#I want that he has a bloody sinister justice

[wispythreads]

Fallout Series Positives:

Pretty faithful to the look and feel of Fallout, whether we're going BIG with technology and creatures, or small with food and tools

First episode an absolutely stellar introduction, got me hooked to the plot, got me invested in the characters, absolutely trashed my emotions and made me cry twice, first at the very beginning then again more towards the end

That Fallout branded mix of goofy, corny humor and absolutely sobering scenes of either how terrifying or deeply sad the world is

Action Sequences that either feel completely accurate to the standard game or like someone has Bloody Mess active.

Our main Vault Dweller is exactly how I felt first experiencing these games and it has been lovely watching her progression from sheltered/slightly off socialization to adapting to the surface while still maintaining the root of her core values

The Ghoul is a terrifying badass that is very entertaining to watch and whose experience with the world feels on par with how I approach the games now

Maximus clearly is on the road to being disillusioned with the Brotherhood and slowly becoming a better person, it is taking him time and effort and the journey is not yet over

Not sure if this would be a positive for everyone but watching the Knight go from intimidating figure to "I'm bored and want to shoot something." "*Sees creepy cave that clearly has something dangerous AND something they need in it* Fuck." "(uses companion as convenient meat shield/danger scout)" "*Is in fucking power armor but as soon as he is faced with something terrifying in nature and it is not going his way:* (running) fuck fuck fuck fuck" as much as he was an asshole it was hilarious seeing a representation of a True GamerTM experience.

I missed the more rotten ghouls of earlier games and so was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of other ghouls that followed their design rules more than 4's raisin ghouls. Robert and Martha were devastating.

Some pretty good Vault horror honestly

A character's actions that were kind a messed up in a way that was clearly framed as comedic has SHARPLY turned sinister due to stuff that gets revealed at the very end and makes me very excited to see what more of their deal is the next time we see them.

Fallout Series ehhhs... (Will be containing spoilers):

Personal ehhhs:

Putting this ehhhh at the top because it's a very personal one that might be shared or might be different for other people, but a lot of the sexual things that cropped up (and for the most part seemed like they were meant to humorous? To get a laugh?) just really weren't doing it for me at best and making me deeply uncomfortable at worst. Would love a version with them cut. It does feel in line with a small part of Fallout 2's humor though so again mainly a personal ehhhh rather than disparaging the show for it.

This one might just be because I'm asexual but the romance between Maximus and Lucy feels forced? Allosexuals please advise, is it normal for infatuation to strike that fast and hold weight for so long after? I don't mind the two together, looking at their individual characters I do think that it could work, its just it feels off when the story is very clear about the intention that these two will end up together immediately upon them meeting. Again, I don't hate romance subplots in theory, it's just, in general, when they show up like this where it feels like it was tacked on in order to check a box, rather than fully explored into how that would develop, that kind of just bothers me.

As a small branch to that last one, if it is forced than it feels kind of bad that a lot of the positive developments of Maximus's character seem to only occur because of his crush on Lucy. Him wanting to help Lucy because he earnestly does want to follow the one value of the Brotherhood he's internalized, being a pillar of Justice for the wasteland, and her being a Vault Dweller following the Golden Rule clearly paints her as an innocent needing assistance and justice, well, that's all well and good, but her being able to influence his decisions because he doesn't want her to think bad of him in a romantic sense, if I'm reading that right... don't like it. Not to say that his character growth completely involves Lucy! His disillusionment with the Brotherhood happens without her, and he has positive growth with Thaddeus as well, it just seems like its easier for him to take steps back from his personal growth when she's not in the picture.

Production ehhhs:

some of the scenes had backgrounds that looked a little bit too much like they were taken straight from the game, with the actors in the foreground kind of visibly sticking out from them. I'm not sure if this is because they were using green screens for certain shots or what other explanation there might be for it. If it is green screens though... Amazon you cannot pull the wool over my eyes and claim that you did not have the funds to build actual sets for this tv show.

The initial introduction for CX404 was absolutely great and I was excited with how some frames seemed to emphasize her own perspective of what was going on around her and this one man that's cared for her since she was a pup, but any shots involving her after seem kind of weird with how they're cut and the perspective shots seemed to get dropped. Maybe I'm just spoiled with how well the shots were done with Jed in the Thing, and the perspective thing being dropped is really just a personal disappointment than anything wrong with the show, but, it's my blog so I'm gonna admit I'm disappointed that potential wasn't explored.

This one is kind of a true "ehhh," it's really all I can think to describe this thought when I remember John Boyega's role as Finn and watch this film. It feels off that, in this 3 protagonist cast, Aaron Moten and John Boyega both are in the role of a character whose background is coming from a deeply oppressive regime he's been brainwashed by since he was a child, and whose main soldiers are unilaterally recognized by the masked armor they wear. I do really like the archetypes they chose for the 3 protagonist cast! Pure of Heart Vault Dweller/Indoctrinated Brotherhood Scribe/Disillusioned Pre-War Ghoul, just... Thinking on the fact Aaron got the brotherhood role. Maybe this was done purposefully for a positive reason, but right now fresh off the show without digging into director/cast interviews that maybe explore this specifically it just. ehhh.

As much as I loved the horror set up for Vault 33 the span of time that goes between Norm and Chet discovering that and the next bit of investigation Norm does on the subject is. Incredibly long??? Brother clearly seems very resourceful and good at finding information, but with how the episodes are cut and framed it feels like a great amount of time goes by before he next tries to dig up anything on what happened to 33/why they were trying to get into Vault 31. I don't know man maybe this is because it's easier to do in a video game but I feel like if I found a bunch of corpses that wrote with their own blood how a discovered deception drove them to madness and were frozen in various states of doing whatever they conceivably could to break into a neighboring vault because of said discovery I think I would. Not sleep until I figured out just what was going on???

Lore ehhhs:

Same problem that usually occurs when Bethesda is at the seat of Worldbuilding. Philly might've fit ok in the West Coast back in Fallout 1 and 2 but it feels weird seeing a settlement like this 100 years in the future. 100 years ago for us was 1924, to kind of help put it into perspective. Having this all handwaved and explained as: "Well of course everyone's acting as if no progress was made since 100 years ago! Nukes were dropped on the NCR/Shady Sands and set them back to square one just recently!" Really isn't... good enough for me.

I've been away from the lore for a while so a lot of what I remember is vague rather than detailed, but I am getting the impression that Bethesda is making a bunch of tweaks to the history that was already set up by previous games and. I mean just honestly speaking I really don't trust their interpretations (to put it generously) of Fallout 1, 2, and even New Vegas's established lore. (EDIT: Oh no yeah I was definitely right they've straight up changed a lot and where they haven't made changes per say they have made choices for this present space of time that makes events in the first games kind of impossible)

The vials the Ghoul is reliant on. I've been generous with interpreting them as something that was recently invented, and used by ghouls who, at varying lengths of age, start showing signs of going feral. If the way the show seems to be framing them is true, that they are instead supposed to be things that have always existed and quietly used by ghouls to prevent every single one of them from going feral in the background of the games, then. No that is awful try again Bethesda. You cannot get me onboard with something like that, especially when it would've presented a really interesting quest opportunity AGES ago if true.

Character/Story ehhhs:

The amount of times something absolutely horrible happened that could've been prevented by something as simple as a character speaking up instead of just being set dropping is. Not small and pretty annoying. Miscommunication is pretty bad too. It's like watching a shitty romcom that knows the only way the scene will progress the way they want is if miscommunication happens but don't take the time to have that miscommunication occur in a believable way.

There is something very disjointed with our look at Cooper in the first episode vs. where he's ended up. The last shot we have of him is riding with his daughter as the bombs dropped, presumably trying in vain to put distance between them and the bombs/find shelter. His wife/her mother seems out of the picture at this point in time. But the Ghoul asks Lucy's dad where his family is, indicating that at some point between the bombs dropping his daughter ended up with his wife and he was separated from both of them. The only thing I can think of is that he somehow made it to his wife even though they were incredibly far from where ever she could possibly be with the Fallout quickly encroaching at their heels, and she took the daughter in a way that somehow kept Cooper from following/knowing their end destination and left him to succumb to the said encroaching Fallout. But, again, thinking about that very last shot of Cooper in the first episode, that feels really contrived and kind of implausible? If not impossible. Maybe they'll pull off an explanation that has me feeling less grumpy about it, though, who knows.

So okay hang on a minute. The overseer (look I forgot his name I'm sorry) was upset that his wife left the vault and took their two kids with her. The only possible way he could've thought to get his kids back was to nuke Shady Sands??? And he somehow had access to resources that would allow him to do that??? When he's been in the Vault and either entirely was frozen until recently or has periodically been put into and taken out of the freezer for 200 years??? The kids survived that/are not noticeably harmed by this experience???? The Brotherhood are somehow involved??? (I mean I can't think of any other reason why a knight was present as Little!Maximus stepped out and witnessed the devastation around him, they mostly stay in hiding on the West Coast by this point and for all they're so-called values they really aren't ever inclined to help out people in desperate need of it, so whatever they were doing it wasn't anything "good". Unless Bethesda is thinking of tweaking this aspect of their history as well which. It's not impossible unfortunately, considering they keep doing that/have already made changes in the show so far)

Don't get me started on Moldaver. I'm really disappointed we did not end this season with some kind of conversation between her and the Ghoul that would've given us any actual concrete information about her specifically that we weren't already shown by flashbacks and side characters talking about her. She is alive and looks exactly as she did 200 years ago. She doesn't appear to be a ghoul, as one from 200 years ago is obvious in appearance, it doesn't seem right that she would've been in cryostasis until recently, as she was clearly around when Lucy was a small child with barely developing memories and she, again, still looks EXACTLY the way she did before the bombs dropped. No explanation is given for this. I have a theory that she might be some kind of Phoenix-style new mutant that comes back to life no matter how many times she dies and so might not actually be dead, but that's relying a little (VERY) heavily on her Flame Mother epithet and again me being baffled that they killed the season antagonist when she seemed incredibly important to multiple characters and there's still so much mystery surrounding her. If I'm right that cryostasis is not the explanation for her still being alive and she's just been in the wasteland for 200 years, why has she only coordinated an attempt to get her research back now? How did she convince an Enclave Scientist of all people (granted, one who clearly has a soft spot) to get that research for her AND have it transported instead of kept for the Enclave? Why wait to go after the overseer at least a decade after the bombing and the murder of Rose? Why rely on raider help when she seems to be such a huge deal that she could've relied on better armed/more intelligent help? Why massacre a bunch of innocent people people who weren't in anyway involved with what happened to Shady Sands? Why not just wait until the cover of darkness, the newly wedded wife and all the other vault residents deeply sleeping, and whisk the overseer away then? Why put the two children that Rose clearly cared deeply for at risk? The raid of 32 was our kicker into this series, was incredibly interesting and investing, but now it just. Doesn't make any sense since we've learned who Moldaver actually is.

The reveal of the Vault 31-32-33 experiment and what was in Vault 31 was. Ok. Kind of deflating, honestly, considering how much was built up around it in Vault 33. Not to say that the experiment isn't still completely fucked up but. I don't know it doesn't seem as bad as to result in that kind of reaction that happened in 33. Maybe there is more to discover, though.

Actually no wait hold on. How did the raid in 32 even happen??? Bud is overseeing everything that happens in each vault, and the overseer (and possible any other originally vault 31 residents) of 33 had been dead for a long, LONG while before the raiders showed up. Bud didn't notice Vault 33 died?? If he did, this information wasn't passed on to the overseer of 32?? There was no suspicion on either Bud or the overseer's side that 33 has been quiet for so, again, VERY long, and no one investigated?? Bud didn't clock that the door had been opened by Rose, who was dead for at least a decade by this point?? The overseer wasn't suspicious AT ALL that he didn't recognize any of these supposed Vault 33 residents, especially considering the long silence beforehand??? This is an incredibly huge failure of management hoo boy. (The one, again, very generous interpretation I could give this is that the overseer did recognize Moldaver and her name, but only vaguely, fuzzily, which he chocked up as him not paying attention well enough to remember someone who must've been skilled enough in management to be made overseer. That doesn't explain the raiders with her. That doesn't explain the fact that somehow someone he knows is not from Vault 31 was made overseer when the last 33 overseer perished. Like we see that there were backup 31 vault dweller's hanging around 32, why wouldn't the same be true for 33 based off everything we've learned so far???)

[neuxue]

Today on “Nirvana In Fire is determined to destroy me”:

Xiao Jingyan: 我既不想郡主这等忠良之辈被朝中奸佞构陷，也不想先生你把他们铺做我进阶的路石。[...] 郡主并非朝中那些沉溺于权欲争斗之流。是她在沙场上浴血厮杀，才保住你们在这紫华帝都钩心斗角。在今后我于你的合作当中，我不允许你把这样的人当成棋子，随意摆弄，随意牺牲。 // “I do not want those like [Nihuang] who are loyal and true to be caught in the traps of these scheming courtiers, but nor do I want you to use them as stones to pave my way. [...] She is not like those indulgent courtiers contending for power. Her efforts on the battlefield are all that protect this imperial capital for your petty intrigues. In our collaboration from now on, I will not permit you to use those like her as chesspieces, to manipulate and sacrifice as you will.”

Which, okay, add this to the rapidly-growing list of ‘things Xiao Jingyan says that are going to haunt him later when he realises who he was saying them to’, but it doesn’t end there...

Xiao Jingyan: 我答应与你合作，你认我为你的主君，那么，你就必须要明白我的底线。// “I have agreed to work with you, and you have acknowledged me as your lord, so you need to understand where I draw the line.” Mei Changsu: 殿下的底线是什么？// “Where does Your Highness draw the line?” Xiao Jingyan: 我曾见识过许多的谋士，见识过他们所做的，最阴险、最无耻的事情。这些人所射出来的冷箭，甚至连最强的人都不能抵御。我的兄长、我最好的朋友...... 他们全都死于这样的阴谋。我绝不能让他们看见我也变成一个像那样不择手段的人。// “I have seen many strategists, seen what they do — the most sinister, most disgraceful things. Not even the strongest can withstand their knives in the dark. My elder brother, my greatest friend... they both fell to such schemes. I cannot — cannot — let them see me become that kind of ruthless, unscrupulous person.” Mei Changsu: 殿下放心。你绝不会成为这样的人。// “Your  Highness, do not worry. You would never become such a person.”

What Mei Changsu does not say: You will not become such a person... because I will do so in your stead.

Lin Shu has become Mei Changsu, the enigmatic strategist, the sort of person Xiao Jingyan claims most to dislike. Has become Mei Changsu, who promises out of Xiao Jingyan’s hearing to take on all the dark and bloody deeds that need doing, to spare Xiao Jingyan’s hands from being stained. Mei Changsu, who presents an inscrutable pragmatist’s face to the one who once called him — still calls him, not knowing to whom he speaks — his greatest friend. Xiao Jingyan, out of respect for the memory of his brother and his friend, cannot become such a person — and so Mei Changsu will.

And so Mei Changsu has become precisely the sort of strategist Xiao Jingyan cannot allow himself to become: someone like those who betrayed him, in order to gain justice or at least closure for that betrayal.

I’m weeping.

[lilfriezatyrant]

Well...Toriyama. It is now ‘Black Frieza’.

Let me show you what words our sophisticated emperor would use to describe himself:

tenebrous Frieza

apocalyptical Frieza

caliginous Frieza

abysmal Frieza

calamitous Frieza

disastrous Frieza

cataclysmic Frieza

saturnine Frieza

[waitimcomingtoo]

I Think He Knows

Pairing: Peter Parker x venom!Reader

Synopsis: Peter suspects you’re keeping the same secret as he is and makes a fool out of himself trying to get you to admit it

Masterlist

“Since this is a current events course, it’s only fitting we cover the current events.” Your professor said. “Who has an opinion on Venom?”

A plethora of hands shot up, all eager to share their varying opinions on the matter. The first person to be called on did not hold Venom in their favor.

“I think it needs to be captured and sent back to where it came from.” A boy in the back of the classroom answered. “I don’t feel safe with that thing on the streets.”

“Me either.” A few students chimed in.

“Well, so far Venom has only killed people with serious criminal records.” You spoke up. “People who slipped through the cracks of the justice system. Like her last victim, Dr. Noah Boddy. He was a known sex offender but but he only got 6 months of jail time. And he only served three because of “good behavior” or some bullshit. He would’ve hurt more people had Venom not killed him. So if you’re not hiding some sinister criminal record, you don’t really have a reason to feel unsafe.”

Peter looked over at you and gave you an impressed smile. He agreed with you, but he didn’t have the courage to make his voice heard.

“But it’s killing people.” The boy argued back. “That’s a crime.”

“Crime in Queens has actually gone down since Venom was first seen.” You corrected. “Some people reported that they feel safer knowing Venom is out there.”

“All right.” The professor closed the discussion before it got out of hand. “That’s enough for today. Good job, everyone.”

“H-Hey.” Peter approached you after class. “I just wanted to tell you that I agree with everything you said back there.”

“Oh, thanks.” You smiled in surprise. “I don’t know. I just think the stigma around Venom is unfair. She isn’t the monster people say she is.”

“She?” Peter wondered.

“Yeah, uh,” you looked to the side. “I’m just guessing. Women kill people differently. They’re more likely to use poison whereas a man would use a gun. Less messy, you know? Venom isn’t known to leave a bloody crime scene. She never leaves a trace, actually.”

“I’m Peter.” He blurted.

“I know.” You chuckled. “I’ve known you for years. Plus, all your books are labeled.”

Peter blushed as you brushed your finger against his name written in sharpie on the edge of the textbook in his hands.

“Right.” He smiled shyly. “I forgot. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, actually . I’m just…awkward.”

“You’ve been meaning to talk to me?” You perked up.

“Yeah, um.” Peter blushed again. “I have. I just think that you’re really cool and I was wondering if-“

“Heads up!”

Before Peter could react to the words he heard, you lifted your arm and caught a football that had been thrown in your direction. Peter looked at the football in your hand before seeing the bashful looking boy down the hall wearing a football jersey.

“Sorry!” The boy called.

“How did you-“

“Quick reflexes.” You cut Peter off and dropped the ball. Peter furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the ball on the ground. Had you not caught it, it would’ve hit him right in the head and knocked him into the lockers. But somehow, you caught the ball without ever looking at it.

“I gotta go.” You said when you noticed how bewildered Peter looked. “See you tomorrow?”

Peter weakly waved goodbye to you as the wheels in his brain. He thought about your impossible catch as he walked to his next class to meet up with Ned.

“I think something is going on with Y/n.” Peter said as he sat next to his friend.

“Why?” Ned wondered.

“She just said that she had quick reflexes.” Peter recalled. “After catching something that she didn’t see being thrown at us.”

“Oh my God.” Ned realized. “That’s one of your bullshit excuses!”

“Exactly!” Peter exclaimed. “I never realized how ridiculous it sounded until it was said to me.”

“So what do you think her deal is?”

“I don’t know. It could be anything.” Peter thought. “Her reflexes were as quick as mine. Maybe she was also bitten by a radioactive spider.”

“Probably not.” Ned disagreed. “How many of those do you think are running around?”

“There were loads of them when I was bitten.” Peter shrugged. “Maybe she was there too.”

“Do you think she knows your secret?” Ned whispered.

“Maybe. Whatever her deal is, I’m gonna find out.” Peter decided.

The next day, Peter took his usual seat next to you in class. You shared a smile before returning to the typical silence. Peter heard a yawn from you, and started his interrogation.

“Tired?” Peter asked pointedly.

“Yeah.” You yawned again. “I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Me either.” Peter shrugged. “I was out super late.”

“Me too.”

“Oh, really?” Peter raised his eyebrow. “What were you doing?”

“I had….work.” You looked to the side as you lied to Peter about what you had been doing the night before.

“Me too. Where do you work?” Peter asked. He had asked too many questions as this point and you had caught on.

“Where do you?” You narrowed your eyes at him.

“I asked you first.” Peter said quickly.

“Does it matter who asked the question first?” You tilted your head.

“Why won’t you answer?” Peter leaned in closer. Your eyes flicked to the teacher before you looked back at your notebook.

“Stop talking to me. We’re about to get yelled at.” You whispered.

“No we’re n-“

“Peter, Y/n.” The professor called. “Is there something you’d like to share with the rest of the class?”

“No.” Peter shook his head. “Sorry.”

The professor nodded and went back to the lesson as you noted down some notes. Peter looked between you and the board skeptically with a confused face.

“How’d you know that?” He whispered. “How did you know we were gonna get yelled at?”

“We’re students talking a during a lesson.” You pointed out. “I took a guess.”

Peter continued to stare at you, knowing your excuse was just another lie. It seemed to him like you had heightened senses, just like he did.

“What, you don’t believe me?” You said when you noticed his staring. “I’m not a mind reader. I just felt her looking at us.”

“Sounds like something a mind reader would say.” Peter mumbled before going back to his work.

Later that day, Peter went out on patrol as usual. He found a dumpster and shed his clothes and backpack before swinging away. Once the sun had set, he returned to the dumpster to grab his things. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Venom looming over his clothes, digging through them with a long, sharp claw.

“Woah. H-hi, Mr. Venom sir.” Peter stammered. “W-what are you doing?”

“We found this backpack and this pile of clothes. We think something happened to the tiny child they belong to.” Venom said as she held up Peter’s backpack.

“Oh. Well, those are definitely adult clothes.” Peter deepened his voice. “Of an adult man.”

“You think so? They’re so small.” Venom said as she held up Peter’s T shirt.

“Well, maybe you’re just really big. They look like they would fit a man of average height who enjoys a good science pun.” Peter nodded. “I’m guessing.”

“All his stuff is here. He could’ve been taken from this alley.” Venom sounded worried. “If we sniff his clothes, we can track his scent and find him.”

“Don’t do that!” Peter exclaimed. “I mean, what’s the use? I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just left his backpack here on accident.”

“After he took off all his clothes?” Venom asked.

“Not all of his clothes. I don’t see any boxers there.” Peter chuckled awkwardly.

“We should find who this belongs to and make sure he’s not in trouble.” Venom decided as she began to rummage through Peter’s bag.

“Yeah, yeah.” Peter nodded. “Or just leave it there. I mean, we have no idea who that belongs to-“

“Peter Parker.” Venom read off the side of Peter’s text book.

“Oh. Wow.” Peter cursed himself for labeling his books. “But still, maybe he left it there on purpose. Or maybe he was throwing it out.”

“Maybe. We would still like to make sure he’s safe.” Venom said. “We’ll look for Peter Parker tomorrow.”

The next morning, you sat in your usual seat for first period and impatiently bounced your leg until Peter walked through the door. You waved him over and patted the seas beside you. Peter looked delighted and confused at the same time as he sat in the seat closest to you.

“Hey.” You smiled in relief. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?” Peter wondered.

“Just making sure.” You shrugged. You tried to go back to writing your notes, but you were still confused as to why you had found Peter’s clothes in that alley.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You asked after a minute.

“Do I not look okay?” He frowned.

“No. You look great. I mean, you know, you look really nice.” You stammered. “I mean, your sweater is nice. That’s um, that’s a nice color on you. You look, um, pretty.”

You hide your face behind your hand as you cursed yourself out for not being able to talk to Peter like a normal human being. Peter opened his mouth in surprise, not used to being the one to fluster people since he was always flustered.

“You look pretty too.” He said softly. You stopped hiding your face and gave him an embarrassed smile.

“Thanks.” You told him. “Are you, um, are you working tonight?”

“I work every night.” Peter told you.

“So do I.”

“Oh.” Peter pretended to be surprised. “Closing shift?”

“Yeah.” You said slowly. “You could say that.”

“Interesting, interesting.” Peter tapped his chin. “Can I ask you something random?”

“Yeah.” You perked up. “Sure.”

“Have you ever been bitten by a spider?”

Your face fell when Peter did not ask you the question you were hoping he’d ask.

“What?”

“You know.” Peter tried to find the words. “Like, has a glowing green spider ever bitten you on the hand? And thus, knocked you unconscious for a few hours until you woke up on your bedroom floor, sweating bullets and a little bit slimy?”

“Peter…what?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”

You gave him a strange look before going back to your work. He was sure you were like him after telling him you worked every night, he just needed more proof. He waited a few more seconds before leaning over your shoulder.

“Have you ever been hit with gamma rays?” He whispered in your ear.

“What?” You jumped away from him. “No.”

“Me either.” He nodded. “What about injected with a serum that makes your super strong and takes away your asthma but results in your best friend losing his arm?”

“What are you even talking about?” You whispered harshly. “I’ve never had asthma.”

“Wouldn’t you know it. Me either.” He smiled a little too wide. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

You looked at him in exasperation before going back to your notes. Peter drummed his finger against his desk as he thought of some other way to get the truth out of you. He checked to make sure the teacher wasn’t watching before leaning over again.

“Have you ever been hit with the full force of an infinity stone?” He whispered directly into your ear. “Follow up question, have you or do you currently practice chaos magic?”

“Do I what?” You asked. “Magic? Whats an infinity stone?”

“Or an energy core.” He continued. “Have you ever been hit with one of those? My friend Carol-“

“Peter and Y/n, do I need it separate you?” Your professor asked.

“No.” You and Peter said in unison. Peter waited until the coast was clear again before moving in on you.

“Are you Russian and a ballerina and-“

“Peter!” You hissed as you whipped your head to the side. He was closer than you thought he was, so your faces bumped together. You both pulled away in embarrassment before you took a second look at Peter.

“Look at me.” You said and tapped Peter’s arm. Peter looked at you and held his breath as you leaned in a little.

“You don’t wear contacts?” You said after examining him.

“No.” He looked at you strangely.

“But you used to wear glasses.” You reminded him. Peter’s eyes widened when he realized unlike most people, his corrected vision came from a radioactive spider.

“Oh.” He pretended to remember. “Yeah, I do wear contacts. I forgot.”

“But I don’t see them in your eyes.” You pointed out. “Thats why I asked. You can usually see the edges of someone’s contacts.”

“Oops. Silly me. I forgot again.” He tapped his head. “I actually got lasik eye surgery. So I don’t need contacts.”

“Oh.” You didn’t seem to believe him. “Weird thing to forget.”

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “I’m a weirdo.”

“Yeah.” You faked a smile. “I can see that.”

“So can I.” He joked, and you both fell silent.

“Because of my lasik.” He followed up.

“No, I got it.’ You laughed a little. Peter laughed as well, surprisingly okay with how the conversation had gone. He didn’t get the truth out of you, but he still got to talk to you more than he ever had. You both went back to doing your work until Peter had another question to ask you.

“Hey, here’s a random question I just thought of.” He lied. “Have you ever been trapped in a cave and your only way out was to build an iron suit comprised entirely of scrap metal that you found?”

“What the hell are you- Ouch!” You dropped the page you had been turning and looked at your finger in pain.

“Are you okay?” Peter immediately took your hand to get a better look.

“I’m fine. It’s just a paper cut.” You said softly, fully focused on how Peter was touching your hand.

“Does it hurt?” He asked as he looked up at you. You sucked in a breath, flustered from the physical contact.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” He nodded and let go of your hand. “Sorry for all the questions.”

“Are you sorry?” You raised an eyebrow at him as you dropped your hand to your side. You felt your cut heal instantly and kept your hand beneath the desk.

“No.” He laughed a little. “Do you know how to use a bow and arrow?”

~

Since Peter didn’t get a lot of information out of you, he jumped right back on his plan the next day. This time, he had a different approach. Instead of asking you a million questions, he stared at you every time he saw you. He got Ned to do the same thing to really drive the message home. Whenever you would make eye contact with them, they would tap the side of their head. Peter wanted to let you know that he knew your secret, and this was the only way he knew how to do that. When that plan didn’t work out, he found you after class to talk to you.

“Hey.” Peter said as he caught up with you.

“Oh, you’re talking to me, now?” You asked sarcastically. “I thought you were just gonna stare at me all day.”

“Sorry about that.” He grimaced. “Is your finger okay?”

“My finger?”

“From the paper cut.”

“Oh, yeah.” You remembered. “It’s fine.”

Peter took your hand to look for the cut and just as he suspected, it was gone.

“Wow. It’s practically healed.” He looked at you knowingly.

“Yeah.” You yanked your hand away. “It was just a small cut. They heal pretty quickly.”

“I know, but it’s only been a day. Look at it.” He pointed to your hand. “It’s not even there anymore. Completely healed.”

“It’s not completely healed.” You lied. “How could I heal that fast, Peter? That would be impossible.”

“Maybe not.” Peter winked at you.

“Oh?” You raised an amused eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You could heal really fast if you were…special.” He narrowed his eyes at you.

“Special?” You laughed at his choice of wording.

“You know what I’m talking about.” He leaned in to whisper.

“No, Peter. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You stated. “I never know what you’re talking about. Whats with all the questions?”

“I’ve asked you like, two questions.” Peter rolled his eyes. “By the way, have you ever in your life climbed up the side of a building using only your fingertips?”

“The fuck?” You looked around. “Have you?”

“That’s classified.” Peter said quickly.

“Then my answer is classified too.” You replied.

“Psh. You just stole that from me.” Peter scoffed. “Can you shoot webs?”

“No.” You said loudly. “I can’t shoot anything.”

“Do you lay eggs?” Ned popped up behind Peter.

“Where did you come from?” You exclaimed.

“She didn’t say no.” Ned whispered loudly in Peter’s ear.

“Well I didn’t say yes either. Now, can you two please leave me alone? You’re both insane.” You groaned before walking away.

After his last class, Peter spotted you on your walk back to your dorm and ran to catch up with you.

“Wait up!” He called after you, making you stop.

“Oh. You again.” You frowned. “Are you gonna interrogate me again?”

“No. I don’t need to.” Peter smirked and tapped the side of his head. “I know everything.”

“I don’t know what you think you know, but you don’t know anything.” You shrugged and kept walking.

“I never said I did.” Peter retorted.

“That’s literally exactly what you just said.” You looked at him in confusion. “You and Ned have been asking me insane questions all week. But don’t hold your breath, because you’re not gonna find anything.”

“Is there something to find?” He took a step closer to you and gave you a knowing look.

“You’ll never know.” You leaned in and got in his face. Peter’s eyes fell to you lips, and you noticed. You cleared your throat and backed up a little, the close proximity getting too intimate for you.

“You can tell me, you know.” He said after a beat of silence. “We’re more alike than you think.”

“You and I are not alike.” You grumbled and kept walking.

“Wanna bet?” He asked as he jogged to catch up with you.

“No. I don’t.”

“I’m onto you.” He said as he took a step in front of you.

“Well, Peter, I’m onto you.” You retorted. “How about that?”

You went around him and continued walking, but Peter followed again.

“You heal super fast. I never see you eat or drink.” Peter began. “You’re out late every night at some job you can’t name. You always wear black. You’re super strong. You have insane reflex’s. And you always smell like lavender.”

“That’s just my perfume.”

“Still.” Peter dismissed. “I know you’re hiding something.”

“How do you know?” You narrowed your eyes at him.

“Because I’m also hiding something.” He admitted. “And I’m going to tell you since I know you’re like me. This may be completely shocking but I promise, I’m telling the truth. I’m-“

“Spiderman.” You finished his sentence for him like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“W-What?” Peter stammered.

“You’re Spiderman.” You said simply. “That’s what you’re hiding.”

“Pfft.” He scoffed. “Lucky guess.”

“I wasn’t guessing. You make it super obvious.” You chuckled a little.

“What?” He squeaked. “No I don’t.”

“You yourself told me you were bitten by a radioactive spider.” You reminded him.

“No I didn’t. I asked you if you had been bitten by a radioactive spider.”

“Yeah. Because that’s what happened to you and you thought it had happened to me too.”

“How do you know it happened to me?” He put his hands on his hips.

“Peter, what the hell is a radioactive spider?” You asked. “When have you ever heard someone say those words together?”

“Um….once or twice.” He lied.

“Once or twice?” You raised an eyebrow. “No you haven’t. No one has ever said those words before you. Obviously you were bitten by one and that’s how you gained your abilities. The very abilities you’ve been accusing me of having all week.”

“I still don’t see how you could’ve possibly figured it out.” Peter stayed in denial.

“How could I not?” You laughed. “You made it so obvious, I thought you were telling me your secret on purpose until now.”

“Yeah, well.” Peter scoffed. “I figured you out too. Just now, in fact. You’re the Green-“

“Venom.” You cut him off again.

“-Goblin.” He finished before doing a double take. “Wait, what? Venom? You’re Venom?”

“Do I look the Green fucking Goblin to you?”

“I was guessing!” He shouted.

“Clearly!” You shouted back.

“Wait, a minute.” He shook his head. “How are you Venom? How did not I see that?”

“I honestly don’t know.” You shrugged. “All the signs were there.”

“They were? Oh, yeah. They kinda were.” Peter realized. You gave him an awkward smile as he ran through all the missed signs in his head.

“Damn.” He said after a minute. “Well now I just feel silly. Just a silly little dumb dumb. Damn.”

“Peter, don’t beat yourself up over this. Just because you didn’t realize I was Venom doesn’t mean you’re dumb.” You assured him. “In fact, I think you’re really smart. You’re probably the smartest guy I know.”

“Oh.” Peter smiled in surprise. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” You responded. You both looked to the side, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do next. All week, Peter had been desperately trying to find out your secret. Now that he knew, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“So.” Peter said after a minute. “What’s it like eating people?”

“Eh. Not much to write home about.” You shrugged.

“Have you ever wanted to eat me?”

“Um…” You trailed off and looked at the ground.

“Very much yes.” Venom answered for you as she came out in her snake like form and rested on your shoulder.

“Don’t worry.” You said as you stroked her head. “I told her she’s not allowed to.”

“Consider yourself lucky, Spiderman.” Venom sneered. “If she didn’t have a crush on you, we would’ve eaten you long ago. Because you look really, really juicy.”

Peter’s eyes went just as wide as yours as Venom spilled the other secret you had been hiding.

“What’s that now?” Peter asked and impatiently looked at you for a further explanation.

“Venom!” You scolded and looked at her angrily.

“Crush on me?” Peter touched his chest. “On little old me?”

“Shut up.” You pointed a finger at him. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“We share a brain.” Venom continued. “We know how often you think of him. And we hear all your dirty, dirty thoughts about him.”

“Dirty thoughts?!” Peter’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Please elaborate on that, Mrs. Venom ma’am.”

“Don’t you dare elaborate.” You told Venom.

“We need to focus on what’s important right now.” Peter prefaced. “So just how dirty are we talking here?”

“Don’t get a nosebleed.” You rolled your eyes. “It’s just a crush.”

“On me, though.” Peter smiled proudly. “You have a crush on me?”

“Yeah.” You admitted. “And I thought you liked me back before I realized you were just trying to learn my secrets.”

“Um, excuse me.” Peter scoffed. “Don’t get it twisted, miss. I was trying to learn your secrets in addition to liking you back.”

“You like me back?” You asked skeptically.

“What’s not to like?” Peter shrugged. A smile tugged at your lips at his indirect yet adorable answer.

“I have to say, I’m impressed.” You told him. “That’s the one secret you were able to keep. I’m pretty sure you told me the origin story of every single Avenger.”

“Oh. Forgot about that.” Peter grimaced. “My bad.”

You laughed at Peter, and he laughed back. This time, a comfortable silence settled between the two of you. All the secrets were out, and you weren’t gonna let that go to waste.

“You know, since we like each other and everything, we should go on patrol sometime or something.” You offered shyly. “T-together. Only if you want, though. No pressure.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Peter smirked. “Let me take you on a date. I promise, I’ll ask you normal questions this time.”

“So no asking me if I lay eggs?” You teased.

“I promise. No questions about that.” Peter laughed, then his face fell. “Wait, do you?”

Tag List 🏷

@awesomebooklover17​ @thebookwormlife​ @imanativeofswlondondahling​ @serendipitous-amor​

@foreverxholland​ @lavender-writer​ @michaela072796​ @whatareyouhidingpeter​ @takenbyheartstrings​ @ultrunning​ @imyourliquor-youremypoison​ @andreasworlsboring101​ @waiting-to-be-myself @letsloveimagines​ @peterparkoure​ @a-villain-vying-for-attention​ @justcallmehitgirl​ @jackiehollanderr​ @tiny-friggin-human @mara-twins​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @maryjanee23​ @geeksareunique​ @emmamarshmellow​ @unbelievableholland​ @flixndchill​ @sovereignparker​ @thisisthebiplace​ @every-marveler-ever​ @undiadeestos​ @caelestii-e​ @eridanuswave​​ @itscaminow​​ @fiantomartell​ @solarxmoonchild​ @canyouevencauseicant​ @illwritetomorrow​ @thehappygrungelife​ @saysomethingspiderman​ @smilexcaptainx​ @quaksonhehe​ @kelieah​ @kickingn-ames​ @seasidecrowbar​ @lovelessdagger​ @electraheart-3174​ @unbelievableholland​ @yourtypicalhotmess​ @spideyanakin​ @horanxholland​ @thesuitelifeofafangirl​ @marshxx​ @heyheycharlatte​ @nooneinvitedfascistbarbie​ @tomshufflepuff​

@maybemona​ @alexxcorona113​ @lethal-wisdom​ @xo-spidey​ @pandaxnienke​ @theincredibledeadlyviper  @thestylestour​  @officialsimppage​ @mrvelscaptains​ @peterbenjiparker​ @itsemohours​ @okkulta​ @parkerlovebot​ @jungkxxkk​ @olixerwxxd​ @starkbrain​ @ilovefrogs1000​ @itstaskeen​ @wrendermeuseless​ @amazinggracy​ @iprobablyshipit91​ @magicalxdaydream​ @whereismytelephone​ @theonly1outof-a-billion​ @leilanixx​ @namoreno​ @bi-lmg @dracoswhore007​ @tomhollandloml​ @avengers-hamiltrash​ @gh0stgurl​ @so-very-asleep​ @veryholland​ @white-wolf1940​ @spideycheles​ @firwproof-blog​

@nowayhomeparker​ @willowestelle​ @imobsessedzs​ @spideyspeaches​ @bookfrog242​ @hihiweezing​ @mathletemadison​ @mackenziejanine​ @dhtomholland​ @insomniac-nerd-posts-things​ @prancerrparkerr​ @aayaissaa​ @loudthoughts-softspoken​ @starknik22 @hallecarey1​ @tom-holland-is-bae​ @adayasgeorgia​ @sam-hollandsgirl​ @blackwidowisthebest​ @imawhoreforu​ @noimaginationforblognames​ @mrs-brekker15​ @celestialholland​ @ciarahollands​ @nellabellaa​ @pinklxmonade​ @supermouse1234world​ @boogywoogywoogy​ @freakofmusic25​ @elizabethraymond​ @same-panic-different-disco @tom-softie​ @big-galaxy-chaos​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @televisionboy​

[angelicamerlinbarnes]

TUA DANCE SCHOOL AU

(but also like there's murder in here because it's still Umbrella Academy so...)

(BEWARE: mentions of abuse and harassment, murder, kidnapping, etc.)

(If you can handle watching Umbrella Academy, this will be fine for you.)

(Ballet, Hip-Hop) Diego came to this school for Eudora, and he’s staying here for Eudora. She’s his beloved adopted sister, and the one who told him he should pursue his passions in hip-hop… and ballet, but Diego’s not interested in telling anyone that bit yet. He’s only gonna be here a year anyway, just long enough for Eudora to win her way onto the women’s US national soccer team and earn enough money for the both of them to live worry-free for the rest of their lives. He’s not planning on making friends… until one of the dancers in his ballet class trips into his chest and Diego starts questioning whether love at first sight is a thing.

(Ballet) Klaus is top of his class in ballet, which is the only reason they haven’t kicked him out yet. He’s addicted to some hard shit; he’s sold himself for money; he’s living with his abusive boyfriend who he hasn’t loved in three years because if he wasn’t he’d be homeless. He knows he’d be fine if he just told Five what was happening to him, because Five is a thirteen-year-old runaway genius living in a studio apartment big enough for three, but Klaus doesn’t know how to bring it up. He knows he’s a mess - he’s got serious PTSD, anxiety, and depression from his few months in the army where his boyfriend he actually loved was killed in front of him, and he’s got anorexia because he’s a ballerina so of course he does, and he’s probably suicidal if he thinks about it too hard. But he just doesn’t want to deal with it. At all. But then there’s Diego. Sweet, innocent, hero-like Diego. And Klaus loves him. Klaus doesn’t love anything, but, fuck - Klaus loves Diego.

(Ballet, Break Dance, Hip-Hop, Tango) Five is a killer. You can laugh, it’s okay - everybody does when he says that, as if it’s a joke. Five’s alright with that. He has more to lose from them finding out about his habits than he does from actually doing it. It’s not like he can get caught - he’s killed detectives and cops too, and he’s very good at covering his tracks. Next on his list is Klaus’ boyfriend, who’s a piece of shit. He’ll bring Klaus home with him, and keep him safe. Five may not be loyal to many, but those he is will die of nothing but natural causes. He has access to things you can only dream of. All of his dance classes double for training; dance is a good segway to fighting techniques. The only trouble is Diego, who Five loves, who Klaus loves, who is well and true and good… who looks far too much like that vigilante who travels around after hours saving Five’s victims before they’re done bleeding out.

(Flamenco, Hula, Hip-Hop) Allison is undercover, and ready to be done with this shit. She knows Five’s guilty, and knows he knows she knows he’s guilty, and knows that if he wanted her dead she would be by now. She’s worried about his intentions towards Diego, but Five seems to have instead set his sights on Klaus’ boyfriend, who Allison can’t honestly say she’ll be sad to see go. So Allison won’t be bringing Five in - at least not yet. Instead, she focuses her efforts on her dance classes, hanging out mostly with her best friends Klaus and Ray, the latter of whom she has a crush on. And she’d make a move, too, if it weren’t for that stupidly hot and kind himbo she keeps passing in the hallways and cursing at.

(Jock, Break Dance) Luther doesn’t fit in here. Everyone here is so fucking talented, and Luther just… isn’t. Break dancing is just a hobby to him, but dance seems like life or death to everybody else. He’s starting to think maybe he should just quit, but then he sees Allison in the hallways, and thinks maybe all the ridicule is worth it. Though his petty fights with that Diego kid are getting annoying… and there’s something unexplainably sinister about this school. Almost like it’s… he doesn’t know. Sometimes it’s almost like it’s not a school at all.

(Choreographer, Contemporary) Ben is one of the school’s choreographers, though he’s still a student. He knows everything about everyone, and uses that power carefully. This school is going to fucking hell, what with all the criminals scheming under its roof, but none of them are Ben’s first concern, loathe as he is to admit it. No no, Ben is worried about Klaus. His best friend, Klaus. His beloved brother Klaus. His abused, sick, sad, scared, suicidal brother. God. Here’s the thing - Ben will do anything to save Klaus. Anything. Even, he knows with some sort of horrible inevitable certainty, die.

(Violinist) Vanya plays violin for the dance students to perform to. Her teacher Leonard is harassing her and she’s probably gonna end up his invisible victim one of these days, since nobody seems to care about her here. Except for Sissy, the student volunteer secretary who’s attending a normal college across the way. She and Vanya are in love, and they’ve moved in together and Sissy proposed to Vanya last week and Vanya thinks they’re maybe gonna be happy together forever. And then Five, Vanya’s only sort-of friend, climbs through her window at two in the morning covered in blood, passing out with only the words, Sorry. It’s not mine. Vanya screams, and it’s all downhill from there.

(Tango, Waltz, Ballroom) Ray is undercover with Allison, but she seems uninterested in bringing Five to justice. Not that Ray minds - she’s a pretty good judge of character, and Ray trusts her with his life, even if she seems to be hellbent on letting a serial killer go free. Ray’s also found an oddly fulfilling friendship with Klaus, and vows to make sure he gets his happy ending with Diego. But then he finds Ben’s bloody and beaten body in the second floor bathroom after class one day and thinks, Oh. Shit.

(Ballet, Break Dance, Tango) Lila is in the know. The Handler wants someone to combat Five, who went rogue on her a year ago and only sticks around this stupid school to keep an eye on Klaus. Lila, meanwhile, is looking for a way out - Five’s not an option. He’s too sticky. But Eudora, that soccer star at the school across the street, her best friend Diego’s sister… Eudora’s a way out. (And she’s really fucking pretty too, but that’s unrelated.)

(Jock, Hip-Hop) Eudora has this weird feeling about the school she sent Diego too. If she’s being honest, she sent him there because she knows about his vigilante-ism and thought it’d give him something else to do. But when Eudora comes to visit him (and yes, maybe Lila with the eyeliner and pretty skin), she instead finds her brother’s crush tied up in the basement and screaming. And then there’s a gunshot. And then there’s nothing.

(Ballet I Guess) Dolores is the statue formally known as the “Little Dancer of Fourteen Years”. She’s at the museum right near the dance school, and Five visits her nearly every day, talking to her about any and everything. Sometimes Klaus comes with him, or Diego. Five doesn’t know why she’s important - she just is.

(Orchestra & Flamenco Teacher) Leonard is the creepy and perverted orchestra and flamenco teacher. Allison hates him on sight, but loves dancing, and can’t leave. Vanya doesn’t trust him, and he seems hellbent on treating her inappropriately, and Allison wants to fucking throttle him. But she’s sure Five will take care of it. He’s good like that.

(Ballroom Teacher) Hazel teaches ballroom dancing, and has been married to Agnes for almost twenty years now. His best friend and partner is Cha-Cha, and they both secretly work for the Handler, having been given their orders to dismantle Five. They know they’ll have to make him come to them, so they take Five’s favorite person: Klaus. It’s really such a shame that Ben boy found out what was going on and confronted them - he was far too polite to die.

(Break Dance & Hip-Hop Teacher) Cha-Cha probably wants to leave the Umbrella Academy, if she’s really honest with herself. She wants to… I don’t know, buy a boat and fuck off forever. Leave all this stupid shit behind. But now she’s got Ben’s blood on her hands and she can’t undo that, she can’t, and there’s - there’s Eudora, sweet, brave, innocent Eudora, bleeding out on the basement floor while Klaus screams. And Cha-Cha knows Diego - she’s just dug her own grave twice over.

(Ballet & Hula Teacher) Agnes is, on the contrary to most people’s expectations, not an oblivious idiot. She knows exactly what’s going on in her school. She also knows her students can handle themselves.

(First Dean, Tango Teacher) The Handler thinks she’s got all her secrets well under wraps. No one knows how many bodies she’s buried, how many students she’s killed… she’s safe from everyone but Five, the little bitch. And she thinks this up until the moment Klaus walks through her office door with a gun in his hand and the smiling ghost of Ben beside him, and realizes, Oh shit.

(Second Dean, Waltz Teacher) Reginald gives no fucks. He’s only teaching here because Pogo says it would be good for him. Granted Reginald thinks Pogo is a bit of an annoying wussy, but nonetheless he’s here. Teaching “secret” assassins how to dance. What a fucking joke.

(Counselor) Grace is everybody’s favorite person. When the school finally falls, she’s the one they all go home to. She only wishes they could learn how to dance without weapons beneath their skirts.

This turned out way darker than I intended and I am not sorry.

[thepancakeboi]

99. “Do it. I dare you.”

I don’t normally make a note on these writing prompt stuff outside of tags but I feel I have to warn that this one does get very dark and angsty, up to including the potential of character death (no one dies though, I promise). Now, on with the show!

“Let’s go,” Joker’s voice rings out, echoing against the walls of the Mementos station.

Mona jumps onto the tracks, transforming into his car form in midair. The rest of the thieves sans Joker starts to get in. Not everyone had been able to come today. Haru had business involving Big Bang Burger that she had to attend to, leaving it down to the nine of us to finish our Mementos requests. She had apologized profusely in the group chat, but the others reassured her that everything was alright.

I go to get in the back of the vehicle but am stopped by a hand grabbing my arm. I give Joker an unamused look as I ask, “What do you want?”

“You know where you sit,” he replies with a cocky grin to match. I sigh in frustration as I get in the front row after Joker. Every single time, he always wants me to sit right next to him. He refuses to take no for an answer on that. No matter how much outward annoyance I show, I secretly am content with this seating arrangement. I’m fairly certain that he is aware of this as well. It’s even more apparent today since, with Noir not here today, Violet ends up deciding to sit with Panther and Queen in the middle row. Joker echoes my thoughts as he remarks, “Hey, look at that. It’s just the two of us. Anything can happen~”

“Joker, if you try anything, you’re going to lose a limb or two.”

“Sounds fun,” he hums, laughing as I sulk and look away from him. I can’t even threaten him without his goddamn danger kink making its existence known.

“God, get a room, you two!” Oracle yells from the back.

Joker laughs even harder at this. “I might do just that.”

“No,” I say, refusing to entertain this idea any further.

“But Akeppi-”

“I said no.”

He looks disheartened for a brief moment before he smirks. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Joker starting to sing, “♪ I want your love, and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance~♪”

I whirl around as I hear Panther join in with, “♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!♪”

Joker apparently has no intentions of stopping. “♪ I want your love, and all your lover’s revenge. You and me could write a bad romance~♪”

At that point, Oracle decides it’s her turn, “♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh! Caught in a bad romance!♪”

“Would you three shut up already?” I yell, turning so I can glare at all of them at once.

It’s quiet for all of one second before Oracle and Joker both, of course, decide to ignore me like the menaces they are, simultaneously singing, “♪ Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah! Roma-roma-ma! Gaga, ‘Ooh la-la’! Want your bad romance~♪”

I groan at their antics. It’s the one annoyance that comes from sitting next to Joker. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. The chances of it being the last are minuscule at best.

The banter between the rest of the thieves continues as we continue to drive through Mementos. At some point, Joker took one of his hands off the steering wheel so that he could hold me close. He still has his arm around me when we run right into a Shadow that decides not to immediately disintegrate upon impact.

“Get ready, everyone!” Mona says in car form. “This one wants a fight.”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Skull shouts. “We’re gonna kick its ass!”

We quickly exit the vehicle while the Shadow is still stunned from being hit head-on by a cat-turned-vehicle. Almost as soon as Mona transforms back into a cat, the Shadow bursts into a black liquid, revealing itself as a Forneus.

I had been hoping for this fight to be done quickly, but this Shadow is decidedly stubborn. We’ve managed to knock it down a couple of times, but it simply refuses to die. After the third such time, it fires a Mapsiodyne that manages to hit all of us. “Queen!” Fox calls out as she collapses.

No communication is needed. Joker and I pull back to tend to her while the rest keep fighting. I bend down so that I can drag her out of harm’s way. However, I pause, sensing Joker’s eyes on me. Not this again. “Joker,” I start, moving Queen as I speak, “maybe you should be a little more concerned about Queen lying unconscious on the floor rather than staring at my ass.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

He quickly summons Sandalphon to revive her. Queen’s eyes flutter open, surprisingly unalarmed that she had been knocked out. It’s such a common occurrence with this group. How they’ve survived for so long, I have no idea. “She’s awake,”  I say, turning back to Joker. “We should get back to the fight.”

He nods. “Let’s go-”

“Joker, look out!” Panther calls out just as he is engulfed in a magenta aura.

He tries to move out of the way, but it’s too late. There’s nothing any of us can do without Noir and her Persona’s Amrita Shower. The aura clears. Joker stands there, his eyes closed. “Joker?” Queen asks from behind me, having gotten herself to her feet.

A sinister grin creeps across his face as he opens his eyes, his attention focused on the two of us. His eyes glow with an unnatural purple light as he rushes at us. “It’s not him!” I yell, blocking his dagger with my sword. His grin only widens, a frenzied look in his eyes. “He’s been brainwashed by that damn Shadow!”

“We gotta do something!” Mona calls out from the frontlines, where he’s working with Skull and Fox to keep the Shadow occupied. “He’ll keep attacking us if we do nothing!”

In an instant, I make my decision. “Keep attacking it, all of you. Oracle, make sure they don’t die doing it.”

“It’ll be easy peasy!” Oracle replies from above in Al Azif.

“I’ll keep Joker occupied while you do that until he snaps out of this brainwashing.” 

“Got it,” Panther responds, her Persona pelting the Shadow with fiery strikes as Makoto charges forward on Agnes.

With Joker’s next strike, I grab ahold of his wrist, fully intending on pulling him away from the fight. However, I’m distracted by Violet tentatively asking, “Is senpai gonna be okay?”

“Damnit,” I hiss as Joker escapes my grasp, his dagger slicing my wrist. “Quit your worrying. He’ll be fine.”

Ignoring Violet, for the time being, I regain a hold of Joker and manage to get the bloody dagger out of his hand. I drag him away, leaving the others to take care of that pesky Shadow. The moment we’re out of its vision, I turn to Joker, sheathing my sword for now. “Pull yourself together, idiot!” I snap, resisting the urge to slap him across the face. “We’re your friends.”

“Friends?” he asks, the first words he’s said in his current state.

“Yes, friends. You have those, remember?”

“No. You’re my enemy!”

He throws himself at me with little regard to the fact that he’s currently unarmed and I have a sword at my side. I struggle against him, trying not to hurt him. My sword stays sheathed. I can’t bring myself to cause him harm, even when he has me backed against the wall. “Joker, listen to yourself! I know you’re still there. You’re brainwashed. The Phantom Thieves are your friends. Don’t you understand? They’re not the enemy.”

“You’re right...it’s just you.” Nothing could have prepared me for what comes next. In one swift motion, he pulls out his pistol, pointing it at my face. His grin becomes wicked and full of malice as he sees my eyes widen in shock. “How does it feel, traitor? Knowing you’re about to die.”

“You won’t shoot me. You can’t.”

Despite how confident I try to sound, my heart pounds in my chest. Chills run down my spine. It takes a considerable amount of effort to hide any possible sign of trembling. I refuse to show any vulnerability to him. I don’t care that he could kill me. Even brainwashed, there’s no way he’s capable of shooting me. This isn’t him. Joker would never do this...would he? “Are you afraid?” he mocks. “Are you going to beg for me to spare your life?”

I look Joker dead in the eye...and laugh.

I am aware of the situation I am in, that Joker has a gun pointed at my head and could shoot me dead at any moment. At the same time, the irony doesn’t elude me. The tables have turned, and now it’s me on the receiving end of the gun. “Do you really think I would stoop so low? I know you’re brainwashed, but I think you’re bluffing.”

“Someone’s eager to die. What was it you said? ‘Case closed. This is where your justice ends.’ But it’s not my justice ending, detective: it’s yours.”

“Then, by all means, pull the trigger. Do it. I dare you.” When he doesn’t immediately react, I add, “Here. How about I make it easier for you?” With slow, deliberate movements, I remove my mask with one hand and push my bangs aside with the other as I tilt my head forward. He has a clear shot now, the cold metal of the barrel pressed against my forehead. Yes, this is reckless. I know that...but he deserves this chance. An opportunity to enact swift judgment on me for my crimes. I’m not worthy of a quick death like this, even with it mirroring my actions in the interrogation room. It doesn’t matter, though. If this is how it ends, then so be it. I couldn’t ask for a better executioner.

I stand there, eyes closed, waiting for death to take me. But the gunshot never comes. I open my eyes, staring past the pistol to the boy currently holding me at gunpoint. His grin isn’t quite as wide as before. He’s faltering. “What’s the matter, Joker? I didn’t hesitate when the situation was reversed. Go ahead,” I say as I close my eyes once again, my voice slowly rising in volume as I continue to berate him, “put a bullet through my skull. It’s only fair, isn’t it? I’ve murdered countless people. I even tried to kill you twice. I don’t deserve to be alive, so get on with it and fucking shoot me already!”

All I hear is a gasp, the gun clattering against the ground. I look up to see Joker, no longer brainwashed. It’s clear that he’s shaken. His lips are parted as he stares at me in wide-eyed horror. “A-Akeppi?” he hesitantly says, voice trembling. His mask isn’t able to completely hide the tears threatening to spill. He’s trying so desperately to pull himself together, but for once, it’s not working. I’ve never seen him so visibly distressed, and it hurts.

“You were brainwashed.” It’s the only thing I can offer as reassurance that I don’t blame him, that it wasn’t his fault.

“You’re...not hurt, are you?”

Figures, he’d ask that question. As always, he’s more concerned about my own well being than his own. “No, of course not,” I lie, hiding the blood on my wrist.

He isn’t fooled. He sees right through my response, as observant as ever. His touch is gentle as he moves my arm into his line of sight. The corners of his lips twitch when he sees the cut. “You are. I didn’t hurt you anywhere else, did I? Tell me the truth.”

“You didn’t.”

We stand there in silence, neither one of us sure how to proceed. I personally want to ignore it and move on, but I can sense that Joker won’t. His inner guilt is eating at him, I can tell. Meanwhile, something tells me he knows I’m hiding something from him. I just don’t want him to know that I had believed he was capable of killing me, even for a second. It’d be too much for him, I’m sure. Joker’s the one to break the silence. “Akeppi, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I instantly respond.

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not. I could have killed you.”

“You didn’t kill me, tho-”

“But I could have,” he interjects before starting to ramble. “I could have killed you. I had my hand on the trigger, and you were willing to just die. What if I had actually shot you...and you had died? Akeppi, I don’t want to lose you again.”

“I’m still here. You wouldn’t have fired the gun.”

“But what if-”

He abruptly goes silent, likely shocked that I’ve pulled him into my embrace, dropping my mask in the process. “Ren, trust me,” I say in a slow, hushed tone, dropping the codenames for now so I can get through to him. “It’s okay. I’m here for you, and I will continue to love you as much as before. Nothing will change that.”

“Goro...” His voice hitches as he returns the hug, desperately holding onto me as if he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t. I can hear his ragged breathing as he finally breaks down and cries. Taking cues from what he would do if the situation were reversed, I pull off one of my gauntlets and gently stroke his hair with my ungloved hand. My own tears run down my face, but I refuse to acknowledge them. I have to be strong, for Ren’s sake. He’s always been that way for me, and it’s about time I return the favor.

A few minutes pass before he starts to calm down. As he pulls back to look at me, I move his mask up so I can wipe the remaining tears from his face. “Even crying, you’re still beautiful,” I muse to myself, not meaning to say the words aloud.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” he asks with a little chuckle. “You look like you were crying, too.”

I shake my head, refusing to confirm or deny his statement. His chuckling continues as he replicates my actions, although his hand lingers on my cheek longer than I had. I turn my head as I hear Skull’s voice. They must have brought down the Shadow without us. I reach down, grabbing my mask from behind Joker and putting my glove back on my hand. “We’ll keep this between us, alright?”

“Okay.” He moves his own mask back into its proper position. Even up close, it’s hard to see that he had just finished crying. “Hey, Akeppi?”

“Yes?”

“Can we cuddle when we get back home?”

The request is not exactly unexpected. We both know he loves to cuddle and that it helps improve his mood. He already should know my answer. After all, how could I refuse him after what happened? “Of course. Come on. Let’s meet up with the others.”

Prompt list

[cozy-the-overlord]

Until Tomorrow

Summary:  Quarantine by itself is lonely enough. Quarantine amidst a rainstorm of biblical proportions is downright depressing. Lucky for you, a visitor arrives just in time to keep you company.

Word Count:  2,463

Pairing: Loki x Reader

A/N: Sooo..... I did a thing. I’ve never written fanfiction or reader-inserts before, but it was pouring rain last night and I’ve been reading so many quarantine fics on Ao3 that I thought I’d give it a whirl. I’ve never been more nervous about posting a story before... I hope you like it!

Also, I got an Ao3 account now, so you can read it here if you’d like

              It was raining.

              Although raining didn’t seem to do the weather justice. You couldn’t remember the last time you had witnessed such a torrential downpour. The pattering of raindrops rushing down your slanted roof had been drowned out by the wooshing of the fast-moving river that a few hours ago had been your street. Between the dark storm clouds and fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, you couldn’t make out exactly how bad the road was, but the waves that crashed against your window every time a car came skidding past your house told you that you weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

              Not that you currently had any great travel plans.

              You sat on the couch at your front window, a book lying open and ignored in your lap, watching water droplets race down the glass as a shiver raced down your spine. Usually, you loved the rain. You had grown where storms were a treasured rarity, where you’d insist your mother buy you rainboots for your birthday only for her to give them away a year later when they became too small, balls of paper still stuffed into their toes. Usually, when it poured, you’d run into your driveway with your head back and arms out, belting out “Singin’ in the Rain” as you attempted dance moves that would make Gene Kelly role in his grave, just because you could.

              But today, you didn’t feel like dancing. With everything going on right now, the rain seemed less like a cause for celebration and more like a sign of impending doom. It had been weeks since you left the sanctuary of your tiny suburban house. You were lucky, everything considered— your parents were safely quarantined in your childhood home on the other side of the country, from where they FaceTimed with you at least once a day.

              Your job was secure. That was one of the wonderful things about working for Tony Stark: the day everyone was sent home, the head man himself sent out an email swearing to keep everyone on the payroll through the quarantine, regardless of how long it lasted. He had even set up a system for delivering groceries to his employees: you texted a number with your order, and a few hours later a red and gold drone dumped a box of overflowing plastic bags on your doorstep. That was something your mom couldn’t get over—Iron Man bringing you milk!— and honestly the ridiculousness of it all made you want to giggle, too.

              Sometimes, though, it was all too much. It had been ages since you’d seen anybody, ages since you had heard another voice unfiltered by the garbled speaker of your cell phone. You had never considered yourself to be an overtly social person, but damn did you wish you had somebody here to talk to. Your mother had been trying for years to convince you to adopt a pet, insisting that it wasn’t healthy for you to be living completely alone, but you had always brushed her off, saying that you were working so often that you were rarely at home and it would be cruel to the animal. Now, you promised yourself that as soon as this was over, you were heading to the Humane Society.

              If this was ever over.

              Outside, the rain kept pouring. The trickling water seemed to be whispering to you—sinister promises of something worse yet to come. You curled tighter upon yourself, pressing your cheek to your knees.

              Let this end. Please, just let this end.

              A crash behind you startled you out of your thoughts. You shrieked, whipping around to see a figure standing in your living room, soaking bags sprawled about him, staining the carpet. He scowled.

              “Bloody rainstorm. You can’t see a damn thing out there.” He shook his head and began wringing out his hair, muttering in a language you didn’t understand.

              It was several moments before you could find your voice. Once you did, it slipped out cautiously. “Loki?”

              “At your service, my lady.” He gave a grand bow, his words dripping with sarcasm.

               You stared. You knew Loki, of course. You were familiar with all of the Avengers who lived in the tower—your office was located on one of the higher levels, and as a result it wasn’t uncommon to see celebrities like Dr. Banner or Captain Rodgers making their way across the floor to meet with one of your coworkers. Unlike the others, however, you had actually spoken with Loki.

              The two of you had a little run in a few months ago, when you were refilling your coffee mug at the break room. You were already on edge because Dr. Foster was visiting, Dr. Jane Foster, and word about the floor was that she would be stopping by with Thor to meet some of the higher-level workers at some point during the day. You felt silly for feeling so starstruck, but Dr. Foster’s work was on another level of world-shattering, and the thought that you might be shaking her hand by the end of the day had you all sorts of jittery.

              Then the coffee pot exploded.

              Exploded wasn’t exactly the right word. It was more like an eruption— all at once the pitcher just vomited its contents across the counter, up to the ceiling, all over the floor, writing like an animal and spitting out more coffee than it possibly could’ve been holding previously. With a scream, you threw the anthropomorphic pot to the floor, adding shattered glass to the absolute mess in the break room.

              There wasn’t time to comprehend what just happened before he was there, pulling you out of the puddle of lukewarm coffee.

              “Forgive me, that was not supposed to happen. Are you hurt?” Loki scanned your form with an anxious sort of urgency. There was a tinge of pink on his cheeks—if you hadn’t known better, you would’ve said he was blushing. “Are you hurt?” he asked again when you only gaped at him like a dead fish. “Burned? That was not meant—forgive me.”

              “No,” you finally said. The coffee hadn’t been warm enough to do any damage. “Just… my clothes—”

               He waved his hand, and the sticky moisture clinging to your front disappeared. You ran your hand over your shirt, now dry and stainless. That’s useful.

               “Are you certain you are uninjured?” he asked. “I swear, that was not what I intended—”

               “I’m fine.” Now that the shock had worn off, you found yourself stifling the urge to giggle. “What were you trying to do?”

               Loki looked embarrassed. “My brother has the tendency of laying claim to the refreshments of any floor he visits, without leaving anything for those working on said floors. I thought I’d teach him a lesson.” He cast a glance back at the mess behind him. “The charm was meant only to react to him. I suppose I made a mistake in casting it.” He turned back to you. “I am sorry.”

               You smiled. “It’s alright. I guess I could use a bit of excitement in my life.”

               He grinned. “Words to live by.”

               After that, you had been friendly. You’d greet each other when you walked by one another, you’d make small talk in the elevator if you were riding together, he’d hold the door for you if he had the chance. Nothing serious, nothing even that personal really, just office-friendly.

              Definitely not crashing-unannounced-into-your-living-room-during-a-rainstorm-in-the-middle-of-a-pandemic friendly.

              “What—?” you sputtered, springing off the couch. “What are you doing here?”

              Loki dramatically gestured to the bags on the floor. “It seems I have been relegated to the status of a delivery boy.”

              Craning your neck, you recognized the label of your local grocery market. You frowned. “Did—did you bring me groceries?”

              The Asgardian in your living room huffed irritably. “You had an order for today, did you not?”

              You nodded slowly. Yes, you were waiting on an order today, and now that you were looking you could see that it was sprawled across the floor at Loki’s feet: a carton of orange juice, a tub of ice cream, a bag of potato chips… but what was Loki doing dropping off food for you?

              He sighed. “Stark, in his infinite wisdom, failed to consider the effect of such the elements—” he gestured to the monsoon outside your window “—on his mechanical messengers. As I am the only individual he knows with means of instantaneous travel, I have been encouraged to assist with deliveries. I am—what is the phrase?—making the rounds, if you will. ”

              “Oh.” You found yourself at a loss for words, likely looking every bit as dumbfounded as when you first met in the break room. You mentally slapped yourself. “Um… thank you. Here,” you moved to collect to foodstuff off the carpet, “I can, uh, start putting things away—”

              With one swift motion, Loki scooped everything up. “Allow me. Just tell me where you want me to put it.” You glanced up at him cautiously. He raised his eyebrows.

              “Uh, okay.”

              He followed you into your kitchen, and you cringed as you realized how truly disgusting your sink was. It had been ages since you had the motivation to do the dishes, and they had been piling up in your sink like the leaning tower of cheap ceramics for at least a week now. Loki didn’t say anything though. At your direction, he placed the bags on the counter and watched as you silently put the contents away.

              Even amidst all the awkwardness, there was something soothing about his presence. For the first time in weeks, there was a living, breathing person in your house, someone real to talk to and laugh with. So when Loki said that he had to finish his deliveries, the question that popped out of your mouth was birthed by pure desperation.

“Do you want something to drink before you go?” you asked. “Like, a glass of water? Or… I have coffee, if you don’t mind it being reheated.”

              If Loki was surprised by your offer, he masked the emotion quickly with a smirk. “Do you really trust me with coffee?”

              You giggled. “I don’t know. Can I?”

              “You shouldn’t trust me with anything,” he said, slipping into one of the seats at your kitchen table. “But I think we can make an exception just this once.”

              You sat and talked for nearly an hour, sipping your microwaved coffee as the rain pounded on the roof. Loki had plenty of quarantine stories from the Tower, stories that always seemed to end with Thor accidentally blowing something up.

              “He is not used to staying in such a limited space for this long of a time period,” he said reflectively. “I think perhaps confinement is having a detrimental effect on his intellect. Stark has installed a ‘Days Without an Accident’ count at the kitchen table, and thus far my brother has managed to reset it every day.”

              You snorted. “That sounds hilarious. I wish I was there to see that.”

              “No, you don’t. Everyone is fed up with everyone else.” Loki stared into his mug absently. “They have been starting altercations over the minutest details. It’s quite chaotic.”

              You frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to like chaos?”

              “When it’s within my control. This is far beyond that.” He took another sip, emptying it. “You are lucky to live alone. I would gladly welcome the peace you have here.”

              “I don’t know. There’s not much to do in here.” You held in a sigh. “It gets kind of depressing after a while.”

              Loki cocked his head, brow furrowed. “You are lonely?”

              Your cheeks heated with embarrassment. It was such a menial complaint to have, especially when so many others were suffering. “Kind of,” you muttered. “It’s not so bad, though.”

              Loki continued pressing. “You have access to communication, yes?” he asked, leaning forward. “I thought all of you mortals were addicted to your cellular devices.”

              “Yeah,” you replied slowly. “But it’s not the same thing as, you know, actually talking to someone. Like, when they’re actually there.”

              “I understand.” He reached out to set his mug on the table. Somewhere hidden under your smile, your heart sank. He’d be leaving soon.

               Loki cleared his throat. “If you would like,” he said, “I could pay you a visit every so often, as we are doing now.”

              What?

              “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” you rushed to say, even though the thought of having a regular visitor sent your pulse thrumming.

              “No, but I think I would appreciate the respite. Today has been quite lovely, if I may say so.” He smiled— a genuine smile, not a smirk or a grin—and you felt rather silly for the way your heart seemed to soar. “Of course,” he added quickly, “if you don’t wish for my company, I completely—”

              “No!” The volume of your voice made you cringe. Jeez, he must think you haven’t spoken to anyone in months. “No, I—if you want to come over, then…” For a moment, you fumbled with your words, searching for an eloquent way to accept his offer. “I’d like that,” you finally said, giving up. “I’d like that a lot.”

              He laughed. “In that case, I’ll stop by tomorrow.” When he stood, you stood with him, following him back to your living room where he had left the groceries you hadn’t claimed. “I do need to be going now, though,” he said, scooping up the remaining bags. “The last thing I need is Stark having a fit over my failure to deliver his employees’ groceries on time.”  He nodded at you. “Thank you very much for the coffee.”

              “No problem,” you said. “Thanks for—thanks.”

              He chuckled. “Until tomorrow, my lady.”

              “Until tomorrow.”

              And just like that, he was gone. It was a noiseless disappearance: one moment he was there, the next, you were once again alone with the pouring rain. With a sigh, you made your way back to the couch, scooping up your book off the floor. Once again, however, you found your attention drifting to the water running down the window, the rushing waves of your street outside. Nothing had changed, and yet it seemed so much less frightening than it had an hour before. No, now, it was almost soothing. You had the sudden urge to run out on to your driveway and belt “Singin’ In the Rain.”

              I should’ve done that while Loki was here, you thought sleepily, pressing your cheek to the cushion. He would’ve gotten a kick out of that.

              Maybe you could, if it was still raining tomorrow.

              Tomorrow.

              You dozed off to the peaceful lullaby of the rainfall, smiling softly and thinking of tomorrow.

[12-am-username]

yandere! hanako x nene headcanons

(yandere! hanako x yashiro nene | headcanon and oneshot | fluff and gore | 1.9k words | spoilers)

— requested by @mako-neexu —

HHHHH yes this is hananene, after all that mitsukou I wrote whoops. @mako-neexu I hope this does you justice. This will contain spoilers from the manga so please proceed with caution. THERE IS A BIT OF GORE IN HERE TOO, SO IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THAT KIND OF CONTENT, I SUGGEST YOU SEARCH UP SOME FLUFF CONTENT. (unedited)

ON ANOTHER NOTE: y’all hananene and mitsukou shippers better believe that requests are open 😤😤

He can be an obsessive yandere

Obsessive in a way that he’d always have her on his mind, wondering how she was, imagining their time together, or reminiscing of her warm hands in his cold ones

He was obsessive in that he cared for her so much that she became the center of his universe

However, he wanted to be the only center of hers

“When are you going to pay attention to me?” Hanako whined. When Yashiro was finished cleaning the bathroom, she started working on schoolwork. The apparition floated beside her, trying to read what she was writing that was so important.

“I swear, you can be like a cat sometimes...” Yashiro sighed as she went back to work, ignoring Hanako. Dejected, he started playing with the mokke, but he still felt down that she was focused on something else. He ended up losing against the mokke, too distracted to pay attention to the game.

He looked back up. He had been playing for a few minutes, but Yashiro wouldn’t move. She kept looking back and forth between papers and books. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, something the apparition noticed. He didn’t know how long he stared at her features, but at this point, he can probably draw her face from memory.

He didn’t notice his body float upside down in front of her. He didn’t even remember standing up to go there. He said nothing, and continued to stare. Yashiro knew he was staring, but she forced herself to continue her work. Although, she could admit that he was cute this way. Not that she’ll ever admit that to his face.

He can be a jealous yandere

Jealous in a way that he masks it so well, that he was the calm before the storm, except the clouds were already raining

He was jealous in that it was quiet, so quiet and small that you’d never see it coming and you’ll end up surprised at how much he bottled up

However, he wanted to do something about it

He never cared about it. Really, he didn’t. He didn’t. He thought that he didn’t. The amount of schoolwork that Yashiro received seemed suspicious. Even Tsuchigomori believed that she was doing too much homework. He felt his blood rise when he found out why.

“Why should you do his homework?” Hanako tried to keep a level head. Inside, he was seething with anger. Yashiro certainly had lots of things piled up, not to mention how dangerous her situation is, given that she was tied to Hanako.

“It’ll be fine, besides, I can be closer to him when it’s over!” Yashiro beamed. Hanako couldn’t say no to a face like that. He adored her too much to see her distressed. But he knew that the other kid was only using her. But trying to reason with Yashiro would lead him nowhere. Sure, they had this conversation before, but this time, she seemed sure.

He watched her walk away. His mind drifted to that kid. He’d have to check if this boy was worth her time. Not that he was, anyway. He passed by the hallways. Ignoring Tsuchigomori’s confused face, Yako’s surprised expression, and Akane’s shocked and almost scared face. They could tell that he was keeping something sinister within.

He can be a protective yandere

Protective in a way that he would come to her whenever there was danger, and would ward off any apparition that posed a threat to her life

He was protective in that his arms were wrapped around her frame in a secure and tight hug whenever she was scared

However, he wanted to protect her through any means necessary to avoid death

The murderous apparition didn’t stand a chance. He was trapped in the bathroom, Number 7’s domain. Hanako may be a mischievous, childish, and an overall playful guy. But even the Seven Mysteries know that he has a limit. The moment the apparition had its sights on Yashiro, he didn’t hesitate to run.

By the time he reached her, he thought it was too late. Her body was slumped against the wall, blood dripped down the side of her head as her eyes seemed close to shutting. Yashiro’s chest rose weakly, making it hard for her to breathe.

He felt his mood shift. In a flash, he cut up the apparition into a thousand pieces, causing his hat to fly, and left no evidence of what happened. Whenever he looked directly into their eyes, it was the eyes of dead man with nothing more to lose. The apparition howled in agony before promptly disappearing when he rushed to Yashiro’s side, cradling her head in his hands. He could feel a faint pulse on her wrist, letting out a sigh of relief.

“I could’ve lost you today.” He nearly wept as he buried his head on the crook of her neck. He wanted to remember the feel of her touch and keep it to memory. He wanted to memorize the outline of her face and figure before he could lose her. When Yashiro’s hand made contact with his hair, he found his heartbeat slow to a steady beat as he listened to hers.

He can be a gentle yandere

Gentle in a way that he would pet her hair, give her soft hugs, and look at her the way every girl would want to be looked at

He was gentle in that Yashiro is the only person he ever approached with comforting hands, the only person to be hugged that way, and the only person he looked at with such love

However, he wanted to be the only person who could be like that to her

Hanako found himself washing away the blood. The mokke delivered a first aid kit as he stitched her up. After watching Tsuchigomori stitch up his wounds and healed his bruises when he was a kid, he was able to remember how to do it. It’s a good thing he remembered how to.

Yashiro winced with pain, and there was nothing Hanako could do but to continue his work. He gave the bloodied rag to the mokke, who started to wash it away in the sink. He tried helping her stand up, but her legs gave out. Yashiro tried to speak, but she was too tired to talk.

“How have you always drawn the attention of apparitions lately?” He joked as he started to pack up the med kit. He almost felt jealous again, after all the ghosts that came to her. Yashiro looked away, with a flustered expression and a face full of regret. He noticed the change of atmosphere, immediately floating to her side, ready to comfort her. He heard a sniffle coming from her. “Hey, you’re gonna be okay—“

“No, it’s not okay!” He stopped his hand mid air, clearly taken aback by her outburst. He didn’t understand how she felt, but he knew she was sad. She was shaking so much, he wanted to wrap his cape around her, which is what he did. He dried her tears with it when she continued to speak. “He said he’d come for help, but it’s clear he escaped to save himself.” It was quiet after that.

He can be a playful yandere

Playful in a way that he would tease her endlessly, amused by her reactions and faces

He was playful in that he takes joy in the flustered expression she’d always have, which one could mistake for sadistic tendencies

However, he wanted to distract her from the apparition

There would be another time to be angry. Right now, he has a shaking girl in his cloak, clearly wallowing in embarrassment that she hoped for something that kid couldn’t bring her. The mokke held up a piece of candy for her to take. She unwrapped it and started to eat it when Hanako got an idea.

“Would you prefer to make him into udon?” A weird question, he knew as much. It was a weak joke, yet it sent giggles through her throat. He thought it was strange, how something like that would make her smile. Maybe it was because of the many apparitions he threatened to turn into udon. Somewhere in the school, Yako tensed up.

“Maybe turn him into daikon?” It was his turn to laugh. Yashiro was blushing, maybe because she compared the boy to a radish. Hanako laughed loudly, making Yashiro giggle a little, too. He smiled at the thought, turning that coward into daikon. Maybe Yashiro won’t be the only one he’ll be calling that.

Once Yashiro regained her strength, they exited the bathroom. Yashiro went home, hoping to avoid that boy again. Hanako waved goodbye as he went back to the school premises, searching for that kid. He passed by unsuspecting students, before he caught sight of his hair. His expression darkened, one thing running in his head. Something he hoped that Yashiro would never know.

He can be a quiet yandere

Quiet in a way that he never lets Yashiro know what’s going on in his head

He was quiet in that he never let her know how much he dreamed of killing that kid, how often he wanted him to stop looking for Yashiro, and how he wished Yashiro would only see him

However, he didn’t want to remember that one moment

Night fell. He isolated himself in the third stall of the bathroom. He let the darkness consume him, his thoughts drifting back to the boy. The mokke sensed a murderous aura surrounding the school mystery, and didn’t dare to enter the bathroom.

He thought of slicing his throat, for every lie that came out his mouth. He thought of scratching his eyes out, so that he could never look at Yashiro. He thought of cutting his hands out, so that he may never give Yashiro his homework ever again. He thought of carving words on his back and chest, so that the boy may see a reminder of his cowardice every time he had to change. He thought of paralyzing him, so that he may torture him for hours without any problems, and make him count how many limbs he’d cut off. He thought of pinning him to the ground, his kitchen knife in hand, kneeling over his body, readying the knife in the air, not caring about the boy’s shocked face.

His mind flashed to his brother. He remembered it clearly. The day he finally snapped and killed Tsukasa. He thought of that moment, repeating it until he could muster out his last words over and over again. He shook his head. His eyes focused on the door in front of him. He was drowning in his head, making him wonder how much more he had yet to discover about himself.

He thought of what Yashiro would think if he continued with his ideas. But he knew, that he was trying to atone for his sins. His heart was conflicted. He wanted revenge, true, but he wanted to be absolved. He wanted to end Yashiro’s pain, but he didn’t want to think about how he killed Tsukasa. A cold breeze flew through him as he continued to ponder. After a few minutes, he walked out of the bathroom, waiting for the next day to come, adjusting his hat as the mokke feared the intense gaze Hanako had on his face.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #474

Top Ten Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

I am stunned – stunned! – that I’ve not done this one before. I mean, come on! It’s right there.

So there’s obviously a thematic resonance going on here. This weekend – the weekend you’re meant to be reading this – is famous where I come from because of a story where someone came back from the dead. Unlike other holidays – Christmas, Halloween, the release of a Star War – I’ve actually been a little slow off the mark in making lists that celebrate Easter. I’ve done eggs and bunnies, but incredibly I’ve never done resurrections, which really is the day’s whole deal. I mean, if you get down to brass tacks, it’s kinda the big selling point of the entire religion really. I hesitate to say “USP” because, well, it’s been done elsewhere, but it’s still supposed to be one of the big Christian takeaways (there’s definitely a chain of Christian takeaways in the States, isn’t there?).

Anyway, resurrection. It’s actually more common than you might think. Certainly in terms of comics there are probably more characters who’ve “died and come back” than have never “died” at all. But! And this is where I get pernickety. Most characters who “die” don’t actually die. Take Batman for instance: he’s shot in the face by Darkseid, and then Superman ups and finds his charred corpse, but – shocker! – he’s not actually dead, he was just sent back in time, where he Quantum Leaps his way back to the present day, accumulating enough Omega Energy with each leap that by the time he reaches the present day he’s blow a hole in reality. Or something, I’ve not read that story for quite a few years. Anyway: he wasn’t dead. Neither was Sherlock Holmes, or for that matter Dirty Den. Generally speaking, if someone dies in a story and then reappears, they’re not dead. Not really.

So this list here is supposed to be people who actually died. Now, even here, it’s debatable; I mean, is E.T. dead, or does his body just go into some kind of hibernation? If Optimus Prime’s brainwaves survive, does he ever really die? Is a clone someone coming back to life or not? It’s all a bit wishy-washy really, which kind of makes sense when you’re talking about resurrection. And let’s not get onto the chief resurrector, the Doctor; do they die every time they regenerate? Or is the regeneration itself a way of staving off death? When David Tennant turned into Matt Smith, did the Tennant-Doctor die? “I don’t want to go,” and all that; there’s always a subtle (or not-so-subtle) change in personality. Does that count? Well, for the purposes of this list, I’ve kinda decided it doesn’t. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, if you’re a big old nerd like me.

So yeah: people who have died – properly, I suppose – and then come back to life. That’s the list. No fakery, to mistaken identity, no alternate universe shenanigans; they were dead but they got better (no Chev Chelios either; sorry, Stath stans). No zombies either! Or vampires! They’re not undead; they were dead, and now they’re alive again. That’s the rule. Also I’ve seriously tried to limit comic book characters. And I’m sure there are some big omissions (like, I know there’s one from Game of Thrones that’s not on here, but that’s because I’ve not seen that far into the show yet; I know, I know). But I reckon these are the best at being back.

Optimus Prime (Transformers franchise, from about 1987): OP is the OG when it comes to coming back to life. Dying and then stopping being dead is pretty much his thing. Technically the first time he came back from the dead was in the original animation; famously being offed by Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he came back to life a year later. Subsequent media have frequently killed him and brought him back, even in the live-action movies, but I want to talk about the comics. Because the original Marvel run killed off Optimus at a similar time as the cartoon; he’s blown up in slightly contrived circumstances, but his brain is saved on a floppy disk. Two years later he has his body rebuilt and his brain restored and he’s off to the races once more. Then in 1991, when facing down planet-eating mega-bastard Unicron, he sacrifices himself again, but this time his personality has begun to merge with that of his ostensibly-human companion Hi-Q. Hi-Q/Prime is converted/rebuilt into a new body, and he wins the war. So there you go: even in this one sliver of continued continuity – not including off-shoots or spin-offs, let alone other iterations of the overall franchise – Optimus Prime died and came back to life twice. Beat that, Easter.

E.T. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): not much to say here that we don’t already know from the Book of Spielberg. E.T., doddery little alien magic-man, grows sicker and sicker as he’s stuck on Earth, until in a thrillingly-edited set-piece he seems to expire, human doctors unable to help him. “I know you’re gone,” says best bud Elliot, “because I don’t know what to feel.” But then! His heart glows! His colour returns! And he positively yells, “E.T. phone hooooooome!” – and Elliot’s euphoric laugh is just devastating. The whole sequence – what is it, ten minutes? Fifteen? – is masterful in every way, from the technical to the performative to the emotional. Bloody magic is what it is.

Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 1954): Gandalf the Grey famously leads the Fellowship of the Ring across the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where he faces off against a Balrog. After a bit of “you shall not pass” and all that, they both fall from the bridge, battling each other on the way down, before both perishing at the bottom. Gandalf, though, is not really Gandalf, but Olórin, one of the Maiar – basically a kind of angel, I guess. He is returned to Earth by the powers-that-be to complete his mission, and is promoted to Gandalf the White, supplanting the corrupt wizard Saruman. This new iteration of Gandalf is a bit more serious and steadfast, although he does retain his fascination with hobbits. Regardless, he gets a terrific death scene and a triumphant resurrection, and how it ties into Tolkien’s wider mythology is interesting.

Superman (DC Comics, 1993): comic book characters die and come back all the time; it’s pretty much a staple of the medium. I guess Jean Grey/Phoenix is probably the most famous, but they’ve all done at some point (even if, like in my Batman example earlier, sometimes they don’t actually die). Anyway, Superman died, very famously, after getting into a tremendous barney with genetically-engineered super-git Doomsday (as famously, and atrociously, depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). The whole “Death of Superman” arc is interesting and entertaining as an example of mid-nineties big-panel EXTREME storytelling: as the issues tick down to the fateful scrap in Metropolis, the number of panels-per-page is reduced until the final issue is basically just full of splash pages. It’s a terrific, exhilarating rumble, really selling the heft of the confrontation. Interestingly, the comic spends a lot of time afterwards dealing with life without Superman, as a raft of imitators/wannabe successors emerge from the woodwork; these include the best-ever Superboy, Conner Kent, and Steel, who’s basically Superman meets Iron Man. Eventually, of course, Superman comes back, his body essentially having been sent to a Kryptonian day spa to recuperate; he emerges clad in black and with a mullet, so death obviously has some lasting repercussions. Overall, it’s a whopping arc with long-term consequences, and whilst it’s easy to make Christ parallels when discussing Superman, this story doesn’t really hew that way (unlike the Snyder-verse which really goes all-in on that plot point, much to the films’ detriment). One of the better aspects is how, even in death, Superman is an inspiration, which in itself has a long trail; leading, eventually, to Batman’s famous withering diss, “the last time you inspired someone was when you where dead.” Anyway, I’ve gone on about this far too long.

Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984): let’s start by acknowledging just how great Spock’s death is in Wrath of Khan. As a plot point within the film, as a piece of staging and performance, and as a landmark moment in this franchise, it was seminal; a death for the ages (as an aside, it’s crazy to think Star Trek as a whole was only sixteen years old when Spock died; the MCU was eleven when Tony Stark clicked the bucket). Anyway, they built an entire film around how to bring him back, and Spock as we know him is absent for much of it; a presence looming over everything as he rapidly ages, going through his Vulcan super-puberty and everything. It’s actually a rather sombre film as Kirk’s son is killed and the Enterprise blows up; bringing back Spock comes with a very real cost. Trek III is not one of the top-tier films – in the loose trilogy that comprises Khan, Spock, and The Voyage Home it’s certainly the weakest – but it’s still pretty good, often underrated. And, of course, it brings back Spock, which is nice.

Agent Coulson (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2013): Coulson’s death in Avengers comes as a huge shock, one of the fan-favourite characters being brutally offed in surprising fashion. In a film chock full of super-people, it’s the ordinary guy who buys it tragically. However, did any of us really think he was dead-dead? And so barely a year later he pops back up in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. However, his reincarnation became a recurring plot point; his references to spending time in Tahiti (“It’s a magical place”) becoming increasingly sinister as we come to understand even he doesn’t know how he’s back up and running. The eventual truth – Nick Fury using painful and transformative alien tech to basically bring Coulson back to life – may be a bit underwhelming, but it gave Clark Gregg a lot of meat to chew on dramatically speaking, and it underscored a lot of his character development going forward (especially when he, yes, died again, and then sort-of came back, twice).

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2001): full disclosure: I never watched Buffy religiously. I think I just missed it at the start and it was only when all my friends were talking about how great it was that I started tuning in more regularly. Weirdly, I think the most I watched it was around the time Buffy died and came back. It’s fascinating, really, and full credit to the show for the way they explored it; in a series full of magic, the afterlife, and the undead, bringing a character back to life isn’t too shocking. Willow, Buffy’s witchy mate, resurrects her with magic; but in an excellent twist, it turns out that she was in Heaven, and is super pissed off to be pulled out of paradise and stuck back on Earth, leading to her feeling depressed and alienated all season. That’s a great hook for bringing a character back, and leads to some meaty stuff for Sarah Michelle Geller to do.

Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003): do you ever feel that The Matrix has slipped from popular culture a little bit? Twenty years ago it was ascendent, rivalling Lord of the Rings for the title of “the new Star Wars”. Everyone was copying it. but now hardly anyone talks about it. probably because it hasn’t had a multimedia shelf-life comprising dozens of games and spin-off shows. Maybe the new film will change that. But I digress; Hugo Weaving is tremendous as Agent Smith in the first film, and is exploded at the end (spoilers) by Keanu Reeves’ Neo. Unsurprisingly – especially as he’s, well, just bits of code – he’s back in the sequel. However, he’s now been corrupted; he becomes, basically, a virus, self-replicating and threatening not just our heroes but the Matrix itself. This builds across two films, as Neo has to fight dozens of Smiths in the famous “Burly Brawl”, before the final conflict in The Matrix Revolutions when it seems everyone in the program has been Smithed. It offers Weaving a lot of scenery to chew on and makes for some great set-piece battles, even if the films themselves are a little disappointing.

Olaf (Frozen II, 2019): let’s not beat around the bush here – Olaf carks it in Frozen II. Okay, maybe Elsa dies; maybe Anna dies in the first film. They’re frozen, right, but I feel like it’s “magic ice” and there’s something going on there. Do they come back to life or were they ever really dead? Anyway, Elsa is effectively “gone” but we get a protracted death scene for the comic relief talking snowman. He literally fades away, slowly dying in Anna’s arms, and melts into a flurry of snow that blows away. People talk about Bambi’s mum all the time, but mark my words; “Olaf’s death” is going to be cited as a major traumatic incident for twenty-year-olds in 2030. His resurrection, truth be told, is slightly less great, Elsa just straight-up bringing him back to life, reminding us that “water has memory” to let us know that it’s the same Olaf and he remembers everything (including, presumably, dying? That’s creepy). And that, to be honest, is where I draw the line; sentient wind and rock monsters I can handle, but we all know homeopathy is bollocks.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019): look, I hate this. But let’s deal with it anyway, because I have a funny feeling it’s going to lead to some quite interesting stories being told in spin-off Star Wars fiction. I personally feel quite strongly that Palpatine should have stayed dead. And maybe he did? We are led to believe that the Palpatine we see in Rise is a clone; there are jars of stilted Snokes floating in the background. He’s all knackered and broken, eyes blackened and fingers dropping off; clearly he’s not well. So is he really the same character at all? Is his Sith essence somehow fed into this new body, the way Prime’s mind is downloaded from a floppy disk (“run prime.exe”)? Let’s say it counts, let’s say he’s the same slimy Palps we know and love. He is, at least, a sinister presence, and like I say, the whys and wherefores of how he came to be back is quite interesting. There’s a fascinating story to be told about the rise of Snoke and the seduction of Ben Solo – a more interesting story than anything told in The Rise of Skywalker, for starters. Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian seems to be researching cloning and seeks to extract midichlorians from a Force-sensitive being; are we to conclude that this in service of making a new body for the Emperor? All this – stuff hinted at but not explored in the film itself – is, like I say, interesting if not outright fascinating. And I agree, there is a certain degree of circularity in bringing back the series’ Big Bad for the final instalment. But I still feel, hand on heart, that it undoes a lot of the victory of Return of the Jedi (as did The Force Awakens, if I’m honest), as well as throwing away all the development of Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. So: Palpatine is cool, his presence and backstory in Rise of Skywalker is suitably creepy and interesting, but on the whole it’s crap and they shouldn’t have brought him back. The end.

Ten people who definitely died and definitely un-died! What could be more Easter-y? Honourable mention goes to the episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer changes history and ends up not being a hologram, only to accidentally blow himself up in the final seconds.

[spxcemuses]

✂ (Frollo)

[ Send me ‘✂’ and my muse will kill yours. Right now. Brutally, horribly, bloody. Just do it. ]  | Always accepting!

The judge had stood a few feet away from the Romani witch, a torch clutched firmly in his left hand as he enforced the final ultimatum. Either choose him for his own twisted desires, or serve her punishment by being burned at the stake. She had a strong sense of justice, desperately wanting her people to be no longer persecuted under Frollo’s iron-like grip... She would not give into him, not now or ever . In retaliation, she had spat directly in his face out of pure hatred. He lurched back as the crowd gasped, a hand wiping away at the saliva that rolled down his sunken cheek. That damned gypsy witch, how dare she defy him. She truly was a demon after all, someone that should be sent back to Hell for her spells against him and for tormenting the city’s people. A harsh and icy glare was given towards Esmeralda before stepping back, raising the torch dutifully in the air and announcing her final choice to the crowd.

“ The gypsy Esmeralda has refused to recant! This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen in Paris in awful jeopardy! ” “ She is a succubus and a spell-caster, darkening the hearts of denizens and throwing them into temptation! The Lord has not forgiven her for her sins... So I shall do my part to have her be saved, but not just for His own mercy! ” “ This is for justice, for Paris, and for her own salvation... It is my sacred duty to send this unholy demon back where she belongs! ” He had finished his spiel, lowering the torch onto the bundles of sticks that were below her feet. Plumes of thick, grey smoke started to unfurl from the growing flames now, orange and yellow consuming all in its wake. She had gagged and gasped, the billowing smoke starting to become too much for her to breathe properly. The judge’s smile grew more sinister as she slowly struggled to breathe, the flames now catching onto her thin prisoner’s garb and igniting it. It had seared flesh, burnt her perfectly tan skin... The screams of sheer agony were enough for the judge to believe that she was a damned soul; her purification would be with fire. Soon enough, the flames had consumed her whole body, burning ebony waves of hair and everything else until the screams had stopped. He had watched the entire time, his darkened heart not affected with her burnt corpse in the slightest. In fact, he was prideful that she was gone, a wave of slight relief rushing in his veins. She simply was one wretched gypsy taken down, with more of her disgusting kind to be eradicated in the future years.

@streetwisetemptress

[batmannotes]

Superman: Man of Tomorrow

Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis in Superman: Man of Tomorrow, the next entry in the popular series of DC Universe Movies. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC, the feature-length animated film will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting August 23, 2020, and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack and Blu-ray Combo Pack on September 8, 2020.

Superman: Man of Tomorrow will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (USA $39.99 SRP; Canada $44.98 SRP) and Blu-ray Combo Pack (USA $24.98 SRP; Canada $29.98 SRP) as well as on Digital. The 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack features an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc in 4K with HDR, a Blu-ray disc featuring the film in hi-definition, and a digital version of the movie. The Blu-ray Combo Pack features a Blu-ray disc with the film in hi-definition, a DVD with the film in standard definition, and a digital version of the movie. 

It’s the dawn of a new age of heroes, and Metropolis has just met its first. But as Daily Planet intern Clark Kent – working alongside reporter Lois Lane – secretly wields his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good, there's even greater trouble on the horizon. Follow the budding hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and fights for his life to halt the attack of power-hungry alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman … but first, Superman must save the world!

“Superman: Man of Tomorrow is an inspiring retelling of the DC Universe Movies’ backstory for The Man of Steel, taking the audience to his early days as an intern at the Daily Planet – and his beginnings as a learning-on-the-job DC Super Hero,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Senior Vice President, Originals, Animation and Family Marketing. “Darren Criss and Zachary Quinto have wholeheartedly embraced their roles as Superman and Lex Luthor for this film, and the end result is a special addition to canon of films that every Superman fan will want to add to their collection.”

Superman: Man of Tomorrow Special Features

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital

 Lobo: Natural Force of Chaos (New Featurette) – He’s the rude, crude, galactic bounty hunter who has been more than a thorn in the side of DC’s greatest heroes. This is a full throttle look at Lobo. 

Martian Manhunter: Lost and Found (New Featurette) – This is the personal journey of J’onn J’onzz. A stranger in a strange land who emerges from the shadows as a force for peace and justice. 

Look Back: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (Featurette) – The Earth’s future hangs in the balance when the Justice League faces a powerful new threat – the Fatal Five. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman seek answers as the time-traveling trio of Mano, Persuader and Tharok terrorize Metropolis in search of budding Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz – whom they need to be able to free remaining Fatal Five members Emerald Empress and Validus in order to carry out their sinister plan.  But the Justice League discover an ally from another time in the peculiar Star Boy – brimming with volatile power, could he be the key to thwarting the Fatal Five? An epic battle against ultimate evil awaits!

Look Back: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Featurette) – Based on the popular Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness comic series/graphic novel, the film finds United States President Lex Luthor using the oncoming trajectory of a Kryptonite asteroid to frame Superman and declare a $1 billion bounty on the heads of the Man of Steel and his “partner in crime,” Batman. Heroes and villains alike launch a relentless pursuit of Superman and Batman, who must unite – and recruit help – to stave off the action-packed onslaught, stop the asteroid, and uncover Luthor’s devious plot to take command of far more than North America. 

From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series, “The Main Man, Part I"

From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series, “The Main Man, Part II"

Movie trailers: Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Superman: Red Son

A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie – An advanced look at the next animated film in the popular DC Universe Movies collection. 

Superman: Man of Tomorrow will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.

Preorder at Amazon.

BatmanNotes.com

[dontshootmespence]

Aastha

Part 1 of 4

Summary: After an unimaginable loss, you discover your powers and become even more cemented in your faith. Sam experiences a similar loss and struggles with it. When you meet, how will your lives change?

Pairing: Sam Wilson x Indian!Superhero!Reader

Words: 1,382

A/N: This is for @bucky-smiles 2K Bollywood Writing Challenge! My prompt was Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The thing that stood out most to me was both of the protagonists’ struggles and/or commitments to faith, so that’s what I drew on for this fic. Although I know that Sam is an orphan in the comics, having lost both his parents to violence, I had him be raised by his mother, so she’s still alive here.

Beta’d by: The lovely @bucky-smiles herself. I wanted to make sure I did the culture and religion justice, so thank you! Also beta’d by another Indian lovely @emilyshurley​, who also made the above aesthetic for me. Thank you both for working with me. It meant a lot for me to get the culture and religion right because representation fucking matters, so your help was invaluable to me. <3

It had started off like any other day in New York City, except it wasn’t any other day. On this day, you’d accompanied your mother and father to work. You’d been waiting for months to go with them to the hospital, to see what they did, and watch what you would do too when you were old enough and out of school.

Alongside your parents, you gave offerings to Krishna murti, setting a flower picked from your yard, a ghee lamp and incense at the feet of the murti. As the mantra passed your lips, you thanked Him for the honor you were about to receive.

“Ready, beta?” Your mother said, smiling proudly upon you.

Excitedly, you nodded, standing tall between your parents on the labyrinthian subway ride to the hospital, knowing nothing about how your life would soon be changed forever.

----

Among the sterile hallways of the vast building, you felt vitality, blood pulsing through your veins as you watched your parents perform surgeries through the glass partitions. Despite your young age, their bloodied hands didn’t scare you; you knew the heroics they performed each and every day.

After a lunch break with them both, during which time you regaled them with knowledge that they’d one day have a brain surgeon in the family, you returned to watch your mother work – performing a triple bypass on an older gentleman.

Underneath your feet, you felt a quick thud, like the bass drum of the music you loved – registering it and moving on. Before you could glance back up, the floor gave way, debris pelting you from all directions as the flames consumed you.

----

Standing at the apex of the explosion, no one had expected you to make it out alive, no less make it out without a scratch. Everyone else in the area, including your mother, had been killed when the boilers exploded. “Why, baba?” You asked, hand engulfed by his as he sat at your bedside, in a different hospital a town over. “Why Ma and not me?”

Sadly, he grazed his fingers along your cheek. “I don’t know, beta. But I have to believe Bhagwan has a plan, and that he saved you for a reason.”

----

For many years, it wasn’t apparent to you why you would’ve been saved from the blaze. Without your mother, you retreated into yourself, becoming angrier and angrier at Bhagwan, everyone, the world. You should’ve been consumed by fire. But you left the hospital without a burn in sight.

As you got older, you noticed things moving without the slightest pressure on your part. And occasionally, you’d get a small cut and have it disappear within what seemed like minutes. But you didn’t think anything of it. You were growing, still a kid in most senses, so maybe you just had a really amazing immune system.

It wasn’t until nearly five years later, when you were just on the cusp of your 16th birthday, that you found the reason – the purpose He had for you. Walking home from school, you heard a woman screaming, gasping for air as she begged whoever was nearby to leave her alone. Approaching the noise, you peeked around the corner of the alley to see an imposing man, who had to be well over six feet, towering over a small woman, probably no more than five years older than you.

When he put his hand on her, your blood boiled and without thinking, you came out from your hiding spot and screamed. “Leave her alone!”

The man looked at you with a sinister sneer, easing his grasp on the young woman and turning his full attention toward you. “Run along, little one,” he said condescendingly, waving you off as the woman stared at you in terror, her eyes brimming with tears. “Go back to school.”

“I’m going home from school actually,” you said without thought for the consequences. You should’ve been scared, but it’s like you were imbued with purpose. This moment – right now. “Get your hands off her.”

Turning from the young woman, he reeled back and punched her in face, undoubtedly planning on dealing with you before he returned to her, but as he approached, you didn’t sink into yourself. You cemented yourself in place, pushing against him with all of your might the moment he was within your reach.

Taken aback, you watched as the man flew nearly 30 feet forward, hitting his leg against the brick wall of the alleyway. A string of curses flew from his lips as he got up, ready to charge at you again, when a searing heat curled its way around your hands and arms, stopping him in place. Tales had been told of superheroes before. But they were just stories, right? Why you?

Shakily, you lifted your arms and held them in front of your body, challenging the man to test you. But he didn’t. In astonishment, he stepped back, his eyes drifting toward the young woman who was attempting to get up. When you saw him weighing the possibilities, debating whether or not to go after her or run, you ran forward and screamed, an intense firestorm barreling toward him.

When the flames dissipated, he was gone, his footsteps getting further and further away by the second. Turning, you saw the young woman, eyes wide, but not afraid. “What-what are you?”

“I don’t know,” you mumbled in reply. Is this why Bhagwan had saved you?

----

As steel gray fell unhindered against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, Sam felt his grip on reality - everything he’d come to know – slip through his fingertips. Flying toward the ground at breakneck speed, Sam retracted the wings of the EXO-7 Falcon and bounded toward Riley, who was tumbling head over heels, careening toward the sea of sand and stone below. “Please, God,” he muttered, his face stinging against the hardened wind. “Please.”

Screaming toward the approaching earth, Sam dove as fast as his body would take him. Blood pounded in his ears; his muscles alight with fire. No matter how fast he willed his body to move, he remained suspended in the air, watching as Riley smashed into the ground below.

On reflex alone, Sam extended the EXO’s wings and glided into the ground, watching as his fellow troops descended upon Riley’s disfigured form. Falling to his knees, he let out a blood-curdling scream, only able to look on helplessly as his fellow soldiers attempted to resuscitate him – but it was to no avail.

He was already gone.

-----

In the days and weeks after Riley’s death, Sam found himself going about his life in a daze - as if the world stood still and he moved through it, slow as molasses out of a bottle. Nothing anyone said penetrated. Nothing anyone said mattered. Unwilling to put anyone else in danger because of his ‘inability to deal,’ he returned home.

Though he felt grateful to return to his loved ones, to see his mother again, he walked around in constant anger. Not sadness, but anger. And he couldn’t understand why. Until his mother spoke. “Go speak to Jesus,” she’d said. “He’ll help you through this.” It took every ounce of strength to keep himself from snapping at his mother. Instead, he turned his anger to where it truly belonged.

Excusing himself, he moved through the streets of Harlem with a purpose he hadn’t felt for many years. When the deep-red brick, mottled from years of neglect and the elements, came into sight, Sam clenched his fists, unable to stave off the broiling anger rolling through him. He walked up the stairs and through the heavy wooden doors, eyes welling up with unshed tears.

When he was a kid, he remembered feeling welcome there, among the bright, white walls, delicate stained glass and red upholstered, wooden chairs. But in that moment, he had tunnel vision, everything around him blurring into nothingness as he stared down the statue before his eyes. If a glare could destroy, the statue would crumble. “Never again,” he breathed through clenched teeth.

From that moment on, Sam believed what lay before him. The color of the sky. The stories told by those in his support group. And eventually, the man with the shield. And you.

[aqueerassbookshelf]

Human Enough, by E.S. Yu

Publishing date: 7th Oct. 2019 Disclaimer: I recieved this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Noah Lau joined the Vampire Hunters Association, seeking justice for his parents’ deaths, he didn’t anticipate ending up imprisoned in the house of the vampire he was supposed to kill—and he definitely didn’t anticipate falling for that vampire’s lover. 

Six months later, Noah’s life has gotten significantly more complicated. On top of being autistic in a world that doesn’t try to understand him, he still hunts vampires for a living…while dating a vampire himself. Awkward. Yet Jordan Cross is sweet and kind, and after braving their inner demons and Jordan’s vicious partner together, Noah wouldn’t trade him for the world. 

But when one of Jordan’s vampire friends goes missing and Noah’s new boss at the VHA becomes suspicious about some of his recent cases, what starts off as a routine paperwork check soon leads Noah to a sinister conspiracy. As he investigates, he and Jordan get sucked into a deadly web of intrigue that will test the limits of their relationship—and possibly break them. After all, in a world where vampires feed on humans and humans fear vampires, can a vampire and a vampire hunter truly find a happy ending together?

Tags: LGBT, romance, paranormal, Ace, Pansexual, Autism, Crime, Alt Universe, law enforcement, vampires, friends to lovers, interracial.  Content warning: Ableism, graphic violence, allusions to past emotional abuse, abduction, hate groups.

I really liked this book. I can say that about loads of books, sure, but Human Enough managed something only a few couple have managed before - it dragged my head-first out of my reading slump, and was finished in just over 24 hours. I spoke with a friend just the other day on how so much of queer literature is just about coming out and nothing more - “Where are our fantasy novels? Where are our paranormal romances?” Well, it’s here, and it’s bloody brilliant.

Yu manages to do just the right amount of world building to pull us in as readers, whilst not going all exposure all the time. I as a reader believe in the world I’m getting - the secrets of vampires uncovered with time, the research to find a solution, the hate groups and the support groups both. There are several things we only get glimpses of, whenever Noah tags along with Jordan, but they are still only glimpses, and they make me want to learn more about the world. 

Seeing a main character be so unapologetic about his neurodiversity (whilst also, at times, giving a big mental middle finger to the norm for autistic representation in media) was truly marvellous to read. The paragraphs on overstimulation, on auditory processing, on masking, on executive dysfunction… As a person who has for quite some time now been believed to be somewhere on the neurodiverse spectrum, these paragraphs felt incredibly validating to read. And whilst this is not entirely my topic to judge, and so I might’ve missed certain things, I would 100% recommend the book for this representation alone. 

On that note, I also adore all the focus on communities - whether it’s a support group where certain vampires can talk through their thoughts and feelings, or online forums and message boards. So often in media we get presented with a minority character who the text completely isolates, because the writer - for whatever reason - can’t be bothered to give them any form of community or others to relate to, leaving both the character and the represented reader feel… not very good.  Human Enough manages a good mix, both between people of different marginalized identities helping each other out in solidarity, and characters finding support amongst their own that I recognize from my own life and friends. Helping where you can when you can, and then when you cannot, helping to find someone who can. 

I like the overall pacing of the story. The time jumps had me confused for a hot second, as the text explicitly tells us when it jumps back but not forwards, though after figuring out the (eventually) rather obvious pattern of “every other chapter”, it all went swimmingly. I might’ve felt that the plot was maybe a little predictable at times, having called certain plot twists several chapters ahead of time, but less to the point where it spoilt the story, and more like I’m “Poirot, detective genius”, solving the mystery alongside the characters. The overall storyline felt… I wouldn’t say lacking, but rather… almost too short? Despite the 6 month-divide, both plots only last a couple of weeks, making the story feel more of perhaps a slice-of-life than I was prepared for. 

I’d like to personally thank Yu for including one of my favourite tropes, friends to lovers, but also for the clearly loving way in which various marginalized identities are included and discussed within the text. The characters strike a good balance between talking about their various identities in a way that feels real, and lived, and honest, and just being downright salty over the lack of respect the majority often has for minorities. Which, oof, big mood.

A quick and easy read, yet captivating and warm. All in all, book gets a strong 4.5/5 stars - at the very least.

[ask-de-writer]

MET BY MOONLIGHT : (Part 1 of 3) : Flocking Bay

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to Flocking Bay

MET BY MOONLIGHT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

5740 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

written 2003 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express written consent of the author or proper copyright holder.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.

All sorts of Fan Activity, fiction, art, cosplay, music or anything else is ACTIVELY encouraged!

///////////////////////

It was evening in Flocking Bay. My last patient had gone home hours before and I had finished up my day’s lab work, ground the last lens, and eaten a leisurely dinner. The second day of July was a fine one and I planned a quiet stroll by the last light of the sun and to finish by the light of the full moon which would not set until almost morning.

The long shadow of the ridge behind the town had covered my home and place of business, The Blackwall Street Ophthalmology Clinic, an hour before. As I sauntered along Blackwall, which ran across the back of the town, just under the ridge, I admired the lush green foliage fading toward black as the sunlight failed. I like the evening and the dark.

My ramble had taken me up the street nearly a mile. By now, the full moon was providing all of the light. The sun was just a glow of memory beyond the ridge. I passed the old Hilstrom House. It was the oldest house in Flocking Bay. Built in 1647 by the first Hilstrom. He had got the land for the town by shooting an Indian Shaman in the back. Peeling paint revealed hand squared beams and other details that showed its age. Many generations of Hilstroms had been born here, raised here and died here.

Seven years ago, the last of the Hilstroms had vanished. The courts had just declared him dead and now the place was due to go on the auction block for back taxes. I remembered all of the questions that I’d had to answer when it was realized that he had vanished — And I was the last to see him.

I had truthfully told them that I had last seen Mr Hilstrom in front of my clinic. Of course he was still there, – in slightly altered form – for any who knew what to look for. Only one living person that I was aware of did know what to look for. Myself.

I am the last descendant of the Marquost Shaman that the first Hilstrom had murdered by that shot in the back. That black deed and its bloody aftermath had gained the land upon which Flocking Bay had been built. The slaughter that followed that killing was the result of cooperation between white and Indian. The other tribes had not even coveted the Marquost land. They gave it away to the whites after they had used the whites to break the grip of our magic upon them.

The other Indians had sold the Marquost children into slavery with other tribes . . . a mistake. There has, as a result of that bit of greed, been a Marquost Shaman to hound them down the full tale of the years since the massacre in 1647. And the descendants of those Indians still think that the tribulations that they suffered are the result of white-man’s duplicity. . .

Hilstrom House was at the edge of town. Only a little further, just out of town, was the old Wikes place. I planned to turn around there and go back, loop through town, past the library to the waterfront and then back to my clinic. About four miles altogether.

I spent a short time contemplating the perfectly done, absolutely ugly, example of Carpenter Gothic architecture that was the old Wikes place. On my return, I became aware that I was being followed. At first glance, I would have thought that it was a wolf. That couldn’t be. The Maine Wolf has been extinct for over two hundred years.

It had to be a stray dog. Big dog. One of those Husky types, maybe. One good glimpse showed it to be a female. The dog kept its distance and I ceased to worry about it once I realized that it was not being hostile. Curious perhaps. I had no real fear.

Flocking Bay has little crime and few stray animals of any kind. Such crime as there is comes mostly from outsiders. We get along with a town constable and a justice of the peace.

The latter is a woman some thirty or forty years of age whom I met during the investigation of Mr Hilstrom’s disappearance.

I completed my walk and the dog followed me almost to my door. She paused at the round black stones that line my walk and parking lot. Her hackles rose just a bit as she sniffed at the stones, in particular the one that used to be Mr Hilstrom . . .

The beast disappeared into the night more silently than a ghost.

The next morning I looked up animal control in Flocking Bay’s tiny phone book. I dialed the phone and it rang a number of times before it was picked up.

“Laelia Darkmoon, Justice of the Peace,” said the voice from the receiver cheerfully. “What can I do for you, Dr. Fredricks?”

“Hi Laelia. Isn’t caller I.D. wonderful? I must have dialed wrong. I wanted animal control.”

“No, you dialed right. I wear both hats. Lost a critter?”

“No, I don’t even know if I should bother you with this but last night I saw a big stray dog. No collar, looked to be sort of a Husky-Wolf hybrid or something. I was out for a walk and it followed me from the woods out near the old Wikes place.”

She laughed, “I know it. Don’t worry. It’ll never harm a soul. Grey, white blaze, bit of a ruff at the neck, straight tail with long hair?”

“You’ve seen it before?”

“Only a few times. It’s the Flocking Bay werewolf. Not really a werewolf. It seems to be the very last Maine wolf. It wouldn’t matter if it did hurt somebody. It’s protected to the hilt by the Endangered Species Act.”

“Why’d you call it a werewolf?”

“Due to better light, its mostly seen at or near the full moon. It’s there anytime though, don’t worry about that. It’s real enough.”

“Thanks for telling me about the wolf. That was fascinating. I’ve only met you professionally. Coffee and the pastry of your choice at the Stone Oven, noonish, say?”

“You’re on. See you there.”

I got through my morning appointments without any problems. Simple glasses, a set of contacts, all the usual minor difficulties. I told my receptionist that I would be out for two hours at lunch.

Allison grinned at me. “Got a hot lunch date, Doc?”

“You wish,” I retorted with an equal grin. “I’m going to go talk to the Justice of the Peace about a wolf that I saw last night.”

“You saw the wolf?” asked Allison, wide-eyed. Wistfully she added, “I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve only heard other people talk about it.”

“I really saw it. I thought it was a stray dog until Laelia set me straight about it. It came right up onto the front walk of the Clinic.”

“It did?” She pointed, “You mean right out there?”

“Yes. Say, Allison, why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off? My dime. Go take out your little sailboat or something. Enjoy.”

With a “Thanks, Doc!” thrown over her shoulder she was gone before I could change my mind. I locked up and walked down toward the waterfront. The Stone Oven Bake and Coffee Shop was only a block back from the water and had a nice view through a small park to the docks and the sea.

Laelia was waiting for me at a small table out in front. She was a large, spare woman, nearly 5'9" tall, with gray-black hair that had a white streak near the center of her forehead and icily blue eyes. I could not even make a guess at her age. Belying her otherwise formidable appearance was a smile of genuine warmth.

One of my little accomplishments is the reading of heraldry and she had a pin shaped like an escutcheon that could be heraldically interpreted. “Sable, wolf’s head proper erased argent, in the sinister chief an anulet argent,” I read.

She looked startled and then laughed. I liked that. She had a good laugh. “Not many can read that pin. It’s an heirloom. The family crest from the old country.”

“It looks like a wolf under a new moon,” I said and added, “Just coffee and pastry or would you like lunch? They have a fabulous stew served in a fresh baked bread bowl here. I can smell that it’s ready.”

“Lunch sounds and smells fabulous,” Laelia said stretching in an animal-like fashion. “The pin does represent a wolf under a new moon. Our family name was unpronounceably Polish before it became Darkmoon. That was a long time ago, though. 1648, I think.”

“Truly interesting.” I said as I seated myself. “Few know much at all of events that far removed in time. I had people here in Flocking Bay but the last of them was gone in 1647.”

She looked at me curiously and said, “1647? That was the Year of Founding, as they called it in the Annals of the Township. The Year of the Massacre would be more like it, I think.”

Slightly on my guard, I asked, “What do you know of the Marquost massacre? Most people haven’t even heard of it.”

“Did I tell you that local history is one of my hobbies?” she asked. “I have the complete Darkmoon Diaries, the older Hilstrom Diaries, the Annals of the Township – 1647 through 1882, and a long standing friendship with Mrs. Alderman, the Librarian. What she can’t lay hands on, hasn’t even been rumored to exist.”

I laughed. “I, too, have met the formidable Mrs. Alderman. Have you seen her file on the Wikes place? Now there is a mystery for a long winter night!”

I was surprised at the grimness of her response. “I not only have seen it, I entered a legal true copy into the Court Records when I got the order to block further sales of that house. Sixty innocent people have disappeared there!”

She relented and added, “Both the Township and Flocking Bay Realty opposed the order. The Township cited the loss of tax revenue from the estates of the missing persons!

“Flocking Bay Realty tried to cite loss of income by using the historic sales record. I asked if they wished to be named as accomplices in an investigation into the deliberate disappearance and probable death of sixty people. They shut up.”

Next==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to Flocking Bay

[steve-needs-a-hug]

“Home is where you really belong.”

Hey guys. So I’m seeing TRoS this Friday night, and I figured it’d be a good idea to share a little piece I wrote a couple months ago which is basically a possible TRoS ending. 

Brief summary: It starts off at the climax, with Rey having just defeated Kylo Ren in an epic battle. Things are about to take a dark turn but Rey has a change of heart. Poe lets off some steam he’d been keeping bottled up for a long time, and it ends happily with the trio and Chewie flying off safely in the Falcon. 

(It sounds benign, but I cried a lot after writing it because it got SO intense and emphasized a lot of the major themes that a lot of people seem to gloss over. It was a meaningful experience writing it, and I hope it’ll be a meaningful experience for you reading it.) *there is NO ship content except the Millennium Falcon lol*

“Can you see them?” Poe called to Finn.

“Not yet!” Finn shouted. He squinted through the window of the ship, searching through the thick cloud cover and heavy rain. Suddenly he saw flashes of blue light, followed by a flash of fiery red.

“Uh, I think I found them,” Finn called back to Poe. Poe and Chewie quickly descended the Falcon, now looking for a safe place to land on the wet, stormy planet. Finn was on edge, anxious about Rey’s safety; he wished he’d never let her go alone. As soon as the Falcon was on solid ground, he opened the door and rushed out, but what he saw stopped him short.

Kylo Ren was on his knees, slashes and burns on his face and all over his body. Rey fought him relentlessly with all the anger and rage in her heart, and now she stood tall over him, her lightsaber drawn to his throat. There was something different about her. Her eyes seemed to glow with an unnatural light, and Finn could have sworn he heard a sinister whisper in the air.

Rey glowered down at her defeated enemy. He’d hurt so many people. She could avenge them, right then and there. Rey started to become aware of a blackness creeping over her heart…it felt like she was being swallowed up with wrath. She closed her eyes, and suddenly there was only one thought in her mind – “Do it.” 

She opened her eyes again, but they were clouded by a red haze. “Do it. Do it. Do it.” She heard a voice in the distance calling her name, but it sounded so muffled and far away. She looked down at Kylo Ren and all she could see were painful, bitter memories of torture, violence, destruction, and lies. She could end it now and deliver Kylo Ren the justice he deserved. She was the punisher. She was the avenger. He thought he could teach her, turn her, but now he was completely at her mercy. She felt as if raw power was coursing through her veins. Rey now distinctly heard an old, gnarled voice. “Do what must be done, Rey. Do not hesitate, show no mercy.” Her grip on the lightsaber tightened. She began to lift up her arm to strike, to land the finishing blow and end the evil deeds of Kylo Ren once and for all. Suddenly a face began to take shape in her mind…an old face…careworn, but kind…a familiar woman.

Rey saw Leia’s sad eyes, Leia’s warm smile. She remembered Leia’s arms around her as she cried on the Princess’s shoulder. She remembered Leia sitting alone, her mind far away, dwelling on people and places long gone. Rey glanced downward at Kylo Ren, red blood dripping down his face and matting in his thick dark hair. Her stomach lurched when she looked at his eyes, big and brown just like his mother’s. It was hard for Rey to even believe that Kylo Ren was related to the people Rey looked up to most. As soon as Rey saw the eyes, she couldn’t unsee them. She couldn’t unsee Leia Organa’s only child in this broken monster of a man. Rey’s head started swimming as it raced to a future mere minutes from coming to pass…Kylo Ren’s blood spilt all over the ground. Would she leave his body there? Would they have to take it with them and bury it somewhere? Rey saw herself facing Leia once she returned. Her son’s blood on Rey’s clothes. She knew she would never be able to look Leia in the eye again. Just one more soul-shattering trauma to add to the Princess’s already burdened heart.

Rey detracted her lightsaber, the fury and heat of moments earlier abruptly replaced with bone-chilling cold. She blinked several times as the haze dissipated and she turned around to see Finn and Poe standing a small distance away, staring at her, frozen. Rey suddenly turned around and took off running straight towards them; Finn jumped, nervous that some darkness possessed Rey and turned her against them, but as she approached he saw her eyes back to their normal hazel colour, her face full of emotion. She nearly smashed into him, her arms tightly wrapped around and hands gripping Finn’s body for dear life. Finn had no clue what just happened but he knew she needed him right now, so he held her close and didn’t move or speak until she finally pulled away with teary eyes.

Kylo Ren felt the darkness envelope Rey in that moment. It was so thick in the air that he felt as if it was choking him. He saw her eyes glow with an uncanny orange light. He felt not only her fury, but an ancient spirit of hate and revenge overtaking her. Kylo knew what was coming next and he had nothing left in him to fight. He began to long for the blade to hit. At least the pain would be over. 

But then she looked at him like he was a human being, retracted her lightsaber, and…ran away. He struggled to focus on who was waiting for her in the distance…the traitor, of course. And that pilot. Rey was hugging Finn so tightly that Kylo wondered if Finn would break a rib (even on the brink of death, Kylo’s dry humour is never absent). Poe Dameron watched his friends embrace for a while, but his attention shifted to Kylo’s distant, slumped over figure. Kylo pulled in a shaky breath, knowing what was coming as Poe strode over to him. Poe stopped only a few feet away from Kylo and stared hard at him for a solid minute.

Poe badly wanted to slap Kylo Ren across the face, but as he neared him and saw Kylo’s wounds, he decided to express his feelings in a way that didn’t involve getting Kylo’s dark red blood on his hand.

“Interesting,” Poe finally said. “Last time we met, I was the one bleeding with you looming over me. You ripped my mind apart like it was a game to you, and my friend told me you did the same thing to her. You nearly killed Finn. You work for people who obliterated an entire system of populated planets. But you know what? You know what, Kylo?” Poe spat. “That’s not the worst thing you’ve done. None of it is.” Poe paused, eyes boring into Kylo, who faced the ground.

“She put up a brave face for the others, but I saw her. I saw her sitting quiet, alone, and I know she was thinking about you.”

Poe suddenly lunged forward. “Where’s her husband?! Huh?!” Poe shouted at Kylo.

“Where is he?!”

Kylo’s jaw clenched as hot tears streamed down his face, causing the wounds to sting even more. Finn, hearing Poe’s raised voice, walked over to see the scene unfold. Finn watched Kylo’s eyes, witnessing the resentment, shame, defiance, and regret he was experiencing all at once. He had never been so vulnerable.

“It’s only because of her that we didn’t kill you,” Poe bitterly whispered. Kylo finally looked up from the ground to meet Poe’s eyes through a curtain of dark messy hair over his bloodied face, opening his mouth slowly.

“I wish you had,” he croaked, pain breaking his voice. Poe didn’t flinch. Kylo Ren shut his eyes tightly, starting to wobble from the effort of keeping himself up on his knees. His head started to swim as he felt a familiar figure approaching him slowly.

Chewbacca stood over Kylo Ren and emitted a low, quiet groan. He remembered when this broken man was a happy young boy, with loving parents at his side. As Kylo slipped into unconsciousness, Chewie stooped down and picked him up with his strong, furry arms. Poe turned and headed back towards Rey and Finn as they watched Chewbacca carry Kylo into the Falcon, themselves standing outside a little longer. They remained silent for a moment. Rey noticed Poe’s reddened face and glassy eyes.

“He’ll pay for what he’s done,” Rey said quietly.  “It’s over now.”

Poe turned to her, eyes now glowing fiercely. “Is it? Is it really?” Finn blinked rapidly; he’d never seen his usually easy-going friend this intense until today.

“The Galaxy was peaceful until Darth Vader and the Empire showed up,” Poe continued. “Just when we thought things were going to be okay again, then here came this guy. How do we know there’s not going to be another maniac trying to take over the Galaxy?”

Finn placed his hands on his hips confidently. “If there is, they’ll have us to deal with.”

Rey smiled, and Poe shook his head and chuckled sadly. Finn’s expression then turned more serious.

“I’m done running,” he said. “I’m ready to stand and fight, as long as I have you two by my side.”

Rey put her arm around his shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

“Where? Back to Jakku?” Finn joked, eliciting a laugh from Rey.

“Anywhere but there! No, my home…” Rey trailed off for a moment, pondering. Where’s home? Home is where you really belong. Then she finally knew the answer to the question she’d been asking all along.  “Wherever you guys are, that’s where home will be.”

Finn beamed, a huge grin on his face. Poe put his worries aside for the moment and smiled with his friends. Together they turned and walked back inside the Falcon. Kylo lay crumpled on a couch in the corner, his tattered black cape draped over him like a blanket. Chewie sat in the co-pilot’s chair, the sorrowful expression in his eyes lifting when he saw the young trio’s optimistic faces. Rey took a deep breath and plunked down beside him, gave him a loving pat on the back, and started preparing for takeoff. None of the people in that ship knew where life was going to take them or what the Force had in store for their future, but Rey, Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca knew that as long as they had each other, they were going to be all right.

                                                  THE END

[mychemicalficrecs]

Any paranormal fics? Like vampires n ghosts n werewolves n that stuff! Any ship is good!

Hi Nonny!

This was a fun ask, there's so much cool stuff you can do with paranormal AUs! I actually have several more vampire and werewolf bookmarks, but I didn't want the list to become too long 😅

Paranormal Elements

Not Like That by orphan_account, Frank/Ray/Gerard/Mikey, 8k, Mature. "Frank's a fairy." "I haven't heard anyone call gay people that in years. You fuck your entire band. We literally have sex every day, Ray, we're both fairies. I'm a fairy, you're a fairy, Mikey's a fairy. Don't single Frank out."

Smokeless Flame of Fire by tabulaxrasa, Frank/Gerard, 21k, Mature. Frank blinked. "What kind of name for a genie is Gerard?"

Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency by jjtaylor, Pennyplainknits, Frank/Gerard, Mikey/Pete, Lindsey/Jamia, Bob/Ray, Spencer/Brendon, 164k, Mature. Pete, in Decaydance Mansion, with a yarrow stake. Frank and Gerard, in the greenhouse, with a plant of questionable origin. Bob, everywhere you look, with a gang of assassins for justice. Vampires, valets, pamphlets, haunted furniture, dub-thrall, disembodied voices, zombie couriers, and sinister rituals.

Paradox 'verse by stoplightglow, Frank/Gerard, 42k, Mature. You know the saying. The best part about hitting rock bottom is that you get to meet a hot psychic.

Headfirst for Halos, P.I. by behindskylines (deanlovessammymorethanpie), Frank/Gerard, 4k, Teen And Up Audiences. “For the last time, Gerard,” Ray sighs, because he knows, deep down, that it won’t be, “we’re not ghostbusters.”

Adrift by innocent_wolves, Frank/Gerard, 31k, Explicit. When successful author Gerard Way is forced to do something drastic to spur on his creativity, he decides to move out of the city. He buys an old villa in the small town of Kellmington and is satisfied with that, until he discovers that it’s already inhabited by one of the former residents: a persistent ghost. To have a dead spirit around is certainly not what he paid for, but Gerard soon learns that the ghost has its own story – a story that might lead him to a life-changing plot twist.

Magic Hours by annemari, Frank/Gerard, 8k, Teen And Up Audiences. "What the fuck?" Gerard asks, weakly. His heart's still trying to beat its way out of his chest. He's honestly used to dealing with ghosts by now, but he always startles when they do their whole "turning up out of nowhere to spook you to death" shtick. Also, this guy's not a ghost. So, seriously, what the fuck. "Who the fuck are you?" the guy asks, and Gerard splutters, because hey, this is their haunted house, so technically they're the ones who should be asking that.

All The Wicked Shadows by samanthahirr, Frank/Gerard, 6k, Mature. A favor for his friend Mikey leads Frank to an abandoned building in North Jersey...where Mikey's dark secret is hiding.

Veins Are Red, Veins Are Blue by dear_monday, Frank/Gerard, 10k, Explicit. There's a little button up at the top of the page, marked "gallery", and Gerard clicks on it. It presents him with a handful of different names, presumably the artists in residence, and he skims down the list until he spots it: Frank Iero (horror/gore, traditional American designs). Iero, Gerard thinks, rolling the name around his head like a rosary bead in his palm. Of course the fucker is Italian, because the world is cruel and Gerard's life is hard. With a deep, tortured sigh, he clicks on Frank's name. In which Frank is a tattoo artist and Gerard is a fearsome and terrifying undead creature of the night. Sort of.

A State Of Orange by gala_apples, Frank/Mikey, Frank/Gerard, 20k, Explicit. Being a halfling in a red state can sometimes cause issues for Frank Iero. He’s the weakest at Jett Clement High School, and probably the entire state (not counting the meal plans). His moods are oddly stable, as much as he tries to be mercurial. And being able to withstand the sun for up to twenty minutes only allows him more time to be forced into chores. Still, his parents are insane if they think he’s going to be happy about their decision. Frank doesn’t want to move to a Mixed state. How is he supposed to get great friends? How is he supposed to find great food? How is he supposed to have great sex? But Frank doesn’t have a choice. He’s New Jersey bound for the next year, if not longer. He’ll be surrounded by tame vampires who have been nagged out of a sex drive, and humans he’s not allowed to eat. Mixed states suck. Lucky for him, not every person in Jersey sucks.

Black Market Blood by autoschediastic, Frank/Gerard, 17k, Explicit. Frank's so fucking freaky he's potentially wigging out a fucking vampire.

Let The Darkness Lead You Home by rivers_bend, Frank/Gerard, 49k, Explicit. Vampires are in charge and most of the humans on earth are prey, so Frank Iero's parents have him train as a cyber tech to protect him. Leaving the family he's born into may have saved his life, but his parents never could have expected the lengths he'd go to in order to find a new family to call home.

Blood...It's Everything by gala_apples, Gerard/Mikey, 3k, Explicit. Mikey gets turned into a vampire. Surprisingly little changes.

Release the Bats by Sena, Ray/Mikey, 10k, Mature. Sure, Mikey's a vampire, but Ray's okay with that. He's still Mikey, after all, still Ray's friend, still dorky and sweet and funny and amazing and, yeah. Maybe Ray likes him as more than just a friend.

Strays by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd), Frank/Gerard, 14k, Explicit. Frank and Gerard's life off-tour is all about grocery shopping and blowjobs and general domestic happiness...until Gerard goes missing, and bloody scraps are all that's left behind. So when a stray dog turns up on Frank's doorstep, can anyone blame him for wanting a little normal back in his life?

Well Tonight, Will It Ever Come? by Dandy Fetish, Bob/Frank/Ray/Gerard/Mikey, 20k, NC-17. Ray didn't ever lie to his band. Not telling them he was a werewolf technically wasn't a lie. Besides, having a werewolf in a rock band is hardly a big deal.

And highways I call home by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd), Patrick/Mikey, 7k, Mature. When Mikey joins Fall Out Boy on tour for a couple weeks, he finds out all kinds of surprising things about Patrick. That he's a werewolf is pretty low on the list.

can't fight the moonlight by Trojie, Gerard/Pete, 3k, Teen And Up Audiences. for no-tags Fall 2019, prompt: Pete/Gerard, long hair club

a scent and a sound by mwestbelle, Frank/Mikey, 15k, Explicit. In an urban fantasy world where werewolves can't hold a decent job and no roommate wants them, werewolf Frank is looking for an apartment. He finds one with Mikey Way.