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oceanspray5 · 3 years

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Timeless S3 Headcanons

First of all... This post is LONG AF. 11.6k words to be exact. We discussed this season in length and welp... it ended up being a lot. For the record: @fiveisnumber1 isn’t sure yet if she will be writing S3 for Timeless. If that happens, it will be after the official S3 so this is just us having our own fun with the characters we love and trying to adjust the new Sparrow characters with them. Timeless is its own story so we sort of run with what we had and just came up with a S3 on the fly.

We ended up making these headcanons shamelessly tropey and a lot of them are cliche and purely for the ✨ D R A M A✨ but we had fun with this more than took it seriously. We hope you like it and join in with your own ideas but if not, this was just for fun anyway so you can choose to ignore it. It has no effect on the actual Timeless story.

ARRIVAL IN SPARROW TIMELINE:

The Hargreeves and Reader arrive in the Sparrow timeline except instead of Ben’s portrait, the portrait behind the mantelpiece is hidden behind a curtain. Ben raises the curtain and it reveals Reader’s portrait (from the 60s) and it’s a ��Prodigal Son Returns” sort of moment.

Reginald has been waiting for them to return especially Reader and offers for her to join them again. The Hargreeves realize they’ve been replaced and Reader is disgusted by Reginald’s offer. She never has been and never will be Reggie’s daughter.

Sparrow Ben has a crush on Reader (this becomes important later). It’s more of a hero worship thing but Klaus realizes it and comments on how Sparrow Ben and Umbrella Ben are similar in that regard. Five realizes Reader knew this all along and didn’t tell him but he thinks nothing of it (yet).

A first fight with the Sparrows ensues. The Hargreeves are reeling from the shock of being replaced so they’re easily defeated especially cuz they don’t know what they’re up against.

Reader ends up defeating or immobilizing the Sparrows with a fraction of her powers, long enough for them all to escape.

They all get a hotel or an AirBnB or something xD

They try to set up a game plan. They can’t contact the commission and even if they did the commission can’t change an already changed timeline.

Allison is heartbroken about Claire. Klaus is heartbroken about Ben. The others are mad they were uprooted from their peaceful adjusted lives in the 60s to come back to a time where they no longer belong. They all blame Five who is horrified at what has happened and doesn’t know what to do.

Reader doesn’t blame Five but realizing she’s out of her timeline again and lost Charlie and the H7 who no longer know her and aren’t even friends with each other breaks her. She’s frustrated and sad and angry at the circumstances.

Five ends up taking this against himself too. Allison and Klaus and his siblings already heaped the blame on him. Five thinks the Reader is resentful towards him too even if she wont say it.

Eventually, they decide their best bet is to somehow use an equation to reverse time instead of travel through it (the same way Five used to save them at the end of S2). The Hargreeves are apprehensive but its their only option.

Five gets to work immediately but his confidence is badly bruised. He finds a work-around for the equation and realizes he has an option to send his siblings back and bring Ben back to life in the process, or, he has the option of sending himself back as the time reverser.

He weighs his options and his heart is heavy but he decides his family would prefer to have Ben back than him because ever since he’s come back its been apocalypse after apocalypse and he feels as if he’s the harbringer of it somehow. He also finally feels the insecurities knowing that Ben also had a crush on Reader and if she had never time traveled with him, they might have been together. He worries she might have been happier with Ben since he’s only caused her pain with the repeated time jumps. He can hear her when she cries because her life has turned upside down again and how badly she feels the loss of everyone she’s lost because of him and it burns his heart with pain but he decides to sacrifice himself for the one sibling his whole family really misses and wants back.

He doesn’t tell this to anyone, just silently gets to work.

READER GOES TO THE SPARROWS:

Reggie and Reader:

Reggie tried to find the secret 44th child aka Reader but because her mom never documented her, it took far too long to find her. Reader’s mother never would have given up Reader anyway but seeing how psychotic Reginald was about getting her, she took extra measures to protect Reader and so did Reader’s father who had enough money to ensure their safety.

Reggie had to settle for waiting for adult/60s!Reader to come back to the timeline.

In the meantime, he left her portrait hanging on the mantelpiece (where Five/Sparrow!Ben’s portrait is supposed to be) and tells the Sparrows she’s their Number Zero and that she’s the most powerful of them all and they need to aspire to be like her.

When Reader comes back, she initially refuses to join the Sparrows but Reginald forces her hand using the Umbrellas against her. Reader decides that since Five is working on the equation, she’ll protect the rest of the family meanwhile by joining the Sparrows.

She HATES it but she fights to keep whatever autonomy she can. Reginald knows about her ticks though cuz he knew her well from the 60s and he fights back just as hard bargaining the things she cares about, especially her freedom, in return for her compliance.

In the end, Reader gets to wear her own self-created uniform because she refuses to conform to Reginald’s standards and she wears her own mask which she uses while fighting with the H7 (Five’s spare mask before he timetravelled). It’s her silent rebellion and connection to her friends and family.

Reginald, sees her argument that she is the ‘Leader’ and so agrees to her own uniform idea. The Sparrows are in awe of Reader so Reggie allows her certain liberties because he wants to keep them under his thumb too sort of as a ‘if you can please me by reaching Reader’s level of power you too can receive liberties’ except what they don’t know is that Reginald would never give in. It’s just a way to control them by giving a false goal to aspire to.

Sparrow!Ben and Reader

An important thing to know about Sparrow!Ben: He’s been under Reginald’s thumb his whole life. He’s like Luther in S1 but worse because even Luther got 4 years on the moon out of Reginald’s direct presence. Thus, he feels an even worse desire to impress Reginald somehow.

He grew up looking up to Reader and developed a hero-worship crush on her as well which is why he’s amazed when she returns. Total Fanboy Moment for him.

When he finds out she’s with the Umbrellas and doesn’t want to join the Sparrows, it doesn’t make sense to him because Reginald has been telling them since childhood that Reader is their team leader and that she’s gonna return one day.

In a bid to make sense of the fact that Reader doesn’t want to join them, hates Reginald and is even dating one of the Umbrellas, he draws the conclusion that she is brainwashed and sees it as an opportunity to impress Reginald by ‘rescuing’ her from the Umbrellas and bringing her back to Reggie’s side and reasons to himself its a way to impress Reader as well by ‘saving’ her from the Umbrellas mind control and that she’d appreciate it when she comes back to her senses.

Reginald encourages this line of thinking and Ben, finally getting some form of positive feedback from his father, takes it as encouragement and that he’s correct. Reginald also encourages Ben’s feelings for Reader even though he knows Reader would never agree to be with him because he’s sadistic like that and sees it as another good way to control Ben.

Ben tries his best to get Reader to like him and tries to pull her away from the Umbrellas but it naturally backfires which infuriates him even more.

He forms a natural rivalry with Five over Reader’s affection which Five wouldn’t normally be bothered with but he’s feeling extremely shitty due to all the mishaps and his insecurities are overwhelming him.

Reader takes to avoiding Sparrow!Ben as much as she can because remembering Umbrella!Ben hurts too much when looking at Sparrow!Ben and hearing his voice. She was the last person beside’s Klaus and Vanya to actually hear and ‘see’ him and since she can’t befriend this version of Ben, she avoids him and his constant attempts to convince her she’s brainwashed.

She also doesn’t want to hurt his feelings over his very obvious crush on her but she also gets annoyed at his lack of respect over her boundaries sometimes although she knows its not entirely his fault because he’s never actually socialized with anyone before or dealt with feelings

Other Sparrows and Reader:

Ok so the rest of the Sparrows are also in awe of Reader. They have a lot of respect for her because they also grew up learning she’s their most powerful member.

The first night at the academy after Reader accepts Reggie’s deal Reader is heartbroken. She goes to the living room around midnight and sees everything is the same but so different.

She sits down by the piano, defeated, and begins to play her heart out.

She’s tired, she’s heartbroken. She misses her friends. She misses Charlie. She misses the Hargreeves. She misses Five. She misses her parents. She feels trapped in a way she never has before and she LOATHES Reginald.

As she plays out her melancholy, her memories, her sadness, the Sparrows hear her and slowly come out of their rooms. They hide behind the balcony bannisters and in the doorways, hidden by the darkness. They watch the Reader play in the darkness, illuminated only by the moonlight coming in from the windows and hear her pain.

They’re silent and in awe as the music fills them and the empty house up with the kind of raw pain they’ve never been able to feel but Reader is showing them how because her raw pain is so easy to see.

At the portion with the violins, we cut to the Hargreeves, where Vanya has picked up a violin. She tentatively plays the first strings as her eyes close hiding her own tears. Allison is crying about Claire again. Klaus looks pale and defeated because of Ben. Diego is angry because Reader left to join the Sparrows and he’s scared for her. Luther is just frustrated by everything as he comforts Allison.

We cut to Five in another room, he’s sitting at a desk with papers strewn about. His hands are covered in ink as they cover his face, pulling out his hair. He’s trying hard to level his breathing before his hands shakily pick up the pen again, pained and cramped.

The Reader plays on, interspersed with the cuts to the Hargreeves. She is unaware of her audience but even if she wasn’t she wouldn’t care.

The Sparrows are left even more in awe of Reader and intimidated. They feel something is wrong just from her music but currently still buy into the idea of being brainwashed although not as strongly as Ben.

Over time they befriend her slowly.

Sloane is first. She wants to know about the outside world and Reader’s been there. She’s intimidated when she first knocks on Reader’s door one evening because Reader rarely leaves her room outside of training and meals. Reader is apprehensive at first but invites Sloane in when its clear she only wants to get to know her.

They talk a lot about the outside world. About Sloane’s dreams and how she feels trapped and Reader’s life is so impressive and adventurous to Sloane who wishes she also had the freedom and friends in her life like Reader does. The more she hears over the days, the more Sloane stops buying the ‘she’s brainwashed’ lie. Reader eventually tells Sloane about her relationship with Five as well and the hopeless romantic she is, Sloane absolutely loves their story and supports them wholeheartedly.

Fei is also extremely respectful of Reader. After the first few days, she joins Reader and Sloane as well and slowly rethinks Ben’s theory as well. Fei and Sloane stand up for Reader when they have to after that and Reader is glad she has someone on her side even if she doesn’t fully trust the Sparrows. They’re not the Hargreeves but Reader knows what their life is like now and feels for them the same way she did for the Hargreeves.

Jayme also is coaxed along into the girls nights. She is suspicious of Reader the longest but will not allow Reader to be disrespected either and comes around as well.

Marcus and Alphonso are at a distance with Reader but they respect her and the more they hear from their sisters about Reader’s life, they also begin to question how ‘brainwashed’ she really is.

Reader calls Christopher Minecraft Steve. She’s extremely mad at the cube for the way he hurt the Hargreeves and sent them to their most debilitating nightmares. Christopher is not a fan but Reader doesn’t care and refuses to call him by his name to annoy him and eventually it becomes their thing.

The more the Sparrows learn about the Hargreeves abuse at Reginald’s hand, the more they reflect on their own circumstances and slowly begin to detach from him and try to find their own inner personhood.

Ben naturally gets upset the more his siblings lose his side about the brainwashing thing but he is, objectively speaking, the one who bothers to learn about the real Reader the least mostly because he’s trying so hard to impress her with his pre-conceieved notions.

Reginald wouldn’t be pleased either but the Sparrows do a good job protecting Reader by hiding her real life story and their changing perceptions about him from him and so he just thinks that Reader is settling into the Sparrows well and will eventually be ready to lead them with minimal protest.

Grace and Reader:

Reader is horrified to find what Reginald did to Grace when she comes back but Grace, even as a robot, remembers Reader and tells her “It’s alright what happened to me. All that matters is I have my daughter back.”

Reginald refuses to tell Reader what really happened to human Grace after they left the 60s.

Grace is still her mom though, robot or not, and Reader loves spending time with her even though its tainted by anger and sadness towards Reginald.

Grace does her best to make life easier for Reader and adores her all the same.

This causes discontent among the Sparrows initially because they realized that Grace loves Reader far more than she loves them. She loves the Sparrows too of course but the favoritism is there and they’re initially jealous before coming around.

EVENTS:

Rescue H7

Reginald somehow finds out the H7 are important to Reader. In a bid to get her to display her full powers, he has them kidnapped and taken to a warehouse. He then sends the Sparrows on a mission to save them but instructs the Sparrows to hang back and let Reader take care of it.

Even though this H7 don’t know Reader or even each other aside from the fact that they all go to the same school, Reader cares for them anyway because they’re her friends. She sees how terrified they all are and absolutely loses it and unleashes her full powers.

It leaves the Sparrows significantly terrified of her full potential and they realize why she’s their supposed leader. Reginald is satisfied though.

After the rescue, the H7 thank Reader but they clearly don’t know her and are still scared of the whole situation. It breaks her heart how different they are now without ever having been friends. She leaves with the satisfaction that they’re safe but missing her own versions of them even more.

Train with Sparrows

Reggie makes the Reader train with the Sparrows. Obviously she doesn’t really quite get a say in the matter, but still she doesn’t want to. However it's easy game for her.

It's the Seven of them against her and so all of the Sparrows start trying to use their powers against the Reader but the Reader, barely using her powers, fights back and starts taking them down all while mocking them.

She's powerful enough to defeat them even with a small portion of each of her skills with and when she finishes and all the Sparrows are defeated she walks towards Reggie, says “I’ll come back when you actually have a challenge for me.” And then walks out of training.

She doesn't go training after that and the Sparrows are left even more in awe of her strength than before. Reginald is displeased with the Sparrows but he has no way to convince Reader to join training and it's fruitless because she'll defeat them all anyway so he let's it go.

Formal Event/Masquerade Ball

Reginald obviously wants to introduce his newest Sparrow to the world. He does so at a Masquerade Ball the mayor throws in honor of the Sparrows and all their years of service.

Reginald forces Reader to go with Ben as his date and Reader is pissed but she has to. This is before she’s really friends with the rest of the Sparrows aside from Sloane and Fei so they don’t really have the backbone to support her yet either and they’re also questioning the whole brainwashed thing still.

The Hargreeves appear too because this is a masquerade ball so they can hide themselves and they hope to see Reader cuz its hard for her to get away and they’re naturally worried and want to check up on her.

They see she’s with Sparrow Ben and it angers them because they know Reginald forced her. She looks uncomfortable and upset and they can’t let that stand. They concoct a plan.

Allison rumors the attending reporters into believing Reader is only 18 and its well known Ben is almost 30. This throws the attendees into a frenzy as well because suddenly everyone is questioning Reginald and the Sparrow’s morality. Reginald was the one who proudly announced Reader and that she was attending with Ben so all the pressure falls on him.

Reginald is furious but no amount of lying can rid the reporters of their conviction because of Allison’s rumor. He has no way of proving her age either because Reader from this timeline has nothing to do with the Sparrows and so her records are void. Reginald tries to use the time travel excuse and that Reader is actually 22 but nobody buys it still cuz the age gap is still pretty large and the rumor’s hold is strong. Reginald, seeing how much a hit to their reputation the Sparrows are experiencing, relents and stops forcing the Ben and Reader thing much to Ben’s disappointment and Reginald’s anger. He’s lost one facet of control over both Reader and Ben and it’s infuriating to him. He has no idea the Umbrellas are behind this though so he can’t punish the Reader for what appears to be a logical sequence of events.

Amid the entire mess, Reader and Five find each other. They lock eyes across the room and then find a few moments to themselves on the dance floor.

He’s missed her, she’s missed him. They’re both in so much pain for being apart and the sacrifices they’re making for their family. Five is still terrified Reader is upset with him and still planning on sending her back without him so she can live her life as he thinks she would have wanted to. He takes these moments with her as some of his last and wants to spend as much time with her as he can before having to inevitably say goodbye.

Five asks her to dance as they meet on the middle of the dancefloor just as this song starts playing (but imagine it with a full orchestra). Their movements are so fluid and beautiful. They echo each other beautifully and the pain of their separation, their heartbreak and longing, their intense love and adoration for each other is so vivid in the way they hold each other and move together. The entire audience is left entranced at the performance. The rest of the people on the dance floor move away to give them space.

The song basically tells their whole story up til that point. It’s so grand and beautiful that everyone just stops and stares. It’s like watching a Renaissance painting in motion and there’s a soft hush as everyone is in awe of the couple on the floor. In the middle of the song, after a spin Reader comes chest to chest with Five and he kisses her forehead just as it gets to "we won't abide by any rules" and it's so sad but lovely and this hushed gasp falls across the ballroom cuz it's so intimate but breathtaking. Like they crowd feels guilty almost as if they're watching a private conversation. During the lyrics "cause when you unfold me, and tell me you love me and look in my eyes", Reader raises her hand to Five's cheek and he leans into it and kisses her palm before the next step.

Reader and Five don’t notice their audience. They’re so lost in each other, in their silent communication that it feels like its only them left in the world. They share these blissful moments together, feeling their hearts beat only for the person in front of them. Five dips Reader down at the end of the song and they just stay that way for a second looking into each other’s eyes, almost leaning in for a kiss but before they can, resounding applause from the crowd around them breaks out and ends the silence.

Five and Reader are so disoriented as they come to and before they can say anything, Sloane rushes towards the Reader and tells her Fei is running interference but that Reginald is starting to suspect something and that they need to go especially after the dance drew so much of the crowd’s attention. Sloane figured out who Five was of course and managed to realize the other Umbrellas are there too although she doesn’t know it was them who caused the whole age-difference debacle. She pulls Reader away from Five knowing if Reginald finds out, while already furious about the reporter mess-up, it won’t be pretty. As she pulls Reader away, she cryptically warns Five that him and the Umbrellas need to leave before they’re discovered. Five is surprised by this show of support but figures Reader had something to do with it.

They both feel the other’s loss right as they’re cruelly ripped from each other again because of circumstance.

Five quickly collects the Umbrellas, telling them that their plan to help Reader was successful. They leave the event and Five is even more determined to get Reader out of Reginald’s control and back home.

Night on the Town

The Reader takes the Sparrows out for a night on the town after she befriends most of them. Sure they have their own version of going to Griddy’s but they never did it as much as the Umbrellas because they are more submissive to Reginald and think he is a ‘good parent’ because of how he brought them up a little differently.

Reader takes them out to experience the New York night life and then they also go clubbing. It’s terrifying and exhilarating for the Sparrows but they do enjoy it. Slowly, they begin to realize all the things they’d been missing trapped within the four walls. All the people and all the ways to experience life.

Its similar to the Rave scene in S1 where Luther gets out for the first time. Except this time, its all the Sparrows and we see the Sparrows in slow motion to Blow by Ke$ha as they enjoy themselves and then at the final chorus, everything comes back into focus and everyone’s back to normal speed as the song ends.

FIVE’S PLAN:

Five’s plan to sacrifice himself in order to bring Ben back can be revealed in one of the following ways.

We couldn’t decide so take your pick:

Drunken Reveal:

Five’s exhausted and emotional. One night he ends up drinking and mumbling his plans and the Hargreeves don’t trust his plans at this point so Five furiously brings out his notes to try to explain to their ‘pea-sized brains’ exactly how the equation is supposed to work.

In true Hargreeves family fashion, they begin an argument not even halfway through, and Reader ends up picking up the discarded papers and as she goes through them she sees Five’s notes and the way the numbers are arranged and realizes what he’s trying to do.

“He’s trying to send us back without him.”

Everyone goes silent with shock.

“How could you do this to me, Five? Why would you leave me alone again? I-I thought we were on the same page. We saw ourselves. We promised we’d get to be normal.”

Five’s face is flushed with anger and fear and emotion and he finally breaks down and reveals everything he’s feeling. All his insecurities regarding Reader and Ben and not being able to give her the best life. The fact that none of his siblings seemed to really care he was back or what he was trying to do to save them. The fact that they’d all be better off without him.

Reader also starts crying then and hugs Five and asks him why he kept everything bottled up for so long. She reassures him first then turns to the Hargreeves who are beginning to argue again and tells them to put that aside and hug their brother first.

Cue long overdue family hug

Klaus also admits to Five that Ben got over his crush on Reader long before he died and loved her the same way the rest of the Hargreeves love her too so even if Five did bring him back, Reader still would have been alone without him. Ben’s feelings were a crush and he never would have fought Five for her like Sparrow!Ben.

Five still isn’t sure if his family would prefer him to go back though and Reader attaches herself to Five and angrily tells him that unless he’s coming with, she refuses to leave this timeline too.

Pass Out Reveal:

Five manages to get everyone in position for time reversal but this time he’s standing outside of the ring which is weird but nobody comments cuz they assume Five knows how to do the time reversal better than they could understand.

Five opens the portal above them. He takes one long look at his siblings and then Reader as if drinking them in. Like its the last time he’ll ever see them.

Five feels himself swaying. Dark spots cover his vision and he ends up collapsing and the portal sputters out. Five’s neglect of himself has led to severely depleted energy reserves and the time reverse took the last of his strength out of him.

The Hargreeves and Reader get him to bed and Reader finds the notes to double check if something went wrong. She ends up finding out Five’s real plan and refuses to leave his bedside. She wants to be the first to yell at him for being so stupid.

It terrifies her how close she got to losing Five again and if he hadn’t fainted, she’d already be in a different timeline without him. This revelation puts the Hargreeves in a somber mood too.

When Five finally wakes up, Reader demands an explanation and Five feels frustrated at ‘failing’ again until Reader bursts and tells him how happy she is about his ‘failure’ and that he fainted otherwise she’d have lost him with no way to get him back.

READER AND FIVE BOTH GO TO SPARROWS:

Reggie, Reader and Five:

Going off the headcanon that in S3 Five will join the Sparrows:

Reggie is impressed by Five in the 60s as much as Reader. While he doesn’t see Five as powerful as her and he sees a lot of trauma same as his siblings regarding him as a ‘failure’ just like them, Reginald sees Five’s resilience and survival skills. Spending 45 years in an apocalypse and coming out with minimal trauma is not easy and Reginald is able to respect that in his own twisted way.

Reginald also sees Five as somewhat broken. The rest of the Hargreeves loathe Reginald and make it known. But Five? Five apologizes for being a ‘difficult child’ and although Reginald isn’t sure how difficult Five really was, he can definitely manipulate a broken man who thinks his suffering was a consequence to disobedience. All of Five’s fight and confidence is drained and is evident in the 60s.

How best to manipulate the rest of the Hargreeves? Offer both Reader and Five join him especially since they’re in a relationship and somewhat of a joint package at this point. Reginald can use both of them to manipulate the other.

Five accepts along with the Reader out of necessity to protect his family and also Reader because he feels guiltier Reginald is trying to blackmail her too. If she has to suffer, he will too and take the brunt of whatever punishment the way he used to for his siblings. Also its new territory so he obviously doesn’t even consider not going with her.

All the meanwhile he secretly works on the equation because he has to get everyone home.

Reginald is pleased to have such an easily manipulative pawn under his thumb and encourages any animosity the Sparrows harbor towards him to make him even more uncomfortable.

Reginald can’t force the couple to break up but he does plan on driving a wedge between them by keeping them apart and trying to control them by any means necessary.

The only bright part for Five and Reader is they’re together in this shitty situation although Five has more on his mind than he tells the Reader in order to not worry her and cuz of his guilt.

Reader, Ben and Five:

The Ben and Five rivalry increases tenfold once they’re living under the same roof.

Five has a lot mixed feelings for Sparrow Ben. He hates the obvious competition he creates even though Five trusts Reader fully. He just hates the reminder that his own brother had a crush on Reader and that if Five hadn’t pulled her through time, he might have lived and Reader and Ben could have ended up together.

Five also loved Ben. Ben was his favorite brother and Sparrow Ben is everything Umbrella Ben is not. Five hasn’t seen his Ben for over 45 years and misses him. So getting a ‘second chance’ but seeing someone who’s the opposite of Ben wearing his face and some of his mannerisms really hits Five in a vulnerable place. He never even got to say goodbye or apologize to Ben for not being there.

Reader naturally ignores Sparrow Ben’s advances. She tries to spend as much time with Five as possible as well but Reginald seems to purposely try to keep them apart so it becomes difficult.

Ben does his best to rile Five up because he still believes the Reader is brainwashed and that Five is going to double-cross the family. Reginald doesn’t confirm or deny this, again letting Ben come to his own conclusions because the more problems caused the better.

Reader and Five:

Five, naturally, doesn’t tell Reader his insecurities. He’s too self sacrificial to want to bother her with his mess of feelings when she’s going through her own losses of the H7, Charlie and her life in the previous timeline. Thus, Reader is unable to tell Five that Umbrella Ben’s crush on her was just that: a crush, or even calm his insecurities regarding her feelings.

Reader doesn’t realize how much Five is suffering because every time she asks him, he denies anything is wrong. She knows something is wrong though and worries a lot but doesn’t know how to help. She feels helpless because she knows Five has locked himself into survival + protective modes and will keep his suffering to himself. She does her best to reassure him though however she can.

They take every moment they can afford in a house that is hell bent on spying on them and keeping them apart. She sneaks into his room sometimes and other times he does. Even just sleeping together eases their weariness even though its not nearly enough.

Reader also patches up Five’s wounds after training with the Sparrows because he gets considerably more roughed up than her.

Five and the Sparrows:

They don’t trust him as much as they do Reader so they’re guarded and apprehensive.

Eventually they start to warm up to him when Reader befriends the girls and they start to learn her and Five’s story. He’s still closed with them but they try to be less cold with him.

He actually ends up getting along with them in small doses (minus Ben and Chris) because he also recognizes the way they’ve been harmed by Reginald.

Sloane finds him awe inspiring cuz of his resolve to survive for his family. In a way, she feels it difficult to comprehend how hard Five fights for them while she herself wishes she had an escape from her family despite loving them. Also she loves how he fought to come back to Reader and respects him for it.

Fei also respects the apocalypse backstory and his no-nonsense attitude. He’s sensible and she can respect that. Marcus respects his drive to keep his family together no matter the stakes and how dysfunctional they are because he relates. Alphonso and Jayme couldn’t care less but as long as he’s not an active threat they’re chill.

All in all, it takes time but they form a tentative acquaintanceship with him the same way they do with Reader.

Train with Sparrows:

Reginald forces Five and Reader to train with the Sparrows and while Reader gets out of it, Five hasn’t trained in defense the way Reginald required in decades. While he has survival skills to the max, the Sparrows powers are unchartered waters.

Furthermore, the Sparrows initially all go harder on Five because they view him as an outsider. Reginald only ever mentioned the Reader being important after meeting her from the 60s. Five joining was more of a spur of a moment thing cuz Reggie realized it would serve his purpose well.

While the rest of the Sparrows slowly mellow out and Five is able to fight back against their powers and hold his own the way he could with his siblings, Ben and especially Christopher cause specific trauma for Five by tag teaming and hitting him at his most vulnerable points.

Five is used to training against Ben but not a Ben who is as ruthless as Sparrow Ben and has control over the Horror. Ben’s rivalry against Five for Reader furthers his aggression against Five especially because Ben notices the way Reader watches and encourages Five and worries for him.

Christopher uses Five’s most paralyzing fears and combines them: the apocalypse and losing Reader.

Every time the cube enters the ring, Five feels the breath leave his lungs as the chill surrounds him. Then he’s back in the apocalypse and there’s nothing but ruin around him. He trips over Reader’s diary and when he opens it, instead of her chronicles with the H7, they’re now filled with entries about her life with Ben. There’s pictures of her happy and laughing, dating Ben, going to places, to dances with Ben. Their engagement. Their wedding. Kids. It’s all in detail written with thousands of pictures. Five isn’t mentioned anywhere, not even to address the entries. Reader forgot him.

Its not real but Five gets so lost in the illusion he doesn’t realize its just his worst fears manifesting. And then the vision ends and its Ben’s turn to fight against him again.

So this routine continues. One time Reader jumps in front of Five because she sees he’s still lost from whatever influence Christopher had on him and Ben chose to play dirty. She gets hit instead while pushing him away. The fog finally lifts from Five’s mind and he blames himself and Ben blames him too even though he’s the one who sent the Horror after Five with a fatal kill in mind. They’re fighting all the way to the infirmary and both refuse to leave her side, just glaring at the other as they wait for her to wake up.

Reader doesn’t join training for the next few days and Reginald makes Christopher intensify the dread he induces and it eventually comes to the point where Five can barely distinguish between reality and illusion anymore. Everything he sees through Christopher follows him in his nightmares.

Reader tries to get him to open up because she’s the one who wakes him up and can tell he’s really not well at all but Five refuses to say anything still. He’s the one who got them inside this mess, he spent 13 years under Reginald’s control before time travelling, he tells himself he can take it without bothering her.

Grace, Reader and Five:

Grace doesn’t remember being Five’s mother because of the timeline change but she knows he’s important to Reader. She can tell how happy Five makes the Reader and cares for him the same way she does for her.

She even tells Five this once. “You make my daughter happy. Thank you for being her strength and taking care of her.” It makes Five tear up because he barely believes it anymore and doesn’t feel he deserves her praise. But its also been so long since he felt his own mother’s love. It reminds him of when Grace kept his secret when she first found out about Reader when they were kids.

Grace secretly sends for Reader every time Five gets injured during training and leaves them be, knowing they don’t get enough time alone. Reader’s the one who patches Five up. It pains her to see his injuries but she does her best to make him feel better because she really is the only one who can.

Formal Event/Masquerade

So in this version, Reginald can force Reader to go with Ben but, again, he can’t force Five and her to break up. He knows forcing a breakup is a losing game so he tries to use the masquerade as one of his separation tactics. He pairs up all the Sparrows in a way to isolate Five. Ben and Reader, Marcus and Fei, Alphonso and Jayme, Sloane and Christopher with Five going solo. In reality, these ‘pairs’ are all for show cuz they’re all obviously siblings. It’s just for their ‘grand entrance’ after which all the pairs separate except Ben and Reader who sticks to her like a leech. The tactic was just to get Reader to agree to going with Ben instead of Five. She can put her foot down if it’s just her forced to go as Ben’s ‘date’ but Reginald knows if he forces the rest of the Sparrows to comply to entering the ball in pairs then he can more easily manipulate Reader.

Reginald also tries to use this opportunity to have the media come up with their own conclusion and spread the rumor than Ben and Reader are together. What he isn’t counting on is the Hargreeves watching the televised event from home and putting a stop to it.

Reporter on TV: Reginald Hargreeves introduced two new members to his academy today. It seems one of them is a lovely young lady named Y/N who appears to be dating Benjamin Hargreeves. Everyone: *Stunned silence* Diego: SHE'S MY BROTHER'S GIRLFRIEND! NOT THAT IMPOSTER BEN'S! REGINALD YOU SON OF A B**** YOU BETTER NOT HAVE BROKEN THEM UP! Everyone: *Even more stunned silence* Klaus: *smirking* Diego... Is this approval I see from you for Five and Reader dating Diego: N-No... NO It's just... Everyone: *grins knowingly* Diego: Fine! Five makes her happy, alright? And he's our brother too even if Reader is more of my favorite. I don't want him to get hurt either when she's the only one who makes him happy too. He's the only one I trust with her. Happy? Everyone else: Very Vanya: Wait til we tell Five this.

In conclusion: The Hargreeves are pissed at Reginald’s tactics especially knowing all that Five and Reader have been through to be together. They make a plan to have Allison rumor the reporters but it’s the truth this time that it’s actually Five and Reader who are dating with the strategically placed fact that Sparrow Ben is too old for Reader.

Allison’s rumor can’t work over the phone and the Hargreeves don’t want to all risk going to the masquerade especially when both their brother and best friend are trying to keep them safe. It’s decided Allison will go and one other person will go with her for backup. They will stay outside the Ballroom and rumor the masses of reporters on the outside and the information would naturally make its way to the inside of the ballroom too.

Everyone agrees Diego shouldn’t go because he’s too angry at Reginald and too close to Reader to be rational but he makes such a fuss they relent.

Allison: fine, you can be my backup but I WILL rumor you if you attempt to blow our cover, Diego. Diego: It's a masquerade! No one will recognize us! Allison: We're not taking the chance when both our brother and our friend are taking such risks for us. Diego: *grumbling* Fineee

As the Hargreeves are up to this, cutting back to the masquerade: Reader and Five aren’t dumb and know what Reginald is trying to do on. Reader isn’t having it takes the opportunity to lose Ben in the crowd and then her and Five find themselves on the dance floor because of course. Where else would they be? They’re so happy and at peace in their element despite the chaos as they sway on the dance floor to a lighthearted tune. They haven’t been dancing two minutes before Ben approaches.

Ben: May I cut in to dance with my date Five: *clenching his jaw* Of course. Reader, visibly pissed off as Five has to step aside: *sharply* We’re not on a date. The pairs were just for the entrance ceremony. *Two minutes later* Five: May I cut in to dance with my girlfriend? Reader: *beaming, not even waiting for Ben to respond* I’d love to dance with you. Ben: *angry noises as he forcibly says yes*

Propriety at a formal ball dictates that when someone cuts in, you’re supposed to be polite and graciously allow them to accept so Ben and Five do this for an entire two dances, drawing curious attention from the rest of the crowd while Reader is getting tired that she can’t dance and talk with Five properly and that she has to keep switching partners.

The war comes to an end when Five asks Reader to dance a slow dance with him which is when Ben can no longer cut in cuz cutting in during casual dancing is fine, but slow dancing? It’s a no-no. Ben is ticked when he sees Five lead Reader out to the middle of the ballroom but can’t do anything about it.

Meanwhile, this song plays as Reader and Five dance but imagine it with more of a full orchestra. It basically voices both of their feelings. Five’s scared and insecure and Reader is reassuring that she’d never let him lose her.

Once again the crowd is spellbound by Five and Reader. It’s clear they’re made for each other and as they dance, they form the perfect picture. Everyone else gives them more and more space til its them in the middle. And once again, Five and Reader no longer realize they’re the center of attention because the other is the center of theirs.

This dance is less angsty than the previous scenario but it’s angsty nonetheless. But Reader and Five are both relieved that they have each other and just enjoy those moments together.

Once the dance ends, they share a kiss and they come back to reality from the thundering applause surrounding them. The crowd feels like they’re the loveliest couple and Ben has to try hard to keep his temper in check.

When Five and Reader are finally off the dance floor, Ben attempts to ask the Reader to dance the next slow dance. But Reader pastes the fakest smile on her face with a steely look in her eyes as she replies “I’m tired from all the dancing tonight. Maybe next time.” Five struggles to hide a grin as he leads Reader off the dance floor and says, “Come on darling, you sit down. I’ll bring us both some champagne.”

Back to Allison and Diego, their plan works as planned. The reporters are gushing over Five and Reader and then information and footage from inside the ball arrive about the couple’s breathtaking dance and kiss.

Allison and Diego go home satisfied and Reader and Five end up salvaging the night. Reginald no longer pushes Ben with Reader once questions arise why they were forced to come together instead of Reader with Five. He decides to use the positive press for his own gain all the while trying to keep them seperate inside the mansion.

Shipping Wars:

This is more crack than anything else but within the house, there are teams formed regarding the two opposing ships.

Sloane, Jayme and Fei are firmly Team Five and Reader. They understand the full story and respect everything they went through to be together.

Christopher and Ben are firmly Team Ben and Reader cuz they’re more influenced by Reginald who sides with Ben as well because it serves his nefarious purposes well to drive Five and Reader apart. Also they still believe the whole brainwashed thing (at least Ben does).

Marcus sides with Team Ben because he doesn’t want to risk Reggie’s wrath or his position as Number One.

Grace is Team Five and Reader because of course she is. They make each other so happy and that’s all Grace wants for her children.

Alphonso really could not care less at all and switches his answer every time whenever it comes up in conversation with his siblings just to mess with the others.

Night on the Town:

The Night on the Town still happens but this time, instead of going clubbing, Five and Reader take the Sparrows out to the mall. They have a grand time shopping for clothes in their own style. They never experienced this much freedom of choice and so they spend hours in a department store trying them on and goofing off. This includes Five who Reader forces to get something that isn’t a uniform.

Five hasn’t experienced this type of fun as much as the Sparrows haven’t so he has as much fun as they do. In an odd way, it unintentionally connects Five to the Sparrows although it’s never actually said out loud.

After shopping, Reader takes everyone to the amusement area of the mall where they have fun at the roller rink, bowling alley and arcade. They make up teams and for once it’s actually playful competing instead of actual competition between them all.

Five and Ben end up calling a tentative truce for the evening as well. Reader is relieved because that means there won’t be anything to ruin the time for the rest and also cuz she can have fun with Five for the first time since he came back without worrying about interruptions.

That night is one that’s eye-opening to the other Sparrows as well, not only in their own life but regarding Five as well. They never actually understood the implication that he spent 45 years in the apocalypse but when he’s just as clueless about the enjoyments of the real world as the rest of them and just as easily entertained, they feel closer to him.

The next day things in the house go back to normal but the rest of the Sparrows are nicer to Five although Ben and Five’s rivalry resumes especially in training.

Five Missing Umbrella Ben:

After a particularly harsh training session with Ben and Minecraft Steve, Reader is patching up Five when Five finally breaks down. He tells her how much he misses his Ben who was his favorite brother and how he thinks Ben would hate him for leaving him behind to die.

Five says he barely remembers Ben because he was 13 when he last saw Ben and he’s terrified this Sparrow version will taint Umbrella Ben’s memories for Five especially when he already has such tattered and sparse memories.

Reader hugs Five as he breaks down but then when he tries to get himself under control, Reader starts telling stories of Ben from right before he died in the 60s. Five goes silent and listens attentively because this is the most recent version of Ben that was with them and he wants to know everything even if he didn’t get to say goodbye.

Reader slowly starts telling him about stories before they time travelled. She doesn’t know more than Five but it’s only been a decade for her compared to Five’s four so she starts telling him stories from that time too after she met them.

She only has stories from when they were 12 onwards though and, eventually, without even realizing it, Five takes over. He’s the one telling the Reader stories from when the Hargreeves were all 10 and 8 and 5, before the Reader met them. Reader smiles when she hears him speak and eventually Five stops short when he realizes he’s the one whos been talking for the past 20 minutes. So she takes his hand and tells him, “See? You haven’t forgotten. And you won’t forget either. He was your brother, Five. Nobody can replace him for you.”

Five finally feels better and smiles a genuine smile for the first time in a while. One of his major fears has been quelled. It’s not nearly enough because he and Reader still have a lot of things he has to open up to her about but this was the first step.

Reader offers to let Five read Ben’s diary and initially Five refuses because Ben left it for her but the Reader tells him that Ben would have wanted his brother to have it too. Ben would never have forgiven himself if he knew Five was killing himself with guilt over not being there and Reader feels this is a decision he would have agreed to if he were still able to talk to her. Ben loved Five as much as Five loves him and even though Five feels that his siblings don’t care for him as much, Reader knows that’s untrue so she pushes until Five relents.

Five agrees to take it and read it when they get back and have more time but a weight is off his chest already knowing he isn’t forgetting his Ben and that his Ben loved him even though he was gone for so long.

Unbeknownst to Five and Reader, the Sparrows had all one by one gathered in front of the infirmary and were hiding behind the door listening to Five and Reader talk about their Ben and the Hargreeves’ childhood.

It’s eye opening for them. They learn about how Umbrella Ben was so different from Sparrow Ben but also recognize the similarities in them. They remember when he used to be afraid of his powers back as a kid before impressing Reginald took precedence and he learned to control them and after that their brother became what he is spiraling more and more into this cruel misguided unrecognizable version of himself. Umbrella Ben clearly never had that desire and was afraid of Reggie and grew up different before dying early.

The Sparrows feel that especially hard especially when Five is crying over and grieving his lost brother. It makes them come to terms with the fact that any of them could have died too and its just a terrifying concept to lose their sibling the way Five lost his. For the first time, they feel an overpowering fear about losing one of their own after witnessing one of Reginald’s children who did lose a sibling.

Learning of how cruelly Reggie dismissed Ben’s death (according to what Five and Reader find out from the others and consequently also talk about) also makes them doubt how much Reggie cares about them. Just the general picture of the Hargreeves’ childhood is so reminiscent of their own and it sort of brings about the beginning of the realization that they’re being abused too.

Ben doesn’t know what to do about the information he overhears/his siblings convey to him. It’s difficult to process that his counterpart died, that Five and the Umbrellas loved him and that he had a different family and upbringing. He pushes all the conflicting feelings away saying that ‘the other Ben was weaker than me’ but it niggles at the back of his mind as much as he’d like to pretend it doesn’t bother him.

Nightmare Reveal (both switch)

Five’s nightmares are getting to him more and more. He can barely tell the difference between reality and illusion sometimes because of how often he’s under Christopher’s control.

Five constantly works on the equation secretly in his spare time, giving himself few breaks.

When he falls asleep after tossing and turning and dreading nightmares, he wakes up terrified which makes him not want to fall asleep again. Reader can see his deteriorating condition. The night before Five finishes the equation, he sees another nightmare with the diary she gave him and a better future for herself.

Five blinks himself to Reader’s room where she’s fast asleep. He tries hard to contain his tears but they spill over in silent sobs as he holds her hands and brings it to his lips, trying not to wake her. He kisses her softly then blinks back before finally breaking down. He doesn’t know that Reader woke up when he first appeared and pretended to be asleep hoping Five would say something that would help her figure out what was going on with him.

She grows even more worried and begins to try to look after him even more, making sure he’s eating and trying to make sure he sleeps and coming to him if he has a nightmare.

On the night Five finishes the equation, he falls asleep at his desk and is immediately in the grips of another nightmare. Reader wakes up and goes to check on Five because she can hear his muffled yells through the wall.

When she goes to wake him, she sees his finished equation too. He’s barely waking when she looks through it happily, expecting them to be free of Reggie until she realizes what’s on the paper and goes pale.

She demands Five tell her his nightmare this time, no more excuses that he’s “fine”. She has genuine fear in her eyes and is shaking as she looks between Five and the papers in his hands. Five is tired of keeping everything inside too and feeling so weak, he finally relents and tells her about ‘training’ with Christopher and the visions he sees and how hard it is to differentiate between what’s real or not anymore and that he’s begun to believe that she and his siblings are all better off without him and would prefer to have the real Ben back.

Reader cries along with him. She holds him and kisses his forehead and calms all of Five’s insecurities and tells him that he didn’t fail her or anyone and that Reader would willingly choose all this again just to be with Five and that he shouldn’t even dare to send her back without him. She’d rather this timeline with him than any without.

They talk for a long time until they’re both exhausted and everything is on the table. Finally, Five falls asleep peacefully for the first time in months with Reader holding him and the next day his confidence is restored and he’s back and better than ever.

Five Standing Up to Reginald:

The day after their talk, Five is finally confident in his self worth again. He has a lot of bad feelings still but Reader’s reassurance was what he needed to gain his original confidence back.

Despite the fact that Five didn’t sleep long, he did sleep peacefully the night before with his heart light and the Reader next to him. He’s ready for Christopher’s attack and when he finds himself back in the apocalypse, the real Reader’s words echo in his mind. He ignores the fake diary at his feet and focuses on breaking through back out of the dread.

It’s not easy but he manages it. He’s breathing heavily and smiling proudly when he finds himself back in the training room. Reader runs to hug him proudly and kisses him on the cheek. She’s so happy he broke through the illusion.

Reginald isn’t pleased and forces Reader to leave. She doesn’t want to and is about to yell at Reginald but Five nods. He kisses her forehead and tells her he’ll be fine. Reader throws a scathing glare at Reginald before leaving the room

Right as the door clicks behind her, Christopher unleashes his power on him again. Five isn’t expecting it so suddenly but still breaks out of it faster this time. He’s breathing heavily when he’s back inside the training room.

Reginald looks even more furious but Five just walks up to him with the same shit-eating grin he used to wear when he was thirteen and looks Reginald in the eye with the same impertinence from back then too. He looks at Reggie defiantly and says “Seems I’ve outgrown your training again haven’t I?” before sauntering out of the room without even waiting for Reginald to dismiss him.

He finally realizes that Reginald may have been right in warning against time travel, but he abused Five and was still the reason he ended up in the apocalypse anyway. He decides to no longer allow Reggie to see him weak even if he has self doubt and decides to embrace how he used to be around his asshole father.

Reader is waiting outside the training room door when she sees Five come out. She hugs him and asks if he’s alright, looking him over for injuries. Five just hugs her and revels in her embrace.

Nothing is fully right just yet, but everything is much better than it has been in a long time.

And since Five and Reader are both able to overcome Reginald’s training more easily now, they no longer listen to a lot of his rules and openly spend time together. They get even more confident as they see the other Sparrows slowly start to join in their defiance and Reginald has no choice but to tolerate it because at the end of the day, they’re all super-powered and he is not.

OTHER/MISC:

The Sparrow Academy being actual siblings.

Ben asks Christopher for advice on how to impress Reader forgetting he has sisters.

Ben: Hey Christopher um... how do I get reader to like me? I've never met her until now and I don't know what to do Christopher: I'm a cube Ben... What do you want from me? Ben: I don't know... advice? Christopher: *also clueless cuz he’s literally a Cube* Girls like flowers? Ben: Right! I don't know what type she likes though. Christopher: Why don't you just ask about what she likes then? Ben: Uh she's not talking to anybody

When his sisters find out they are incredulous of course. Even though they aren’t friend’s with Reader initially, they do understand how irritating it is to have your boundaries ignored so they side with her. Also Ben is infected with Number 2 Dumbass Disease and there is no saving him.

Sloane: It didn’t even OCCUR to you to ask one of us? Ben: *shakes head* Fei: Good cuz we wouldn’t have helped anyway. You’re being an ass. Ben: Help me now? Fei: Sorry, you missed your chance. And going by your track record we can't really save this situation. Ben: Please help me His sisters: No you're stupid and that's unfixable Jayme: Have you considered, maybe... MAYBE... Not antagonizing her so much? Ben: BUt she's BRAIN- Fei: Brainwashed. We know. Yadda yadda yadda. And you think the best way to solve that is to make her angry at you? Ben:...

Also once the sisters befriend Reader, they definitely agree she’s out of Ben’s league. They befriend her through above mentioned methods. Sloane initially goes to talk to Reader and ask her about her life and the world outside and Reader tells her and eventually the conversation turns to her and Five as well and Sloane loves it cuz she’s a romantic. Fei ends up listening in and they drag Jayme along too.

Jayme: She's young, Sloane: Beautiful, Fei: And way too smart for you Ben. Marcus: They make a fair point. Ben: Stay out of it Marcus!

Ben wants in on girls night.

Ben: You guys hangout with her right? She likes you. Let me come Jayme: No Ben: B- Jayme: No Fei: What part of girls night do you not understand? Ben: *scowl pouts* at least be my wing women? Sloane: We can't. Ben: Why not? Sloane: Cuz you refuse to respect her boundaries and we can't encourage that Fei: And she's out of your league Sloane: That too Ben: What and her Time Travel boy isn't? The girls: *consider it and remember Five spent 45 years in a wasteland without her but lived just to save her* Jayme: Actually he isn't Fei: Surprisingly *later that night* Ben: [knocks on reader's door as the girls hang out] Can I join? Sloane: No Ben: Please? Fei: What’s the password? Ben: Uh...girl power? Jayme: Nope try again tomorrow

As you may have guessed: there is no password.

Next day Ben tries "Girls Rule" and "Flower Power" and the girls are dying on the other side. Christopher is the one suggesting these ridiculous password ideas but Ben thinks his guesses are worth a shot, completely oblivious that Christopher is reading him. Eventually Ben decides payback is required.

Ben: WELL WERE GONNA HAVE A BOYS NIGHT! NO GIRLS ALLOWED

He thinks is gonna make the girls want to hang out with them and he turns to his brothers and says “Right guys?”. His brothers, who have made it a regular habit to come out and watch this for entertainment, just shake their heads and leave for their rooms.

This is the childhood they missed out on honestly. They deserve to be ridiculous over sleepovers like this.

This exact same scenario would happen even if Five did switch over too and he's just trying not to die of laughter cuz he remembers when Allison, and Reader (who insisted Vanya also join and Klaus crashed) used to do this too and he knows it's of no use trying to get them to open up. Ben obviously gets mad and tries to challenge Five thinking Five is laughing at him and not at the scenario as a whole.

Ben, to Five: Alright if you’re so smart. You guess it. Five (calls towards the door): Have fun on your girl’s night, love! Reader (speaking for the first time): Thank You, darling! Five: *goes back to his room with a shit-eating grin, still snickering* Marcus: You ever think maybe our sisters are right when they say respect girls night? Ben: Shut up Marcus

At some point Ben also turns to his brothers and is like "You try the password!" and the girls let everyone else in but Ben because this is peak sibling behavior.

Alphonso: Beer! Jayme: The password is... CORRECT! Come on in. Ben: *sputtering* BEER? Sloane: Sorry Ben. Password changed. Marcus: Password... Um... Er... Family? Fei: Enter! Ben: WHAT? *tries to enter with Marcus* Jayme: Not you, Ben. Give us the password first *closes door in his face* Christopher: Minecraft Steve Reader: Come in Chris! Ben: *frustrated internal screaming*

Five is also allowed to come in.

Five: I love you Reader Sloane: That is triple correct! Ben: TRIPLE CORRECT ISN’T EVEN A THING!

They love him, they really do. But it’s so easy to tease their brother and they haven’t laughed like this in so long that they decide to have fun with it anyway. They obviously don’t leave him alone for forever. It’s just to tease until the girls kick the rest of the boys out to resume their actual girls night.

BONUS: 29!Year old Sparrow!Timeline Five and Reader.

Reggie stopped at nothing to comb the 43 children to find Reader. He knew there was a special 44th because of the 60s but because Reader’s mom never documented it, it was difficult to track her down. By the time Reader was found by Reggie, she was adored by both her parents and they never would have given her up in the original timeline either but Reggie’s almost deranged desperation to get Reader scared them even more this time and they refused to give her up for anything.

They make sure not to move close to the Sparrow Mansion on purpose because they’re fearful about why Reginald was so interested in her.

By Cosmic Coincidence (aka they’re soulmates) Reader’s parents move close to where Five’s (original) family lives. (Him and Luther are not twins in this btw).

Reader and Five end up meeting in middle school and become fast friends, fall in love, go to college together etc.

At some point early on they discover each other’s powers. Both families then share incidences of Reginald Hargeeves looking for super-powered kids when they were babies. Reader’s family especially emphasize the incident of Reginald Hargreeves of the Sparrow Academy wanting Reader as part of his academy and trying to get to her for years. Conversely, Five’s family remembers that Reginald found them, inspected them and absolutely refused to take him although his family still weren’t sure what they would do with him at that point. These strange stories become a well established warning for the super-powered couple to avoid him through however means necessary.

By the time our version of the Hargreeves enter the altered timeline, Five and Reader are 29 years old, married, happy and have a baby Penn to worry about. They see Reader (and Five) both at different instances through the news about the Sparrow Academy gaining new member(s) but progressively ignore it.

This Five and Reader were never raised to be heroes. They’re normal people and feel no duty to anyone other than themselves, their son and their families. They remain uninvolved in the situation entirely despite their curiosity especially because Penn has powers too and they don’t want to risk Reggie finding out.

*News Reel showing the Masquarade Ball and rumors regarding Reginald’s newest Sparrows* 29YrOld!Five: So how was work, darling? 29YrOld!Reader: *speaking over the news* It was great. Although if you could go over Calculus basics with the sophomore EE class next week it would make my work for their next class even easier. *News about H7 kidnapping and someone with Reader’s powers having saved them* 29YrOld!Reader: Lovely weather we’re having. 29YrOld!Five: We should take Penn to the park today

They do take Penn to the park at some point.

Reader and Five are also at the park and see their older selves from a distance so paradox psychosis doesn’t take immediate affect. They realize they’re still together, married and with a son in this timeline.

It’s happy and bittersweet for younger Five and Reader and something to aspire to as well. It’s confusing for older Reader and Five although they don’t look into it on purpose and almost get up and leave to avoid an interaction. (They don’t know about paradox psychosis, they just don’t want trouble).

Meanwhile, little Penn toddles over while playing and coincidentally falls right in front of young Reader and Five. At first they do nothing but it’s a child so how could they not help? They help him up before he starts to cry and send him back to his parents across the park. Penn sends an adorable baby grin at them once he’s back in his parents arms and playing with them and the tiny family is laughing and happy. It’s like an ache for both younger Reader and Five to have that one day.

Reader tells Five she wishes they could have this life like their older selves. Five wishes the same but his insecurities become slightly bolstered because he feels like he failed Reader again by getting her into this mess and not letting her have a normal life.

Five and Reader finally leave when they feel the paradox psychosis reaching its further stages.

#tua #The Umbrella Academy #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #timeless au #tua timeless au

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sadwizardgirl · 3 years

Text

My Campaign 2 Thoughts

Alrighty folks. We're here. We made it. I’m running on like, 3 hours of sleep and my coffee hasn't kicked in yet so bear with me if I ramble/don't make sense. I’ll take things by character I think?

Once I finally typed everything I wanted out, I decided to put a keep reading thing. Its a long one I’m so sorry haha. But yeah, click on it if you want to hear someone’s tired ramblings about how much they love the Mighty Nein. Obviously spoilers below... <3

One last thing - I want to say thank you to everyone who I have interacted on here with. I would have never, ever thought that I would live blog Critical Role when I started watching it. And because I have, it makes me happy that I’ve found lots of nice Critters like me to follow, like, reblog, laugh and cry with all at the same time. You guys are really cool, so thanks for letting me be a small part of it all <3

Molly/Kingsley -

I’m honestly not fully shocked that we didn’t get Molly back after all that. I think Tal has said that Molly is gone and will stay gone. Maybe this is how Molly was when he first woke up, but we obviously didn’t see that part, and neither did Yasha. So honestly, the only people to know would be the people down at the circus. I’m personally okay with the differences in Kingsley and Molly but I like that Kingsley wanted to call Molly his brother at least and learn about him later on. Remember when Molly said he didn't want to learn who his previous self/selves were? The pirate life for Kingsley is --- interesting haha. I’m not hating it, I can definitely see a Jack Sparrow kind of vibe. I just didn't think Tal would go for a pirate type life for him. Thats all :)

Cad -

I’m also not surprised at what Cad chose either. It was interesting to see his whole EMPATHY routine with Trent. Thats been a side of Cad no one has seen. I know I’ve seen some people say that they were sad that after all this adventuring, that Cad would just chose to live at the Blooming Grove and never leave again. But didn't Tal say that Cad would take walks out of there and explore for segments of time? Like 6 months, then a year, then a couple years. I could have sworn he said that and that he would go visit his friends in those spans too. But I could have totally imagined it/took it that way.

Veth-

This totally makes sense. I was sad to see her go before the whole Trent thing, I would have loved to see her stand by Calebs side during it but I get it, She missed her family and they would see each other again anyway. I 100% would love if the M9 had a summer camp. Like, I’m just saying. That needs to be a one shot. I don't have much else to say other than I’m glad that this is the ending for Veth and nothing else.

Yasha-

Again, I’m super happy with this one. It makes sense that she would want to go see her wife and the whole Stormlord thing???? Fucking awesome. I’m glad that Yasha has finally found peace and love with someone and is content. Thats all I want for Yasha. I’m glad that Kingsley seeks her out to find out about Molly too.

Beau -

WOW. Okay. So not only does she help take down Trent but also her dad stuff? Fucking great! I’m so glad that Beau has gotten to this point in her life. Not only has she brought down corrupt people, but also learned to love throughout everything she's been through. I’m sorry, I with my tired brain can think of more good things but I’m just super happy about this.

Fjord -

For some reason, Fjord’s ending made me cry. I don't know if its because its been awhile since we’ve gotten true Fjord lore stuff where Travis absolutely NAILS the roleplaying or what. But literally as soon as he raised his hand to say hi to Vandran, I started crying. He’s been looking for answers for so long and he finally got them. I think its very on brand that he just sailed out willy nilly knowing what happens but at least Matt was merciful haha. I think That plus his love for Jester and suggesting they find a place was so very sweet and totally them. I’m sort of glad that he left his ending so vague. Because imagine the sea one shots we can have with Fjord going to Darktow or finding Sabien once and for all etc.

Jester -

I’m --- I’m torn with Jester. I’m glad that Jester wants to travel more and see the world still and thats what she's doing with Fjord. I think I’m more of torn just because I’m so used to Jester being SO over the top with everything she does (in a good way) but then I guess that means she's maturing and growing up. I’m glad that she left her ending vague as well for the same reasons as Fjord. SIDENOTE: It’ll be interesting to see if any of this leads into the VM vs M9 show off and if there's going to be canon involved or what.

Caleb -

I left Caleb for last. Not only because he's been my favorite character all campaign long. But because most of the buzz is coming from his ending. I’ll preface this first --- I’ve never been an outright Essek/Caleb shipper. I’ve loved their moments together and am not against them in any shape or form. I’m just not one of the die hards shippers. Same with Caleb/Astrid/Wulf.

BUT - With that being said, I’m very happy with Calebs ending. I’ve seen some people that are mad that he didn't do what he set out to do - which was take down the corruption. But Liam said that he sees that aspect of his life as a life long endeavor. So just because he takes up the teaching gig - which I’m so happy with btw; more on that in a bit- doesn't mean he stopped. You can root out the corruption from within and I think Caleb started to realize that was going to be the best way. I’m glad he didn't take the place of Trent. I think things could have gone horribly wrong even if he was at the top. Am I thrilled that Astrid is there? Not particularly no but its better than Trent. Caleb being a teacher makes so much sense. At the beginning of the campaign, Nott was always telling people that Caleb was the one teaching her the magic she had, plus the trading notes with Yussa and Essek over the years. It all leads to him teaching. Finally being the teacher --- the right teacher for the future generations of wizards. He was never going to accomplish that in Trents place.

Now --- the elephant in the room, Essek. I’m 100% okay with this part of Caleb’s story. I’m glad that he did go back to Aeor and learn what he could. I think its what Essek said. That he wouldn't change his past because it led him to that moment with Caleb, but then still offered to help Caleb if thats what he wanted to do for himself. I’m happy that Caleb finally let go of the part of his past that kept his guilt so present. He’ll always remember his parents and what he did, but he's allowing himself to walk through that door and to start finally healing. Let me tell you how much I ugly cried when we finally heard what his plan had been all these years AND what that second book was that he never told us about. Liam O’Brien you poetic son of a bitch I love you so much. But damn did I ugly cry literally during that whole time. Okay sorry, now Essek. I think them realizing the age differences, being in the relationship for however long they were but then remained friends is so very much like both of them. They are both logical people. To me this makes so much sense. I think I’m in the minority here but it does. Essek will outlive the rest of the M9 so of course they realized eventually there was going to be this elephant in the room when Caleb grew old. I’d like to think Caleb wouldn't want the extra heartbreak on Essek when Caleb eventually dies, then the rest of Essek’s friends die on top of that. Liam said that this campaign, romance in any shape or form was not a priority and I think also that had a part to do with it. I’m glad Caleb just didn’t be alone for the rest of his life and only teaching. I’m glad he reached out to Essek and did that stuff, and then taught Luc. It’s far from the sad wizard boy who was ready to leave the M9 at a moments notice to be alone.

Sorry for the rambling and VERY LONG post. oh my god I’m so sorry but it just kept coming. haha I’m very sad to see the Mighty Nein go. This campaign was the reason I got into D&D and where I fell in love with it. I fell in love with these nerdy ass voice actors and their characters. BUT it makes me excited for campaign 3 and the future of Critical Role.

SIDENOTE: WHAT THOUGHTS DO YOU GUYS HAVE ON THE PROJECT THEYRE GOING TO ANNOUNCE NEXT WEEK HUH? I’m glad they mentioned that they aren't ready for Campaign 3 just yet, but Marisha made it at least seem that its on the horizon. I’m sure they want to take the break they deserve and have time to transition from their M9 characters to their new ones. so yeah anyway

Thank you, Mighty Nein. Long may you all reign.

#critical role spoilers #critical role #critrole spoilers #cr spoilers

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phis-corner · 4 years

Text

tightrope (songfic)

Some people long for a life that is simple and planned

Tied with a ribbon

Some people won't sail the sea 'cause they're safer on land

To follow what's written

“Marinette, this is Dick, our son. He’s also training on trapeze, and since he’s your age, we decided to instruct you together.” Mary tells her.

Four-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng beams and holds out her hand. “Hello! I’m Marinette. It’s nice to meet you!”

The boy, who has dark hair and the bluest eyes she’s ever seen, takes it and smiles brightly. “I’m Dick. It’s nice to meet you too.”

That was the beginning of a long journey. Mary and John, Dick’s parents, otherwise known as the Flying Graysons, instructed them in the art of trapeze for two years before they performed in their first show at age six. Robin and Swallow soared through the air, twisting and flipping as they propelled their bodies with the bars. They received the loudest applause, second only to the Flying Graysons themselves.

But I'd follow you to the great unknown

Off to a world we call our own

Marinette and Dick spent their days flying off the bars, throwing and catching each other and playful competition. Swallow and Robin, Haly’s youngest performers, continued to greet the crowd with joyful smiles wherever they went.

Dick was her best friend. They did nearly everything together, whether it be snacking on funnel cake or seeing who could do more backflips in a row. All the performers and staff at Haly’s knew they were inseparable.

Or so they thought, anyway. All good things must come to a close.

Hand in my hand

And we promised to never let go

We're walking a tightrope

High in the sky

We can see the whole world down below

We're walking a tightrope

One day, when they were eight, her parents, who ran the catering service, received the news. Her grandfather, who owned a bakery in Paris, had died and left it to Tom. They were going to move to France to manage the bakery.

She was going to leave the circus. Marinette was going to leave the feeling of weightless flight, the joy of tumbling through the air, behind.

Marinette was going to leave Dick behind.

She didn’t want to leave. But there was nothing she could do. The bakery needed someone to take over, and that someone was her parents. At least she was fluent in French, as well as Romani.

On their last day, she and Dick clutched each other like the world was ending, which, in a way, it was. Haly’s was a travelling circus, which meant that they didn’t use phones and letters were almost impossible to send.

“Don’t forget me.” Marinette whispered, blinking away her tears. “If you’re ever in Paris, expect me to be there.”

“I will. Don’t you dare forget me either.” Dick replied, trying hard to keep his own tears at bay.

“Marinette, sweetie, it’s time to go.” Sabine said gently. Reluctantly, the two children pulled apart and said their last words to each other for another eight years.

Only when they landed in France did Marinette allow herself to cry, to mourn the loss of her first partner.

Never sure, never know how far we could fall

But it's all an adventure

That comes with a breathtaking view

Walking a tightrope with you

With you

Paris was… different. After spending her entire life travelling the world, Marinette was finally rooted down in one place. And she was lonely.

Sure, she had friends, but Marinette found herself searching the people around her for a playful smile, kind blue eyes, and gleaming dark hair. She missed her best friend, missed doing flips and twists on the trapeze with him.

Her parents signed her up for gymnastics. It wasn’t the same.

At night, she would stare at the night sky from her balcony, and imagine that, wherever Dick was in the world, he was doing the same.

There was a gaping hole in Dick’s life, wherever he went. She had taken up so much of it, and now that Marinette was in France, he noticed her absence at every turn.

The first time he performed as a Flying Grayson instead of Robin, without Sparrow at his side, tears threatened to spill over his smile. It got more bearable over time, but only just. Every time he took to the skies on the trapeze, even when he saw a little girl eating funnel cake. Everything reminded him of dark blue hair and gleaming bluebell eyes, tiny freckles and a smile like the sun itself.

He found himself looking at the night sky more often than not, identifying the constellations and thinking of her.

A year later, he stood over his parents’ limp bodies and a growing pool of blood, and wished that she were there to comfort him like she always was, and not living in a bakery in Paris.

Dick donned a mask and cape and his family’s colors and became Robin again, but this time as a sidekick to Batman, helping him take down criminals and bring them to justice. He soared through the skies at night with his grappling hook, even doing a quadruple somersault off Wayne Enterprises, but it just wasn’t the same as before.

Marinette became Ladybug at thirteen.

She was suddenly thrust into a world of heroes and villains, a world of magical jewelry and evil butterflies and mini gods that granted you powers. She spent her days at school or fighting akumas, her nights on patrol incorporating extra flips in between every swing, remembering a time where another boy, with black hair instead of blonde, and blue eyes instead of green, soared alongside her.

Marinette gave Adrien his umbrella back the next day. Alya thought she had a crush on the blonde, but she couldn’t bring herself to forget Dick. If she tried to see Adrien romantically, she would just see another boy over him.

A boy she hadn’t seen in five years.

Mountains and valleys, and all that will come in between

Desert and ocean

You pulled me in and together we're lost in a dream

Always in motion

Robin formed the Young Justice along with Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian when he was nearly thirteen. Half a year later, the League sends them to Paris to investigate a potential threat.

They prepared for a lot of things, but seeing a huge baby with terrible color coordination knock over the Eiffel Tower was not one of them. A girl dressed in red with black polka dots that fought with a yoyo and a boy clad in black leather with cat ears on his head were not accounted for either.

Robin noticed the way the female heroine almost flies through the air, like she’s been doing it her entire life.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were grateful for the added help during akuma attacks. Hawkmoth was caught and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste within another three months. Chat, who turned out to be his son Adrien, gave up his miraculous after that. He just wanted to live a normal life.

Robin and his teammates offered Ladybug a spot on their team, and the League approved of their choice. Ladybug accepted, and moved into Mount Justice not long after.

Ladybug was surprised the first time the Young Justice showed up to an attack, but she easily worked them into her plan and captured the akuma. They offered their resources and skills to fight the akumas faster and track down Hawkmoth. Gabriel Agreste was arrested not long after, and Adrien no longer wanted to be a hero after that, which was understandable.

Master Fu transferred Guardianship to her following Hawkmoth’s defeat and Young Justice, backed by the Justice League, offered her a spot on their team. Ladybug agreed, as she was now the Guardian and not escaping the hero's life anytime soon, nor was she willing to leave it.

Marinette told her parents about Ladybug, and gained their approval to move into Mount Justice. To her classmates in Paris, she told them she was going to America to study.

Ladybug rotated through various miraculouses throughout the day to keep her identity hidden, for the time being. She still wasn’t comfortable with so many people knowing, even after telling her parents. Luckily, Robin was the same. From what she gathered, only Kid Flash knew his identity.

She tried hard to ignore the pang in her heart every time she saw the dark-haired, cheerful boy, dressed in the Flying Graysons’ colors with her partner’s name. Because there was no way that this Robin was Dick.

Dick, as far as she knew, was still in Haly’s with his parents. Not dividing his time between Gotham City and Mount Justice. Not being a partner to the rest of the Young Justice team and the sidekick to the Dark Knight, whom he called his father.

So I risk it all just to be with you

And I risk it all for this life we choose

Ladybug proved herself useful to the team, calling up her Lucky Charm in the stickiest solutions and always finding a way out. She was clever and quick to think on her feet in battle, choosing to outwit her opponents instead of beating them through brute force. When it was needed, she would merge with another miraculous or use a completely different form, whatever was necessary for them to win. The Tiger miraculous proved extremely useful for covert op missions.

She also constantly baked treats for everyone. Ladybug taught M’gann how to actually bake a good cake, and would give them pastries when they looked like they needed to be cheered up.

They also discovered that being the Guardian came with new powers. Robin received a fairly deep cut on his right arm from a mission, but Ladybug stopped him from stitching it up, instead muttering an incantation in an unrecognizable language. Her fingers glowed white, and she traced them over the wound, closing it instantly, not even leaving a scar behind.

When Marinette wasn’t baking for her teammates or designing, she found herself heading to the training room. The room had a wide variety of resources, including trapeze equipment. She walks into the room in her Multimouse transformation, as to give Tikki a break, and freezes in place.

Robin is swinging on the trapeze, sailing through the air with a carefree smile on his face and doing a quadruple somersault- the Flying Graysons’ signature move- like it was second nature. He moves with an elegance that she has only ever seen in one other person, and all of a sudden, the name, the colors, the familiar energy, everything makes sense.

Multimouse warms up as fast as she can, and climbs up the rungs to the platform opposite him with a grin. She recognizes the routine, the one they used to do back in the day as Robin and Sparrow at Haly’s. Without missing a beat, she launches herself onto the bar, seamlessly picking up where he was and weaving herself in.

When the time comes for her to let go and for him to catch her, she gives him a trusting smile and releases her hold, soaring, flying forward, right into his hands, which clasp around her wrists in an achingly familiar way. I’ve found you at last.

Robin- Dick- grins at her, and Multimouse smiles back, as wide as she can, because she’s finally found him again, after so many years apart.

Hand in my hand

And you promised to never let go

We're walking a tightrope

High in the sky

We can see the whole world down below

We're walking a tightrope

When Robin has a bit of free time at Mount Justice, he finds himself climbing the rungs to the trapeze platform and immersing himself in the old routine he used to do with her. The lively dance they used to do in the air is still cheerful, but without a partner, it’s more melancholy than he’d like to admit.

He notices Multimouse walk in and freeze when she sees him. This was the first time she’d seen him on trapeze, so Robin assumes it’s just the shock. He lets go of the bar and easily turns a quadruple somersault with an exhilarated smile on his face before grabbing the bar again.

Multimouse climbs up to the opposite platform with a smile, and easily falls into the routine alongside him. She does Sparrow’s flips and twists with the grace of a person born to fly and an overjoyed smile on her face.

For a while, Robin swings through the air with his first friend and first partner. When the time comes, Multimouse- Marinette- easily lets go of her bar and soars towards him, a trusting smile on her face, and he grins brilliantly back, hands clasping her wrists tight. I’ve found you at last. The message resonates between them, and he launches her back into the air towards her own bar, laughing as she flips twice before grabbing it.

They are so immersed in their aerial dance, so immersed in each other, that they don’t see the rest of the team enter to watch the two birds fly.

Marinette’s eyes shine with laughter and joy as she takes in the sight of the one she wished she could share the entire world with. Dick’s smile could melt ice with its brilliance as he sees the person he’s missed every single day for six years.

When they both land on the floor as the routine ends, Dick immediately pulls her into a hug, squeezing her as tight as he can. She returns it with just as much, if not more, strength.

“Mari.” He whispers. “It’s you. I found you again.”

“Dick. Robin, mon oiseau. I’ve missed you so much.” Marinette replies, a single happy tear slipping down her cheek.

In the heat of the moment, she makes an impulsive decision and yanks him down by his cape and presses her lips to his. Dick eagerly returns the kiss, and soon, they’re clutching each other like the world is ending (though it was quite the opposite) and their lips firmly glued together, sending bursts of warmth through them.

Wally clears his throat, and they spring apart, only just noticing the other people in the room. “What exactly happened? You guys were doing this super cool trapeze thing like you’ve been practicing it together for years, then you’re saying stuff about ‘finding each other’ and making out like your life depends on it?”

Multimouse and Robin turn bright red, but their smiles stay on their faces. “Well, uh, how do I explain this?” Multimouse turns to Robin, who gives her a thumbs up. “Basically, today was asterous, as Robin would say. As it turns out, our civilian identities were childhood friends and grew up performing in the circus together. I had to move to France when I was eight and we lost contact after that. I was going to train in the gym when I saw Robin doing our old routine, and then everything just sort of clicked and I realized it was him.”

Robin chuckles, wrapping an arm around her waist. “That just about sums it up. I knew it was her when Mouse just seamlessly joined the routine. Although I was suspicious after that last mission. Nobody pulls off a flyaway like Sparrow.”

Multimouse lightly punched his shoulder. “Says the one who does a quadruple somersault as easily as he breathes.” They leaned in for a second kiss, smiling, and the team took that as their cue to leave them be.

Never sure. Will you catch me if I should fall?

Well, it's all an adventure

That comes with a breathtaking view

Marinette, detransformed for once with one of Dick’s domino masks over her face, sits on top of Mount Justice with her partner by her side, enjoying the night sky from their location.

She leans into him, and Dick pulls her in close, huddled under a blanket as they watch the stars glimmer over Happy Harbor.

“You know,” Marinette says quietly, “I used to look at the sky every night in Paris and hope that you were seeing the same stars that I was.”

Dick laughs, such a beautiful sound, blue eyes sparkling. “Really? I used to look at the night sky and think of you too, lubirea mia. It’s so interesting, how things work out.”

“One could say it was… whelming? Did I use that right?” Marinette reaches up and pushes a stray lock of midnight hair out of his face.

Her boyfriend simply chuckles and pulls her in for a kiss as the sun slowly makes the horizon burst with color, shedding its light on a beautiful world.

Walking a tightrope with you

With you

#ml x dc #mlb x dc #maribat #dickinette #songfic #dick grayson x marinette dupain-cheng #young justice au #my writing

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wlwdarlingcharming · 3 years

Note

Blondie is on the pursuit of the big scandal between Dexter and Sparrow, cause she thinks it’ll be news worthy, and wants to know for herself anyway,

TW // MENTIONS OF DRUGS

blondie lockes is very good at noticing things. she’s very good at getting answers. a good reporter always is.

so when blondie notices dexter charming, the middle son of one of the richest men in the world, cut class and show up to class high, she thinks this could be her big break into reporting. exposing dr charming’s son, and then exposing his entire family.

blondie knows she shouldn’t start with dexter and his siblings because there’s been talk of people getting beat up by resident jock and most popular boy in school, daring charming, and his little sister and recent transfer, darling charming. blondie thinks she should start with asking apple white, because apple’s always been involved with the charmings.

blondie asks apple to meet for coffee. they exchange some pleasantries, and that’s when blondie asks her. what’s up with dexter charming?

apple looks scared and like she knows something, but whatever she knows, she won’t tell blondie. apple tells her that she actually has to meet her roommate for their chem project, and that she’ll keep in touch.

blondie knows that means that apple won’t talk about this topic again.

no matter! blondie will just have to do some snooping on the dl.

blondie walks by apple and raven queen’s dorm room that night. she waits until apple is in the shower and her roommate, raven, is out. blondie picks the dorm room lock and grabs apple’s mirrorphone on her bedside table.

thankfully, blondie’s power of unlocking things works on mirrorphones.

blondie decides she should check apple’s messages first. she scrolls until she finds a message with the name princess charming 💔. blondie assumes that’s darling charming, apple’s ex girlfriend.

blondie assumes correctly. their most recent hexts are about dexter, so blondie quickly takes pictures with her phone of the messages. she hears apple turning off the shower. just right!

blondie looks over the messages once she gets back to her dorm. her stupid roommate, c.a. cupid, is doing her hair at their shared vanity, so she won’t notice what blondie is doing. what kind of name is ca cupid? blondie pushes that thought aside and pulls up apple’s messages.

dexter was in the hospital? for what? and why is sparrow hood losing his..... thing? where does he even fall into this? blondie sighs and realizes that this might be deeper than she thought. apple’s phone only gave her more questions. this is so not just right.

stupid roommate ca cupid notices blondie’s frustration. cupid angelically walks over to blondie’s desk, and pulls up a chair.

cupid asks blondie what she’s working on. blondie says stuff, nothing you’d be interested in. she also makes a mental note to not do her work in front of her stupid roommate ca cupid.

blondie is too busy thinking about how stupid her roommate is to notice that cupid reads apple’s messages and blondie’s very limited notes. cupid says why don’t you ask the merry men? they always hang around sparrow. i’m sure they’d know something?

huh. maybe stupid roommate ca cupid isn’t that stupid. cupid looks over at blondie and asks if she can help. blondie wants to say no, go away you stupid weirdly named girl who happens to be my roommate, but blondie’s mouth says yes.

cupid jumps up excitedly and tells her that tomorrow, they’re going to do some real digging! blondie is kind of excited to see what her and cupid can find. this might be just right!

————

blondie and cupid get ready as quickly as they can. it’s saturday, so they can do some research without cutting class.

blondie grabs her bag, containing her very limited notes, four blue pens, her mirrorpad and charger. cupid brings a water bottle. blondie doesn’t think cupid is cut out for this, but it was cupid’s idea to ask the merry men, so she goes with it.

blondie isn’t sure where the merry men practice. she makes the mistake of asking cupid. stupid cupid doesn’t know. she claims that blondie’s the reporter out of the two of them and she should know. blondie thinks that having cupid join this investigation was not just right.

after seven minutes of arguing outside the door of their dorm, they make their way towards the charmitorium. it’s a start, blondie thinks to herself.

blondie and cupid open the doors, and the merry men are hooking up their equipment on stage. wait, what if the merry men tell sparrow that her and cupid are looking for info? this might not be just right. blondie turns to tell cupid they’re leaving, except cupid isn’t next to her anymore. cupid is gracefully walking towards the merry men, and shows no signs of stopping. stupid cupid, at it again, blondie thinks to herself.

blondie stops cupid right before she goes up to them. she tells cupid that talking to them might make things worse. cupid agrees, and tells blondie she has an even better idea. blondie says she’s 0 for 1 on ideas right now, but cupid assures her this one is much better. the merry men notice them leaving, but don't say anything.

they leave the charmatorium and hope that they merry men don’t catch on. cupid grabs blondie’s hand and she leads her to.... someone’s dorm room. blondie looks at cupid’s stupidly adorable face and tells her that she’s confused. don’t worry about it! cupid says. blondie thinks that she should always worry about it when it comes to stupid cupid and her ideas.

cupid knocks on the door. hunter huntsman answers. of course! hunter is friends with sparrow hood and happens to be dexter charming’s roommate!

cupid, hey. what’s up? hunter answers. he looks uninterested.

cupid tells hunter that her and blondie are conducting an investigation and they need his help.

blondie asks him if his roommate is home. nah, he’s with his brother and sister and probably the beauty cousins. why? hunter asks.

this is just right! blondie walks into their dorm and pulls out her notebook. blondie asks hunter things like when did dexter first start exhibiting signs of drug use and when did sparrow hood get thrown in the mix? how did dexter get involved with this kind of thing?

cupid nods along while blondie talks. hunter tells blondie that he’s not super close with his roommate, but dexter has been hanging around sparrow hood for a while now. they have a weird friends with benefits situation and hunter has gotten pretty close with sparrow’s roommate alistair because of this. sparrow and dexter go on a lot of benders together, so hunter doesn’t really see dexter all that much anymore.

blondie is listening intently. when hunter finishes, she grabs all her papers and thanks him profusely.

no problem, blondie. just don’t let daring charming know that you’re looking into dexter and sparrow. he’ll probably kill you or something, hunter says with a laugh.

blondie and cupid make it back to their dorm, very satisfied after their talk with hunter. maybe cupid isn’t so stupid after all.

they get ready for bed and blondie decides she’ll write a little article with the information she has in the morning. she knows she’s no where near close to uncovering this story, but it won’t hurt to get everything organized. blondie says goodnight to cupid and gets in her bed.

blondie falls asleep soundly without noticing a hext message from daring charming.

#take a shot every time blondie says stupid roommate ca cupid #can u tell blondie is in love with cupid #this came out so much better than i expected #idk what happened at the end there #tw // drugs #blondie lockes #apple white #ca cupid #hunter huntsman #euphoria! eah au #ever after high #emma enchants #dexrrow #lovelockes #appling

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razorblade180 · 3 years

Text

Twin Snowflakes 22: Ground Zero

Part 21 -> here! <-

Bad luck has been a part of Qrow’s life for as long as he could remember. It manifested in a variety of ways but there was one in particular that was absolutely the worst, travel. Flat tire on a road trip, inconvenient. Plane delay, well that one was probably not his fault, but it felt like it! Certain cases like that were always a little iffy on if it was him or life. As the veteran huntsman stood on the deck of his son’s boat in the pouring rain with a Kraken raising from the depths, Qrow was sure of one thing. This one had to be his fault.

“I didn’t think grimm this big were still around. We’re in the middle of the ocean for crying out loud.” Qrow sighed, grabbing harbinger.” It’s cases like this he’d usually leave. Two big problems though. Problem number one, Sparrow was already firing cannons at it. Problem number two, it was waving Oscar around like a toy. He seemed okay though.

“CAN I HAVE SOME HELP HERE!?” He screamed, louder than the roaring winds and rough seas. “THIS GUY IS REALLY SLIMY!!”

“Slip out then!” Sparrow shouted in earnest. Oscar might’ve been far away but Sparrow could tell the man was not amused by that response. “What!? Do you want me to shoot that arm with you in it!? Penny will have a fit if I shot you!”

“PENNY WILL HAVE A FIT IF I'M EATEN!!!” Oscar wiggled and squirmed before finally managing to create an orb to push the tentacle off, then dispelling the orb to drop straight down. Cannon fire rained down on the center mass like grand finale fireworks, but only angered the beast. More tentacles cut through the air to reclaim its lost hostage.

“Give me a break.” The rain continued to pour down and sting against Oscar’s skin. He paid no mind to the whirlpools forming or the ship deck quickly approaching. Oscar simply closed his eyes. “Hey it’s been awhile. Mind lending a hand?” He called, subconsciously to his old friend.

“Hehe Oscar, do you even have to ask?”

Oscar smiled, opening his eyes and seeing Oz smile back through the reflection of the rain drops before seeing his own again, complete with white hair and golden eyes. “Let’s get to it shall we?”

xxxx

Nick remained quiet as Weiss drove back home from school. He was happy he made it back in time. A gigas dragging him away after his fight with Valerie would’ve made the entire incident worse. Though if he was being honest, fighting a gigas sounded cathartic in a way. He gently pulled up the window switch over and over, repeatedly.

Weiss took note of her son’s unusually sad demeanor. “Alright, wanna tell me what happened in there? You were full of energy before getting your work, and I doubt the workload has spooked you.”

“Nothing I’m not used to.”

“Ah, Valerie troubles.” Weiss glanced over and saw Nick glare at his own reflection. Looks like she was right on the money. “Take it from me, I’m sure whatever happened had more to do with her own personal feelings and not the feelings you have for her.”

“You say that with such confidence.”

“I was a teenage girl once too, you know? One with plenty of personal hurdles I tried to associate with other people instead of myself. It doesn’t ever really stop truthfully. You just get better at accepting the fact the problems fix itself when you decide to change how to respond to it.”

“Do you think I have a problem I should change? Loving a girl who pushes me away, it probably makes me look like a joke.” He tried rolling down the window again but found the switch had been locked. Yet another thing to make him sad.

“I think it’s not the wisest thing you’ve done, but it’s definitely the most normal teenage thing about you. Joke or not, feelings are feelings. They’ll work themselves out. Just don’t force anything and before you know it, you’ll see things a lot clearer.” Weiss reached over and ruffled his shaggy hair. “Who knows, maybe you’ll see this dew of yours needs to finally change.”

“As if!” Nick laughed, “I look too much like uncle if I cut it, and any longer makes me look like dad.”

“Not if you style it. Oh, or grow it out even longer. Like when you’re little! “Weiss cooed, “You and Summer were really hard to tell apart then.”

“Yeah, and people kept calling me ‘she’ and stuff. Nooooo thank you!” He folded his arms in protest.

“That won’t happen now that you got your father’s looks. You’ll just be a pretty boy. Then if you get facial hair!? Nick, let me make you gorgeous! I have Coco on speed dial!”

“This is why you had a boy and a girl, mom! So I can escape this torture.”

Weiss pouted, “Summer likes doing her own makeup and hair. I should be proud considering it’s my old look from waaaaay back, but I still wanna change things up. I’d give this entire family a makeover if you all weren’t so whiny about it.” Weiss looked in the mirror at neck length hair. She remembered how free she felt the first time she cut it. Having twins meant twice the hair pulling, three times if she counted the one person she wanted to pull her hair. Thinking back, there was a good chance it was one of times Jaune pulled it that gave way to the discussion of kids in the first place.

“Hmmm, maybe I should grow my hair out. I miss the old length sometimes.”

“Summer would be so upset.”

“Good, then she’ll change it. That’s one family member down.”

Nick playfully rolled his eyes. A makeover didn’t sound too annoying actually. Maybe after the tournament? He’d think about it. “Hey, mind if we train again today? I got a lot of pent up energy and new ideas.”

“I suppose. Someone has to make sure you don’t overdo it. Winter is coming over too, so it’s for the best I warm you up anyways. I’m positive after your recent school events that she has a few words for you.”

Nick gulped, knowing he was in for a workout. “Well now…guess I’m dying today.” He could already feel his muscles ache.

xxxx

Meanwhile in the woods, Summer and Veronica had crossed into unfamiliar territory, casual conversation. It wasn’t going well. They both agreed to chat but neither of them were actually talking! They were just walking with Veronica taking the lead, leaving Summer awkwardly following a few steps behind.

The girl had finally pulled herself together after her little episode. In truth, she was a little embarrassed to say anything after it. She hated looking weak, especially in front of Veronica, a girl who manages to look strong against even the harshest of critics and peers. It was quite envious, her attitude. Summer would give just about anything to have it. Summer looked down at her scroll for what must’ve been the tenth time. Still no missed messages.

“Expecting a call?” Veronica finally said, noticing the Schnee’s gaze consistently drifting. “Got a boyfriend or something I don’t know about?”

Summer felt like that might’ve been a jab but chose to ignore it. “Nick always calls me if Shiva gets out or nearly escapes. He’s always had a sixth sense for knowing her moves. It’s unlike him to not immediately call, even if he’s doing something urgent.” Summer put her scroll away. “Him not calling is odd.”

“Are you telling me she almost got out earlier? I didn’t really smell anything.” Veronica looked back to see the girl look at her confused. A fitting look honestly. “The one time Shiva was out and even when we argued yesterday, I smelled peppermint, a disgusting amount of it. The diamond dust smells the same.” Veronica pointed to her nose, “I didn’t smell that earlier.”

“Oh.” was all Summer could say. It should’ve been a relief, but it wasn’t. “Great, my panic attack was just unhinged. Even when she’s quiet, she’s ruining my day.”

“Are you saying Shiva tries escaping when you’re hysterical?”

“Apparently not, or at least not all the time? Agh, it’s impossible for me to tell.” Summer was even more perplexed than before. “Just when have I been talking to her? They’re not all fake, but...they’re not all real either? I can’t afford not knowing the” Her train of thought was broken when a snowball thrown by Veronica hit her coat. “Hey! Wh-”

Veronica quickly covered Summer’s mouth. “Shhh! Grimm.” She pointed several yards into the distance where two sabertooth grimm were roaming. “Alright, do your thing.”

Summer looked at the grimm, then back at Veronica, who gave a casual thumbs up. “Wait, you’re not helping?”

“Nope.”

“Whhhhyyyyyy exactly?” Summer questioned.

Veronica sighed, because one of the reasons I wanted to be out here is to better see you in action. Why else would I tell you to bring your blade?”

“You lead me here under the assumption of a fight…” Summer deadpanned, “Couldn’t you have looked up old videos of me? I didn’t see you drag Nick off to fight grimm so you can make his outfit.”

“Nick has double the videos of him fighting, as well as him figure skating. Also, I pay more attention to him than I do you.” It might’ve been rude, but it was the honest truth. Summer didn’t even seem surprised. She just looked at Veronica with judgment. “What?”

“Nothing, much.” Summer drew her blade and put a glyph at her feet. “Any requests for data purposes?” She could not believe this was happening.

“Just handle them how you would normally, oh huntress in training.” Veronica teased lightly.

Summer pointed her sword out with her right hand and her right foot forward, then took off. The distance between her and grimm was closed in a matter second. She leaped over one, slicing it’s head off through the back of its neck. Another glyph formed midair behind her. Summer used it to kick off right after the attack and thrust her blade through the second grimm’s eye socket. Not even a snarl was heard before it died instantly.

Summer looked back at Veronica. “Cake walk. You’d get more data out of a video than th-”

“BEHIND YOU!” Veronica shouted.

Summer looked over her shoulder to see a third one already pouncing. With a subtle breath, Summer slowed its approach and then back stepped to safety. One more glyph was put under the paws of the beast and pulled out like a rug to trip it. Summer spun the chamber of her Myrtenaster and threw into its ribs like a javelin. The chamber landed on flame dust, setting it ablaze.

“Phew! That was...unexpected.” Summer said, coming down from a surge of adrenaline.

Veronica ran over to Summer, surprised. “How did you do that, the breath thing?” Veronica asked, “That’s a trick I’ve never seen.”

“ Oh that? Well…” Summer took her left glove off and focused. Little snowflakes started floating upward from it in place like a snow globe. “I’m not too good at it, but I can control a bit of Shiva’s powers. Only when I’m cold though, or freaked out, but that second one is more involuntary.” Summer put back on her glove, “considering the potential risks and conditions, I don’t use it in fights. Explaining it to officials would be a pain anyways.”

That made sense. Veronica could smell a hint of peppermint coming off Summer. That was Shiva’s power alright. This also explained the mass amount of ice she saw Summer create in her video fighting the Paladin. “Permission to touch you?” Veronica asked, like she always did. Summer nodded. Veronica reaches out and places two fingers against the pulse in Summer’s neck. “Any other Shiva related tidbits to share?”

“Ummm, we share a subconscious, sort of? More like a neutral ground.”

Veronica paused momentarily, “what?” She said, annoyed by all this cookie cutter information. “Gonna need more tidbits?”

“It’s hard to explain. I don’t understand it either.” Veronica looked at Summer, unblinking. Apparently that wasn’t a good enough answer. “Look, imagine something like...an ocean, just water and the sky above. Now flip it upside and make that ocean completely frozen. That’s more or less what the subconscious looks like. There’s ground to stand on, but I can’t really see. Depending if I’m actually dreaming or in a certain place, then that’s what the subconscious can look like. The only constant is that ice ceiling.”

Every sentence from this girl felt like a fever dream to Veronica. “Summer, I doubt you're lying to me, but do you by any chance also do drugs? You know, the hard kind.”

“As if!” Summer swatted Veronica’s hand off her neck. “First of all, drugs and I don’t mix. Second, be serious!”

“It was a valid question. Rich kids do a lot of things. If Nick told me he tried it before I wouldn’t be surprised. Saddened, but not surprised.”

“While I would be hounded by you no doubt?”

Veronica crossed her arms, “I’d berate anyone who would do drugs.” Her tone was stern and cutthroat, “It’s an ugly slope that goes down fast.”

The way she spoke about it was rather serious compared to what Summer was used to. “Have...you done drugs?” Summer asked cautiously.

Veronica thought about her answer carefully for a moment. “For a brief time, yes. I’m past it however, totally clean. I thought it might help control my instincts.” Veronica slouched over with a sigh, “Unfortunately, noooo dice. Come on. Let’s keep moving.” Veronica continued to walk.

Summer stood quietly for a moment, then followed as well. She wasn’t expecting to get to the topic of Veronica’s genetics in such a personal way. Then again, someone’s very birth is nothing but personal. Curiosity began to get the better of her. They did make a deal after all.

“V-Veronica…?” Summer stuttered, “I held up my end of the bargain. The only other thing that may be worth mentioning is Shiva only knows what I know when she tries escaping, and I only know what she does if I’m conscious. Other than that I think all the dribble about the state of mind would make you snore. So…..”

Veronica could tell where this was going. “Relax, I’m not about to break a deal that I proposed in the first place.”

She reached for a nearby branch and plucked a silver flower off of it. It’s five petals were spread wide Veronica placed it in her own hair. “I take it that even your school isn’t bold enough to ignore basic faunus knowledge and history, despite their…questionable place in said history?”

Summer nodded, “Hey, Atlas isn’t the kind of place to bury the leads. Older society and its people simply do what they want, how they want.” Summer cringed, “Not that doing so is exactly better in the long run. Besides, you think rich tycoons wouldn’t tell their heirs and shady dealers how they amassed their fortune? Atlas’s people might know too well the benefits and contributions the faunus play in our history and in a work capacity.” Summer felt sick saying that. “It’s disgusting really.”

“Couldn’t agree more. With all that said, how much do you wanna bet there’s aspects glossed over?” Veronica wagered.

“I could’ve sworn you made it clear that you have no interest in money?” Summer quipped.

Veronica let out a humorous breath, “Tah, a girl can change her mind can’t she?” Veronica watched Summer reach in her pocket and pull out a hundred lien casually, giving it up. Veronica was surprised. “We didn’t even make the bet yet.”

“If I knew everything, then I wouldn’t be curious about this in the first place. Odds of you teaching me something new about your people is a given.”

Maybe it was the fact that Summer was made of money, or had good intentions for learning more, but Veronica couldn’t take the money. She could only waved it away. “Geez it was a joke. Making you pay would look bad.” She said, in a forest with nobody but themselves around. “Qualities Like night vision and other adaptations aren’t the only animals traits given. It’s fundamentally built into everything about us. Disposition, personality traits, social skills, everything; the animal you are influences all of these in a variety of ways in varying amounts.”

“Like how faunus with nocturnal animal traits tend to take night jobs?”

“Veronica nodded, “Yes. A bird faunus might choose a home at high elevations, even if they don’t have wings. A deer or rabbit faunus may have to work harder at public speaking than let’s say a wolf faunus. The subtles can get even tinier; or as obvious as a feline faunus loving fish.”

Summer never really thought about it, but that made sense.“What you’re basically telling me is for a faunus, nature vs nurture takes on an entirely different level of complexity? Nothing stops a rabbit faunus from being a motivational speaker, but it would be more work, unless their parents or even their environment had predisposed them to be apart of a more vocal and outgoing lifestyle?” Summer’s eyes lit up. “That’s actually really fascinating, sowhere do you fit in with all of this?” She asked, wanting to learn more.

Veronica was taken off gaurd by how interested Summer was. “For a person who apparently hates school as much as I do, you look eager to learn.”

“School sucks because of social pressure and redundant information.” Summer deadpanned, “Anyone would get bored of learning material that is forced upon them and is as quickly discarded.”

“Well, I guess that’s true. I wouldn’t say I’m in love with any aspect of school, but learning is the least problematic part of what I had to think about it. Anyways, what I’ve told you so far applies to all faunus. With the way the world is and all the kinds of possible traits, finding a place to fit in isn’t difficult. Those animal instincts are very much submissive compared and don’t hinder our ability. Like you said, a rabbit faunus can do public speaking. A bat faunus can absolutely walk around in broad daylight. However, there’s a minority among faunus that have their animal gene act way more dominant than the majority. Roughly 13 to around 18 percent of the faunus population, if I remember correctly. This group, my group, are easily recognized by having exaggerated or extra features. Extra large wings, skin more animal than human, cold blood-”

“Ears and a tail?” Summer interjected, “appearance wise, you seem to have gotten off easy. You covered in fur or having whiskers would be a little distracting. Not gonna lie.”

“Externally, I’m just a tick higher on date lists for everyone with disturbing cat girl fantasies. Make no mistake though, I’m not the average faunus. Super faunus, the minority, have their animal qualities cranked up and deformed. I can’t see in the dark, but my nose is keener than any dog I’ve encountered. All those little traits I mentioned before? They tend to manifest in my people aggressively and often. To put into perspective, I have more in common with my grandpa than I do my mom, on an animal level.”

“Wow, that’s…intense. Your grandpa roars and gets all apex predator on people when he’s pissed- oh! Wait, your temper is shit because of your genes!?”

Veronica inhaled, ignoring the insult for the sake of conversation. “To a degree, yes. I cannot pin the blame entirely on my DNA, unfortunately…” she added that last bit quietly. “Despite what people write online about my family, we aren’t just cats. We are big cats. I’m a panther for crying out loud.”

Summer squinted, “Well, seeing how you’re mostly blonde, aren’t you technically more of a jaguar or a leopar-”

“Panther.” Veronica said, this time with feeling. “I could dye my hair red and that doesn’t change my DNA, Summer.”

For her own safety, Summer wisely chose not to make a very easy pink panther joke. She thought about it, but this conversation didn’t need to fall apart for the sake of Summer wanting to be a smartass to Veronica for once. “Fair enough, continue.” She said, still thinking about the joke.

“My athletic ability is exceptional, hearing too. My tail gives me balance more than other faunus. Despite the term super, anyone with the mutation would tell you how daunting it is. The type of animal, like everything else, determines what the faunus might deal with. For me it boils down two major things that contradict each other. Problem number one, not eating enough meat.”

“What happens?”

“Same thing that happens to any starved predator. I become impulsive, irritated easily, confrontational, my senses get...sensitive, adrenaline makes me dizzy-”

“So you’re super hangry?” Summer said without thinking. She immediately tucked her lips in and accepted the “you are an idiot” look that Veronica gave her without mercy. “Why the hell did I say that?”

Veronica groaned, “Minutes ago I heard you bring up nature vs nurture for comparing and explaining what I’ve said. Now you compare things to being hangry? It’s not even about how full I am, it’s the nutritional and instinctual part of devouring meat that my brain wants. It’s no different than your body craving milk for calcium. If I’m not careful and reach my limit, I tend to lose sense of reason and even blackout into a haze of instinct. Essentially, I go feral. Your brother can tell you that it’s not a pretty thing.” Veronica frowned.

The bruises on his face that day after school started to make a little more sense. No way he’d just let Max and Darren get clean hits in! He was dealing with an enraged Veronica. It actually put a lot of things in perspective. Summer couldn’t count how many times Veronica looked like she wanted to actually claw a person’s eyes out. She might’ve actually been thinking it over! That...was a scary thought. “What’s problem number two?” There was no way it could be just as bad.

“Eating too much meat. That’s when I’m an apex.” Veronica said, giving a thousand yard stare. Summer immediately took her statement back. That sounded way more problematic. “My attitude shifts. My fuse isn’t as short as when I’m starved but let’s say I can be very...demanding. Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Summer raised a brow, skeptical of that statement. “Are you saying-”

“Better think twice before saying I’m already demanding. Neither you or Nick has seen me when I’m caught up in the euphoria of being what I am. I’d put that girl Amber to shame, and my physical prowess are even better. I’m wild in a completely different way. Filter, broken. Can’t even put that state into words. So yeah, that’s my genetic mishap in a nutshell.”

“You being a food snob and all of your diets make a lot more sense now. Why keep this to yourself for so long.”

“Simple, it’s not anybody’s business what I’m dealing with. It’s handled, and doesn’t need to be explained among faunus. Living normally isn’t hard when you know what you’re dealing with, which is why I’m shocked every resource hasn’t been poured into figuring out your problem.”

That stung a bit. “Oscar is currently crossing the sea to potentially find answers, I have you know.” Summer said defensively.

A scoff came from Veronica. “No offense, but that sounds like a waste of energy.”

“Saying no offense doesn’t make me feel less hurt.” Summer folded her arms. “How would you know? Unlike you, my affliction has no prior information to go off of, and isn’t a genetic thing at birth. Any move could be closer to the truth, or a shot in the dark. For all intended purposes, you were born and live normally like anyone else.”

“Hate to make you sound stupid, but a test tube baby isn’t normal in most circles. Two moms, remember?” Veronica said, coldly.

Summer stopped walking. For some reason, that didn’t sit right with her. “Isn’t that name...an insult?”

“Yep.” Veronica kept walking, “Keep up. I’ll leave you out here.”

Summer listened. Maybe it was her imagination, but that atmosphere between them felt like it changed again. They had both held up their end of the bargain. Now things felt cold between them like before. Summer wasn’t expecting to learn as much as she did. Many things were answered today, so why did it feel like she knew less about Veronica. Blanks were filled into a picture she never knew the true size of, and still didn’t. One of those pieces felt out of place. The piece that helped put build up to this situation in the first place.

“Veronica…?” Summer uttered, “By any chance, does any of what you told me having anything to do with the torn pages in your-” suddenly, Summer’s words were stuck in her throat. Veronica had turned around to look her dead in the eyes, coldly and without care. Summer felt herself become small and beneath Veronica yet again, inferior.

“Never bring this topic up again, got it?” Veronica had to stop herself from balling up her hands, or she’d cut them with her nail. “Got it?” She said again, doing her best not to blow a fuse.

“S..sorry. I just...thought-”

“You thought wrong.” Veronica said. She turned around and kept walking. “We’re not friends.”

Heat rose to Summer’s face. It was impossible to know if she was feeling embarrassed, upset, or anything. All she knew was for a moment, she felt tears well up before vanishing. She breathed through her nose and bit back. “Yeah, I’m well aware.”

xxxx

“Sloppy!!!” The commanding voice of Weiss’s sister cried, knocking her nephew into a bush for the tenth time today. “You’re unfocused! Surely you can do better?”

Weiss witnessed her child stumble back to his feet, hair messed up and panting. He stabbed his sword into the ground to brace himself momentarily. His aura was still high, and yet… “Winter, he’s still under the weather. Ease up.”

“This is me easing up. You simply coddle him too much. Nick is more than capable of continuing. I don’t remember going as easy on you when you asked for training all those years ago. You turned out fine.”

“I wouldn’t exactly use our relationship as a standard.” Weiss mumbled.”

Nick raised his sword quickly. He channeled a fire ball to the tip of his blade as fast as he could, but was still too slow. Winter had already rushed towards his left. He had no choice but to abandon the fire attack for a block that barely withstood his Aunt’s blade. Nick slid backwards on the stone ground.

Winter shook her head. “Once again, you waste aura and energy not because the attack was a bad choice, but because you simply cannot use your semblance fast enough.”

Winter shot off a fire ball not even a second later. She waited closely for Nick to raise his block, then used a standard glyph to propel herself forward. Her speed surpassed the fireball, and Winter was able to position her blade behind him as the flame made contact with his.

Nick looked over his shoulder at her, frustrated, but not willing to yield. He pivoted around with his blade held out to direct hers away, then put a glyph between them. By the time he did so, Nick already knew she was on the move again. “Don’t count me out!” His left hand pulled a summoned sword from the glyph. Nick swung it out to the left and around to his back while his actual blade was swung right. The weight to Winter’s attack came from back and was blocked, perfect. He leaned his body left with his blade as he felt Winter shift that direction to his opened side.

Winter could only smile as she went in to strike. Nick just played her and she knew it. Her blade still clashed with the summon weapon, leaving his right blade free to use the momentum from the lean and make a clean stab with no chance for her to block. Winter did the wise thing and jumped back, abandoning her assault. His left side was never really opened. It was bait. Both swords were used to block wherever she came from. The right one only stopped short because the left one did the job of making sure she aimed for his back by swinging outward. Winter would have either been hit or blocked if she immediately attacked left or right, and the glyph protected the front. By making her attack his back, he all but ensured she would aim left next because it was the only unguarded spot, a spot he was ready to defend and attack from simultaneously. It was this kind of quick thinking and reckless style that separated Nicholas from anyone else. Even his sister. Especially his sister. Winter loved Summer to death, but the girl was quick to panic if plans fell apart.

Normally Winter would hear him say something self-indulgent. Nope. Just a quiet stare and a fireball he had to fire off thanks to the distance between them. Still…

“Nice effort.” Winter said, knocking it away with ease. “But no. The simple fact you can summon the sword of an Arma Gigas so easily yet remain sluggish with more basic functions of your semblance is a baffling talent. If it wasn’t for your unconventional swordplay that you somehow make work, I’d say getting a gold medal would be impossible. Still might be. It only does so much.”

“Well it’s a little late to change my style now. This is what I know best.” He dropped his sword and slowly let out a breath, filled with irritation. “I know I’m lacking.”

Winter raised a brow. She looked at Weiss confused, “What’s wrong with him? The usual?”

“No. Well, yeah, but he’s been stretched thin in general recently.”

“I’m not stretched thin. I just...nothing feels like it’s enough. Training in particular. Like you said, I can make swords in my sleep. All the other things our family is supposed to be good at, I’m average!”

Winter turned off mentor mode for a moment. Clearly this is more than about training, but she’ll play along. It was time to be an aunt. “Nick, you are in a class of your own. Sixteen and this skilled by no means is average. In regards to us, your family, no one here was perfect. Nobody here is perfect. Your mother still over extends her strikes from time to time and your father definitely wasn’t a genius by any means.”

Weiss narrowed her eyes, “Hey, I’m free game but be nice to my husband. You’re right, but be nice.”

“Like me, you choose to wield two blades. Unlike me, it’s your go to stance.” Winter informed, “Our semblance works best when we have a free hand. That’s why shields aren’t a good option for us. The choice to use two blades isn't bad by normal standards. I’ve faced many foes that pressured me with similar tactics, even beat me. Though only one is real, another sword has made it harder for you to use glyphs. At least it should be, but summoning and a video of your exam says otherwise.”

Nick looked at his summoned blade in frustration. “I still don’t know what I did differently that day. I was faster and more in control than I have ever been. Not only did I actually make a gigas, but even all my other glyphs felt on par with Summer’s.”

“Remember Nick, You and Summer excel at different things.” Weiss reminded him. “Yes, her fundamentals and use of dust are better, but she has a knack for it. That’s her edge. In a fight, Summer’s wide range of dust and glyph combinations always means she’s never out of range to attack or control a fighting space. You may not have that but your speed, stamina, and reflexes make up for it. In close quarters, no one your age matches you in Atlas.”

“That merit just so happens to have made you neglect the need to sharpen your other talents. Do you know how dangerous you could be with-”

“Time dilation? Yeah, mom told me.” He interjected, “something about those other things simply don’t click in my head. Can’t even get a fireball right.”

He sat down on the ground and took another breath. “The way I fight, it isn’t like I built it to be the most versatile. My offense is my defense. The use of momentum to add power behind my strikes helps keep in moving. It’s why my stamina and speed is good, to push my body for relentless attacks.”

He didn’t say it out right, but he didn’t have to. Nick made a style that didn’t make him good against a variety of people in mind. No, Nick thought of style against Shiva. In the end, that’s the only fight that matters. Beating others with it was a way to refine it for the moment it mattered. Abandoning it was not an option. Only improving.

Winter could only look upon the boy's face and see someone who only ever has the best intentions for others slowly begin to waver. Her teenage years were long gone, but no one ever truly forgets the confusion they went through during that time. Winter walked over to her young nephew and sat in front of him, legs crossed. “Why is it always the most caring of people who can never give themselves the break they give others? Nicholas Schnee, you are a kind, hardworking young man that never doubts himself often. Much like your mother, you take hold of what you want and clench it tight.”

“Lately holding on seems to hurt more than letting go. Nothing...feels right. Not just in training either. I feel like a gap between me and everyone else has been growing, like I’m out of a very important loop. Val, Vee, even Summer.”

“This time of year gets people stressed. It’s possible every one just needs a breath. I can speak much on a gap, but I’m positive time will mend it. Despite my feelings towards the young Belladonna, it is pretty clear the two of you get along. Confide in her.”

Weiss and Nick went bugged for a moment. They both looked at each other and then back at Winter.

“Wow.” Weiss spoke, “That’s pretty big, coming from you. Anytime you see that girl, you have nothing but disappointing looks.”

“Yeah Auntie, I’m shocked.”

Winter turned a little red, “I don’t see why. I may find her a bad influence on you and your sister, but my opinion is one of many. With you, Veronica is a welcome distraction to break up your daily routine. I’ll give her that much.”

“How generous,” Nick said sarcastically. Veronica was starting to sound more like a battle tactic than a person. Though she probably wouldn’t mind if it meant spending time with him. Regardless, ��I appreciate the suggestions, but my time is better spent training at the moment. If I can be half as capable as I was during my exam, then I chalk that up as good progress.”

Winter hit his head. “Fool, you’re not getting it!”

“Ow! What!? All I said was- Ow!” Weiss also hit his head, much lighter though. “Stop hitting me! I thought this was a pep talk!?”

“It is.” Winter stated, “It’s also a lesson. The way you are now, you can’t progress much further. I urge you to really think about what made that day different from now; what made your last attack against me different even. That is all the hints I will provide to him. I do hope your mother keeps quiet as well.”

“Hey! I get I’m a little...lenient with him, but I would never skip an opportunity to watch him grow. Besides, telling him wouldn’t mean he could do it any faster anyways.” Weiss teased. She could hear Nick’s ears practically buzzing.

“If that’s the case then say it!” He asked eagerly. He was given no answer. Winter and Weiss walked away from him like they didn’t peak his curiosity. He assumed training was about to resume like normal. However, it didn’t. A look of shock came to him when both of his elders faced him, blades drawn.

“What, both of you at once.” He said nervously, grabbing his sword and rising quickly to his feet. “What happened to me being under the weather, mom!?”

Weiss smiled, “Hey, you wanted fast results. Until you find the answer to your glyph problem, we’ll double down or swordsmanship. Brace yourself. I’ll hold back.”

“I will not!” Winter smiled.

Nick didn’t even get a chance to blink before the two of them came after him. He gulped, “Should’ve stayed in bed.” Nick prepared himself when suddenly, a cold chill went down his spine. Weiss and Winter immediately recognized the look of fear on his face and stopped their approach while he pulled out his scroll to call his sister. “Pick up. Come on Summer, pick up!” He muttered.

xxxx

Summer felt like an idiot. Of course nothing has changed. Why would it? A talk didn’She walked faster, out pacing Veronica.

“Hey, slow down. I haven’t told you where we’re going.” Veronica said, but Summer didn’t listen. “Hey!”

“Leave me alone! I may not come here often but I live here. I’ll find my way without you.” Summer said, grunting as she forced her way through dense branches and bushes.

“Can you not act like a child for once!?” Veronica yelled, running after her. “And stop ignoring me!” Veronica was near her wits end.

“.........”

And then she reached it. Veronica’s tail and tensed up. “Summer!” Veronica yelled again, going through the bushes. “I said stop ignoring-” the potent odor of peppermint invaded her senses out of nowhere. Veronica looked around the area, seeing nothing. Nothing, but a frozen lake, shimmering with diamond dust below the surface; and Summer standing in place, shivering.

“Summer…?” She said, concerned this time. Her words didn’t reach, not immediately. The scent wasn’t only coming from the lake. Veronica didn’t dare to move as she watched a finger point across the water. Her eyes looked in that direction to see nothing but scared trees and large rocks that had been chipped rather deep.

“A fight?” Veronica thought. She looked closer. All the markings looked to be going outward and from one spot. A spot several feet off the lake. Even with all the dust, it was clear that spot smelled the most foul. “No, an explosion.” Her attention went back to Summer. “A dust explosion.” Veronica yelled again. “Hey! Summer! Answer me, please!?” She could no longer be calm. Veronica ran to the girl screaming her name.

Summer might as well have been deaf to Veronica’s voice. All she heard was laughter. Her laughter, coming from Shiva skating on the ice.

“Hahahahaha! Oh wow! We haven’t been here in ages Summer!!!” Grinning and filled with joy, Shiva extended her hand, “Summer, come join me!” The glow of her eyes grew more dazzling, as well as her smile. “Just like before….”

#rwby #rwby au #sparrow branwen #rwby twin snowflakes #weiss schnee #winter schnee #nicholas schnee #summer schnee #qrow branwen #veronica belladonna #oscar pine

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farai727 · 3 years

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many fics I recommend

The Sparrow and the Songbird: Ben and Rey grew up as neighbors and reconnect after the death of Ben’s mother, Leia. Rey finds a box full of letters in the attic addressed to her from a teenage Ben. https://archiveofourown.org/works/22664929/chapters/54171439

Understood: Ben is a movie star that gets lost in Paris. It gets late and Ben grows tired, deciding to knock on Rey, a stranger’s, door for shelter. https://archiveofourown.org/works/22864411/chapters/54647083

The Heartbreak Prince: Eurydice “Rey” Niima is a 7th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ben Solo is her new professor in defense against the dark arts. https://archiveofourown.org/works/21796579/chapters/52011994

Pliable: Rey denies that she has any kinks. One day she lets the word “daddy” slip in an intimate moment with Ben. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713403

Sugar Sweet on my Tongue: Ben and Rey attend their 10 year high school reunion. Has ABO troupes. https://archiveofourown.org/works/22310002

Fix Your Attitude: You’re an engineer stationed at Starkiller. You’re desperate for recognition in your career, but issues with your assignment end up making you the clean-up crew instead. Your annoyance with Kylo Ren lands you into some hot water. https://archiveofourown.org/works/5961706

Anonymous: Ben and Rey meet at their company’s Halloween party disguised as the Phantom of the Opera and Zorro. After one night with each other, they leave messages on a board on Rey’s floor in order to find the other. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836352

Risking Thorns: You are taking skating lessons from Penny Moore. She takes you to get your skates sharpened at Altman’s, but little does she know that you have history with Phillip Altman. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23683762

The Escort: Rey is an escort trying to pay for college. After Hux drunkenly tells Ben about his experience with the escorting service, he convinces Ben to let him pay for a service for him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/8267093/chapters/18939971

To Sin In Loving Virtue: Rey thinks god is punishing her for mistakes she made in college. She goes to confession at a church where she reignites with Father Ren. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20493737/chapters/48633089

Dear Fred: After the love of her life, Fred Weasley, passes away, Calla writes a series of letters to him to keep him up to date with what all has happened since he left. https://www.wattpad.com/story/52720248-dear-fred-

Always Been You: In a post-War Wizarding World still struggling to heal, the Ministry is trying to create alliances among all wizards, but turns out, the problems plaguing the magical community did not end with Voldemort. (reader x draco) https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728673/chapters/46692061

Golden Boy: The world is recovering from the destruction of the Second Wizarding War, and life seems to be going to normal for the witches and wizards of Great Britain. While she and her friends begin to step into adulthood after Hogwarts, Camellia Larke seems to be caught in schoolgirl crush on her friends' brother, Fred Weasley. https://www.wattpad.com/story/267458604?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=ZgPE%2BfYmfGtUm9RSUJf%2BKDFIfVQGRwObIzFkK6K3SHggm9kPMEZ%2FRiKK3uZ3E0QNF10Sirpmc8jZgCgvGvWJcliS5%2BpiPL6cRSbW5eW7tWVLOktI7H8Hf9NIkpRE5VI9

Switching Sides: Vermilion "Millie" Barrett goes into her sixth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in a stable, happy relationship with Fred Weasley. Everything is fine until Fred starts acting weird and suddenly breaks up with her. She's completely heartbroken until a certain "intolerable" Hufflepuff comes up with a plan to make Fred jealous and win him back, but what happens when they start spending more time together than intended? Where will Millie's feelings take her? Will Fred ever go back to Millie? https://www.wattpad.com/story/249744059?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=BQn5wfsSmxrNcnfJrgzEul7uDnc3Ha5Cg0rQVURx8MEirY0%2BvkH7nF4A3kk5v5Bv%2Fp9L7AAl8lj4Vd5zo5FF9IdW2dCErhNkKb5XNtcY%2BeIgvtTOFs3MFHZ%2FMtYzILMx

Stuck Without You: Oakley Adams is a pureblood Slytherin at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry . Her family and another powerful pureblood family, the Nelson's, have their son, William Nelson, and her's lives set for them. Things are average and well in her world until she meets a certain Hufflepuff her 6th year and everything is flipped upside down. She's conflicted between her family and her happiness. Will she live up to her Slytherin identity and stay loyal to her family and status, or will she risk losing everything for the one thing she truly wants? https://www.wattpad.com/story/244135938?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=ABGrRtTC3%2FJ0%2F1Yvgn%2FeaQcJNuknUMPcgA5%2BHf2Wx3RBs6nk4pbcyHXWPvgjEBb7PTQJw8bBW2mfaU1wol4L%2BOkcVS%2F%2FZ1scV3oJWAdQsCiLLNslC%2FMrHF3LiIS6XTRD

Sex Pollen: the relationship between yourself and your lab partner, Peter Parker, changes when your father brings a so called “hands off” experiment into the lab for testing https://www.wattpad.com/story/194674167?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=Zdx3g%2B4Y30qqEYTwu5crBDjau11ujhtwfiLNhodxJBJSK02XoA1jhSVPb5OzqCsVBNIs6mzDM1RAgdSuxxLmOFs7DU9oG8JvG0PRWp46WHt4kyy7LiIr35lziuQBgkpT

Touch Starved: You suffer from major panic disorder. People with the disorder live in fear of having a panic attack. Due to this, the only way she can 'survive' is by feeding off of sexual activity in order to keep her somewhat grounded. Her time limit is every three days or 72 hours. Without the help of sexual activity, she can experience some major panic attacks. Thankfully she has a handsome neighbor named Peter Parker. https://www.wattpad.com/story/207153566?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&wp_page=library&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=nfXH00IQOPvQmZturEthqepUOl0H25GGb3TGMu9JForBumtirzWah6NE10qD7u7oVFaMFIN8DH0tfNQQS7X4D%2B3%2BtuA%2FkGr1qqNKuLl%2BltwGPNM%2FHZ%2B1Y5H%2BwKGxhbQV

Lurk: After the sudden death of the First Order's CEO, Snoke, a new face takes over the weapons manufacturing company. Like a son to Snoke, the overseas general manager who is known for his riches, strong personality, and sharp tongue, Kylo Ren, is given the position to take over. For his first meeting as the newly titled CEO, Kylo Ren's eyes are caught on one of the First Order's presidents- you. https://www.wattpad.com/story/147114569?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=h2m5gM4E9S0akNqWe2wqNdokAUtZ%2B3Y%2F2pQObAv1zPLwvaUrSCbnvXRXOKcRlJrcI3HiclY2BUj3wjiCSb9QWEAeeglyrPer1w6u2AzxdAq1yho3mqgJ07QqaQxTwfmt

Soulmate: The voice you hear your thoughts in is your soulmate's but you don't know who they are until you hear them speak for the first time. What happens when your soulmate turns out to be the infamous Kylo Ren? https://www.wattpad.com/story/63053879?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=story_info&wp_page=story_details&wp_uname=kylomalf0y&wp_originator=46tDpgsKMFbxM6aS45vok5ZQcEZdEfa27lPvvdCd6pcf57WZexJagYVRZggVHpVJIgoU3aNIVneIpHKPkitfzO3ukELum%2BD8fnBhO7V7aQXEQP43%2BCZQkP82XIexzkIZ

Get on Your Knees and Pray to Me: When the Goddess of Sex dies, Odin is desperately searching for someone to fit her role. Apparently, Loki is extremely interested. After becoming the God of Sex, Loki hears you praying to him about how you want to lose your virginity. He's curious about you and decides he'd like to your answer your prayers in a bit more personal manner. Loki comes to you, ravishes you, and when neither of you can resist the temptations of one another, you quickly enter into an intimate deal full of pleasure, lust, and your complete submission. https://archiveofourown.org/works/22942099/chapters/62934427#workskin

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porschekittisawasds · 4 years

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simply cannot believe i made a supernatural fic rec list in the year 2020 but here we are

When Worlds Collide

When Zachariah dies, the illusions he’s created die with him. But before they collapse completely, sometimes they collide. That’s how Castiel goes from cradling Dean Winchester’s broken body one moment, to finding himself face to face with Dean Smith in the next.

note: basically endverse!cas’s world collapses right after endverse!dean is killed by lucifer and he gets thrown into the it’s a terrible life verse. drama and love and a whole lot of fuckery ensue. it’s tagged as major character death but it’s not really

Broadway Musical

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle.

The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at.

note: an AU where dean and jo are destined to fall in love and have two sons who will bring on the apocalypse and be the vessels for michael and lucifer. only problem is cupid’s arrows don’t make them fall in love with each other and heaven promptly starts freaking the fuck out so cas slips into a vessel and tries to do some matchmaking to get the whole end of the world thing back on track. it’s tagged as unrepentant crack and that pretty much sums it up, but it’s also a very funny and enjoyable read

a turn of the earth

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

note: listen i LOVE a good time travel fic

How (thanks to Gabriel) Dean and Castiel (accidentally) raised each other (and Sam)

In which, Gabriel meddles with the time line and Castiel becomes Dean's angel rather sooner than intended.

note: after lucifer stabs gabriel in hammer of the gods, gabriel uses his very last bit of grace to travel back to the beginning of time and decree castiel the angel of thursdays and dean winchester. fast forward a few eons and castiel hears mary’s dying cry. he shows up too late to save her, but he decides that a human life is very short in the grand scheme of things so he can play guardian angel to dean (and by extension sam) while also fulfilling his duties to heaven. not only is this pretty much my favorite supernatural fic, it’s also one of my favorite fics in general

The Shattered One

When it struck Castiel, he was in mid-flight. It dropped him out of the sky like a sparrow buffeted by gale-force winds. Castiel set down the first place he could find. He ended up standing in a field in Switzerland, swaying on his feet and staring down at his body, dazed by what it had just done.

note: okay so listen. this is tagged as mpreg but that’s kind of a stretch imo. it’s not like... mpreg mpreg in the sense that it deals with angel reproduction and has nothing to do with sex or pregnancy. angel reproduction goes like this: a section of an angel’s grace will suddenly and randomly break off and begin to grow on it’s own. after a certain period of time, another angel has to offer a piece of their grace and the two pieces will combine to form a new angel. that new angel is a fully developed, fully functional angel and is considered a new brother/sister instead of an offspring.

cas’s grace shatters which means he’s fucked because this takes place in season 5 after he’s defied heaven. no other angel will offer up a piece of their grace so his own is basically going to rip itself apart, killing him in the process. when dean and sam find out cas is going to die, dean offers up part of his soul in place of another angel’s grace. what results is a new angel that has just enough human in it that it takes the shape of a human baby and sends pretty much all of their lives into a tailspin.

ALSO just a heads up this is definitely more pre-destiel despite the relationship tag. there’s a sequel where im pretty sure they do get together but i haven’t read it so i cant’s say for sure.

Kiss You When It’s Dangerous

When his partner Uriel, betrays him, Federal Agent Castiel Novak is saved from becoming a ritual sacrifice by brothers Dean and Sam Winchester.

note: FBI!cas gets thrown headfirst into the supernatural. tagged as major character death, but again it’s not really

My Roots Take Flight

After forty years in Hell, Dean’s more than willing to accept the offer: become a guardian angel and earn his freedom. But his new ward seems destined to hunt alongside Sam, and there are secrets in Heaven that the angels don’t want found out. Dean’s going to have to choose between his duty and the people he loves- and to work out just where Castiel fits in.

note: season 4 au where dean is an angel and cas is a human except it’s way more complicated than that

Peace and Good Luck To All Men

Christmas in the Milton household was difficult enough without the added complication of guests- and if Luke and Gabriel placing bets on who can get with Sam first wasn’t bad enough, then Cas developing a ridiculous crush on his sister’s boyfriend definitely is.

note: the one where michael, lucifer luke, gabriel, anna and cas are all human siblings but michael and lucifer luke are still trying to kill each other, gabriel is still Like That and cas is still super into dean which is pretty inconvenient considering he’s with anna.

Asunder

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6)

note: it’s been a very long time since i read this, but from what i remember it’s an AU where they’re all human and dean brings his friend/co-worker cas as his “date” to sam and ruby’s wedding for moral support. when sam was in college, he met ruby and they started using drugs together. after several failed attempts at helping him get clean, dean eventually cut sam off and it’s been years since they’ve spoken. even though sam and ruby are now both sober, dean blames ruby for everything that happened and the only reason he’s even going to the wedding is because bobby and ellen basically force him to. again, it’s been years and years since i read this so i can’t remember a lot of the details, but i do know that despite this being a dean/cas fic a lot of the focus is dean rebuilding his relationship with sam and that’s what i remember really liking about it.

Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

Death brings Sam back — sort of.

note: a general fic involving only sam and dean. sam’s soul is so damaged from its time in the cage that when death brings it back, it shatters into pieces and so does sam. like literally. there’s four different sams now, each representing a distinctive part of his personality. sounds cracky but it’s actually surprisingly angsty and focuses on how the sams and dean are adjusting to their new reality and each other

Point Pleasant

(okay so this fic was deleted but i’m putting in on here anyway because the author has since turned it into a novel and had it published. im sure old pdfs of the fic are floating around but i highly recommend reading the novel version. if you know it was based on a destiel fic then it’s really easy to see those influences in the writing and the characters but it can stand up on it’s own. also!!!! it has pretty much the coolest take on the mothman’s origin story that i’ve ever heard.)

Ben Wisehart (Dean Winchester) grew up in the idyllic town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. An early encounter with the supernatural shaped his worldview and served as the catalyst for his career as a bestselling horror writer. Thirteen years after abandoning his home, Ben returns to the town to investigate the apparent reemergence of the terrifying creature responsible for his childhood nightmares. In Point Pleasant, Ben is confronted not only by the town’s resident monster, the Mothman, but also by his former best friend, Sheriff Nicholas Nolan (Cas Novak). Together, Ben and Nicholas (Dean and Cas) uncover the mystery of the monster in the woods and discover that the ghosts that haunt us are sometimes made of flesh and blood. And sometimes, they lead us home.

Sympathy for the Devil (and Dean Winchester)

this is not so much a rec as it is a request.

basically an au version of season 5 (and kind of the whole series really). when god cast lucifer out of heaven, he tore out his grace. lucifer’s grace was put into the cage, but lucifer himself fell to earth and spent thousands and thousands of years reincarnating as a human. his latest reincarnation? dean winchester. so when sam opens the cage, lucifer’s grace is released and dean realizes that he’s lucifer. part of him still kind of wants to start the apocalypse but the other part of him has a whole new appreciation for humanity considering he now remembers every human life he’s ever lived. it’s made more complicated by the fact that dean (/lucifer) doesn’t really want to tell anyone that he’s apparently the devil so he has to keep his now angel status on the dl and also because despite heaven wanting the apocalypse to start, michael went missing from heaven shortly after lucifer was cast out and no one has any idea where he’s at.

this fic was deleted, but if anyone happens to have a pdf copy let me know. i would be highly appreciative!

#listen i read a lot of spn fic back in the day so im probably leaving a lot off this list #but these are the ones that i remember years and years later #also i just realized these are basically all AUs lmao #destiel #destiel fic rec #supernatural #supernatural fic rec #spn #ficrec

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superman86to99 · 4 years

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Adventures of Superman #506 (November 1993)

Superman vs. Superboy! I mean, vs. Superman, since the Kid still insists that Superboy is definitely NOT his name and never will be. The two Supermen meet while the younger, radder one is dealing with some sort of deformed flying babies that are trying to kill him, which is the sort of thing that happens to you when you wear an “S” emblem on your chest.

These turn out to be deformed flying babies THAT EXPLODE, but the Kid is able to push them away with his (very non-Superman-esque) telekinesis powers. He then deduces that these things must have come out of Project Cadmus, the top secret genetic experimentation facility that created him, and brushes off the elder Superman to get back at those geeks by doing what he does best: being a brat on live TV.

So I guess the “top secret” part of Cadmus’ description is no longer accurate, thanks to the Kid. On the other hand, I kinda feel like the people of Metropolis deserved to know that there's a nearby government facility churning out genetic atrocities into their sewers.

The Cadmus gang sends Guardian to bring their wayward creation home so they can talk to him. Obviously the Kid isn't very interested, and for a while it looks like we might get the fight scene teased in the cover, but then Superman the First convinces Superman the Second that he should at least hear them out. And, while at it, ask Cadmus to tell him exactly what the hell he is. If he’s Superman’s clone, why does he have those weird TK powers? The Kid agrees, but... he doesn't like the answers he gets.

The Kid finds out that he's NOT a clone of Superman since, as established a while back, Kryptonians are damn hard to clone. So, since Cadmus was determined to create a new Superman after the original appeared to be dead, they instead took a clone of a regular, non-super man and genetically modified it to approximate Superman's powers (for instance, translating Superman’s “aura” into a telekinetic field). But who was that human DNA donor? Surely it was someone good and cool!

Just after the Kid wonders that, the quite evil and deeply uncool Director Westfield bursts into the lab and demands that this "super-punk" be taken into custody, probably so they can flush him down the toilet like Cadmus' other failed experiments. Superman makes Westfield see that making Cadmus' whistleblower disappear wouldn't look very good right now, but they can't just let him run around unsupervised. So, at Guardian's recommendation, the esteemed telepath Dubbilex is assigned to follow the Kid wherever he goes. I smell a sitcom! (Or a spin-off comic.)

As a last order of business, the Kid decides to give Superman his trademark to the Superman name, which his manager Rex Leech doesn't take too well. So what are they gonna call this teenage “S” emblem-wearing hero now? Superman has an interesting suggestion: SUPERBOY. Our young friend still isn't a fan.

But after storming out and thinking about it for a couple of pages (and trying out the name on some guys robbing a jewelry shop), the Kid realizes he's "earned" the title of Superboy and accepts it. Character development! And just in time for his solo series. ("That Non-Superman Clone Who Also Calls Himself Superman" wouldn't look good on a cover.)

Plotline-Watch:

The final page shows a shadowy figure shaped like the recently introduced Bloodthirst outfitting someone with a weapon-teleporting gizmo, then calling him "Bloodsport"... except that this dude is quite paler than the Bloodsport we met way back in Superman #4 (in an issue inked by current writer Karl Kesel, so you'd think he'd remember the character). This looks nothing like Idris Elba! What gives?!

Superboy is still bummed out because his friend Tana Moon left Metropolis without telling him where she was going, which is now known as "ghosting". In the end, Rex talks about sending Superboy on a promotional tour to establish his new brand, and the first destination of that tour will be... exactly where Tana went to hide from Superboy. This is now known as "time to get a restraining order."

Clark Kent is slowly morphing into a hipster the longer he rooms with Jimmy Olsen. For a long time I assumed all the bands listed in the panel below were made up, but turns out the only non-existing ones are “James Rock” and "Axel Rose". Luckily, Superboy was happy to give Clark's old apartment back to him (apparently only Pulitzer-winning journalists can afford it), so Jimmy won't hipsterize him for much longer.

Westfield gladly assigns Dubbilex to Superboy because it means there won't be a telepath at Cadmus to read his thoughts and find out about his evil plans (like sending the ugly flying babies after Superboy). Very clever, Westfield! Except for the fact that he thought that right in front of Dubbilex, who clearly "heard" the whole thing.

Incidentally, there's an apparent error in this issue when Superboy thinks "They won't take me without a fight!" and Guardian shows up and says "That's too bad, son. Because I don't want to fight you." How did Guardian know what Superboy was thinking? Obviously, Dubbilex patched Guardian through to Superboy's mind to assist in finding him. Now where's my damn Baldy Award?!

Is it me or is this page reminiscent of the cover to Superboy Prime's first appearance during Crisis on Infinite Earths?

Patreon-Watch:

Special thanks to your Patreon pals Aaron, Murray Qualie, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, and Samuel Doran, and welcome aboard to Bheki Latha (our first $6.50 patron ever!), Mark Syp, and Ryan Bush! You are all excellent. This month they got to read a long-ass post entitled 45 Things I Learned by Reading the “Death of Superman” Novel (Part 1), in which I talked about the stuff Roger Stern added to the canon in the first part of the Death and Life of Superman book. This includes Superman’s private thoughts on the JLI (and Guy Gardner in particular), what Lex Jr. calls Supergirl in bed, and Professor Hamilton getting romantic. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99

But now: the Don Sparrow show! Take it away, Don.

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

The end of an era, at least temporarily, as Tom Grummett draws his last Adventures of Superman issue, moving onto Superboy (and I think still doing Robin at this time?) with Karl Kesel. He’ll return for the quarterly Superman: Man of Tomorrow and other things, but it’s a long gap until he does.

A pretty good cover, with Superman and Superboy about to tussle. Though it can be seen as cheaping out on the backgrounds, I always love radial rays as an effect.

Inside the issue, we have a great splash page of Superboy getting attacked by botched clones, and I love the gesture here—having his head snapping away from the camera adds to the motion and action. Great stuff.

Though he won’t be drawing her again for a while, Grummett excels at the new, shorter-haired Lois in these pages. Superman soaring to the skies is a great panel as well, and I especially like the way his cape and fist slightly break the panel barrier, giving it a sense of motion, again.

The sequence of Guardian acrobatically flipping from one ledge to another is very well drawn. Ditto the splash on page 13, where Superboy loses his temper. The body language in this whole sequence tells the story very well, as Superman is calm and patient, confident in his ability not only to reach Superboy with his words, but also withstand him physically.

The way Superboy snaps the carpet, but controls it mentally with his Tactile Telekinesis is a great example of his unique powers in use. It reminds me of a technique they tried on the CW Supergirl show (but almost immediately abandoned) where they made like the Kryptonian fabric of their capes was like “smart fabric” and could be used as a weapon.

Lastly, the dreamy, child-like expression on Superboy’s face during the Peter Pan exchange is wonderful, and a fitting end for Tom’s run on the book. [Max: You mean the William Shatner exchange, Don.]

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

I almost never like it when they reference pop culture stuff in Superman comics, particularly music. Karl Kesel isn’t the worst offender in that department (that would be JM DeMatties a few years down the line, who had Clark Kent bizarrely asserting he loved the Beastie Boys) but Clark’s discussion with Jimmy about an apparently fictional musician working with a rolodex of early nineties names makes me cringe (as does trying to imagine how awful a “Hip Hop Lyle Lovett” or “Grunge Frank Sinatra” would sound).

The car poster on the wall of Jimmy’s bachelor pad looks for all the world like Robin’s Redbird, also a Tom Grummett creation. (Fun fact: Tom once told me he still gets {very small} royalty cheques from the Batman & Robin movie, because Robin’s motorcycle was called the Redbird, though that might no longer be true with Paul Levitz no longer in charge of such matters.)

Superboy (in no less than his third time calling those pink creatures “spuds”) references John Candy and Joe Flaherty’s “Farm Film Celebrity Blow Up” where the guests would frequently “blow up real good” and it does my SCTV loving Canadian heart good.

It’s interesting (and a little sad) that they again note that Superboy knows things (pop culture, etc) without ever having experienced it. I feel like there’s a lot they could do with this concept.

This issue reads very much like the end of the Superboy “Reign” issues, as Superman is more of a secondary character to the kid. All of it begs the question of why Superman, or Guardian put up with Cadmus. Superman has said in previous issues that he has moral problems with how Cadmus treats life with their cloning experiments, and they’ve attacked him in the past (and also stole his corpse!) so other than the fact that it’s a launchpad for Superboy’s series, there’s really no reason any of these heroes should associate with Cadmus. Especially Guardian, who comes off as little more than an errand boy here. He wants to bring Superboy in, but won’t promise Superboy won’t be harmed or imprisoned?

Nice to see Superboy return to his “Slammin’” catch phrase!

An interesting bit of foreshadowing when Superboy asks Big Words whose clone he is, and who immediately enters but Westfield. [Max: That’s right, Westfield! Not Luthor! Sorry, sorry.]

#superman #karl kesel #tom grummett #doug hazlewood #superboy #project cadmus #paul westfield #dubbilex #guardian #carl packard #rex leech #roxy leech #bloodthirst #bloodsport #hip-hop lyle lovett #grunge sinatra

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dani-luminae · 4 years

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Sorry, i'm new to your blog and i'm intrigued by your oc's but also kinda confused. Can you give me a quick rundown of who's who? (Like their names, parents, etc)

Okay then!

Most of them are Descendants OCs, but I have crossovers into Sky High, Marvel, Once Upon a Time, The Kingdom Keepers series, and Disney ZOMBIES. I’ll try to get everyone in one list! I hope this answers your questions.

I’m also gonna put this under a cut because it’s gonna get long. I blame an overactive imagine for many of these guys.

Feel free to send asks about any of them if you want! Lia and Zeraphina are my two most popular talked about on this account, but I welcome the excuse to talk about any of them!

My personal favorites on this list are Lia, Bianca, and Haley.

Lilith “Lily” Lokidottir: My very first Descendants OC! A crossover with the MCU (or, my version of it) she has four books and counting (starting with the Isle of the Lost book and also two other crossovers!) She’s the daughter of Loki from the MCU, who, due to a mix-up and lots of problems, ended up on the Isle of the Lost, where she was raised by Maleficent. Her love interest is Jay.

Selina Oceana: My second Descendants OC! A daughter of Ursula, who��s first book was literally just the Descendants movie with Selina replacing Mal - but I’m proud to say I got much more original for her second and third book. Her love interest is Ben.

Aza: my third Descendants OC! A daughter of Aladdin and Jasmine, who ends up falling in love with Jay. It’s all a bit cliche... until a whole curse from Jafar comes into play.

Aria Crownsend: Another Descendants OC. She’s a daughter of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip in Auradon. Aria is pulled into the world of the Kingdom Keeper series in order to act as a sort of character spy, as her own Disney Princess character, in the Disney Parks.

Reign Queen: this one’s an OC for Descendants and Ever After High. She’s the daughter of Descendants’ Evil Queen (and twin sister of Evie) who, along with another Auradonian, was kidnapped and taken to the world of Ever After in hopes that the two of them could disrupt Ever After’s reliance on the Storybook of Legends and forcing their destinies on their kids. She’s a Rebel through and through, even if she really is supposed to have a happy ending to her destiny. She’s dating Adam Beast II.

Adam Beast II: The second of my Descendants-Ever After High OCs. A prince of Auradon (son of King Beast and Queen Belle, twin brother of Ben) who, like Reign, was kidnapped and taken to Ever After with the intent of disrupting the world’s reliance on the Storybook of Legends. Unfortunately, that’s where their story gets complicated, as Adam was cursed with a twisted version of the Beast Curse in hopes of forcing him to follow his dad’s destiny. He’s dating Reign.

Carly De Vil: Another Descendants OC. A daughter of Cruella De Vil and twin sister of Carlos. Carly’s story was a request, with an unusual love interest: Chad Charming. I’m proud to say I did it well, and Carly’s trilogy is one of my favorites to write. Her third book is inspired by the OG Descendants 3 teaser and involves the identity of hers and Carlos’s father.

Roseleta Mercier/Nara Dracona: Another Descendants OCs. A daughter of King Beast and Queen Belle, she was kidnapped by Queen Narissa (the villain of Enchanted) and taken back to the Isle and raised there. Years later, as Nara, she returns to Auradon as part of Ben’s proclamation, and rediscovers her family and her true life. Her trilogy is on its third and final book, The Dragon That Cannot Fly, which features Naros, a version of Ben if he was the one who was kidnapped and raised on the Isle instead of her. Nara’s love interest is Evie, while Naros/Ben’s love interest is still Mal.

Rose: Another Descendants OC, whose story crosses over with the Once Upon a Time series (only the first five season of it though.) Taken from Auradon and her parents, Rose is transported to Storybrooke, where she is one of the two Saviors necessary to break the curse and restore Storybrooke.

Jackie Sparrow: a Descendants OC, daughter of Captain Jack Sparrow and Angelica (from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides!) Truly her parents daughter, Jackie is a devoted pirate, though her trip to Auradon teaches her that “not all treasure is silver and gold.” Her love interests (polyamory!) are Jay and Theodora (an OC.)

Royal: (Okay technically Royal is not my OC. She’s technically adopted. She was created by my cousin, and then dumped on me to write her story. My cousin has since dropped all interest in Royal and her story, but I do love Royal and so she’s basically mine now. With that out of the way), Royal is another Descendants OC! Royal is born out of a love spell that Maleficent cast on King Beast, and so obviously Royal’s got some pretty peculiar parentage. Royal grew up on the Isle with her little sister, Mal, but when Royal basically invites herself along to go to Auradon for Ben’s proclamation, things definitely get more complicated. Uncertain of her own worth to either of the families she could possibly belong to, Royal is a very complicated character who feels more like she exists to be a pawn more than a person. Her love interest is Nik Goodwin, an OC.

Adam Mercier: the son of Royal in an AU of her story where Ben’s proclamation never came and she and all the others remained on the Isle. Adam is named after his mother’s father, and is a combative, impulsive character who loves his mother fiercely. When Ben’s son, Alexander, finally makes a successful proclamation to get some kids off the Isle of the Lost, Adam is one of the kids chosen to leave, alongside his cousin Malachi, his god-sister Carla, and Fairen and Jayra.

Chloe Charming: the older daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming, from the same story as Royal. One of Royal’s best friends now.

Skalja Bjorgman: the daughter of Anna and Kristoff, from the same story as Royal. One of Royal’s best friends now. Also, my first canonically autistic OC!

Bianca Mercier: Another Descendants OC! She comes from Dark Haven, a version of Auradon where good and evil are flipped. King Beast and Queen Belle, the Rulers of All Evil, rule a kingdom of evil, while Maleficent is the Mistress of Goodness, exiled to the Banished Land with the rest of the heroes. Bianca is the Princess of Darkness, as the daughter of King Beast and Queen Belle, and looks forward to her future as a queen of evil, but when she’s unfortunately placed in the Auradon that we know, her views of evil and good are unfortunately challenged and complicated. Her love interest is the Dark Haven version of Mal.

Lia Hawkins: Another Descendants OC! The daughter of Jim Hawkins (from Treasure Planet), Lia is also the princess of the far-off planet of Solasar. With a compassionate and determined personality and the powerful ability to create and manipulated light itself, Lia is the perfect foil for Mal, who she finds herself at odds with only a day after her accidental arrival in Auradon. Lia’s love interest is Ben. She’s one of my favorite OCs.

Haley Olympia-Graves: Another Descendants OC, whose story also crosses over with the world of Sky High! A daughter of Hades kidnapped from the Isle of the Lost, Haley ends up being raised by a mortal foster-mother in Maxville. Haley’s magic is mistaken for superpowers and she is taught at Sky High, the school for superheroes, but eventually, she discovers the truth about her parentage and who she is. Haley’s love interest is Layla.

Gwyn Carlye/Barkowitz: Another Descendants OC, and her story crosses over with Disney’s ZOMBIES series! While Gwyn was raised as a perfectly human cheerleader in Seabrook, there’s some things off about her. Her green eyes can glow. Her hair is white, for some reason. And she’s fascinated by the full moon. When she turns out to be the Great Alpha that the Werewolves are looking for, their search for the moonstone leads them into Auradon, where Gwyn discovers the truth about her origin. Gwyn’s love interest is Willa.

Zeraphina McAlyster: A Disney ZOMBIES OC! Zeraphina is half-Zombie and half-human, loves football, and loves to challenge the rules. She attends Seabrook High (after the events of the first movie) and shockingly enough, actually ends up dating Bucky, the cheer rockstar.

Cassia Larsen: A Sky High - MCU crossover OC! The daughter of Loki, she grew up under the radar in Maxville, raised by her human mother, where Cassia’s seemingly-simple abilities - the ability to create and control ice - could easily be passed off as superpowers. Of course, things don’t stay hidden and simple for long. Cassia’s love interest is Warren Peace.

Belladonna Valaise: an OC for a Disney-fandom-in-general story, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Belladonna, a talented apprentice briefly stripped of her magic for a miscast spell gone horrible wrong, ends up teaming up with a certain mouse-like apprentice in order to recover a powerful magical item from an evil magician. I don’t talk about her much on here, but she’s still around.

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lycorogue · 4 years

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Miraculous World: New York - United HeroeZ live-blogging (sorta)

Okay, it’s hard for me to live-blog everything I want to squee about, especially with the first watch. But I’m still wide awake and watching the re-air so let’s see how I do. (Turns out, I’m a slower typer than I thought and most of this was done post-watch again :P )

I absolutely love this special’s opening credits. It has a very Marvel feel. Nice.

Um... Uh... Did... Did Cristina Vee forget her Ladybug/Marinette voice over the break? I’m not liking this voice. I’m not liking it at all. STOP WITH THE VOICE! NOOOOOOO! (Also... Mr. Pigeon... Again? -_- )

Love that Adrien has started looking up the meaning of roses so he can find one Ladybug will actually accept. XD The boy tries so hard. <3

Hubby thought that Cristina might have decided to change up Ladybug’s voice so it’s not so obvious she’s Marinette (a la Batman) but the deeper voice is still here for Marinette. WHYYYYY!? The hiatus was clearly too long. She’s completely forgotten Marinette’s voice. OTL

Awww, Miss Bustier is pregnant!? She’ll be a great mom! eeeee

Also, smoooooooooth Marinette. Adrien is TOTALLY just a friend now... >_> Poor Luka. -_-

Also... ALYA’S VOICE IS WRONG TOO! WHAT THE HECK! WHYYYYYYYY. THIS IS SO AWESOME BUT I JUST CAN’T WITH THESE NEW VOICES! Everyone sounds deeper and gruffer... is that because the VAs are out of practice? Is it because they had to record at home with different equipment? What’s going on!?

Of COURSE Gabriel suspects a Miraculous in America. Good way to bring him to the States. At least Keith Silverstein remembered his Gabriel/Hawk Moth voice. I don’t know if I could have handled either Hawky or Adrien having the wrong tone of voice in this.

Oh. Oh no! Oh dear! Nathalie’s voice is the worst! At least hers can be explained away that she’s still recovering from the Battle for the Miracle Box but... *cringe*

KAGAMI’S OFF TOO! I think it’s 100% the actors not remembering the voices they used for these characters. -_- Such a shame. This movie is amazing, but the voices are so hard for me to get past.

OMG, THE LITTLE CAT TO ALERT LADYBUG IS FLIPPIN’ ADORABLE! I’d hit the button a million times myself, so I feel ya, Chat Noir. Also, BRILLIANT play, Ladybug. :D

Equally brilliant plan on Plagg’s part. At least, it would have been if they were able to actually exercise it. Also.... WHERE DID THIS POWER OF FLIGHT COME FROM AND WHY DIDN’T THEY USE IT BEFORE!? >_> Me thinks the recipe for this power is magically going to be forgotten again once we get into the show proper.

Also, I know there will be salt thrown by the handful at Adrien after this special BUT THE BOY DIDN’T WANT TO ABANDON PARIS! He was going to stay and give up his class trip, but Plagg was right, when does Gabriel ever give him the freedom to do something like this? As someone who never got to go on any out-of-state (let alone out-of-country) class trips, I know how hard FOMO hits. If I had the chance, I would have jumped at it, ESPECIALLY after Plagg came up with a solid plan. EVEN SO, HE WAS GOING TO STAY! PLAGG CONVINCED HIM! And Plagg meant well. He wanted his kid to have a taste of freedom. Just... JUST LEAVE THESE TWO PRECIOUS BEANS ALONE, SALTERS!

UPDATE: The salters did NOT leave Adrien alone for this -_-

-_- And of course Luka’s voice is ALSO off. Still, my boy RACING A FRIGGEN BUS so Marinette can make the trip to NYC! SUCH A FRIGGEN GOOD BOI AND HOW CAN FANS HATE HIM HE’S JUST AMAZING AND *chef kiss* My heart just BREAKS for him though, because he’s sending his would-be girlfriend off on a weeklong class trip with her “former” crush and he KNOWS she’s still in love, but he’s not asking her to stay or pushing her to give up on Adrien and omg this kid is too pure my poor son!

UPDATE: So, apparently the hate mostly comes from Luka being - excuse the pun but - “one note” where as Kagami is more fleshed out and well rounded? Really? We know just as much about her as we do Luka. Just because we’ve seen Kagami flawed and we haven’t particularly seen Luka stumble that makes her more well-rounded? What if we just haven’t seen what Luka’s bad at? It IS possible to write someone whose flaws don’t necessarily come up often without them being some 2D Mary Sue. Give the writers (and Luka) a chance....

Awww. Adrien feeling guilty about leaving Paris and Ladybug. :’( But look at how cheered up he was just by SEEING Marinette! LOOK AT HOW HE RACED TO HER TO SEE WHERE SHE WAS SITTING!

Aaaaand then she panics. -_- This could have been Startrain all over again, but NOOOOO she’s now so focused on “he’s just a friend and I have to get over him” that she just has 0 chill around him anymore. -_- Go back to admitting you have a crush and just stumbling over yourself around him, huh?

(The Adrienette is STRONG in this scene though and I’m eating it up)

LOOK AT HOW DISAPPOINTED ADRIEN LOOKS SINCE SHE RAN OFF FROM HIM! WHYYYYYYY? And he has to be stuck sitting between his bodyguard and Mendeleiev. Poor kid doesn’t even have a friend to chat with on the long flight. TT3TT

(So kind of serves Marinette right that she ALSO feels guilty about leaving Paris and now she has Mr. Damocles falling asleep on her instead of Adrien!)

I do appreciate that Cristina seems to be remembering Marinette’s voice more-or-less finally. Yay.

EEEEEE The sunset on the plane scene!!!!! <3 He speaks so softly to her and <3 <3 <3 (Also... Bryce Papenbrook seemed to have lost his Adrien voice in this recording... -_- )

UUUgh... was that still Ben Diskin doing Nino’s voice during the whole Operation New York dialogue with Alya? That didn’t sound anything like Nino! *sigh* Again, the main problem I have with this is the actors didn’t seem to get back into character before recording. Such a shame.

UPDATE: It was in fact NOT Ben Diskin anymore. :’( The new voice actor did well enough, but it just wasn’t Nino. I’m sure it will feel more like him the more I hear it, but I already miss the Southern Cali 90s Surfer Dude accent, even if it made no sense for a Gen Z Parisian to have it in the first place.

Awww, Mr. Damocles changing into his Knight Owl costume. <3 And then had to change back out of it. XD

They... actually named a superhero Uncanny Valley......

Knight Owl and Sparrow, AKA Batman and Robin.

“That’s just Captain Redlight directing traffic.” XD I mean, yeah, we have a lot of superhero characters but I think this is a bit much.

Alya oh so discretely pointing to Marinette as Nino directs Adrien to look out the window to see how beautiful NYC is. XD

AAAAAAND sliding doors vs Adrienette part 1. LOL I love how Aeon instantly figured out that Adrienette belong together.

Ooooooo Sabrina is gonna get herself an American boyfriend (And look at how jealous Chloe gets XD)

Adrien’s Soft Smile as Marinette realizes she was resting her hand on his stomach as she was hiding from Ms. Mendeleiev. So cute!

“Is it a bird?” “A plane” “No, it’s Hotdog Dan!” Oh. Em. Gee. Seriously? Ketchup Boy and Mustard Justice? Why!? Who came up with these code names!? XDDD

HOW DID NINO AND ALYA JUST RIP A HOTDOG IN HALF!?

eeeeeeeeeeeee THE FLOATING SCENE!!!!

Also, helium-voiced Nino commenting about his chick having wings <3

“Do you know this song?” I KNEW INSTANTLY WHERE ALYA WAS GOING WITH THIS AND I’M 100% HERE FOR IT. I AM SCREAMING!

Adrien’s soft asking Marinette to dance with him? He was practically PLEADING for her to say yes! And then she just scurries away from him!? And he grabs her hand to stop her from floating away. And then they just... nuzzle into each other as they dance and... yup. I’m screaming. <3 <3 <3 <3 (Also, the dance was at a party Chloe threw to prove to Adrien that she can be nice; it wasn’t her birthday, but I guess canonically it now was????)

Superheroes in America don’t have to hide their identities... perhaps someone should look into the comic book run of Avengers Civil War and decide if that’s a good thing... >_>

“I don’t mind being stuck with a friend like you” My heart is just flatlining. Like. ADRIEN, JUST SAY YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HER ALREADY, OKAY!?

Jess and Aeon’s plan is as convoluted as one of Marinette’s XD I just love these two and I hope we see more of them.

Ah, Alya and Nino are good at manipulating their friends.

Paris is under attack! Oh no! 0_0

Ah, bargain-bin Doctor Octopus

After fully watching the special I know the answer, but when first hearing Sparrow I wondered if maybe Jess was genderfluid. Kind of a reverse of the Sailor Stars.

The transformation for the American heroes is both awesome and ridiculous and I love them.

“Marinette’s in danger” Adrien then INSTANTLY becomes Chat Noir to save her! <3 <3 <3 <3 I FREAKED when I first watched this part because I was afraid he might have spotted (excuse the pun) Marinette transforming. I was also curious how they were going to explain why they were in NYC. “I’ll explain later” is a good excuse. They are preoccupied by the villain and that gives him time to come up with a lie. Smart?

Aaaaand Cristina Vee forgot her Ladybug voice again. I hope this isn’t a new thing; switching up her voice for Ladybug. I’m not much of a fan, especially since she hasn’t always done it. :/

It kills me that Sparrow constantly comments about not calling for backup and gets in trouble for not calling when Sparrow DID try and the communicator was destroyed.

*flinch* The Chat Noir Cataclysm scene. My heart. It hurts. Poor Adrien. </3 All the guilt he has to hold for the majority of the second half of this thing.

EDIT: Totally forgot about the “American superhero gets understandably emotional over a loved one and smashes the villain through about half-a-dozen buildings with complete disregard for the collateral damage” trope.

Dollar Store Batman couldn’t figure out the manhole cover wasn’t in place. Whoops.

The breakdown scene where Ladybug lets Chat Noir know about how her powers work and how she can’t repair Paris. And Adrien giving up his powers. </3 And even though she’s so upset, and she felt betrayed by Chat Noir, the fact that she INSTANTLY yelled when she heard him renouncing his Miraculous and relinquishing it to Ladybug! And her TEARS as she realizes she lost him and won’t be able to return his Miraculous to him since she can’t even ask Fu to return it anymore!? Aaaaaaaaa! My heart!

“Gilbert?” XD I’m sorry but just hearing the poor little Eagle calling out the name is just too adorable.

ADRIEN WANDERING ALONE IN THE RAIN!? MARINETTE LOOKING ONTO THE CAT MIRACULOUS ALSO IN THE RAIN!? MY HEART IS BREAAAAAAAKINGGGGGG

The press conference requesting the NYC residents to stay inside until further notice. >_> Yeah... that... that might not work out so well if real life is any indication.....

“I wouldn’t have minded being stuck here a little longer with a friend like you.” >______< OH MY GOD, ADRIEN! (Also, Bryce lost his Adrien voice again... *sigh*)

Oh, and Marinette trying to chase him down to finally confess!? TT3TT

Oh man. Releasing a superhero from her fear of her powers. That can’t be.... yup. There goes like a dozen buildings in Manhattan.... -_-

Of course the POTUS is a superhero as well.... with access to weapons. Greaaaat. This isn’t a terrifying thought right about now.

I adore Sparrow. I ADORE SPARROW. I ABSOLUTELY FRIGGEN ADORE SPARROW!

About a million missile launchers hidden throughout the streets of NYC... >_< This isn’t hitting close to home or anything.

Eeeeeee. Marinette isn’t just unsure she can be Ladybug without A Chat Noir. She needs HER Chat Noir. She needs ADRIEN specifically. (Also, there goes Bryce once more forgetting his Adrien voice. Maybe he forgot what Adrien sounds like when he’s sad???)

UPDATE: Can we just talk for a minute the significance that Uncanny Valley - the superhero (accidentally) KILLED by Chat Noir (even if she was revived shortly after) - is the one happily returning Adrien’s superhero powers to him? How she has NO malice towards whatsoever towards Chat Noir? How SHE is the one to tell him that “to err is human”!? Beautiful! Love it!

Nice. I liked that Uncanny can’t see the kwamis. Nice continuity.

THE LADYNOIR GLOMP! She was so afraid to never see him again. I LOVE how much this solidifies how important he is to HER, if not the team itself.

The Americans being coerced by a foreign power to start a world war. -_- This truly is hitting too close to home right now....

Uh...How did Ladybug come up with the plan to trick Doorman to go to the Statue of Liberty? Both her and Adrien were already out of the room when he talked about the mystery of Eiffel’s safe inside the statue, and Marinette didn’t have any time to talk to Alya, so the two of them couldn’t have discussed how Doorman resisted figuring out this mystery because you don’t use your superhero powers for personal gain. Did she just luck into there being a mystery there that Doorman wanted to solve? Slight continuity issue there with the writing.... Whoops.

Awww, poor Doorman. He just wants to know the answer to the mystery!

Eagle’s transformation is so awesome! I love it. I love her. I want more of these American superheroes and wielders.

I love that Knight Owl and Sparrow are hand-me-down superhero titles!

Oh my god, Hawk Moth slowly walking backwards dramatically from the window. XD WHY IS THIS MAN SO EXTRA AS WELL!? At least we know where Adrien gets it from. :P

I FORGOT ABOUT THE GORILLA! OMG! THAT IS AN AMAZING CALL BACK TO HIM! XDDD

So the American Miracle Box looks like it’s filled with Native American styled jewelry. So... are they based off the spirit totems!? I NEED TO KNOW MOOOOOOOORE!

UPDATE: Upon really paying attention to the opening credits, yes, the American Miraculous do indeed seem to be based off spirit totems.

I’m sure there’s more that I reacted to in real-time, but, as I mentioned at the top, I wasn’t writing fast enough to keep up with the pace of the show itself, so this is also largely by memory. :P Oh well. Always wanted to do a sort of reaction post about this series. One thing off the fandom bucket list, I guess.

#ML #ML spoilers #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug spoilers #ML NY special #ML NY special spoilers #live-blog #reaction post #If only they could have gotten the voice acting down #amazing animation #loved it #allll the Adrienette #long post #LycoRogue original #LycoRogue reacts #LycoRogue delayed live-blog

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amandaklwrites · 4 years

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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (POTC #2) (2006)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Rating: 10/10

Movie Review:

Here we are, with the second POTC movie. One I clearly haven’t seen in years because there were parts I couldn’t remember. Which makes me glad that I am bingeing through the movies close together so I can see how the storylines sweep together.

The opening image of Elizabeth Swann on the ground, in her wedding dress, in the pouring rain is one of the best openers I have ever seen. It immediately starts the mood of this story. Within that first scene (by the way, Will was HOT AS SHIT in his wedding suit, can we bring that please????), we know everyone’s goals, their drives. We see how they’re willing to fight for each other. It’s showing their love. Will makes a deal, Elizabeth saves herself with a pistol to a man’s head. They are using their “street smarts” from being amongst the pirates to save themselves and each other.

I’ll talk about things in whole, instead of breaking it down like I did with the first movie review. Because at this point, we know everyone-- we know where they stand, what they want, who they love, it’s just more added into the storyline for these characters.

Davy Fucking Jones is so damn terrifying and cool. Let me be frank for a moment: Davy Jones had never been a person in folklore (at least that I have found-- they can’t confirm if it was a real person or someone like Robin Hood who could’ve existed but there’s no proof), so I don’t know why it’s called Davy Jones’s Locker. Who is Davy Jones? The term of the Locker just meant shipwrecks. And then The Flying Dutchman ship was a separate sailing folklore, about a ghost ship people would see before they die, like as an omen. These are real stories, ones even my grandfather knew when he was in the Navy (guys! Whenever they crossed the equator, they would play a game across the ship in honor of Neptune to protect them while sailing-- HOW COOL IS SAILING FOLKLORE???). But I LOOOOOOVE how these screenwriters combined to the two. They seamed the stories so flawlessly that I kind of want the two of them to exist with one another forever now. IT IS PERFECT. Davy Jones’s Locker is the Flying Dutchman, that he “protects” the dead sailors, and that they are still seeing the Flying Dutchman before they die, still as an omen. What a fantastic way to put two stories together. And the twist that Davy Jones is horrible and “evil” because he has no heart. A story as old as time, but hey, it works. It makes SENSE. I remember thinking that stories are all about love, aren’t they? It’s always about love, whether you have it or not. And Bill Nighy does such a wonderful job at this role. If you look up the actor, you would never, ever suspect him being able to play one of the best villains in film history. But this actor does it all with voice and HIS EYES. Look at his eyes, constantly. I found myself staring into his eyes more than at his tentacles. Because Nighy told the story of Davy Jones through his eyes, and my god, he’s a master.

Bootstrap Bill Turner is everything we needed, don’t you agree? We finally get to meet Will’s father! And he’s incredibly heartbreaking. This is a man trapped in this hell, and yet, he’s still willing to protect his son through this world that he knows so well. LOVE. Didn’t I say love is at the heart of these stories? I only wish we had learned more of Will’s mother and family life-- was his father always a pirate? How long had been one? And did Will’s mother know? Because Will sure didn’t. And he went searching for his father. (*wink wink* think of POTC #5 foreshadowing *wink wink*). But seeing their relationship unfold her was incredible. We watched a father meet his adult son, and a son meet his father again as an adult. In some ways, they weren’t exactly Father and Son, they were friends. (I can see this, because my grandfather didn’t meet his father until he was 13, and he says he saw his dad more as a friend than a father). We saw a father have hope after finding love for his son once again (he was no longer stagnant, he had something to fight for), and a son finding more of himself with his father. Another love story.

Tia Dalma is freaking incredible. Her magic, her wisdom (while being vague) creates a new atmosphere that just ADDS to the story. They brought in a new magic system that is similar to voodoo/hoodoo (I think it is supposed to be heavily based off of it), and I adored it. I craved it. She’s one of my mother’s favorites and my oldest friend who’s like my sister said she always remembered Tia Dalma from the movies. She leaves an impression, because she creates something to the stories that is new for us.

Norrington’s return can be expected, but how he returns is rather unexpected. We see a man broken by a decision he made, suffering consequences that he doesn’t like. At the end of POTC #1, we saw a man, a soldier, knowing that maybe the system he’s in isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But when he decided to set Jack Sparrow and Will Turner free, that system tossed him away. Now, a man so lost in what he should do, not knowing who he should become, he takes advantage and steals (PIRATE!) papers so he can go back to the system he thinks he belongs. He wants to be a Commander again. He wants to be a part of the world he only knows. He’s afraid of change. He doesn’t know what to do.

Honestly, this entire film series is about everyone finding themselves, discovering who they want to be. Facing change in the face and what they will do because of it. Even some of these sides characters.

I forgot how creepy Beckett is. He’s the true villain of the story. He’s a man in power who takes advantage of that power to do things that are despicable and terrible. He’s someone without a heart. Did you catch that? Beckett and Davy Jones are doubles. They are used to show two different sides-- Davy Jones had his heart broken, so he cut out his heart and became heartless. Beckett has his heart, but he’s still heartless. Interesting how the living human is somehow worse than the “creature,” isn’t it? I hate Beckett and don’t want to talk about him anymore. Because I know you all hate him just as much as me. He sucks, he’s vicious, and that’s all we need to know.

Now, to me, this movie, at the core, feels like the first one. But it also feels different. I think it’s because we are more in this world, we understand it more, and it’s not so mysterious. But it’s really dark in the sense that we see the more viciousness of the world (the crow taking out the guy’s eye out at the prison is disgusting, lord).

Jack Sparrow is now the captain of his ship again. But he’s also hiding away from Davy Jones, from the deal he made with the “Devil.” Like I said in the first movie review for this series, we know Jack will do whatever he can to protect himself, and this movie truly shows that. But I think he’s also learning more in this movie-- especially when he sees more of how Davy Jones treats his men. He’s scared, he doesn't know what to do-- much like Norrington. Now, saying this, I thought it was horrible that he willingly tricked Will to leave him in his place aboard the Flying Dutchman. Like, huh? I know Jack Sparrow always has a plan, but this one didn’t feel like that. But it was a learning point for him, I think, and that was the point of this movie for him. He’s making mistakes, he’s learning.

Elizabeth dressing as a boy and reentering this world of pirates is absolutely wonderful. Seeing her in the clothes (after she’s out as herself) and fighting with swords is what I adore about her. She’s easily the one who can transform into what she needs to protect herself, rather adaptable, and she’s doing it find Will and save him. Her entire scene with Norrington, Jack, and Will fighting for the chest is such a great scene. Her yelling at them and then fainting just shows her willingness to try different things. She’s intelligent, that’s for damn sure. She’s trying different tactics to get men’s attention-- knowing and understanding her place as a woman and hilariously using them to her advantage-- even though it doesn’t work. But her sheer strength and will to protect herself and her love shows and breathes more life into her. My only complaint is, Elizabeth, why the hell didn’t you tell Will that the kiss with Jack was a trick? I get why she didn’t, okay, but it didn’t help anyone. Communication is key in a relationship! But it’s fine, I suppose. She’s figuring things out herself.

I must say, Barbossa coming back is WONDERFUL. He’s such a fan favorite I think, and of course they have to bring him back. I will fight anyone who doesn’t want him back. He’s the perfect, hilarious tension with Jack.

I may be forgetting some other comments I wanted to make, but if I am, I will add more as a thread on here. But I think I have mentioned all my main thoughts of this movie. It’s wonderful, it’s a joy, and just a great adventure.

And also, I wanted to add, at the end, this is my favorite part of the whole series, quite honestly. Right when they see the native peoples on the island chasing after Jack when they are trying to escape.

The best.

#pirates of the caribbean #pirates of the caribbean dead man's chest #dead man's chest #movie reviews

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justforbooks · 4 years

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The Best Spy Novels to Read While Stuck at Home

Forty, page-turning spy novels, to Keep you on the edge of your seat. Marked by an exhilarating pace, plenty of dramatic twists, and richly drawn complex protagonists, spy novels are about as riveting as it gets in the library. And while all the excitement of double agents and espionage keeps you at the edge of your seat, these books also offer insight into fascinating and troubling historical periods.

In the name of thrilling reading, no matter what time of year and to wrestle with larger philosophical questions of betrayal, human connection, and the legacy of international conflict, I rounded up 40 of the best spy novels around, to read while stuck at home. Written by former CIA and other intelligence agents and some of the most prolific literary minds of all time, get to know the best spy novels below.

Here are my picks for the best spy novels you have to read while stuck at home.

Rosalie Knecht, Who Is Vera Kelly?

1962 in New York City's Greenwich Village and Argentina. A radio show host is struggling to make ends meet and fit into the underground gay scene when she gets recruited by the CIA to wiretap a crooked congressman in Argentina, and works her way into a radical group of students planning a coup. Think coming-of-age meets historical fiction with a strong female protagonist.

Jason Matthews, Red Sparrow

Modern-day Russia. Dominika Egorova is forced into becoming a secret agent that uses her sultry beauty to seduce an American CIA officer. When she develops genuine feelings for him, her loyalties begin to shift and the plot thickens.

Gina Apostol, Gun Dealer's Daughter

1980s Marcos-era Philippines and modern-day America. Though this book doesn't follow a linear chronology, it reflects Sol's fragmented memory and trauma. As a young woman limited by the comfort of her wealth, she seeks to overthrow the Marcos regime. Spying on the American generals and Philippine elite from her own fancy dinner table, Sol's loyalties struggle between her family, homeland, and her insurgent student friends. Politically charged, lyrical, and eye-opening, this is a must-read.

Helen MacInnes, Agent in Place

New York, Washington, D.C., and the French Riviera during the Cold War. When a Russian spy who's expertly infiltrated Washington society gets his hands on a top-secret NATO memorandum, a high-profile CIA officer's cover is blown in Moscow. Now, everyone is racing against time to uncover who the Russian spy actually is.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

1975 Vietnam and Los Angeles, A half-French, half-Vietnamese double agent relocates to America after the fall of Saigon, and betrayal, both personal and political, ensues. At once a love story and a spy novel about the legacy and evils of colonialism, the Vietnam War, and ensuing refugee experience in the U.S. you won't soon forget The Sympathizer. It's satirical, sharp, suspenseful, and poignant.

Joseph Kanon, Leaving Berlin

Post-WWII Berlin, Germany. Alex Meier is a young German Jew who fled to America at the onset of WWII to escape Nazi persecution. But with the Cold War underway, it's the peak of the McCarthy era, and he's pigeon-holed into working undercover in East Berlin for the CIA. It's the only way he won't be deported. But when he gets there, he finds out that his target is the woman he loved and left behind before the war. It's a thought-provoking and action-packed love story.

Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent

London, late 1800s. A shop-owner gets wrapped up in an anarchist scheme to bomb the Greenwich Observatory, but the plan goes wrong and throws his life into chaos. It raises philosophical questions and is a literary masterpiece, but that doesn't keep it from being a thrilling, entertaining read.

John Le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Post-WWII Britain. Unhappily retired after a failed mission, an aging officer sets out to catch a traitor who has worked their way into the highest ranks of British intelligence. Full of political and social commentary with a fast-paced plot, there's a reason this is such a classic.

Ian McEwan, The Innocent

Berlin, 1955. A young Englishman living in American-occupied Berlin is commissioned to install the tape recorders that that will wiretap Russians in Soviet-occupied East Berlin. He begins spying on the Americans for the Brits while helping the Americans spy on the Russians. But, he fails as a spy, and the plot becomes more complicated when he falls in love with an older German with a violent, possessive ex-husband.

Lauren Wilkinson, American Spy

Burkina Faso. In the FBI, Marie Mitchell sticks out as a young black woman. In American Spy, Marie wades through a sea of a mostly white male intelligence community, and an assignment to Burkina Faso, where she meets Thomas Sankara, revolutionary president of the landlocked, West African country.

John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Cold War-era Germany. British intelligence agent Alec Leamas should be on his way back to London, but one more job—an undercover mission to topple East German intelligence, leads Leamas back into dangerous territory. In an interview with Electric Literature, author Lauren Wilkinson (author of American Spy) calls this spy novel "terrific."

Susan Hasler, Intelligence

Post-9/11 America, during an election year. Intelligence trails Maddie James, a CIA counterterrorism analyst as she pursues an al-Qaida operation with an eccentric team. Meanwhile, the Administration is more interested in maintaining the message that America is winning the war on terror. According to author Susan Hasler, a former member of the CIA, writing the novel was a way to cope with residual 9/11 period anger.

Valerie Plame, Blowback

Cyprus. Young, blonde CIA operative Vanessa Pierson assumes the identify of a financial adviser in Cyprus on a reconnaissance mission. Her target: An international arms dealer, Bhoot, who is believed to be aiding Iran to bolster its nuclear activities. With an assassin on her trail, Blowback is full of fast-paced action scenes, as well as intimate details that the Washington Post describes "might elude a male writer." Blowback is co-authored by former CIA agent Valerie Plame, and Sarah Lovett.

Stella Rimington, At Risk

Britain. British intelligence taps Liz Carlyle, a scrappy counter terror agent to stop a terrorist attack. And the person of interest is traveling under a British passport, an "invisible." Author Stella Rimington relies on her former life as a high-ranking spy to author At Risk, Rimington's debut novel.

Patricia Wentworth, Hue and Cry

London. Before Mally Lee's wedding in six months, she accepts a position as governess to a shipping magnate's young daughter. Upon entering the Peterson grounds, however, Lee will be accused of being a thief and spy. Mally flees, leaving her fiancé in emotional shambles and private investigators in hot pursuit. What has Mally stumbled into?

Irène Némirovsky, The Courilof Affair

18th century Russia. Léon M, son of Russian revolutionaries, is tasked with assassinating the ruthless Valerian Alexandrovitch Courilof, Russian Minister of Education. Fronting as Courilof's personal physician, Léon M works his way into Courilof's summer house, and as his relationship with Courilof grows, learns things are more complicated than they seem.

Stephenie Meyer, The Chemist

United States. A page-turning tale of an ex-agent on the run from her former employer (a clandestine, unnamed agency). To clear her name, she accepts one more job that will put her in an even more precarious position. But, the job goes south. What now?

Jennifer Chiaverini, The Spymistress

Civil War-era America. Elizabeth Van Lew is a Union loyalist living in the Confederacy, and she will risk it all to help build the Richmond underground, break free inmates from Confederate Libby Prison, and gather military intelligence under the pretense of humanitarian aid. In this historical novel inspired by a true story, Van Lew's contributions during the Civil War comes alive.

John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps

Over a century old, and Buchan’s adventure novel still passes muster. The first of five novels featuring an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip, Richard Hannay, this is unpredictable, exciting fare – and will keep you guessing until the last page.

Graham Greene, The Quiet American

A novel depicting French colonialism being uprooted in Vietnam may not sound like the most thrilling you’ve ever heard, but in the hands of English literary giant Graham Greene, anything is possible. Featuring British journalism, undercover CIA agents, illegitimate marriage and a light smattering of car bombs, there is action balanced with considered philosophy – and the book is all the better for it.

Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal

Telling the tale of a professional assassin – tasked by a French dissident organisation to kill the President of France – Forsyth’s novel was met with praise when it was first published, and remains so to this day. Of course, the 1973 film adaptation starring the suave Edward Fox did nothing to help with the stories success...

Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity

We all know Matt Damon’s award-winning portrayal of Ludlum’s most famous character, but how many of us have read the novels? If not, you’ll be glad to know that these tales of amnesia, backstabbing and action are just as thrilling on the page – and that Eric Van Lustbader has added to the cannon, with an additional 11 Bourne books available to read.

Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy’s debut novel remains his best. Introducing Jack Ryan, the CIA analyst throw into the field, it one again tackles Soviet themes and the adventures of a group of US Navy officers taking possession of a nuclear submarine. It’s thrilling fare, and Clancy’s talent to bring the appeal of classic espionage into modern-day storytelling is impressive to say the least.

Len Deighton, The IPCRESS File

Len Deighton’s first spy novel, like Tom Clancy’s, is also his best. More famous for the Michael Caine-fronted film spun from its pages, this original novel involves Cold War brainwashing, a United State atomic weapons test and an extended sequence in Lebanon – and makes use of spy novel trope to be employed for years to come: that of the nameless protagonist.

John le Carré, The Tailor of Panama

He is Harry Pendel: Exclusive tailor to Panama’s most powerful men. Informant to British Intelligence. The perfect spy in a country rife with corruption and revolution. What his “handlers” don’t realize is that Harry has a hidden agenda of his own. Deceiving his friends, his wife, and practically himself, he’ll weave a plot so fabulous it exceeds his own vivid imagination. But when events start to spin out of control, Harry is suddenly in over his head—thrown into a lethal maze of politics and espionage, with unthinkable consequences...

Eric Ambler, A Coffin for Dimitrios

A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel leads Charles Latimer, the author of a handful of successful mysteries, into a world of sinister political and criminal maneuvers. At first merely curious to reconstruct the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery that spans the Balkans.

Ken Follett, Eye of the Needle

“His code name was “The Needle.” He was a German aristocrat of extraordinary intelligence—a master spy with a legacy of violence in his blood, and the object of the most desperate manhunt in history... But his fate lay in the hands of a young and vulnerable English woman, whose loyalty, if swayed, would assure his freedom—and win the war for the Nazis...“

Olen Steinhauer, The Tourist

Milo Weaver has tried to leave his old life of secrets and lies behind by giving up his job as a “tourist” for the CIA―an undercover agent with no home, no identity. Now he’s working a desk at the agency’s New York headquarters. But when the arrest of a long-sought-after assassin sets off an investigation into a colleague, exposing new layers of intrigue in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who’s been behind it all from the very beginning.

Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana

MI6’s man in Havana is Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true...

Erskine Childers, The Riddle of the Sands

The classic spy novel by Erskine Childers, credited as the first work of modern espionage fiction. Set in pre-World War I Europe, two British subject, Carruthers and Davies, uncover secret German activity suggesting a prelude to war.

Tom Bradby, Secret Service

What if your next national leader was secretly a Russian spy? Kate Henderson is a high-ranking officer of England's MI6—and a recent undercover operation has revealed explosive intel. Russia has infiltrated the upper levels of UK politics by co-opting a senior politician. To make matters worse, there may be a mole moving through the halls of England's Secret Intelligence Service. With an election looming, Kate is in a race to expose the double agents and save those she holds dear. But who can be trusted? Acclaimed British author and journalist Tom Bradby excels at crafting pulse-pounding narratives set against the backdrop of true-life events. In Secret Service, the author delivers a tense and timely spy thriller where the greatest threat comes from within.

James Grady, Condor: The Short Takes

In this novella, the iconic CIA operative Condor is back in a series of new adventures. New York Times-bestselling author James Grady brings back his famous spy but in a surprising setting. Six Days of the Condor was popular during the paranoid era of the 1970s as Condor was a spy in his prime who ruthlessly and heroically deals with a conspiracy within the United States government. In Condor: The Short Takes, Grady presents an aged Condor who finds himself in a modern setting and with 21st century threats. The original framework is present but the stories are far more intimate and less straightforward. Condor finds himself involved in cyber threats and the 9/11 aftermath; perhaps an even bigger scandal than the Cold War. The master of intrigue brings you six stories that are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat; can Condor soar over the obstacles or will he falter and fall? This is perfect for any fans of the hit original series, Condor!

John Lawton, A Little White Death

A social and sexual revolution was had throughout most of the world during the 1960s, and England was no exception. John Lawton's novel implants remnants of this revolution into the third book of his Inspector Troy series. This novel follows Inspector Troy—despite many career set-backs—as he rises to the head of CID at Scotland Yard. However, before the chief detective can celebrate, he finds himself deep into a scandal reminiscent of the Profumo affair. Troy becomes entangled in a web as he attempts to battle illness, police politics, and the Establishment. He must focus on protecting those affected by the aftermath of the scandal and discover who murdered the two key players in the scandal.

Brian Freemantle, Charlie M

Charlie Muffin came into the British secret service in the early 1950s, when the desperate government was in search of more foot soldiers in the impending Cold War. They decided to look into the middle class for the first time and found what they were looking for in Charlie. Even though he is a working-class, state-educated man from Manchester, Charlie has been one of the most effective agents of the secret service. However, times are changing as Cambridge and Oxford graduates are ready to take over again. They have decided it's time to sacrifice Charlie, but he won't go down easy. This exhilarating novel of double-crossing is excellent for fans of le Carre or Deighton!

Patricia Wentworth, Dead or Alive

In this suspenseful tale by British crime author Patricia Wentworth, Meg O'Hara's husband Robin disappears on the day she plans to divorce him. A year after the presumed body of her dead husband is found, someone breaks into her apartment to leave a shocking message. Now Meg is left to uncover if her husband is dead or alive. As more cryptic messages appear, Meg is certain that someone—maybe even her husband—is trying to get to her...but no one takes her seriously. Well, except for Bill Coverdale. For years Bill has been deeply in love with Meg, so he sets out to get to the bottom of things. Together, they find themselves embroiled in blackmail, forgery, and murder all while facing an unstoppable criminal mastermind.

John Altman, A Game of Spies

In preparation of Germany's invasion of France, England needs to gather classified information on Germany...and there's only one highly skilled spy who can get the job done: Agent William Hobbs. During the bleak winter of 1940, Hobbs meets the naive Eva Bernhardt and seduces her into working for the British secret service. Smitten with Agent Hobbs and disenchanted by Hitler, Eva agrees to seek information from the Führer’s inner circle. As Hobbs and Eva plunge into the world of espionage, intrigue, and deception, Eva quickly transforms into a tough and cynical operative, using her feminine guile and manipulative skills to obtain crucial knowledge. A Game of Spies is a thrilling tale with an even more electrifying conclusion as Eva holds her future, and the future of the entire war, in her hands.

John Lawton, Then We Take Berlin

Meet Joe Wilderness, orphaned by World War II - and certain that this fact will allow him to operate outside of society's bounds and rules for the rest of his life. But when he gets recruited into MI6, he discovers a fast-paced life in Berlin that will force him to go to extremes to accomplish his missions. This stylish thriller is a beloved read, best for fans of Eric Ambler.

Helen MacInnes, The Salzburg Connection

MacInnes may be best known for her first novel, Above Suspicion, but in The Salzburg Connection, written over 20 years later, she had become an expert in espionage beyond compare. In this spy vs spy vs lawyer tale, Richard Bryant, British agent, is one of the few who knows about a secret cache of Nazi information. When he’s found dead, an American lawyer gets caught up in the quest to find the information, before it gets in the wrong hands.

Gayle Lynds, Masquerade

Lynds became popular thanks to a collaborative series with Robert Ludlum, Covert-One, but she had been honing her craft long before The Altman Code’s debut. Like Jason Bourne, Liz Sansborough wakes up one morning to discover that she no longer remembers her life as a CIA agent. Luckily, her lover, Gordon, is there to explain what she has forgotten. But can Gordon–or the world–be trusted? There’s an international assassin after Liz, and she’ll need to figure out whom she can trust quickly.

Chris Pavone, The Travelers

A more recent addition, but one worthy of the list, The Travelers by Chris Pavone sees travel writer Will Rhodes is on assignment for Travelers magazine in the wine region of Argentina when a beautiful woman makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Drawn into a tangled web of international intrigue – like so many thriller protagonists before him – this is a standout in a modern world of throwaway poolside paperbacks.

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