#''what about-'' cyborg ship. no time to explain

[worldofstoriesanddreams]

Isn't there an age limit?

The Justice League gathered in the meeting room to deal with yet another potential world ending threat. On the screen was a projection of an incoming alien armada. The invaders were as numerous as the stars. Each spaceship looked like a skull with many tentacles.

“These mechanical ships harvest a world’s resources, destroying all life, while terraforming the planet into servers which become part of Brainiac’s interstellar network,” Batman explained.

“We don’t have sufficient numbers to take them all down,” Martian Manhunter pointed out. “Is there a weakness we can target? Or do they have a leader we can capture to force the entire fleet into submission?”

“We need to locate Brainiac and infiltrate the ship he’s on.” While Batman spoke, a hush silence fell on the entire room. Everyone stared at the screen behind him, with mouths wide open.

Turning around, Batman stared in unbelief.

A massive sphere - a dead star, moved between Earth and the alien army. 

The cameras zoomed in on a red dot pushing it - Fawcett’s new local hero with the demeanour of a golden retriever - Captain Marvel. 

Gripping the titanic star like an oversized plastic ball, he swung it forward, hitting the incoming spaceships out of the galaxy.  

The Herculean man’s face lit with childish glee as he pumped his fist in the air. 

Grinning like an idiot, he carted the unimaginably heavy celestial object away, while whistling a ditty. 

How powerful was that man? 

More importantly, does he have any weakness in case he needs to be taken down?

“Phew,” Flash was the first to get his voice back. “The new guy took care of that. So can we go home now?”

“No,” Batman raised his hand. “Change of agenda. It’s time we expanded our membership.” Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. What better way to keep an eye on the new guy than to bring him into the fold.

Superman had a silly hopeful grin on his face. “I vote we invite Captain Marvel to join the League.”  The Last Son of Krypton must suspect that the new hero is a fellow Kryptonian.

“We don’t know anything about him,” Green Lantern cautioned.

“Better get him on our side than have him join our enemies,” Batman replied as the screen showed photos and articles about Captain Marvel gleaned from the internet for all to study.

“He’s clean.” Cyborg ran his checks on the man. “He’s a boy scout. Half of all the footage I have found — and I mean exactly half — shows him rescuing cats from trees or helping little old ladies cross the road while carrying groceries for them.”

“Cast your votes,” Batman ordered. “Do we want Captain Marvel to be a member of the Justice League?”

*

The decision was unanimous. Captain Marvel has a place in the Justice League, that is, if he wants it. With his power set, he would be a valuable asset to the team. All appearances of the new hero have shown that he is one of the good guys.

“I’ll ask him,” Superman volunteered. He was dying to meet the new guy. He had to be a fellow Kryptonian. Though he must have a chat with The Captain about Bat-paranoia, to hide how much Kryptonians can really do. Otherwise Bats might break out his Kryptonite stores to hit them both.

For example, while pushing a titanic star, for goodness sake, please make it look a lot more challenging.

According to Cyborg, Captain Marvel would appear in Fawcett right after a massive lightning strike from the clear, cloudless sky. The hero tended to patrol Fawcett for an hour before seven in the morning and for an hour after three in the afternoon on weekdays. His schedule was more unpredictable during the weekends. 

Clark was a reporter. 

Could The Captain be an elementary school teacher in his civilian identity?

It was a quarter past three on a Wednesday afternoon. Superman hovered four hundred feet above Fawcett’s busiest square, drawing a curious crowd while he waited for Captain Marvel to make his appearance.

Lightning struck an alley near a local elementary school.

“S-superman!” Captain Marvel hovered in front of him. 

The man’s brilliant blue eyes brimmed with excitement as he stared at Superman with an open-mouthed grin. 

“What brings you to Fawcett?” The Captain’s cheeks flushed as he stiffened, arms crossing his heavily muscled chest. If Superman didn’t know any better, he’d think Captain Marvel was starstruck.

“Captain Marvel,” Superman began, feeling a little self conscious.“I come on behalf of the Justice League. We’ve seen what you can do and want you to join our team.”

“You want me to join the Justice League?” The big guy was practically bouncing with excitement. If he were a golden retriever with a tail, he’d be wagging it.

Just as abruptly, he looked down, slouching as if trying to shrink his large frame. “But isn’t there an age limit to join the League?”

“We don’t discriminate against anyone based on their ages.” 

Superman whispered conspiratorially. “I don’t even know how old I was when my ship landed on earth. For all you know, it could have taken lightyears to get here.”

“Hmm,” Captain Marvel rubbed the back of his neck. “If you say so.”

“Take your time to think about it,” Superman handed him a League communicator. “This is for you. If you want to talk to us, just press this button,” he showed The Captain how to use the device.

“For me?” The guy looked as excited as a kid who had received a shiny new toy. 

“Yes, for you,” Superman replied. “Call us when you’ve decided.”

“I want in,” Captain looked up, grinning from ear to ear.

“Then, welcome to the Justice League!” Superman shook his hand. “Come with me to our headquarters.”

*

The flight to the Justice League’s Headquarters with Superman was fun. 

That giant satellite that Cap often flew past when he left earth’s atmosphere was the Justice League’s Watchtower -  a secret meeting place for Justice League members.

Billy was flying with Superman. 

Elated.

The SUPERMAN!

How cool was that?

His hero was a lot chattier in person. 

Superman talked about Krypton, his home world. His dad uploaded all Krypton’s history and knowledge into the A.I. of the spaceship that brought Kal-el to earth. 

Kal-el was Superman’s birth name.

“What’s your birth name?” Superman asked?

“William,” Cap replied.

“Wil-em,” Superman looked deep in thought. 

“The Ems — I think I know your bloodline.”

“You do?” The thought that Superman even cared about Billy’s family warmed him like a cup of hot chocolate. But as far as Billy knew, he was a Batson, not an Em. He was four when he lost his family. It’s been three years since. His memories of Daddy, Mummy and Mary were beginning to fade.

“Come with me to my Fortress of Solitude after your induction and I’ll show you Krypton’s records about the Ems,” Superman grinned as he tapped on the satellite.

A panel slid open.

“Where is it?” Cap asked as he flew into the airlock.

“In the Arctic,” he accompanied Cap in the dock.

“Are there polar bears?” Cap felt giddy with excitement.

“Plenty,” Superman laughed as he walked Cap through the massive hall. It was like nothing Billy had ever seen. 

“I can introduce you to a family of friendly bears,” Superman grinned.

“I would love that,” Billy’s heart did flip flops over the thought of getting to meet polar bears who were friends with Superman. Cap could speak all languages. He’d have a great time chatting with Superman’s bear buddies.

“Holy Moley,” Captain Marvel exclaimed as he walked through the security checkpoint. The doorway opened into futuristic corridor with interactive walls and holographic displays. 

Announcing the arrival of Superman and his guest Captain Marvel, a tinny voice rang out.

“Brace yourself,” Superman whispered. “The rest of the League is waiting for us in the meeting room.”

A metallic panel slid open revealing a grand meeting room. Batman sat at the head of the long table. Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Aquaman sat around it. There were two empty seats.

All eyes were on Captain Marvel.

“Holy Moley,” Cap whispered. He couldn’t help himself. It’s a bad habit he picked up from his late father.

“Guys,” Superman announced. “Captain Marvel has agreed to join the Justice League.”

The room broke into applause.

“Welcome to the team,” Flash whooped.

“Let’s celebrate,” Aquaman tilted a large bottle of whiskey, filled a glass and slid it across the table to Captain Marvel.

Cap looked at the glass in front of him and back at Aquaman. “Isn’t there an age limit?”

[natalievoncatte]

Lena barely had time to process what was happening. Lena-938’s ship jumped into the air above Themyscira with a resounding, thunderous roar of displaced air. It was half as long as a football field and covered in antennas and radials crackling with strange energy that seemed to bend the air around it.

Kara was carrying the cyborg in her arms, her limp body curled against her. She suddenly seemed small and delicate, her silvery mechanical limbs like the delicate wings of a baby bird. Kara rushed up into the ship without a second thought with a pair of Lenas flanking her and 938 coming up bring them.

Lena had a brief moment of almost painful disorientation when she saw dozens of herself crowding around, all of them wearing numbered name tags. As much as it was like walking into the strange world of a funhouse mirror, there was shocking variety. There was a Lena with a jagged scar down one side of her face and a pale milky eye. Lenas with red hair, blonde, a few were even bald. She saw one, deathly pale, who seemed to have fangs.

They all made way for one among their number, wearing an elaborate costume of blue robes and bangles and jewelry and a high collared red cloak that billowed out behind her as she walked. Around her neck she wore a gaudy gleaming amulet on a rose gold chain… and a plain nylon lanyard with a name tag, 1610.

As she approached she halted Kara with a gesture, and waved a light-wreathed hand over the cyborg’s body.

“Her soul is still clinging to life. Hook her up to the life support systems, immediately.

Lena was swept up in the press of bodies, all of them her, that brought the cyborg to rest on an exam table.

“I built her,” the elder Lena said. “Follow my instructions.”

Lena helped. Her counterpart found hidden catches and removed the cyborg’s jaw and opened panels on her sides, and soon she was hooked up to an array of monitors, steadily blinking away and recording her brain waves.

Lena looked at her with older self, who stared back grimly.

“Your modifications bought her time, but she’s dying. She’s simply sustained too much damage and the Kryptonite poisoned what was left of her. It was only ever meant to be temporary.”

“I understand,” said Lena. “I… we can help.”

Tears welled in the elders eyes and Lena recognized her own expression of anguish, her lips pulled into a frown as her voice grew raw and throaty.

“I did this. It’s my fault. I was so selfish… I couldn’t let her go first, I can’t go without her.”

“You don’t have to,” said 938. “There’s another way. We can transfer her mind and soul into another body.”

Lena looked at her sharply.

“What other body?”

938 swallowed, hard. “We have… a spare.”

“You have a spare Kara?” Lena said, incredulous. “What the hell are you talking about?”

1610 folded her arms and looked at Lena levelly. “She’s been mindwiped.”

“What?” the elder Lena demanded. “Why? How? By who?”

An uncomfortable silence fell on the small sick bay. Kara, standing by the broken form of her half mechanical doppleganger, scowled but said nothing.

“Well?” said the Elder Lena. “Explain. Tell me how you have a spare Kara.”

Lena-938 licked her lips.

“On her Earth she was a tyrant. Her Lena was killed by Morgan Edge. He poisoned her with cyanide.”

Lena and Kara looked at her sharply.

938 said, “When her Lena died, it was her brother that approached this Kara, told her he wanted to bury the hatchet and avenge his sister. On this Earth, Kara’s cousin never arrived from Krypton and she was alone, and this Lex wasn’t a mortal enemy. He groomed her into a dictator, a puppet for him to rule through.”

“So what,” Kara snapped. “You invaded her world and mindwiped her? You didn’t give her a chance, try to help her?”

Lena was surprised, and slightly alarmed, at the force in her voice. The Elder Lena looked on approvingly, a sad smile briefly ghosting her lips.

“No,” said 1610. “She invaded another world. She’d already killed her Lex and used her Lena’s research to discover portals.”

“Of course,” said 938, “it was everyone’s misfortune that the first world she found was missing its Lena. On that Earth, Kara was Kryptonian but never became Supergirl, as Clark and Lex remained friends and founded the Justice League together and she was never called on to save Alex’s plane. That Kara had never even met her Lena. She never left Ireland.”

“Then why was she missing?”

“There are a lot of Lillians out there. This one wanted to punish her husband’s bastard and Lex didn’t know that she existed until Lillian had her drowned.”

“Jesus,” Lena whispered.

“We had no choice,” said 1610. “By the time we intervened that world’s Kara was dead and the evil Kara had invaded their timeline with an army of Kryptonian robots. Our mission demanded that we stop her, and she was simply too powerful. I did it. I erased her mind and left her an empty shell. There was no other way.”

Lena expected Kara to say something sharp, but her elder self said, “there is always another way. Kara taught me that. There has to have been something you could have done.”

“She is would have kept going. Conquered more timelines, done horrible things,” said 938. “You don’t understand the severity of our mission. The multiverse is sick and if its health isn’t maintained, entire branches, millions of universes, cease to exist. Everything that makes them unique is erased.”

“Why?” said Lena.

“Fifty two years ago, sidereal time, something happened in one of the universes, one a lot like mine,” said 938. “Another metahuman with a power profile like mine lost the woman he loved, and it… broke something. It created a sympathetic cascade that damaged the multiverse in a fundamental way, like a blight spreading through a tree. It set something free in the spaces between the spaces we know.”

“It is in our house now,” said 1610.

“I don’t care about any of this,” said the elder Lena, standing over the cyborg Kara. “It doesn’t matter. My Kara, my darling, would never agree to this and I make this choice for her. She would rather I let her go than do something like this.”

“There’s no one left in that body to harm,” said 1610. “It is an empty shell, and even if she did somehow return she’d having nothing to go back to. Her world is wrecked and she almost destroyed another and we couldn’t simply set her free with the knowledge to open more portals and do more damage. This is the best solution for everyone- including you and your Kara.”

The elder suddenly looked confused. She turned to Lena.

“What do I do? I don’t know what to do. Is she right? If we do this am I murdering another Kara to save mine or am I just solving a problem?”

No one spoke.

Kara broke the silence as she caressed the back of her hand down the cold cheek of her cyborg duplicate.

“There is another way.”

“There is no other way,” said 938. “Your cyborg counterpart will die if we don’t do this.”

Kara looked at Lena.

“We don’t need to use another Kara’s body. We can make one of our own. It happened before, we just have to repeat the same circumstances in a controlled environment.”

“Kara, are you talking about making another Harun-El clone of yourself?” said Lena.

Elder Lena, 1610, and 938 all spoke at once.

“A what?”

“Harun-El?”

“Clone?”

[schrijverr]

It Just Hits Different When It’s Batman

5 times a League member heard Batman use slang + 1 time they knew where the fuck he got it from.

This fic is based off this post by @wednesday-if-it-was-tuesday bc it was just too good! Hope you don't mind :D

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~~~

1. Flash

Barry is pretty sure he has to get his hearing checked as he speeds through a city, trying to find a series of bombs, courtesy of a new alliance of villains. He and Batman are on bomb duty, thus sharing a private com line as to not distract the others or be distracted as they coordinate.

However, Barry is very much distracted by his own partner in this whole mess, because unless he’s gotten a few too many hits to the head in recent years, he’s pretty sure Batman just reported: “The bombs look like yassified thermos flasks.”

“What?” Barry chokes, nearly tripping over his own feet as he does.

Batman doesn’t seem to notice, instead explaining the bomb, not his wording: “The casing looks to be made from plastic, likely to escape Superman’s notice. Start checking water pipes, I found this one near a toilet. I’ll report again once I figure out how to disarm it.”

Okay, questing his sanity later, finding bombs, now.

So he zooms off again, having to agree with the fact that the bomb does look like a yassified thermos flask. He wonders if he can use that in his report or if Batman will scold him for language. He has worked with the man for long enough that he knows Batman isn’t above hypocrisy.

Then he wonders again if he even heard it right. In the heat of battle, the brain sometimes does weird things, especially when someone thinks at the speed of light. Or faster.

He’ll put it out of his mind for now, maybe tell Hal about it just so he’ll have someone to share the bizarre experience with.

Clark probably has a thesaurus, he should probably also find a synonym for yassified. Does a thesaurus have slang too?

2. Green Lantern

It’s true that Barry had told him about Spooky saying yassified in that one battle, but Hal hadn’t truly believed that Bats was capable of something like that. I mean, look at him. The guy might be a weirdo who dresses up as a Bat, but he’s not a weirdo who says shit like yassified.

However, at the moment it is starting to look more and more likely. Fuck, Barry is gonna give him so much crap for not believing him.

The moment in question is Batman working with him on the stealth mission. It’s one for the Green Lantern Corps, so Batman is doing him a favor. Though Hal is starting to wish that he hadn’t done him that favor, because Batman has just said: “It looks like Luthor is being thristy for Superman again. For someone who hates the guy, he sure wants his attention a lot. That’s Kryptonian honing device.”

Hal doesn’t react, still thinking about the fact that he’s just heard Luthor, thirsty and Superman in one sentence. In Batman’s voice no less.

“What?” he says.

“A Kryptonian honing device,” Batman repeats, sounding as if he thinks Hal is stupid, not uncommon. “So he can hone in on Superman, find him. Something we need to do something about.”

Hal decides to take the smart way out and lets the whole thing drop in favor of focusing on the mission. He’s not just telling Barry, but Ollie about this as well.

3. Cyborg

Being in the Justice League isn’t much different than being on the Teen Titans. Like right now, being in a building that could explode at any moment unless he hacks into the system and stops that from happening.

Ah, good old life-threatening pressure.

Batman is fighting some of the goons in the background. They’re on their own here, with the others fighting through an army outside to get to them. But it’s mostly up to them. Batman yells: “Cyborg, status.”

“I’m getting through, but something is bugging me about this whole thing,” Victor calls back. “I think there is someone I’m missing that will allow me to crack this.”

There are a few grunts in the background as Batman fights on, while Victor starts to scan through everyone who worked for the organization, trying to find the missing link.

He is interrupted by Batman, who says: “I took a tour here once. There was an intern, Kyle Paulson, he was kind of sus. Look him up.”

For a second, Victor is thrown by the sus in that sentence, but he quickly focuses back on what’s important. Indeed finding Kyle to be the missing link that gets him to disarm the bomb. While Batman is taking out the last of the bad guys.

In fact, the whole thing slips his mind until he’s writing his mission report, going through the footage to get accurate information in there. Then he pauses again, before dismissing it. Those who trained under Batman are always prepared, maybe it’s not slang but shorthand to be useful in the moment. Or he’s trying to include him, sweet, though unnecessary.

Victor puts it out of his mind.

4. Green Arrow

Ollie doesn’t believe Barry or Hal for a second. Like, really? Batman using slang that the sidekicks are using?

Sure, Nightwing sometimes uses some here and there, but Red Robin is always very professional and Robin is closer to a Shakespearean actor than a TikTok teen. There isn’t anyone else he could have gotten it from and it doesn’t make sense with his whole ‘I am the Night’-persona.

Victor suggested it was to make the newbies more comfortable when he overheard them talking, but that’s even more ridiculous in Ollie’s opinion.

So, he’s not at all in the slightest prepared for Batman’s reaction when he shows him the new arrows he developed. Because Batman’s reaction is: “Hm, serves cunt.”

“Excuse me, what?” Ollie says, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull.

Batman just stares at him, then in a confused sort of voice goes: “You know, it slays? It’s, you know, good? Positive.”

“Huh, what? No, I- I know what that means. How the fuck do you know?” Ollie splutters.

“I’m Batman,” is all he says. Then he walks away and leaves Ollie to stand there, still frozen in time, because what the hell was that? Batman can’t just do that, can he? That’s illegal. How does he even know that?

What Ollie doesn’t know, is that this was a calculated move. Bruce had overheard the three talking as well and decided to have a little fun. All the times before, it just slipped out in the heat of battle, but this one was purposeful.

Bruce knows Ollie would know what it meant, because billionaires Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen have done TikTok trends in the past and try to keep up to date, despite their age. Not that Ollie knows it’s him under there.

And last gala, he left Bruce for the wolves – Vicky Vale – so now Bruce is dealing psychological damage to him as petty revenge.

5. Superman (and Practically the Entire League)

They’re in a meeting with most of the Justice League members that are present on earth at the moment. It’s not often they hold such meetings, since they are a little overwhelming and tend to drag on more than be productive.

However, Clark thinks it’s important to ensure there are avenues through which ever member can state their piece and be heard. So, here they are again.

Booster Gold is complaining about always being on the sidelines and never in the heat of the action, even though he’s a great hero. He’s claiming that there is a bias against younger heroes, despite the fact that the ‘old guard’ will have to give it up eventually.

Apparently, Batman has had enough, because he gets up and snaps: “We don’t have bias based on age, we have one based off skill. Maybe if you stopped abandoning your post and being someone reliable, you might get put out in the field more often. Now stop being salty about it.”

It’s silent.

Clark is scrambling his brain, to figure out the meaning. As a journalist he tries to stay up to date on current language use, however, the only person he’s heard use that word is Jon. The boy never explained, but Clark guessed what it means. Doesn’t explain why Batman knows it.

Then the silence gets broken by a snort, everyone’s head whipping towards the source. It’s Nightwing, a newer addition and one affiliated with Batman himself. The only one there brave enough to laugh at Batman, mirthfully asking: “Did you actually say salty?”

There is no change on Batman’s face, but as a longtime friend, Clark knows he isn’t emotionless. Indeed, when he listens close, he can hear the blood rush to his face, blush hidden by the cowl.

“That was not the point of the sentence, Nightwing,” Batman counters, the name a little bit pointed on is tongue.

“Okay, okay,” Nightwing grins easily, showing his hands in surrender, an act which is made null by him adding: “Just pointing out that this is an official meeting. You’re on the record and you know I’m reporting this to the others.”

Red Robin and Robin, Clark fills in mentally, the other two known associates. Everyone already guessed that Nightwing must be close to them as well, since the younger two are closer to being Batman’s children. Now that is confirmed.

“Thank you for reminding me,” Batman says tersely, before quickly pivoting to the next point on the agenda. No one calls him out for it.

However, just because no one calls him out on it, doesn’t mean they drop it. In the weeks after the incident, whispers make their way through the halls of the Watchtower as people speculate why or how Batman came to use the word salty and how out of character it is.

Clark can hear the gossip all over the Watchtower and he’s sure Batman is aware of it too, because some brave souls have asked about. Especially when some of the others talked about the incident not being the first one.

Batman hasn’t replied yet to any of the questions or rumors. Clark thinks he likes the mystery and chaos, likes that they don’t know why the hell he sometimes lets slang slip. Even Nightwing has been seemingly silenced, never commenting with a sort of professional ease at evasion.

Nightwing is the only clue they have, along with Robin and Red Robin, but none of them seem like the culprit.

It just doesn’t make sense and Clark can’t help but have his reporter brain itch.

+1. The Batfamily

There is going to be an attack somewhere in a major city in America tonight. They cannot figure out where, so there is a nation wide stake out at all the important places. Nearly the entire Justice League has been pulled out for it and even then they don’t have enough.

Batman insists on having a skeleton crew remain on the Watchtower in case the threat turns out to be a distraction. And when it is protested, he pulls out an army of associates none of them have ever heard about to fill out the last gaps in their observational net.

The sudden introduction of about six new Gotham vigilantes, which have apparently been operating inside the city as well as outside of it, would have been the main shock if it weren’t for how they are on coms.

Red Robin and Nightwing are known as professionals like Batman, while Robin isn’t a known entity in missions, though those who have met him, know him to be serious. However, with the introduction of the others all of that professionalism melts away.

It starts about 45 minuted into their mission when Spoiler’s voice suddenly crackles over the coms: “I fucking hate stake outs, they’re so boring.”

“I know right, my ass is starting to hurt,” Red Robin – to everyone’s surprise – replies.

“No chatter on the coms,” Batman dutifully reproaches like he always does, but he sounds less stern this time. It’s as if he knows they won’t listen, but says it because it’s his role to do so.

Red Hood ignores Batman completely, idly commenting: “I don’t know, stake outs always hit different for me.”

“That’s just because you’re boring AF,” Spoiler says, an eyeroll practically audible.

“Oi, take that back,” Red Hood says, offended. “I didn’t die to have you slander my name like that!”

This is horrifying news for most of the other people stuck on the coms, however, there is a cacophony of annoyed groans as well. Why anyone would be so blasé about someone mentioning their death, they don’t know.

Until, Robin says: “Cease mentioning your death as excuse. It’s unbecoming to be so reliant on one measly event. You’re not the only one who has died, don’t be – what was it? – ah, yes, don’t be basic, Hood.”

“Yeah, Hood, don’t be salty just because you’re becoming a boring old man,” Red Robin pipes up, sounding smug. That solves the salty mystery.

“Shut up, Replacement,” Red Hood huffs. “I can talk about my death as much as I want to and you can’t stop me.”

“Hood, please, stop talking about your death, you’re going to make B sad,” Nightwing suddenly interjects, stopping the conversation before it can get out of hand.

Those with super hearing will hear Barry mutter in a shocked manner: “Is he talking about Batman?” But he is overshadowed by most of the newly introduced (and already) known Bat-associates booing loudly.

“Don’t be a fucking suck up, Dick” Spoiler hollers, only those in the know picking up on the fact it’s his name. It’s the only time Batman won’t correct them, because not everyone will know it’s a name unless it’s pointed out.

“Periodt,” the quiet voice of Black Bat supports Spoiler.

“Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, BB,” Spoiler cheers when she hears the other girl.

“That was the correct usage?” Black Bat asks.

“It was, well done,” Oracle’s kind voice comes over the coms, from where she is in her lair helping with coordination.

After that it all quiets down again for about half an hour, then Bluebird breaks the quiet again, complaining: “I can’t believe I had to stay behind in Gotham of all places.”

“You live there. Willingly,” Signal answers. “And I had to stay behind too, you know.”

“They’re sleeping on us, Signal, be upset with me,” Bluebird exclaims, indignantly.

“Okay, but tea though,” Spoiler says, most of the Justice League listening in are starting to learn she likes stirring the pot a little.

“Don’t be a simp, Spoils,” Red Robin says.

“Oh, look who’s talking about being a simp,” Red Hood snorts loudly. “I observed you, loser boy, you’re the simp.”

“It’s not as much of the serve you think it is to admit to stalking me,” Red Robin deadpans.

“RR, not to be that bitch, but you’re the OG stalker, maybe- maybe don’t do that,” Nightwing says cautiously, which is apparently funny enough that multiple people start laughing.

Meanwhile Red Robin complains: “Stop laughing at me, when I did it was totally different, I didn’t plan on killing any of you.” Which is mildly disturbing

“Oi, I never planned to actually kill you-kill you either,” Red Hood protests, even more disturbing. The Justice League is starting to wonder why Batman works with the man.

“Stop with the chatter,” Batman interjects again, before it can go further. “It’s not just us on the com lines now. At least try to be professional.”

And much to the horror of the League, who could never imagine doing such a thing, Batman gets booed. Again. This time directly.

Then to add to the horror, Batman doesn’t explode in anger, like everyone would have imagined, instead he just sighs. Defeated. Batman is like a cockroach, he doesn’t get defeated. However, these kids are managing.

Batman remains defeated too, because the Gotham vigilantes continue to idly chat all throughout the next hour. They are definitely bat associated, because they never reveal any information that could be tied to their civilian identity. Instead discussing other missions, general news, funny things they saw on patrol and personal grievances with the others on the line.

If this is what Batman deals with on the day to day, some are starting to see why he would prefer the heroes of the Justice League to keep their mouths shut on missions unless it’s important.

Most try to tune it out and focus on their own stake out, though the voices keep them awake. But they notice when Spoiler’s voice suddenly becomes serious as she reports: “Sus individuals moving towards the Mayor’s office.”

“Received, getting visual on your location,” Oracle’s voice replies, also snapped back into professionalism.

Spoiler reports their appearances and currently location, until Oracle has them, running a check on them, before confirming they have a criminal record and might be thugs for hire. Spoiler says: “I am going to move in.”

Batman says: “Do not engage, Spoiler, they could be a decoy. Try and get more information first.”

“Alright, alright,” Spoiler huffs. Then adds petulantly: “I’m not gonna do it, I was just thinking about it.”

Which sounds pretty reasonable for most listening in, who aren’t of the right age group to know the meme. Batman, however, does know, because he’s been subjected to it multiple times. So, he yells: “Spoiler, no!” startling some members.

A second later, there are sounds of a fight and Spoiler gleefully saying: “I did it.”

Batman lets out a frustrated growl, but Spoiler pays it no mind and she can’t truly get chewed out, because more and more start to report suspicious individuals moving in on the targets they’re watching.

Within minutes of it starting, Nightwing reports: “They’re decoys with targets. Not the main attack, but will do damage if they succeed.”

“Everyone make sure to take out the decoys,” Batman says. “Those without decoys, keep your eyes peeled, you might be at the real target.”

“Done with my targets, moving to help the others now,” Nightwing reports seriously, before he adds: “And can I just say that I’m the GOAT. Dibs on cookies for finishing first.”

“Okay, shade much,” Bluebird says.

“Don’t be arrogant, it’s unbecoming,” Robin retorts as well.

“Yeah, stop flexing,” Spoiler adds. “I’ve wrapped up too, by the way. You’re not special.”

“Let me have this,” Nightwing complains. “You already took all my shit, let me be cool. You all used to think I was cool.”

“Yeah, used to,” Red Hood scoffs. “Then we all realized you’re a looser.”

“Ha, get wrecked,” Red Robin snorts.

“Baby bird, wasn’t I your favorite?” Nightwing asks hurt, though over the top enough to show he is faking it.

“No, sadly, that was Hood,” Red Robin replies, sounding a little like he’s grimacing.

“No cap?” Red Hood asks, surprised.

“No cap,” Red Robin confirms.

“Now I feel kind of bad for you,” Red Hood says, before some bullets are fired. “Wrapped up here, moving to help.”

Red Robin seems glad to not have to reply and none of the other Gothamites do either. With what the League has heard so far, they’re also kind of happy the topic is being dropped, unsure what to think.

Batman’s associates are among the first ones cleaning up, however, soon others are joining them and the true battles grounds – yes, there are multiple targets, these people are organized (Batman will likely obsess until he has tracked down their organization afterwards) – are discovered and heroes move in to fight them.

Throughout the battle, everyone catches snippets of this strange, newly introduced group. A group, who works well together, like an oiled machine, yet obviously made up of highly competent parts that can act on their own as well.

Like Black Bat calling out: “Red Hood, yeet,” before those fighting alongside them see Red Hood boost her into the air, so she can come flying at the terrorists.

But they also make comments about the people they’re fighting and the others that are fighting alongside them.

Signal calling out: “Bluebird is pulling some sick ass moves. Another one for her on the slay-board, Oracle.”

Or Spoiler commenting: “Okay, not to be like that or whatever, but these terrorists are kind of looking snatched.”

To which Batman sighs: “Spoiler, please, no chatter,” in a vain attempt to get them under control.

“What?” Spoiler says. “I can appreciate when they’ve at least tried to pull a fit instead of that usual para-military, ninja type BS.”

“Go off,” Black Bat pipes up again and Spoiler cheers while Batman drops it. Defeated again.

They also check in on each other, with Red Robin hissing in pain, which is immediately followed by Nightwing going: “RR, you good, fam?”

“Gucci,” Red Robin replies. “Just low-key got stabbed.”

“There’s nothing low-key about getting stabbed!” Nightwing exclaims, getting called a hypocrite by many people, while Batman is already calling for Oracle to get a visual and for a medic to head Red Robin’s way.

By the time the battle is over, the Justice League understands how different the team is that Batman usually works with. If they were surrounded by heroes who talked like that continuously, they would have probably picked up some things here and there too.

Still, it fucking weird when Batman checks over his horde, before declaring: “You were all lit out there,” causing multiple of the kids around him to groan loudly, with Bluebird calling Batman a boomer.

Clark, however, sees a small uptick in Batman’s mouth. And in that moment, he knows Batman is doing it on purpose, that he’s enjoying it. That he’s fucking with them. He doesn’t know what to do with that, nor does he think that anyone will believe it. So, he decides to share the amusement and drop it.

They’re never going to figure out Batman.

~~

A/N:

This work is going to get dated so so so fast lmao, but it’s fun rn (if ur commenting in the future, welcome to outdated slang vibes from someone who wasn’t that up to date with current slang when writing it, bc im secretly a grandpa).

Hopefully I didn’t overdo it to an unrealistic degree, but if I did, such is the story that was being told oops

Also this whole fic is just an excuse for me to write batfam banter bc I love it lmao

I didn’t include Batwing, Batwoman and Flamebird here, sorry, but writing the batfam is always so hard bc there are so many characters T-T

[whereserpentswalk]

You're working on an interstellar ship. You're currently monitoring a planet from orbit. As one of the six species with the ability to create faster then light ships, every nation of your species has agreed not to interfere with less advanced civilizations. It's for the best they say.

The planet you’re monitoring is dying of a plague. They don't understand germ theory down there, they've barely invented things like the printing press or gunpowder. It's not like they're less intelligent then you, they just didn't have as much time. The researchers on the ship think the plague is going to end their species. It's not certain it'll happen but it's looking like it.

The researchers on the ship talk about the people there like they're animals, they sneak into villages the plague entirely destroyed and steal corpses to experiment on. They treat the bodies as if they were never people. They talk about the actions of the people planetside like the natrual instincts of beasts and not the choices of rational creatures. "According to their primitive ideas about reality they burn bodies killed by plague." "A female is given the right to mate with her male as she pleases after their marriage ritual." "They lack the capability of understanding the proximity of our ship."

You eventually decide that you've seen enough corpses, and that you've seen too many people act as if there weren't people down there. You steal an escape pod one night and go down to the planet to tell them what's happening. You don't have a cure for their illness but mabye you can get them on the right track.

You see them alive for the first time, not just bodies in a lab but people going about their lives, talking to eachother, buying and selling goods at their markets, mourning their dead. They look different from you of course, your body is serpentine with your only limbs being the four long tentacles near your mouth, their bodies are insectoid with four wraithlike arms and four long skinny legs, their dark metal exoskeletons contrasting the white of your scales. You remind yourself that they're no lesser then you, that you have no right that they do not.

You don't pretend to be a god or anything like that, you want to be as honest with them as you can. You go to someone practicing medicine in one of their temples. She's a student, her species doesn't have a lot of knowledge of medical science but it's not just superstition, she's learning how to do surgery and make medicine out of plants as best as her culture understands. You think to yourself that she'd probably be a premed student had she been born into your species, mabye the type to go to a fancy school off planet, mabye the type to voluntarily turn herself into a cyborg. She's scared at first but she eventually calms down, you explain to her everything you know about the virus and how her species could prevent it from spreading, you treat her as an equal, and explain things in terms she understands but in as much detail as possible, without making anything up to make it easier. It's the best that you can do.

You eventually have to leave. You're found out pretty quickly, you needed your ID to unlock the escape pod. You very quickly are fired, and become internationally infamous. It's agreed that to not violate any treaties you're never allowed to leave your homeworld again, you can never so much as set foot on a starship. Years go by. You don't have a medical license anymore so you find work teaching medicine at a local college. You sometimes wonder what it would be like to have the girl you talked to on that planet so many years ago as a student. In a way she was your first student.

People sometimes want to interview you about what you did. You refuse most of them. There's a small but unpopular movement to make contact with less advanced planets who hold you up as an important figure. Saber toothed emothians, and soft fleshed earthlings, and many eyed galdians all come to you. They want you to endorse them, but it never feels right. The official narrative is that the planet you tried to saved as killed off by that virus, everyone says that the species you tried to help wouldn't have understood what you told them, and that the virus would have been their end a few years after you made contact.

Years go on. No spaceship ever had a reason to come to the planet you tried to save, so you never get any confirmation. You always look for that hope but eventually you give up, there's no reason to believe anything else. As your story gets further and further in the past you have no legacy, there are governments and corporations who make sure you're not remembered in public consciousness, and only a few online forms and academic historians really talk about your life anymore. Occasionally activists will scream your name, but the news never reports on it.

It is hundreds of years after your death. The species you saved all those years ago has finally created faster then light travel. All across their world statues of you exist, every child on their planet knows your name. The first planet they visit once they make first contact is your honeworld, and the descendents of the woman you explained germ theory to visit your descendents. They posthumously give you their highest awards, and thousands of them come to see your grave. Nobody there forgot what you did, you're credited with saving their species from existence. They wish they could tell you, everything was ok in the end, your compassion was not meaningless.

[rakhalofthestars]

Pretty Little Baby!

Synopsis: Due to often leaving you alone for long periods of time without meaning to, Boothill gets you a little plushie of himself to keep you company. What he doesn't expect is the jealousy that comes from watching his plushie get all the attention.

Tags: boothill x gn! reader, fluff, banter, established relationship, jealous boothill, soft boothill, reader is a little shit, plushies, overuse of the word "cute" and "adorable" (i tried my best, cut me some slack)

Warnings: None!

wc: 3k

“Oh, here comes the boy! There’s my darling little fella!” Boothill, who had just entered the lounge in your little spaceship, flashes his sharp teeth in a toothy little grin. He scratches his cheek, feeling a little flustered at the affectionate and fond tone in which you were gushing over him. Sure, he may be an intimidating, six foot something cyborg who tends to get trigger happy at times but that doesn’t mean he isn’t weak to being fawned over like this! Especially when it comes from the apple of his eye, you.

“Aw shucks, sugar! Yer really layin’ it on thick, ain’t ya- Oh, forkin’ hell,” Boothill curses. Fooled and ignored once again. He had a feeling Aha was surely laughing it up at his expense currently. Namely because, well, you weren’t fawning over Boothill. Not exactly.

Perhaps it’s best to rewind to a couple weeks earlier to explain Boothill’s current predicament, no?

–

“Aw jeez, darlin’. I’m real sorry, swear on mah hat, I am!” Boothill all but groveled at your feet, desperate to get you to look at him. He could stand anything, from incendiary rounds to lashings but to have the love of his life actively ignore him? That cut deeper than any knife ever could.

“It’s easy for you to apologize but think about how I feel! You said the bounty wouldn’t take so long!” You huffed, lightly jerking your leg in a half-hearted attempt to shake the cowboy off. Aeons above, he really did have an iron grip. Quite literally. 

“It wasn’t s’posed to take so long! Ranger’s honor, darlin’!” “Hard to take you seriously when a man like you doesn’t really have much honor to speak of.” 

Ouch. Boothill winced at that but he was quick to recover. He could be as stubborn as a mule when he wanted to. Not even you stood a chance and that was certainly an achievement. 

“Yer killin’ me ‘ere, sugar… It ain’t my fault the target was so hard to track down! I tried my best to wrap things up clean an’ quick but y’know how it gets with these kinds o’ stuff.” “So I’m just supposed to forgive you for leaving me all alone in the spaceship for nearly two weeks? Do you have any idea on how lonely it gets here? I had half a mind to start talking to the stars!” “Well, I mean… forgivin’ me is kinda the goal here …” “Boothill, I’m being serious!” The man in question sighs. He really had fucked up this time, hadn’t he? He’d promised that he’d take care of a bounty within a day or two, give or take, before returning back to the ship and spending some much-needed time with you. However, one day turned to two and two days turned to three until it became increasingly clear that Boothill would not be showing up for some time. 

You’d tried to send him a message, asking about his whereabouts and how his mission was going but had cursed when you remembered that Boothill tended to keep his phone switched off so as not to jeopardize a mission like a handful of times before… It’s his fault, really. You’d always been telling him to change that godawful ringtone of his to something else. I mean, who the hell wouldn’t get suspicious if they suddenly heard the loud strumming of a banjo out of nowhere?

Regardless, you had tried your utmost to stay patient. You threw yourself into your own work, keeping yourself occupied so you wouldn’t worry yourself to death over your lover or get too worked up over the fact that he’d made a promise to come back as quickly as he could and take you out on several dates. The two of you had been so busy lately with your respective missions. Some quality time where you and Boothill did nothing else except for being the two most insufferable and lovey-dovey people in existence was long overdue. You’d even planned out various outfits for the outings! When Boothill had finally dragged himself back home and sheepishly popped his head into the room that serves as your workspace, you were beyond pissed. Quite frankly, you were patting yourself on the back for not going nearly as ballistic as you had been feeling. Anyhow, that’s what had led up to the cowboy currently clinging to your legs and whining like a lovesick puppy.

“Look darlin’, I know I forked up, okay? I should’a tried to at least send ya a text an’ explain things instead o’ leavin’ ya all alone like this. I know it ain’t easy,” and he really did mean it. Boothill was no stranger to loneliness and knew just how terrifying it could be to drift through the vast cosmos with no hope of getting into any form of contact with someone you knew. He’d been there, done that already, during a time when bombs fell from the skies instead of snow or rain. “Lemme make it up to ya, sugar. I swear that fer the next few weeks, you’ll get to have me all to yerself!”

And this time, Boothill really did make good on his promise. He took you everywhere, from the beaches and aquariums of Lushaka to tasting the most exquisite Xianzhou dishes that the ships had to offer. He wasted absolutely no expense in the hopes of getting that beautiful smile back on your face and so you’d stop being mad at him. His poor bastard heart just couldn’t take any more of your frowns and glares. It’s not like Boothill was particularly hurting for money anyways. Thanks to the multiple bounties and missions the two of you pulled off, he had more credits than he knew what to do with. Sure, they were mainly ill-gotten gains but if they went to good use, such as keeping you happy, then no principles of his were broken and everyone walks away as happy as a gunslinger in an arms store. 

On one of the dates that Boothill had taken you out on, he surprised you with a little something. Something that he had no idea would come back to bite him in the ass. 

“A… plushie?” You raised a brow and prodded at the doll in your hands.

“Right on, sugar! Figured I’d get ya a lil’ somethin’ to make the lonely days a tad more bearable,” Boothill grinned, feeling immensely proud of himself for coming up with the idea. He’ll admit, perhaps it’s a bit egotistical to get you a plushie of himself but I mean, hey. Who wouldn’t want a mini Boothill by their side? He knows he certainly wouldn’t mind. 

“So… you got me a plushie of yourself instead of… Oh, I dunno, learning to keep your promises and balance your work and personal life in a better way?”

Boothill’s toothy smile faltered. Shit, maybe it hadn’t been such a bright idea after all. Stupid, stupid! 

“Now look ‘ere, darlin’. Y’know how it is in my line o’ work. I can’t promise things ‘cause there’s too many movin’ pieces, get what I’m sayin’? I’ll try mah best to make more time fer the two o’ us. I don’t like bein’ away from ya any more than y’do. But… think o’ the lil’ fella as a backup, in case I get caught up in somethin’, yeah? I mean, who can resist this ol’ face, right?” He grabs the plushie and holds it up, his expression matching the plushie’s. You sighed, pinching at the plushie’s soft cheeks. Huh… maybe having a little tiny Boothill around wouldn’t be so bad.

“Alright, you’ve got a point. Now, c’mere and stop pouting,” which was followed by a chaste kiss on the lips. You were just as weak for Boothill as he was for you. 

Truly, a match made in heaven.

– 

That’s how Boothill had now ended up in this current situation. He’s been replaced! By a mini-him no less! It was a severe blow to his ego, to see you being more invested in a plushie of him than the man himself. 

The cowboy wasn’t quite so sure as to how this entire mess had even started! You hadn’t been particularly thrilled with the plushie at first. I mean, at first, Boothill was convinced you’d maybe use the doll as a means of taking out your anger on him with the way you stared at it sometimes. He half expected to walk in to see it turned into a glorified voodoo doll. 

Perhaps it was the giant eyes and the admittedly cute expression on the doll. Boothill had to pat himself on the back. The company that he’d commissioned to make the plushie had impeccable craftsmanship. The eyes, albeit wider than his own, resembled his own to a T, down to his crosshair pupils even! The hair was soft and fluffy, though not nearly as luxurious and beautiful as his own, thank you kindly. The company had even sewn clothes for the plushie that could be taken off and put on along with a matching cowboy hat! They’d certainly outdone themselves.

Boothill squints at the plushie in your hands, gritting his teeth over the way you were peppering its stupid and dumb little face with kisses. Yep. It was definitely the eyes. It hadn’t taken long for its clueless expression to wear you down and render you hopelessly infatuated with it. 

At first, you opted to simply keep it on your bedside table. A while later, you had begun fussing with the plushie’s hat, adjusting it to the side and giggling quietly at the way the doll’s cuteness only amplified when the hat’s brim covered nearly everything save for its big ol’ eyes and tiny mouth. It reminded you way too much of how Boothill himself looked so endearing when he’d hide his eyes with his hat because you’d flustered the poor guy too much. 

From there, it only snowballed once you realized just how closely the plushie had been made in Boothill’s likeness. It even had his chubby little cheeks! You could almost imagine the plushie whining and swatting at your hands the same way Boothill did whenever your urges surfaced! You just couldn’t help but coo at the adorable thing.

“Boothill, look how fucking adorable this little guy is! You can take his clothes off!” You squeal, eagerly showing your findings to the cowboy, who in turn, smiles wearily.

“Yes, hon’. I know… you’ve pointed this out t’me more times than I can count. What’s so special ‘bout bein’ able to take off it’s clothes anyways? If ya wanted me to get naked, all ya had to do is jus’ ask!” He teases, suggestively tugging at his belt buckle. To his dismay, your attention quickly returns to the doll in your hands.

“Yeah yeah, but just look at the fella! He’s got paws!” “Well, I mean… Them silicone pads on mah ten commandments kinda resemble the pads on a paw too.” “The plushie can leave paw prints in the snow! I tried it!” “You… wait, hol’ on just a sec’! When the fork did ya go someplace with snow?!”

“I got bored while you were away on your mission so I thought I’d go do some sightseeing with Minihill!” “You… named it? Minihill?” Boothill wasn’t sure whether you’d either completely lost your marbles or his sound receptors were malfunctioning. It had been a while since he’d performed some proper maintenance on himself after all…

“Yeah! Minihill! You know… since it’s a mini version of you.” “The lil’ fudgehead is only 20cm, sugar.” “He barely reaches your calves, look!”

Boothill sighs and bites back the overwhelming urge to dropkick the stupid thing. It was stealing you away from him! Truly, a crime that he could never forgive. 

Instead, he resigns himself temporarily to his fate and sits down beside you on the couch, an arm draped across your shoulders. At least the smile on your face made up for everything else. You looked so happy, gabbing on about your little escapades with Minihill.

“Oh! What was that for?” You blink in surprise, cheeks flushing over the kiss that had just been planted on your forehead.

“No reason. Ya jus’ look mighty adorable right now. Like a doll.” “Oh, speaking of dolls…”

Boothill rolls his eyes in fond exasperation as you resume yapping his ear off about the charming (“How the fudge is a plushie s’posed to be charming?! It can’t speak!”) manners of Minihill. Really now, he was starting to reach his limit.

The worst of it came when it was time to retire to bed and get a good night’s rest. Boothill was all but ready to get under the covers, cuddle up with you and be lulled to sleep by the sound of your breathing. Instead…

“Why the fork is that lil’ shirtbag in our bed?!” Boothill eyes the plushie of him warily. Aeons above, he could feel his fingers twitching to grab it by its giant head and toss it out of the room. 

“Why not? He’s so soft and squishy! He’s the perfect cuddle partner!” “AND I AIN’T?!”

You roll your eyes at Boothill’s theatrics. Truth be told, you knew exactly what you were doing, being so overly affectionate with the plushie instead of the man himself. You just couldn’t help it! It was way too much fun, watching the cowboy try his darndest to act all nonchalant and uncaring when in reality, he was seething with jealousy. Over a plushie of him, no less!

“Oh come off it, dear. At least Minihill doesn’t sound like a damn motorcycle when snoring.” “Low blow, darlin’. Real low. Y’know I can’t help it,” “Then you’ll understand why I can’t help but spoil the little guy rotten, right?” You giggle quietly to yourself, watching Boothill curse under his breath.

“You lil’ forker… Y’know exactly what yer doin’, stealin’ my sweetheart away from me.” “Boothill, please stop threatening Minihill with your gun.” “I dunno what yer talkin’ ‘bout.” “The poor thing is scared! Look at him! He’s shaking in his tiny boots!” “It’s a plushie, for fork’s sake!” You gasp dramatically, looking as scandalized as a Victorian man who’d just seen his wife flashing her ankles in the town square. Immediately, you clamp your hands down on either side of the plushie’s little ears, as if trying to stop it from hearing the “offensive” remarks that Boothill was making. “How dare you! Minihill isn’t just a plushie! He’s an absolute treasure to society and a blessing from the aeons themselves!” “I oughtta drag yer purdy lil’ ash to the nearest mental asylum- Wha-! Hey! How come that shirt-fer-brains gets so many goodnight kisses an’ I don’t?!” “Because he deserves them unlike a certain someone.” “Hey… c’mon now, sugar… ‘M right here…. Throw a dog a bone, please…” Boothill pouts, watching you pepper the plushie’s face in countless kisses before turning the lights off and going to sleep, plushie in arms and everything. Maybe he should’ve expected this. Maybe you were playing the long game and trying to teach him a lesson on just what happens when a cowboy ends up neglecting the love of his life for too long. They get stolen away by tiny plushies, that’s what.

As he watches you snuggle closer to him, pressing a sleepy little kiss to his cheek and mumbling something about how silly he was when he was jealous, Boothill sighs. Of course. Of fucking course you were getting a kick out of this. Perchance it was high time he got back at you. What was the saying again? Ah, right.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

– 

“Why, butter my fudge an’ call me a biscuit! Ain’t you jus’ a pretty lil’ baby!” Your ears perk up upon registering Boothill’s coos and you pop your head into the lounge. There, right there, sat the cowboy, cradling a plushie of… you?! No… surely not? You shuffle closer, squinting at the doll that looked so comically tiny when engulfed in Boothill’s large, metal arms. It is! It really is a plushie of you! From the eyes all the way down to the clothes! You couldn’t believe your eyes.

“...Whatcha got there?” “Oh, darlin’! Ya really opened my eyes to jus’ how forkin’ adorable these lil cutie fudgepies are!” Boothill enthusiastically shows you your plushie version. You clutch Minihill closer to your chest, scooting closer to the cowboy.

“See? I’m always right.” “Mhm, ya sure are. I oughtta have listened to ya earlier! This lil’ cutie is so soft!”

You can’t help but frown, watching Boothill pepper the plushie’s face in kisses. Fuck. Getting a taste of your own medicine really wasn’t for the faint of heart. 

“You… enjoying yourself over there?” “Sure am, darlin’. Never been better. You?” “Yeah… Minihill is lovely.” “I can imagine.” …

“Okay fine, you win!”

Boothill raises a brow and barks out a laugh. Well, that was fast. He should’ve thought of this earlier. He gently sets the plushie of you aside and tugs you onto his lap until you were straddling him. 

“Yeah? Say it ain’t so.” You glare at him. You toss Minihill so it lands beside the plushie version of you and grab Boothill by the jaw, crashing your lips against his. You feel the bastard grin before snaking his arms around your waist and eagerly kissing you back. He sure had missed this.

“So… what have we learned from this?” Boothill asks, a hint of teasing in his gruff voice. You sigh, still panting from the kiss. If there was one thing that no one, not even his plushie, could replicate, it was the exhilarating thrill and affection that his kisses always gave you. 

“That a plushie can’t replace the real deal…” “Yer darn right, it can’t. An’ fer the record, y’ain’t replaceable either. Them plushies are cute as fudge but they don’t hold a candle to you, sweetheart.” “Mmn… I know. You looked very silly though, being all jealous over a doll.” “Yeh, well you ain’t any better so shut it.” …

“We should totally make our plushies have their own little wedding.”

“Sure, darlin’. Anything you want.”

[dovahkiin796]

DC x Sonic 2#

Oh, Sonic. If only you knew that Darkseid is someone you shouldn't underestimate. This man, this New God, is far beyond what you fought in the past. Even Superman has trouble fighting him in one-on-one combat and Darkseid ever rarely has to throw fists to put Superman on the backfoot.

Sonic gets a taste of Darkseid's strength as the New God just stands there unbothered by the repeated spin-dashes and his grip on the Chaos Emerald is so tight Flash gets tripped up by it. Though, I like to imagine Darkseid is holding the emerald lightly, at least, lightly to him.

A first time a swear is said around a Sonic character since Shadow the Hedgehog. Flash urges Sonic to run as he sees the alien god charge up his attack. The infamous Omega Beams. An attack that is said to lock onto its target and will only stop when eventually making contact with said target.

Superman and speedsters being the only things alive to outrun the beams but even then, it's a matter of running forever or finding a way to have the attack hit something else.

Sonic has outrun and even tricked homing missiles in the past, but the Omega Beans are something he has never encountered before, and we can see in the panel he's struggling to dodge it. Fortunately for Sonic, Flash had a plan to get the beams to hit each other. Though it resulted in a huge explosion.

Don't tempt him Sonic, both you and Flash are lucky Darkseid sees you two as not worth his time. Of course, Flash has to poke a jab at Sonic for his slowness. X3

The other League members and Sonic's friends now have to hasten their search for the remaining Chaos Emeralds with Amy asking The Chaotix for their help. Shame what's about to happen to them.

Returning to his ship Darkseid is informed that the search for the remaining six Chaos Emeralds is becoming difficult as the emeralds are trying to hide themselves from Father Box. Don't know if this should be applied to Sonic canon as the Chaos Emeralds NEVER displayed this ability in any Sonic media and is very likely only made up for this story to explain why Darkseid doesn't get them almost instantly.

With this new information Darksied orders for his elite warriors to be sent out across the world and if needed burn anything to the ground to find the Chaos Emeralds.

The heroes are alerted to the Apokolip forces sent out and will use them searching the emeralds to help speed up with their own search to get exact coordinates to which they do, and Cyborg gives them the locations.

I like that Wonder Woman is sitting in Amy's car. It's a cute detail and WW probably feels like a giant in it as she's usually depicted being really tall as all Amazons are.

Also, Flash saying he can move within a picosecond which is real by the way, look it up. And of course, Sonic finds it adorable that his speed can be measured. X3

Again, Flash IS FASTER than Game-Sonic. DEATH BATTLE is fanfiction and Archie-Sonic is NOT canon. Flash has run at light speeds on his own without rings, can travel through time with his speed, and has outrun Death himself. There is no debate.

We see the JL and Sonic's friends combat against the Apokolip forces but Batman and Shadow's "fight" against Steppenwolf is the only one that gets the most focus. I feel like after the Justic League movie, doesn't matter which version, Steppenwolf has been treated as a joke.

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it really does seem like he's often written to not be a threat. Now, I'm sure he does have moments in the comics where he does put up a fight and even has a few heroes kills to his name. But not here, so, Shadow's win against the guy doesn't truly feel earned. Almost feels like it happened this way because SEGA would get mad if he didn't get some kind of win against a named DC character.

Is it just me or does this feel familiar to anyone else? I'm just saying I feel like we've been here before, twice in fact. Maybe it is just me. 😉

Anyway, Darkseid is pleased with the results by having one of the Chaos Emeralds power his machine. Even believing he can destroy entire universe if he gets all seven. That's how powerful the Chaos Emeralds when put into the right machine.

Now out of time, the League and Sonic and co must switch their focus on Darkseid but Tails informs his planes won't survive an assault against the Ragna Rock. Knuckles is still pissed about his island and the destruction of Master Emerald.

However, unexpected help has arrived.

Dr. Eggman, doing his best villain pose, will offer his aid to help all the heroes get into Ragna Rock and fight Darkseid as Sonic says to Flash Eggman has much to lose like they do if they don't succeed.

And help he does as he rams the Egg Carrier into the right eye! A true Eggman move.

Now onboard the heroes fight their way through Parademons to find wherever the Chaos Emerald is being stored. With Eggman having to remind them all Earth is his planet to conquer and one else's.

Hearing that causes Wonder Woman to say she might stay for a bit to deal with Eggman and Amy isn't against the idea. Ummmm, Amy, while Wonder Woman's compassion equals to yours. She's one of the few League members who does kill. Eggman will be cracked egg after she's done with him.

Flash is the first to find not only the Chaos Emerald but Darkseid as well. Also including his did it faster than Sonic who tries to make an excuse he went the other way. Cope Sonic.

Not bothering to fully turn around and face the pair the New God again fires his Omega Beams and in a more confined environment Sonic and Flash would've definitely been killed. But luckily for them Superman tanks the beams. Even calling them out for their pointless competition and to pick up their pace. Both speedsters call for a truce. X3

Now with all the heroes here. They all gang up on Darkseid who is ready to throw down. And he may or may not be powered by the Chaos Emerald.

This is a pretty cool looking panel.

Superman and Darkseid equal in physical strength but this coming to blows distracts him and is pinned by his sides by both Green Lantern and Silver. Then having the Lasso of Truth wrap around and tie him up and then being pulled down to his knees by WW and Knuckles.

Shadow, being the arrogant hedgehog he is, disrespects the New God but Batman warns him to not underestimate the alien. Batman speaks the truth.

Shadow... did something with Chaos Control. I know what Chaos Control is and what it does. But Shadow didn't do anything after using the power. I'm guessing he was going to casually go to Darkseid and take the Chaos Emerald while time was frozen.

Regardless, Darkseid appears to be immune to the power, which shocks Shadow but not me. I understand what Darkseid is capable of. This being is intricately woven into the very fabric of the DC multiverse. Darkseid must exist for the DC multiverse to exist; without him, it all collapses in on itself. Furthermore, there are no other Darkseids. Any Darkseids you encounter in other media are merely avatars used by the one true Darkseid to seek the Anti-Life Equation in a universe he believes it resides. As he himself states, "Darkseid is."

Also, while Shadow is no longer in his Vegeta phase. He still gets those Vegeta Ls. He can only win if Sonic isn't there.

I skipped a few action pages, hard to comment on those, but Flash was tasked with wrecking the machine while Sonic gets the emerald from Darkseid. Flash is successful, but Sonic wasn't. However, Flash did more damage by messing with the machine.

Seriously, that middle panel is really giving off deja vu vibes.

Darkseid tries bend the machine to his will with the Chaos Emerald while Supes and WW try to stop him. Seeing things aren't going their way Green Lantern puts the Sonic characters into a bubble and Cyborg opens a Boom Tube. Amy asks what he's doing, and Batman answers putting their faith into them.

They are then thrown through the Boom Tube and end up in the DC universe, meeting Mr. Terrific. They demand he sends them back to their world so they can help the Justice League, but Mr. Terrific tells them he can't as their universe is gone.

Oh! Now I know why this feels familiar! Anyway, time for another reboot!

[longwuzhere]

My Adventures with Superman Season 2 Easter Eggs

Welcome back everyone! Here we are season 2 of My Adventures with Superman! What a fantastic first two episodes and as usual they're full of fun Easter eggs which I will point out and explain to those who aren't familiar so you can be in the know with the comics book readers! My Easter eggs lists for season 1 is here if you haven't seen it!

My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 7 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 9 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

Spoilers if you haven't seen the episode

Starting things off MAwS's Season 2 episode 1 title is a reference to Shakesspeare's Hamlet where Hamlet is speaking to Horatio and says this line about how you gotta see it to believe it essentially. In my opinion in terms of the show I read it as we and the MAwS cast are gonna be seeing a lot of wilder things in space and on Earth.

After the title we see Jimmy flaunting his wealth around giving the Daily Planet employees Valentines day cards after selling his social media site Flamebird to the Planet. Clark gets one and talks about his planned date with Lois and Cat Grant interrupts him saying that date is such a bore. I explained Flamebird here and talked about Cat Grant here.

After, Perry White enters the scene complaining how Vicki Vale of the Gotham Gazette is always one step ahead of the Planet reporting on huge news. I talked about Vicki Vale here.

Lois, after waking up from a nap, mentions to Perry about a weird meteorite that landed in the Antarctic. She names drops her STAR Labs friend Hank. Later when the gang meet we learn that he's married. From those clues we can conclude this is Hank Henshaw.

Hank Henshaw in the comics makes his first appearance as an astronaut in Adventures of Superman #465 (1990) [W&P: Dan Jurgens, I: Art Thibert, C: Glenn Whitmore L: Albert DeGuzman]. He and his crew meet their unfortunate fates in the next issue as each crew member is hit with radiation in space causing their bodies to change. One member is turned to stone and gravel and bits from the wreckage of the ship when it crashed back to Earth, another's body turns to radiation, Terri, Hank's wife later learns that her body is phasing into a different dimension. She's saved but Hank 's body later decays rapidly. Doesn't all this sound Fantastically Four-miliar?

Hank Henshaw would later return in the Reign of the Supermen storyline as Cyborg Superman after Clark's death at the hands of Doomsday in Adventures of Superman #500 (1993) [W&P: Dan Jurgens, I: Doug Hazelwood, C: Glenn Whitmore, L: John Costanza]. How Hank returned and got this wild mechanical Superman body I wont say but I do recommend reading Adventures of Superman #466-468, the Death of Superman, A World Without Superman, and the Reign of the Supermen story arcs to find out. Will this also happen to Hank in MAwS? Who knows? Only time will tell

Lois name drops the DC universe's most famous laboratory and research center, S.T.A.R. Labs. You may have first heard about it from the CW DC shows. S.T.A.R Labs conducts a variety of experiments from space travel to technology and they usually are the superheroes' go-to when it comes to lab analysis. The research center makes it's first appearance in Superman #246 (1971) [W: Len Wein, P: Curt Swan, I: Murphy Anderson] where Superman scoops up some plankton and algae for them in the panel.

Jimmy in the scene before they meet Hank name drops Amazo Tech. I talked more about the company and the former CEO here.

As the MawS trio go to Antartica to check out the meteorite, which turns out to be a Kryptonian spaceship, Clark has another meeting with his father who tells him "oh yeah you have a cousin that my brother Zor-El launched to space to be safe cuz of the Kryptonian bullshittery we did" (I'll explain that later). Anyways Kara!

Kara Zor-El makes her first appearance in Action Comics #252 (1959) [Cover Art by Curt Swan and Al Plastino] where like her cousin was sent to space in a rocket ship to save herself after her part of Krypton was miraculously remained intact but meteors destroyed the lead shielding that Zor-El made to protect his people from the Kryptonite that was still present on their part of Krypton. Zor-El and his wife, Alura In-Zee, (she gets named much later) also made their first appearances in the same comic as Supergirl's debut. Kara has died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, had others taken up that mantle until her reappearance in Superman/Batman #8 (2004), and since then has made a name for herself in the pop culture zeitgeist with her appearances in the DCAU, my first introduction to her, the animated movies, her CW show, and in the movies! I highly recommend checking out Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Its got a killer story by Tom King and BEAUTIFUL ART by Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes!

Jor-El tells Clark about the Kryptonians getting their ass handed to them by lasers going in sharp angles you know "oh shit you do not fuck with Darkseid!"

Darkseid, created by the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby, is the ultimate evil in the DC universe and makes his first appearance in the comics in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (1970) [W&P: Jack Kirby, I: Vince Coletta]. Darkseid is everything that Jack Kirby hated about fascism rolled into one character. He's after the Anti-Life Equation, the ultimate formula that will break all of free will and force everyone to bow down to Darkseid's will. He's often seen fighting the New Gods, Justice League, or even Superman solo. The angled laser comes from Darkseid's Omega Beams where he shoots it out from his eyes and they will follow you until it hits their target bending around anything and anyone to get to you as seen here in this cover of Justice League #23.1: Darkseid (2013) by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Alex Sinclair):

Based on that tiny bit of teasing in that scene I cant wait for the MAwS crew introduce him. Also shout out to the them for including the little Kirby crackles when the Kryptonian's got vaporized that was a nice bit of detail to honor Jack Kirby's most famous drawing technique!

As Jor-El and Clark have some catching up to do, Lois and Jimmy are attack by the robots in the ship and you might recognize the symbol on them as the symbol of Brainiac. I talked more about him here also that one Kryptonian from the finale of season 1 shows up again at the end of the episode. No confirmation on if its Zod or not but there is a good chance its Zod imo at least.

As our heroes encounter Task Force X (I talked more about them and Amanda Waller here), Amanda Waller is talking to one of her new super soldiers, Damage who we see can grow into a hulking size. This is a reference to...

Ethan Avery, aka Damage from the New Age of Heroes initiative from DC post-Dark Nights Metal where his first appearance was in Dark Nights Metal: The Casting #1 (2017). Ethan was a former soldier in the US Army who volunteered for the Damage program and was given the serum to turn him into the giant Hulk pastiche we see here on the textless cover of Damage #7 (2018) by Tony S. Daniel, Danny Miki, and Tomeu Morey. As Damage, Ethan was not able to control his actions for one hour and would go on a rampage against militant groups for US Army missions. Here in MAwS, we can see some of Damage's comic design be invoked in the cartoon with the giant hulking body MAwS has, the dark arms, and pants. very subtle but it works.

As the chaos from the fight subsides, we see the former spaceship transform itself and the surrounding ice into this crystalline superstructure and what famous isolated fortress looking building in the Antarctic in Superman lore does that bring to mind? THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE!

The Fortress of Solitude that pop culture knows made its first appearance in Action Comics #241 (1958) [Cover art by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye]. Superman in the Golden Age had a "Secret Sanctuary" in the outskirts of Metropolis on a mountain top in Superman #17 (1942), but it wasn't until the 1950s where the Fortress of Solitude was relocated to the Arctic which is shown here. The location gets changed again to the Antarctic post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. Superman would have other Fortresses of Solitude in other locations like the Bermuda Triangle, which is the latest or the Arctic again. Superman would usually keep things pertaining to his Kryptonian culture in the fortress like the Phantom Zone Projector or the bottled city of Kandor. Based on what we're seeing in MAwS it seems like they'll be setting this up as a new place for Clark to get in touch with his Kryptonian heritage.

What a fun first episode! Can't wait to see what the future episodes will have! So excited to return to My Adventures with Superman! My season 2 episode 2 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 3 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My season 2 episode 4 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 5 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 6 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 7 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My season 2 episode 8 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 9 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My season 2 episode 10 Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here and if you missed it my Season 1 Easter eggs list is here

[silent-media]

Plurality Terms

Canon dependency - A blanket term for any person in a sytem who needs canon to function. Whether it be unable to form memories without it, experiencing a complete inability to front without fixation on it, etc. Can also apply collectively as a modifier. Canon Independence - The exact inverse of canon dependency. Canon has zero effect on memories, fronting, etc. Often results in people either removed from canon or having an odd relationship with it. Identity Bound - A group of system members who are bound together by being literally the same person, but not. This can be explainable (ie spiritual reasons, fracturing, etc) or just feel like an undeniable fact. This is seperate from Median because they are undeniably seperate, just, also somehow not. Detatched Aging - A blanket term for aging and maturity that is completely removed from how would function outworld. Someone who should be a little might be an adult, someone who should be an adult might be a little, etc. Connected Dissociative - A system that, technically, is extremely dissociative with alot of barriers and blackouts of memory...Except due to the way they function connecting them, they can often "cheat" and present as more functional. Cyborg system - A mishmash of mechanical system and flesh system, usually common in BPD systems where things can change rapidly between logical and emotional rapidly. Flesh system - A system with a heavily emotional and need based function. People form because you're sad or happy, layers pop in and out because of attachment, etc. May or may not actually be flesh. Mechanical system - A system that has a strict logical function. Everything has a place and a time, everything has a reason and cause, etc. May or may not be literally mechanical. Ship-tien - System function that is effected by what host/core/body ships. Fujo/Fuda-tien - System function that is effected or was effected by the host being a fujoshi/fudanshi Sorted systems - Having multiple systems that are sorted by a specific theme, like logic/heart soul/body etc Core based - A system that is focused around one central being or multiple important beings. How this presents is up to the collective and their core but the general idea is that everything happens because of the relation. Fandom-tien - System function effected by fandom things. Like headcanons for a certain fictive coming up all the time or certain ships being the "standard" Multi-Spectrum - Any spectrum that is effected by plurality. This can be romantic attraction, sexual attraction, gender, whatever. Shipless System - Generic term for any and all plurals who do not and cannot relate to shipcourse arguments. This can be being proship because of fictives you have, being ship neutral because you don't want to limit your fictives lives arbitrarily, etc etc. Basically "We aren't even in the same argument" Discoursegenic - Forming people specifically because there is heavy discourse and hatred around the charachter / ship / trope / etc

These terms were made by us to describe our experiences. Please keep that in mind when discussing if these terms are "neccesary". For the most part we are willing to answer any questions about these terms, as long as it's in good faith. Anyone is free to use these terms but please don't twist them to fit an experience you don't have.

[somestorythoughts]

Eldritch Echo

So. I haven't seen the Bad Batch and don't really intend to, but I have read some fics (please do not take that as me saying that's the same as understanding the story) and between that and my thoughts of eldritch stuff in Star Wars and a cool art piece I came across that I think was referencing something I don't have the context for, I started wondering what it'd look like if of the Bad Batch, Echo was the only eldritch/cryptid/vampire/otherwise not human one. NOT because of the Techno Union, but because of something that happened sooner OR he'd always been like that. And I might put a bit of that in my vampire clones thing but I was thinking eldritch and I ended up writing a thing. So. Enjoy:

Edit: Masterpost

***********

Crosshair’s willing to admit he doesn’t dislike Echo. He respects the guy’s resilience and his willingness to go with the flow, which is necessary for someone working with their team, even as he rolls his eyes at Echo’s tendency to twitch at the state of their ship and his reluctance to drop the “sir” when talking to Hunter. More than that Echo has zero qualms about sassing him if Crosshair picks a fight and it’s a lot of fun to rile him up.

That said. Echo is also really freaking weird.

Crosshair is very observant, between his eyesight, his role on the team, and his training he had to be and either something’s very off about Echo or he’s started hallucinating because he keeps seeing things that don’t make sense. Not for a reg and not for a cyborg.

He explains this the Hunter once, trying to see if he’s noticed anything, and Hunter frowns. “Can you give me an example?”

“His eyes for one.”

Hunter blinked. “What?”

“We all know what most trooper’s eyes look like. And we’ve seen some variations. But they don’t change color. I’ve seen his eyes go golden or violet, and it wasn’t the lighting.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes I’m sure what do you take me for?” Crosshair snapped. “Look. Next time we’re on a sunny planet. Take a look at his shadow. It doesn’t match him at all. I’ve seen it prowling around him like a tooka without him or a light source moving. It doesn’t look like him either. And remember that time we were sparring and he panicked and bit me? I asked Tech, the Techno Union didn’t do anything to his teeth, but I know what bitemarks look like and that was not it.”

Hunter sighed. “I’ll pay attention but-” He paused. “Huh.”

“What?”

“It might not be anything.” He replies and only knowing that he’s getting to the point keeps Crosshair from interrupting. “But remember how I told you guys that people smell like animals? They’re distinct from each other, and you know I can’t describe it cause I tried to describe you guys, but it’s not like they smell like flowers or old books or whatever people like to think they’d smell like unless they’re wearing a scent. Echo, he doesn’t smell like a trooper. I just never thought about it for some reason.”

“And what does he smell like?”

Hunter frowned as he tried to find the words. “Well. He does smell a bit like a trooper and a bit metallic. But he also smells like, what’s was the spice in that cake you liked so much? The one we found on that mission with the weird vultures?”

Crosshair hummed. That had been a really freaking good cake. “The lady said it was a cardamon cream cake. So he smells like cardamon?”

“Cardamon and lilies and wet dirt is the best way I can describe it and I know it’s not his soap cause he uses the same stuff as the rest of us. So yeah. I guess I’ll pay attention.”

Two days later Crosshair gets confirmation that something’s up in a way he did not expect.

Because walking around in the dark in the middle of the night is his job so it’s already odd to find Echo leaning against the cabinet in their ship’s tiny kitchen in the pitch dark. “You’re going to trip reg.” Crosshair says and leans over to get the lights when Echo looks up.

And twelve pairs of golden violet eyes meet Crosshair’s.

He staggers back, trips over something, falls. “Crosshair!” Echo grabs his hand, pulling him up, then scrambles for the lights as if he forgot they might be necessary and Crosshair yelps as the light hits his eyes.

He blames that and the shock for blurting out; “What the hell are you Echo?”

Echo blinks, looking hurt. “I’m a trooper. Like you all.”

“Troopers don’t have twenty-four freaking eyes.” Crosshair hissed. They aren’t there now, he’s got 2 brown eyes in the exact same shade of brown nearly every trooper has, but Crosshair knows what he saw. He knows what he’s been seeing.

Echo tilts his head. And he grins. It’s a smile Crosshair’s seen before, whenever Echo’s about to respond to his taunts with something cutting and clever, part “take that” and part inviting him to share the joke. There’s nothing off about that smile save for that it’s mirrored in Echo’s shadow, splayed against the cabinets behind him too dark for their lights.

“The Bad Batch.” Echo muses, like there’s a joke Crosshair hasn’t caught yet, and he’s never had a reason to call Echo dangerous even when he didn’t trust him, but he’s starting to feel cornered even though Echo hasn’t moved. “You think you’re the only strange ones. ‘Don’t worry Rex, we know how to handle a reg.’ Never mind that Torrent was always a little crazy, or it used to be. Never mind that I was an ARC and a damn good one, and we’re all more than competent. And I appreciate what you all did, in welcoming me into the squad, I appreciate it more than I can say, and I do really like you guys, but you are so freaking cocky. So certain you can handle anything. And to be fair you’re damn good at your job, but sometimes it’s annoying. So.” He grins that taunting grin again. “You want to know what the reg’s deal is? Figure it out.”

He leaves. His grinning shadow lingers a moment before following. Crosshair stares.

And then decides that a glass of water isn’t gonna cut it and goes for the stash of moonshine.

[byz-was-here]

Because no one asked,

Here's how I would do a transformers series:

1) emphasize the disguise

They're robots in disguise. Its in the tagline. Make the bots and cons fight each other while trying not to be noticed.

Why would world conquering deceptions stoop to hiding from puny organics?

Easy. Skew the matchup. If its 8 billion nuclear armed monkeys vs 5-10 alien robots, even ol megsy ain't gonna take those odds.

The Autobots have an even easier reasoning: follow the prime directive.

2) Shipwreck everyone

Why can't the bots/cons just call for reinforcements?

They crash landed. That's why. Everyone's in stasis or injured. Callback to G1 where they spent 4 million years in sleep mode under a volcano. Maybe not *that* long but it would explain why no one noticed two alien starships smacking into the planet. No one was around to see it. Macguffin event happens, a couple bots and cons wake up, and they realize that a wholeass civilization popped up during their nap.

3) Civilian autobots

Why did they come to earth?

As is usually the go to answer: Cybertron's f*cked. Solution: Autobots dig out a *really* old and obscure planetary survey, find a decent enough planet, Optimus takes a bunch of scientists and engineers on a colony ship and they go off to found New Cybertron. Survey said the place was uninhabited, so it's free real estate. (Humans were probably still debating whether or not coming down from the trees and walking on 2 legs was a good idea when the Cybertronian scouts did the survey)

Soundwave does his soundwave thing, finds out, Megatron loads up a warship, and they shoot each other down on prehistoric earth. Meanwhile, a caveman named grug figures out mr fire is your friend.

Point is, you've got one side that's a bunch of scientists, engineers, and other civilians (The Autobots)

And the other that's almost all elite combat troops (the Decepticons)

But, because of the first two issues, the cons can't take advantage of it. Otherwise they alert the Humans and someone with an itchy trigger finger drops a thermonuclear warhead on the stranded nemesis.

And if a human does discover the Autobots? Imo a civilian is more likely to break the rules and play nice than a trained soldier.

4) nobody wants to stay here

The Autobots originally planned to colonize earth, sure. That was before they got shot down, locked into stasis for who knows how long, and woke up to see an entire sapient civilization spring up from nowhere during their nap.

Optimus is Optimus, so it's plan B: freedom is the right of sentient beings, so we fix the ark and found new Cybertron somewhere else. Ideally, the human race won't realize they were ever here.

The Deceptions only care about crushing the Autobots and getting off this corrosive rock. Unless they can call home and summon an armada, it's just not *worth it* to pick a fight with humanity.

6) things I'd like to see

-Skyfire/Jetfire

Jetfire being one of the scouts, getting frozen in a callback to G1, and being found and thawed by some human scientists. He's just living his best life in a hidden lab, and only mildly worried about why Cybertron isn't answering his calls. Oh hey Starscream! When did you get the tattoo? (It's a bad breakup)

-Swindle

Our dystopian capitalist nightmare is Swindle's daydream paradise. He absolutely loves earth. #1 fan. He probably makes connections to the mob. Good times.

-Nightbird

Local mechanized AI (or ghost in the shell cyborg) has an emotional crisis, joins the deceptions. Beats up any Cons that disrespect her. No notes.

-Dinobots

"Wheeljack, why do our new security drones look like...that?"

"So there's this earth movie called "Jurassic Park"..."

Later:

"Wheeljack?"

"Yes optimus?"

"What happened to the sparks that we had in stasis?"

***Tyrannosaurs roar*** Me Grimlock Smash! (Panicked Decepticon screaming)

"Never mind, I think I figured it out."

-one sane adult human

Obvs theres a couple teens who pal around with the Autobots. There should be at least ONE adult in their early 20s as part of the group who's forced, however unwilling, to be the sole voice of reason. Aka: "I'M NOT TELLING YOUR PARENTS YOU GOT SQUISHED SNEAKING INTO AN EVIL ROBOT SPACESHIP"

"Then who's gonna pull off the rescue?"

"I AM!" (They instantly regret this decision, but They're at least old enough to make it)

-Shockwave as a late series villain

Shockwave has had command of the Decepticons ever since Megatron's Ill fated disappearance chasing after the Autobot Ark.

Having him return and upset Shockwave's centuries of effort holding onto the planets in the Deception Empire would be... Unfortunate. Perhaps it would be better if he stayed dead.... It's only logical.

[ask-postcrash-curly]

Guys, are we really gonna leave Daisuke in the dark just cause we wanna send him funny things?? These transfers are meant to be an intervention, please. The fact we’ve visited two different brains in the last few days- The train ride over to your head was terrible by the way, Daisuke, no biscuits served or anything- has to mean we’re meant to do, well, something. So.. let’s start with getting Daisuke on the same page as Anya and Swanesto Con Zucchero. That’s his full legal name, by the way! Believe me!

Anyways, salve, Daisuke! I am glad to tell you you’re not going crazy. Yet. You may not believe your eyes, but we’re actually… The. Ghosts of Tulpar past, present, and future! We’ve been to all three! Tubular, right?

so we’ve been sent to your brain to, im guessing, fill you in on what’s been going on and hopefully get some help for curly. To start, if you still think you’re imagining this, go to Swansea and Anya and ask them if they know.. which one of us have been in both their heads.. thinking thinking think ask them if they know a woman named Robin Warbler, or her birth name, Kind Words. They should know who you’re talking about, so try to explain your situation in the best way you can from there. I know you can do it. You’re a smart boy. I’ll give you some time..

daisukeee, go do it.

Daisuke come on we’re all waiting on you

you do it yet? Good.

So. Now that that’s over, I gotta let you know that The nurses of this ship are actually…. TOTALLY evil and conspiring against the Tulpar crew. They’re pumping up Curly with dangerous chemicals and are gonna.. turn him into a crazy cyborg nurse experiment if you don’t go help him out. Like teen titans cyborg crazy, but not cool at all, so you need to go save him now. Then they’re gonna use him to take over the universe. So you better find a way into the medbay to check on him. Like, right now. Go daisuke, go!

What the fuck are you talking about????

HUH???

[soundcrusher]

ASK GAME REVENGEANCE!!! i would like your Reeve HCs and also bellhop because i know you have way more than me and this was all your brainchild in the first place LET'S HAVE EM

I come into your house, throw my gauntlet at you like an eager knight looking for someone to cross swords with, only for you to call me an evil shoulder-devil temptress.  I am neither a temptress, nor an evil shoulder-devil. Not when you walked into my witch’s hut willingly.

Either way! Bellhop and Reeve headcanons coming right up!

Haunted Hotel Bellhop (My baby boy, sweetest joy I have ever known)

Sexuality Headcanon:

There isn’t anything on him canon wise, so, I can only create headcanons for him.

With that said, my interpretation of the Bellhop, aka Benjaming Hopkins, is bisexual. Or, at the very least, bisexual leaning. I personally don’t like using labels for characters, especially when it comes to sexualities, because I go off on vibes instead. So, to me, Benjamin has bisexual vibes and no preference when it comes to male or female.

Gender Headcanon:

Benjamin is male. He’s male presenting in the game, has a masculine voice, and overall doesn’t strike me as someone who would feel uncomfortable with his given sex. 

Although, there once was a time where I played with the idea of him being unsure about his gender, due to how the darkness was/is affecting his body and mind. You already know parts of it, Sephi, but Benjamin’s relationship with his darkness, and subsequently himself, is difficult.

Both of them are incomplete. And while the darkness tries its best to complete them, Benjamin’s subconsciously working against it. And so, while he knows who he is, there are also times where he’ll feel off.

It’s hard for me to explain, and that’s mostly why I scraped the idea.

Either way, he’s male.

A ship I have with said character:

Again, he’s not part of the main cast, so there’s no canon information about him and whether he has any romantic relationships. So, I’ll have to make some up again. XD

One character I like to ship him with is Reeve Tuesti, mostly because of how the story I’m writing about him is going, but also because of the things I came up with Seph.

Other than that, I have shipped him with an oc, who was a worker at the Haunted Hotel, but Is long gone. The reason for that is unknown to Benjamin, and he’ll never find out what happened to his fiancé, sadly.  (Her disappearance is still a mystery I have to reveal to you, don’t I Sephi? XD Or at least what happened to her.)

A BROTP I have with said character:

I would say a BROTP I have for Benjamin are the two friends I made for him. Mat and Ann are both OCs, who are working at the Saucer and, well, they’re basically a package deal. Both are protective of their friend, and one of them will and is planning the downfall of a person who wronged Benjamin, while the other is trying to do damage control.

Outside of that, and thanks to the amazing @sephirthoughts, I really like the idea of both Chadley and Cloud being his friends. Mostly because I can see Chadley and Benjamin having hour long talks about monsters and random things they find interesting over the phone, but also because I think Benjamin would go out of his way to give this funky cyborg kid the most human experience he could, whenever he visits the saucer.

Cloud on the other hand is a BROTP I like, because of Sephi’s story. I’m not going to lie, but that’s basically it. XD

A NOTP I have with said character:

Benjamin x his Manager (another Oc I made).

I can’t believe that you didn’t include this one on your NOTP list.

A random headcanon:

Oh boy, where do I begin?

I have so many headcanons for this guy, and you already mentioned the darkness-scars running all over his body. Hmm… I guess I can expand on those.

 As you already mentioned in your post, Benjamin has darkness-scars running over his body that he’s had since birth. But they haven’t been as profound in his youth as they’re now. They grew with each experiment he was forced into, and are unable to heal, because the damage done to him is just… really bad. His scarred skin was oftentimes reopened or cut away, to see what the darkness would do. Which was not only painful but also left his body in a constant state of stress and pain.

Pain that he’s still feeling to this day, because neither he nor the darkness forgot or were able to heal from those events, but also because he associates the touch of people not close to him with this pain.

To come back to the scars themselves. They often form where Benjy gets bigger injuries. A bruise won’t be covered by the darkness and will have to heal naturally, but a cut or something similar, will be covered, and depending on how bad it is, bluish-black cracks will form there.

Those cracks have a tendency to shift, and sometimes you can even see whisps of darkness coming out of them.

A good visual might be a broken porcelain doll.

As a side-fact: Benjamin won’t feel any pain when being touched, if he knows the person and they’re close to him. Anyone else, and he would recoil as quickly as possible and flee. There are also times where he can’t flee and will endure the pain.

For a happier random headcanon: His favourite FNaF characters are Shadow Freddy and Shadow Bonnie, and his favourite game is FNaF World. I have spoken!

General Opinion over said character:

 I love him. He’s my sweety boy, my joy, and I’ll keep on being slightly crazy over him.

After all, have you seen him? He’s such a treat, a true little treasure to behold and cherish.

I hope he comes back in part 3.

Onto Reeve, I guess. But I’ll keep this short, because writing about Benjy took the whole day. XD

Sexuality Headcanon:

This man has Bisexual vibes, so he’s a bisexual to me.

Gender Headcanon:

Male

A ship I have with said character:

Despite what I have said in Benjamin’s part, my OTP in regards of Reeve is Reeve x Chaos, and or Reeve x Vincent, or Reeve x Vincent’s demons. Let’s just say I love to ship Reeve with all that makes Vincent, even the demons he shares a mind and body with.

Other than that, I also ship him with Cid, Benjamin, Cloud, and, well, a few more people.

There was also a time where I shipped him with Sane!Sephiroth, after realizing that Reeve’s only a few years older than him.

A BROTP I have with said character:

Him and Cid, if I’m being honest. They would get along like a house on fire, if they ever get to meet and or have a conversation that isn’t being held over Cait Sith.

I also like him with Vincent, again. But the best is still the “Ex-Shinra” club, where Vincent, Cid and Reeve get to hang out and talk about how shitty Shinra is. Cloud attends ever now and then, just for fun.

A NOTP I have with said character:

Yuffie.

A random headcanon:

This man has the funniest and craziest socks.

It all started back, when he was still working under Shinra and was presented with the dress code. Being confined to always be professional was something he expected, but experiencing it was also confining. There was no room for self-expression, but that changed when his mother sends him funny cat-themed socks.

He wore them one day, saw that no-one noticed him wearing socks that went against his professional image, and the rest is history.

His favourite socks are, of course, cat-themed ones, but he also like those that have buildings on them or come from specific sectors.

General Opinion over said character:

Reeve is baby girl. He is MY baby girl, and I would kiss that man on the cheek, if he was real.

He deserves so much better. Not only from Shinra and Square Enix, but also from Cloud and Co. I mean, this man had to watch the first Cait Sith die, without being able to do anything. He sends someone who’s basically his son to his certain death, only to watch the people he started calling his friends move on from that death without a second thought, as soon as another one of his sons arrived on the scene.

He's such a tragic character and deserves more of the spotlight!

I WANT TO SEE HIM GO APESHIT AND TEAR SOMETHING APART!

I am so normal about this wet cat of a man. :3

[wonderfull-star]

As I promised, now it's Sans’s turn=)

1.Chara-Probably the most obvious. Both Sans and Chara have a brother who is essentially the opposite of themselves( StroryShift and StorySpin moment).Both judge the player's actions at the end of the genocide and literally making their life hell. We don't really know what Sans really thinks about humans. However, if you remember that moment in Mettaton’s restaurant where he began to threaten Frisk, then we can assume that he clearly did NOT have the best opinion of humans and, probably, just like Chara, could hate them. It turns out that if Frisk going on a true pacifist, both Sans and Chara’s visions about humans completely change for the better. If this is true then this would explain why we don't see Chara on the path of a pacifist. After all, after Chara's death, they were left with unfinished task. By going through the game for genocide, we make them even more angrier by filling them with hatred for absolutely everything(Glitchtale moment).On the pacifist, we are fulfilling Chara’s unfinished task - to free all the monsters and now they can finally rest in peace. And if on the genocide route Chara becomes a demon, then on the pacifist they becomes an angel. That’s why it so piss me off me when fandom making Chara like a villain, even though it wasn’t them who did it, but the player. With this logic, Sans can also be considered as a villain. Because oh no, he attacked the “poor” child and broke his Toriel’s promise😱 I believe that, on the contrary, in some sense Sans and Chara are on the same side and, in their own way, taking revenge on the player for all their sins.

2.With Napstablook. Both are pessimistic at heart. Sans and Napstablook definitely sometimes spending time together listening to music and lying on the floor pretending to be trash. They both have a brother/cousin who is the complete opposite of them - both are extroverts who love to be the center of attention, have an optimistic outlook on the world and always achieve their goals. In Underswap Sans is literally a fan of Napstablook/Napstaton(some people even ship them, well it’s literally like a swap version of Papyton 💀).

3.With Mettaton(by my theory). Both are created by royal scientists as killing machines to capture human souls. Both “renounced” this role, devoting more time to what they wanted the most (also essentially intertwined with the StorySpin au where Chara takes Mettaton’s role in the literal sense of becoming a humanoid robot cyborg killer-)

StorySpin is underrated as heck. It's strange that no one even pays attention to Chara and Sans from this au. Chara is surprisingly really perfectly looks in Mettaton’s role. Like being... the DAMN KILLING MACHINE. It’s as if Chara’s dream had just come true (if you know what I mean). And Sans being in Chara's place is generally something on a different level. Can we already start making theories?

[spiritboxies]

if you don’t mind me asking because I don’t feel like scrolling down all the way to see a post if you did explain it, but what is with your theory that boo 9, choir/astra, and lead are all the same person? Not saying I don’t like it. I’m just a little curious.

it's alright! admittedly this is more of a crack theory than something i'd seriously consider as potentially canon 😅 but here's what i suppose i'd call my "evidence":

the lead = astra evidence is probably the strongest: both characters are associated with the same symbol! lead has it on his shirt, and astra has it on the glowing circle in his chest (i'm assuming thats his battery/core/whatever sci-fi power supply he runs on)

in addition, there is some continuity between past versions leading up to dystopia. most noticeably the triangles indicating the cumulor's control in dystopia can also be seen in alive's 1st & 3rd bonuses!

there's likewise signs of continuity between dystopia & wekiddy, such as the arcade machine showing the events of dystopia's 2nd bonus, and lyrical references to that same scene in wekiddy's 2nd bonus. i believe this means wekiddy takes place after dystopia (probably a very long time after, like decades)

another interesting thing about the 2nd wekiddy bonus' lyrics are that they seem to lump "makula" in with the general "bad guys" the mech pilot is battling. at the same time, the arcade game treats him like a protagonist. i interpret this as astra ending up a controversial figure after the events of dystopia: some see him in the same heroic way the audience does, and some think he was a dangerous criminal.

the first similarity i notice between boo 9 and astra are their eyes: both have cool-tone irises and black sclera

mechanically speaking, both lead and boo 9 have the same functions in their versions as the foundation of the beat. in terms of lore, i'd like to think this means astra returned to his passion for music now that he doesn't have to battle an evil technocracy anymore

boo 9 also has a symbol from alive's 2nd bonus on his hat. as i mentioned before, alive & dystopia seem to be connected to each other, so this would imply boo 9 was around for both versions (as lead/astra)

one more general observation: usually cyborg characters are extremely hard to kill off, and can survive all kinds of extreme damage (looking at you genos lmao). so it's too much of a stretch to think astra could've survived the pyramid explosion and be rebuilt

so with all that in mind, here's my full explanation: lead became a full-body cyborg to better resist the cumulor's forces since he'd be a lot stronger n more durable. after he blew up the main power source in the pyramid, some other person in the resistance (i like to believe it was follow for shipping reasons lol) found his body and slowly rebuilt him, also upgrading him with more human-like features since he doesn't need to fight anymore. as time passed, the story of what astra did to end the dystopia became warped. to avoid dealing with the backlash, and to try and return to his life of music, astra gave himself the new identity of "boo 9."

hope this made any kind of sense at all @_@

[semi-imaginary-place]

signalis notes

all i know is lesbian robots.

i feel like i am missing 50% of the info. Like everything is unwell and im not sure the scenes are happening in chronological order. Like the spaceship crash scene seems later than this whole mining facility part. Like the photo changed

Why do i have to know 3 languages to play this game. oh it's actually made by germans. GERMAN anime lesbian robots. Something about goddesses 神女？and all the german i learned from biology is coming into play i can make out like 1/2 of the words probably.

even before this whole zombie cyborg disease thing this place was pretty dystopian like you get paid in rations and people usually die in interrogation. But haha the glorious nation.

Wait there was something about facial synthetic skin coming off didn't the happen to the player character in the intro cutscene. We're totally infected.

I'm a coward so im watching a streamer and chat keeps saying east germany and yeah i'm being converted. War against "evil" empire by totalitarian nation giving real soviets vs nazis vibe. Nothing works and everything is broken or in disrepair but if only we pour more blood into it it has to work because the glorious nation has said it must work.

Uggg assuming the penrose was before the mining facility. Why does alina know elster who just arrived. And other character say elster seems familiar. Where as i thought the implication of the intro was that both arianne and elster were in cryo for a loooong time long enough for everything to degrade and paper to fall apart. It the begining of the game in the hole is someone's room which looks well established and lived in, implying significant time has passed. If then spaceship was suppose to be exploring past the solar system how did it end up back in the solar system on leng.

The one (and only?) man pushes us down an elevator shaft and hey that's a lot of bodies. I could really analyze the narrative gender dynamics... Like the empress and revolutionary and ger daughter and all the soldiers. Everyone except the admin

Ehh I'm just going to read a plot summary horror survival games really just aren't for me. good ol soviet engineering designed to fail after a few years and kill the pilot. o7 laika. I still dont know what the connection is between alina and arianne. Ok everyone in this game has the same face and it's doesn't help that all the replikas have the same color pallette. Something's up with that gate.

I'm not convinced elster and ariane actually exist. Like what if this is alina's dream warping reality. She was sent to the scifi siberian gulags where she escapism dreams about exploring the universe with her girlfriend and weird red eye/the flesh makes it real in a monkey's paw way. Elster exists because alina remembers her friend and comrade and the gestalt was used for the lstr series. That would explain LSTR-S2301 who actually exists and elster is based off of (and is maybe overwriting). What if ariane's past is actually alina's. "After two years of service, Ariane applied to the Penrose Program, but AEON, in charge of her assignments, would give Ariane notice that she was to be stationed on the S-23 Sierpinski Facility, a remote re-education facility on her homeworld of Leng. Ariane did not desire this assignment, and somehow did end up joining the Nation's Penrose Program, the same one on the posters she had seen years prior." Like what if she actually was sent to sierpinski. Someone who cares more about the game should think about this. This would explain how elster and ariane ended up on leng, they were always there inside alina's head as her self insert ship ocs i'd say power fantasy daydream but really their lives are still pretty bad. And then as dream overwrites reality ariane overwrites alina maybe. This hypothesis would explain falks too alina wants someone out there who wants her and is coming for her. This is why the photo changes between the dream shuttle and the real mining camp. Which are then both made real by reality warping whatever. This is why the red eye is in the dancing ending because it's from it's power that this is made possible. This also explains isa who's already dead but keeps showing up to die again. Alina also maybe bombed the neural vault??

"A prison which the only escape is death. Deep below, the dreamer floats in the sea of flesh. The red eye birthing a new world from their dream for eternity and each time the dreamer turns over in their sleep, the world turns over too until only flesh remains." This would make a lot of sense if this is alina dreaming of a different life along with her lost companion. What I wonder about is with the repeated red eye motif if there's significance to all the replicas having a red light in their eyes and bioresonance is also represented with red facial dots. I'm connecting dots on the corkboard.

Also just wanted to say about the whole anna huang vs lilith itou debate. Game never said 2 brains couldn't be used to make a replika's neural imprint. idk.

Also of note is that all the gestalts have western or european (particularly germanic slavic english (which arguably is just bastardized germanic)) given names but east/se asian family names particularly chinese (mandarin and cantonese), korean, and japanese, but nguyen is vietnamese.

Elster 512 could also be the template other lstr models use for neural patterning. So 2301 could be awakening 512's memories in addition to the gestalt's. If this really is ariane overwriting reality though that would be supported by the corruption which at multiple points is described as cancerous or tumors. Who knows reality doesn't exist. Given the nature of reality warping it's quite possible multiple contradicting events/truths exist at the same time. Or maybe 512's memories have overwritten 2301 just like they started to do with falke. So is the elster we play as any more elster than falkeñ

I wonder if there is any escape or end for... well the whole situation, reality warping and madness and all. The bodies imply leave and memory both loop. And elster dies in the same position in memory and promise so even if thematically it makes sense for the fulfillment of the promise (which maybe helped drive all this) ends this all, there's so confirmation. And with artifact you probably empowered red eye more than bringing reality back to normal so congrats things might have gotten worse? Don't try satanic eldritch horror summoning rituals at home kids.

the robots are autistic they need their special interests and special item or they'll lose it

I am in full on conspiracy mode. Only half the facts but connecting many dots.

[just2bubbly]

They were all aware of the large number of people who hated Cinder. They hated her for being lunar. They hated her for being a cyborg. They hated her for marrying Kai

Kaider (comfort)

Hey, you are one of the lucky people that is getting their requests answered so quickly :) Tried to do your request justice, you can read similar type of writing in Sometimes Love Stays (hurt/hurt) and Love Hurts, Love Heals (hurt/comfort)

Masterlist

Marriages are Fragile

Ship: Kaider

Words: 1.6k

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Cinder's Perspective-

"Kai," she whispered, standing at the doorway of his dark office.

He didn't nod in response, there wasn't any way to tell whether he was lost in thought or perhaps surprisingly lost in slumber- the silhouette of his bent form, face dropped in the hollow of his long fingers was the only indication of his presence in the room.

She switched to the ambient setting of the room- not too bright but enough to cast light on Kai's wearied frame. She had felt it before she saw that one- Cinder could read Kai easily- not to misinterpret, Kai was a true diplomat at heart, nothing of his face or movement was spontaneous but in the company of his loved ones he had nothing to hide, he displayed every smile, every scowl.

She gave him time to adjust to her presence, taking a seat.

"All good?" She questioned, laying her hand on his lower back, drawing circles to ease the stress.

"Hmm, uhh- yea. All good." He said, trying to sound confident but failing at it, his words sounded rather sceptical to believe in.

"You know you can share your problems with me, right?"

"I know, Cinder. I'm not trying to hide them from you. I just can't bear to tell it to you." He explained, fingers finally leaving his face.

She noticed how his hair which had been all prim the last time she saw him, was now pointing in all directions- he must have pulled at them often for such a result. Eyes half closed, and gaze losing focus every second.

"I'd hear out all you have to say, no arguments from my side promise- just someone to rest on," she suggested, Torin had mentioned Kai's distress in recent weeks. He continued to work longer hours in his cubicle, skipping meals unless it was brought to him- Cinder had an inkling of what this was all over, however, she truly wished that he wasn't stressing over it.

"It's all right, love. We have better things to talk about, did you have your dinner?" He asked, very well trying to divert the topic.

"Not yet, I was thinking of having it with you."

"What are we waiting for, let's go then."

"Yes," she agreed, however, none of them bothered to get up. She continued to draw circles on his back and he kept on staring into oblivion, both lost in respective thoughts.

"Your chamber looks so different under the moonlight. It looks divine, like fairy lights cast in a room," she noted, trying to keep a conversation flowing.

He glanced at the ceiling and admitted, "It does look better this way."

The room looked poetic this way, not a place where laws got made, and treaties decided, a brooding four-walled room of significance - The Office of The Emperor. In this light, it seemed more appealing to work here than it was.

"So?" She prompted again.

He hummed in response, "I know what you are asking but let's not do this."

"I'm concerned about what got you in this state," Cinder pointed, trying to coerce him into speaking.

"Noth-" he appeared to keep on denying, Cinder knew then that he wouldn't be giving in tonight but surprisingly Kai continued, "Just us."

"That should be the least of your worries," she murmured, tugging his side, her hand circling his waist.

"It's just not that easy, Cinder," he revealed his lips lingering over her ear.

She sighed, already not liking whatever Kai had to say.  

"We can have dinner and sleep on our problems and talk about it tomorrow?" She suggested, all along she had been the one trying to coerce him into speaking but now that he brought it up, Cinder didn't want to discuss it. It was about her or like Kai had mentioned, us and there wasn't much to discuss over how much the people hated her and how they loathed Kai for marrying a Lunar, a Cyborg.

With the Lija Merin crime on trial, the bigotry against Lunar was becoming very vocalised- their glamour which hadn't been questioned for a long time, was back to the debates of Earthens. Cinder, being the Lunar with the highest power in the country was likely to be more criticised than others, with gruesome allegations being thrown at her every hour of the day and the credibility of The Commonwealth challenged, the two rulers were quite worked up.

"Perhaps," he agreed, "We should eat dinner."

His words stopped the chain of thoughts that Cinder had been trying not to think about for days. Even with the suggestion hanging in the air, they continued to stay in their seats. His hands had covered hers entirely, the cold metal against his warm hands imitated a sense of comfort.

His shallow breaths could have been a sign of sleep, not something Cinder would ever complain about. She would be happy to fall asleep on the couch not too uncomfortable if she had his company for the night.

"I don't want things to go amiss, I don't want to be stupid and let this go," he voiced, soon after Cinder had been nearly overcome with sleep. His words took a lot longer to register in her half-awake form.

"That won't be happening, Kai," she slurred, "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

That exclamation made Kai smile, which was a sign for her to continue, "Besides the hate is just part of our period- when the trial is over, everyone will forget about their prejudices and move on. We endure it for as long as something new comes by that takes attention off us." She reasoned.

He smiled at her, this one sadder than the previous one, his fingers gently tousled through her hair. The soft pressure of his fingertips against her scalp pulled her back into a state of slumber.

"That feels so good," she moaned, her head lying in the crook of his neck.

"Mum used to do it when I failed to sleep," he mentioned a long pause following his words, the silence luring Cinder further.  

"You know, after she was gone," he said in a tearful voice, Cinder hummed in reflex, "-everyone wanted Dad to get married again. To have a child, a spare if I died prematurely," he tried joking only to choke on his words. Cinder who was now wide awake, threw her limbs over his and enveloped him as he continued to speak. Kai always became sensitive when talking about his parents.

"I was a skinny kid who always worried the Triantas if I would survive the plague or any potential attack. That was why they always kept me under the observation of security, Dad got excessively criticised for not remarrying and now it seems like it's my turn to face the same criticism for not marrying someone that people will love," he expressed.

"Oh Kai, how long have you been thinking this?" she asked, her brows furrowing in concern, Kai shrugged, mumbling a deaf answer.

"You cannot just keep it all in yourself- and your Dad didn't want to have a spare, cause he loved you and your Mom. He believed in you. We got married because we loved each other, just like your parents. People will criticise me for being Lunar and Cyborg because there isn't anything else to talk about. It's all just gossip and if we look at it like that then there is nothing to worry about. One law in their favour and they would start singing your praises- you allow yourself to be easily influenced, Kai," she said, pressing a light kiss on his forehead before hugging him tightly.

His hands soon found their place at her waist, squeezing her torso with so much strength, it felt like choking. She could feel the wet drops falling on her skin, as he sniffed 'I love you' and she whispered it back in the crook of his neck, peppering kisses along.

They stay there for a long time, Kai taking his time to calm down and match his breathing patterns with her. Cinder doesn't mind, hugging Kai is similar to sleeping in his arms vertically, but when her stomach growls, both can't hold back the wet laugh that erupts.  

He loosens his hold on her, drawing back slightly to look into her eyes, "Thank you," he murmurs, head nuzzling against hers. She lets him have his moment before saying, "I'm really starving, Kai."

"Oh, yes- can't have my wife passing to hunger while I have a moment," he laughs, pecking her on his cheek.

"I think your moment was too prolonged, love. Next time cut it short," she quipped.

"Noting it down as we go, Your Majesty."

She laughed at his antics, happier to see him like this, "Do you want to eat alone tonight? Maybe with a movie?"

"Love the idea, but you're too tired to survive through a movie. Let's eat in the 'room," he replied, helping her wear the shoes she had discarded sometime while comforting him.

"Works, I will arrange for something. You clean up those files and come soon, ok." She agreed, pointing to the pile of paperwork he had scattered across the table.

He nods, walking to the desk to make most of the work he had left undone, Cinder smoothens her dress before leaving, the light falling on her shoulder gives a glowing sense.

"Only yours," he says, aloud, confusing her, "What?"

"I let only gossip about you influence me," he explains.

Cinder beams, "I know, it makes me love you more." The door clicks after her, leaving Kai behind thanking his stars for marrying Cinder, against the Commonwealth's better judgement.

__

A/N: It get's a little disheartening to post oneshots with no interaction, so please do comment and reblog! <3

tagging: @gingerale2017 @fangirlforever0704 @salt-warrior @slmkaider @cinderswrench @cindersassasin @therealkaidertrash211