#I’m also adding some turtle spirits because I mean..I am looking after them

[kraang5]

Might finish this tomorrow, idk

We ate the best cooked vegetables today , my grandma makes the best roasted and cooked veggies (I only eat it when she makes it so I wouldn’t know if there were better tasting ones but oh well ;-;)

And since the food was so great, I wanted to draw my sona in a kitchen making food!

[the-possum-writes]

could u maybe do a finn x reader imagine where reader is a princess that needs rescuing? ❤️❤️ also thank you for being such a lovely author!!

What a Princess Does [Finn Mertens]

A/n: Sorry for the delay, but thanks for the support~

Pairing: Finn x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1271

The day of your coronation finally came. With your eldest sibling being crowned King, you were given the title of princess along with a crown to prove your title. It's not that intricate as your sibling's crown, just a smooth band of gold with a single jewel on top.

"Greet our new subjects (y/n)." your brother comments, waving at the citizens below the castle porch.

"Why?" you respond.

"Because it's what royals do, especially princesses." That's something that lingers in your mind for a while. What does a princess do exactly? After the day of your coronation you've been receiving tea party invitations from other princesses, finding it as a nice opportunity to find out an answer for your question.

"What does a princess do? Look glamorous of course-!" Slime princess responded with a flick of, what you assume is her slimy hair.

_____

"A princess is responsible of filling their head with knowledge and share it with others." is what Turtle Princess told you, her library more than an obvious demonstration of her love for literature. Even if it's on the more spicy side.

____

"What? A princess doesn't have to do anything, just sit back, relax and watch others do things for you." Lumpy space princess scoffs at the thought of responsibilities, she's way more interested at picking up boys. But then again she's homeless so you can't completely trust her advice.

___

"A princess is just as important as a king or queen, it's your duty to watch over your kingdom and help them prosper." Princess Bubblegum, the more strict of the bunch, explained more than you were expecting to hear.

It made your status as a princess sound more important but your self-doubt manifested itself as well. What if you're not fit for the role? Your thoughts are interrupted when the carriage came to an abrupt stop. Worry started to fill your stomach when you heard horses run away and your guards cry out and drop to the ground. The door opened up to a tall man wearing dark robes, a bandit you assume.

"You're a princess right?" the man asked.

Fear climbs up your throat, unable to speak but still responding with the nod of your head. The man grunts in relief. "Good." before tossing you over his shoulder.

You finally snapped out of your shock after a minute or two. "Hey! What are you doing!?" you start shouting.

"I'm kidnapping you, it's what all the bad guys do to princesses."

Somehow that part made sense to you no matter how messed up it sounded. The man kept rambling about how he'll hold you hostage for ransom money, you had faith that your brother wouldn't leave you hanging, but that doesn't mean you're frustrated with the situation. "I demand you put me down! Somebody help!" you started kicking and shouting again. The bandit struggled to keep a hold on you. "Stop that or i'll-"

"Or you'll what?" A third voice came into the scene, causing you to stop and try to get a good view of who this stranger is. You've heard of brave knights clad in shiny armor saving princesses but you never expected your hero came in the form of a boy dressed in blue shorts and a white bear hat. "Drop the lady or I'll cut you to pieces!" he withdrew his sword from behind, instilling fear within the bandit.

"Alright, alright," he huffs without another word. Unceremoniously dropping you to the ground. How rude! Before he could take his leave the white knight blocked his path with his blade.

"Nah ah ah, you forgot to apologize." the young man was teasing him now, pulling a little chuckle from you.

The thief rolled his eyes, turning around to face you. "Sorry." the thief apologized, "Can I leave now?" he turned to the young man, who, in a single slash of his sword managed to cut the thief's belt and drop his pants in humiliation. This was enough to satisfy the young man and let the thief run off.

"Are you okay?" your knight stored away his sword in favor of helping you stand up, taking your hand in his calloused ones. "Yeah, I'm fine." you insist, but wince slightly the moment you stood up. A scrapped knee. "Ouch, that looks like it hurts. Here, let me help you with that." the blonde lowered himself to his knees, pulling out a plain band-aid from his backpack and sticking it to your fresh wound.

"I... Thank you, but I never got your name."

"Oh right, my names Finn. I'm sorta the sheriff around here." the young man chuckles between a bright smile with a few crooked and missing teeth. He's nice, was the first thought that came to mind upon meeting the boy, although you've never met him before his actions demonstrated a courageous spirit and a heart of gold. Someone you'd definitely love to have around.

Remembering your manners, you stood up straight and pressed your hands together on your lap. "Ehem, Sir Finn I am grateful for your help and as a princess of a nearby kingdom I award you with an honorable job as my bodyguard. I'm sure my brother will pay you heavenly for your services." you keep a formal tone and vocabulary you're definitely not used to.

Finn laugh momentarily, scratching the back of his neck."That's very nice of you princess, but the rest of Ooo needs me as a bodyguard. So, I'm gonna say no to that." A frown appeared on your face, why would he reject your offer? He's a knight and you're a princess, isn't this how these things go? However, any sense of doubt or disappointment faded away when he added. "But, if what you want is to hang out I'm definitely down for that."

The frown on your face turns into surprise, before settling on a beaming smile. Finally, something that has nothing to do with being a princess. "I would gladly... I mean, yeah that'd be cool." you drop the formality with him, happy to be yourself and relax. With your carriage broken down and no guards to company you, Finn offered himself to safely walk you back to your kingdom. Taking the moment to make small talk.

" Hey Finn, you rescue princesses all the time right?" you turn your head to look at him, eliciting a nod from the young man. "Do you know what princesses do exactly? Like, I'm kinda new to all this." you admit, somewhat embarrassed.

Finn chewed on a piece of grass as he looked up at the sky, pondering for a moment before responding. "I'm pretty sure you can do whatever you want. You wanna cook the world's most delicious desserts just for yourself? go for it. What about just going on vacation? Sure, why not? You wanna make life easier for your kingdom? or even rule with an iron boot? It's all up to you princess. Each princess I've met is unique in thier own way."

You're left speechless, you've been so focused on what others want that doing something for yourself has never crossed your mind. It's like an invisible weight has been lift off your shoulders. "What I want..." your eyes trail away from the path that leads to your kingdom, stopping on your tracks to turn the other way around. "... I wanna go out and eat some waffles." you proclaim confidently.

Finn jumped excitingly, jokingly acting in a formal manner. "Mind if I tag along m'lady?" he extends his arm to you, which you happily grab onto.

"Of course my fellow white knight."

[we-rate-tmnt]

I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?) 

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

[liquidink21]

If I were doing the Avatar Remake

Just a list of things changes and tweaks to the original I would make to Avatar if I was in charge of this netflix remake, given that we’ve all lost hope in it and now I’m just speculating to make myself feel better. I’ve already made a list of things it really needs, and this list includes them, but I’m just going to go hog wild with my imagination and opinions on Avatar. In a rough order of when I think and them and what episode it becomes relevant.

How long are these new episodes going to be? I’d like to extend them for more story content, though am wary of overdoing it. How does thirty minutes sound? Enough for some more depth to some episodes.

I think it should be pointed out earlier on that there are more villages across the South Pole. This is canon, and would make the Southern Water Tribe feel more alive.

Aang’s friends from the past: in addition to Kuzon and Bumi, give him a Northern Water Tribe pal. He’s never been to the South Pole, and was deliberately coming to make new friends somewhere the Monks wouldn’t think to look for him. We can reference this friend again when we reach the North Pole.

Somebody, probably Iroh, mentions Zuko’s name in front of Aang. It’s always infuriated me that the Gaang know’s Zuko’s name suddenly in Warriors of Kyoshi without anyone telling them what it is. I don’t think it needs its own episode, just somebody says it while he’s captured.

The terms of Zuko’s banishment don’t restrict him from the colonies in the Earth Kingdom, so they don’t consider those colonies to be proper Fire Nation territory. I feel they should have their own name, just to make the politics of the show feel deeper. “The Eastern Protectorate” is a nice reference to the Chinese “Protectorate of the Western Territories.” Zhao can namedrop it when they go to his port.

The fact that Kyoshi Island has such a different culture from the main Earth Kingdom should be brought up. The answer is a mix between isolation and cultural exchange with the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka probably have a passing knowledge of the island. “Oh, that’s where we are.” Also, if Aang knew to come here for the Koi fish, how didn’t he know about there being Kyoshi revering settlements there?

There should be an adult Kyoshi Warrior training the others. She approves of Suki training Sokka, and comments on the rarity of outsiders and men being Kyoshi Warriors. I feel Sokka is the first outsider, but there was another man. Adult warrior gives the explanation that when she was a young trainee, a man working on the docks was teased for “fighting like a girl” so warriors taught him exactly like a girl.

There should be an Earthbending Kyoshi Warrior. I mean Kyoshi herself was a bender, the art can’t be exclusively a non-bending form.

Maybe point out that there are multiple villages on the island. This is in fact canon.

Haru’s mother and village could use some actual names.

We never see any non-bending Earth Kingdom soldiers. I loved how the Fire Nation has different uniforms for its bending and non-bending warriors, and I’d like to see the same for the Earth Kingdom troops.

I want to know more about those pirates? The captain is ethnically a Fire Nation citizen. Is there a story behind that? A navy deserter? Like an opposite of Jeong Jeong, deserting not for ethics but because he didn’t like duty getting in the way of fortune? I’m probably just overthinking it.

The names of the Freedom Fighters are obviously pseudonyms, and Jet probably urges the Gaang to adopt some themselves.

While I don’t actually feel that Aang lying to the two groups in The Great Divide is an unforgivable wrong, I feel the lie itself was a little demeaning and could have been a little more sophisticated.

I have seen that post saying there needs to be more Indians in Avatar than just Guru Pathik, given how many Indian concepts are in the show. Many people also share the opinion that there should be Indian airbenders, so yes they should appear in the flashbacks in The Storm (and The Southern Air Temple as well). Also some Earth Kingdom villages should be Indian based as well. I think the market from The Waterbending Scroll could be a good place to start, maybe the port from The Storm as well, though probably somewhere that isn’t just a background place as well. Maybe the nuns in Bato of the Water Tribe too.

Iroh could be less creepy with June.

Ah, The Northern Air Temple. Honestly I feel that while the ultimate message of Aang being okay with the Mechanist and his people settling in the Air Temple is okay, I feel it needs to end with a greater emphasis on the Mechanist’s people being more respectful to the site. Ramming pipes through historical mosaics and demolishing statues is really not on. Also, while Sokka being cool with industrialisation is in character, I do think he’d disapprove the desecration.

I feel the fact that a lot of the Fire Nation’s technological might (not all of it, though) is riding off the back of a blackmailed Earth Kingdom citizen is something that could be brought up more often.

Yue’s story with the Moon Spirit needs to be explained almost immediately, so that it’s not kind of an arse-pull when the plot needs it.

Legend of Korra makes a big deal about the South gaining independence from the North, but they’re already treated as separate nations? I think it should be mentioned somewhere, probably from Hahn, that the South is technically subservient to the North, though operates with a great deal of autonomy that comes with not being able to contact each other.

The North is pretty sure it’s the original Water Tribe, but can’t say for sure. Hahn thinks of the South as nothing but a colony, though Arnook is more progressively minded and notes there are no records of who came first and treats the South as a sister tribe.

I think there’s another character worth adding, a captain of the Northern warriors. He can appear several more times throughout the series, which I’ll elaborate on.

Zhao comments “there’s a reason they’ve survived a hundred years of war” whereas other comments suggest the Northern Water Tribe has been sitting out of the war. Apparently the North did take uniforms from soldiers 85 years ago, so I think the idea should be that they received one big siege back then, and since then they’ve been experiencing raids since then culling their villages and forcing them into that single fortified city-state. Since then, their ability to send ships out has been impeded by Fire Nation ships patrolling those water but not engaging the city itself until Zhao’s siege.

Yue, when mentioning the waterbenders learning from the Moon, should reference humanity receiving bending from the Lion Turtles, just to introduce the concept that bending could be given and therefore by implication taken away.

There’s a historical character I want to introduce: an Earth Kingdom general that was nearly able to push the Fire Nation out of the Earth Kingdom around half-way through the 100 Year War, but was taken down by internal Earth Kingdom politics. The Fire Nation had to do its conquests all over again because of him. It would help fill out a century of history that is poorly explained. I think he could be introduced by Sokka asking General Fong how they still have an outpost on the west coast when most of that region has been occupied by the Fire Nation.

Azula’s blue fire should be depicted like blue flames are in real life: very straight jets rather than the flickering things you see in the animation. Since it’s basically just powerful fire, I think it should be seen with a couple of other firebenders, though Azula is the only one that exclusively uses it. Jeong Jeong and Iroh would be good people to use it.

I saw a post once by a Korean rightfully upset that the only Korean characters in the show (Song and her village) are lumbered in with the essentially Chinese Earth Kingdom as if they’re the same culture despite Korea obviously being separate and having a poor history of China attempting to enforce hegemony over it. I think maybe something could be made of Song and her people being a distinct culture that has had a generally poor relationship with the Earth Kingdom at large. Maybe the previously mentioned Earth Kingdom general was screwed over for being of this culture.

I’m not sure how to depict the Swampbenders. They'll no longer be caricatures of the guys in the next studio, so they’ll be more respectfully treated and not hillbillies. I’m not sure if they should be Vietnamese (given the original characters have Vietnamese names) or southern Native Americans (given they’re waterbenders, and the other waterbenders are Inuits).

After failing to get Bumi as Aang’s earthbending teacher, they throw around suggestions. Since Aang is learning waterbending from Katara they consider a similarly aged Earthbender. Katara suggests they go find Haru, while Sokka suggests the earthbending Kyoshi Warrior I mentioned before.

I saw a post once suggesting that the Beifongs were collaborators, and while I think this is somewhat extreme, I would like to explore the interplay between their wealth and their position in the war. Also, the fact that Toph had been sheltered from the war and has far less of an emotional stake in it needs to be explored in more detail.

In the Zuko Alone flashbacks Azula really needs to be made out as a normal child with a bad influence (her father) instead of an inherently bad child. My sister points to this episode and claims Iroh or Ursa should have just drowned her and that’s something incredibly fucked up to say about a ten(?) year old.

In that vein, Iroh’s “no she’s crazy and needs to go down” line really needs to be changed to something more compassionate. Most Avatar meta states that Iroh doesn’t actually hate Azula; he’s just prioritising Zuko’s safety, and his line here needs to reflect that.

Aang should recognise the Lion-Turtle, and know that they gave humanity their bending powers. Just to keep that concept in mind, so that when it comes to the energybending climax it’s less of an arse-pull.

Wan Shi Tong’s morale compass and lumping a bunch of kids attempting to avoid genocide in with conquerors needs to be called out more, and I feel Katara should be the one to do it.

Suki gets to stay on for one extra episode and help fight the Drill. It also makes for a better explanation of how she got back. Right now it’s implied she went back across the Serpent’s Pass; in my own she’d explicitly head along the wall and go back with the ferries.

I want more discussion of Ba Sing Se’s social stratification. Was Jin able to visit the Jasmine Dragon? Or was she blocked from entering higher rings?

Toph’s lie detecting thing made into a spiritual or chi related thing. The whole heartbeat thing is pseudoscience.

The Northern Water Captain I mentioned earlier reappears, having met and joined his men with Hakoda’s. Hakoda praises his son with helping bridge the gap between the two water tribes.

Ty Lee gets more appearances in Book 3, even if just in the background. She got some nice development in The Beach and I want to see more of it as Azula’s brought her out of that circus and back into the Fire Nation nobility.

Sparky Sparky Boom Man’s tattoo has a different design that is not a villainised appropriation of a Hindu symbol. Something nice and geometric, maybe sun based.

Hawky at some point returns to Team Avatar. I want them legitimised as a member of the Gaang! Equal status to Momo and Appa! Also I suppose bringing a letter back from the Beifongs could have significance to Toph. But let Hawky return!

Hama has a more compassionate ending. I feel after she’s led away, Sokka figures it’s pretty fucked up that they’re handing one of their own over to the Fire Nation so they go and rescue her. They give her a choice between joining them to fight during the eclipse or returning to the South Pole to help rebuild the Southern Water Tribe (given that there’s Notherners helping rebuild she could help make sure they rebuild it in the style of the south and not a facsimile of the north). She chooses the latter.

No weird Guru Pathik during Aang’s hallucinations please.

While discussing the allies that Hakoda picked up, he mentions some people he couldn’t get: they couldn’t find the Kyoshi Warriors, the Sandbenders didn’t want to come, the Omashi Resistance wanted to use the eclipse to retake their city, and General Fong’s outpost had been overrun. Just flesh out things a little.

Sokka and the other Water Tribe warriors should be wearing that facepaint for the Invasion.

I want more interaction with The Duke, Haru, and Teo with the Gaang.

Chit Sang’s girlfriend and friend join with the second escape instead of being strangely absent. Also, who is he? Sokka probably looks him up to make sure they’re not bringing a serial killer into their midst. Preferably not, I like to think they were thrown in there for opposing the war.

I’d like Suki to learn from Hakoda that the other Kyoshi warriors are alive, if imprisoned.

Suki doesn’t like wearing prison clothes and attempts a facsimile of Kyoshi islander clothes by stealing Katara and Haru’s clothes.

Some more emotions between Sokka and Suki relating to her imprisonment please. There’s a lot of pent up trauma there and I’d like them to work through it.

People like to play up Katara’s “you obviously didn’t love her as much as I did” line into an insight to a horrible character rather than just something stupid said in the heat of the moment, though I do think Katara should apologise, if only to show the haters that this isn’t her personality.

Training with Aang, Zuko finds out he has the peace of mind to do lightning. He wouldn’t use it against Azula, but it would be a nice demonstration that his inner turmoil is more or less resolved.

The adult Kyoshi Warrior I mentioned at the very beginning of this reappears as a White Lotus member. She, for whatever reason, has a replacement warrior uniform for Suki, because I feel Suki shouldn’t have to go through the climax in a Fire Nation disguise. Also maybe Sokka should be wearing his warpaint too? I mean it’s culturally significant to him.

You want lightning? No I don’t. Azula’s growing inner turmoil denies her the use of lightning, mirroring Zuko’s original inability to use it when he was lost and confused. So when it comes to sneakily zapping Katara it’s just her fire, but a flame more concentrated (and by implication, rage-fueled) than we’ve ever seen from her. A veritable beam that Zuko has to put his all into deflecting, opening him up to an attack. A non-lethal attack; Azula still has that line about “the family physician”. She doesn’t want Zuko dead and leaves him be when he’s down. Despite going off the deep end there is a spark of compassion in her that stops her from doing that.

As I’ve stated previously, Aang needs to do something slightly more significant and spiritual in order to access the Avatar State again rather than that stupid rock. Some sort of spiritual lesson.

As I’ve said a few times now, the Lion-Turtles should be known to the audience by now, along with their ability to give bending to humans, so that the ability to take bending has been implied.

The weird orange-vs-blue lightshow with the energy bending was kind of melodramatic, though the corruption-vs-purity thing could still be visually represented by Ozai trying to physically overpower Aang and failing.

Possibly to be continued.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 13]

Once again back at the Bill Gaiden, we continue our quest to beat the game without any grinding.

The current take on this problem is to focus on only three members of the team in the final chapter. Plus prayer and possibly lots of X items I haven’t bought yet.

I believe in you, my precious team.

...Sort of.

On whatever route I’m on, a Persian shows up. I guess I will try to catch it.

I did catch it.

Its name is Oak.

Rock Smash get, and Oak is gonna learn it for us. As our last real run taught us, Krabby is the best for HMs. Nom nom.

Sap is handling all of the Fighting trainers on this first island here. Seems prudent, given the choices involved. Plus my expectations of Sap. Sap has, by far, the largest role in my eventual plans. My child. You must take your amazing moves. Use them. And sweep all the things.

My Mt. Ember option is a Fearow, and I just can’t. I have two things that aren’t a Master Ball, I think. Sorry, Fearow. We were not meant to be.

Except Trunk can’t run from you. So I might be considering catching you.

Aha, flee accepted.

These are still dopey names.

-sigh- I tried to skip into Three Island, but it looks like you have to talk to NPCs to hit off the Biker Gang part of the Bill Gaiden. This run, having been a shrine to defeatism, didn’t bother with talking with most everyone. The cost is island hopping. Much sad. Very annoy.

“I am a video game character and my child is missing. Her name

is Lostelle.”

Video games are good.

Okay, Biker Gang subplot. Give me my exp.

GIVE ME MY EXP IN A LESS TRAUMATIZING FASHION POR FAVOR.

Later on the island, we are in the berry forest and encounter a Psyduck. With luck, it will be our box friend in the very near future.

Caught! Its name is Oak.

Don’t worry, little girl. I am the protagonist. I will save you.

By running away from the wild Hypno. Because that’s what heroes do.

Kid returned, and I think that means. I think I get to go fight Giovanni’s Gym.

Delightful.

Oak is level 50, Trunk and Sap are both 49. Bark, should she be required, is level 47.

Not a bad place to be in. Not close enough to feeling safe, but I think this has the potential to go better than Heero’s term.

Final badge. Let’s go. For added fun, I won’t even follow my map of the trainers inside the Gym. I’ll just go by guessing based on the trainer type.

Oak is level 52, Sap and Trunk are level 50. Good show, guys.

Aaaaaaand final badge! Magnificent.

Rival, Victory Road, then Elite Four, right?

That sounds doable?

Please?

I’m going to miss not having an Electric type available for the Pidgeot. And for the Gyarados. Acorn, Zaft. Your presence would be so valuable here.

I think I’m going to put Oak in front for that. Rival has enough to respond to Oak that any Sand Attacks can be swapped out. Wanting Oak for two fights in a row probably won’t happen. Hopefully.

My amusement is slowly being replaced by existential dread.

Oh, neat. The Pidgeot goes for Wing Attack instead of the awful sand. Thank you, Rival-san’s Pidgeot. I hate you and everything, but you’re a class act.

Trunk goes in for the Venusaur. It of level 53.

We get through.

I’ll actually send Sap out to (hopefully) handle the Gyarados.

Oak back in for the Alakazam. Stays in for the Growlithe.

Bloodless victory.

Hell, though. That is not a confidence boost. The levels keep reminding me how tight this really is, and I’m very short on Type variety. I know my main strategy, which I didn’t use here, is going to be massively setting up before anything else, but aaaaaaaaa.

I don’t want to go through all of this again. I’m not good enough at the game to reliably improve.

On the side of things I can do, I’m going to teach Trunk Earthquake.

And it looks very much like it makes sense for Oak to learn Ice Beam. He still has Tackle, for crying out loud. There’s room for improvement. The only problem is that hey, I still want Shadow Ball for Trunk, and guess what other TM is also a Game Corner thing?

In the spirit of bad things not happening maybe, I’m going to grab those TMs before Victory Road. No point limiting myself. I am also going to look up if I can get the Amulet coin and make some extra money, because the money situation ended up making me sad by the end of Heero and friends.

...

To. the slots.

I need 8500 coins.

Sigh.

SIGH.

170,000, is it?

Actual depiction of life’s traumas.

If I want to mess with their moves some more, I’ll do it after Victory Road. For now, this works.

Welp, no Amulet Coin for me.

There isn’t going to be much typing from here on out. Just picture a lot of screaming and crying. Because that’s pretty much what’s going on behind the scenes.

...Also I’m going to use Max Repels and the Master Ball on anything I come across. For maximum chance.

The Repel strat didn’t work out.

So I throw my Master Ball at a Machop.

Its name is Oak.

And every single time I leave the cave to heal, the switches require me to repeat their process. They fill me with hate. The smaller my team gets, the more often I have to head back to a Pokemon Center for PP aid.

BUT WE MAKE IT.

...

.

Fuck.

What do ya think?

I’m about to spend all my cash, so this is my last chance for move decisions.

I usually like something to know Toxic. Oak’s the best candidate for that in terms of an incomplete moveset, but I have a Dragon Claw TM that has similar value and can’t be wasted on Trunk or Sap.

I think this works, honestly. Oak for all things turtle, Sap for all things stall, and Trunk for miscellaneous everything. I can adjust after each one I beat. I have some interesting TMs I can play with, but for now, I think this is good.

What I need to think through is what X items I want. Then the rest goes into Full Restores. ...Oh. The X items are cheap, so I just buy a bunch without thinking it through.

Yep.

Elite Four.

Grindlocke, Take 2.

Okay, looking back over my records, I think I’m going to teach Trunk Brick Break over Yawn, use an X Attack, and go for the sweep.

Last chance to back out.

I hate this.

Two X Attacks, because I’m greedy. Dewgong down. It’s now Hailing. Have fun countering, Leftovers.

The Cloyster gets to the red with one Brick Break. Lorelei uses a Full Restore. Many stall tactics later, the Cloyster is downed with not much more of a mark on Trunk.

Slowbro next, but Shadow Ball should make that work. The hail stops, too, which is nice.

Yeesh, these things have high Defense. Slowbro’s in the red, uses Surf. Trunk is still green, but nearing half steadily. One more Shadow Ball, and the Slowbro’s gone. No Full Restore for it.

Lapras.

Brick Break puts it in the red, but it has a Sitrus Berry. I probably knew that from last time, but we’re really all about living in the moment, this run.

Lapras leaves Trunk in the high orange, but it’s out. Just the Jynx left. Going to spend a turn on a Potion just to keep things stable, then a Shadow Ball should mark the end of this.

And now Trunk is in love with it. In between being put to sleep.

...Okay, fuck you, game. What is Lovely Kiss’ accuracy?

..

75????

AND THEN TRUNK WAS FROZEN.

I knew these fights would be a bit of a stall game.

It wasn’t supposed to be in this direction.

LOVELY KISS CAN’T KEEP FUCKING HITTING YOU FUCKING AAAAAGH.

This Jynx is going to run out of Ice Punch PP before I get a hit in.

Oh thank fuck.

Would you look at that. It’s dead.

Oak’s going to be first for Bruno’s Onix, so Oak gets a Sitrus Berry for luck. Trunk’s healed back to full HP, and. Round two, get ready.

I gotta say, after everything I just went to, the sight of that Onix is a damn relief.

Only with that dealt with, the Hitmonchan’s prepped to come out.

Sap’s up. Because this is going to take a bunch of switching, I think I’ll try to stick with straight Sludge Bombing for as long as I can. Sap’s got a better Attack stat than Trunk at the moment (I think), so it shouldn’t be too rough.

Yeah, one Sludge Bomb puts Hitmonchan practically in the red, and Sky Uppercut doesn’t move Sap anywhere near orange.

?

Hello.

Bruno took out Hitmonchan to put in Onix.

Yeah. Switching. Oak, you’re up again.

Bye, Onix. And I’m going to leave Oak in to mop up the Hitmonchan to conserve PP. Bruno Full Restores it, but Surf puts it in the orange, so... eh, good enough. Oak takes an extra hit, but Oak’s time in this room is up anyway.

Hitmonlee.

Uh oh.

Also, bullshit, I had just used Minimize and Mega Kick’s accuracy sucks starting out, but. primarily. uh oh.

Ummmmmm.

Bad news, Oak.

I am so sorry.

Yeah, so Oak died, and now Oak is out at full health.

X Defend time.

OH SO NOW MEGA KICK CAN MISS, HUH.

Throw an X Special on the pile.

Oak uses up his Sitrus Berry, Bruno uses another Full Restore.

Hitmonlee goes down after far too long, and the Machamp comes out to play.

Surf gets it to deep orange. I’m going to use a Full Restore to be careful.

That there is a partially happy sight.

This, on the other hand...

Sap, I can give you a proper sendoff later, when my brain is doing something besides screaming. Suffice to say, you did nothing wrong, and this game hates me. Thanks for the fun, sorry you didn’t get to live longer or for your entire purpose.

I’m also looting your corpse for your Leftovers for Oak.

So Agatha’s next, right?

I finally get to see what a Snorlax with Shadow Ball can do about that.

I’m very much hoping the answer is, “something.”

Let’s dance, grandma.

First out is a level 54 Gengar. It knows Double Team, because this game really doesn’t actually want me to be happy. But Shadow Ball hits and gets it into the red. Agatha uses a Full Restore, and the next Shadow Ball actually hits too.

And now Trunk is confused.

Trunk.

Buddy.

Stop hitting yourself.

Fantastic, he does.

...Agatha has a Golbat? Ew. It’s level 54 too. It faints semi-easily, and then there was a level 56 Arbok. I’m just gonna spend a second on an X Attack, don’t mind me... Then a Full Restore so Trunk doesn’t fucking die...

Problems. We have them.

The level 58 Gengar coming out does not solve enough of them. Or any. It’s pretty much universally bad, actually.

That sound you hear is the snap of my fragile, innocent, sanity. I use a couple of X Defends instead of waking Trunk up. Then health becomes a slight issue, so you know what, Full Restore time!

Okay, great! Second Gengar dead! All that’s left is a level 53 Haunter. For. Reasons of who knows.

Okay.

I have never used the Poke Flute this much in my life.

And then it uses Hypnosis again, and it hits, again, and we do the whole dance over again, as you do.

IN A STUNNING TURN OF EVENTS, HAUNTER CURSING ME PUTS AN END TO ITS FUCKING CURSE, AND EVERYTHING IS IMMEDIATELY BETTER.

NO ONE ASKED YOU, YOU DAMN OLD LADY. YOU AREN’T A GENKAI. YOU’RE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO A GENKAI. FUCK YOU.

Hell, let me think.

Lance.

Dragons.

He has... two Dragonites, one Dragonair, a Charizard, and an Aerodactyl? Maybe?

I’m not banned from looking things up, but it hasn’t felt sporting to check up ahead of time. And no matter what, I think the best strategy I have here is to throw Oak in, toss on a ton of X Defends, and pray. So it doesn’t really matter what he has.

But Oak’s learning Toxic.

As a kid, I always thought Lance was just the coolest. Lance is a bitching name, and he has a dragon theme, and then he has a fucking cape. Top ten video game heroes.

As an adult, I hate Lance so much. Even the dope cape can’t spare him.

Oh hey, it’s a level 56 Gyarados. With my favorite move. Dragon Rage. That’s actually great, and it should feel free to keep using it. Dragon Rage doesn’t get critical hits. Yeah, actually, this is perfect. I’m just going to stack Oak with everything and not switch.

All of Dragon Rage’s PP later, Toxic can’t hit anything apparently, and it’s a contest of Biting. Cute.

THEN IT USES HYPER BEAM AND THE HYPER BEAM, NATURALLY, GETS A CRITICAL HIT, AND OAK HAS 15 HP AS HE LANDS THE FINAL BITE TO KILL THE FUCKER.

...Well. The poison kills it. But the feeling is there.

Look, there’s the Dragonair.

Look, it’s using Outrage.

Look, Outrage got a critical hit.

Look, it’s me crying from sheer stress.

Look, it’s the miracle of me getting a critical hit for once. It dies.

...Then out comes a second Dragonair.

Level 54s, btw. I forgot. Too many other horrible things were going on.

Oak takes that one out too, then it’s the Dragonite.

I think you just need to not die, Oak.

That works.

Aerodactyl last. Level 58.

Surf gets it.

Hate you so much, Lance.

I think the main problem here is that if I open with Oak, the Venusaur pops out, and any preparation I do during the Pidgeot round will vanish. That makes Trunk that more appealing option for an opener.

Pidgeot, Gyarados, Arcanine, Alakazam, Rhydon (?), Venusaur.

If it wouldn’t mean the Venusaur coming out, I’d just let Oak handle everything. Maybe I ought to do that anyway, and just accept that I’ll be bleeding more X Defends than I want in this fight.

Actually, wait.

Okay, no... I don’t think that’s a good move. I was thinking I could teach Oak Calm Mind for some extra boosting, and it’s not a bad thought, but.

...Actually, yeah?

Gyarados and Arcanine both have Intimidate, but Oak has Special Attack as its primaries. If I use up some X Defends on the Pidgeot to leave room for Calm Mind... the only problem would be if the Pidgeot has Whirlwind. But if it did, that would be a separate issue anyway. I can’t smash through without setup.

Max Calm Minding should make it possible for Oak to survive long enough to nail the Venusaur with Ice Beam. Barring critical hit problems. That limits the pain of removing Bite, too. If Oak’s Special is all maxed, the particular move matters less.

Done, do it.

Oh.

NEVER MIND. Blastoise doesn’t learn it. Damn.

I think I’m thinking too hard. I’ll let Oak take the Pidgeot, then Trunk can set up against the Venusaur, then I’ll just let the nightmare of switching back and for be what it will. I guess. ...

How fast is Venusaur?

Faster than Blastoise, and my Blastoise has a nature impairing Speed.

Well, I can already feel how badly this is about to go.

Sorry in advance, Oak.

Hey.

So the Pidgeot is level 59.

And it still knows Sand-Attack.

AND WHIRLWIND, OKAY.

Sorry, little gal. This one wasn’t wholly my fault.

Trunk’s going out. If I can’t have Oak kill all the things, we’ll just. Yeah.

Featherdance. Featherdance, Whirlwind, Sand-Attack, and Aerial Ace. Fuck this thing, tbqh.

Alakazam’s next.

Featherdance really can’t stand, and the Sand-Attack severely impacts Trunk’s effectiveness as well.

Ooooooh I’m not going to like myself for what I do next.

Dig like your life depends on it, girl, because it does because I am awful.

Level 57 Alakazam v level 47 Dugtrio.

But my kid’s faster. All those EVs were good for something. Bark dodges a Psychic, and since Alakazam chose Future Sight, hopefully her next Dig will spare her that as well. Too stressed. Can’t count.

Okay, how bad...

She lived.

Bark, I do not deserve you.

You did so good, Bark. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Oak out to hopefully bait the Venusaur into showing up.

Alakazam’s Psychic packs a punch, but still a green one, and Oak’s Bite settles the matter.

Yes, the Venusaur is coming out.

The. Level 63 Venusaur. Hell.

And Earthquake isn’t super effective like I thought/hoped.

Two Growths, and Sunny Day. Oh fuck this can’t end well.

But Body Slam paralyzed it? So maybe?

Trunk outspeeds it.

It’s dead.

Oak swaps in on Rhydon because Trunk is going to be done the second he’s up against the Intimidate friends, so I need some time to set Oak up for the sweep.

It’s level 59.

This should be okay.

Sunlight faded. Want to use a Full Restore to heal up Oak in case of critical hits.

A couple of X Specials.

Should be good to go.

Rhydon down. Gyarados coming out. It’s level 59. It uses Hydro Pump, thankfully it doesn’t do much. Oak uses Toxic, and it actually hits.

Gyarados fainted.

Arcanine is up. Level 61. Need to Full Restore for caution. It uses Flamethrower. Doesn’t move Oak out of the green. Uses Flamethrower again, since it’s faster.

Oak uses Surf.

Oh.

Oh.

This. This was what this was all for, in the end.

I win.

Holy heck I win.

Pidgey-Oak, Krabby-Oak... you guys did great. Thanks. ...Many, many apologies.

Sap, we never got to see you shine the way I meant you to, but you were a valued member of the team, and made a lot of things so much simpler. If nothing else, you were an inspiration to try things a little more cerebrally, and that was the only approach that was going to make a dent.

Bark...

Bark. You were the linchpin. I brought you back into a fight you had to rely on luck for, and you brought in so much of that and just... I wish it made sense to use you more.

Oak.

Trunk.

You did it.

You really did it.

I’M DONE.

MANY FAILURES, MANY SADNESSES LATER. IT’S DONE. IT IS FINISHED. IT IS WON.

HEERO. PO. SPRINKLE. ZAFT. ALLENBY.

OAK AND TRUNK STAND ON THE BONES OF YOUR PROGRESS. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HARD WORK.

I AM NEVER DOING THIS TO MYSELF AGAIN.

Though I might come back to another Nuzlocke, in a while. Not now. Definitely not now. But except for this being horrific, it was a lot of taxing fun. So I’m sure I’ll come up with something else to do. Maybe not in this format. I’ve been trying to learn how to make Twitch do stuff, and playing and talking takes less time than playing and typing.

Who knows.

For now, though, it’s over. Thank you to anyone who’s read these.

[tmnt-veelicious]

Across the Stars - Ch.13

... This chapter was supposed to be way longer. And yet, here it is. I feel like I had to leave this as it was. I won’t lie - that chapter deals with a lot of personal stuff. When I had first finished writing the last part, I actually got a panic attack that night because, oh boi, it really hit close to home :’) Anyway, that’ll probably mean that chapter 14 will come soon ! I already know what I have to write so that will be easy-peasy -u- There’s some French dialogue in this, but I translated it. It’s some heavy French Canadian speak at some points so google translate wouldn’t be able to translate it accurately x’D !!!

First Chapter --> HERE Previous Chapter --> HERE Next Chapter --> HERE

Winter was already on its way out, the temperature on the brink of lightly cold and pleasantly warm. It's been some weeks since Leo's 'protection plan' was going on, each turtles taking turns on keeping an eye on Vee and April whenever they had to come home late from work. Tonight the artist was the only one walking, her roomate having a day off. The stroll was as eventless as usual, her only cue that one of the mutants was following her being that she could spot a form getting from one building top to another. And also she was speaking on the phone with him. ''So, what project am I forbidding you to work on, all thanks to Leo's awesome plan?'' She could hear Donnie's snicker at the other end of the line. ''Oh don't say that, you know he only has good intentions. … And for your information, I was working on the toaster.'' ''Again? It's like the third time in not even a month.'' ''I know! … I think Mikey is letting his cooking creativity take the best of him; you can't heat pizza bagels in an upright toaster.'' ''Even when it's laid to its side?'' ''You're just asking for more trouble,'' laughed the terrapin. ''They'll just fly off to the floor when it's done.'' ''Point taken!'' A long sigh escaped her as she crossed a street, the streetlights shining down on her path as her boyfriend still remained in the shadows. ''… I wish I could be walking by your side,'' echoed Donatello's voice through her phone. She was surprised at first to hear that, somehow wondering if he had read in the depths of her mind. A small smile got to her lips, quickly calculating the remaining time until reaching her home. ''I know, Don, I wish too. But we're almost there, don't worry about it.'' ''Oh, before you get inside, can you wait for my cue? … I have something special.'' ''And April is involved?'' asked Vee, amused. ''She was, in a certain way, but she won't be at your place tonight.'' That lifted the woman's spirits, knowing she'd get to spend the evening alone with the mutant. And now she was eager to see what was awaiting her! She finally arrived upon her apartment building, already making her way inside until reaching her entry door. She waited some minutes before knocking gently on the door to signal Donnie that she was there – as they weren't speaking on the phone anymore. The artist could hear some footsteps on the other side, guessing he was probably setting some things. Then the moment of truth came, the door finally opening, large enough for her to enter without revealing the mutant's presence. ''Madam,'' jokingly greeted the terrapin as Vee was in. She instantly noticed how the lights were off, except for the faint glow of various candles way ahead in the living room area. Her smile wouldn't fade, Donnie taking her spring coat off of her and setting it to the side, next leaving a hand at the small of her back as they made their way to the next scene. Many candles were placed around, giving a focus on the coffee table in the middle of the living room. On it was placed a bottle of white wine with two glasses and a plate of sushis. Vee showed a smirk as she looked at her boyfriend. ''Is this a date?'' she asked, reminiscent of that time on the roof some months ago. ''Only if you want it to be,'' answered the other, playing her game. The woman filled the wine glasses, handing one to the mutant. ''Why do you keep bringing wine? I remember you saying you don't even drink that.'' ''White wine is less worse than red, so I don't mind,'' explained Donnie, taking a sip before he continued: ''Also there's another bottle in the fridge so we're not done for tonight.'' Vee faked being shocked. ''Who are you and what have you done to my boyfriend?'' ''Yes, I can be fun sometimes, how surprising is that!'' She lightly slapped his arm, bringing a small chortle out of the other. The evening couldn't get any better afterward, hilarity never escaping them and wine flowing. They were already at the half of the second bottle that they found themselves in eachother's arms – or mostly Donnie sitting on the couch as Vee was seated in his lap, facing him. She couldn't help her smirk as she lightly bit her lip, tracing imaginary patterns on his torso. ''Are you a scientist? ... Because I'd love to do you on a table periodically,'' she blabbered, lovesick. ''Hey, oh, that's my job to say cheesy liners like that!'' laughed the other, unconsciously laying a hand on her hip, bringing her body closer to his. ''What are you gonna do, oh mighty ninja warrior? You're as drunk as me anyway,'' smirked Vee. He returned the same smile, finishing what was left in his glass before putting it aside, removing the woman's right after. His hands easily found a new place at the lowest part of the human's back, soon petting her skin. ''First I will destabilize,'' he started, his tone low and seductive. ''You'll be begging for mercy soon enough and that's when I'll strike.'' He took her scent in the crook of her neck, travelling higher so he could leave kisses along her jaw. Every sensations were amplified when drunk, their skins numb and yet so sensitive. Vee couldn't retain her moan, her hold slightly tightening around the mutant's shoulders. She felt the world spin, nuzzling her lover's cheek in hopes of finding his lips. A low churr rose from the turtle, smiling once more as he could clearly feel the woman's need. ''Look at you; so hot and eager, just for me,'' he murmured. ''You're mine, all mine,'' he added, cupping her ass, forever loving her form. ''Don...,'' gasped Vee, her body exploding in a wave of shivers all over her skin. Their lips finally met, their passion already in place. When sober, Donatello would always wonder how he could have ever become so addicted to her, but now everything made sense. This euphoria and need he was currently going through, it was all a thrill he knew he'd never get tired of. Every moves and sounds she made could only fuel his very core, always demanding for more. Her shirt was soon thrown away, Vee easily taking control as she started grinding against the other, panting dued to her growing lust. The mutant was about to remove her bra that a loud sound stopped them both, their eyes instantly diverting to the coffee table. Vee's phone was ringing, indicating that someone was calling. Donnie was frowning, Vee was laughing. ''Let it be,'' she said. Oh no, drunk Donnie was a confident Donnie. And he would not take that kind of shit from anybody. He lunged for the phone, keeping the woman against him. ''Donnie, stop!'' warned Vee, still smiling from amusement. The turtle took the call in, putting it on speaker. ''Whoever's calling, you better have a goddamn good reason,'' he started. ''Véro?'' answered a woman's voice. Vee instantly jumped, her eyes as big as plates. She grabbed the phone out of the other's hand, already switching to her native tongue. ''Maman?'' Oh shit, Donatello realized, that's her mom. The human stayed seated where she was, trying to get down from the high clouds she was on. ''Depuis quand tu m'appelles aussi tard?'' (Since when you're calling me this late?) she started. ''Il est à peine 8h30, j'trouve pas que c'est si tard.'' (It's barely 8:30, I don't think it's that much late.) ''Peu importe, qu'est-ce qu'il y a?'' (Whatever, what's the matter?) asked Vee, somehow annoyed. ''J'veux juste prendre de tes nouvelles. Ça fait au moins un mois qu'on s'est pas parlé! Et c'est qui qui a répondu au téléphone? T'es avec qui?'' (I just want to get some news about you. It's been at least a month since we last spoke! And who answered the phone. Who are you with?). Her mother's tone sounded somehow impatient, demanding to be answered without delay. Donnie couldn't catch everything that was said, but he did recognize some words or two, easily guessing that she was asking Vee who she was with. ''J'suis avec mon chum...''(I'm with my boyfriend) answered Vee with a sigh. ''Quoi?! Depuis quand t'as un chum? T'as tu fait ça sur un coup de tête encore? C'est quoi, tu veux te donner une autre raison de rester là?'' (What?! Since when you have a boyfriend? You did that impulsively? You want to give yourself another reason to stay there?) ''De quoi tu parles?'' (What are you talking about?) added the artist, visibly angered at that point. ''T'es si contre le fait que j’habite ici que peu importe ce que je fais, c'est mal?'' (You're so against my choice to live here that whatever I do, it's bad?) ''Oui! Tu l'sais que c'était une criss de mauvaise idée que tu partes. Tu l'vois ben que t’arrive pas à trouver de l'emploi dans ce que tu veux. Arrête de vivre dans un rêve inutile.'' (Yes! You know it was a dumb idea to leave. You know you're not able to find a job in your domain. Stop living in this useless dream.) As soon as he saw pools of tears invade Vee's eyes, Donnie couldn't stop frowning, taking back the phone. ''Hey, hi. Name's Donnie,'' he started, not even caring that the woman was now looking at him with fear. ''Are you aware that your daughter is currently crying?'' ''Uh, I- no,'' answered the other, taken by surprise by the sudden change in voice and language. ''Hand me back Véro, I-'' ''No, no, listen ma'am,'' cut Donatello, firm. ''I may have not fully understand what you both just said, but I know enough about that stupid argument to tell you that it needs to stop. Your daughter is talented and has such potential. Why won't you just let her do her things? She's an adult, for crying out loud!'' ''You don't know anything about any of this,'' spoke back Vee's mother. ''I'm trying to protect her by making sure that she has a stable future.'' ''Financially, maybe, but emotionally, that's pure bullshit. She's been having panic attacks all because you don't want to believe in her.'' ''Donnie, stop!'' pleaded Vee, trying to contain her sobs. ''Wha- I-'' started the other woman. ''I'm glad she decided to move here,'' cut Donnie once more. ''She won't have to live with people who want to make decisions in her own place. She won't have to live with people who are ashamed of their own daughter.'' ''Donnie!'' said Vee once more, gritting her teeth. She yanked the phone back, promptly ending the call and then throwing the device far from their position. A loud crash was heard, but Vee did not care, her eyes poorly meeting the mutant's, her vision drowned with tears. He thought she would scream, hit him, anything! But he was rather met with a renewed kiss, strong and passionate. Vee couldn't stop her crying, but this time she knew she wasn't bawling her eyes out due to complete sadness. She was madly in love, invaded by strong emotions. Her body wouldn't stop shaking, hungry for his touch... Donatello was quick to comply, his hands back in action as he proceeded to remove the woman's bra. He couldn't help feeling protective over her, wanting to shield her from any harm – may it be in the form of words or physical. He did not mind her tears, knowing Vee was probably going through a lot right now. He wanted her to empty her mind, let it all out. When she pleaded to be nearer, both soon disappeared into the artist's room, clothes scattered on the floor. Alone in the world, forever emprisoned in eachother's arms. They wanted to spend eternity this way... *** When Donnie woke up the next morning, he couldn't help his slight frown, eyes still closed, as he felt nothing but emptiness beside him in bed. He dared crack open an eye, glancing around rapidly; he was truly alone, the faint sound of music finding its way to his ears, coming from the kitchen area, he supposed. Stretching with a light growl, he finally decided to get up, only deciding to wear his underwear and his glasses, next heading towards the sound. His body felt strangely numb after last night. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation - he liked it in fact – and everything kept playing again and again in his mind. It all seemed like a strange dream, remembering Vee's tears, her moans, her lust. It didn't take long for the mutant to notice how lost she had been in her feelings, revealing them entirely to him as she rarely did... Donatello stopped when he reached the kitchen, his eyes instantly falling on the woman seated near the table, occupied. She was only wearing a large shirt, her hair caught up in a bun. Dark circles could be seen under her eyes, but it never tossed away the fact that she looked radiant, beautiful, divine, to him. He did frown when he noticed her center of interest: an alto saxophone. She was carefully cleaning around the keys with cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol, ever so patient and precise. ''Wha-...'' started Donnie, perplexed. Vee looked up, showing a small smile as she noticed the other. ''Bon matin,'' she greeted sweetly. Her tone shot right through his heart, finding her ever so cute. He finally moved and took a seat, observing the instrument with a renewed frown. ''… Since when you have a saxophone?'' he asked. ''I've been playing that instrument for way over ten years. It's the first one I learned in school, in fact.'' His brain had troubles connecting the dots. ''Then why have I never seen you play it?'' Vee snickered, still cleaning: ''When you have close neighbours, it's sadly harder to practice at full capacity. Unless I want people to bang against the walls and floor! For now I simply practice in silence so I don't lose my fingering.'' He couldn't help tracing around the bell's opening with the tip of his finger, fascinated by the instrument's form. ''You could practice at the lair!'' he suggested. The woman looked up to him, showing a playful, yet annoyed look. ''No thanks. First it'd be annoying for your family and I'm unfortunately shy when playing the sax in solo.'' ''Oh come on, I'd like to hear you play!'' added the turtle. Vee simply stuck out her tongue, returning to her task. She did catch Donnie's smile, amused by her behavior. ''Are there any other instruments you know how to play that I'm not aware of?'' he questionned next. The artist puffed a small chuckle: ''I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a violin, I'm somehow decent on a drum and I can toot some notes on a trombone. I also want to learn to play the guitar and the cello. Is that enough? Oh and I learned the piano by myself, in case you were wondering.'' ''You're insane,'' commented Donatello, still smiling. ''… I wish I had hands like yours, I'd love to learn to play the piano. All I can do is hit two or three notes at the same time with one finger.'' Vee couldn't stop her laughter this time, accompanied by snorts. She kept her focus on the saxophone, not noticing the other who was now looking at the cracked cellphone on the table. When Vee threw it away last night, it had cracked the screen completely, making it impossible to see anything. The turtle grabbed the device, observing it carefully in order to see if there was any other broken parts. The woman quickly glanced at him, finally sighing as she diverted her gaze back to the instrument. ''I can fix this,'' said Donnie. ''… Sure, whatever,'' mumbled Vee. This time he frowned, setting the phone down. He knew something wasn't right. ''Tell me everything,'' he started. The human stopped, looking up to her boyfriend with a confused look. ''What do you mean?'' ''I feel like you've told me so little about what's happening between you and your family. Sure, I know the big lines, but there has to be more! … The way your mother spoke last night - her tone - I feel like the fact she doesn't approve your life choices is not the only thing going on.'' Where to begin? … Her eyes shifted around for a while, trying to think. She forced a small laugh, her smile somehow fake. ''… It's so weird, I feel like I can only speak about that in French. The words won't come easily, this is so dumb.'' One of Donnie's hands got to hers, holding it gently as his thumb caressed her skin. ''… You don't need to rush anything. I just want to know – I need to know. I want to understand and make you feel better, if you want me to.'' His warm smile renewed Vee's, feeling much more confident. ''Let me brew coffee, that will give me time to find my words.'' He watched her get up, first setting her machine on as she next got two mugs out. Music was still playing on the radio, this time the tune of A Ship Without A Sail by Ella Fitzgerald starting. Vee froze for a moment, patiently listening to the lyrics. She cursed life's timing for bringing this tune up, knowing it would perfectly sum up what she was going to talk about. Still alone, still at sea. Still there's no one to care for me. When there's no hand to hold my hand Life is a loveless tale For a ship without a sail. She fiddled with the mugs, unable to decide where to place them on the counter. Her back still facing the table, she began to talk, knowing not looking at Donatello would help. ''I'm a mistake. I wasn't planned and that broke my family apart. My dad left my mom as soon as I was born and ever since we lived at the brink of poverty. I won't say I grew up without being loved, far from it, but I was often forgotten. … Since I'm very young I've always had this huge imagination, this need to escape reality and be somewhere else.'' Coffee was ready, her hand shaking as she tried to lift the pot. She was soon stopped by the mutant who had gotten up, now behind her. He filled the mugs with one hand, his other arm now around the woman's waist, keeping her near. Her voice was now slightly shaking as she continued: ''I was a child prodigy, excelling at school. I learned to read faster than other kids, which brought me to read many books and learn way more things than any children my age. I matured so fast, at some point it was scary... I was a freak, a goody-two-shoes that never smiled. My parents hated this. My family was often putting me down whenever I was talking about complicated subjects because, in their minds, a kid could never know about such things; kids are supposed to be dumb and clueless about life in general. … I wasn't and that scared them.'' She felt Donnie nuzzle the top of her head, now fully embracing her from behind. She knew he must be relating to her, his intelligence easily over-throwing his brothers'. ''Whenever I would have actual questions, I would be mocked with 'If you're so intelligent, why don't you know about that?', and so on. I was bullied by so many people because of my way of thinking. No one understood my mind, no one took time to actually speak to me and know what were my needs. I had to learn so many things on my own. … Hell, I even paid all my college on my own. I did everything on my own. As soon as I turned eighteen, I was an adult and that meant that no one would ever care or pay anything for me anymore.'' She was shaking so much at this point, she thought she would explode... ''My parents had such high hopes for me. They wanted me to get a prestigious job, exhaust my brain for something that I knew would never make me happy. … They were so angry when they saw that I wanted to be a musician, an artist and even a writer. They thought my intelligence meant that I would excel in every spheres, while my greatest strengths were only found in arts. … I could finally be at peace when creating, alone and free. I was finally smiling...'' A soft hiccup escaped her, trying so hard to calm her emotions. ''I left my country because I was alone. I left because everything there made me feel so unimportant. I left because I was mocked, ridiculed for something I wanted to devote my life to. My mother was often putting me down, my father barely spoke to me. I left because they thought I was a coward, an anxious mess that loved to play the victim card – when it's clearly not the case. I know my emotions are strong at times only because I keep them inside for so long! They explode, they destroy me like a crushing wave. It's exhausting and it's killing me.'' Her eyes burned, her tears warm. ''I always have to excuse myself for anything I do, I always have to watch myself because whatever I do, it's always a mistake. I'm a mistake, I shouldn't even be born.'' A sob got out this time, Donnie quick to try to calm her, his stance slowly swaying from one foot to the other, trying to be soothing. ''Don't say that, baby, you have so much worth,'' he whispered. ''You're wonderful, incredible even. Don't ever bring yourself down, you're so strong...'' ''I- I just want to forget the pain. I want to forget everything. I hate my brain.'' The mutant shushed her gently, finally turning her around so they could face one another. Vee's eyes were red, forever pouring rivers of tears. He tried to erase them with his thumbs, his traits always so calm, somehow translating his love. ''… Vee, you have no idea how much you were meant for me,'' he started. ''You are not a mistake, you were meant to be here, right in this place and moment. Don't you see?'' He got a hold of her left wrist, bringing the tattoo on her inner forearm up to his lips, kissing it tenderly. ''You are here for a reason...'' This time she did not stop her crying, feeling this strange relief from this sentence alone. Especially when said by him... Vee's body sticked closer to the mutant's, her face hidden against his chest, somehow ashamed of her outburst. Although emptying everything simply felt so good... Soon enough she couldn't help feeling tired, her sobs turning into sad whimpers, closing her eyes as she felt the other's hands at the back of her head and her shoulders, caressing in a soothing motion. ''Je t'aime... Je t'aime tellement,'' she sighed, nuzzling his skin, forever in love. Donnie's heart clenched, understanding those words. He did not care for the woman's tears that had soaked his skin, he did not care about the coffee getting cold – those words, right there, were the most important thing. ''Moi aussi...,'' he spoke back, somehow glad he could finally say something to her in French without fear. Vee's soft gasp and small smile was not missed, a small laugh trying to rise, always amused to hear him try to speak in her native tongue. She only needed to look up to him and lift herself at the tip of her toes for them to finally meet in a kiss, tender and loving. Donatello's hands cupped her cheeks, erasing the remaining tears with his thumbs as they were still lip-locked. His every instincts told him to be gentle, delicate, en amour. He'd give everything in his life only for Vee to be happy and safe... At once, he instantly knew he wanted her forever by his side.

[fangirlsarecool]

So Unprofessional - Jake Peralta x Reader

Based around the episode “The Road Trip”. Enjoy! Also on AO3. My other one shots start here.

Holt came over to you and Jake. The two of you had been going over your open cases at Jake's desk before you set off for a prison transfer. You would have preferred to stay and work the cases but you couldn’t refuse the instructions of your CO. "Morning, detectives. Let's go over the prisoner transfer upstate." he requested. You closed your file and looked to him. "The perp is called Jesse Hermick. Arrested for nine counts of armed robbery but he skipped bail." you informed him. "He was just picked up in Neustadter, New York, trying to pay for a hoagie with a gun." Jake added.

"The sheriff said we have to pick him up tomorrow morning at 6:30. We're going up today and spending the night." you finished. Holt nodded, handing out a file to you. "Here are the transfer forms. Please don't--" "Get any Jake on them?" you posed, taking it from him. "They'll be in my safe hands the whole time, sir. Maybe I should put them in a bag in my overnight bag." "That's a good call." Jake reached beneath his desk and pulled out a bottle. "All the drinks I'm taking are blue." You grimaced; anything with artificial colours was a huge no-no for you. "Naturally." Holt said. He looked to you. "Call me if you need anything." You nodded. "Yes, sir." He took his leave, heading to his office. You went over to your desk and put the forms into your overnight bag. "Hey, I hope this is cool with you, but since we're not technically on duty 'til tomorrow morning, I invited Sophia to join me upstate," Jake told you, "The B&B we're staying at looks really nice. It's almost like it's haunted by fancy ghosts." You smiled. "Why would I mind?" Of course, you really did mind. It wasn’t anything to do with Sophia; she seemed nice, even if she was a defence attorney. You had just been hoping to spend some one-on-one time with him. The truth of the matter was, you fancied Jake. You moved from a precinct in Manhattan about a year ago and he had been partnered with you on your first case at the 99. It had helped you remember how fun police work could actually be. The two of you went for a drink once the case was solved. He'd told you how his dad left him when he was a kid and you'd told him how your mom had done the same. There were many differences between you but you felt you'd found a kindred spirit. And from that moment on, your heart had leeched itself to him. "I just thought all the romantic stuff might be awkward. You know, because of whatever girl your pining over." Raising an eyebrow, you walked back over to his desk. "I'm not pining over anyone." you assured. "And why do you assume it's a girl?" "I've just never seen you get this fixated on a guy before. Remember the girl from the grocery store?" he explained.

You went bright red. "I only mentioned her once." Jake scoffed. "Yeah. Once a day." You shook your head and sighed. "For the record, it's a guy." His eyes widened. "Who is it? Do I know him? Is it Charles?" he probed. You could barely mask the unattractive snort that the thought elicited. "It's not Boyle." "Well, whoever he is, he must be special." A warmth washed through your body. "He is." You tore yourself from his gaze, walking to your desk and grabbing your bag. "You finish up. I'm gonna wait in the car." "Alright. I'll be out in a sec." You nodded, pulling the bag up onto your shoulder and walking out of the bullpen. Once the elevator doors closed, you had to resist the urge to smack your head against them. Hard. Jake was going to bombard you with questions in the car and the more he knew, the more likely he was going to figure out who the 'mystery guy' was. And that would not end well.

It barely took five minutes for Jake to start his bombardments. You managed to dodge the first few of his questions until he asked, "Is it someone from the 99?" Your heartbeat sped up and your palms grew sweaty. He was sure to work out it was him (if he ruled out those not in the 'inner circle'). "I know you said it was a guy but I've seen you making eyes at Rosa and…" You couldn’t help but laugh. "You think I like Rosa?" you wheezed, "I mean, she's gorgeous. But she's freaking terrifying." "Point taken." he replied, chuckling a little. "It's definitely no-one on the squad, then. Unless it's me." Luckily, you had enough residual laughter to brush it off though you could feel your cheeks burning up your face. "Jake Peralta, the only way you will ever find out is if I get drunk enough to lose my filter. Which will never happen." A smirk grew on his face. "Never say never, (y/n). We're not on duty until tomorrow." You shook your head. "So unprofessional." you sighed. "Am not. I do most of my paperwork and I wear a tie sometimes." "Sometimes I wonder how you even reached detective status." "Because I'm a badass hero and the commissioner's always like 'Peralta, you're Brooklyn's number one. Take all the cases'. " He paused before explaining, "It was a dream I had once. John McClane gave me the Medal of Valor. Kate Hudson was there. Also the Ninja Turtles." You chuckled. "You have a weird brain." "So do you. Because you're pining over Terry? Gina? Amy? Holt?" he suggested, his voice growing more exasperated with each name. "I'm not gonna tell you, Jake. And you're never gonna work it out."

"Come on, (y/n), I'm Brooklyn's number one. I'm gonna find out." You shook your head again, something you found yourself doing a lot whenever Jake talked. Placing your head against the window, you watched the scenery whiz by in a blur of colour. And you hoped to God that Jake would give up on trying to figure your secret out.

Sophia was already at the B&B when you and Jake arrived. "Hey." you greeted. "Hi, (y/n)." she replied with a smile. You went to the check-in desk to get the key to your room. "I have a room booked under (y/l/n)." you told the man at the desk. He typed your name into the computer then looked at you for the first time with a bright smile. "Of course, ma'am. I'll just get your key." He turned to the board behind him. For some annoying reason, you couldn’t help but tune into Jake and Sophia's conversation. "I got us the room of a thousand dolls." she finished. "Oh, sounds creepy." he remarked. "Super creepy." They both chuckled. "So I'm gonna go unpack, and then I'm gonna take a bath, and then we have dinner, and then--" "Doin' it." You had to stop yourself from reacting to his indelicacy. "I was gonna say dessert." "Oh. Synonym. Cool. Better." You felt so stupid; you were a grown woman, wishing you were the one having failed innuendos with Jake instead of Sophia. It was as if you were in high school again, pretending in your head that you were strong enough to hold up the main cheerleader in the pyramid. You couldn’t really blame young you for that - the girl had some pretty strong arms. "Ma'am?" You were dragged back to reality by the concierge holding your room key out to you. "Thank you." you said. "Enjoy your stay! And don't forget to try one of our famous mapletinis!" You smiled weakly before turning to the couple. "We're gonna go up to settle in." Jake told you. You nodded. "Cool. I'm um…" You tried to think of something to do that wasn’t staying holed up in your room all night. "Gonna hit the bar. Try a mapletini." you fabricated. "Hey, I'll join you if you want." Every fibre of your being was telling you to say yes but instead you found yourself saying, "It's fine. I'm sure you and Sophia have got stuff you wanna do." Jake turned to his girlfriend and whispered something. She nodded. "I'll see you later, (y/n)." You smiled as she went upstairs. "Is everything alright?" Jake asked, "Just tell me if I pushed things too far with the whole 'who do you fancy' thing. I'm just really--" You butted in. "It's fine. I'm fine." you reassured. Jake wasn’t an idiot (most of the time); you knew he knew something was off but you also knew he wouldn’t pry. "You're sure?" You nodded. "Absolutely. I'll join you for dinner, if you're lucky." You chuckled awkwardly. Get it together, you told yourself. "Go have fun with Sophia. I promise you I'm fine." "Excuse me, sir? Can you call room 14 for me and tell him to get his butt down here? This place is about to get turnt and he's gonna miss out." "Ma'am, we've already placed the call. He said he'll be down in a moment." Somehow, one mapletini had turned into two. After the second drink, everything became a bit fuzzy. But at least you were having a good time now and not constantly thinking about what Jake and Sophia were doing. "Thank you…" Your voice trailed off as you peered at the bartender's name badge. "M…m…marrow? Mermaid? Mervin?" "It's Meredith." she corrected. You shook your head defiantly. "I'm pretty sure it says marrow." You paused before a really good idea popped into your head. "Can you do me favour, marrow?" you asked. "It's Meredith." she repeated with a heavy sigh. "Whatever. I need you to call room 14. Tell him that our perp is in this hotel and we can take him back to the 99 now." You jabbed you finger down on the bar to emphasise the urgency. "Ma'am, I've already called room 14. And as I said before, the man at the other end told me he'd be down in a moment." She moved down the bar, probably to take someone else's order. Following her down, you dropped into the seat in front of her, preventing her from moving on. "His name's Jake." you told her with enthusiasm. "He's got sparkly eyes and a great butt. And really strong arms. Or maybe that was the cheerleader." "(Y/n)?" Your head whipped round so fast that you probably could have given yourself whiplash. You gasped. "That's him." you whispered to the bartender. She grunted before moving to the next customer. "Jakey!" you whooped, hopping off your stool and skipping over to him. "Are you drunk?" he queried, his amusement of the situation written all over his face, "I thought you were just having one mapletini?" "I did. But then I fancied another one. I had a glass of wine after that. It was fruity…I think. And then," You lowered your voice, "I stole someone's shots." He tried and failed to fight the grin on his face. "I may have been waiting a long time to see drunk you," he began, "But we have to be up early tomorrow. Isn't that 'so unprofessional'?" He made his voice higher at the end. He was mocking you. You scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "That was supposed to be me? I can do a way better me than you can." You cleared your throat loudly as if Jake was supposed to expect something amazing. "So unprofessional." you said, changing nothing about your voice. He chuckled. "Okay. That was cute." You were sure you were blushing but the room was already so hot that you couldn’t tell. "Let's get you to bed." He placed a guiding arm around your waist and it was as if you could feel every single chemical reaction exploding inside you like tiny fireworks. It was a good job he was helping you as your legs had turned to jelly. Looking up at him with a sort of dazed smile, you remarked, "You're looking after me." "Of course I am. That's what friends are for." he replied with a warm smile. The fireworks inside of you died off - all of them clumping together and sinking to the bottom of your stomach. Before you had any idea what was happening, words came tumbling out of your mouth. "I hate it when you say that." you admitted. His face fell and you instantly regretted your words. "Say what?" Apparently, there was no stopping you now. "That we're friends." His brow furrowed. "You don’t like that we're friends?" You shook your head. "No, I do. But I don't." And when his brow creased even further, you found yourself saying, "I want us to be more." His expression didn’t change. You didn’t know whether he'd heard you. "It's you, Jake," you continued, "The mystery man. The hang-up. The special guy." The look on his face was unreadable but you didn’t know if that was because you were drunk. "You like me?" he uttered.

"Well, duh." you replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And today was supposed to be about us. We were gonna play ping-pong, drink mapletinis and see if we could find any fancy ghosts." Realising how much you sounded like a whiny, jealous bitch, you stopped. Something gurgled in your stomach but you chose to ignore it. For once, it seemed Jake was speechless. "You laughed when I suggested it was me." he said. "But I didn’t say no. Why do you think I was so cut up about you going undercover? Why do you think I always volunteer to check over your paperwork? I let you drink blue drinks in my car." Your stomach gurgled again and something shifted inside you. You started to giggle. "What?" Jake asked confused. "I'm about to throw up on your shoes." you tittered. And, before he could even react, you did exactly that.

You slumped into the car seat, placing your sunglasses back on. Why, oh why, did you drink last night? Of course, you knew the exact answer to this and couldn’t bear to remind yourself of it. You’d been so stupid and now you were paying the price. Jake shut his door, the sound reverberating through your skull, after securing the perp in the backseat. “You did a pretty good job of not seeming hungover.” he chuckled.

You groaned. “Turn off your mouth siren.” “I’m sorry. Is it too loud for you?” he replied, raising his voice. You cringed away; it felt like someone was just hammering away at your brain. “Jake.” you whined. He reached for the drink holder and held out a bottle to you. “Want some blue?” You stared at the bright blue liquid for a moment before taking it from him. Unscrewing the lid, you considered if a dry mouth was good enough excuse to stoop this low. But after last night, you didn’t think that was physically possible. Jake watched in wonderment as you chugged at least half the bottle. “Wow. Last night really broke you, huh?” You nodded. “I only stopped throwing up about an hour before we left.” There was a pause. You watched as he opened his mouth then closed it again, contemplating whether or not to say something. Knowing that whatever he wanted to say would be a stain on your character from last night, you jumped in. “I know this goes without saying but I’d really appreciate it if you don’t tell Holt.” you requested. “Of course. I’ve done way worse when I’ve been on duty.” You raised an eyebrow. “Worse than getting drunk, puking on your partner’s shoes then turning up for a prison transfer hungover?” “Good point.” The hesitant air settled in the car again and you watched Jake’s jaw shift before speaking. “So, last night you said something to me.” Your heart leapt up into your throat and your face burned bright red. “I did?” you choked out, sincerely hoping drunk you hadn’t spilled your secrets to him. “Yeah. You…um… told me how you wished we could have spent time together yesterday." You didn’t think your face had ever been so red; drunk you sounded like a needy toddler. "Oh, God. Jake, I am so sorry." You paused before adding, "Did I say why?" He shook his head and you sighed with relief. "You just said I was a funny guy then vommed on my shoes." You covered your face with your hands and groaned again - Jake was never going to let you forget that. "How are your shoes, by the way?" you asked, muffled by your hands. "Oh, they were past their best about two months ago. Picked these up in lost and found. They'll do." You lowered your hands and peered at his shoes. They were illuminous colours and someone had drawn flowers all over the white fabric. "Yeah. Until we get back." you said. "Oh, no. They'll do until they fall apart. Or someone throws up on them again." The two of you laughed. "Anyway, because we missed out on time together, I want to make it up to you." he offered. Your heart swelled as you stuttered, "Oh, Jake…y…you don’t…" "(Y/n), this idea took me forever. Let me have this." You sighed but kept schtum. "You and I are gonna have ourselves a good old competition off. I was thinking we could go to that arcade your brother used to take you to. It'll have air hockey, shooter games and probably some dance machines." Eyes wide, you looked to him with a small smile - he'd remembered about the arcade. "But it's in Manhattan." "We both have a day off next week, yeah?" You pushed your sunglasses up onto your head. "And you want to spend it with me?" You were completely gob-smacked; the endorphins were rushing through you. Jake must have been the most thoughtful guy you'd ever met. "It may surprise you to know that I like spending time with you." The familiar feeling of fireworks set off inside you. "I like spending time with you too." Jake gave you a quick glance and the look on your face confirmed that what you'd said last night was true. It seemed it wasn’t so hard to get you to spill your secrets after all.

[reginaldbelchhuggins-blog]

The Short and Miserable Romance of Victor Criss

Chapter 6: Last Meeting

Pairings: Henry x Victor, with some side Butch x Mrs Criss Rating: M Warnings: Domestic abuse, noncon elements, major character death, canon-standard content, bullying, racist slurs, violence, strong language Chapters: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], 6, [7]

Ao3: [x] Summary: The end...

July 1989

“Get the fuck up and talk to Burp!” Victor didn’t open his eyes, moaning in protest when he felt the warm, cozy blanket disappear. Ice cold air conditioning stung against his skin, and forced him to curl up, his legs breaking out in gooseflesh. “I am tired of him calling!”

Not content with just stealing his comforter, his Mama grabbed the corners of his pillow, and pulled hard. His head struck against the lumpy mattress, jolting him wide awake. He rolled to try and grab it, but it was already too far out of reach.

Mama’s face was an emotionless mask – her eyes permanently fixed in a droopy, tired gaze. But Victor knew it was hiding a sadness that had been wrapped up inside bitterness and buried so deep, it was practically Mumm-Ra. He knew it had been his actions that had summoned the Ancient Spirits of Evil to create those feelings, and he was sorry, but his one attempt to apologize had been thwarted by Butch. Butch stood in the hallway with his back turned, telling Mama that some boys needed stronger discipline.

“Andy always was too soft,” Butch said, ominously. “Spare the rod, spoil the lamb, as the good Lord commanded.”

Victor hadn’t quite drawn up the strength to try again.

His Mama walked out the door, bedding in her arms, and Victor was glad to see her go. He glanced around the room. It was empty, but he still felt his skin crawling – leftover feelings from his nightmare. He wished he could pull his blanket in tight, and roll his face into his pillow. But it was time to wake up, apparently. Then again, maybe, if he turned just right, he could sleep without them.

After a few moments of mental debate, Victor rolled out of bed. The walk down the hall was slow, due in part to the swollen knee that Bill Denbrough left him with. In his ninja turtle boxers, he could very clearly see the yellow and purple decorating the skin around it. It was like someone had dipped his knee in watercolor, like an Easter egg. At least it wasn’t black anymore, or bleeding.

The other part was due to the headache throbbing away on the right side of his face. That, too, was because of a well-aimed rock. But while the swelling around the gash had lessened, the pain beneath it grew, and shifted, until every flash of light made him want to vomit.

When he turned the corner into the kitchen, he winced as the sunlight struck him dead on from the window. His Mama turned to look at him, and then gestured to the counter, where she had set the phone down. Without a word to him, she went back to making herself, and only herself, lunch.

Vic wasn’t hungry anyway.

“Hey Belch,” Victor said as soon as the phone was to his ear. He pressed his fingers into his head and turned away from the window. It soothed it a little, but the headache was persistent.

Henry’s voice came through the line on the other side, aggravating it even more, “Hey asshole, why are you avoiding me?”

“Megatron,” Victor said, pinching the bridge of his nose.  He was not in the mood to deal with this.

“That doesn’t work on conversations,” Henry stated, sounding more than a little annoyed. “Now, answer the question. Why. Are you. Avoiding me?”

“Fuck off, Henry. I’m not feeling well,” Victor lied. Well, only half lied. “I have a concussion, remember? Doctor says take it easy.”

“It’s been a week—”

“You know more than my doctor, do you?” Victor asked. He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice, but it crept out all the same.

“No, but I know you were feeling good enough to go to the movies with Peter Gordon last night,” Henry said. “He was getting awful chummy from what I saw.”

Victor’s nose flared as he took a deep breath, and suffocated that anger before it could break out and get him in trouble.

“What, you wanna say something about that?” Victor paused for a moment, wanting to say more, but his Mama was still within five feet. So instead, he said, “Marcia accused him of cheating, which is a bitch thing to do because Peter’s head over heels for her skanky ass. So we went out to get his mind off it.”

Victor paused again as his Mama passed. She carried a small thing of soup and a diet coke into the living room, where she was watching her Dallas VHS tapes. Lowering his voice, Victor added: “You know his girl, right? Marcia Fadden? She had a pregnancy scare last Christmas? Didn’t know whether it would be you or Peter was going to stand at the end of her daddy’s shotgun on her wedding day. Funny thing is, weren’t you seeing someone else around that time?”

“I didn’t…” Henry sighed. It was deep, and weighted. Victor could almost see Henry on the other end of the line, clutching the phone as he curled over it. It was the same way Henrietta had stood when talking on the phone. “Vic, I never had sex with her, or any of them.”

That was genuinely surprising. The tables flipped for a moment, Victor wasn’t sure if he believed Henry. Instead of looking at that deeper, he shook it off.

“Look, whatever, alright. I don’t care,” Victor said. “I’m just taking a breather. The last two times we hung out, we got hurt. So unless we’re talking Dairy Queen and a new Nintendo game, I’m out.”

Victor didn’t need to mention that Henry had promised they’d talk last time. It had been the selling point of his pitch, even.

“I’ll explain everything,” Henry had said, his tongue dripping silver and honey. But if it wasn’t Belch hovering around like he was the mother hen making sure his idiot chicks didn’t hurt themselves, it was Henry shutting down whenever Victor even started talking about it. His eyes would fall to the ground, his hands between his knees, and his mouth stubbornly silent until a distraction came along.

Trying to spell out his fear, and his needs, without accusing Henry of anything directly was trickier than anything Victor had ever done. But it was impossible when Henry refused to listen. So Victor resorted to the age old tradition amongst Criss men, which was avoiding the problem. He was a little young to drop a paycheck on some whiskey – and maybe he would’ve never done that anyway – so instead, it was kitten-napping.

That’s what Mrs Huggins called it when someone had a series of proper hour to two-hour long naps sandwiching a large snack – kitten-napping.

They couldn’t carry on as they were. Victor’s heart couldn’t take it. He loved Henry – loved him. But he also hated Henry so much more than he ever hated anyone in his life. Because Henry knew him better than anyone else on the planet, and still had the audacity to peg him for something he would never do.

“You weren’t exactly complaining,” Henry said, with a dangerous tone. “I mean, ain’t you the one that crushed that little Pickaninny’s fingers with your boot?”

That was true, and Victor regretted it. He regretted it long before Bill Denbrough and five other kids showed up armed to the teeth with large, jagged rocks. Victor regretted it the minute he got out of the car. By the time he actually put hands on the Hanlon boy, his mind had detached itself, and his emotions had become a void.

But once he was in it, he was in it. It was as always – every kick, every thrown rock, each one represented something he wanted to scream.

The rock that smacked Trashmouth between the eyes was Andy Criss leaving for Bangor after dragging his family to live some poor ass hick life on a farm. The one that hit Tits on the chest was stupid Henry, and stupid Henry’s stupid paranoia. The one that got Eddie was Butch Bowers playing with his hair, like a fucking creepazoid pervert.

Victor was almost feeling better when Bill Denbrough locked eyes with him. He knew it was over then, but he went down swinging. He got Bill so many times before that final blow took out his knee and Vic was out of the game. Even worse than the pain, though, was watching the kid let blow after blow fall off him, like he didn’t even feel it.

If you had told Vic a week ago that he’d be frightened of Stuttering Bill, he would’ve laughed. But that kid was the terminator, and Victor neverwanted to fuck with him again.

“That was him,” Victor finally said. “I said we got hurt. I got a concussion, man. Patrick’s dead. You couldn’t even stand up for like an hour. So how about I stay home today, okay?”

There was silence as both boys waited for the other to say something. Almost too quietly, Henry started filling it with what took Victor a moment to realize was song lyrics.

“Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could,” he said, his voice tender. “And maybe I didn’t treat you quite as good as I should. If I made you feel second best, Vic I’m sorry I was blind. But you are always on my mind.”

Victor had to cover his face, physically trying to keep the smile from breaking out. It was such a stupid little thing, but it was everything. To hear him say things like that, even borrowed from someone else, it created that glow beneath Victor’s skin, warming his cheeks into a red splotchy blush. He didn’t want to let go of his anger, but it was slipping.

“Pretty ballsy using Elvis to try and apologize,” Victor commented. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his Mama still wasn’t listening. She wasn’t. She couldn’t care less. “Wasn’t he the one who said ‘we can’t go on together with suspicious minds?’”

“Shut up. And I wasn’t quoting Elvis, that’s the Pet Shop Boys… isn’t it?” Henry asked. The smile on Victor’s face couldn’t have gotten any larger. He bit into his bottom lip to keep a laugh from escaping. Henry chuckled a little himself; it was low and throaty, and tickled Victor’s ear pleasantly. He felt himself leaning towards Henry’s charm, the trap closing in around him. He could almost feel the teeth of it digging right into his heart.

It was the same as last time, and Victor was aware of this. He still couldn’t stop it happening.

“It was Elvis first,” Victor said, the smile creeping into his voice. He twirled the phone cord around his finger, listening as Henry took several deep breaths, preparing for some kind of speech. Vic expected something cheesy, maybe something trashy. He didn’t expect anything close to what came next.

“Look, I don’t have a… suspicious mind,” Henry started, his words chosen carefully. “I know you aren’t like that. But Patrick…” Henry was speaking slowly, as he did when he didn’t want to say what he was about to. It immediately drew all of Victor’s attention. “He’s smarter than me. He dresses better. He has better hair, and all his teeth… and he wouldn’t ask you do weird shit during… you know…”

The silence was thick. The phone cord uncurled and fell free of Vic’s hands. He heard Henry sniffling, like he’d been crying. “Henry—”

“And I was afraid that you were getting tired of my shit,” Henry said, his voice cracking. “I know now it was a stupid thing to say. I wasn’t thinking when I said it. I was just scared because I’ve got nothing to give you.”

Victor knew he should’ve been angry still. After all, Henry wasn’t really saying anything different. The accusation was still there, only the narrative around it changed. But at the same time, hearing it in those words, Victor found some feelings of guilt surfacing.

Sure, he’d spent years soothing away all the shit Butch put in Henry, things like feeling stupid, or weak, or cruel. But who put it in his head that he was a bad boyfriend? Or that he, Henry fucking Bowers, whose hair was soft hay and skin was the sun itself, whose eyes were painted by the Gods, was anything less than desirable?

Victor would trade owning the world with anyone else for one private moment with Henry, and the idea that he had failed to somehow make that clear was both horrifying and heart-wrenching.

“I’m pretty sure Patrick was into weirder shit than hair pulling, first of all,” Victor said. Henry laughed, but the sound of it made Victor certain that Henry had been crying. “Second, I don’t want anything from you but you, and that’s something nobody else can ever give me.”

Mama was still not paying attention. Victor did a quick check when he realized what he said. On Henry’s line, he could hear noise in the background as someone moved around. Henry’s voice changed immediately, becoming louder, colder, “Anyway, my dad left his gun with me and he won’t be back until late. It’s just me, Belch, and some cold beers. Come on and let’s destroy some shit.”

Victor rubbed at his dull headache, knowing that loud noises were only going to make it worse. But the siren song of unsupervised target practice was hard to ignore by itself, let alone in the shadow of what Henry said. It dulled the warning bells telling Vic not to fall for it again.

Before he could say anything, Henry already knew his decision. He heard Henry’s hand close over the mouthpiece as he whispered very clearly to Belch, “he’s gonna say yes. Go! Now!”

“Tell him not to wait outside,” Belch said. He sounded far too excited, and Vic’s resolve was gone. He could practically see Belch’s face, all bright and happy, like a puppy waiting for his master to come home. It was that final thing needed to seal his fate. The trap closed completely, and Victor was a dead man walking.

“Alright,” Victor said, knowing he’d regret it later. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Cool,” Henry said. “Belch will come get you.” Then, taking Vic completely by surprise: “I love you.”

The line went dead. Once the phone was back on the cradle, Victor walked back to his room to get dressed. He had to take a moment to lean against the door, his heart coming alive.

You’re such a fucking idiot, his brain supplied. Victor didn’t disagree. Still, he threw on that sleeveless shirt Henry liked, and fixed his hair.

His emotions were a roller coaster – soaring high when he remembered how it sounded to hear Henry say he loved him – and falling low when he thought of how many times he had overlooked some important clue to Henry’s insecurities.

When he heard Amy, Vic decided not to think about it, but just to continue forward with a better understanding of things.

He tried to say goodbye as he walked by his Mama for the last time, but she barely even looked up at him. She would remember it later – his little wave and quiet bye, mama. The way his face was young, and full of hope. It would be about the only thing she remembered, for as soon as the door was closed, she pulled out the vodka and rum Vic had brought her nearly a year ago.

She would still be sitting there, drunk and crying, when she got the call later from Officer Conley.

~~~

There was a power in holding a gun that just couldn’t be matched with anything else in the world. Not fucking someone so hard they forgot how to be human; not getting off a good comeback and shattering someone’s ego; not diving off a cliff or screaming at tornadoes. Being on the right side of a firearm felt like what Victor imagined He-Man felt like as he thrust the Power Sword to the sky.

For those few seconds before you pulled that trigger, you were immortal.

He couldn’t imagine being on the wrong side of one. Staring into an endless dark barrel, knowing that death was one quick burst away, could make a man crumble – not a man made of paper, as Butch so eloquently put it, but even the ones made of stone and steel and leather. It made men who hated life remember what was worth living for, and it could make men who lived it to the fullest realize that they just want it all to end.

But Butch wasn’t God, and he wasn’t Superman. He might’ve felt like it when he held up that gun, the same as Victor had. But he was the paper man, not Henry. He was a paper man with a powerful toy, and he needed to prove something to someone, though Victor didn’t know who. Maybe it was himself.

Regardless, he casually aimed that gun, and then he pulled the trigger.

Don’t show him you’re afraid…

As Vic leaned back and tried to block the light with his bangs, his headache having taken over the back side of his head completely, he glanced over to where Henry had been sitting. The older boy was no longer there, but was coming down the driveway. Victor hadn’t seen him move, but judging by the stiff way he was walking, he still hadn’t quite recovered.

They’d all been sure Butch was going to actually hit Henry – none more than the target himself. But instead of Henry’s chest, it was the ground at his feet that exploded. Three shots, each one getting closer and closer to Henry’s boot, until one left a scuff mark, and a dark, dampness spread across Henry’s lap.

Victor watched Henry shuffle past them, heading towards his house. Victor started to walk towards him, but Henry just gave him a look, silently commanding Victor to stay put. He stood outside on his porch for a few moments, and then disappeared behind the front door. Victor did not follow, but he didn’t like it.

“Maybe he’s just getting some clean pants,” Belch said, his voice dropping into a whisper. “Look, when he comes back, let’s just go straight to ma’s house. My mom can take in my old clothes to fit him, and we can figure out the sleeping arrangements later, but the basement ain’t that cold right now. It ain’t the best solution, but there won’t be no fuckin’ crazies tryin’ to put holes in him neither.”

“Butch knows that trick now,” Vic said, crossing his arms. He rolled a rock around with the toe of his boot, thinking. “What if we just… kept driving? How long you think before we reach Canada?”

“I can’t leave my mom. I’m the only one she’s got,” he said. Vic turned around, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against Amy’s roof. All he needed was one good idea— “What the fuck?”

Victor looked up at his friend. Belch was slowly leaning away from Amy, his fists clenching. Vic spun around to see whatever it was, preparing to punch someone.

Henry was back on the porch, the screen door slamming shut behind him. He turned to face them, slow, stiff, like he was thinking. Vic’s eyes fixated on the red spots on Henry’s face, watching as they slowly ran down his face, becoming red streaks. As soon as Vic realized that it was blood decorating his boyfriend, the panic was immediate.

“Vic, no…”

He forgot Belch was even there as he moved towards Henry, a singular train of thought taking over the whole station: Henry’s hurt.

He was going to cup Henry’s face, push back his hair, and find out where the wounds were – find out how to fix them. Vic didn’t see the knife in Henry’s hand, at first. Belch did, but he might as well have been shouting at a wall, because Vic didn’t hear him over the sound of his own anger rising. Just as soon as he realized what Henry’s intentions were, it was already done. The blade moved left to right, leaving a red smile in its wake.

Victor felt nothing worse than the prick of a mosquito bite. It was the heat in his throat as he desperately tried to pull another breath through it that told him something was wrong.

Belch was screaming, but it was far away. Blood crept between Vic’s fingers as he tried to push it back in. He felt it moving through his throat, rushing to the newly created opening, trying to escape. It flew out of his mouth as he choked on it, speckling Henry’s face even worse than before.

Victor stepped away from Henry, landing on his hurt leg wrong. His knee buckled, and his ankle twisted. His headache was screaming when his skull collided with firm soil, but then numbed itself to nothing. Lying there face down in the warm grass, it occurred to Victor that he was dying, and it had been Henry that killed him.

It just didn’t feel real. His body was working a wonderful magic, trying to lull him to sleep. Everything felt dull, and dreamlike. Even Butch looked like some child’s nightmarish take on himself. His skin sallow and eyes sunken, looking more Frankenstein than police officer, with orange pom poms instead of buttons on his uniform. If Victor could’ve felt anything, he might’ve felt fear. But even that was lost.

“That Hank. Always did like putting his little sword in the throats of pretty boys. Just like his old man,” Butch said, his voice sounding off with its playful tone. He crept closer, moving in large, slow jerks. “I know what you think about me, you disgusting, dirty little thing. You tease and taunt, but you always run away. Now you can’t run, can you?”

He smiled a hideous grin, teeth as sharp as a shark’s beneath the layers of rot. Victor’s scream was as much blood as it was air. The Butchenstein would’ve lunged for him if Belch hadn’t hit the ground between them, Henry following after. Vic realized that he had to have tripped over Victor’s body, but he didn’t feel anything at all.

Henry threw a punch, and Belch caught it, and then twisted Henry’s wrist. Henry let out a feral cry, and brought his other hand down. There was an odd squelch – the same sound a cantaloupe made when being cut open. When his hand came back up, it was covered in blood, the glint of the knife barely visible beneath it. Henry was bringing his knife down again, and again, and again, but Victor could only hear it.

His eyes were fixed on Butch, who was leaning over him, pulling his hands away from his neck.

“Now it’s my turn to eat you, pretty boy.”

But the world had already turned a bright white for a few seconds, and then, it went black.

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 4.10.2017

This week ended up being a relatively light reading week for yours truly, but that doesn’t lessen the quality of my enjoyment whatsoever. In fact, I had enough love to share that I wanted to go over all of the available Marvel Legacy Primers for this week as well, even if they’re just short blurbs!

So without further ado let’s jump into it.

Marvel’s America, Marvel’s Black Panther, Marvel’s Incredible Hulk, Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man, Marvel’s Jean Grey, Marvel’s Monsters Unleashed, Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo, Lion Forge’s Voltron Legendary Defender, Viz’s Yona of the Dawn

Marvel’s America - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017-present) Robbie Thompson, David Lopez

As interested as I am in America, I haven’t had the opportunity to really follow her outside of the Young Avengers run she is in. So I think, oddly enough, for me this is one of the most necessary “Primers” of any of the ones I’ve read so far, and the information was very good to have. It really helped to frame her history, her relationship with her mothers, and her confidence in herself in a new light that is really appreciated. And the art from David Lopez is as beautiful as any of his issues on All-New Wolverine.

Marvel’s Black Panther - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2016-present)  Robbie Thompson, Wilfredo Torres

There’s honestly not going to be that much more to say on most of these Primer pages. They’re fun, quick run throughs of relevant histories of the characters and teams that they showcase and depending on your interest and engagement may influence whether or not you want to hop in on the next storyline that they’re promoting. 

I do like the sense of unity and legacy that is built into the Black Panther title already, having it be a responsibility tied to kingship that T’Challa knows and the all-important bond it has between him and the memory of his father. 

It really puts a spin on the importance of Legacy that this event seems intent on hammering home.

Marvel’s Captain Marvel - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2016-present)  Robbie Thompson, Brent Schoonover

Carol Danvers is one of those characters I desperately want to lie on every feasible surface level, but whose books have never quite got me on board and whose guest appearances always leave me a bit more confused about her than I had been before her said appearance. And yet there was still not a whole lot added here. I appreciate it, and young Carol is adorable, but there was nothing here that didn’t make me feel like... well, like she’s Hal Jordan. And ‘m not a fan of Hal Jordan.

Marvel’s Incredible Hulk - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017-present) Robbie Thompson, Joe Bennett

Everything I have read so far with Amadeus Cho, both in Totally Awesome Hulk and in his guest appearances or team-ups in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur to Champions has  really connected to me on a level that Bruce Banner hadn’t exactly managed over the years. So it was nice to see a little blurb that went over their mutual histories and explored what was there.

It almost makes people forget that Marvel unnecessarily killed Bruce Banner for... no reason. Almost. Not quite. Though he might be alive by now. I am obviously not current.

Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2016-present) Robbie Thompson, Valerio Schiti

Gah, reading this overview of Tony and Riri’s history really reminded me how much I really loved reading Invincible Iron Man when it first came out and just how much I positively adored Riri’s character and her banter with Tony. You know. Before they completely undid the relationship within the first storyline and then Bendis went all Bendis on us and it became obvious that Tony was coming back sooner than later and then Secret Empire destroyed the world... somewhat literally. 

I’d love to read a Riri-centric book in better circumstances. Or at least once the next trade is out. We’ll see.

Marvel’s Jean Grey - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017-present) Robbie Thompson, Mark Bagley

I was actually just recently talking to my good friend @shobogan about how much more interested I would be in Young Jean Grey if only Marvel had the guts to either give us a romantic relationship with her and Laura (or her, Laura, and Scott OT3 hullo) or have Older Jean Grey return to mentor her younger self and others at the school since she’s the only X-Man kept dead for this long who was considered a Top Tier X-Man. And since we’re finally getting the latter, it seems, now I have to look at what we know of Young Jean and consider my feelings all over again. And this primer gave me the opportunity to do just that!

While I’m not following Jean’s book at the moment, I’m obviously a pretty big X-fan so I have a general sense of where all the moving pieces are at the moment. And I have to say, with Older Jean returning it’s going to be a pretty awesome time for comparing and contrasting their characters and relationships. After all, this younger Jean is far, far less experienced than her counterpart, but has a peripheral knowledge of her own fate, and as much as she tries to not be defined by it, it’s been defining her in the opposite direction in a sense. And more than that, she’s a Jean who sees the Phoenix Force not as an asset or a tool, but sees it as an honest to god enemy, which I’m not sure how that will work. And I’m even more interested in Jean’s return now because of the possibilities of their interactions with the Force together. 

Guess we’ll wait and see!

Marvel’s Monsters Unleashed - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017-present)  Robbie Thompson, David Baldeón

I have actually been planning for a little while now to pick up the trade of Monsters Unleashed because I had fun with the miniseries earlier this year and I have been craving more Elsa Bloodstone (as well as the entirety of the Nextwave crew) and this seems like one of the more interesting powers to come from the Inhuman collision.

.... Actually it’s completely stolen from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic and later adapted TV episode dedicated to Jack Kirby who had the power of creativity to draw and create anything he drew and also had a a penchant for creating monsters and different worlds and so on. So I mean. There’s that unavoidable fact. But Kei’s cute so I’d be willing to overlook it for the sake of seeing what Marvel plans on doing with this very wild and unruly power. 

Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo (1984-present) #162 Stan Sakai, Tom Luth

The conclusion of Usagi and Inspector Ishida’s investigation about the doctors’ murders has come and the hilarity of Kitsune and Kiyoko bumbling along with them and incidentally becoming crucial to the entire investigation does not lose its edge either.

Story: The conclusion of this particular caper is interesting mostly in how the framing by coincidence is not ultimately a linchpin to the story, having been solved almost immediately in the story’s first issue. The inventiveness of Sakai’s work, overall, is simple subterfuge which continues to make each new adventure feel unique and uncertain. In this instance, it would be in the assistance that Kitsune and Kiyoko end up providing by revealing the true murderer almost by accident. 

That being said, as simple as individual stories are for Usagi Yojimbo, the complexity really rests in the margins for long time fans, and that shows most clearly in the way a quiet buildup of several arcs seem to flow together for coming to a head. Perhaps the most famous and arguably best all around example of this would be in “Grasscutter” and how years of storytelling and slow vignettes linking together culminated in one of the greatest comic storylines of all time. We seem to be getting something similar in the backgrounds of more recent adventures with this guild of assassins which Usagi has unknowingly crossed the path of and caused ire to several times at this point. 

I’m excited to see where that story is taking us, and likewise interested in how little details, like Kiyoko successfully pickpocketing Inspector Ishida, will pay off down the road. 

Lion Forge’s Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2 (2017) #1 Tim Hendrick, Mitch Iverson, Jung Gwan Yoo, Ji-in Choi

Egghhhhh. Are you ever really rooting for something against your own common sense and get bit in the butt regardless? I feel like that happens to me on an inconceivably high average and almost all of it can be blamed on the fact that for some reason I am still expecting comics to play fairly with me. If anything my standards should be lower by now. But, well, let’s see if I’m being a bit too harsh on Lion Forge’s second effort in making a Voltron comic. 

Story: I would argue that one of the reasons that I had unreasonably high expectations for this comic is in part because the first comic produced by Lion Forge had actuallymanaged to not only be a fairly solid effort as a comic but managed to capture the spirit of the current Dreamworks Netflix series in a wa that was welcoming to fans new and old, and importantly of all ages. So I was hoping for more of the same with this comic project.

In more or less words... I did not exactly receive that. Where there was a solid read of the characterizations in the last comic, this issue showed a severely flattened to the point of parody version of the paladins, especially poor Hunk here who had the already obnoxious and unnecessary fat jokes and food jokes from the series amped up to the point of being his only characteristic in this comic. To the point that at one point he doesn’t even form a full sentence, just grabs a pie successfully from a training maze and says “Hunk win”. Which... I guess is somewhat better faring than the other paladins who didn’t even have dialogue that really fit them. Save for Pidge who was likewise flattened to “the smart one.” 

The storyline itself of a new planet where Voltron is needed but the species they end up helping... they actually fail initially, I won’t lie, is a pretty solid premise for Voltron overall, and would be something I’d love to see the show tackle similarly, but the fairly generic wolf-furry aliens didn’t receive a whole lot of depth in this first issue. 

Depth trended on being the biggest problem for this issue overall. There wasn’t an examination of the characters and their interactions, how they treated each other and how they tackled problems differently. The sort of things you’d want from an ensemble cast like Voltron. Which is surprising since again the first series by Lion Forge managed all that and was written on a much younger reading level at the same time. Each issue tackled exactly those very things -- individual characters, how they functioned in the group, and how they tackled obstacles differently to find a solution together. I would expect the same here but it didn’t seem to be on the menu. 

Hopefully all of this will be addressed and fixed as the comic progresses, but as for now I’m apprehensively putting this series on my three issue trial run. 

Art: The art was not a great improvement on the previous comic but it also wasn’t bad in the least. In fact I think the art popped very well, adjusting colors and textures about as well as you’d expect from a television show adaptation for kids. I do wish that the face models for the paladins would keep more consistent and overall there was a rushed feeling to the comic that seemed fairly unnecessary considering it’s the first issue. 

Viz’s Yona of the Dawn (2009-present) Vol. 8 Mizuho Kusanagi

You know, I keep hearing over and over again from friends and trusted sources that Yona of the Dawn is a series that will continuously subvert my every expectation and make me continue guessing and yet every volume I really do manage to be caught off guard by something which the story chooses to do which is shockingly poignant and new even to its fairy tale epic adventure structure. 

Story: So the Yellow Dragon joining the group was hilariously and purposefully anti-climactic but what we got as a result of that choice is the new direction for the series that ties directly into Yona’s own self-realization. She doesn’t simply want to rule and she doesn’t simply want to conquer. What she wants is to know her people and to save them from the crises that were overlooked by her father before her and by Su-Won now. She wants to take up arms to protect the entire country not just with the power of the loyal followers she has gained but with her own hands. She is something that neither of the kings -- her father or her cousin -- could have ever dreamed of being.

And then my expectations were really taken for a loop by us then in turn following Su-Won as he travels to the Earth Tribe and earns the respect and allegiance of the chieftan general there through a series of manipulations, tactical conceits, and ultimately quiet and subtle intimidation mostly by the fleeting moments in which he dropped his ditzy and well-meaning act to show his true intentions. But as fascinating as it was and as surprising as it was, for me at least, that this complete shift of POV for a few chapters actually managed to keep me on board when I’m not one to often fully appreciate the “villain’s side of things”, probably the most interesting part of any and all of this is actually how much tension is underlying Su-Won’s leadership. HIs appeal to the Fire and Earth Tribes is less in the leadership that he promotes and more in this current of possible warmongering that appeases the more warlike fractions of Kohka. 

It’s all fascinating and offers a sense of danger in Yona’s new quest to help the people of fher country feel a new sense of danger, knowing that our group is ultimately pretty unprepared for helping parts of the country which would not be as receptive to their quest or the offer of Yona’s leadership.

That being said... the final chapter driving home Yona’s relationship with Hak and everyone’s strange obsession with protecting Yona but rejecting her attempts to grow her own strength and independence. Lik eI guess we’re just all going to overlook the way she killed the slave trader mob boss in teh previous volume. But beyond all of that, my real concern is just... I cannot stand the way Hak’s character is portrayed in his “over protectiveness” of Yona. It’s far from romantic to me to continuously have a character obsess over someone to the point of “jokingly” considering locking them away for the world to see. 

It’s not the best issue of the series by far, but it has some great moments, especially for Yona.

Art: I actually do think that the further we’ve come in this comic, the more consistent and confident the at has gotten. There are still lots of soft tones and all the markings of a usual shoujo, but the real stand out this time around is that we’re beginning to see more and more the variation in ethnicities in the people of the country, which is honestly relieving even if for now the Earth Tribe, which drives that point home, consists mostly of Su-Won’s supporters and may carry with them some more unfortunate stereotypes being fed that I might not be aware of as a non-native to Japan.

So far as single issues this week are concerned there’s really no competition for Usagi Yojimbo in a regular week but especially not in a fairly light week. Yona is still a fantastic book and if there were other trades to compare it to I’d probably lavish on it more, but since we’re on singles I have to give this one to the unending quality that is Stan Sakai’s anthromorphic feudal epic.

And, once more, I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently. On top of that, I have exactly a month and a half to pack up everything I own and move halfway across the country again which is not helping those financial crunches I mentioned before either.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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[dannyphantomrpg]

Visual Aid: 107 Danny Phantom Facts

So I did this again.

(It’s what keeps me occupied when my husband’s asleep and the tablet pen is charging~)

((This one was barely longer than the 10 Years Later, Part 2, but it took all day for some reason...))

Let’s get this thing started~

Hey everybody, Butch Hartman here. I am so excited today because I'm teaming up with Channel Frederator today to talk about my show, Danny Phantom. Can give you the inside scoop.

You guys remember the fandom? Are you kind of curious about the show? Well, relax, we've got something for everybody here as we talk about the 107 facts about Danny Phantom.

For example, did you know that the 2005 Michael Jackson trial was actually features on Vlad's TV on one episode? It's there.

107 Facts: Danny Phantom.

001 Danny Phantom was created by me, Butch Hartman, after I had previously worked on the Fairly Odd Parents with Nickelodeon.

002 When making the show, I drew a lot of inspiration from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ghostbusters.

003 The title Danny Phantom was inspired by the titles of 1960's cartoons like Jonny Quest. More specifically, I wanted to create a title with a real first name, followed by a last name that was also kind of an action word. Some of these alternative action words were "Danny Thunder" "Danny Lightning" and "Danny Power". "Danny Phantom" was the name I went with cause I thought it sounded the coolest.

004 Some of the alternative first names I had for our hero included "Billy Phantom", "Kenny Phantom", "Jackie Phantom", and "Davey Phantom". I think you'll agree they don't quite have the same ring as "Danny Phantom" does.

005 I came up with the concept for the show Danny Phantom while driving a moving van from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with my mother. Unfortunately, she was more fascinated by the sight of a desert tortoise, than the birth of a new, awesome Nicktoon.

006 Before settling on a superhero show, one of my first concepts for Danny Phantom was a bit more in the main Ghostbusters. It was called Danny Phantom and the Specter Detectors, and it would have focused on a powerless Danny and his friends hunting down ghosts, using an array of ghostbusters-like gadgets.

007 Danny Phantom was pitched to Nickelodeon executives over dinner. Execs treated me  after they ordered more episodes of Fairly Odd Parents, and they happened to ask me if I had any more ideas for TV shows. And, yes, being treated to nice dinners is definitely an appreciated perk.

008 There's some early concept art of Danny showing a surprising design. I originally drew him with the Superman-type body, which was basically a lot of unrealistic buff muscles. I reverted to the slimmer design when I decided it's be more interesting to portray Danny as a fourteen-year-old kid.

009 I decided Danny should be fourteen years old because that age is kind of a bridge between childhood and adulthood. It's more of a period of self-discovery which certainly fits the theme of Danny learning to live and control his ghostly abilities.

010 Danny's skinnier, final design, was the collaborative effort of character designers Steven Silver, Shannon Tyndall, and - surprise - me.

011 Unlike many other cartoon characters, Danny has five fingers. Take that Timmy Turner.

012 You may notice that when Danny goes ghost, only his hair turns white and his eyebrows stay black. They're actually meant to be white as well, but we all thought the white brows made Danny look like an old man so we, uh, kept 'em.

013 Sam and Danny were originally meant to share a psychic connection, so one would know where the other one was at all times. But I scrapped this to keep things simple. Only Danny was finally to have the superpowers.

014 Danny was originally gonna have a pet owl named Spooky that would be able to track ghosts. I scrapped the concept as Harry Potter rapidly gained popularity. I  didn't want his series to be constantly compared to the boy wizard.

015 I wanted to give Danny a really cool ghost motorcycle to use as his primary means of transportation, but then I realized that giving a motorcycle was pointless because, you know, he can fly really fast.

016 The father-son duo of Jack and Danny Fenton are a reference to Jack and Danny Torrance from The Shining, which explains why Jack Fenton constantly accuses his children of being ghosts.

017 I gave Danny an older sibling because, unlike Timmy Turner, I felt that Jazz Fenton would make Danny feel less in control at home and give him somebody to contend with. I thought this lack of control would make Danny's experience with his superpowers all the more satisfying for him.

018 Jazz Fenton was named after a character in John Byrne's 1990's comic book Next Men. I always thought the name Jazz was cool.

019 Tucker Foley's name is a combination of actor and comedian Chris Tucker and Eddie Murphy's character from Beverly Hills Cop, Axel Foley.

020 Danny's teacher, Mr. Lancer, is named after a family restaurant in Burbank called, you guessed it, Lancer's.

021 Vlad Masters was originally going to be a vampire, but Nickelodeon execs thought making him a Vampire could lead to some pretty violent territory and I thought that too. So he was changed into a ghost.

022 A remnant of this scrapped concept can be found in his villain name "Vlad Plasmius". Plasma is found in blood which, you know, vampires kind of have a thirst for.

023 I refer to Vlad Masters as Danny Phantom's Lex Luthor. Like Luthor, Vlad uses his wealth to exert his power, or at least some of it. He also has a personal connection to Danny that gives him the upper hand in most scenarios.

024 Danny's love interest, Paulina Sanchez, is a parallel to Superman's love interest, Lois Lane. Both characters have no romantic interest in the protagonist because they have a crush on the protagonist's superhero alter ego. Lois loves Superman, but not Clark Kent, and Paulina loves Danny Phantom, but not Danny Fenton. Paulina: But you still have no shot with me Oh, the cruel irony.

025 Danny's ghost sense is identical to Spiderman's spider sense. Both senses alert their respective heroes whenever danger is nearby.

026 The parallels of Spiderman don't end there. Dash Baxter is a parallel to Peter Parker's football playing bully, Flash Thompson. Not only do Flash and Dash bully the protagonists of their universes, but they idolize the protagonist's superhero alter ego without realizing the hero is actually the person they bully. Their names both words that describe their quick movement and rhyme with each other.

027 The ghosts of Danny Phantom's world aren't the spirits of the deceased as ghosts tend to be in pop culture. Instead, they're monsters from another dimension. We call them ghosts because it's easier to say and it's more appealing than saying monsters from another dimension.

028 Danny's hometown, Amity Park, is a tribute to the settings of a few famous horror stories. Amityville, Long Island is the location of the famous haunted house known as the Amityville Horror. But Amity Park is also named after Amity Island, the location of the book and Steven Spielberg film Jaws.

029 Danny's high school, Casper High, is named after Casper the Friendly Ghost. Hey, if we hadn't added all these paranormal references, you may have forgotten the show is about ghosts.

030 Quite a few key members from the Fairly Odd Parents had a hand in making Danny Phantom, including writer  Steve Marmel and art director Bob Boyle.

031 One of the major differences working on the Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom was the latter series' more serial format containing everything from character arcs to recurring story lines. Danny Phantom embraces storytelling angle by making the episodes 22 minutes long as opposed to Fairly Odd Parents whose 22 minute run time consisted of 2 eleven minute episodes.

032 One of the most challenging aspects of creating a superhero show like Danny Phantom, was giving all the superhero tropes a unique and interesting twist. We wanted to keep the series fresh an unique.

033 I originally wanted to cast a fourteen year old boy for the role of Danny, but I couldn't find anybody that sounded heroic enough. That heroic voice I searched for was ultimately provided by David Kaufman. Before playing Danny, Kaufman broke into the realm of voice acting when he played Marty McFly in Back tot he Future: The Animated Series.

034 David Kaufman kept his audition for Danny as a CD in his car that he would listen to towards the beginning of the show whenever he drove to the studio to record. He did this to remember what Danny sounded like in order to immerse himself into the character efficiently.

035 I wasn't the only one Kaufman's performance left a deep impression on. His daughter, Grace, calls him Daddy Phantom.

036 Sam Manson is played by actress Grey Griffin. I basically made an effort to include her in every show I created back then. Thus far, she's played Vicky in the Fairly Odd Parents and Kitty Katswell from T.U.F.F. Puppy.

037 Tucker isn't the first loyal friend Ricky D'Shon Collins has played. Before hunting ghosts with Danny, he helped TJ Detweiler keep balance and order on the playground as Vince LaSalle in Disney's Recess.

038 Maddie Fenton's voice actress, Kath Soucie, has essentially crafted a career out of voicing cartoon mothers. She played Dexter's mom in Dexter's Laboratory, Betty DeVille in Rugrats and Miriam Pataki in Hey Arnold.

039 Danny's father, Jack, is played by legendary voice actor Rob Paulson, who's played iconic roles like Yakko Warner, Pinky, Carl Weiser, Experiment 625, Donatello in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Raphael in the old one, and way too many more to mention here.

040 Although Mr. Lancer is far from hardcore, his voice actor, Ron Perlman, has played quite a few characters throughout his career that redefined the word, He played Hellboy in the Guillermo del Toro films of the same name and he voices Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, on Teen Titans, as well as the Lich in Adventure Time.

041 Valerie Grey was originally played by Grey DeLisle for the episode My Brother's Keeper before renowned voice actress Cree Summer was chosen to take over the role. If her name doesn't sound familiar, you've probably heard her voice as Penny on Inspector Gadget or maybe even as Susie Carmicheal on Rugrats.

042 Valerie isn't the only one that's had a change in her voice. Dani, that's Dani with an I, was voiced with two different actresses through the series. She was played by AnnaSophia Robb in her debut episode Kindred Spirits. The role was then taken over by Krista Swan in the episode D-Stabilized, which was Dani's second and final speaking appearance.

043 Tara Strong plays two of the show's recurring villains: Ember McLain and Penelope Spectra. This is definitely not the first time I've worked with her. You probably know her best as Timmy Turner in the Fairly Odd Parents, which proves she can effectively play both the hero and the villain.

044 Every celebrity guest in the show was cast as a ghost, similar to how celebrity guests would play villains on the 1960's Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Some of these celebrities include Particia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond as the Lunch Lady, and Matthew St. Patrick from Six Feet Under as Skulker, and Will Arnett from Arrested Development as the Ghost Writer, and Martin Mull as Vlad Plasmius.

045 These celebrity voice actors typically played their ghosts for a limited time before different voice actors took their roles. Sometimes as soon as the ghost's second appearance. Series Kath Soucie took over the role of the Lunch Lady and Kevin Michael Richardson became Skulker.

046 Tucker's dad, Maurice Foley, is voiced by Phil Lamarr who voices Hermes Conrad on Futurama and Samruai Jack on Samurai Jack.

047 Mark Hamill plays Undergrowth. He's, of course, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, but also as countless voice acting credits, including the Joker and Fire Lord Ozai.

048 The ghost child Youngblood was played by actor Taylor Lautner when he was just nine years old. Lautner would later be featured in everybody's favorite love story Twilight. Wait, who wrote that? Do I have to say that?

049 Danny's ultimate enemy, Dark Danny, is played by Oscar-nominated acting legend Eric Roberts. His impressive resume includes everything from the Dark Knight to the Cable Guy.

050 The first recording session for Danny Phantom took place on November 21, 2002, about a year and a half before the show premiered. The first episode to be recorded was also the first episode to air: Mystery Meat.

051 In fact, Danny Phantom premiered on April 3, 2004, right after Nickelodeon's annual Kid's Choice Awards.

052 Unlike many other animated shows, the cast of Danny Phantom recorded their dialogue in the same room together. David Kaufman described the experience as something akin to a stage play.

053 It takes the actors around 3 hours to record dialogue for a single episode. David Kaufman knows that shouting "I'm goin' ghost!" so many times made his voice hoarse by the end of the day.

054 In the episode What You Want, I voiced a football announcer that also looks a lot like me except he's, you know, a cartoon. I mean, he looks a lot more like me than Dr. Bender does. I hope.

055 The theme song we hear today wasn't the only one recorded for the show. An alternate version got so far into production that an alternate opening sequence was storyboarded all the way around it. The alternate song sounds very similar to the final product with different lyrics that focus more on explaining Danny's abilities.

056 The theme song was changed because Nickelodeon wanted it to tell Danny's origin story. This way, new views wouldn't feel alienated when watching the show for the first time no matter what episode they started out with.

057 Luckily, changing the lyrics wasn't an overly complicated, make-10-calls, logistical nightmare since I wrote the lyrics of the theme song. Both of them actually.

058 I based the show's theme song after the song The Invisible Man by Queen, one of my favorite bands.

059 One thing I learned from working on the Danny Phantom theme song is that your first idea isn't always your best idea, and to never stop pushing yourself until you've made something truly awesome. You're welcome for that halfway through burst of inspiration.

060 I also co wrote another fan favorite song Remember, performed by Ember in the episode Fanning the Flames, which also happens to be my third favorite episode. Yes, my third favorite. I am very, very specific.

061 Danny Phantom was the first show to be produced by my very own company, Billionfold Inc. which was co-founded with my wife. Billionfold comes from a biblical term, hundredfold.

062 A single episode of Danny Phantom took approximately 10 months to produce, stretching all the way from pre-production to post.

063 While the pre-production phase took place in Burbank, California, Danny Phantom's animation was done by a Korean animation studio called Rough Draft. Rough Draft's resume includes work done on other animated classics like Futurama, The Simpsons, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

064 The individual villains found within Danny Phantom's rogues gallery was based on ideas that I had. Ember McLane stemmed from a pitch regarding an episode about music fads, and the effects they have on teenagers. The Lunch Lady was generated from my very astute knowledge that students tend to hate school prepared lunched.

065 Vlad is a Green Bay Packers fanatic because Danny Phantom's story write, Steve Marmel is a cheesehead himself. We nearly got sued for this, but luckily Marmel was smart enough to make the team colors of the Danny Phantom Packers gold and green instead of green and gold.

066 One scrapped running gag Marmel wanted to incorporate was that Vlad's home would be blown up after every encounter he had with Danny, but this recurring joke was mainly lost in editing.

067 Had the series gone on, Danielle would have been taken in by the Fentons, effectively becoming the younger sister of Danny and Jazz.

068 Technus was intended to have another upgrade, Technus 3.0, in the episode Identity Crisis. The design was scrapped after we decided the upgrade didn't really fit anywhere in the episode's story.

069 The addition of Danny Phantom's logo later in the series was the suggestion of Nickelodeon executives, who thought he needed a symbol akin to heroes like Batman, Superman, and Spiderman. But perhaps more honest reason was because the execs wanted to make the hero more marketable.

070 Danny officially became 99.99% marketable in the season 2 episode, Memory Blank, in which Sam gives him his D logo.

071 The series score was composed by Guy Moon, who is also responsible for the music heard in the Fairly Odd Parents.

072 When Guy Moon and I met to discuss a soundtrack of an episode, I would usually sing over the episode in progress to give Moon an idea of how I wanted the music to sound. Moon would bring a camera to these sessions and record my, admittedly, unskilled singing to remember my instructions.

073 Not everyone can become a half ghost, half human. If Sam or Tucker had gotten caught int the middle of the Fenton's malfunctioning Ghost Portal, it would have likely killed them.

074 Wulf is fluent in Esperanto, a language created in 1887 by Dr. Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, perhaps better known by his pseudonym of Doktoro Esperanto. Esperanto was created in the hope of replacing every language in the world as the one universal language. Judging by the fact that this video is in English, you can probably guess how that plan worked out.

075 The episode titled Shades of Grey is obviously a play on Valerie's last name, but the title could have a much deeper meaning. The term "shades of grey" refers to an unclear position on the scale of good to evil, usually somewhere in between. This certainly applies to Valerie, as she doesn't necessarily fight ghosts for good or evil. but for her own personal reasons.

076 During Shades of Grey, Danny names the ghost dog Cujo. Cujo's also the name of a horror novel by Stephen King about a dog bitten by a rabid bat, which turns the dog into a cold-blooded killer.

077 The green glowing, double bladed melee weapon Maddie uses to slay the legion of Vlad's monsters in Maternal Instincts is practically identical to Darth Maul's double bladed lightsaber in Star Wars Episode One, save for the red color.

078 Because I know everyone loves multiple Episode One references, the the title of the second season's 9th episode The Fenton Menace is obviously a play on the title of everybody's favorite Star Wars film, the Phantom Menace. Yes. Everybody's favorite Star Wars film.

079 To continue the Star Wars nods, the Danny Phantom universe has its own line of popular toys called Space Wars featuring characters that resemble Chewbacca and R2D2.

080 Some of the computers in the Danny Phantom world have pears in the back of them which you probably guess was a nod to Apple computers. Timmy's dad in Fairly Odd Parents has the same symbol on his laptop.

081 Save for the creepy pictures of Maddie, the programs and icons on both Danny and Vlad's computers are exactly the same, in the exact same order.

082 Skulker's hunt for Valerie and Danny in Life Lessons closely resembles the plot of Richard Connell's famous short story "The Most Dangerous Game". Much like the story, Skulker kidnaps two very skilled humans on his property for the sole purpose of hunting what he considers to be the most challenging prey out there, or, the most dangerous game.

083 Mr. Lancer spouts the titles of books in place of shouting swear words. Some of these exclamations include The Great Gatsby, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Moby Dick, which is about as close as we'll be getting to colorful language on a Nicktoon, except for maybe Ren and Stimpy, or Rocko, or SpongeBob. We're slick here at Nickelodeon.

084 In the episode What You Want, Paulina transforms into a popular anime cat names Sayonara Pussycat, who resembles the character Hello Kitty. But Sayonara is actually a rather dramatic and final sounding word for "goodbye" in Japanese.

085 In Teacher of the Year, all 13 levels that Tucker shows Technus are based on the eight worlds from the 1990 NES classic Super Marion Bros. 3. The level 0 glitch is a reference to the infamous Minus world from the original Super Mario Bros.

086 Before sending Danny into the Ghost Zone in the episode Prisoners of Love, Tucker can be seen playing Space Invaders on his PDA.

087 Valerie Grey lives on 461 Elm Street, an obvious reference to the classic horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street. She'd probably stand more of a chance against Freddy Krueger than the other kids in the Street as well.

088 Johnny 13 and Kitty's voice actors, William Baldwin and China Phillips, are a married couple in real life. The knot has been securely tied since 1995. Way before they were cast.

089 In Fanning the Flames, Danny quips "Do you take requests? How about Beat It." in addition to telling Ember to hit the road, Danny's referencing Michael Jackson's classic song Beat It. Good one, Danny. And good one, me.

090 Michael Jackson makes a more obvious cameo in the episode Infinite Realms where he's seen in at his 2005 trial while Vlad is flipping through channels.

091 When we see Tucker's report card in What You Want, we learn that Tucker is not only highly proficient in computers, but sewing as well. If Danny ever needs a suit redesign, he who he can call. Not the Ghostbusters, they'll likely kill him. He should call Tucker.

092 The Groovy Gang and Scaredy Cat from The Million Dollar Ghost are an unsubtle jab at Mystery Inc and Scooby-Doo. An additional fact fact for you guys, I actually worked for Hanna-Barbera, the animation studio that created Scooby-Doo.

093 The secret government organization dedicated to eliminating paranormal entities known as the Guys in White are obviously a parallel to the Men in Black who essentially do the same thing but with evil extraterrestrials.

094 I've gone on record saying the reason Danny is not shirtless when he's at the water park is because he gets sunburned very easily.

095 We can all infer that Sam has good taste in films. For instance, a poster for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange can be seen in her room.

096 In Memory Blank, Sam wants to see Trinity of Doom, a movie starring Femalien, the female version of Alien that’s a Predator, not a Xenomorph, you uncultured swine!, Terminatra, the female Terminator, and Nightmerica, the female version of Freddy Krueger. I'd still go see that.

097 Danny has a birthmark that's shaped like the state of Florida.

098 Timmy Turner's favorite comic book hero, The Crimson Chin, appears at the Ember concert as one of her many adoring fans in the episode Fanning the Flames. I officially sanction your conspiratorial speculations.

099 In the episode What You Want, Danny and Tucker can be seen playing an arcade machine titles Crash Nebula. Crash Nebula is one of Timmy Turner's favorite heroes of the Fairly Odd Parents. The plot thickens!

100 The cross referencing continued over into the Fairly Odd Parents, too. In Poulter Geeks, a wanted poster for Danny Phantom can be seen in the ghost hunting basement of Timmy's parents.

101 Or you guys could be thinking about this all wrong, and Danny could just be a fictional hero. In the Fairly Odd Parents Crash Nebula special, Danny can be seen on the back cover of a comic book. The truth is out there.

102 If Vlad were real, Steve Marmel would have made him the happiest half man/half ghost on the planet. The writer purchased a brick at Lambeau Field, the home of the Packers, and engraved it with "Someday I will rule - Vlad Plasmius".

103 David Kaufman's favorite episodes tend to be the ones in which Danny spends time with one particular member of his family and the plot strengthens their bond and understanding of each other. He cites the episodes Maternal Instinct and My Brother's Keeper as prime examples.

104 Like every great superhero, Danny Phantom has transcended into the realm of video games. His first outing was a Game Boy Advance adaptation of The Ultimate Enemy, a 2D side-scrolling beat-em-up ordeal.

105 The second was called Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle, which was released for both Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS and it was a side-scrolling shooter.

106 There was once a Danny Phantom themed ride at the indoor Nickelodeon Universe theme park at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Danny Phantom: Ghost Zone's design was that of an Ali Baba. In other words, it consisted of a stationary horizontal gondola with a 360 degree swinging pendulum. Unfortunately, the rise was taken down in 2015.

107 Danny Phantom ran for three season, from 2004 to 2007. A total of 53 episodes were created for the series. The news of Danny Phantom's cancellation was not well received by the fans at all. The Danny fandom took to the streets of New York City and protested outside of Nickelodeon's building to bring the ghost boy back into production. Unfortunately, to no avail. But thank you. Seriously, thank you.

Ok, guys, thanks so much for watching. Hope you guys enjoyed it, 107 facts about Danny Phantom. Don't forget to like and subscribe to the Frederator Channel.

[imagines-never-die]

Hello! I'd request a scenario where Soldier, Mccree and Mei (the most "scarred" characters imo) meet (one by one) a young, naive looking Water Nymph in a lake, where she tries to befriend them, maybe seduce them, and then ask to end her loneliness by bringing them to "her world" through a leap of faith: drowing in the water. If they accept or not, and how things end up going, I'll leave it to your creativity. (Bonus points if the Nymph also knows of the current loneliness of the protagonist)

(I added a break since this was gonna be long)

Soldier: 76

He had never noticed such a pretty girl sitting out by the lake before. The most he usually saw were herons and turtles, but never a naked girl with long hair reaching down past her bottom. Jack questioned if he should approach her, maybe ask if she was lost or needed help. After all, it wasn’t entirely warm out, and she must have been cold. Letting his chivalrous side win over, he trudged over to the lake where the girl was.

Before he even got to the water’s edge, she turned and smiled sweetly, “Hello, Soldier.”

Jack figured she had heard the rumors about Soldier: 76, and recognized him.

“What are you doing out here in the nude?” he asked bluntly.

“I live here, silly,” she gave a bubbly giggle, “Besides, I don’t need petty clothes.”

“You’ll catch your death otherwise,”

She laughed again, “I don’t get sick, Soldier. I’m above that.”

“Quit being so vague,” he grunted, “How did you get out here wearing nothing?”

“I told you, Soldier,” she said, pulling her hair back to reveal a set of gills on her neck, “I live here.”

The gills caught Jack off guard, making him flinch back a little. He wasn’t one to believe in superstition, so maybe it was just a makeup trick…

“As I said, Soldier,” she purred, “I live here. I’m a water nymph, or naiad if you will.”

“You’re crazy is what you are,” he sighed, grabbing her by the arm, “Come on, I can’t leave you out here.”

“You’re no fun!” she laughed, pulling back and getting him to sit beside the water’s edge with her, “Why is it that you’re so grumpy all the time.”

“Because you’re not listening to me,” he growled impatiently.

“Because you’re sad, Soldier,” she cooed sweetly, running a slender finger across his collar bone which Jack quickly swatted away, “You miss those old days soooo much.”

“What are you talking about?”

There was no way this loony could know…

“You lost everything, and now you’re all by your lonesome with nobody but your own reflection to keep you company,” he mumbled sadly.

It was…pathetically true. This was the first conversation Jack had had with anyone in weeks. Life as a vigilante kept him very removed.

“But I know how you feel,” the girl sighed wistfully, “My fellow sisters framed me for a murder and kicked me out of our tributary. Now I live alone in this lake and talk to my own reflection in the water…”

She turned to the lake, looking at her rippling reflection staring back at her, “But sometimes not even my reflection wants to talk to me,”

Morrison couldn’t help but feel a little bit of empathy for her. Whether she was crazy or not, she still sounded like she had been genuinely lonesome and ostracized. As far as he knew, not many came by this lake, so she would have been as solitary as she said.

“But it doesn’t have to be that way for us, Soldier.” she whispered, turning back to him.

Gently, she reached a webbed hand up to his face. He didn’t react, still too lost in thought to really notice or care. Her cold, wet hand wrapped around his visor and slowly pulled it off, revealing the sullen face of a broken man. Then she stroked his warm, gristly face.

“We can stay together and never be lonely again,” she promised with her melodic voice, “Come into my world, and you’ll never be so sad.”

His eyes locked with hers, and for a moment, he felt all his thoughts melt away into nothing. Suddenly all she had said seemed to make a lot of sense for some reason. The nymph began sliding back into the water, leading Jack by the hand, and for a moment, he began to lean towards the water. But the soldier’s resolve was too strong to be entranced for long. He suddenly pulled away, scrambling for his visor and snapping it back into place.

“Soldier…” she tried to stop him.

“You really are crazy,” he huffed, standing up and shaking his head, “I don’t need some self-proclaimed mermaid.”

“M-Mermaid?!” she felt insulted when people mixed her up for that, “Wait! Soldier, please!”

But Jack just kept walking. He knew he was alone in this world, and no “naiad’ was going to change that.

Mei

Adjusting to her new life in the present was difficult for Mei. So much had changed, so many of her friends and family had changed…or died. And it had all happened while she slept the years away in an icy prison. It didn’t help that she was the only survivor from that incident. Why her out of all the brilliant minds at that eco point? On days she was especially gloomy, Mei would go down to the river to mull things over on the the pebbly shores.

But one day as she came out of the woods and onto the water’s edge, she spotted someone in her usual spot. On a big rock laid a short girl with long, long hair and–well, that was it. She wasn’t wearing anything notable; nothing in fact. Sure it was a nice day for sunbathing, but doing it naked out in the open? It seemed a little too bold to Mei. She thought of just pretending the girl wasn’t there and went to the edge of the water, slipping off her shoes to feel the cool ripples.

But then the girl looked over from her spot and gave her a smile. Out of politeness, Mei smiled back and gave a timid wave back.

“Hi!” the girl chirped.

“Hi…” Mei said shyly back.

She wondered if she should ask, so eventually she did, “Why are you out here naked?”

“Enjoying the weather,” the girl shrugged.

“But…like that?” Mei asked tactfully.

“Of course. This is my river after all,” the girl shrugged.

“Your…river?”

“Yes, I’m one of the couple water spirits that rules this river,’ she replied simply.

That made Mei giggle. A water spirit? It was such a funny notion, but it had such a humorous tone that she decided to play along.

“A water spirit?”

“Indeed. I am a water nymph,” the nymph nodded.

“Ok then,” Mei chuckled along.

Sliding off the rock, the girl approached, her wet hair swaying from side to side. Mei tried to avert her gaze elsewhere.

“What’s your name?” the girl asked.

“M-Mei,” Mei blushed a little.

“I am Selena,” the nymph introduced herself, “Why are you out here, and why did you look so sad earlier?”

“Oh, uh…” Mei mumbled before taking a seat by the river, hugging her knees to her chest, “I just…I just get lonely sometimes. I mean, I haven’t been around people for years, so it’s difficult to adjust. What do people talk about these days?”

“Well I certainly wouldn’t know,” the girl took a seat next to her, “I rarely talk to humans,”

Mei sighed, looking somberly out at the water, “I wish I was a nymph like you, Selena. I bet life is all sunshine and rainbow fish…”

“Actually it’s not,” the nymph sighed as well, “I get lonely sometimes, too. Like one of my bestest sisters in this whole river just got banished! My sisters said she did something unforgivable, but I just can’t believe it,”

“I’m sorry…” Mei mumbled, placing a hand on Selena’s shoulder.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, watching the river float by as they thought about their troubles. Suddenly, Selena perked up and hopped up from the shore.

“But it doesn’t have to be so lonely for us!” she grinned, “We can hang out together in my world, today!”

With that, she held out a hand that looked vaguely webbed to Mei.

Giving her a curious look, Mei echoed, “Your world?”

“Yeah! The river! Let’s go for a swim, Mei! Let’s hang out! I’ll be your friend, I promise!” Selena spouted excitedly.

Her first friend back in the present: a strange girl who called herself a water nymph. It was a strange start, but a start nonetheless.

“Urm…ok,” Mei got up and took off her shit to reveal a sports bra.

Carefully taking Selena’s hand, she let her lead them out into the water, wading further and further into the deep end. At first, Mei was happy to finally have a good day for once. But then Selena’s grip around her hand suddenly grew tighter and she began to walk faster and faster until they were waist deep in the water. Now Mei knew something was off.

“Selena, that kind of hurts,” she called out, but Selena didn’t answer.

“S-Selena!” she tried again.

This time when the nymph didn’t answer, Mei tried to pull away from her grasp only to get some surprisingly strong resistance from the girl. Now the two were struggling against each other as Selena tried to pull her deeper and Mei tried to go back to shore.

“C’mooon, Mei!” Selena turned to her with a scary grin, “We’re almost to my world!”

“i-I think th-this is deep enough,” Mei tried to reason.

“Come ON!” Selena gave one last tug, knocking Mei off her feet and sending her under the water.

Mei immediately felt Selena wrap her arms around her, keeping her from going back to the surface. She had no idea why her new friend was trying to hurt her, but she knew she had to get away! After a sufficient struggle, Mei began to run out of air, letting the rest of it out in a muffled, underwater scream. Amidst her scream, she finally got loose enough to slam a kick right into Selena’s face!

That got the nymph off her, so she made a mad dash for the shore, sending water splashing all around her. When she finally made it, she collapsed onto the rocks, gasping for breath and shaking all over. When she got her bearings around her, she looked back out to the river to see Selena’s peaking out at her from above the waves. She had a bloody nose and a black eye, although her blood appeared to be black. Selena looked hurt both emotionally and physically, and poor Mei couldn’t help but feel bad, even if she had just been nearly drowned. Giving her an apologetic look, Mei ran from the shore and back home.

McCree

Jesse wasn’t sure why a pretty young lady would be sitting naked by a pond by herself, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. If this was what fate handed him, he certainly wasn’t complaining.

“Yer gonna catch a cold ya know,” was his opening line as he dropped his serape around her shoulders.

The girl blinked in surprise, feeling the smoothness of the fabric and wrapping it around herself. She gave Jesse a curious look as he sat next to her, stretching out his legs to dangle over the water.

“That’s one of the kinder reactions I’ve gotten,” the girl smiled.

“Oh yeah?” he tipped his hat, “Other men don’t know how to treat a lady sitting by a pond in her birthday suit?”

“Heeheehee!” the girl laughed, wrapping the serape around her tighter.

“Most try to scare me away of call me names,” she sighed.

“Doesn’t seem right,” he said.

“It’s not. People don’t know how to treat water nymphs these days,” she sighed.

A confused look crossed Jesse’s face as he turned to her and repeated, “Water what now?”

“A water nymph,” she clarified, “Spirits of springs, naiads. Thins like that,”

The cowboy chuckled and shook his head, “Forgive me if I don’t believe in fairytales, missy, but I suppose you can pretend to be whatever you want,”

“It’s not pretend,” she made a mock pout and crossed her arms.

As McCree pulled out a cigar to smoke, the nymph watched him carefully. It was so rare to see a human smoke so up close. Naiads never smoked simply because, well, they lived in water.

“Why did you come out here?” she asked, “Hardly anyone comes out to this pond,”

“Ah, I just,” McCree scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “Just come out here to clear my head sometimes,”

She looked at him closely again with big, ocean-colored eyes, “What’s on your mind?”

“Just, uh, life stuff,” he mumbled.

The nymph smirked and leaned in close, “Penny for your thoughts, I believe is the human expression?”

Jesse couldn’t help but let his eyes linger to her chest for a moment. Then he grumbled something inaudible as he looked away and considered telling her.

“I’m just one, little, isolated spirit. I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” she cooed sweetly.

“I’ve left so many people in my life,” he exhaled, “First my friends in Deadlock, then my own comrades in the war. Now I roam by myself trying to do good…but even then I’m still considered an outlaw. No matter how hard I try, it’s like I can’t shake my past,”

The girl’s expression slowly dropped as she leaned away from him again, twiddling her thumbs in thought.

“I know how you feel,” she said weakly, “I had to leave my sisters behind. One of them was going to kill me, so I had to run away. Now I feel guilty for leaving the others. They must think I’m dead…”

She noticed the way he looked over at her in pity, so she shook her head, “Oh now I’ve distracted you from your own problems. I didn’t mean to belittle your own life,”

“No, it’s fine,” McCree answered softly, “Have you ever thought about going back?”

“No…what if Melody is still there–I mean, the one who was trying to hurt me?” she mumbled, “And I might just make things worse. I’m better off dead to them.”

But no matter how hurt the little naiad was, she still couldn’t deny her instincts. Her instincts which told her to lure her prey.

“…But you don’t want me dead, do you?” she looked up at Jesse with pleading eyes.

Trying to keep himself from getting too excited by a naked girl looking at him with adorable bedroom eyes, McCree cleared his throat and looked the other way in embarrassment.

“Um…I mean I’ve known ya for a few minutes, but I guess I can’t say I’d want you dead,” he sputtered, “Don’t know anyone who would want a pretty lady like you dead.

“And I wouldn’t want you to leave behind,” she said in a sing-song voice, “But even if you did, I’d forgive you. I’d never forget you~”

“C’mon, don’t say–” McCree started to say, turning back to the girl. 

But he found she had moved a lot closer to him now, her damp skin right up against his flannel shirt. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. Fuck, this girl was going to be the end of him. She slowly started to lean closer to him until her lips were inches from his. Then she waited for him to meet her halfway, which he gladly did.

They kissed for a second before the nymph tried to deepen the kiss, begging for entrance to his mouth.

But McCree couldn’t help but pull  back a little and whisper, “Darlin’, I don’t even know your name,”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s Persephone, you dummy,” she smiled and pressed her lips to his again.

But no matter how many times she tried to French it with him, something kept holding him back from parting his lips! How was she supposed to get the toxins in his system if he didn’t open his mouth!? Growing impatient, she began to lower herself into the pond, trying to lead him along with her.

“Wait, where ya goin’?” he asked.

“I’m a water nymph, remember?” she smiled mischievously, “It’ll be better in the water.”

Now Jesse knew things were going too far.

Taking off his hat to fan himself and running a hand through his hair, he stammered, “Heh, I–uh–think we should get you dry first. Maybe some clothes.”

Seeing her hurt expression he quickly added, “Yer a nice girl, don’t get me wrong, just that…I wouldn’t want to take advantage of you is all,”

“But you’re not,” she whined, holding out a hand to him, “I’m offering myself, so help yourself,”

Jesse stared at her slightly webbed hand for a few moments, clearly thinking it over. Then he darted his hand out and took hers, but rather than let her pull him in, he yanked her out of the pond with an immense force. She squeaked out of surprise, especially when he scooped her up in his arms.

“W…What are you doing, human?!” she protested.

“Gettin’ you some dinner and somethin’ suitable to wear,” he said casually, heading off back to his ranch.

“You will not!” she squealed, “I want to be in my pond!”

“You said you’re a naiad? So you like fish? I got some sardines back at home,” he chuckled.

Persephone couldn’t help but feel her tummy growl. It was clear this human wasn’t worth the trouble of trying to eat…so maybe some little pickled fish would be worth it.

(*DIES* THAT TOOK FOREVER :O)