't talked to them in a while..."

"You should go and see them some time," Cisco suggested, like many of the other times they'd gotten into that conversation. "You know, and maybe show some us some moves."

Belén laughed, face flushing pink. "Right. I'd probably fall on my ass now that I haven't practiced."

"No you wouldn't," Cisco shook his head. "I'm serious. Go back and do some dancing, girl."

"Well, now I can kind of understand why you didn't have a bully," Barry said distractedly. "You were like a triple threat."

Belén shot him a look. "Seriously?"

"Good writer, cute rambler, and an aerial dancer?"

Caitlin exchanged a look with Cisco whiled Belén blushed. She finished up with the gauze and Belén jumped right off the bed the moment her cell phone went off.

"Shoot, it's Linda," she made a face and rushed off to go answer it.

Cisco managed to contain himself a minute before he mocked Barry. "A cute rambler…" Caitlin giggled as Barry shot a glare on Cisco. "That's not a triple threat, that was just what you thought of her."

"I...I didn't mean it like that," Barry soon what he was talking about and became flustered. He panicked at the idea that he may have overstepped with Belén. But if that'd been the case she would've said something right after, no?

"Sure you didn't," Cisco made the last statement before Belén returned.

"That was Linda. I have to get back to work! Barry? Can I get a lift back please?"

"Yeah, I gotta go anyways." Barry was all too pleased to be leaving the mocking room behind. "Eddie's waiting for me anyways."

"See you guys later," Belén waved goodbye to Cisco and Caitlin. In a flash, she and Barry were gone.

~ 0 ~

When Belén returned to work, the first thing she did was stop by Noah's desk to apologize profusely for her sudden departure. Noah just chuckled as he got up from his chair to go make copies.

"I was wondering what happened to you," he said thoughtfully.

Belén rushed after him, her hand reaching to keep her purse's strap over her shoulder. "I-I am so sorry! Th-there was, th-this...there was a thing…"

Noah pressed one paper down on the printer's scanner and closed the lid. "There was a thing?" He repeated the question and Belén meekly smiled. Yeah, so she would definitely need to become better at lying if she was intending on becoming a full fighting metahuman.

"A-an important thing," Belén added as if it would make her excuse much more plausible. "But you should know that I am, under no circumstances, a ditcher! I don't skip out on plans I make with people! Once I agree to something I stick by it! I honor what I say and I-"

Noah turned around to face the rambling woman and promptly laughed. Belén straightened, confused. "Do you normally ramble like this?"

"U-um…" Belén leaned on her hip, one hand nervously scratching her head. "I've...I've been told...I, uh, I tend to…"

Noah laughed again, quieter this time. "It's kinda cute," he turned back to the printer and took out the scanned paper.

"I've been told that too…" Belén mumbled, thinking back to Barry's words earlier. She felt her face warm up and was glad Noah still had his back to her.

"I get it, Belén, something unexpected came up," Noah stuck in another paper to be scanned. "It happens. No need to feel bad about it."

"But I do feel bad," Belén moved around the scanner to face Noah. "You have to let me make it up, yeah? We could do lunch tomorrow? Big Belly Burger?"

"Yeah but I feel bad. Please, let me make it up?"

Noah turned around with a quizzical look on his face. "How about we make it dinner instead? We can stay in here and continue working."

Belén thought about it for a minute before nodding her head. "Yeah, I can do that - I meant that I want to do that!" she quickly corrected herself, flushing from embarrassment. "Not that I was doing it because I had to in that I'm being forced to and-" Noah's laughter cut her off. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"A bit, yeah," Noah removed the second scanner paper from the printer. "Save that for the reporting, though. You're quick!"

Belén nervously chuckled while he continued to scan more papers. If only my rambling could help me make good excuses, she thought.

~ 0 ~

"Barry! Check it out!" Cisco waved Barry to come over to the desk where he had several tabs opened on the computer. Barry had taken to him a sample of gravel he'd retrieved earlier from the crime scene of Tony's. "The gravel you pulled from Tony's ride? It contains 76.8% hematite. Consistent with the mines at Keystone Ironworks."

"Which closed down ten months ago. It's the perfect hideout," Barry realized with an air of relief. He needed to bring down Tony before someone truly got hurt.

Caitlin cleared her throat and walked over to them holding her tablet towards them. "Barry, do you mind telling me about this?" She read aloud Iris' new blog post to them. "I have info about someone you're looking for. He was here. You know where to find me.' Now who could she be talking to?"

Barry nervously looked away.

"Belén told us what she did, meeting Iris one time but she never said she was going back," Caitlin's motherly glare was enough to make anyone squirm. "Belén can't be doing this, Barry...she can't…"

"Alright, it wasn't Bells," Barry sighed. "I couldn't help it. I went to see Iris to try my hand at getting her to stop with her blog."

"Hm, and how'd that go?"

"Clearly not well seeing as she's sending out SOS posts now," Cisco mumbled.

"Okay! It wasn't my best idea!" Barry exclaimed. "But look, Iris clearly has something we can use and we can't pass that up."

"Clearly," Cisco nodded and received a sharp look from Caitlin.

"Who's side are you on!?"

"The side that wins obviously," Cisco rolled his eyes.

There was a buzzing noise coming from Barry's cellphone and when he looked at the ID he did admit he was a little afraid. "H-hello?" He winced.

"Why am I reading 'I have info about someone you're looking for. He was here. You know where to find me' from Iris' blog?" Belén asked in an edgy tone.

"See, what had happened was-"

"Barry, I'm a journalist, I can put two and two together. You clearly went to see Iris as we agreed but instead of making her stop, as we also agreed, you only made her put herself out there even more."

"I didn't mean to!"

"No of course you didn't. So, what's the plan? How are you going to fix this? I'm working late tonight and I can't be whisked away again so don't even try it.'

"It's quite simple, actually," Barry sucked in a breath, his eyes flickering from Caitlin to Cisco who remained at bay from the conversation, "I'll be visiting Iris."

~ 0 ~

As Barry planned, they all did. While Caitlin and Cisco monitored their conversation, Barry spoke to Iris who truly did have something useful (and important) to say. Tony had the audacity to visit her earlier in the day, simply to flirt but made a threatening gesture when he was close to being caught. Needless to say, Barry was furious. Tony was his bully and it was his responsibility to find him and put him away in the pipeline before anyone was hurt. Yet Tony easily slipped through the radar and visited Iris in broad daylight!

What kind of hero was he!?

Well, he was not going to be the hero that let enemies like this get so close to his family.

That was his brand new (and abrupt) idea.

"Barry, talk to us. What are you doing?" Caitlin nearly demanded from the metahuman as he sped out of Jitters without saying a word to either.

"Dude, don't run angry," Cisco said, but his words went unheard. "We don't know how to defeat him yet."

Barry ignored both until he came into the Keystone building where Tony was allegedly staying. As he walked further inside he took notice of all the empty beer bottles and upturned machines. He stopped when he came across a decent sized, dry hill of what looked like...steel? Yes, that was it. It had to be.

"This is definitely the place," Barry spoke to other two still anxiously waiting for an update.

"You're trespassing, freak!" Tony suddenly appeared behind Barry and wasted no time in punching him.

He swiftly grabbed Barry and threw him into one of the nearby shelves. As Barry fell to the ground, Tony went for the shelf and pulled it down. Everything on the shelf, including things nearby it, fell over Barry.

~ 0 ~

As promised, Belén and Noah stayed in at CC Pictures to finish their work. Dinner was a pick up from the local Big Belly Burger. They had made very good progress and were nearly halfway done with the work. Plus, Belén had a chance to see who Noah was. She decided only thirty minutes after beginning to work with him that she liked Noah. He was nice, and very understanding. He was well aware of her family issues and minded how he worded his questions or even just how to act correctly when they spoke about sibling matters. He was reserved, surprisingly, but not enough to not laugh once in a while. Belén could definitely see a good friendship between them two.

Belén placed down a clear, colorful photograph on her desk of Plasticine in the middle of a jewelry heist. She then put down another photograph of Plasticine robbing a plain, old liquor store. Unbeknownst to Noah, the photographs had been retrieved by good ole Felicity Smoak when Belén was staying over in Starling City. She thought the best way to let Plasticine know she was being hunted was for Belén to publish an article on her. She just felt a little bad for not telling Noah.

"This metahuman is a weird one," she stated with arms crossed and a pensive look. "I mean, one day she's stealing priceless jewelry and then the next day..."

Noah picked up the photograph with Plasticine robbing the liquor store. "She's stealing milk."

"She's stealing milk," Belén hummed in agreement. "What kind of metahuman steals milk?"

"Metahuman?" Noah raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes boring onto Belén. "What is that?"

"Um..." Belén mentally slapped herself for being so careless. This wasn't STAR Labs and Noah certainly was not one of her friends who knew about metahumans. "That's just...what, um...I've heard they're calling themselves."

Noah shrugged and moved closer to see the pictures again. Before she said anything else that could out her, she grabbed her soda can and took a big drink.

"I honestly think she's just doing some grocery shopping," Noah joked casually and put down the pictures side by side.

Belén swallowed her soda and laughed. "Really?"

"Hey, just because she's evil doesn't mean she doesn't like to eat," Noah raised his hands defensively.

"Well, the fact is that she does this a lot..."

"So she does grocery shopping!"

"I need you take this seriously!" Belén whacked him on the arm and took a minute to calm herself. She wanted to truly analyze the movements of this metahuman. So far, she had nothing concrete on Plasticine because the woman only came out on rare occasions. "Plasticine comes out and makes several heists, makes a clean getaway with usually no victims."

"She's good at what she does, then," Noah tilted his head thoughtfully.

"But most metahumans usually like to...play with their food...and Plasticine doesn't seem like that," Belén remembered what she learned from Plasticine's favorite jewelry shop the night she decided to visit in her vigilante form. Plasticine never made to harm anyone, and she only went in when Alizae - an employee of the shop - was there. "She's very calculating."

"And you are very Sherlock-like," Noah picked up a french fry from a bag and dropped it into his mouth.

Belén rolled her eyes, about to retort sarcastically when her cellphone went off. She moved to turn it off but saw it was Cisco. She made a gesture to Noah she would only be a moment. He nodded and went back to his desk for other papers.

"Cisco, what's up?" Belén went for her soda again and took a sip. She nearly choked on her drink when Cisco told her what Barry had done. Well, he added the word stupid in there and a bunch of other words Belén had never heard him say. "Y-yeah, I'll come and help! Don't worry, I'll -I'll be there!"

Like a spring she jumped into action, stuffing things in her bag and clearing her desk off. When Noah saw this he hurried over to see what was wrong.

Belén didn't give him opportunity to ask. She started apologizing instead. "I'm really sorry, Noah! There's something I gotta do! A thing! Yes!" She was midway towards the door and turned back to the confused man. "Another thing came up! Believe me, important, it's a very important thing! I'm…" her hand was desperately trying to find the door behind her, "...I'm really sorry, I'm not a ditcher! I'm really not! I promise!"

But as she left she felt her actions sharply contradicted her words.

~ 0 ~

"Who let him do this!? I can't believe he thought this was a good idea. I thought he was a scientist!"

"Bells, he's not te-"

Belén was shooting glaring daggers at Cisco. This was not the time to correct her. The two and Caitlin had driven up to the Keystone building hoping to find Barry. He wouldn't respond to them anymore but the sensors still indicated he was somewhere inside the building.

"Eugh, it stinks in here," Belén crinkled her nose the moment they entered the place. It reeked of beer and other smells she would rather not identify.

"Perfect hiding place, though," Cisco mumbled and went ahead.

"Barry? Barry, where are you?" Caitlin began calling out throughout the horrible mess that was the place.

Cisco saw a glimpse of Barry's elbow hidden underneath a shelf and dashed towards it. "Caitlin, Bells, over here!"

"Of course he got thrown under a shelf!" Belén exclaimed and hurried with Caitlin beside her.

"Barry?" Cisco tried pushing somethings out of the way. "Please, say something! Say something so we know you're okay."

"O-ow…" was all Barry could mutter at the moment.

"Get him out of there!" Caitlin ordered.

Belén moved over to Cisco's right side while he continued clearing a way out for Barry. With one hand, she created a vine tendril that shot out to the shelf. She raised another vine and together pushed the shelf up momentarily. "C-Cisco! It's heavy!" Belén groaned through her struggle to keep the vines working.

Cisco and Caitlin hurried to pull Barry out from underneath. The moment he was safely away from the shelf, Belén growled and let the shelf fall again. She, too, fell back on the ground from the force.

"Bells?" Caitlin quickly looked up from Barry.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Belén waved a hand as she got back to her feet. She hurried over to the three and took a look at Barry. He was in an awful state, so much that he couldn't properly move nor say his 'thanks'.

Thanks to his fast healing, by the time they got him back to STAR Labs the physical injuries had already faded to a point of only seeing a couple bruises here and there. Still, that didn't mean anyone's anger nor concern had lessened by then.

"What were you thinking!?" Dr. Wells was practically fuming at the metahuman lying on the bed. "What were you thinking? I told you that we would figure out a way to deal with him."

"I'll heal…" Barry was trying his best not to snap back at any of them, though it was becoming incredibly hard to do.

"That's not what he meant, Barry," Belén had her arms crossed and more or less the had the same angry face she had since they found him. "When I agreed to you visiting Iris I didn't think something stupid like this would happen! How could you do that!? What were you thinking, seriously!?"

"I-"

"No, you weren't thinking!" Belén went on, and no one dared to interrupt her. "Because if you had, you would've seen how stupid this idea was!"

"It was-"

"Who in the hell makes such an abrupt, thoughtless decision!?"

"Uh, how about you!?" Barry found himself snapping back in the moment. "Don't you remember you were the one that made a ridiculous decision to leave with a stranger for two complete months without so much of a word to any of us!?"

That shut Belén right up.

The flash of hurt in her eyes made everyone uncomfortable. She dropped her arms to her side, and pursed her lips. Overwhelmed, she left the room with haste.

Barry sighed and turned his head to the side, seeing all the disapproving looks from the others. "Too far, I know," he mumbled.

"She wasn't wrong," Dr. Wells continued on like nothing had happened. "This was an incredibly stupid idea. He could have killed you."

Exasperated, Barry got up from the bed. "I know, alright!? I know! In the past 36 hours I've had my ass handed to me twice by the guy that tortured me as a kid. I couldn't stop him then, and I can't stop him now! Even with my powers I'm still powerless against him."

Surprisingly, Wells didn't snap back. "Not necessarily. Cisco?"

Cisco nodded and went for the computers. After pulling up the right page, he began to explain. "Any material, if struck at a high enough velocity can be compromised. We ran an analysis on the metal in Tony's footprint. Based on its density and atomic structure, if you impact it at just the right angle, at just the right speed, you could do some serious damage."

"How fast would I have to go?" Barry, intrigued, calmed only slightly.

"Factoring in the metal's tensile strength, estimated dermal thickness, atmospheric pressure, air temp, you'd have to hit him at approximately... Mach 1.1."

Caitlin's mouth fell open. "You want Barry to hit something at 800 miles an hour?

"837, actually."

"I'm glad Bells isn't here to listen to this!" Caitlin blinked, putting her hands on her hips in that motherly way that let the others know she was completely against the idea. "That's faster than the speed of sound!"

"I know. He would create a sonic boom, which, as I've said before, would be awesome," Cisco couldn't help giggle of excitement.

"I've never gone that fast," Barry felt the need to remind everyone.

"Yet," Wells corrected.

"I can't believe we're actually entertaining this idea!" Caitlin shook her head, now wishing Belén hadn't left so she could back her up on this.

Cisco went back to the computer to give it another glance. "I mean, he'd need a straight shot from Miles away yeah, 5.3 Miles, theoretically. Do it right, you'll take him down."

"Do it wrong, you'll shatter every bone in your body, Barry," Caitlin also sharply reminded him.

Barry sucked in a breath and re-evaluated his limited options. This...would not be easy.

~ 0 ~

"Maritza, hey," Belén greeted her older sister at the front door the next day with a confused expression. It was fifteen minutes till eight in the morning - Belén was still in her pajamas while her sister was already professionally dressed.

The older brunette was holding her son's hand and was looking rather urgently. "Look, I know you probably are busy but...can you please look after Axel for the day?"

Belén's eyes flickered to her nephew, the latter probably already having been told he would be staying with her judging by the toothy grin he was giving her. "Mar, I...I have work," Belén glanced back into the empty house.

"Please Belén, I am desperate!" Maritza exclaimed. "I have to substitute the morning and do my class today and I can't afford the babysitter right now."

"Look, I would really like to help but I'm not exactly off to a good start at work right now. I actually have to majorly apologize again to my co-"

"Belén I will do anything you want but please just take him for the day?" Maritza put her hands together.

"Maritza…"

"Please?"

"What am I supposed to do with him all day?" Belén spoke in a hushed voice. Her nephew may be a four years old but he was incredibly smart and the last thing she wanted was for him to be upset that his 'auntie Belén' didn't want him.

"He's four," Maritza had taken the question as another form of 'yes' and so handed Axel to Belén, "Give him a coloring book and that'll be enough for hours."

"Maritza, I have work…" Belén said as a last resort but even she knew this was already a lost case.

"I know, and I am so sorry but I have to keep this job," Maritza planted a kiss on Axel's head. "Be good to your auntie Belén, okay?"

"Yes!" Axel clapped his hands and looked up to Belén. "Are we going to play games?"

Belén gave Maritza a brief look. "I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Sorry," Maritza gave her a quick hug then hurried away.

Belén backed Axel into the foyer so she could close the door. She yawned and turned around, looking down to Axel again. "Well, since I clearly won't be coming into work today, how's about we get more sleep? Nap time?"

Axel nodded his head and pretended to yawn, clapping his small hand over his mouth repeatedly. "I'm so tired..."

Belén chuckled and headed for the staircase. "You are such a good liar, Axel. But I swear to God if you draw on my face someone's not getting their chocolate milk later on."

~ 0 ~

Early morning turned into noon, and when Tony Woodward's case was turned over to the state Barry thought it suitable to find his friend whom he had offended the previous night. Now, his first idea on where to find her was her work…

Once more, he came across a stumped, and genuinely upset, Linda Parker.

"I love her, I really do," Linda was saying as she took a seat on the edge of her desk, "but she's not acting very professional like. She hasn't been back long enough to keep coming in late. Not to mention the fact she's about to miss her deadline this week because she keeps ditching a co-worker?"

Throughout this, Barry was guiltily listening to the woman go on and on...knowing that each time Belén had mysteriously disappeared had been because of him. "Listen, Linda, Bells is just going through some stuff," Barry began cautiously.

"I get it," Linda raised her hands, "Girl hasn't had it easy this year. But work is work. She can't keep doing this."

"She won't," Barry assured, promising himself that he would start being more mindful of the actions he took that would inevitably lead Belén into more trouble. "I'm...I'm gonna go talk to her…"

"Please do," Linda sighed and got off her desk. "I can't keep protecting her from the major bosses around here. Larkin has an attitude..."

Barry nodded. As soon as he could, he said goodbye to Linda and went to Belén's house. Knocking several times, he waited impatiently, and rather nervously. She probably had half a mind to slam the door on his face when she saw him standing there. Well, he wasn't the fastest man alive for nothing. He would have to keep the door open just enough to make his apology and hope for the best. Yes, that what he needed to do.

But, he was heavily surprised when Belén opened up and did nothing of the sort.

"Barry? What are you doing here?" she instead asked calmly, like their spat hadn't existed.

"You didn't come into work today and...I thought that was my fault…" Barry slowly explained, still wondering what she was planning on doing because so far her face had maintined completely at ease. Was this some sort of girl trick? Iris did it often with him when they were kids...and it was not fun!

"Don't flatter yourself, Barry," Belén chuckled a bit before gasping, "Oh my God I didn't mean to sound mean! S-sorry! I...I didn't...didn't really...sorry," it was her turn to be nervous. "Was that mean?"

"Bells, I...I thought you were mad at me, not the other way around."

"Oh, and you thought…?" Belén smiled and shook her head. "I was mad at you for a bit, then I got home and started thinking...and then I realized 'what the hell am I mad about? You were right'. Leaving Central City the way I did was completely rushed and stupid, no matter how logical I thought it was afterwards."

"I still had no right throwing that in your face," Barry sighed. "You were right about me - I shouldn't have gone out after Tony like that. It was stupid."

"But you did it for Iris, someone you consider your sister. If someone had done the same to my sister or brother, you bet your ass I would've gone after them no matter what."

"Still, I'm really sorry for what I said. It shouldn't have been said, period."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't stop my mouth and you were already pretty injured and frustrated so really this is still my fault and I should be apologizing so you shouldn't-"

"Bells breathe," Barry had to interrupt when he saw parts of her face going purple from lack of oxygen intake. Belén blushed and took in her needed air.

"Sorry," she apologized meekly.

There was a strange noise coming from the inside and while Barry didn't directly ask, he leaned slightly forwards. "Am I interrupting?"

"I'm literally just netflixing right now. Cisco's got me with the Walking Dead," Belén chuckled. "Well…" she motioned to be followed inside.

As Barry shut the door and followed her out of the foyer, he heard several distinct noises of a...gurgle? Was that a gurgle? Oh, there was a giggle too.

"Axel stop gurgling your milk and swallow it," Belén scolded when she walked into the living room.

"I like the sound," Axel called from the couch. He was very focused on a tablet he held but noticing his aunt had not come alone, he lowered the tablet for a moment. "Auntie Belén, Mommy says I can't talk to strangers..."

"Right," Belén pushed her hair behind her ears and motioned Barry to follow her again. "Barry, this is my nephew, Axel. He's the reason I didn't show up to work today."

"I told Mommy I didn't need a babysitter," Axel said in such a serious state that both Belén and Barry laughed.

"Axel, be nice and greet Barry," Belén motioned the boy to get up from the couch.

The small boy sighed but never got up. Instead, he let go of the tablet just to wave a hand at Barry then reach for the cup of milk he had on the coffee table. "Auntie Belén I'm watching Toy Story. Sh!" he then grabbed the small Woody doll beside him.

Belén made a face then turned to Barry. "As you can see, I'm very busy today."

Barry chuckled. "Right. Um, and he's...he's Maritza's son, right?" he vaguely recalled meeting Maritza and the small boy at Jitters.

"Yeah, my only nephew in the city," Belén shrugged. "And he's definitely worth the shouts Larkin will give me later."

"Big boss?"

"Big boss."

"Yeah, Belén, about your job...I'm sorry I've been causing problems there too-"

"Barry, please don't even worry about that," Belén waved a hand. "Just promise me next time you won't go into a fight where they can kill you without a proper plan first."

"I can do that," Barry nodded his head.

"Thank you, on behalf of all of us at STAR Labs," Belén rolled her eyes. "You're free to go without any guilt."

"U-uh, actually, I, um...you know," Barry decided to just start over again, "I've yet to catch up on zombies too…"

Belén followed his gesture to the television and blinked rapidly. "Oh...do you want to stay and watch with me?" she glanced back at him. "Of course, if you don't mind Axel. He's very shy when it comes to new people. Although he didn't have that problem with Iris - he frikin loves her."

Axel looked up with a big smile on his face. "Iris makes good chocolate milk."

"I taught her how to do that..." Barry said, leaning over the back of the couch.

Axel shifted so that he faced Barry. "Did you really?"

"Oh yeah, Iris and I grew up together so we taught each other a lot of things. She's like my sister, you know."

"Are you annoying?" the boy suddenly asked.

"Axel!" Belén scolded immediately while Barry laughed.

Axel simply looked between the two adults without realizing what he did. "My Daddy used to say that his big brother was annoying. Mommy said that uncle Rayan was annoying too. That's why I don't want to be a brother - I don't want to be annoying either." And without waiting to be scolded, Axel re-positioned himself on the couch and grabbed the tablet still playing his Toy Story movie.

"Barry, I'm sorry about that," Belén cleared her throat, obviously feeling bad for that bit.

"He's funny, I like him," Barry finished his laughter and moved around the couch. "And to answer the question, Iris was the annoying one, not me!"

"Now I'm telling," Belén playfully warned him as she went to sit down as well.

~ 0 ~

"This is definitely gross, I don't want to keep going," Belén cringed over and over as she saw blood spilling from a character's limb. She was glad that Axel had fallen asleep earlier. Despite being four years old, Axel seemed to like scary movies and whatnot. Maritza always said he got it from his father.

"Then why you'd watch it in the first place?" asked Barry who seemed to be studying the television rather than being entertained.

"For Cisco!"

"And what did we learn today?"

Belén groaned and threw her head back against the couch. "I can't watch..."

"You can definitely tell it's fake, though. The blood's not even the right color! Heck, barely anything on the show seems real!"

"It's a show-" Belén tried to remind but Barry was too excited to stop there.

"Look-" Barry shifted on his seat, eyes scanning the current scene on the television screen, "-it's a known fact that, technically, these zombies would have decomposed within like...a year, maybe a year and a half. Zombies in hot and humid places would have had their skin practically melting in weeks! They would literally be skeletons and maybe even just heads on the grounds. Plus, if zombies can turn you with a bite or a scratch then wouldn't that mean that nearly everyone would have been turned when they got blood on them? I'm talking about, you know, when someone stabs a zombie over and over and the blood splatters on their faces. One drop of blood in your system and you're..." he trailed off when he saw Belén staring at him with the widest of smiles. He was now aware of the mega rambling he'd done and suddenly felt his face warm up with embarrassment.

"Do you always get so analytical when you're watching TV shows?" Belén tried her best not to laugh.

"I-I tend...to do that...a lot...sorry," Barry shook his head. "It's kind of why Iris doesn't like watching television with me."

"I can see that. I mean, we watch television we mostly just...watch," Belén chuckled. "But when you watch television, you go on some other level...like a...like a 'Barry-level' that only you can reach."

Barry tilted his head at her, seeming completely offended. "What? I have a level now?"

"I think you always had a level," Belén nodded. "I should talk to Iris about it, maybe she already gave it a name."

"I have a level?"

"Yes."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Belén!"

"Barry!"

There passed a long minute in which nothing was said and only stares were exchanged. Barry was just not amused and Belén was trying her best to suppress her smile that was already leaving noticeable traces on her lips.

"So, I have a level?" Barry finally began again, and when Belén nodded he quickly asked, "Why do I have a level?"

"Because," Belén let loose just a blip of her real laughter, "you look at the details no one else would. Take me for example," she gestured to herself. "When I watch a show, I don't go looking to see if the blood is the right color. I just go 'oh look, they're bleeding' and then move on."

"But how can you do that!?" Barry exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Because I'm just watching TV, Barry!" Belén said matter-of-factly, and giggled. Barry exhaled in resignation and shook his head. "Maybe it's just the fact you're a forensic," she added after feeling a little guilty, "You're trained to analyze things. It's just your custom."

"It's an annoying custom, or so I've been told," Barry muttered.

"No it's not, it's...interesting," Belén shrugged, "And kind of funny, not gonna lie. You get so into it - and excited too! You stay like that, alright? It's just part of you being an adorable nerd."

The last sentence had Barry in a mixture of flush and sadness. Belén saw that quick and sobered from her playfulness.

"I said something wrong didn't I? I...I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your fault," Barry said grimly, "Those words just sounded a lot like something Iris would say."

"Probably where I got them, to be honest," Belén mumbled and then spoke louder for him. "Why don't you talk to her? We can continue watching this some other day. It's obvious you miss her and this whole petty fight is just hurting both of you."

"I can't Bells…"

"Yes, you can," Belén said sharply. "Last time I checked, your sibling wasn't kidnapped or anything. She's probably at home right now...which is where you need to be." With that, she got up from the couch. "I have to bring Axel upstairs. When I come back, I would hope to see a little note from you-" she made a gesture of a squared note in the air that did, eventually, make Barry lighten up with a smile, "-saying you listened to my advice and went to see Iris."

She collected Axel from the other couch and headed for the stairs where. It would've made her feel good to know that Barry was planning on following her advice if it hadn't been for the phone call that he answered just as he had stood up from the couch to leave.

"Barry?" Belén had made a scowling face at him when she returned, though in his defense he had his back to her which didn't let him see it. "What are you still doing here? I know I was being a little sarcastic but I did mean for you to go to Iris and-"

"He took her," Barry turned around, angry yet completely terrified. "Tony took her right out of the house!"

"Wh-what?" Belén froze in her tracks. "Well...well...we gotta...we gotta do something! We, um, Star Labs, yeah! They can help us right?"

He nodded and made way for the doors. "I called Caitlin and Cisco, told them about it and they're working on it. This time he has to go down, I have to take him down."

"Not with that super punch you're not," Belén was coming right behind him. "Caitlin said you would break every bone in your body!"

"If I don't have another way then I'll have to take it!"

"I need to be with you so you don't have to do that awful option!"

"Bells!" They were now at the doorway, and Barry had turned around to remind her of her situation. "You have Axel upstairs, remember?"

Belén glanced back at the staircase with a thoughtful stare. "Well, he's only four. It's not like Maritza's gonna believe him if he says anything about you. Plus, he loves Cisco, so he'll be fine."

"Bells…"

"If you don't speed us there in the next minute I'll take back the 'adorable nerd' compliment I gave you."

"That was supposed to be a compliment?"

"Barry!"

"Fine!"

~ 0 ~

It only took another hour or so to get a clue of Iris' whereabouts. It appeared Tony had taken her back to their old school and somehow, mysteriously, there had been a report of a fire alarm going off in that building. The group assumed it had been a sign from Iris' part trying to signal her location. Smart girl because it worked.

"Okay, but how do you intend on taking him on?" Belén asked, for what the others counted as the tenth time.

"Fighting, clearly," Barry didn't want to be rude to her but at the moment his patience was low because Iris was off somewhere with an incredibly dangerous metahuman.

"That's not a plan!"

"She's not wrong," then came Belén's backup, Caitlin. The bioengineer sat at the desk concerningly preparing the computer to monitor Barry's future movements with the suit. "The idea of this sonic...punch, is completely a 'what if'."

"Well then hopefully we won't have to use it," Barry said his last sentence before speeding out of the building.

Belén looked at the remaining others with a straight face. "He's gonna have to use it, won't he?"

"The chances are very high," even Dr. Wells had to admit.

"Then someone should be there to make sure he has a better chance," Belén walked towards the desk.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Cisco exclaimed as Belén placed down her nephew on the chair between Cisco and Caitlin.

"Look after him, please?"

"I don't need a babysitter!" Axel grumbled but was not acknowledged.

"Bells, this isn't a good idea," Cisco earnestly said. "You haven't seen this guy, alright? You haven't even tested your own powers completely-"

"I've tested them enough," Belén made sure to look at everyone whilst saying that. "I've trained with the Arrow, with the Canary, and I think I've learned enough to go out there. You're going to have to excuse me but you've only seen a glimpse of what I've learned to do." And Belén thought that was an understatement. There was a side even she hadn't really seen and wasn't very interested to.

"He's dangerous," Caitlin reminded meekly, though knew this was a lost case.

"I know, and strong. Look, I'm not going to go in to punch him. You're right, at one point, Barry will have to do that stupid sonic thing and when he does, I'd like to make sure this Tony is already weakened."

"What do you mean by that?" Caitlin furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, Tony might be metal but he doesn't stop having human lungs," Belén smirked.

"I don't have your suit ready," Cisco said as a last resort to get her to stay back, but he shoould've known better. Belén was a journalist - they persisted until the end.

"I've still got my original outfit," she winked and ran off.

"Where is auntie Belén going?" Axel was left asking but none of the adults could come up with a good answer for a four year old.

~ 0 ~

Iris was completely terrified as she watched from her spot on the ground as the Streak (tentative name, she noted) fought against her deranged kidnapper. She was frozen on her spot, thinking if she moved she would perhaps get in the way. But then just like that, in the middle of the fight, the Streak sped out.

Smugly, Tony glanced back at Iris. "There goes your hero."

Iris was well overconfused, but she said nothing. Then, out of nowhere, several pink Azaleas dropped and formed a neat circle around Tony.

"What the…" Tony looked down at the flowers and had a mini-laugh, "...what's this?"

"Over here," came the order of a modulated voice. Iris perked up when she recognized the voice.

He looked ahead and saw a woman in a green leather jacket that faded into pink, and matching pants. "Buddy of the coward I assume? Well, your little flowers aren't gonna do much for you sweetheart."

Belén keenly listened to the earpiece for a status on her time before speaking again. "Do you know what Azaleas can mean sometimes? Death."

"What? And you're gonna kill me with them?" Tony was close to laughing again.

Belén felt something in the pit of her stomach while the man laughed. She flexed her hands, not needing to even look at them to know they were sporting green blotches. She fought against it, pushing it away and focusing on the little time she had left until Barry would return. "I'm not a murderer, I'm a partner." She extended a hand towards Tony and turned her palm over. A bright pink Azalea formed at the center of her hand and released what looked to be like pollen into the air. "Azaleas, while beautiful, are quite poisonous." Tony began to cough as he felt something prick at his throat. "It's not enough to kill you, don't worry. I've learned the correct amount to weaken someone." The flowers around Tony were now opening up and releasing the same pollen into the air around him. Belén calmly walked around Tony who was coughing violently and stumbling. She stopped by Iris and helped her up. "We need to move!"

"What-" Iris barely had time to say when Belén yanked her to the side.

It had been a well calculated moment because a mere two seconds later Barry reappeared, faster than ever, and in a great leap his hand collided with Tony's face...creating the perfect sonic punch.

Barry fell back against the lockers and Tony staggered back, completely disoriented. Belén mumbled a 'stay here' to Iris and hurried up to where Tony had landed to deliver a final punch that would knock Tony out for real. She then made the Azalea pollen from the air disappear before Iris got a whiff of it.

"Nice one," Barry remarked after a moment, still feeling rather weak. "But what are you doing here?"

"Helping your ass, what else?" Belén couldn't help chuckle then glanced back to Iris who was slowly coming forwards, looking shaken up. "You'll be fine now, we promise."

Iris nodded, her fear slowly fading and replacing with awe as she looked at the two heros. As bad as it may have sounded to anyone else, this was the closest she'd ever gotten to either of them.

~ 0 ~

When Tony awoke he found himself in the small containment pod in the pipeline that would become his new home. "Hey! What is this? Where the hell am I?"

"Somewhere you'll never hurt anyone ever again."

Tony got up and pounded on the glass door that turned out not to be as fragile as he thought after putting up with several of his steel punches. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Barry stepped out from the shadowy archway and allowed Tony to see who he was in reality. "You know who I am."

"Allen?" Tony went in a momentary stupor.

"The thing that happened to you, Tony, it happened to me too, but it didn't just give us abilities. It made us more of who we are. You got strong. I got fast. Fast enough to beat you. You used your gift to hurt people. Not anymore."

"Allen. Allen. Allen, don't walk away from me, Allen!"

Barry stepped back and let Tony be promptly shut up in the pipeline. Once the door was fully shut, he whirled around and did some sort of victory dance that everyone else in the room decided to ignore for the best.

"Dude, that had to feel great," Cisco laughed alongside him.

"You have no idea," Barry nodded his head.

"Almost as good as proving us wrong about the supersonic punch?" Caitlin asked with crossed arms.

"Actually, that part hurt. Like, a lot," Barry looked at his fist that was already healed...lucky him.

"I hate that you heal faster than me," Belén glumly looked at her gauzed up hand.

"Nobody said you had to punch him afterwards," Barry couldn't help laugh at her face.

"Excuse me for coming to help you!"

Barry sobered and gave her a light smile. "Well thanks."

"Okay," Cisco clapped his hands together as they headed out, "I need to know which childhood bully we are gonna take down next? Mine or Caitlin's?"

"Seriously, Cisco?" Belén gave him a sharp look.

"What? Oh, right, I forgot little miss adorable didn't have any bullies," Cisco made a faceand earned a whack on the arm.

"I told you people just liked me! It's not my fault!"

"Sure," and she was surprised that it came out of all three of her friends' mouths.

"You're all just…" Belén scrunched her nose as she thought of something to say, "...big nerds! You're just nerds and you're jealous because I never had someone pick on me." She left them very amused as she went ahead to go collect her nephew. It was getting late and she knew it was only time before Maritza would arrive at the house.

"Dr. Wells I am so sorry," she quickly apologized when she walked into the cortex room, "It took longer than expected to put Tony away."

"Don't worry, I assumed Barry had to have a couple minutes to gloat to him," Wells shot the said man a look as the others came in.

"I did not gloat," Barry said proudly.

"No, he just danced," Belén cleared her throat and suppressed a laugh. She moved to the chair where Axel had been left at, the boy babbling to himself while he scribbled over a worn out journal. "What are you doing there, Axel?"

"Drawing," he said distractedly, not even glancing at her.

"He's very interested in the technology around," Wells gestured to the computers and screens on the wall.

"Oh, he gets that from his uncle Rayan. He used to let Axel use one of those drawing programs on a tablet." At that moment, her phone went off and she didn't need to answer to know who was the caller - she had seen the time. "Maritza's at home and I need to get there fast…" she eyed the speedy metahuman, "...up for one last trip?"

"Always," Barry nodded and moved forwards.

"Uh, Bells, I know this is probably ridiculous to ask but don't you think Axel might mention something about all this-" Cisco gestured to the room as well as Barry and herself, "-to Maritza?"

"Don't worry Cisco," Belén had picked up her nephew into her arms, "Maritza would never believe it."

"I'm not telling," Axel hopped off chair and snagged his paper with his newest drawing. "I can keep secrets too." He quickly looked at Barry with big eyes. "I won't tell, I promise!"

"We believe you," Barry reassured him but silently concluded that Belén was right. Even if Axel accidentally let it slip that he was the Streak, Maritza would never buy it.

"Hey Axel," Cisco came by the boy wearing a suspicious smirk Belén was already not liking, "Sonic?"

"Boom!" Axel threw his hands into the air and giggled, much to the dismay of everyone else in the room.

"I cannot believe you taught my nephew this," Belén playfully scolded Cisco for that but the man was busy high-fiving with Axel to care. "Barry, get us out of here!"

Barry thought it would be a good idea since she looked close to hurting Cisco. As they approached Belén's house, they could see Maritza's car already in the driveway.

"I'm gonna need a good excuse," Belén said as they walked down the sidewalk.

"She won't buy the one where you say you were 'out with friends'?" Barry made a face at her.

She turned to him with an amused smile. "Maritza is very delicate when it comes to her son - especially since she lost her husband. But don't worry, your name nor anyone at STAR Labs will not come up."

"Why don't I go in with you and we make up some excuse together?"

"That's very sweet of you but I would rather you went to go find Iris. You have spent all day with me and frankly it makes me feel guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Iris is your best friend, your sister, your family, I don't think it's right that you ignore her and do it by spending your entire day with me. Iris is also my friend, a really close friend whom I completely love. I feel like I'm betraying her by not helping this icky fight between you both."

"Okay," Barry gave in rather easily after hearing her logic. Truth be told he didn't feel well with himself either. More than anything he wanted to fix things with Iris and get back to normal. Ignoring her probably wasn't helping.

"Thank you for today," Belén said softly. "I can't wait to see everything back to normal tomorrow."

"As much as it can with all these metahumans?"

"Yes," Belén laughed, "As much as it can be with all these metahumans."

"What's a 'metahuman'?" Axel looked up at them both, curiously.

"We're going to talk before we go back to your Mom, okay...?" Belén said back, nervously smiling at Barry while motioning him to get going.

"Good luck," Barry told her before leaving.

"Good luck to you," Belén felt the need to say back. When he was gone, Belén took Axel by the hand and slowly walked for the house so that she could come up with a good story on what to tell Maritza.

#noblecrescentedit #barry allen x oc #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Belén Palayta #barry allen fic #barry allen imagines #the flash #Barry Allen #Caitlin Snow #Cisco Ramon #Iris West

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glamrockmonarch · 5 years

Text

The Flu: Ben Hardy Miniseries

Part 1. Bless You.

Mini Series Masterlist | Part 2 | Part 3

Summary: You are an actress and worked with the boys in BoRhap, after the premiere and press tour you wind up working on another project with one of them; Ben. As your roles are tied together you find yourselves spending more and more time in each other’s company, becoming closer than ever and developing feelings. Ben cannot bring himself to ruin what you have with another one of your friends by acting on these new found love until you get sick out of the blue right in the middle of the production and this sparks something between the two.

Words: 7220.

A/N: So this is the first one! I have to warn you, although there will only be three parts, they will be long. Also, I mention a fictional movie (a story inside the story I made up as well, I know how meta, right?) and it’s based on Sarah Lark’s books that I’ve read and loved. There are some adult topics being mentioned and of course, someone gets ill in this. I still have great hopes you’ll enjoy this!

You sniffed and texted Joe to stop texting while driving, which you were aware defeated the whole purpose of telling him that via text while he was driving.

Your room was dark, the curtains pulled closed and your body already covered by the bedsheets of the small house your manager had rented for you while you were shooting in England.

Knowing Joe you did not want him to get hurt and he could get distracted on the phone with ease. This both concerned and amused you.

The day went by in a flash. It had been the first free day you had had in about two months and you decided on spending it with Ben. Ben was a friend of yours from a previous project. You worked together when you played a minor role in Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen’s epic biopic. You had been good friends before and stayed in touch after production wrapped and you were doing other projects, but once you realised you would be working together once again, you two became almost inseparable.

Gwilym was the first to predict it, seeing as Ben was already there at what would be your home for the following two months on the east side of London when he arrived to help you settle in.

“You’ve already had her for all of three months, let me give her a proper welcome now!” Gwil had said as he pushed Ben away from the doorway and extended his long arms towards you.

In fact, by the time production started in England you had already filmed all you needed in the beautiful southern island. You had a ton of pictures of Ben killing or taking out huge spiders and weird bugs that managed to crawl into your hotel room.

“Oh, that’s the thing!” You smiled with your face buried on his chest, covered by a fluffy sweater you nuzzled into.

Although Gwilym was tall and lean, he gave the best of hugs, wrapping his arms around you in a soothing manner that was all too Gwilym.

Now that you are a good four months in, your relationship with Ben had flourished. You considered him your confidant and trusted talking to him about anything. Ben was comfortable allowing himself to be candid with you too, both of you sometimes finding yourselves deep in conversations about failed relationships, lactose intolerance, fear of where your careers were heading, and whatnot.

In truth, it would be weird if you did not find each other’s company adequate - at least. Your director threw you two right into the water, shooting the most difficult scenes right away and giving you a bad case of “we filmed live aid on day one”.

The story was quite complex, being set in the latter half of the 19th century, you were portraying a girl from a middle-class family whose father had recently fallen ill. Your character is then forced into a marriage with a strange man, Ben Hardy’s character, a man who comes from a wealthy family, who would inherit what little your father had once he passed. It is not romantic, Ben’s character is portrayed as some kind of insensitive monster for the first few pages on the script. Your character loathes him for what he represents and sees little in him but a man who has never worked a day in his life and expects women to give him whatever he wants. Of course, Ben would not take a role with such little depth, in fact, his character grows out of the initial repulsion to become a Mister Darcy of sorts. His character grows through the story and the relationship between him and his wife gets better and even friendly once the pair are shipped to New Zealand so he can take care of his father’s mine in a small town called Christchurch. That was where the real story developed, surrounded by the beauties of the island and the local Maoris, the story serves to speak of the differences between the two people who now live there. The hard work and sacrifices the first colonizers had to go through to bring prosperity to the country.

You like this transition and you get to experience it with your character as you too start learning more and more about Ben.

So after spending a good hour in hair and makeup on your first day, fooling around while you had your hair curled and messed with, you were greeted on set by the whole crew expecting you to to get into a bed and pretend to have sex. Of course, it was awkward for a few minutes, your character was supposed to have had a fight with Ben’s character before this, and the whole night was supposed to be horrible for her. It was not the first time you filmed a scene like this, but it was the first time your character was not into it. Ben’s character was supposed to be drunk and get violent, it did not sound like your friend at all. It was also your characters’ first night in the foreign country, their first evening together alone at last. Neither one of them wanted to be there, but they were, so these characters had to fulfill their duties and get on with life.

Once the camera started rolling you two went at it like professionals. You stood still in an embarrassingly transparent white gown while Ben circled you with a glass of whiskey in his hand. The scene started slow and it took you and the director a couple of takes before you got the rhythm right. Pacing yourselves, you and Ben worked it out in front of the camera.

You yelled at him. He pushed you back on the bed. You slapped him. He pulled your hair, and when his character was supposed to be forcing himself on yours, you cried and pulled your hands away from him, turning to look away as the script dictated your character to do. Crying and whining, you shut your eyes with a camera angled only inches away from your face.

Ben had a hard time after this, he apologized to you about a thousand times.

Although you were going to use a wig for most of the scenes, the ones where you were supposed to go to bed were the only ones for which you wore your blonde hair down. Ben thought he had been too aggressive, he did not think of it while you were filming, he just let his character take over and when the director called for cut-scene after only a couple of takes, he looked at your face and saw the mess of tears that it had become. You had to recover your breath from the fake sobbing, you worked yourself up for the scene but since the director liked what he had already there was no need for you to keep the intensity.

“It’s okay, Ben,” you patted his shoulder as you sat up in the bed on set while the crew came around to do their magic. “You did great! Didn’t think you had it in ya...”

Ben frowned, there were tears streaming down your face yet you smiled.

“I didn’t know you could actually cry on command.” He admitted, sitting next to you. He touched his cheek. “You ever thought of boxing?”

You laughed and leant on his shoulder, smiling as the makeup girls came to examine the damage done to their work.

“Oi, why do I get to wear a ridiculous piece of tape down here,” You pointed down at your lap as you saw the wardrobe woman come in, “and Ben gets real size pants?”

Ben chuckled and put his hand on your knee, squeezing it as he thought of what you said.

“Hey, I paid my dues on Eastenders!” Ben looked you dead in the eyes, “I was a piece of meat for the producers.”

You stared at him and lifted your head from his shoulder.

“Are you joking?” You put your hand on his and smiled. “That how I feel right now. They gave me a piece of yellow tape to cover up my vagina.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed and he looked away for a second.

“Why not just a thong? Wouldn’t that be easier to hide?”

“I told them that but they brought me flip flops!” You explained, interrupted now by the makeup artist retouching your makeup.

“Oh, that will get red in a few hours.” Beth, the makeup artist said as she stared at Ben’s cheek, giving you a chastising look.

“Sorry.” You mumbled.

After this first experience on set, everything else was like a walk in the park. The director had put you through the toughest parts early onto production to get you two to work up your chemistry from there.

It turned out to work so well that you were at the moment getting a facetime call from Ben. Considering if you should reject it and go to bed you turned on your side in the comfort of your warm bed and rested your cheek on the plush pillow. In the end, you slid your finger and watched your screen darken when his face came up in the middle of a dark square - he was in bed too.

“What’re you doing Miss Everleigh?” He asked in a low voice.

You snorted at him using your character’s name. You had a usual joke with it, everyone on set called you the Everleighs and it was easy to see why. You two were always hanging out together between takes, and if you were not you would still know exactly where to find the other. You would bring cookies to set, Ben would walk in with coffee for everyone. You two were ridiculously connected, though the crew knew better than to tease you for it.

“I am about to go to bed.” You explained to him, “I have to be on Beth’s chair by 4.” You ran your hand through your face.

“Sucks. Me too.” Ben sighed for a long moment. “Want me to pick you up?”

“Is it a bother?” You scrunched up your nose.

Ben laughed and stuck his tongue out at you. “Never, Y/N.”

You smiled at him on your screen and noticed him yawning.

“Thanks, we should get some sleep now.”

“Yup.” He agreed, “see you in a few!”

“Bye!” You waved and finished the conversation.

It was still funny to you that after all the time you spent together that morning, Ben still managed to forget to ask if you wanted a ride for the next day. During the last couple of weeks, you were going to be shooting scenes with different units. You were going to Wales next month to shoot some of the initial scenes on the script and Ben would stay in London with the first unit. So, for the time being, you enjoyed the couple of times a week when you and Ben could ride together to work.

As you set your phone down, you felt if buzz and turned it around again to see a notification on your screen. A text message followed by a second and a third one. All from the same person. Joe.

You smiled and put your finger on the white circle of your phone, the only button available, to unlock it. Reading the messages in silence.

“I’m not reckless, you know? And I am at a coffee shop fyi.”

“I just checked and it is getting late there, are you going to sleep soon?”

“Goodnight y/n. Call me when you’re free. Love you.”

Joe was a sweetheart. And he also hated to be missing out on your and Ben’s adventures while working on this project. From his whining via voice notes on the group chat when Ben sent a picture of you learning how to ride a horse like a lady, to the time when he actually exited the group after you sent a video of Ben and yourself doing his BAB dance in full costume featuring your hairstylist in the middle of a farm in NZ.

“About to doze off. We have an early morning tomorrow. Love you too, silly!”

You turned your phone off and put it on the nightstand to leave it to charge while you rolled on your back and pulled the covers up to your nose.

Spending the day laying on Ben’s couch playing Fifa and watching films really was a good way of spending your free day; topped only by you two venturing outside in sweatpants to get to Ben’s favourite sushi place for dinner.

You closed your eyes and saw black, tired, you were pulled from the world in an instant.

You sighed, waking up suddenly to the sound of your doorbell ringing. Pushing the covers away, you noticed a light layer of sweat covering your body. Forgetting about it you put on your robe and walked through the long hall, passing by the bathroom, kitchen and living room. When you opened the door, you knew who to expect.

“Morning!” Ben smiled from behind a pair of squared sunglasses.

You grunted your response, leaning on your door for support as you stepped to the side to let him in.

Ben stepped inside, kissing your cheek and waiting for you to close the door. He watched you go back to your bedroom and followed.

“I feel sick.” You admitted, walking past the bed to go find an outfit for the little time it would take to go to set and back home.

There was a light pounding on your head, you thought it might go away after you had coffee, so you did not complain too much about it.

“Anyone awake at this hour has to feel sick, Y/N.” Ben sat on the edge of your bed and saw you throw some clothes to the side on a chair.

You huffed and threw yourself back on your bed.

“I don’t want to leave you!” You cried out, the sound muffled from the thick bed covers.

While you savoured the last seconds in your bed, Ben took his chance and snapped a picture of you, which he would proceed to post later on his Instagram to further tease your fan base. Everyone went nuts when the news that you were working on the same project broke, the fans had been loving the content you two created on your social media accounts, with the interventions of your friends it was even better.

Ben knew the routine already, he patted your back and then saw you get up and make your bed with a pout. He helped by tossing some pillows at you, and straightened the duvet on one of the sides before you announced you would get chanced in the bathroom.

Your friend liked this natural feeling of domestic life. Picking you up was the part of his day when he felt like any other person working a job in the world. He would help make your bed and if there was any time he would brew some coffee. You would come out of your room wearing some jeans, a shirt, and hoodie, and you would tell him where the cookies were. It was like this all the time, he thought he would miss it once the production wrapped shooting. But he was thankful he got a stronger friendship from it.

“Hey, Ben?” You walked into the kitchen this morning with a tired expression.

It was odd, by this moment you should have gotten to terms with the lack of sleep. You should be more upbeat, but even your face seemed to refuse to show colour.

“Are you alright?” The blonde wondered, placing his hands on the kitchen counter behind him. “You look...”

“Sick?” You cut him off, rolling your eyes, “I feel sick, I think I’ll catch a cold or something.”

Ben offered you a thermos filled with coffee. You took it with a nod and thanked him. Grabbing your hoodie and jacket you walk outside to Ben’s car.

“You can nap while we get there,” Ben said to you once you were both sat inside his vehicle.

“I’ll do that. Thanks.”

You put on your seatbelt and curl into a ball on the passenger’s seat, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

Ben had to admit that this was a little odd, but this late into the shooting it might just be that you were experiencing some degree of exhaustion. He tries not to worry as he woke you up once the car was parked.

“We’re her,.” Ben announced.

You sniffed and blinked. Wiping away the sleep from your eyes as Ben got out of the car and came to open the door for you.

You felt dizzy and your head was starting to feel more like a drum than a head. Not wanting to delay production or cause concern to anyone, you smiled at the crew members you ran into on the way to the makeup trailer and sat on your usual chair.

Everything else went as normal, you reviewed your lines while Beth worked her magic on you and heard Ben joke around. You replied a few times but watched him leave before you did.

“I’ll see you at lunch!” He called back when he exited the trailer.

Today you were shooting some scenes with other actors, in fact, almost all your scenes together were done; so next, you would be going to film the basis of your characters. This morning you would be filming your character explaining herself to the boy she loved, she had to give up on him to make her mother at ease and marry Ben’s character. It was a conflicting scene where you would have to show love, remorse and grieve, but your character being so righteous proved to hide these emotions well, making it difficult for you to convey them in a believable manner.

Your next scene was one at a dinner party, then you would play the piano and meet other characters important to the plot later on.

Had it not been for the tight corset you might have had a chance at pulling through the day of shooting.

Followed by an assistant you were directed into a barn, inside the lights were set, mics too. You saw the rest of the actors standing back behind the monitors as you approached Craig.

“‘Sup Craig!” You greeted him, kissing his cheek.

You had met before, having filmed already a few scenes together.

“Not much, how you doing?” He looked you up and down and pointed at the waist on your dress. “That looks surreal!”

“Well, breathing in it is surreal!” Your eyes widened but you both laughed.

The scene was set and everyone stood on their marks when the director asked them to. Once the camera started rolling, you remembered the words on the script.

“I am so sorry,” you said, holding Craig’s hands as he stared with a confused expression on his face. “I tried to talk to my mother, but... Father has already expressed his desires. I am to be married to Mister Everleigh.”

Craig’s face showed confusion and he squeezed your hands, showing how his character reacted with desperation as he first heard the news from his beloved’s lips.

“But...a marriage without love?” Craig shook his head, “you said you would never...how can you agree to it? Will you not fight it?”

“Father has fallen ill.” You rushed to explain. “He has been clear he wants things this way. I cannot go against his will.”

“I-I-I...” Craig looked down at your hands as the camera came closer to the two. “I will ask for your hand!”

You close your eyes, a sting of pain shot through your stomach at this moment and you struggle to think of the lines.

“No,” you began, placing a hand on your abdomen over the thick fabric of your tight costume, “No... Percy...” You used Craig’s character’s name. “It will be no use. Mister Everleigh has already set the date, mother has fitted me into the dress...”

You opened your eyes and took a deep breathe, watching him cut you off, as the script dictated.

“I do not care!” He pulled you closer, cupping the back of your head and pressing his nose against yours. “I love you. I will speak to your father, there must be something-”

You pushed Craig away, both confused and scared for what you were feeling at the moment. Your head spun around as if the earth was shaking beneath your feet. Sighing you shook your head and slapped Craig’s hands as he tried to hold you again.

“It has been decided. Percy, I will not defy him on his dying bed.” You cried out, before storming off out of the barn followed by another one of the cameras.

“CUT!” The director called.

You stopped and brought a hand to your head, trying to regain composure. You and Craig repeated the scene a couple of times, by the time you were moving on to a different scene your head about to blow, you could barely stand it and asked your assistant on set to bring you some paracetamol to try and help out.

For about half the morning it sort of did, but then it all got far worse. You were in the middle of shooting another scene involving Craig, this time you were supposed to get off one of the horses with his help while Ben’s character watched from a distance. The meeting with him had been already filmed, but this was somewhat important to the storytelling or at least to the director’s creative vision of the film. Having learnt months ago how to ride a horse you encountered no problems getting on the saddle and riding around in a circle with the horse while the crew set up for the scene.

Once you were rolling you figured your stomach would be fine, since you had been experiencing little discomfort since popping the small white pill into your mouth. Of course, things went wrong quick after you stopped the horse at what was supposed to be the Jones, your character’s family, small home. You jumped off the saddle with your hands on Craig’s shoulders and as soon as your feet touched the ground, you watched the world revolving around you come down along with you.

Everything looked blurry and judging from the director’s call on cutting the shot, it was evident. A second later you found yourself staring at Craig’s face as if he was staring from above, the sky grey as usual on the background of this image of his dark hair and protuberant nose.

“Y/N? Y/N?” A voice echoed in your ears and struggled to make out the voice, “Y/N? Are you okay?”

It was your assist. Next, you thought to hear her saying she had brought you some painkillers for your head, the director agreed and someone else got on the phone, you were pulled up and sat. Only now did you realise you had been laid across the entrance of the state.

“What is it?” You closed your eyes but felt the now familiar touch of Ben’s hands on your face.

Your friend pushed the fake hair from your wig away from your face and watched intently. You looked paler than usual, a fake blush had been put on your cheeks to make you appear okay, but the lack of spark in your eyes gave it away fast. You were starting to sweat and as he ran his fingers along your face he noticed the reason: you were burning up.

“I think...” you managed, feeling a strange sandiness in your mouth, your tongue moved in an odd way and your chest squeezed into itself. “I’m gonna be sick.”

Just the moment you pushed past Ben and stumbled onto the corner your stomach flipped and you fell on your knees as you threw up. Crying out, at last, you were surrounded by crew members and actors. Craig and Ben helped pull your hair away and one of the cameramen held your hand as you got back to your feet.

“I feel like shit,” you admitted to Ben once your assistant wiped your face to get rid of some vomit staining the corners of your mouth.

Ben frowned, concerned about what could be wrong with you.

“You should rest.” He said and turned around to see the director coming up to talk to you.

He stepped away to let you have a word with the director of the film.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” The old man asked, fixing his glasses on his nose.

“I feel sick, sir.” You replied in all honesty. “But I can go on!”

To prove your point you tried to stand up, only to shake in your feet for a few seconds and have Craig hold you back up, Ben rushing to your aid as well. The director held your hands and pursed his lips in a tight frustrated smile.

“Call the medics,” the director instructed his assistant and put his eyes back on you. “I do not mind figuring out what to do without you for a few days, go get treated. You can finish up later.”

Like a child, you nodded and the man kissed your cheek to let you know it was fine.

Ben wrapped his arms around you as the director called the crew in for a quick meeting, they would have to rethink the day of shooting and figure out what to do while you got better.

You leant on Ben’s chest and let your head sink on the crook of his chest while the paramedics arrived and put you on a stretcher to take you to the hospital. You were ushered back to your trailer and Beth helped you take the wig and costume off before heading to the closest hospital.

“Do you have your phone?” Ben asked, walking along with the paramedics as you were rolled through the parking lot.

“Yeah, I’ll text you when I know what’s wrong.” You promised. “Call me when you have time!”

“I’ll come to see you when we’re done!” Ben stopped walking once you were carried inside the ambulance.

You waved at him before the paramedics closed the doors of the ambulance. You had never been on an ambulance before and it felt like you were in deep trouble. The paramedics started asking you questions about your symptoms, checking your vitals and feeling your stomach, finding a spot where it hurt.

“Stop!” You pushed the hand away, feeling a strong pain shoot right up your abdomen. “That hurts.”

After a short ride to the hospital and some tests, you were informed by the doctor that you were dealing with food poisoning. Since being in the hospital you had not stopped throwing up, unable to be medicated without a diagnosis by the time the information from the laboratory was delivered to you, you had already been given an IV. The doctor thought you might as well make the best out of it, and gave you the medicines through it.

You fell asleep a few seconds after you were medicated, but you were glad you would not need surgery or any other more invasive treatment.

•••

Ben didn’t get a text from you but he made sure to send you flowers at the hospital and went straight to see you after the shooting was done for the day.

You texted Joe while you waited for Ben to come back. He wanted to know how you were doing since he heard you were sick. After telling him you were alright he asked if there was someone home to take care of you while you recovered.

“That seems a little bit extreme, Joe. I’m just fine!” You texted him.

Changing the subject you sent him a picture of Ben’s hair and laughed at his reply.

“Don’t make me laugh! My tummy hurts!” You write back at him, and he texts an answer quickly enough.

“Sorry! Damn it, kinda wish I could be there!”

You glance over at the door and watch Ben come in with a coffee from the machine and pudding from the cafeteria. He shakes it a bit and extends it towards you.

“For me?” You wonder, brightening up to the small gesture. “Aw, Benny!”

You bring a hand to your chest, and text Joe back.

“I wish so too! At least I could punch you every time you made me laugh!” You added some emojis to soften the message, although you knew Joe would know you were playing.

“Who are you talking to?” Ben wondered once he put the pudding on your side table and sat on a chair next to your bed.

“Mozzarella sticks, Ben.” You joked.

The blonde snorted and threw his head back, rolling his eyes at your lame joke.

Ben knew it was wrong and not normal, the way he could not help but stare at you while you laughed and giggled at whatever Joe was telling you.

“Okay.” you put your phone down and looked up at your friend with tired eyes. “How was it without me on set?”

As Ben thought of the way to answer, he realised something. And he looked away from you for a moment.

“Absolutely boring.” He smiled up at you, placing his hand on yours.

You turned your hand and squeezed his, now Ben couldn’t help but wonder what your feelings were about this. About how close you had become. What would you say when he told you that his heart skipped a beat when he saw you faint? What would you do if he admitted his skin tingled now as you rubbed the back of his hand with your thumb?

Expose YN and Joe’s closeness. YN gets sick progressively worsening until she faints during a scene. Ben gets concerned, they spent a lot of time together before and now she is sick he wants to be with her, noticing how much he misses her. He realised he likes her more than just as a friend.

Ben stays with her one night to take care of her. As he is about to admit his feelings for her his phone rings and answering it turns out Joe wants his help to ask YN out on a date when they go to a fashion show in Paris the next week.

Taglist: @shanetoo @artemisiaarm @sarai-ibn-la-ahad

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben x ynofficial #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy angst #joe mazzello #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello x reader #bohemian rhapsody cast #bohemian rapsody cast #the flu

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