#frenchie strikes again

[frenchiefitzhere]

new hellmo no context

#hotdog hellmo #eat it #hellmo #frenchie strikes again

[cheapcheapfaker]

just came home and found a little frenchie planter near all of my outdoor planters complete with flowering plant 😭 no note, and our doorbell was dead so if they rang and tried to leave a message i never got it. I’m fucking tickled pink. No idea who left it or what but it’s just. Such a sweet and thoughtful act of kindness.

#I have the same type of frenchie planter with a witch’s hat in my top front window. #Smalltimore strikes again 😭 #Tate kobang sang ‘i love my city ask about me and i bet they know me’ about satchel actually #had such a good weekend full of love for my city and this is just icing on the cake

[chuplayswithfire]

thinking about ofmd again and one reason i think season 2 will be angsty about emotional stuff more than physical violence is that. this show doesn't really much care about violence, or our casts capacity for inflicting violence. it cares about how characters feel about their capacity for violence and how they engage with their own violence, but it doesn't generally impact moral value to violence.

roach tortures people for relaxation. buttons is actively seeking opportunities to practice cannibalism. frenchie has thorough suggestions on how to torture and mutilate prisoners. spanish jackie keeps a nose jar (and other body part jars). stede watches an entire crew of innocent people be murdered and their corpses ransacked and mostly notes "the gusto!" of it all. lucius beams jim over the head with a stick and knocks them out cold. jim traps lucius in a trunk for days (which oluwande knows about and doesn't interfere in).

the framing of the toe scene is striking because its so dark and serious, but it's not because the show is suddenly saying that violence is wrong. its because the show is pointing out something wrong with the emotional beat of the characters. it's the same reason the scene of stede being pelted with rocks is serious, the same reason jim's recounting of their family's murder is serious, the reason the scene of ed killing his father is serious.

using violence is not inherently a great evil in the narrative world of ofmd. it's people's reactions to and motivations around the violence that tends to be important.

#ofmd #edward teach #stede bonnet #our flag means death #ofmd meta

[myckicade]

Frenchie doesn’t mean to return to the Inn exhausted and battle-hardened and caked in dried blood. It shouldn’t take the last of his strength to rap his knuckles against the fresh coat of paint on the front door, wet from the sideways-falling sheets of rain that just won’t stop. It shouldn’t be all he can do to keep himself standing while he waits for Stede. For Ed. For some-fucking-one to open the door. It shouldn’t, but it does. 

Fuck it. He shouldn’t have had to go back to slitting throats and spilling guts, either, but. Vengeance will do that to you. Love will do that to you. 

There’s some banging about inside. Some shouting to follow. Frenchie would rub his eyes, but he’s not terribly keen to get someone else’s blood in them. He’d had enough of that before he’d taken his new place aboard the Revenge. When... 

FUCK. 

Fighting to toss the thought aside, Frenchie knocks again. Louder. Harder. Why isn’t someone coming to the fucking door, already? He’s going to drop where he stands, so help him, and his two ex-Captains can clean up whatever remains in the light of day. Once the buzzards, or the gulls, or whatever the fuck wild beasts live out this way have had the chance to pick him clean. They can bury his bones – or whatever’s left – next to... 

Jesus Christ. When did it become so hard to even think the man’s name? Saying it, nah, the word hasn’t left his mouth in months. Hearing it from the tongues of others? Still a hard pass. He’s managed to find himself anywhere others weren’t talking about the man, and quickly. But his thoughts. His own inner sanctum of peace and love has taken someone he still holds so dear, and shoved him into the deepest, darkest corner of The Box. He'd rather poke holes in one of his enemies and find them leaking delicious buttercream frosting than to ever look in that corner again. 

And why? 

Well. Frenchie isn’t stupid enough to think his reasons any more noble than the basic truth. It’s a blame game, and he's losing to himself. If he’d been closer. If he’d stayed next to him like he’d always intended. Maybe he could have saved him. Maybe he would have survived. 

Bang. Bang. Bang. 

“Open the fuck up!” he shouts, the words swallowed by a roll of thunder. 

He doesn’t want to think about this. He’s going to go inside and drink himself to death. He’d going to pay for a room until he starves to death, or his body gives out from exhaustion, or he drowns in bad rum. He doesn’t care. He just wants to do it, but first, somebody has to- 

“Open the fucking door, guys!” 

He hasn't cried. Not once has he shed a tear. He’s been waiting. Waiting for the right time. Waiting until he could afford to split at the seams and fall well and truly apart. The crew needed him, and they needed him to keep it together. They needed him to support them and see them all out in one piece. 

They needed Frenchie to be him. 

But he wasn’t. He wasn’t and he isn’t and he’s tired of pretending. He’s tired of pretending that the one thing, the one and true good thing that he managed to find in the darkest days of his life was gone. Just fucking ripped out of existence. They’d had so little time. So much had been left unsaid. Maybe he’d take a bottle down the lawn tomorrow and say a few of them. Say all of them. It would be a fitting place to go. 

If he doesn’t, y’know, turn back and drown himself in the damned rain first. 

Frenchie raises his fist to knock again, to pound at the wood, willing to throw his shoulder against the hinges if it will help. From inside, a loud bang catches his attention, this time accompanied by a soft thumping sound. More shouting. Closer this time, familiar in a way that tickles his memory in all the wrong places. He’s playing tricks on himself. Maybe, Death is nearer than he thinks. 

If only he was so lucky. 

The latches are being worked on the other side of the door. Too slow, but it's progress. Lightning strikes as the door eases open, surely distorting Frenchie’s worldview because, no. A trick of the light. He blinks and has another look. The eyes staring back at him are beautiful and wide, surprised, but relieved. The lips move over a silvering beard, jaw working until the man before him finally clears his throat. He shifts on the crutch beneath his arm, and Frenchie’s ears are filled with a precious, rasping voice. 

“Took you long enough.” 

All at once, the world spins and comes crashing to a halt. The force is so great, it jolts the lid from The Box. What spills out... He’s energized. He’s alight. He’s clean and innocent and vulnerable and still so damned wounded, but. But. There it is. It’s in every thought. It is a joy to hear. It feels so good to come gasping from somewhere in the depths of his heartbroken soul. 

“Izzy!” 

#I like to imagine Frenchie entering his Captain Flint Era over this #Oh my yes I do #And this was speed-written at my desk during my half-hour lunch break so take that for what it's worth to ya' #Desk Fic #First Draft #Ouizzy #Frenchie #Izzy Hands #OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #OFMD Spoilers #Our Flag Means Death Spoilers

[adickaboutspoons]

Hey guys(gn)! Guys, guys, guys(gn, gn, gn)! You know how the show goes out of its way to say that Stede Did NOT Kill Nigel?

A thing that would absolutely get him convicted of at least manslaughter in any court?

And, like, even Stede "It's all my fault" Bonnet goes from "I'M A MURDERER!" to "I didn't fully kill the man"?

How the show looks at Stede striking a man in the head from behind, which causes said man to fall on his drawn sword and die, and says "Nah - he didn't kill Nigel, and the people who claim that he did are all douchebags"? Can we please stop saying that Stede responded to Ed being slighted by the aristocats with violence by burning down the French Party Boat and killing a bunch of people in the resulting fire?

First, Stede's response to Ed being embarrassed was to embarrass Ed's tormentors in kind by revealing their shameful secrets. If you want to talk about how weaponizing emotional responses is a form of violence, we can, but no one is going to literally die of shame, and Stede's response is entirely proportional. They humiliated him and he *checks notes* went and pouted on deck with Frenchie. They humiliated his friend? He is going to humiliate all of THEM. As the old adage goes: "don't dish it if you can't take it."

Second, Stede didn't start the fire. Sir Cockhead tackled Sigfried, who tumbled into a cart on which there was alcohol and a candle, which set the cart rolling, which spilled the booze and knocked over the candle, which set fire to the alcohol, which set fire to the curtains when the cart butted into the wall.

Does Stede look delighted by this turn of events? Yes. But that doesn't make him the perpetrator of it. Again, he was just sort of around when it happened.

Third, Stede isn't even directly responsible for the fight that set the fire in motion (literally). Yes, he revealed that Sigfried was having financial trouble. But Sigfried revealing that he had bought into Frenchie's pyramid scheme was an unforced error. Stede had already moved on to take down Gabriel and Antionette for their incestuous marriage, and it wasn't until after THAT was revealed that (I'm presuming) the wife of Sigfried's business partner called him out for being a crook, which led him to boast about his expected turn in fortune, what with owning "half the pyramid". Then Sir Cockhead and Messr. Business Partner both revealed that they ALSO owned "half the pyramid." And THAT is what led to them brawling. As such, you may as well blame Frenchie for burning down the boat, because it was the revelation of his scam that made the toffs start fighting. But you wouldn't. Because that's stupid. Frenchie just took advantage of their greed and self-importance. He didn't make them fight. He didn't goad them into it, or physically push one of them into the other to get things rolling.

But neither did Stede.

So in a show that takes the pains to say, in as many words, and on more than one occasion, that Stede did not kill Nigel, even though the act of stunning Nigel is what directly led to him falling down on his sword and killing himself, can we please stop assigning chains of culpability to Stede that he is three-or-more steps removed from directly causing?

#honestly he is DIRECTLY responsible for so many things #what with being the protagonist and all that #You don't have to go looking for MORE stuff to heap on his shoulders #ofmd #our flag means death

[toastedwrittenthoughts]

SAVE GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES!

CALLING ALL PINK LADIES AND T-BIRDS!

When the news that this show was cancelled, I gotta say, it did more than take the wind out of my sails. First I was shocked, simply because, it just got aired and now, barely a few weeks after their last episode, they have cancelled and are going to REMOVE IT from Paramount+.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Followed by confusion. Whether it be the writers strike, the lack of views, the shit promotion they (Paramount+) did to get it circulated, they decided that didn't make 'movie box office numbers for it' and are bailing out before it found more of its audience just as it was starting to pick up speed...

And anger... This is a mixture of emotions but its mostly because the actors, the writers, the dancers, THE FUCKING MUSIC..

DESERVED BETTER!

Not only that, the cliffhanger they left us on makes me so sad on the things we will potentially never get to see.

Jane and Richie will never be reunited.

We'll never see Cynthia and Lydia grow in their relationship.

Gil and Olivia will never get together.

Nancy wont take over the world.

We'll never see Hazel in the Pink Ladies and how she plays a part in what they do now in situations.

We will never know what happened between Zuko and Jane.

Richie won't ever see the T-Birds again.

Mr. Daniels wont get fired. Buddy won't grow/adapt. Nor will Susan.

Frenchy and Rizzo will never be seen earning/getting their jackets!

Think of all the songs we could get! The representation! The references! The banter! The tension! The lessons!

Unless they get picked up by another network, we will never see any of those or more.

The Pink Ladies did not start teaching/showing us to go against the current and start making a fuss against the powers that be; to go out quietly into the night! We do not have to lay dawn and take it, and certainly not WITHOUT A FIGHT!

SO PLEASE!

You do not have to donate! Your voice, your signature is enough! As Olivia once said to our lovely lady Jane when she was feeling full of doubt and maybe some despair;

"YOURE ENOUGH!"

PLEASE!

LIKE and REBLOG TO SPREAD THE WORD AND SIGN!

#grease: rise of the pink ladies #sign the petition #rise of the pink ladies #jane facciano #olivia valdovinos #nancy nakagawa #cynthia zdunowski #richie x jane #olivia x gil #richie valdovinos #potato #potato x nancy #cynthia x lydia #save grease rise of the pink ladies #the pink ladies #the tbirds #rise against #gil rizzo #shy guy #buddy aldridge

[the-0k-gatsby]

I’m rewatching OFMD from the beginning and I noticed something.

After Stede asks what they should do if someone comes back from the raid mentally devastated, Frenchie says-

- and I am FULLY losing my mind. Frenchie and the box in his mind strike again 😭

#ofmd #our flag means death #Frenchie #thanks once more to djenks and Joel Fry #I am crying in the middle of the week

[the-moon-loves-the-sea]

Ed really got hit by three betrayals he never saw coming -- three in a span of days. We know Jack's a flake, but he doesn't; he tells Stede Jack saved his life, that he's a secret sentimentalist, that he's more like Stede than he seems. And we know he slept with Jack, if Jack's telling the truth, which is closer than he ever got with anyone else. And when Jack gets himself in trouble and asks Ed to go with him, Ed feels bound to. What I'm seeing is that their connection feels deep, to Ed, compared to anything else he'd had before, at least. And then Jack turns around and laughs at him for trusting him, laughs at him for believing in the very idea of friends; says they're all screwing each other over. Ed's furious then because he realizes Stede's in danger, and that means nothing to Jack; but I think he's also furious because he trusted Jack and thought Jack felt the same, that that's why he'd come to Ed when he was in trouble, when really it was nothing to him.

And then Stede! The clincher, the heart-shatterer. The utterly unexplained one. He told Jack Stede was his friend, whatever Jack says; he lays himself bare for him. Gives up everything he's got for him, and gets -- not nothing; he gets a kiss, a half-whispered confession of happiness. But after that, nothing. He's gone. Not a word to him, not a clue as to why, since Stede admitted none of his fears or doubts aloud, didn't ask for a moment to think or a little bit of help adjusting. Ed doesn't even have a guess, just a lonely dawn and silence.

And then Izzy. Who'd already sold him out once, who he'd taken back anyway, in need of someone he knew. His employee, yes, but also his fixer, the guy he sent on the important errands, the one he let see him at his lowest and didn't question whether that would shake his loyalty. The guy who claimed he could handle any of Ed's moods and get them the results they needed anyway. That guy looks him in the eye and tells him his allegiance is based wholly on Ed's performance of power, that he never signed on to serve a fag, and that any further weakness will earn Ed what he thinks is coming to him. That he’s stopped seeing the moments of weakness as an aberration and started seeing it as Ed— that he is the weakness he should hide away.

And that's when Ed breaks. Now he believes he's alone. Now he's stopped saying he doesn't know why Stede left; he says he knows. They were just his playthings. They couldn't have been anything to him; Jack, his oldest friend, says he never was, and Izzy, his most fanatical follower, says he's there for the legend only. Why would Stede be different? Three strikes; Stede's out. There is nobody in the world that Ed can trust, not if friendship, nor love, nor loyalty will keep anyone close to him.

A few big betrayals in a row will do that to you; makes it all feel inevitable. Makes it feel sure that that's just how the world is, or all you're ever going to get, at least; that you were the fool, for hoping you were loved, not the ones who made you feel that way. That's why above all else I'm hoping Ed's going to learn in s2 that not everyone will betray him. That somehow he'll learn to lean on Jim and Frenchie, or Fang and Ivan, or Lucius-in-the-walls, or anyone, long before Stede shows up again, so that by the time he sees him he'll know that there is still a chance at trusting what he'd known of him before, and taking what he's offering him now. One way or another, I need Ed to know he's not really alone.

#ofmd #our flag means death #did ed fucking mess up at the end there? he sure did #do i get why he went sliding straight into protective mode? hell yes #he's gotten his worst fears confirmed in the worst way #and even things he didn't think to be afraid of! #he really didn't seem to expect any of those betrayals #i think sometimes we discount jack's because he's so obviously a flake #and ed is so radiant right after going back to stede #but i think that one hurt horribly too #he trusted him #it caught up to him later i think

[hermywolf]

Bestie I absolutely LOVE your The Boys fic recs, could we get some more? I love the longer fics, preferably butcher/hughie but anything esp polyam is great too. I'd owe you my life if you gave me these, thanks!!!

okay so i tried my best!! but there’s unfortunately not that many fics and most of them are really short, i’d love to rec longer ones but there’s not that many. this ended up being mostly smut too bc a good 70% of the ao3 butchie tag is smut, but please if anyone has other recs (even better if they’re long fics!!) let me know & i’ll add them!

here’s part one of my the boys fic recs if anyone needs it

ask a question, get an answer, 2k

smut. basically the bathroom scene in 3x08, but instead of butcher knocking hughie out they end up having sex. i love this one so much. @jaskierx​ strikes again with the characterization, their banter in this fic is>>

canary, 1k

butcher’s internal monologue during 2x03: basically him thinking about hughie’s reaction to him being back

humanity series, 49k

series of smutty fics through s1 and s2 by aishahiwatari, whom we owe like a good half of the butchie content on ao3

i don’t forgive you, but please don’t hold me to it, 1k

smut. s2, when hughie was still mad at butcher. butcher and hughie beat the shit out of each other and then have hate sex. thats it thats the fic. by god these two are so toxic and dysfunctional sometimes its insane

take your time (i won’t be far behind) 2k

i feel like every fandom needs to have at least one soulmate au, and this is it. people get soulmarks when they meet their soulmates, whether they be platonic or romantic. this fic follows each of the boys as they get their own soulmarks

but it may just be a lunatic you’re looking for, 2k

smut. 1x03. hughie is amped up after having just murdered transluscent, butcher lends a helping hand. frenchie is also there but doesn’t participate

present, 7k

awkward getting together in a non-supe au, annie and hughie are besties, annie and butcher hate each other. cute and fun

patch up, 6k

hughie gets hurt during a job. hurt/comfort. im an absolute slut for hurt/comfort my god i love angst. no mcd

ever-needy, 4k

smut. hughie borrows one of butcher’s shirts. butcher’s possessive, hughie’s into it. ik this is supposed to be smut but it still makes my brain leak out of my ears. this author’s note at the end of the fic encapsulates the dynamic perfectly:

“me, on a normal day: butcher would fuck the absolute soul out of hughie until he's bleeding and crying

me, writing this specific piece: Wait But Hughie Is His Prized Porcelain Doll”

a candle in the window on a cold dark winter’s night, 9k

post s3, hughie and butcher’s relationship changed over the past weeks they’ve spent alone, and they’re closer than ever. the boys’ outsider pov on their relationship in chapter 1, hughie pov in chapter 2 and butcher pov in ch3

black coffee, 9k

coffee shop au. i absolutely love how the author translated the boys’ world and conflicts into a coffee shop au. like the rivalry between the boys and vought is just their coffeeshop competing with starbucks and butcher is just as intense about his hatred for starbucks as he is with the supes it’s amazing

#show:theboys #the boys #hughie campbell #billy butcher #hermy posts #butcher x hughie #hughie x butcher #the boys amazon #fanfiction #fic recs #butchie

[homoquartz]

k now that it's over here's my thoughts. they're the negative ones so they're under readmore. i'll post my positive ones the way i normally do.

i want to start by saying of COURSE i love this show. like of course i do. so:

second seasons are almost always written kind of badly so i am trying to be fair here. i also know strikes and time constraints BADLY fucked the script.

but even so, some of the pacing is fucky in a way that feels confused. like some scenes were cut so short i thought there was an editing error. relationships seemed to develop offscreen, when it feels like those scenes should have been prioritized over some others if folks knew they were gonna have to make cuts. and for whatever reason, some scenes or concepts were held onto when there simply wasn't any room for them (ned being the most egregious imo).

i predicted that they would react to the fan obsession with izzy by giving him too much airtime and i was right. he had more time and character development (though i think his character was changed unrealistically at times) than anyone else by MILES. i am an izzy hater, but even if i wasn't at a certain point i would BEG him to give up the fucking mic.

ESPECIALLY because he has now overshadowed Jim (!!!!!!), who was groundbreaking as a queer nonbinary POC lead. season 1 Jim was practically co-lead and now had NO motivation outside kissing girls this season. AND we STILL don't know anything about olu, roach, or frenchie. our characters of color were badly neglected i think. yi sao may be the only exception, i think she was done well with the time given.

speaking of olu, his romance with the pirate queen was pivotal to the main plot of the season but we get like NO time with him! let alone his relationship with yi sao. imagine a few cut izzy scenes to flesh out olu's situationships. all of them.

i believe at least part of the reason they dropped olu/jim was because jim's actor advocated for jim to date women. That's fine. but it was handled SO disrespectfully given their romance arc in season 1!! not even a conversation?? and to shoehorn in archie when jackie and yi sao and mary/anne were right there?? Lazy imo, and poor streamlining

and speaking of other characters, there were too many. season 1 connected all the antagonists together nicely, with the main big bad being the british. now the big bad is ??? sometimes ned, sometimes yi sao, sometimes nose guy, sometimes jackie, sometimes ed.

season 1 had episode-long enemies, a la calico jack and the french party, but the episodes SAT with those enemies and made them meaningful. ned just kind of appeared and died. if stede needed a reason for his ego trip, or to show off his people management skills, it could have been like. literally one of a million other situations. if we needed ed's suicide attempt to be via ned, ned could have shown in episode 3.

no one's relationships had time to develop naturally like they did in season 1. you didn't have time to understand anyone's motivations. stede and ed were a "couple" for all of half of two episodes. for a show about their romance there was surprisingly little time dedicated to the beats of their relationship. though it would have been painful, i think this season would have deeply benefitted from ed and stede not getting together until the finale. their actions and motivations don't make sense unless you take the kissing out of it. I'm sure a good deal of that is due again to cuts made by HBO.

i'm very disappointed, but that doesn't mean i'm ungrateful. this show is still extremely important, i am praying for a third season renewal, and i hope that season turns the ship around.

#our flag means death #our flag means death spoilers #ofmd meta

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: A little Brutal

Moon Knight, Issue #16: Shadows of the Moon. 

Ben Grimm (The Thing) shows up in this one!

This one is more Marc centric and I don't mind. 

We start with Moon Knight high up on a building construction site confronting a man that used to work for Bushman. 

"What is a former hired killer for that scum Bushman doing skulking around a construction site at dusk? [...] What does concern me is how you returned illegally to the United States...I want to know why--Now!" 

Marc Spector, you are one to talk. I'm fairly certain Marc is more than a few watch lists for more than a few countries. 

"It's impossible! Everyone who nows me is out of the country or...or..." 

"Or they're dead!" 

Moon Knight again puts the fear of ghosts on his foe as he gives chase. 

The man tries to shoot at him but Moon Knight evades easily. 

He knocks the gun away with a crescent dart. 

"Sharp! Don't reach back! You'll lose your balance!" Moon Knight calls out, but it's too late. Sharp falls back into an elevator shaft and plummets to his death. 

A crowd gathers around the fallen man and they all see Moon Knight leave the scene. 

He's having a rough time with cops and murder lately. 

Marc sits with Frenchie. They discuss how they've been tracking down the Bushman's old henchmen. 

Back on the street, we see a boy run up to his father, excited that he's finally seen The elusive Moon Knight and even gotten a picture of him. 

His father is not impressed and even more upset that his son is even there. 

His father yells at him to go home and takes away the picture, destroying it. He's no fan of 'costumed vigilantes'. 

'Detective Stephen Mills of New York homicide holds deep and strong convictions to his job and to his family. It is unfortunate that the former overshadows the latter..." 

Yeah, it's going to be one of those stories. 

Back at the boy's home, he laments that it isn't fair. He has many Moon Knight posters up on his walls. 

The dad returns home. The boy exclaims that he thinks Moon Knight could do better work than the cops could and the father lashes out. 

He rips down all the posters and destroys them. 

"If it takes drastic action to teach you respect for the law -- and your father, then drastic action it will be!

These come down -- No more hero worship of these costumed adventurers who take the law into their own hands! Hear?!" 

"And there is a rending of more than paper... A relationship is now forever torn..."

Enter the bad guys! 

We see two corporate men talking about the demise of Sharp and their plans for a nuclear bomb hidden under the construction site. 

They decide they need to hire a new guy: Blacksmith. 

In prison, Blacksmith heard about Moon Knight and became obsessed. Working out and training constantly to take a shot at fighting the hard and painful style of Moon Knight. 

"He uses great cunning, physical prowess... But most of all... Most of all the Moon Knight creates an image and countenance enhanced by awesome weapons and striking uniform..." 

Yeah, we got Moon Knight's first obsessive fan. 

Now we find ourselves back at Grant Mansion where Marc has been working out all night.

Marlene comments that Moon Knight was lucky the cops know him well and didn't think he was a murderer. 

Except for one Detective Mills, who hates him and claims to want to tear him down. 

Marc isn't worried about that. 

He gets a tip about who Sharp was working for and what he was up to. He gather's Frenchie and they take off. 

Now we see Detective Mills investigating the construction site. 

He finds a tunnel under the building that isn't supposed to be there that leads over the subway. Having figured out that Sharp was a terrorist, he explores the tunnel, wondering what he will find. 

He suddenly falls down a hole to the subway tracks below and is hit by a train. 

We go back to the home of Mills and see his son finding out that his father has died. 

"A subway car?! No! He was investigating that guy Moon Knight was after!" 

"Moon--?! Oh, my Lord, Douglas! Is that all you can think about--Even now?!" 

"But Mom--You can't believe Dad...DIED by accident! Not Dad!" 

"I don't care how he died! All I know is that he's gone and there's no way to bring him back!" 

The boy is upet and knows his father died on a mission. He runs from the house and heads out into the city. 

"I know who could help me--he Moon Knight! If only dad were alive, I'd make him see what a great Crime-Fighter he is! But how can I--Hey! Mister, take me to the Baxter Building!" 

Yeah... This is going to go well. 

We reach the Baxter building where The Thing is going out with his girlfriend. 

The kid asks Ben for help finding Moon Knight to help him continue his father's investigation. 

The Thing is upset at this. 

"The Nerve O' Some people! Moon Knight? This is FF HQ -- Check out Avengers' mansion if yer lookin' fer one o' them second raters--They all hang out over there! Cheeezee!" 

(This is hilarious on so many levels. Especially since the Avengers don't want Moon Knight, but that's later stuff further down the line). 

Ben's girlfriend is miffed at him and tells him he had no right to be so rude to the boy. 

Ben calms down and decides to help. He uses his radio and sends out a signal seeking Moon Knight. 

Frenchie hears the message and relays it to Moon Knight, who accepts and goes to investigate where Mills was killed. 

As he lands at the tunnel's entrance, he finds Blacksmith waiting for him.

He starts trying to land blows and spouting off about how it's been a long time coming. 

"I don't know you, pal. Why not let me pass and we'll get acquainted later!" 

Oh Moon Knight, such a common problem for you specifically. 

Blacksmith starts to get the upper hand, He's been practicing and studying Moon Knight's moves, after all. 

But this is a common theme that pops up in later comics by other writers. 

They can spend years studying Moon Knight's moves, tactics and fighting style... But no one can predict Moon Knight. 

No one can predict how brutal he can be, how fast, how sharp, or how totally unconcerned with his own safety he is. 

(See Task Master in some of my favorite moments as he learns this the hard way). 

"I have learned all there is to know of the Moon Knight. I know your methods. So you shall fall--For you know nothing of Blacksmith! The advantage is mine!" 

Oh sir... You are in for a bad day. 

You see, he's called Blacksmith because he walks around with a giant hammer and a superheated clamp that he uses to burn people. 

Moon Knight uses some quick moves and cuts the fuel line to the heated weapon and....

"Reverberations briefly rattle the steel structure! Moments later there is silence save for distant voices of men racing to learn the reason for the disturbance.... But, for the moment, they shall find no movement here..." 

Yeah... 

Moon Knight has moved up the building to find someone Blacksmith was sent to protect. The man was sent to activate the bomb. 

He follows the man through the tunnel, noting the hole that Mills fell through. 

And he comes across a Nuclear bomb! 

But wait! 

"You shall make no move, Knight of the Moon! As I know how you value life, even a small one, I once again hold the advantage..." 

Blacksmith! He somehow avoided the blast! And has the boy as hostage! 

Also, that's a hell of a bold claim about Moon Knight valuing life after trying to blow him up... 

Moon Knight recognizes the boy as Mills' son. 

The boy jumps onto the man that's working to activate the bomb while Moon Knight fights with Blacksmith again. 

"You're hurt worse than you thought, Blacksmith, if a boy can escape your grasp!" 

"I let him run... It is not my way to hide behind a youth! We are now weaponless. Our contest shall be decided upon skill alone..." 

"You're warped, Blacksmith... And if my efforts have spawned such as you, then Moon Knight is a curse!" 

"You are my curse as long as you live! I--" 

"You've forgotten the most important thing..You're not me!" 

Moon Knight pummels him and throws him at the man with  the detonator. 

Now look, no one ever said Moon Knight was exactly a genius. 

The man by the bomb drops the detonator he was working on and it blows up, singing everyone present. 

The man realizes that if he had connected it to the bomb, it would have gone off instantly, rather than be delayed enough for him to get away. Looks like his boss double crossed him. 

The boy yells for Moon Knight to kill them while they are down. He wants revenge for his father's death. 

"Son... Be quiet! Think about what you're saying... You're talking like them... They are betrayed, Douglas... They will testify against the men who hired them...They will face justice!" 

Blacksmith also notes that he will train harder. He swears he will never work for someone else again and only work for himself if it means he can be more like Moon Knight. 

Yeah... I'm pretty sure he never shows up in later comics again. I could be mistaken, but villains that try to BE Moon Knight usually don't do so well. 

(Overlooking current MacKay villain Zodiac, who is ultimate fan boy and actually has done his homework and knows about Moon Knight and his past.) 

Meanwhile, the boy laments that his father was wrong. That the criminals were stopped by Moon Knight an not the cops. 

Moon Knight disagrees. 

"No, Doug... Your father was probably right. Latimer will be picked up now by the police... By your father's colleagues...And by the testimony of Blacksmith and Morris, he'll be put away. No one murdered your father, but other crimes and manslaughter charges will put them all away through the system...." 

"You stopped 'em, then... They won't hurt anybody anymore, will they?"

"I can't promise that, Douglas... Because the system isn't perfect by any means... Maybe that's why I do what I do! Just to give the system a little help..." 

The boy talks about how he needs to figure out what he wants to do now too. If he will help keep the bad guys from hurting people by doing it in the system like his father, or if he needs to take work into his own hands eventually like Moon Knight. 

Moon Knight listens to him. 

"Moon Knight listens to the sound of the boy's voice... And he is gladdened. Silently he departs.. Knowing that the shadows he has cast across lives can nurture goodness as well as evil...[...] For it is a truth that if shadows are cast...There must also be light!" 

End of this issue! 

Okay, this issue has some things to consider. 

There was a lot going on and a lot that was glossed over. 

1: When comics say "Special appearance by..." and list a major marvel character, there is a good chance they won't actually be IN the story. They just kinda show up in the background and are used as a way to get people that are big fans of that character to buy that comic in hopes that they will become interested in the new comic and start purchasing that. 

I can't tell you how many random comics I've purchased because they have Moon Knight somewhere in the background. It works and I hate that it works. But here we are. 

The only time a character will actually BE in the comic is if they are splashed across the cover. Or in Moon Knight's case, appear to be fighting the title character. The man cannot make friends. 

2:. I really hate how the abuse of the kid by the father is glossed over. Ripping up things he loves and being so critical. It rubs me the wrong way. Sure, the guy died, but death does not erase abuse/trauma/harsh words/cruelty. 

3:. Moon Knight just flat out aided in the death of one man and then attempted to blow up another dude! 

When you look at it, there is a high death rate in Moon Knight comics. They have never been afraid to kill people, villains, and goons. 

We can blame Marc for this if we like. Death is just another thing that happens and it makes it easier for him not to have to think about pulling punches or using less lethal fighting styles. 

If we think of Moon Knight as being predominantly Marc, it makes sense. It's his outlet. It is where he can let go of his restraints and be as destructive as he likes. But there is also an element of Moon Knight itself that restrains him. Makes him think about his choices and makes him choose a path of less destruction and less bystander risk. 

Things he didn't get to do as a Mercenary, as he admitted in an earlier issue when he shot up a village full of the enemy as well as women and children. 

BUT. This all does come back to them later. Moon Knight is getting a reputation. 

It isn't apparent until much later (especially in Huston's era). But Moon Knight is starting to be known as someone you don't mess with because there is a high likelihood that you are going to end up dead. 

Even the Avengers will start to take notice of his tactics and high death count. 

His chickens will come home to roost. 

4: I LOVE how Moon Knight deals with the child. He listens to him. He is honest with him. He doesn't sugar coat it. He tells him flat out that the system is broken. He refuses to lie to him and promises that these people won't hurt anyone ever again. Something Captain America or others might say in passing as the bad guy is hauled off to jail. 

It all goes back to Marc's own dealing with the system as a young boy. How the system failed him over and over again. 

He isn't going to tell the boy to trust in things that might hurt him. He isn't going to promise to him and hope it doesn't fall through. All he can do is tell him the truth and hope the boy turns out for the best making his own decisions. 

5th. His fear that his presence was only casting darkness on lives is a fear of Marc Spector's. He's out there cleaning up the people he used to work with under Bushman. People labeled as terrorists. He used to also be like them. He could be listed as a terrorist on many lists. 

Marc is trying to erase his past. To clean up what he views as his mess. 

So seeing how he affects the boy and helps him cast off his own misgivings... This is something Moon Knight himself needed. He needed to see that he could be separated from Marc Spector's shadow. That his own shadow is lined in silver. 

Now... SPEAKING OF MARC SPECTOR! 

BONUS REVIEW! 

Many of the earlier comics have small little after comics and this is one!

Marc Spector and Moon Knight in: 

SEEKERS OF STONE. 

written by Jack C Harris

(What’cha doing up there buddy?) 

We see Moon Knight standing ON a news stand reading the newspaper. 

He starts with the obituaries and finds out a former acquaintance of Marc Spector has died. 

"I was already well into the mercenary business... But I hadn't linked up with Bushman's army on a permanent basis! And Stuttgart, Germany made for some great Freelance territory that autumn..." 

Now that is a lot to unpack there. 

A lot of comics assume Marc went right from the military to Bushman. 

But that isn't the case. Marc Spector was an individual for hire man. He became the force he is on his own. 

Bushman recognized that force and attempted to harness it and focus it in for his own use. 

In short, Marc Spector is and always has been a very dangerous and highly skilled man. 

Here we see a younger Marc dealing with a client. 

The client is an old man in a wheelchair complaining about Marc delaying despite being paid. 

"I like to work at night, Mr. Collins... but I refuse to work in the Dark!" 

"I've paid you to obtain a box for me--And I've given you my word that its contents are truly mine!" 

"Your word--BUNK! I don't care about your word or who really owns your precious box--I just want to know what it is I'm after!" 

TITLE CARD: 

(Look at that style. Marc no. You aren’t a spy. What are you wearing? Don’t let Steven see you in that.) 

SPECTOR: MERCENARY! The Man Who will be Moon Knight!

(This is the first of the SPECTOR comics. I adore the Spector comics. They are little shorts that highlight Marc working as a freelance individual Mercenary. Some of them are sad, some highlight how brutal Marc was, some highlight the trauma he underwent in the field, and some are just flat out goofy and show that Marc is just a man with one brain cell firing the best it can.) 

Marc continues to argue with the man. He demands to know what it is he's seeking and the man calls Marc ruthless like himself. 

"Don't compare us, Collins, our motives are our own. You told me you discovered something on a Greek dig back before World War II..." 

He tells Marc it is an artifact treasure that was stolen from him and now he means to get it back from a man named Karg. 

We cut to Karg, standing before a good sized box. He puts on a thick glove and opens the box to reveal snakes ready to strike. 

"The serpents coiled and struck... Seeming to guard something deeper within the wooden box..." 

A guard shows up an Kard explains to him that while he is set to sell the box at midnight, he plans to double cross them and keep the box after being paid. 

And since Marc is there to steal the box, there's just a whole like of double crossing going on. 

And while Mac is breaking into the building, a woman shows up, following him. 

Marc makes quick work of the guard and starts looking for the box. 

Before he can snag it, he suddenly finds himself tied up! 

"A woman! Looks like Karg employs all sorts of interesting guards for this little treasure box!" 

"You idiot! I'm not working for that scum Karg!" 

Marc breaks free and grabs the woman but gets cocky and misses the guards sneaking up on him. He gets knocked out. When he wakes, he finds himself in the presence of Karg. 

"You are with us again... You and Collins' charming daughter." 

The tie Marc and the woman up together. Marc's got a mild concussion and feeling not great. 

He demands to know why the daughter of Collins is trying to steal the box. 

She claims it is to save him from himself. He used to be a great sculptor but his arthritis has destroyed his career. 

Collins believes that he can heal himself with the Head of Medusa! 

Look at this man. I love this man. He’s just trying to make the best with what he’s got and he’s lucky he’s pretty. 

He finds the woman's purse with a big hand mirror inside. He manages to break the mirror and use the glass to start to cut through his ropes. 

"Did you succeed?" 

"Al-Almost. But I keep blanking out... Seeing double... Blow to my skull must've scrambled my brains." 

Karg shows up with the box. He intends to use the head of Medusa to turn them to stone and be rid of them. 

Good thing Marc keeps blacking out because he can't focus enough to look at the head. 

Marc panics and tries to fight them off with the mirror shard, slashing blindly. 

This idiot... He holds up the mirror shard and accidentally reflects Medusa's gaze. 

"Something happens then, something he will never be able to explain, for he sees nothing. He only feels an instant of terrible chill as he loses consciousness... Somehow, he is on his feet watching Karg's men flee in a panic." 

(We can take the blackout as him having a legitimate concussion, or of one of his headmates trying to get him up and out to protect them. ONE of them has to have a brain cell and it obviously isn't Marc.) 

"Now do you believe me?" The woman asks him. 

"I'm not certain what I believe. And at the moment, I hurt too much to care." 

He finds the statue of what was once Karg before him, holding a petrified Medusa head. 

He returns to Collins' office and presents him with the sawed off arm of Karg holding the stone head. 

Marc simply says "I don't know. I don't want to know." 

Narrator: "And he never found out. He recovered from his injury and years later became someone else." 

Yeah… Good ol’ Marc Spector. Most of his individual adventures are him being gruff, getting in over his head with some magical/supernatural item, and then shrugging his shoulders and running off without asking questions. 

Is it any wonder Khonshu got to him in that tomb? Old bird knew an easy mark when he saw one. (LOL easy Mac). 

I’m certain that if Steven or Jake ever actually knew about half the things Marc did out there on his own, they’d wonder how this man became such a problem. That or they’ve had to personally get him out of so many issues that they just give one another a side eye any time Marc says he’s got a plan. 

Any ways, I love the Spector comics. A real treat each time it pops up! 

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Meta #Analyzing the comics #Marc Spector #Jake Lockley #Steven Grant #Two for one #He's not the brightest moon in the sky #but he's sure pretty though

[treesofgreen]

I'd love to see what you're writing finished or no :)

Thank you! That's very kind. Most of it is emotionally overwrought stream of consciousness type stuff but I do have this little bit of something (a first draft but actually coherent! and not drowning in angst lol). nebulous post reunion everything is good now time frame/they looted a piano/if you guessed Ed and Izzy composed Heart and Soul in the 1600s you would be correct.

*

The pianoforte is beautiful, sleek whorls in the wood, impossibly modern, too big for the captain’s quarters and being wrangled into a space beneath the windows in the rec room by Wee John and Fang.

It’s beautiful, Stede thinks, excited at the possibility to have the crew learn music along with their letters, excited to learn more himself, to have Edward teach him. He’s always tried but has no real talent or ear for music, plunking uselessly and clumsily at the keys. Unteachable a tutor had declared, accusing him of not practicing even though he did his minutes dutifully. He’d thought his desire to learn had died in that moment but years and years later he had felt it flicker when he listened to Alma taking her lessons. He’d thought of asking Mary to teach him too, but never did. He thought of asking Alma to show him what she’d learned, but never did.

He thought of asking Edward, after he’d seen him play at the party, but never did.

“Yes, there, that’s lovely,” Stede says. “A little to the left.”

When it’s where he wants it, below the soft light coming from the windows, he steps back and crosses his arms, pleased and satisfied. “Perfect,” he says, and Edward grins at him. Frenchie comes in carrying the bench upright in his arms, hugging the length of it to his body like a person.

Edward leans over and gives Stede a kiss, then practically bounces over to the piano. He runs his hand over the length of the keys, back and forth, the sound filling the room. It’s lusher, richer than any piano Stede has heard and fills the room with warmth. Ed strikes a few more keys, playing scales, then stops and plays a slow melody just with his right hand. dun dun dun dundun dun dun. Sits down and does it again, just the few notes, a little softer and slower than before.

“That’s pretty,” Stede says. “I don’t think I’ve heard it before.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Ed says. “It’s something Izzy and I made up.” He half turns on the bench to look over at Izzy, who��s sitting next to Lucius looking through the books, his mouth a thin line and his eyes stuck firmly to the page. He plays the notes again and if Izzy’s eyes could bore a hole in the paper they would. “Remember, Iz?”

Stede and Lucius and Frenchie are looking at Izzy now too, and Izzy makes a low, vague noise of confirmation in his throat. He keeps his eyes on the page.

“Oh?” Stede says. He feels a small pang of jealousy. “You play too, Izzy? That’s wonderful.”

Izzy makes the sound again. “Edward’s a much better player.”

“Yeah,” Ed says, running the scales again, his fingers loose over the keys. “But you’re a much better singer.”

“You can sing?” Lucius says, surprised. Frenchie grins.

“I can sing,” Izzy says, deeply tired and a little red in the ears as he glares at Edward. “I choose not to.”

“Then play with me,” Ed cajoles. He plays those notes again. Hesitates. Says “izzy” in the way he does when he means “please.”

“It’s been too long,” Izzy says, but he puts his book and paper down and moves over to the bench. He looks at Stede warily for a moment and Stede nods, smiles through another pang of jealousy.

Izzy sighs. Ed grins and scoots over enough that Izzy can sit beside him. Izzy removes his glove and then runs his bare hands silently over the keys, skin to ivory, playing invisible notes for a moment as Frenchie and Stede crowd nearer the piano.

Ed starts with those notes again, and Izzy comes in right after with his left hand, a little higher, plinking. Ed grins enormously and it lasts only a minute but they play together seamlessly. Ed bumps Izzy’s shoulder with his and Izzy shoulders him back, their eyes focused on their own hands, on each other’s hands, their movements as sure as the tide.

Izzy’s part is finished first and he lets his fingers rest on the keys, his notes fading away as Edward finishes with a quiet flourish. Stede and Frenchie clap and Lucius calls out a “bravo” from where he’s sketching in his book.

“Knew you’d remember,” Ed says, slinging his arm around Izzy’s shoulder, and Izzy smiles, almost, and then Ed leans over and presses a kiss right to his temple and Izzy’s eyes close, his cheeks flushed. He tries to stand up, squirming against Ed’s hold but Ed holds him close for just a moment more before he lets him go.  

“I have to make sure they’re finished up there,” Izzy grumbles. He puts his glove back on. He doesn’t sound angry. “If you won’t be needing me for anything else, captains?”

“No, no, you can go,” Stede says. He’d expected to feel more jealous, now, but he doesn’t. He only feels happy for Edward, for Izzy.

“Iz,” Ed says, in the way he does when he means thank you.

Izzy’s lips quirk as he dips his head and takes his leave.

Ed smiles, reaching out to tug on Stede’s coat and pull him down next to him and Stede winds his hand around Edward’s, letting him move his fingers softly along the keys. 

#i literally have 3 dozen ofmd stories that will probably never be finished :/ #ofmd #izzy hands #edward teach #stede bonnet #i hate sharing stuff that isn't polished please be nice #my fic #i probably will use this idea in a different fic #maybe #blackbonnet #blackhands #our flag means death #yes i gave stede my piano lesson trauma #steddyhands

[dragonmuse]

You saying that Amir doesn’t have enough daddy issues to be attracted to Izzy made me laugh pretty hard. I love that there are two categories of being attracted to Izzy (and both involve daddy issues). First is just thinking he’s hot (most notably Lucius, of course.) And the second is “ugh, THIS guy, why would anyone be into him? I don’t get it, he’s a jerk…wait, no, shit, I see it. No, please, let me unsee Izzy being hot”, a position pioneered by Stede.

I think this begs the question, in the main-verse, what’s the full breakdown on who thinks Izzy is hot and who doesn’t? Izzy strikes me as one of the more divisive tastes, compared to like, Jim or Eddy, who even people who would never want to sleep with them generally find them at least kinda attractive.

OMG I love this question, thank you Anon. The daddy issues things is so much more apparent in Wake Myself where the focus is on the second generation cast because the age gap is wider, but is a definite Thing across the universes because Izzy is both a silver fox and the sort of rough caretaker that could really scratch an itch. SO, here in order of Most Attracted to Least are most of the mainverse characters:

Yes, Please:

Lucius- See: effectively marrying him, makes you number one with a bullet.

Eddy- This seems high, but again, did actually have sex with the man for five years and breaking it off was due to emotional disaster, not lack of attraction. This is less about daddy stuff though since young Izzy had more of a feral wolverine energy.

Charlie- The crush is upsettingly large and enduring though he wouldn't actually have wanted Izzy to do anything about it. It was a hot idea, not something he wanted in reality.

Pete- Izzy's whole vibe kind of does it for Pete, but he's also very not interested in sticking his dick in a bear trap, especially after Lucius stakes him out. But he still 100% gets the attraction, would ride that ride in another lifetime (and does!)

Maybe:

Stede- Indeed, the pioneer of the slow 'oh, shit he's hot' group.

Roach- Would one-night stand him in a minute. He likes the feral part of Izzy a lot.

The Swede- he's terrified of Izzy most of the time, but once Izzy cleaned out a cut he got cleaning up a broken glass and the Swede felt a bit swoony.

Owen- Yes, even in mainverse. No, he doesn't want to talk about it.

Felix- Look, Charlie put the thought in his brain and he couldn't unsee it. He's a good looking guy!

No, Thanks

Oluwande- Cannot understand what the fuss is about, but respectfully does not point that out. He is handy to have around though.

John and Frenchie- obvious reasons. John finds Izzy aesthetically pleasing though. Frenchie does not.

Buttons- He's a nice enough lad, not for him.

Anne- Like him a lot, but absolutely not.

Alma- Nope. Does nothing for her. Same goes for the rest of her crew, except Owen.

Amir- Loves Charlie, does not understand his taste.

EW NO WTF

Jim- THAT IS MY BOSS GROSS

Read- ACTUAL DAD ACTUAL DAD AHHHHHHH

#leda house and the kraken verse #ask answered

[magpiepills]

WIP Wednesday

Thanks for the tags, @vivian-pascal and @milla-frenchy my darlings!

I dont know how it is already Wednesday again? Time is a construct. Anyway, here’s a little bit of what I’ve got going:

He cries every night.

It’s been months.

Late very evening, in a worn corduroy arm chair, he sits and sips his bourbon. Lit by the yellow glow of a small table lamp, he looks so handsome. His eyes are big and dark and shine with unshed tears. When one escapes he may chase it away with one thick, slow moving finger, or he may let it dry on it’s own. Sometimes there is music playing from a radio on the shelf in his den. Usually it’s just silent, save for the somber ticking of the clock in the hall. A family heirloom. When it strikes and draws him out of his stupor, he climbs the stairs and goes to bed alone.

Don’t worry. It’ll be nasty.

NPT for anyone who sees this in the last minutes/hours before Thursday!

#wip

[adzeisval]

Lightning Strike

Frenchie has a bad feeling about a storm. Also on AO3.

Frenchie saw the lightning in the distance and decided he needed to get a look from higher up on the ship. The sea woke him up about an hour before and he couldn’t get back to sleep. The first flashes of lightning drew his attention and he had gone out on deck to investigate. 

The sea was starting to get a little rough as Frenchie climbed up to the crows nest. The winds were picking up as well. The storm didn’t look like much though, the lightning was only on one small part of the horizon, and he’d been in worse winds and seas before. 

Something didn’t feel right about it though. 

Frenchie thought about where they were; they were far enough out to sea in deep water so the storm even if it was a bad one shouldn’t send them crashing into rocks or a reef. There were no other ships to crash into, but also no ships to come to their rescue if things went bad. 

“Why am I even thinking about that?” 

Frenchie got back down on deck and considered waking the crew. It was still a couple hours until dawn and no on would be happy about being woken up for a little squall, but the feeling that something was going to go wrong wouldn’t leave Frenchie’s mind. He wasn’t going to go back to bed himself, that was for sure.

“Evening Fang.” 

“Captain.” 

“What do you make of that storm?” 

“Doesn’t look like much does it?” Fang said. 

“Right, feels a bit off though doesn’t it?” 

Fang shrugged, “Not to me.” 

Frenchie looked at the lightning in the distance. There was just something about the storm that made him wary. There was danger coming.

“Somethings wrong, I’m waking the crew,” Frenchie said. 

Half an hour later the crew was all on deck looking annoyed and still half asleep. Frenchie felt a little silly with the storm still coming slowly and without much fury but he could not shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. 

“I know, I know but I have a feeling we all need to be here and ready, there’s just something about this storm. If I’m wrong drinks are on me next time we make port,” Frenchie said. 

Jim walked up to Frenchie and stood at his side, “That doesn’t look like much.” 

“It doesn’t,” Frenchie agreed, “But I just can’t shake the feeling.” 

Jim grunted in response and began to fiddle with their glove. The wind picked up just then blowing the squall right toward them. The lighting continued to strike. It was actually pretty amazing to see though that alone wasn’t really worth waking the crew up. 

The squall hit them all at once; there was no rain but the lighting was dancing all around the ship, thunder ripping the sky apart all around the ship. 

Frenchie felt the air go staticky around him. He felt something push him and then there was nothing but light and noise. Frenchie groaned and tried to make out what was going on. He smelled something burning and saw a blackened spot not a foot away from where he had been standing. 

“Fuck…” Frenchie rolled over trying to focus as he got to his knees. Another lighting strike illuminated the ship and…no that couldn’t be…no he had imagined it. He had not just seen Izzy standing there. 

Frenchie blinked again and another earth shattering boom and flash of blinding light hit the ship.

“Fire!” someone screamed. Frenchie got to his feet and looked at the sails aflame.

“Get buckets in the water, form a line!” Frenchie yelled as lighting continued to crash all around them. The process went quickly with everyone already on deck. The wind whipped the fire quickly and there was still lighting crashing down all around them. 

“Cut the fucking sail!” Frenchie heard someone yell and could have sworn the voice he heard was Izzy’s voice. 

“Cut the sail, cut it let it go!” Frenchie yelled. Jim and Zheng cut the burning sail and it went flying with the wind and plopped into the ocean. There was only one small bit of burning sail left and it was quickly put out. 

The crew came down from the rigging and the storm started to dissipate a little bit. Frenchie watched for any signs of smoke or smoldering wood or sail but it didn’t look like anything was going to burst into flame. 

“You alright Captain? That bolt nearly got you,” Fang asked. 

“I’m alright,” Frenchie said. 

“How the fuck did you know that was coming?” Olu asked. 

“Intuition,” Frenchie said but suspected another source. He couldn’t imagine what would have happened if the sails caught fire while all the crew was sleeping. There was no way he and Fang would be able to get the fire out. It could have, would have, spread to the whole ship and they would have floundered and sank. Maybe some of them could have gotten to the dinghy’s but maybe not all. And they were so far from land and help. 

They might have all died. 

“Thanks Izzy,” Frenchie said quietly. He didn’t want the crew to think he was going crazy. The sun rose and there was no sign of the storm that almost burned the ship down. Frenchie made several extra rounds around the ship to make certain that nothing was going to suddenly catch fire, but all seemed well.

At last Frenchie let himself relax a little and went to the galley for something to eat. Jim was also there eating and Frenchie sat down across from them. 

“Good job Captain.” 

“Thanks.” 

Jim looked at him like they wanted to ask or say something but thought better of it. Had they seen Izzy too? Had he even really seen Izzy? And who had called out to cute the sail? It wasn’t him. He didn’t want to sound crazy though, he knew what this lot could do with a crazy Captain. 

Frenchie decided that it had to be Izzy, but it was a good idea to keep that to himself for the moment.

#febuwhump2024 #febuwhumpday4 #lightning strike #ofmd #frenchie #izzy hands #fic

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Remembrance Chapter 10

Here is the latest chapter of my Armand/Daniel fic Remembrance. Or you can read it below

Louisiana is a closed record state, so Daniel can't even do any research to pass the time. It leaves him with his thoughts, which is a dangerous thing. It's been a hell of a day.

He resigns himself to getting some sleep, when there's a knock on his door. Daniel sighs deeply. “Go away, Armand.”

“It's me.”

Louis' voice. Daniel gets up from his seat and goes to the door. Louis is on the other side, looking almost shy. Daniel leans against the door frame. “Did he send you?”

Louis holds up his hands. “I'm here on my own.”

Daniel steps back and gestures Louis to come in. Louis doesn't move. “I was hoping we could continue the interview.”

Daniel eyes him carefully. He seems...fine. Closed off, distant. He's like a ghost walking again. Daniel is no expert, but he figures it can't be healthy. “You up for it?”

Inwardly, he curses himself for worrying about Louis. He shouldn't. Louis certainly didn't worry about him all those years ago, when he and Armand let him go. Louis smiles a small smile that doesn't meet his eyes. “Are you?”

“Let me grab my stuff.”

A few minutes later, they're in the living room ready to record.

“For Claudia, all humans died with Charlie.”

Daniel isn't sure they were ever really alive for her, not after she got turned. But he keeps that thought to himself. He listens to Louis talk about fear of a hunger strike, of discovering Claudia was killing and keeping souvenirs, of the police searching the house. Then of the fight between them and Claudia leaving.

“I had no words for her. What words were there?” Louis says. “It all happened so fast. I was trying to save you. All vampires are born out of trauma.”

Louis, who has been sitting so still on the edge of the couch shifts and leans closer. “We made her out of remorse...out of selfishness.”

“Poor dear. She wasn't held enough in between ritualistic murders.”

Louis shakes his head. “She spent every night for half a decade with no friends, locked in the emotional storm of puberty.”

Does Louis know how he sounds? He speaks of her like she was a victim—and in some ways she was—but it hardly dissolves her of guilt. The girl was a monster; Louis treats her like she was still human.

“Look, Charlie Manson wrote a couple of beautiful songs. Still, he was Charlie Manson.”

Louis meets his gaze. “Is that all you think of her?”

The thing is, as a character she's likable. Sympathetic, to a certain degree. But Daniel doesn't know her; he doesn't have fatherly affection to cloud his judgment. “Mostly. I also think she makes you and Frenchy look like a couple of whiny, existential queens. Probably why she's a fucking gold mine. The girl who moves a million books.”

Louis looks noticeably bothered by the remark. Daniel might feel bad, if he wasn't still so pissed off about this entire scenario.

“I won't have her exploited.”

Daniel can understand that. It's his daughter. But he has to know he can't control how people see her. “Won't matter what your intentions are. It's the world out there now. She's the single shooter, X-box, mouth-breather shit they crave.”

“You can put the diaries in a proper context.”

Oh.

Louis trusts him with this. Daniel can see now why he chose him to do this interview. He knows Daniel cares about him, and he thinks it will make him show more care. Even after all these years, he trusts Daniel not to do something to hurt him. It's...incredibly frustrating, actually. He let Daniel walk away; he doesn't get to ask for favors.

“Context? Sure,” Daniel says. “Warn the world about a forthcoming apocalypse. Or maybe inspire a line of sexy Claudia Halloween costumes. Or a cool dismemberment trend amongst the suburban Sylvia Plath set.”

Louis keeps scraping a nail against the couch. He's already split a gash in the fabric. This turn of conversation is obviously upsetting him, but he has to understand what he's in for. “Once you put it out there, they decide what it is. It can get away from you.”

Louis picks up a journal and drops it beside him. “Keep reading.”

“Keep talking,” Daniel counters.

Louis does, saying how in the coming years he longed for Claudia, ached for her. How he sent out telepathic messages, but she had closed her mind to him. Daniel gets it; he remembers calling out to Armand after the many times he left, begging to come back home.

It seems Claudia was stronger than him.

/

It's been nearly a month since Daniel left and he's miserable. He's sleeping on a park bench, because his hotel kicked him out this morning for not being able to pay. He had only brought a few grand in cash with him to live off of. The idea had been to find a job, then find a place to live. So far he's had luck with neither.

And the dreams have started. Dreams of Armand, nearly every night now. Not that Armand will ever admit that he sends them. Not that he'll admit he wants Daniel to come home. No, he waits for Daniel to be desperate and begging before he lets him back.

“Armand, I need you. Come for me. Come take me home.”

There's no answer.

Christ, he feels like shit. He hasn't eaten since lunch yesterday, when he ran out of cash. His head is pounding and his eyes hurt. He needs a drink. (What he really needs is Armand's blood, but he's not going to think of that.)

If only he had some spare change, he could use a payphone to call Armand. Beg him to send one of the planes to take him home. Daniel misses home.

“Armand, I want to be with you.”

He should have called last night. He'd woken up late after a dream of Armand, woken up hard and wanting. Only stubborn pride had kept him from reaching out. But he knew he'd be back. Didn't he always go crawling back?

At least it's warm tonight. He won't perish in his sleep from the elements. Of course, he might get robbed or worse. And wouldn't Armand feel guilty then for ignoring him? Daniel almost wishes he would get hurt, just to spite him.

“Please, boss. I miss you.”

The silence isn't any less frustrating for being expected. Eventually, Daniel does fall asleep. He wakes to a hand on his arm and the tingle of another mind pressed to his. Hope surges in Daniel and he sits up, eyes flying open. The image of Louis greets him, wearing jeans and a zip-up hoodie. Daniel can see his Grateful Dead t-shirt peeking out from the partially open zipper. Daniel wanders if he's wearing it because he missed him. If Armand misses him too.

“Not who I expected.”

Louis smiles slightly. “Hello, Daniel.”

“Hey Louis. You come to take me home?” Daniel swings his legs off the bench and stands up. It's dark out, but there's a lamppost not too far away that's shedding light. Louis looks good; he has that glow that means he's just eaten. Shame, Daniel would have let him snack on him.

“I have. We need to talk.”

Uh oh. “That why it's you, not Armand?”

A thought strikes Daniel. Louis would have to been on the way to get him hours before he called out to Armand earlier. So either Armand had always intended to bring him home and just let him suffer in silence because he was a bastard, or Louis came of his own accord to get him.

“Don't worry; he knows I'm here,” Louis assures. He starts walking away and leaves Daniel to follow. Daniel shoves his hands in his pockets and saunters behind him. The view of Louis from behind is one he's missed. The man has an ass that won't quit.

They only walk a short while before coming to the sleek, black Rolls-Royce parked in the small lot near the park. Daniel had expected the limo and the chauffeur, but this is nice. “Can I drive?”

“Hell no,” Louis says and slides into the driver's seat. He's been wary of letting Daniel drive since he crashed the Mustang a few months back. In his defense, he had been high off his gourd at the time and arguing with Armand. Driving away had seemed the only option at the time; he had just needed some space. Armand had been furious with him for putting his life in danger.

Daniel sinks into the passenger seat and immediately starts fiddling with the radio. He stops it at a station playing an Aerosmith song. Steve Tyler crones about it being the same old story while Louis stares at Daniel.

“You should probably watch the road. Precious cargo and all that.”

Louis flicks his eyes back to the road and says Daniel's name.

“Yeah?”

“You know Armand isn't the only one who misses you when you leave.”

Daniel feels his face go warm. And it's not like he doesn't know Louis is fond of him. Hell, they've fucked enough times to prove it. But they both care about Armand more, and Daniel isn't always sure where that leaves them. Friends who fuck (sometimes) seems too glib to convey the magnitude of what it is. Yes, Daniel is Armand's, but he and Louis are partners of a kind too. They're together in their own way, one completely different than what he has with Armand. So when Daniel leaves, he's leaving Louis too.

Daniel runs a hand through his hair and looks away from Louis. “Shit, man. I know, I'm just...”

He trails off. Things with Armand can get difficult. It's hard to explain. “Sometimes I just need to escape, you know? He can be a lot.”

Daniel fiddles with the radio just to have something to do with his hands. He ends up on a station playing 'Wild Horses' by the Rolling Stones. Louis likes the Stones, so he leaves it there.

“He can,” Louis agrees. “But next time things get to be too much, come talk to me, okay? Don't just leave without saying goodbye.”

“Yeah, I-ah, I can do that.”

Then, acting on impulse, Daniel leans over and kisses Louis on the cheek. It's more affectionate than he and Louis usually are. Outside of sex they don't really touch each other that much. Louis must like it, because he catches Daniel by the chin and presses a quick kiss to his lips. “I'd kiss you proper, but I gotta keep my eyes on the road.”

He's grinning as he says it. Daniel grins back at him and asks “Hey, want me to give you road head?”

/

Daniel reads Claudia's journal, her recount of meeting another vampire, Bruce. Except there are pages missing.

“There are four pages torn out.”

Louis seems impatient when he says “I'll repeat myself; I will not exploit her.”

“Did she tear them out? Doesn't seem like something she would do.” Daniel knows that he's provoking Louis, but he can't bring himself to care.

“It's clear what happened.”

Does Louis really think he's going to try to exploit her assault? And didn't he say he was doing this to give her peace? He needs to hear what she says for that. “And she wrote about it, and I'd like to read it.”

“No.”

“When you do that, Louis, when you editorialize, however noble the reasoning, it calls into question the other shit you're shoveling my way,” And boy, isn't there enough of that. “Or maybe you can recite it from memory, as you've demonstrated before.”

Daniel knows he's probably pushing Louis too hard, but he's here to get the truth. The whole truth. Even the ugly parts. “Uh, let's see. 'Bruce walked back from the fire and leaned down over me and...Torn out pages.”

Something shifts in Louis' expression and there's a hardness in his eyes. Daniel feels his hand begin to shake inside the glove he's wearing. It hurts. He grips it with the other hand and tries to hold it down on the seat beside him.

“Don't ask again,” Louis says, eyes boring into him. Daniel's hand keeps shaking.

Only a second later, Armand is sweeping into the room and placing a hand on Louis' shoulder. Louis' eyes close and his hands go out in front of him. Daniel's hand slows its shaking then stops.

“Louis finds it difficult to talk about Claudia,” Armand says.

“Got that,” Daniel says, glancing up at Armand. It's strange to see Armand trying to keep the peace. From what Daniel remembers, generally Louis played peace keeper.

Armand is trying to apologize for Louis, but Daniel ignores him. He gets up and slaps Louis across the face. It's extremely satisfying, even if he knows it can't actually hurt him.

Louis turns his face into it, so at least Daniel doesn't break a hand in the process. But that hardly gains him back any points. He crossed a line. They stare at each other for a hate-filled moment, then Daniel sits down.

“Still recording.”

#iwtv fic #daniel molloy #armand/daniel #i guess this chapter is more louis/daniel though armand is very much a part of their dynamic