#Immediately I was like ‘Why he kinda…?’ and he grew on me throughout the comic

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

I’m taking a Comics class this semester and we read through The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes 😳

[mirakeul]

making it hard to breathe

notes ; hey, lovelies!! this is one of my entries for @kirakirasaku's ame no ai / rainy love collab event! the event masterlist can be found here, go and check out the other works surrounding the theme for the collab <33 n e ways, i'm kinda inlove w this because my baby tanaka doesn't get much love <//3 let me know what you think!

words ; 1.71k

warnings ; crack HQSKJHDAKJD, kinda angst with a happy ending, some hurt/comfort, cursing, the word, 'kill', that's it, i think ???

summary ; it started with the rain, and ends with the rain. both significant in the lives of tanaka ryuunosuke and ennoshita y/n.

pairing/s ; tanaka ryuunosuke x gender neutral! reader (you're ennoshita's twin sibling !)

taglist in the reblogs ! join my general taglist here !

"because i love you!" you shouted.

"then stop loving me." tanaka said, his eyes full of misery and hurt.

"i can't!"

"well, that's the problem." he shook his head. "we don't work."

you whispered, "i know."

"we agree," he looked at you intently. "this has to end."

"it just did,"

the rain was pouring hard that day, seemingly knowing the tragic end between two ill-fated lovers…

well, not really.

"what the hell are you fuckers doing?" you both turned comically to ennoshita who was looking very pissed, narita and kinoshita snickering behind him. nishinoya seemed to have vanished after playing the song, "chasing cars" during your "scene" with tanaka.

"uh, acting?"

"may i remind you," he turned to tanaka who was chuckling as he scratched the back of his neck. "that you have practice in ten minutes."

"and you," ennoshita turned to you, staring you down. "why the hell do you encourage him?"

"but, it's fun!" you answered, shivering a bit from the rain. ennoshita, being the older brother that he is, put his jacket on you, "rudely" (he couldn't) handing you a towel. "we were just recording something and then, ryuu mentioned the vampire diaries and so, there's that."

ennoshita shook his head, and said, "you know what, i don't even care, just get dressed and come to practice."

the two of you saluted, quickly changing. being the sibling of one of karasuno's volleyball club members definitely has its perks, and maybe, it's also because you grew up with one of the regulars, tanaka ryuunosuke.

you and tanaka knew each other from childhood, unbeknownst to your twin sibling (who insists he's older, but it was just three minutes) at the time. you lost contact in middle school when your family moved but rekindled when you moved back. it was a surprise really, more for ennoshita, when he sees you hugging tanaka during your first years despite seeing each other again for the first time.

and a huge part of your life was with ryuu, as you call him, and the rain. walking to the gym, you recounted some of your best memories with him. that day you both jumped on puddles, and the one when you slipped in the mud and he laughed at you so you pulled him with you, and the one time you cried on him when the thunder got too loud one time you were with him.

looking back, you never really understood how important tanaka was for you. but now…? you looked at him as he told you an outrageous story about him and noya. you smiled, laughing with him when you realized…oh fuck, do i like him?

you were silent all throughout practice as you watched them. you weren't really a member but you spent enough time in the gym that they didn't really mind you going. but, today, your eyes would constantly watch tanaka, cheeks warming whenever he looks at you and grins. well...you're definitely fucked.

you snapped back to reality after daichi called for a break, tanaka immediately went to you as his water bottle was conveniently placed beside you. he was panting but he smiled at you before drinking.

your eyes traveled to the sweat that disappeared behind his jersey which he, fortunately, didn't notice. but unfortunately for you, your twin did. he cursed under his breath as he pulled you aside quickly.

"y/n, what was that?"

"what?"

"you were literally drooling over tanaka!" he quietly screamed.

"i wasn't!" you said, a bit louder, making some of them look at the two of you but you dismissed them quickly. "chikara, you cannot tell anyone about this!"

"wait, so you do like him?"

"no!" you said, eyes closing in frustration then you looked at ennoshita. "i don't know, maybe? i literally don't know, help me."

"if you're asking me for help, that means you really do have feelings for him," he said.

"you're not helping! he's literally in love with kiyoko!"

he looked at you, expression in deadpan. "no. if you don't see it, you don't have hope."

"what?" he looked at you pointedly when he saw tanaka walking towards you. "wait, chikara, what the fuck?"

"y/n? you okay?"

"ryuu!" you turned to him, smiling awkwardly. "yes, i-uh, chikara was just telling me something."

"oh, okay!" he grinned at you, and sheepishly scratched his neck. "uh, listen, i won't be able to walk with you later because i have to do something important."

"it's okay! thanks for letting me know! now, back to practice, we all know daichi when he's mad."

you both shuddered with him jogging back to the others and you sitting beside yachi. after the day had ended, the rain was still pouring hard and one by one, the students slowly trickled out, some sharing their umbrellas and some making a run for it at the bus stop.

you, unfortunately, lent your umbrella to a classmate earlier and by the time you finished going over practice notes with coach ukai, the rain was so thick that you couldn't really see much through it. you tried calling ennoshita but the signal was partly jammed from the rain and from what you could remember, he was on his way to study with kinoshita and narita.

you were shivering and alone with no cell service, what could possibly make it worse?

you suddenly see tanaka from a distance. "wait, is he still here? but, he said..?"

you were about to call him when kiyoko approached him, a small smile on both their faces. this…this was the thing he's doing that's so important…confessing to kiyoko. you sat and held your legs close, you just wished someone would notice you.

----------------------------------

tanaka was beaming. sure, he got rained on, but he finally understood. kiyoko was kind enough to help him realize his very confusing feelings towards a certain someone. by the time he got home, the rain was still pouring and so, he immediately called you, hoping you were safely home.

it rang and it rang but you never answered. tanaka eventually went and called ennoshita. "hello? what is it now?"

"is y/n with you? they aren't answering their phone." tanaka was a little worried now, why weren't you answering?

"what? wait, i'll call you back."

tanaka was pacing back and forth, texting some from the team, asking if they had seen you. unfortunately, no one hasn't heard from you. and with the rain jamming the signal, they don't know when they would be able to. tanaka's phone began ringing so he immediately answered. "hey?"

"hey," it's ennoshita. "i called our mom, she hasn't seen y/n either."

"shit," tanaka cursed under his breath. "okay, i'll try and go find her."

"in this rain?" ennoshita, despite being annoyed, was still tanaka's friend and your twin, of course, he'd be worried.

"yes, always." the usual comedic hint in tanaka's voice was gone. "i'll call you."

"okay, i'll try and find them too. please be safe."

"yeah, thanks."

tanaka ended the call, got one of his jackets and an umbrella, and yelled at his sister that he's going out. before saeko could stop him, tanaka had already run. he doesn't know where he was going, all he does know is that he needed to find you.

the rain was still pouring and though tanaka may be shivering, he didn't stop. with his last hope, he ran to karasuno. he stopped in his tracks for a moment when he saw your figure huddled in front of the steps. "y/n!"

you looked up, tears in your eyes. "r..ryuu?"

he quickly ran to you, discarding the umbrella near you as he pulled you in an embrace. you hugged him closer, still shivering from the rain. he nearly sighed in relief but decided to check you over first. "are you okay? why were you just here?"

"i couldn't call anyone," your teeth were clicking too much from the cold as you spoke. "the rain made it hard."

"you should have called me," tanaka's tone was worrying.

"i couldn't. you," you sniffed, looking anywhere but him. "you were with kiyoko, i couldn't both–"

"what?"

"i saw you," you wiped the tears in your eyes. "with her, i mean. i was about to call you but you seemed so ha–."

his hands cupped your face, pulling you a tad closer as he said, "do you want to know why i was with kiyoko earlier?"

"i–yes?"

"i was asking her about my feelings for you."

"what?"

"yeah," he smiled sheepishly. "you're kinda making it hard to breathe every time you smile, you know?"

you laughed, not wanting to believe him as he continued. "and like, we've known each other for so long, and i didn't understand what it meant. kiyoko noticed though. so she talked to me about it and earlier, she was telling me how i should tell you."

"really?"

"would i ever lie to you?"

"yes." you pointedly looked at him.

"that was one time!" you both laughed.

"but, yeah. i didn't plan to confess this way. you know me, i'm all about being extra. i would have wanted to go big, especially if it would annoy your twin brother."

"wait, chikara. i need to text him."

"don't worry, i already did. he did remind me to take you home in one piece. but he didn't warn me about anything else, so i guess we're good?"

you chuckled, "no, you need to tell chikara."

"your mom already loves me, what's he gonna do?"

laughing, you were both reminded of your close proximity. your cheeks warmed significantly, as with his. "so," he wiggled his eyebrows

"so?" you grinned.

"i'm kinda falling in love with you, ennoshita y/n."

"yeah, me too."

"way to ruin the moment, y/n."

"fuck you, i am the moment." you laughed, but pulled him closer to his surprise. "i am kinda falling in love with you too, tanaka ryuunosuke."

and as the rain poured, you closed the distance, kissing him. tanaka, who didn't think he would get this far after confessing to the one he likes, stood dumbly. you backed away, "last chance, ryuu."

he quickly pulled you again, lips melting with yours as he kissed you. yep, your twin brother's gonna kill him.

© mirakeul ; do not modify or reupload anywhere else but reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[soulcluster-moved]

idk if this is a controversial take but i wanna get my thoughts out so here we go

im a little tired of stories for women where their whole plot point hinges on their dad in some manner. I go through it a lot with lara cause the reboot games are just like...that, that’s her whole thing, and it was a thing for her throughout LAU too and you know I’m just tired of it in general. and with gamora, it’s not that i think she trusts or that she even loves thanos, but there’s more to her relationship with him. 

tbh, the early comics don’t support her outright hating him. feelings can change over time, you can see the past and how you grew up differently as you get further away from it because we’re better able to process what happened with an adult lens, but even gamora when she’s older has a sort of...distant but almost affectionate comradery with thanos. she trusts him in a limited capacity, because she understands how he thinks (the example I can think of off the top of my head is that she’s working with him in Infinity Abyss and she voices her doubts about if he’ll betray her and he says ‘you are integral to my plans’ and she’s like, ok good enough). or there’s a part in Infinity War where they have a friendly sparring session and tbh it’s...kinda cute ?? idk... hell he even makes a comment about adam being her boyfriend and it came off so dad-like i was shocked

I tried to start reading civil war 2 and immediately got tired with how they make gamora so laser focused on fighting thanos and peter afraid of pissing her off about him. then they say that she’s tried to fight him several times before this moment but something always goes wrong. none of that was shown in a comic ok, I have read all of them up until that point, i assure you, and did not see any of this. in the comics, the gamora and thanos relationship to me reads more like tell rather than show. one panel even said ‘friends had died trying to help her with [thanos].’ and im like WHOMST??? i think the last time she interacted with him herself before that moment with thanos imperative and she wasn’t even trying to kill him herself then. 

...I realize after typing this could be a reference to richard in the cancerverse but it implies multiple friends. and I don’t think that...like it implies that the relationship was already changed and that richard stayed to defeat thanos partly because of he knew gamora wanted him dead, but that was never really shown before annihilation ??

god Im rambling

basically, I think I’m gonna have to really look at and rework my thoughts on her past and how she grew up, what she thinks of it, etc. I still don’t think she’s going to be particularly upset if/when he dies, thanos still has a lot of bad things he does in the universe, so when someone kills me she’s fine with it, but...it wasn’t all bad for her. a lot of this hinges on thanos’s goals tho, and it’s why when I write thanos I’m going to very selective about his interactions. he’s just one of those characters who a lot of people have had a hand in and wrote him in a lot of varied ways that, when you look at the whole, it doesn’t make sense, imo

[radramblog]

What happened to Dirk in Homestuck^2?

Why am I doing this to myself.

I memed a little yesterday when I was posting that article around social medias about Homestuck jokes, because once again we are in lockdown and I am therefore Stuck at Home. Canned laughter goes here. But there’s a topic related to the comic- or more specifically, its aborted sequel, Homestuck^2, that I’m interested in delving into a little bit. I’m going to avoid talking about spoilers as much as possible, but considering said comic takes place not only after the events of the massive sprawl that is Homestuck but also the more linear but still messy Epilogues, some amount of sus shit is inevitable.

Anyway. Much maligned is what the Epilogues and 2 did to everyone’s favourite decapitation target, Dirk Strider, and I have a theory as to why it happened this way.

To begin with, let’s summarise what and who Dirk is through the course of the comics. Fair warning from me, though, it’s been a while since I read through this.

Dirk Strider is a teenager who grew up in a post-apocalyptic future Earth, completely devoid of physical contact with other people and only really ever gets to talk to 3 other people, only one of whom is in anything remotely resembling a relatable situation. He struggles with self-identity, having created numerous robots including an artificial intelligence based on his own brain, aka Lil’ Hal. He’s somewhat of a control freak, and a bit of a cold aloof asshole, but means well, and is pretty gay. NBD. The kinda guy to set up a plan meticulously and thoroughly, not informing any of the moving parts even if said parts are his friends, and often involving some form of self-sacrifice.

Throughout the comic he further reckons with self-identity problems and his own self-loathing including entering a relationship with Jake which doesn’t go well and he eventually breaks off since he knows his overbearing and manipulative behaviour is Not Cool and Pretty Toxic but doesn’t know how to shut it off. Eventually he reaches the God Tier as a Prince of Heart, gaining the power to literally annihilate souls, which he never actually uses since he gets yeeted into deep (Paradox) space and then everything goes to shit. Except none of that happens because of the Retcon (aside from the God Tier bit) and we don’t actually see how that shit progressed in the canon timeline. I think. Dirk’s arc, as it were, doesn’t really come full circle- while he does assist in Dave’s character…growth? he really isn’t the focus of that conversation. This immediately precedes the action climax and there isn’t literally any dialogue after that so that’s what we’re left with.

I like Dirk in Homestuck a lot. It’s hard not to, considering the flashes heavily featuring him (Unite/Synchronise and Prince of Heart: Rise Up) are genuinely excellent, along with many of his music themes being absolute bangers. He gets to interact with Caliborn a lot, with a pretty great banter, there, and the whole splintered personality thing is a really interesting hook for a character. I think he’s my favourite of the Alpha kids, a controversial pick considering I know everyone loves Roxy so much. I think, I’m not as in tune with the fandom as that statement implies I am.

And then the Epilogues/Homestuck 2 came.

Now I read the Meat half of the epilogues first, but that’s more interesting, so we’ll tackle Candy first (this is going to get real confusing for those who haven’t read this comic, huh).

In Candy, Dirk almost immediately kills himself, citing the irrelevance of the timeline as cause, an act considered by whatever mechanism governs God Tier deaths to be Just because he hates himself (and also bc of things we’ll get into), so it actually sticks. This isn’t super relevant for the discussion, but that’s just kinda so unbelievably fucked up? Entirely? I’d imagine if you read Candy first you might get entirely turned off by this, which I’m sure a lot of people did.

Meat is where the, well, meat of post-canon Dirk is. You see, a concept very quickly introduced in the tail end of the original comic is the Ultimate Self, an idea where you somehow encompass every different timeline iteration or alternate version of yourself. This was pretty clearly tacked on to make it so characters whose arcs all happened in the retcon timeline could have their not getting an actual arc explained away, but it didn’t land then and it sure doesn’t land for me now. Anyway, in Meat, Dirk becomes his ultimate self, making him near-omniscient and able to control the fabric of the story himself- for much of this story, he is the narrator. And he uses this power to fuck with all his friends really distressingly without their knowledge (or consent), including breaking up a marriage, in order to further his own goals which largely appear to be just keep the story going so to not fade out of relevance. It’s a plot that makes no sense with his previous characterisation, but I guess now that he’s the Ultimate Self he’s a different person? But I liked old Dirk, and I don’t like New Dirk. He’s a villain now, but he made a much better anti-hero.

But this would be fine if he (or the epilogues, or Homestuck^2) were written well. But they aren’t. Dirk’s dialogue is long, painfully drawn out, with tangents that tend to amount to pure wank, misused literary references and pointless metaphors that go on and on, filling the screen with a bright orange screed that hurts to look at as much as it does to comprehend. It’s not fun. And we’ve seen Dirk communicate before, obviously, the story of Homestuck is built around chatlogs, but it wasn’t like this. He was sarcastic, dryly witty, blunt at times. Even when he was literally talking to a different version of himself it didn’t get that masturbatory.

I was so confused about what the hell happened to Dirk, because I had no idea what the hell someone writing this character was thinking when they turned him into this. And then, the 21st page of Homestuck^2 dropped.

And it all came together.

What Ultimate Dirk and Terezi are referring to is Pony Pals: Detective Pony, a children’s book about some girls who hang out with ponies and solve a mystery. It’s a real book, buy it for your 5-year-old.

Except they’re not referring to that, they’re referring to the Homestuck Canon version of Detective Pony- a birthday gift from Dirk to Jane, heavily edited and to be much more obscene and eventually developing into it’s own story, stated to be “tough, emotionally draining, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible”.

Except the quote “Remember Longcat, Jane?” and references to philosophy, dead languages, and ancient earth culture aren’t referring to the three pages of the Dirk-edited Detective Pony we see in the actual comic itself. That quote doesn’t appear there.

That image is from Detective Pony, by Sonnetstuck- the 40,000 word fanfiction from 2014 that serves as a completed version of Jane’s copy of the book. An expansion of what we see in canon. And it’s a tough, emotionally draining read, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible.

It’s a very good fanfiction.

In the later bits of Detective Pony, we can start to see the origins of what would become Ultimate Dirk’s signature style of writing. Long blocks of rambling text, orange dripping down the page, references to philosophy and history and language that go on and on. And it probably does look familiar to those who read the Epilogues and ^2. 

But there are a couple of key differences here. First of all, it’s just better written? The way these rambles circle back on themselves is so excellent, the absolute absurdity of this being written on top of a pony book for little girls, the humour (beyond some of the more immature stuff), it’s just a really well-written piece of fiction. Hell, you don’t even need to be familiar with the character of Dirk to enjoy it. It’s a harrowing piece, but it’s also self-aware- because it’s not supposed to be tough, draining, cathartic etc. just for Jane- it’s clearly that for Dirk himself.

The second part is, of course, that this is a fanfiction. It’s not canon, it’s not official, this is by someone who really likes Dirk for people who really like Dirk. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, so if you bounce off it (and I’m sure a lot did), then you don’t have to keep reading it, it’s fine, thanks for playing. As much as Homestuck^2 tried to doll itself up as “dubiously canon” it’s still the official continuation of the story, and that means if it’s as difficult to get into as Detective Pony, that’s going to be a problem for a lot of people.

The other part of it is that Detective Pony’s exploration of Dirk’s character is, well, in character. When the man himself steps in as a character in his own book, the explorations of what he is as an author, who he is as a person, make perfect sense for what we see of him at the start of the comic. He is that manipulative, blunt person, and he is aware of his faults. He’s the kind of person to hide a lamentation on his own failings inside an impenetrable maze of a story layered on top of a book about fucking ponies. Ultimate Dirk does not act like Dirk, outside of the “manipulator” angle, something that Dirk was aware of and trying to improve in the comic. But I guess people don’t have arcs, right?

It’s so interesting to see the seeds of Homestuck^2 laden within Detective Pony- because the meta angle that and the epilogues take is also represented in said fanfiction. While the nature of canon is a facet of the work, the idea of authors and narrators fighting for control of a story, different ideas in mind for the characters, one being more personally connected to them than the other, it’s all there. When I wrote about Fallout 4 in the past, I mentioned being worried that Bethesda took the wrong lessons from Skyrim- seeing something successful and trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle. I think Homestuck^2 is an extreme example of this- the writers of the comic saw Sonnetstuck’s masterwork and thought, yeah that’s great, we can do that. But they just can’t. And with the comic crashed and burning, the probably won’t ever get a chance to. Dirk is forever stuck as this amalgamation of himself that looks nothing like any individual version of him ever did.

At least we will still have Detective Pony, and many other excellent fanworks, for actually good Dirk content. I admittedly haven’t looked into much fanfic written during/post-epilogues, and I’m kind of afraid of what I’ll see- I can only hope the fanbase didn’t take the same wrong lessons as the official team did.

[imagines-dreams]

Hiya could you do a dating zuko and being really shy headcanon please X?

Ok, I wrote so mannnnyyy headcanons, starting from Book 2 to frickin marriage, so feel free to read part of it of a lot, wouldn’t blame you if you stopped reading cuz holy shit this was long and i just didn’t edit it well, so... Hopefully, some people enjoy it though! So, happy reading!

Ok, look, any relationship with Zuko will need a lot of build up. He’s only been in one relationship, and that was with a girl he’s known since he was a kid. Other than her, the only person he truly trusted was his uncle.

And who could blame him? His father abused him, so becoming his friend, let alone someone he’d love, would be a long process.

So, any relationship will be a major slowburn. With someone very shy? It would be that slowburn that everyone would dream of in fiction.

First meet in Ba Sing Se when he was still going by Lee. He was very closed off, but his uncle wasn’t. Uncle would be thinking something along the lines of “A nice, quiet girl?! Who just wants to lay low and would probably make a great niece-in-law?! Perfect for my nephew who keeps getting into trouble!”

Still, neither you nor “Lee” could really deny him. 

Uncle “Mushi” had learned from trying to set Lee up with Jin. No real date. Just friends first. 

There were a lot of dinners with Lee and his uncle among other friends the two had made in Ba Sing Se. Uncle Mushi usually told funny stories, and he commanded the room. Lee was just quiet. He smiled sometimes, you could count how many times you saw him smile during dinner on your hands.

Still, you two talked sometimes, mostly laughing and sharing confused looks at his uncle’s outrageous stories. 

You also would be able to see him every so often when you were shopping or just going about your day. 

You also knew they were firebenders. Or at least Fire Nation. Fire Nation refugees weren’t too common, but they weren’t rare either. After seeing Zuko write firelily once, it confirmed your suspicions. 

You didn’t say anything though. If they wanted to tell you, they’d tell you.

One night, you saw a crowd of people. They were gathered around Lee, and Lee had a sword?! “Lee!”

The boy fighting your friend glanced at you and scoffed. “Is that even your name? Or do you lie to your girlfriend, too?”

Too distracted by your fear for Lee to even process what the other boy said, you bended the earth around his opponent. One wall to block him from Lee. Another three to keep him boxed in. 

Your legs ached. Bending took way too much energy, especially since you hadn’t used it in years. You heaved and fell to your knees. 

Someone said your name.

Lee bent down and held out his hand.

You gladly took it and let him help you up. “Sorry,” you managed to say as you fell into him. You were so weak.

Lee pulled your arm over his shoulder so he could properly support you. He was talking to someone, and from your peripheral vision, you could see the uniform of the Dai Lee. 

Scared, you leaned more into Lee. 

One of the Dai Lee came to you. “Why were you earthbending?” he asked.

“Uncle.” Lee shoved you behind him and right into his uncle’s arms. “She was defending me.”

“She shouldn’t have been earthbending regardless, especially in such a violent matter.”

“Violent?” Lee’s grip on the sword tightened. “The only one who was violent was him.” He pointed at the other boy. “Accusing my uncle and me for being firebenders.”

You reached out, regaining your energy as each second passed, and placed it on his shoulder. “Lee.”

He looked back at you and sighed. Thankfully, he let go of his sword.

“We are refugees,” Lee’s uncle explained. 

A few other people from the crowd rallied for them. They knew Lee and his uncle in for the delicious tea they served. 

All while the boy Lee was fighting was screaming at everyone, how stupid they all were when Lee and his uncle were obviously firebenders. He was taken away with the Dai Lee.

You admitted that you knew they were firebenders that night. And it didn’t go badly! Their jaws dropped, and it was comical to see Lee’s face contort into more expressions you had never seen before. 

After that, the friendship only grew stronger. You picked up a few other things about Lee as well. A father he wanted to impress. An absent mother. A weird knowledge about ships and the war. There were more glances and subtle touches, him adjusting your collar, handing him tea so your fingers brushed ever so slightly, bumping elbows at the table. You even got into the schoolgirl habit of writing Lee’s name and yours and staring at him from across the room.

Then… they disappeared. 

It wasn’t uncommon for refugees to disappear, but usually they’d tell someone where they were going, if they were in trouble. 

You expected them to reappear, but nothing happened. Of course you were sad they were gone, but that’s how life went in Ba Sing Se, and you didn’t know enough about them to go searching, nor the time. 

Especially since shortly after Lee and his uncle disappeared, Ba Sing Se was conquered. Everything changed. Benders were being rounded up. More people were disappearing. The walls were all coming down. Money was scarce. Soldiers patrolled the entire area. 

During this time, you wanted to lay low, but people were getting hurt. You could only stand by for so long. 

You started to train, every night, hoping your earthbending would get better. 

So, when Ba Sing Se went up in flames, you joined in to fight for the city you felt safe in. You found Uncle Mushi there, fighting with some organization called the White Lotus. You also found out that his name was Iroh, not Mushi.

After fighting off Fire Nation supremacists, you were invited to the Jade Dragon. 

“Hey. Zuko, or, um, I guess Lee, here.” 

You had laughed and hugged him tight. “I was so scared for you,” you admitted. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

It wasn’t until one of his friends cleared their throat that you realized this hug was the first hug you’ve given him. On top of that, you were holding onto each other for quite some time. 

So, the two of you split up. 

However, throughout the get together, you stayed close with L- Zuko. You didn’t really talk much to his friends. Just the introductions and listening to their stories. They seemed really happy to tell you about how they defeated the Fire Nation and ended the war. 

Who wouldn’t be?

“You’re the Fire Lord?” you asked Zuko, away from the others.

“Oh, yeah, I am now.”

You gazed up at him. “That’s incredible.” You laughed. “Should I have bowed? I feel like I should’ve done something.”

“No. No, it’s fine.”

“Oh, then, I can still call you Zuko?”

He laughed a little. “Just not Lee.”

Just like that, you had new friends. As the year went on, you developed relationships with everyone. Sokka loved to creatively use your earthbending. (He said Toph would never let them make toys with earthbending.) Aang loved making you laugh, so he loved to tell you jokes and play games with you. Toph loved, well, trying to train you. She wasn’t the best teacher for you, too demanding and very rude, but you did learn the basics of metalbending after a few months. 

Katara was the kindest out of all of them, and you both loved telling each other stories about your lives before the end of the war. Suki insisted on training you. Even though there was no more war to fight, you had to admit, she was the perfect teacher for you. Kind but stern. 

You started to travel with everyone, giving every long-winded plan and daring choice a logical backing. Making sure the risks they were taking weren’t too great.

You visited the Zuko the most. It even got to the point that Zuko had a room made for you, with your own closet and Earth Kingdom decor. 

There were still the longing gazes and fleeting touches. You always took the opportunity to help him with his formal attire. After all, you didn’t want him to stress himself too much with that scar on his chest. 

But nothing ever happened. Even though Zuko trusted you and you trusted him, neither of you were brave enough to make the first move. 

The gaang was very fed up with it, honestly. Sokka and Toph came up with the most obvious ways to literally shove you two towards each other. Once at a diplomatic gathering in the Northern Water Tribe, Sokka pulled you towards the middle of the dance floor while Toph shoved Zuko in your direction until the two of you bumped into each other. 

Aang was in on it, too. He requested music.

Zuko and you danced, blushing and awkwardly trying to sway without being awkward. 

“I hate my friends,” he mumbled.

You laughed, the awkwardness immediately gone. “They are kinda horrible, aren’t they?” 

Still no confession, but you still had a great time dancing with your best friend.

(The gaang wanted to pull their hair out. Seriously, you two were so obvious!)

As the years passed, Zuko and you acted more and more like a couple. Where there were brushes of skin against skin slowly became holding each other’s hand during boring meetings. Where there were short-lived gazes unseen by the other became smiles and knowing looks after an easy fight. Where there were hugs before leaving became long embraces followed by kisses on the cheek. 

There were some more intense moments, like when Ozai’s supporters attacked the palace and you ran out of safety and to Zuko. While you weren’t as great as a fighter, you could still do a solid defense, and when it came to Zuko, you defended him with your life. 

“What are you doing here?!”

You grunted as you put up a wall between the two of you and the Ozai sympathizers. “Stopping you from burning the palace down apparently!”

Even after all those years, he had a tendency to be reckless.

Or the time some Water Tribe assassins tried attacking you and him and he shoved you behind him to defend you.  “Stay back!”

“Let me help!”

Everyone just assumed you were a couple, and really, nobody could blame them. 

The confession came quietly. 

You and Zuko had just finished a shift at the Jasmine Dragon. It was a day of serving the people of the Ba Sing Se, of smiles and laughter, and of shared inside jokes between you, Zuko, and Uncle Iroh.

And when it came time to go to sleep, Uncle Iroh was distraught. “I can’t believe this happened!” He dug through the cabinets, throwing various things around the small apartment. “I knew you were coming, my dear, and I forgot to get a new bed for you!”

You laughed. “Uncle, it’s ok. You’ve been busy.”

Zuko just crossed his arms. “We’ve been preparing for her visit for weeks.”

“Which is why I can’t believe I forgot to make a bed!” Uncle iroh lamented. He stroked his beard. “Hm, I would share my bed, but I tend to snore and move quite a bit. Zuko! Why don’t you share your bed?”

While your cheeks burned in embarrassment, Zuko only glared at his uncle. “Fine.”

To be fair, Zuko and you have slept in the same bed before. Sometimes work went on for too long and you two happened to fall asleep in the same bed. But all those times before were by accident on a bed meant for two. Not on a bed meant for one and not on purpose.

After the awkward tiptoeing around and offerings to sleep on the floor, finally, the two of you agreed to sleep on the bed. Zuko held you close, your back to his chest. Both of you purposely chose that position so that no one could see the other blush. 

As the years, actually minutes, passed by, the both of you relaxed into it, and it was almost natural. 

“You know,” you said softly, “that I love you, right?”

Zuko was quiet, and you hoped to the spirits he was sleeping. After a while with no answer, you took a deep breath and tried to go to sleep. 

That is, until Zuko admitted,  “I’m not good at these things.”

“Neither am I.”

The arm around your waist tightened, and you couldn’t help but snuggle closer into his embrace. 

“I love you, too,” he said. 

That was enough for the two of you, at least for one night. You two loved each other and that was enough.

The next morning was busy. The schedule was just to serve at the Jasmine Dragon and you had an appointment with some historians who wanted to know more about Zuko’s first time in Ba Sing Se. Zuko and Iroh, however, had a meeting at the palace.

Zuko was rushing around, trying to find all the pieces of his popper attire before leaving, while Uncle Iroh was trying to get him to eat breakfast. You were just smiling at all of it, pouring some cups of tea.

Zuko glanced at the window. “Uncle, we’re going to be late! Do you even have your clothes?”

“Of course, I have. But did you have food yet? At least some tea.”

“Yes, tea!” You lifted up a fresh cup of jasmine. “Zuko, you should have something before you leave.”

“I don’t need-” 

His eyes meant yours, and you only handed him the cup of jasmine tea. “You’re welcome. Also, you have some dim sum in your bag.”

He shook his head, downed the entire hot cup, and called again, “Uncle!” He smiled at you. “Thanks, bye.” He kissed you and was out the door. 

It took a few seconds, and he had left you speechless. And judging by the way he didn’t say anything before he ran out the door with Uncle Iroh behind him, he didn’t notice.

It took you a while to realize what exactly happened. 

Zuko downed some tea you gave him.

He turned around, called his uncle, then just kissed you.

He just leaned over, pressed his lips against yours for a second, maybe less. 

Then, he left.

You loved him, and he loved you. The two of you admitted that you loved each other, but the topic was too heavy and scary to clarify it further. Was that kiss a sign? Were you two together? Was that kiss some sort of rite of passage?

The rest of your day went by in a fog. 

You served tea. You smiled and had polite conversations. You listened to historians and corrected a fact here or there. 

And when Zuko finally came home, you were preparing the food you had bought, and you were frozen for a second.

“Uncle’s gone out for dinner.” He let his hair down and ran his fingers through it. 

(He had been growing it out. You had learned that hair was really important in Fire Nation culture, and apparently, before he and Uncle left for Ba Sing Se, they cut their hair, some sort of symbol that they weren’t working for the Fire Nation anymore)

You just hummed and started to prepare a serving for Uncle’s late night snack. But then! Zuko was behind you and looking at the food you had gotten.

And you were silently screaming on the inside! Because if you just turned around, and if he just leaned down, you two would be kissing. And he already kissed you! But he didn’t seem to remember that! He was just! Casually talking to you!

“What did you get?” he asked. Such an innocent question from a man who wasn’t innocent because he had kissed you

You barely managed to stutter, “O-oh, some, uh, pho.” You smiled and handed him his share. “Here!” Immediately, you turned back around to avoid him

And Zuko, baffled, just stood there, unsure as to why you were acting so strangely. You weren’t mad. Whenever you had some sort of problem with him, you would retreat into yourself, unintentionally give him the silent treatment, almost as if he was a stranger to you.

But this, the awkward glances and the too-quick movements, that was new territory. 

At first, Zuko thought it was about what had happened the night before, but just as he was about to ask again, he remembered what had happened in the morning.

The kiss

He groaned. “I’m sorry. I told you I was bad at this!” He didn’t throw the bowl of pho on the floor, but the bowl did make a loud sound and soup did spill when he let it fall onto the table. 

You turned to see him covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” When he uncovered his face, he didn’t meet your eyes. 

Zuko looked so sad.

And you couldn’t have that. You loved him too much to let him be sad. 

Before you could even comprehend what you were doing, you were cradling his cheeks and looking up into his amber eyes. Under his intense gaze, you were a little nervous, but the want to comfort him was stronger. “I’m bad at this, too.”

And then, you were kissing him

And it was everything. Kissing the man you loved, it was the best feeling, because you were trying to take care of him, he was trying to take care of you. Holding you close and rubbing circles into the small of your back, all to comfort you.

And when he pulled away, Zuko told you, “You’re not bad at that.”

You laughed and nuzzled your nose against his. “Neither are you.”

Safe to say that when Iroh came home to find you and his nephew snuggled up together in the bed he forced the two of you to share, he smiled and wrote letters to the rest of the gang immediately.

There were pros and cons to Uncle finding out before you told him. Pro, you didn’t have to tell him. Con, you two woke up to Uncle Iroh cooking a large meal fit for an army and a hug for you while he shouted, “Good morning, my new niece-in-law!”

You were embarrassed, to say the least, but you felt better when Zuko tugged you closer to him and told his uncle, “You can’t possibly believe that we could eat all of this.”

“No, you can’t.” Iroh beamed. “But I can! I’m celebrating! A niece! I have a niece!” 

In two weeks, Uncle, Zuko, and you were back in the Fire Nation. 

There was a party when you arrived. Not for the Fire Lord’s return. No, it was your friends celebrating that you and Zuko were finally together.

“Double date!” Sokka was hanging off of you and pointed at his girlfriend, “We need couple friends.”

“Hey!” Aang said, “Don’t Katara and I count?”

“No, my sister and her boyfriend can’t be mine and Suki’s couple friends.” He grimaced. “I already see you guys kiss enough.”

Katara rolled her eyes and kissed her boyfriend’s cheek.

“Eugh!” Sokka hid behind you. “Save me! I’m being tortured.”

Zuko shook his head and asked Suki, “We’re leaving him home on our double dates, right?”

“Oh yeah.” She laughed and dragged her boyfriend from behind you. “Come on.”

Zuko and you were apprehensive to be seen in public, but you two have known each other for years, loved each other for almost as much time. 

“My mother was forced into marriage,” Zuko said one night, almost a year after the two of you had kissed. “My father was told by a sage that he must marry my mother to ensure the family bloodline. They were right, but in the wrong way, i guess.”

You looked up from your scroll and asked out of curiosity, “Are all Fire Nation marriages arranged?”

“No, mostly for those of an upper class. I was arranged to have a marriage with Mai.”

“How is Mai?”

“Good. I received a letter from her and Ty Lee a few days ago.”

You smiled. “Do you think they’ll get engaged soon?”

“Definitely before we do.”

Before the two of you? Even though marriage was stressful and a huge step forward, you couldn’t help the little bubble of happiness that formed in your gut and transformed into a dreamy sigh of “We?”

Just like that, the Fire Lord went red in the cheeks. “I mean, because they’ve been together longer, so I would assume if we were to get married, well-” He cut himself off by groaning, which only got you to giggle. He stared at the ceiling. “Almost a year, and I’m still bad at this.”

You smiled and took his hand in yours. “You’re not bad at this.” 

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” You shrugged, and your voice softened when you said, “I can see us getting married, too.”

He smiled at you. “How do they do it in the Earth Kingdom?”

You hummed. “In Ba Sing Se, if two people were getting married, they just decided they would and move in together.” You bit your lip as you tried to think back on the times before Ba Sing Se. “I’ve heard of a tradition where people hold a party to announce their love and the ceremony ends when the couple leave for their house.”

“I see.” Zuko played with your fingers as he explained, “Here, one partner gives the other a ring, to symbolize- Wait.” He tilted his head. “In Ba Sing Se, would we be considered engaged already?”

You laughed, as heat settled in your cheeks. You and Zuko were a well-known couple in the Earth Kingdom, and since you did move into the palace, to some, you would be. “I guess we would!”

He nodded. “You ok with that?”

There was more to that question that meets the eye. The Fire Nation loved you, sure, but some parts didn’t. There was a group trying to rebel against the peace and prosperity Zuko and all of your friends have fought so hard to gain, a group that wanted Ozai or Azula back on the throne. They have made a few attempts on Zuko, none near successful. But, if you were to get engaged, they’d come after you, too. 

Being engaged to Zuko put a bigger target on your back.

“I’m ok with that.”

But, how could you be afraid of them when you had Zuko by your side?

“Good.”

You nodded. “Good.”

Zuko and you had two weddings. One in private on Ember Island with the gaang and a few close friends. It ended with you exchanging an Earth Kingdom bracelet for a Fire Nation crown. 

There was an afterparty, with dancing and a large feast. There were also speeches.

“You know, if anyone was going to marry the Firlord, I thought it was gonna be me-”

“Sokka!” Suki laughed.

“-or maybe my sister-”

Katara only rolled her eyes with a smile.

“-but if it couldn’t be either of us, I’m glad it’s you!”

“I couldn’t think of a better couple than you two,” Suki started. 

“Hey!” Sokka did not like that statement.

“Honestly, you two are already attractive by yourselves, but together?” Suki was smiling so innocently the entire time. “Hey, (Y/n), you sure you don’t wanna reconsider. I can show around Kyoshi Island sometime.”

“Ok that’s enough!” Sokka couldn’t drag his girlfriend out of the spotlight or stop her from saying how great Zuko and you were, but he did glare at both of you throughout the speech. “I’m watching you.”

“I’m sure you are, Sokka,” you told him. 

Your husband laughed. “I mean, if anyone was to take her away, I wouldn’t mind it being Suki.”

“Don’t test me, Sparky!”

It was funny how even though all of you were well into your 20’s, Sokka’s voice could still crack. 

Toph wasn’t one for speeches. She showed her love by keeping Sokka away from you two and pushing Suki towards you. She really loved the laugh. 

(You apologized to Sokka later with the gift of leftovers.)

Mai actually had a memorable speech. 

“Ty Lee wouldn’t let me put my name on her gift, which sucks.” She glared at her wife, who only smiled. “So, this is my gift for you. Not you, Zuko, but for your wife.” She smirked. “When Zuko was five he thought he could eat all the spicy food in the kitchen-”

“Mai!”

“-it didn’t end well.”

Toph also occupied Zuko while Mai rambled on about Zuko in his childhood. It was very fun.

Uncle Iroh also spoke. “I didn’t know this was supposed to be about embarrassing my nephew.”

“It wasn’t!”

“And that’s ok, because I have something on our dear bride.”

You paled. “Oh no.”

“If you aren’t aware, I knew (Y/n) during our time as fugitives, and she loved to stare at my nephew during his shifts.”

Your husband looked at you. “Did you?”

“Not that much!”

Uncle continued, “I also caught her doodling Lee’s name-”

“Uncle-”

“Please, Uncle, continue!”

Aang shave advice to the two of you. “Please talk to each other,” he said with a laugh. He recounted the times Katara and he didn’t communicate early in their relationship resulting in an unhealthy on and off relationship for a year before the two of them sat down and just talked. 

Katara gushed over how happy she was for the two of you. “Zuko was always grumpy, and I’m glad there’s someone he can be less grumpy with!”

Azula dropped in. She had escaped rehabilitation, and Zuko had let her go. It was near the end of the ceremony, and Zuko and you had snuck out to take a breather. 

He held you close as the two of you swayed to muted music. 

“I do hate to intrude.”

You yelped and the earth beneath Azula’s feet nearly threw her into the air. While her mind was still recovering, it seemed like her agility wasn’t affected. “To be fair, I did expect that reaction.”

“Azula?” Your husband kept his hand in your as he moved closer to his sister. “I-”

“Save it. I’m here to drop something off.” She held out a pouch for him to take. 

“Azula-”

“Zuko, I am not here to talk to you.”

You gulped. “Then what about me?” You smiled. “You can come home, Azula.”

If Azula was affected by your words, she didn’t let it show. 

Zuko took the pouch and by the time the two of you looked up, she was gone. 

Inside were two rings. 

Zuko laughed. “She probably stole these.”

“She could be living an honest life, too, you know?”

“Possibly. We don’t have to use these.”

You took the rings in your hands. They were beautifully crafted, and while gold was the main color, hints of red and green were there too. “If I can’t have Azula as a bridesmaid, then we might use her gifts.”

The public ceremony took place a few months later, and it was grand and very, very public. You were not comfortable. 

You could only change so much of it, though. 

Zuko and you would pull each other to the sidelines when it all got too much. Your friends gladly made excuses when you were absent. 

By the end, you were stuffed full with food and exhausted. 

“Please tell me marriage won’t be like this all the time.”

You laughed and sluggish cuddled up into his arms. “I can’t tell you. Never been married before.”

“The first few months were nice.”

“When no one knew.”

He laughed. “No big ceremonies or dumb speeches.”

“Or embassadors or loud music.” You sighed. “Kinda terrified, to be honest.”

You could feel Zuko stiffen under you, and immediately, you added, “I’m glad you and I get to go through it together, though.”

He nodded. “I do hate life less.”

As Fire Lady, you were kind and gentle, and while you did need breathers in meetings and galas and public events, you enjoyed helping people with policy changes and additions. 

Zuko encouraged you to take risks, and when you were too tired to voice your opinions, Zuko voiced them for you. 

You also were the only one who could calm down Zuko. While his temper wasn’t too much of a problem, sometimes he was so stressed that even the training room couldn’t hold in his anger. 

You’d lead him to your bedroom and just hold him, and if he wanted to talk, you listened. 

The two of you were the definition of quiet strength, and even though assassins and Ozai sympathizers tried to take you two down, you and your family never faltered, especially you and Zuko

[jackdawyt]

The final issue of Blue Wraith is here! And so is my breakdown and review!

Like both previous issues, we start with a flashback, this time we witness the very moment Leto became the Fenris we know today with his lyrium tattoos. As one of Danarius’s remaining slaves, Fenris is commanded to go into the lyrium sarcophagus with the compromise that his family will be freed. Something worth noting is that the sarcophagus requires a sword and lyrium to work, perhaps in the future, we may see this being used with red lyrium, or the red lyrium idol, not to mention, the red lyrium idol has it’s own ritual blade too. So, the idol could serve both purposes of fuelling this device.

We skip to the present day back in the Arlathan Forest, picking up from the last issue. Fenris, Vaea, Autumn, and Francesca are slaughtering their way through the Qunari forces, one of them killed Magister Nenealeus’s slaves, who had plenty of information about their magister’s whereabouts. Fenris goes slashy slash with his greatsword, Francesca uses her plant magic while Vaea kinda just watches the mayhem.

Meanwhile, the Qunari Viddasala escapes the scene, Vaea slightly touches Fenris on the back and immediately he turns to show her his rage, as she apologizes.

Following that, we shuffle to Ser Aaron, Calix, Marius and Tessa. Since the last issue, they had a lyrium-infused man explode whilst charging at them. Marius calls it a failed experiment, we can speculate this failure even further since the device was supposed to be used by elves, not humans.

The group discusses chasing after the Tevinter caravan, the very same envoy they’ve been following since issue one carrying the sarcophagus, on it’s way to Castellium Tenebris where another lyrium device potentially awaits them.

As a quick recap for the group’s mission objective. In the previous comic - Dragon Age Deception, Ser Aaron and company discovered that the ‘red lyrium imbued’ weapon they’re looking for on behalf of the Inquisition, was supposed to be at House Qintara’s estate in Ventus. However, an Agent of Fen'Harel impersonating the head of House Qintara sold this device to House Danarius at Castellium Tenebris in exchange for information. It must’ve been informed to die for because that agent was killed in the Qunari invasion, while the rest of the group escaped with an updated MO - get the weapon from Castellium Tenebris.

However, Casse, Ser Aaron’s horse is hurt, and can’t ride too well. Ser Aaron suggests that they need the help of Francesca and her magic. The group becomes impatient and decides to move on at a slower pace for Casse’s sake.

Shuffling back to Fenris, he apologizes for reacting to Vaea’s touch, saying that she bears no blame for not knowing his marks can cause pain when touched. He admits his angry reaction was influenced by losing the Viddasala. Since the group has no more leads to go on, they free the rest of Magister Nenealeus’s slaves and a little boy tells Fenris about a caravan heading to Castellium Tenebris. Fenris asks Autumn to track the Viddasala, and if Vaea and Francesca will join them.

Meanwhile, Ser Aaron and company are back on the road catching up to the caravan. Ser Aaron speaks with Calix on Casse’s origin, she used to belong to Grand Duke Gaspard. He called her Casse as if to say he was a broken thing. Before Gaspard could put her down, Ser Aaron stepped in and took the horse from him, he’s been with him ever since.

In a sudden hurry, a barrage of Qunari charge towards the group on horseback, the Viddasala and the rest of her forces that escaped Fenris’s blade. They too are after the caravan, seeking the lyrium sarcophagus.

Magister Nenealeus’s caravan pulls up to a cliff-side as they witness both the Qunari and Ser Aaron’s company mounted on horseback. Magister Nenealeus gathers his men and promises that for their sacrifices today, each Soporati who has magical capabilities will be elevated into a Laetan, a social level that is much more respected across the Imperium.

Shirallas, Fenris’s old elven companion, is seen on horseback working as Nenealeus’s new magekiller. However, he has not yet acquired his new lyrium tattoos through the sarcophagus like the other men. Instead, Magister Nenealeus has a worse scheme for the elf, he intends on putting Shirallas through the same sarcophagus process, however, using red lyrium instead, creating a never before seen red lyrium tattooed elven warrior. A worth opponent against Fenris.

Thus explains why Francesca’s father was needed for this experiment. He displays a speech for the soldiers, that their sacrifice will restore the Venatori, House Danarius, and House Nenealeus.

As Ser Aaron and Company are fighting the invading Qunari - Fenris, Vaea, Francesca and Autumn arrive at excellent timing! Autumn even gets a bloody kill. As the entire group charge ahead towards the caravan, the lyrium infused men reveal themselves.

The caravan leaves, as Francesca, using magic, grapples her father with a vine, ‘yeeting’ him off the caravan and to the ground. Fenris encounters Shirallas as he says he’s almost got the power he seeks, a power that only elves can handle. And a lyrium-infused man charges at Fenris and explodes.

As the Qunari add to the mixture of fighting, Calix admits he’d rather take cover than fight. Vaea and Ser Aaron tag team the battle, once more together again. The Qunari forces are surrounded by a group of lyrium-infused men, exploding their existence to smithereens.

The explosion leaves the forest desolate of life, Francesca finally gets the moment she was looking for, a confrontation with her father. She exclaims that she saved him, he picks himself up and smacks Franny across her face with his staff calling her a worthless child, shouting: “do you know what this cost me?”

This was his chance to restore the Venatori and the Invidus House, to reclaim their greatness. He asks where is Francesca’s brother as she lies on the ground. Vaea steps in and tells him that his son is dead and that his daughter was trying to save the only family she had left.

Magister Invidus attacks Vaea, calling her a knife-ear. He looks at Francesca and said the wrong child died. Fenris steps in to protect Francesca, holding his sword to his head saying that he will break the promise he made to Franny if he hurts anyone else again.

Magister Invidus turns around and says only my daughter would cut a deal with the Blue Wraith. As he attacks Fenris with his magic, and from what we can assume a red lyrium staff. As he summons a spell, Francesca yells for him to stop, she stands up and stabs her father in the heart with a vine spell. Instant death for Magister Invidus.

Fenris tells her she had no choice, while Vaea pushes him aside and weeps with Francesca, this panel truly is heart-wrenching and stunning showing the relationship growth of both characters.

Calix talks to Ser Aaron about not being built for any of this, he gives Francesca her gemstone back. He previously swindled this stone from her in Dragon Age: Deception. I feel this exchange shows the growth of Francesca since the previous comic and throughout all of Blue Wraith. She’s no longer that naive young lady, she’s found her own voice, made valuable friends and grown into the next heir of her house.

Francesca gives the gemstone back to Calix as he decides it’s time to leave the group, she tells him to take the stone to Fort Viridan, he’ll be granted safe access there. As everyone wishes him goodbye, we have the saddest of farewells. Autumn has a choice to make, does she go with Calix, or stay with Vaea and the rest. After a tear-jerker of a scene, Autumn stays with Vaea and squad.

Calix throws in a cheeky ’Princess Bride’ reference and Fenris joins the group even with his track record. He urges everyone that they’ve got to get to that sarcophagus before Shirallas uses it, while Vaea introduces him properly. Francesca heals Casse, and they all set out on the road to Castellium Tenebris, while Ser Aaron makes a comment about an adventure he had in the Dales traveling with elves who had dreams of restarting the Emerald Knights. As Ser Aaron tells his tale, the issue comes to an end.

Ending on a cliffhanger! Here’s hoping we’ll one day hear Ser Aaron finish this tale. There are so many things in this issue that demand another comic run, so we can get some answers!

All in all, Blue Wraith as an entirety has been perfect for me. As someone who grew distant with Fenris, it’s great to see him 10 years later with huge depth to his character, this comic has genuinely fleshed him out so much, and I respect him way more.

However, my favorite dynamic throughout the entire comic run has been Francesca and Vaea’s friendship. I’ve loved seeing these two characters start this adventure as strangers, and at the end of it, see them sharing emotional moments together as friends. I have grown to like and respect these characters as much as characters in the game, and because of that, I want to see their stories continue on.

Everyone involved in Blue Wraith has done a fantastic job, I listened to a recent podcast with Nunzio DeFillipis and his wife, Christina Weir and I noticed so many things I felt are worthwhile to share. 1st, Nunzio and Christina are truly delightful people, they shared about how writing Dragon Age comics has been a dream job for the two of them. You can tell from the way they talk about the franchise and BioWare, they love Dragon Age and are having an absolute blast creating these comics.

Although they’re building a future for the games with this red lyrium weapon plot and discovering  Castellium Tenebris’s secrets. These comics aren’t supposed to act as a prologue for Dragon Age 4, they’re about building the Dragon Age Universe and adding more lore and elements to it. So, yes they are helping the shape of what direction Dragon Age 4 may go in, but other than that, they’re just supposed to be fun! 2nd, these comics are created solely for filling the void of Dragon Age, establishing characters, locations, tones, even clothing styles.

So, even though we’re Dragon Age fans and we take everything too seriously, try not to with the comics just yet. At least until we have solid information on the next game.

With that, I would like to point out one negative thing about the recent comic runs, and that is the fact that they’re too short! With the long wait ahead for Dragon Age 4 ahead, having a five-issue comic with an issue popping once a month would help the wait for that game so much, that’s half a year of Dragon Age goodness. But I can understand why.

Regardless, that’s all I have to say on Blue Wraith, I eagerly look forward to the future, we know the writers are teasing another comic run and I know I speak for everyone when I say we’re just as eager for that too!

[bloomtech]

( Alberto Rosende + NB Man + He/They ) isn’t that Carlos Tavor over there singing?  they’ve been in bloom for one year and I didn’t know they did that. somehow i know they’re a twenty-six-year-old stage tech. i’m pretty sure they’re bi with a strong preference for men and i heard they’re into hair pulling + oral fixation they’re staying at bloom court so maybe you stand a chance. ♡ penned by Terry & pacific & he/they/it

mic.off: Hey!! My name is Terry and I’ll be penning for Carlos and another baby ( hopefully ) sdlfkj I haven’t been in a group RP in a while and I'm very excited. I'm twenty-five and I’m an nb trans man as well as being gay sdljkf Carlos is a new muse that I have yet to write for so bare with me if he’s not totally realized. Here’s some info about him! Apologies I’m not the BEST at writing bios. There are two people mentioned in his bio Iris and Iris’ ex-boyfriend, both id’ totally love to see realized here in wanted connections if anybody is at all interested. 

Name: Carlos Alvaro Tavor 

Age: Twenty six

Sexuality: Bi with a heavy preference for men, he’s not at all opposed to being with a woman and is attracted to them it’s just basically easier for a man/male aligned person to get in bed with him or have a flirty romantic relationship than for a binary woman

Gender: NB man, he’s amab but like what the fuck is gender anyway?

Family and friends: Carlos has four sisters, one mother, three best friends back home and little to no friends at bloom. He tends to focus all his energy and attention into his job so even if you know him, he’s only been there about a year so it’s likely he won’t consider anyone a friend yet. His father passed away in an incident he doesn’t wish to discuss. 

Sexually: Carlos is a verse, he tends to prefer being the submissive one but most definitely enjoys dominating the situation as well. Top or bottom is fine real men get pegged and he has an oral fixation and loves giving head to his partners regardless of what they have going on. He’s kinda into dirty talk but if you try and get him to speak Spanish during sex he’s just gonna fuckin leave lskjdhfjsdfg he has no patience for that Latin lover bullshit

Bio: Carlos was born the youngest of five children and the first and only boy of his parents. His father died when he was about two years old and only he, his family and his best friend Iris really know all the details, he really clams up when asked about it.

 When he was four he met Iris, an Irish girl who would later turn out to be his very best friend.

 They were inseparable and saw each other through so many hardships, their families even becoming very close and Iris’ father and Carlos’ mother even grew closer as well. 

Carlos lived a pretty basic childhood if you asked hi. He picked up music from a very young age as a way to stay connected to his Cuban roots, learning the guitar, piano and how to sing. He could never get lessons because his mother was working three jobs to support five children ( his two oldest sisters also had part-time jobs while attending high school ) so he would never even consider asking. He considered it a blessing when he got his acoustic for his fourteenth birthday, crying when his mom told him she’d been saving up for it since he was ten and she saw him dancing around the living room strumming an air guitar to some of his favorite songs. He hugged his mom and promised to keep it safe and loved ( which he has, he still owns it to this day though it’s age is beginning to show a bit he’s never let any harm come to it ) 

When he entered high school is when things got, complicated. He was still a pretty average guy, he loved comics and videogames and anime, he joined band and theater as a stage tech. There he found his other calling, production. Turns out he was just as comfortable behind the stage as he was on it and was a natural leader with keeping things in check and order. Freshman year was also a big change for him because of Iris’ boyfriend, and not ... why you’d think. Or maybe exactly why you’d think cause he’s a giant gay cliche. He ended up being very attracted to the tall, intimidating heterochromatic jock. 

which was, scary. like really really scary because he felt he’d never really been THAT into guys before. Sure he’d thought guys were hot but .. so do most guys right? Yeah no.  Throughout his freshman year, Carlos quickly realized he was more in the middle of the Kinsey scale, finding attraction in men, women and pretty much everyone he met depending on the person. Iris supported him fully in this discovery, though never knowing about his massive crush on her then-boyfriend, and even helped him understand his gender confusion and pick up the non-binary label and they pronouns. 

Which, is why come junior year when Iris is doubting her own sexuality, Carlos had her back and helped her come to realize she was, in fact, a lesbian. Her at the time boyfriend was surprisingly perfectly okay and supportive and stayed close friends with them both which just made Carlos fall even more smitten with the stupid sexy het jock goddamnit. 

Enough about his highschool pining drama, Carlos graduated with honors and worked his ass off to get a full-ride scholarship to a moderately known performing arts school where he honed his skills both behind and on the stage as a performer for years. Graduating with a degree in music production with a minor in stage management. 

With the support of two of his best friends he launched himself into the world and was, immediately exhausted and sad. Playing bar after underpaying bar, working low pay low appreciation stage tech and management jobs he was almost ready to quit the music industry entirely were it not for his sisters and Iris especially. Eventually, Iris ex saw an advertisement saying bloomfest was looking for new stage crew and tried to convince Carlos to go saying this would be good for him and help him find a place where his talent and craft are truly appreciated. 

After talking it over with Iris, his mom, his sisters he found they all agreed and said he should go so, taking a chance his basic ass never thought he would he packed up his bags and moved to bloomfest as a permanent resident and employee. While he hasn’t been there long he’s made a name for himself as a reliable tech who will go above and beyond to get what you need and get it done even if he’s a bit grumpy about it. While his official job is dealing with stage tech, he spreads himself wherever he is needed in bloomfest and can often be found doing many odd jobs around in bizarre places. It’s just the kind of person he is. Helpful to a fault. 

Personality: He’s a bit grumpy seeming when you first meet him, but that’s just because of how little sleep the idiot gets. He’s actually an absolute puppy if you don’t upset him. Loyal to a fault, eager to please and always willing to make friends if it’s not getting in the way of his work. He’s a bit more, bitter towards musicians at Bloom fest simply because he’s jealous, and a bit sick of catering to the needs of over specific spoiled musicians and recieving no credit for his hard work or even a thank you. Don’t take it personal, if you have a good additude he’s likely to warm up fast. He’s always down to play flirt or real flirt really, he’s a fuckign flirt of flirts nobody is safe ( unless they say like hey im uncomfortable don’t do that then of course he’d stop but you get the idea ) He’s got a passion for music and creative arts, and a special love for comics, videogames and anime. Due to his oral fixation you’ll often see him with hard candy or gum or his batman shaped chewey necklace! He’s also FIERCELY protective of women so watch out for that cause he can and will punch you.

Strengths: Loyal, skilled, charming, kind, creative, hard working.

Weaknesses: Too trusting, quick to solving things on his own without thinking, stretches himself too thin, kinda snippy at times, closed off to really falling in love due to emotional traumas from his past, 

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours Thoughts

Many years ago I was contacted by someone who recommended this novel to me and others from a Mary Jane fan point of view. You can read the recommendation here.

Whilst I own the novel and started it at least twice for whatever reason I stopped reading it before the start of the first big action set piece. However since Dreamscape audio released the novel on audiobook I’ve finally been able to experience it for myself.

So how’d it fair? SPOILERS ahead

I don’t usually do this these days but because this story is relatively obscure I’m going to provide a synopsis. Or more accurately marvel.wiki is:

“Even though he is a chemistry teacher, Peter Parker has now been forced to be a substitute basketball coach over at Midtown High where he works. His ineptness soon negatively draws the attention of basketball star Samuel Larkin, who challenges Peter and refuses to cooperate with his own teammates. Going over the player's records, Peter soon discovers that Larkin has not taken all of the required vaccines needed to play at the school, which will mean his automatic expulsion from the team for the remainder of the season, as well as dwindle his chances of getting a scholarship to a good university.

After a long day of coaching, Peter returns home and discovers that Mary Jane has won a part as Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. However, the play is held in Atlantic City, so in order to compensate for the long drive, MJ bought a car despite not having a driver's license, let alone any idea how to drive. They began discussing whether or not Peter should teach her. In the middle of the talk, however, the Rhino attacks Times Square, so Peter leaves to go fight him as Spider-Man.

While on the way there, Spider-Man runs into Black Cat, who claims the rampage is a trap and that Peter should not go. He ignores her warning, though, and continues to head there. Peter easily defeats Rhino, knocking him unconscious in the process. Just as he does, however, the siblings of Morlun - Thanis, Malos, and Mortia - appear. They blame Spider-Man for their brother's death despite the Other being the true person who ripped his throat out, and now want revenge by killing him. Spidey initially flees, but with the help of a SWAT team and Black Cat he eventually takes them on (he also seeks help from Doctor Strange but is declined, with Strange asserting that his interference would harm the cosmic balance). Mary Jane comes to the fight scene and becomes jealous that Felicia is able to help Peter fight the siblings, as well as how the siblings are treating her husband. Enraged, she takes her car and runs Morlun's siblings over, distracting them and giving Spider-Man the time needed to banish them to a barren netherworld using three trinkets Strange had secretly arranged to be given to him.”

Let me get some admissions out of the way.

a)      I’ve not read a ton of Spider-Man/comic book based novels, although I own the majority of the Spider-Man ones that Wikipedia claim exist. I dunno why, I just never manage to get around to them for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s because comic book superheroes being designed for a visual medium which so often emphasises action makes the jump to prose (or in this case audio) difficult. Indeed I must admit when reading/listening I do zone out a bit when action scenes occur.

b)      I’m not familiar with the work of Jim Butcher although I hear great things

c)       I’d actually forgotten the specifics of the recommendation for this book. I just remember it was recommended and it was because it should feed the MJ fan/shipper in me and others. Forgetting this was lucky actually as it allowed me to enjoy some aspects of the books I’d otherwise have not been surprised by.

Let’s also get the technical aspects out of the way since this is an audio book I am discussing.

The narrator, Jack Meloche is...okay...mostly.

I find his performance of Peter a little too nasaly and early on in the audiobook you do have to kind of power through his performances of Mary Jane and especially Felicia. By the end of the story I grew to tolerate them but never love them. Hearing a grown ass man do his best to convey a sultry kinda sorta femme fatale can be a bit cringe inducing I must admit. His best performance is as the Rhino though.

Other things you should know is that this novel is loosely in continuity with ‘Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder’ (which I talked about here),

https://hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews.tumblr.com/post/140091613524/spider-man-drowned-in-thunder-my-thoughts

another novel from the same range of books. It was published and is set after the events of this novel and both are set chronologically during the J. Michael Straczynski ASM run prior to Spider-Man joining the New Avengers.

I’ll be upfront with you I found ‘Drowned in Thunder’ to be better for the most part and downright ingenious. It did not however use Mary Jane as much or as critically as this story. She was important but didn’t have as big of a role as she does here. Does that make one novel better or worse than the other? Neither, they’re just different. It’s healthy to mix up the emphasis certain supporting characters get after all.

Looking at ‘Darkest Hours’ on it’s own merits for the most part it nails the characters in terms of the sentiments but my personal problems with it are in the presentation at times. Not even all the time just some of the time.

Let me put it more clearly.

There is exactly one scene featuring Aunt May, specifically a phone conversation. And this phone conversation progresses into a very involved inspirational speech from May to Peter about how awesome he is as a person/hero and the scene’s drama stems from the fact that Peter might be fighting his last battle soon after this. Are the sentiments Aunt May expressing in character? Of course. Are these things she would say? Yes!...but...I felt it was kind of...off that her one scene in the whole story is her showing up and giving the most involved inspirational speech Spider-Man has ever gotten from her or anyone else. Spider-Man 2’s backyard scene was tame by comparison. I just feel it would’ve been better for May to have both featured in some way prior to that scene and for the speech to have been dialled back a bit.

Much more relevantly though is the book’s handling of Peter and MJ’s relationship.

Throughout the novels there are scenes of Peter and Mary Jane being very much in love. The most common way this is expressed is via Peter complimenting Mary Jane in his head.

Would Peter feel this way about Mary Jane. 100% yes! But...I don’t know if it was the vocal performance, the fact that we have this back in the comics now, or really JUST me but personally I kinda...cringed a bit.

I’m not saying it’s bad!

I’m not even saying it could be better!

I’m sure there are many readers who adore this.

I’m not well versed in romance fiction so maybe I’m missing something here and actually it’s perfectly acceptable or great writing.

I’m saying just for me personally again...I’d have wanted it dialled back. It just got a little much, a little cringey for me personally.

But you know that happened sometimes in the JMS run which I loved and agree with everyone else wrote the marriage better than it has ever been written.

Speaking of Straczynski we really need to talk about his Spider-Man work.

Commonly original Spider-Man novels (i.e. not novelizations) that are trying to vaguely present themselves as being canon (so we aren’t talking about stuff like ‘Hostile Takeover’ set in the Marvel Gamerverse) try to have synergy with the status quo of the day or a very recent one.

This novel is no exception. My research tells me it was published in 2006 and whilst it’s not reflective of the then status quo of the comics where Spider-Man was unmasked and a member of the Avengers, it is reflective of the dominant status quo immediately preceding that which ended circa 2004-2005.

To refresh your memory that involves Peter being a teacher at Midtown High, Mary Jane being an aspiring stage actress who recently reconciled with Peter, and both Aunt May and Black Cat knowing his secret. To drive the point home about just when this novel is set there is an entire dialogue exchange discussing the idea of him hypothetically  joining the Avengers. A discussion that in my eyes throws some wonderful shade at the idea.

This is the same status quo that ‘Drowned in Thunder’ was set during but ‘Darkest Hours’ hardcore embraces  this status quo in a way ‘Drowned in Thunder’ never did. ‘Drowned in Thunder’ if anything drew more from the Paul Jenkins PPSM run than JMS’ run and exempting Aunt May being in on the secret felt like with a few changes it could’ve exorcised every other element of his run. Peter’s teaching job was a factor in the story but it was used as a brilliant and organic segue way into a Bugle/Jonah centric investigation.

‘Darkest Hours’ though...doesn’t do that.

Rather it is practically a lost arc from JMS’ run. No, not his ‘era’ wherein we’re talking about every title during his time in charge. I mean that if this was a comic book story it could’ve been straight up slotted in directly before or after ‘Sins Past’ and no one would’ve batted an eye.

The way the story tries to handle Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane, Peter’s teaching job, the inclusion of Doctor Strange and Dex, the potted history of Ezekiel, the direct references to Shathra and friggin ASM #500, and of course Morlun’s siblings. This FEELS like the JMS run!

And for a lot of people that’s going to be a huge deal breaker for this novel.

In my experience of Spider-Man fandom whilst there is a lot of appreciation of JMS’ run it was divisive for various reasons. A lot of people just for whatever reason turned off by Peter being a teacher (or more accurately not being a photographer for the Bugle) and recoil even more over the presence of mystical elements like Morlun or Doctor Strange.

Now if you liked or tolerated that stuff then this novel is a hidden gem of sorts, whether you want a shot of nostalgia or just found that stuff compelling.

Me personally, I liked the first half of the JMS run for the most part. And Jesus Christ looking back at it after what we got after he left it’s a Hell of a lot better.

Say what you want about Ezekiel and Peter being a teacher but I’d take that stuff over fucking Superior Spider-Man and Parker Industries!

Of course the elephant in the room regarding this novel in the modern day is that it predates Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon as stories establishing Morlun had a family.

And...did...it...BETTER!

In Spider-Verse/Geddon Morlun was the main character and his family had unbearably simplistic personalities that boiled down to being variant action figures of him!

Now don’t get it twisted. Mortia and her brothers are a million miles away from the greatest villains in Spider-Man history. In fact they have LESS personality than Morlun did.

And yet in context this actually works for the story more effectively than in Spider-Verse/Geddon.

Morlun as originally presented was essentially a very eloquent predator and a hunter, not quit a full on force of nature but close to it. He was intimidating because he really didn’t do anything besides hunt Spider-Man and want to eat him.

Where Spider-Verse/Geddon failed was in reintroducing Morlun and then immediately watering him down by having him appear alongside his variant action figure family with moments and even back up stories told specifically from their POVs. Sure JMS gave us moments focussing on Morlun’s character outside of Spider-Man or Morlun, but they existed to introduce  the character and briefly build him up before we realize just how utterly outclassed Spider-Man is against him. When we already know who the Hell Morlun is we don’t need scenes focussing upon him because he isn’t a character who can support that level of attention. Nor should he be because he’s SUPPOSED to be a one not hunting and killing machine basically.

That’s why this novel makes better use of ‘the Ancients’ than S-V/G made of ‘the Inheritors’. We don’t have scenes from their POV thus they can basically be what Morlun was when Spider-Man first met him. Ruthless predators on the hunt, except now there are three of them so Spider-Man is truly screwed!

The plot cleverly focuses instead on the characters who have to DEAL with the impending threat the Ancients pose rather than trying to pretend these guys have actual characters. Butcher also makes them much scarier than the Inheritors because rather than monsters who basically just port in wherever and kill indiscriminately, the Ancients have riches and resources. They are a part of society and Peter is racing against the clock hoping those resources don’t zero in on who he is and where his family lives. This dread, this tension is delectable and far more effective than what Slott of Gage ever did. It helps that we actually see Peter reacting believably to the pressure and stress of his potential demise rather than be a generic and passive as he was in Spider-Verse.

Also the fact they appear alone rather than alongside Morlun is better too as it means Morlun doesn’t look less unique and they look less like variant action figures.

Additionally Butcher does a great job fleshing out the backstory to the Ancients, helping to integrate them well into the established Marvel Universe, developing their abilities and how they worked. Hell he even remembered how they were supposed to work as JMS defined them rather than how Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon just ignored these abilities and did whatever they wanted. For instance Butcher establishes clearly the Ancients CAN feed off of life forms other than Spider-Man as opposed to S-V/G just having them do that with no explanation and feed off of just anyone. Butcher also remembered Morlun saying that eating Peter would sustain him for a looooooong time and incorporated it into the plot. Similarly he provided a clear explanation for why Spider-Man couldn’t simply use the same trick he used against Morlun again (because he’s outnumbered!) or get help from other heroes like Doctor Strange. Speaking of which we got one of the best ever explanations for how magic works in the Marvel Universe ever. Wasn’t expecting that nor for Wong to be so delightful!

The only real misstep Butcher makes as far as the Ancients are concerned is the idea of the Rhino being a potential snack for them when he never got his powers from a real rhino or anything like that. He was even referenced as one of the pretenders to totem powers by Ezekiel. I guess you could that the Lizard (who was also referenced) should  count so...whatever the rules aren’t clear here.

Let’s leave our main villains behind and talk instead about our more grey characters.

So yeah...Jim Butcher wrote one of the all time great Rhino stories here!

Again wasn’t expecting that!

The Rhino in Aunt May’s home breaking bread with Spider-Man is so insane an image that you’d love it for the absurdity alone, but Butcher makes it totally organic. He also keeps Rhino in character (with the exception of a time he refused to kill Spider-Man which I don’t remember being a real story) and fleshes him out rather wonderfully. He draws some great parallels between Rhino and Spider-Man and frankly the scene where Mary Jane is literally shaking with laughter over these comparisons is unquestionably the highlight of the whole novel!

What was really great was that Butcher didn’t change the Rhino or compromise him. He’s still a mercenary, he’s still not really a good guy, but he’s more human. He doesn’t like Spider-Man, he wants to beat him, but he also on a certain level respects him.

It’s just expertly done!

Then there is Felicia. Had Spencer not already fixed Felicia this story would’ve ignited fury within me. Not because this was bad but rather that this story used Felicia so wonderfully that BND and Slott’s ruination of her would’ve stung all the more.

Felicia is purrrrrrrfect here!

Not quite good, not quite bad, sultry, catty, territorial, smart, aggressive, dangerous, loyal. Butcher NAILED her character!

The fact he uses her to open up a philosophical debate about the differences and moral justifications between Peter, herself and the Rhino is inspired. There are differences but the lines aren’t as clear cut as Peter treats them as. In a sense he really does have a bit of a double standard in regards to her and everyone else. This isn’t the only time Butcher brings out Peter’s flaws very well. The scene where Peter has momentary lapses into light machismo are well done. Spider-Man is a hero but he ain’t perfect that’s why we love him!

This brings us to Felicia and Mary Jane. Sorry...I love it. Maybe it’s problematic, maybe it’s problematic that I do love it...but I just do.

Okay from a strict continuity point of view Butcher puts MJ and Felicia at greater odds than they really should be. By this point in time there were tensions but there was also friendship. Truth be told Butcher puts that friendliness in there but only at the very end of MJ and Felicia’s arc together and the resolution to the tensions are off-page. And yet...what can I say the pure soap opera of it was fun for me on a very base level. Who says marriage is free of tension again?????

The peak of my enjoyment was when the pair were just unrestrained hurling insults at one another. Again, shallow I know, but it was just fun for me and I really loved Peter having to step up and be the grown up in that situation and coldly let everyone know where they all stand. MJ doesn’t get to talk to Felicia that way because she’s their friend. Felicia doesn’t get to talk to MJ that way because she’s his wife.

This brings us to Mary Jane herself. Apart from again the romance stuff for me personally going a bit too far she’s mostly done very well. She’s supportive, she has a subplot of her own dealing with a real life problem (learning to drive), she makes mistakes, she’s great at analysing Peter,  and helping figure things out via being a confidant. Oh and she totally saves the day at the end. No straight up she does. If not for MJ the day would’ve been lost and Spider-Man would’ve been dead.

It was such a baller as fuck scene I am slightly pissed off that it wasn’t realized as a comic. Her throwing shade at Doctor Strange was also priceless.

The final thing to mention is the subplot involving one of Peter’s students.

I am once again going to draw comparisons to both the JMS run and ‘Drowned in Thunder’ as they are apt here.

Okay basically strictly speaking the subplot regarding Peter helping one of his underprivileged kids retain a spot on the basketball team was a weak spot of the storytelling. Not because it was necessarily bad (though a 30something trying to write ‘inner city youths’ leaves something to be desired) but because it really didn’t tie into the main plot all that much.

In ‘Drowned in Thunder’ Peter’s teaching job was integrated seamlessly.

But in this you could tweak the novel and exorcise the whole subplot. It’s relevance really is mostly thematic (Peter and the kid both need to embrace team work to succeed) and to illustrate character traits of Peter Parker. He’s so responsible he would still make time to help out this poor student even whilst his life is potentially ticking away. Nor will he abandon this kid to save his own skin, even though the kid’s physical life might not be endangered at all if he did.

Now that all being said I LIKE the subplot’s inclusion. Not only because it does demonstrate Peter’s character and the lesson he needs to learn for this story, but because I view it as part and parcel of this book’s mission to be a lost JMS story.

Really the subplot could’ve been one of the handful of stories told during the JMS run concerning Peter helping out his impoverished students. If viewed as part and parcel of trying to capture the ‘flavour’ of the era the subplot succeeds.

Finally I must say I loved Peter’s words of defiance before his possible demise.

Over all I’d say this was a very strong story. Okay, as an over all package not quite as good as ‘Drowned in Thunder’ but still up there, with moments and aspects that are as good if not superior to the latter.

Highly recommended.

P.S. I can’t believe we got development and a great use out of Dex of all the obscure characters out there!

[chicksung]

Renegade- A JJK Oneshot

Genre: Hybrid AU, Bandit/Runaway AU, angst, romance, and if you squint, there’s a bit of fluff.

Pairing: Rabbit Hybrid! Reader x Human! Jungkook 

Warnings: Crimes, stealing, swearing, a small hint of violence, a dash of anxiety and slowly growing feeling.

Summary: Choi Jae-Hwa is probably the most wanted criminal in her small village. The rabbit hybrid is forever trying to find a safe place to hide, but is always fund by the police. Humans have never shown her any type of respect, even before her family was taken away from her, but when a human bumps into her when she’s running from the police, what’s a bunny to do?

Word count: 5.2k words

Post Date: 22/05/19

Part of the Green Tea and Melodies series

Song: ‘Run’ - BTS

A/N: Hey TaeCups and SugaKookies, I’m so sorry I haven’t been active...like at all. I kinda broke my laptop so I couldn’t get started on this as soon as I wanted to. But, this is a collaboration with the one and only @worldwidebt7 so please keep an eye for an illustrated version of this oneshot. Please enjoy the show!

The Oneshot ll The Comic

“It has recently been reported that that troublesome hybrid, Choi Jae-Hwa, has been apprehended by the local police this morning, let’s hope that they have her for more than 24 hours” 

The TV outside of the temporary cell blared on about things happening in the world, which was quite enjoyable, despite the fact that it was muted. The local radio made up for the lack of sound. The shackles around my wrists was nothing new to me. It’s been like this for years. Since my parents had been hunted and killed by a pack of wolves, I have been on my own since I was 11. I remember what happened so clearly.

~10 years prior~ 

We had gone on a walk in the forest, hand in hand with my parents, Yoona and Taemin. My parents’ relationship baffled quite a lot of people, considering my mother was a bunny hyrbid and my father was a fox hybrid, but they somehow made it work. I ran ahead of my parents, looking at the flowers that grew.

“Eomma, look!” My eleven year old self called out to her, pointing at a Lily of a Valley. My mother walked over, looking at the pretty flora.

“Very pretty, just like you!” She exclaimed, pressing a kiss to my cheek before joining my father once more. Suddenly, I could sense the worry of my mother. She was turned away from me, looking towards the deeper part of the woods. Her ears were at their fullest height and her body was tensing up. 

“Honey, are you alright?” My father asked, turning her face towards him. My mother’s coffee brown eyes were scared, terrified. 

“We need to get out of here. Now! Jae-Hwa, come on, we’re leaving.” She answered my father before calling out to me. Just as I grabbed my mother’s hand, a pack of wolves jumped out from behind the trees. 

“A family I see, a full course meal.” The biggest and clearly the leader called out to the pack and my family, licking his lips. He charged at my father, knocking him to the ground. He started to bite him, first his arms, then his stomach. 

“Yoona. take Jae-Hwa and run!” He called out weakly, attempting to bite back to no avail. My mother was about to turn when she was taken out from behind and in the same position as my father. There was nothing I could do. 

“Jae-Hwa, run!” was the last thing my mother cried out before she couldn’t do anything but accept her fate. I followed her words, turning on my heel and running away from the scene. I was quite fast for a rabbit hybrid, being able to outrun the female wolves that ran after me. I ran as far as I could before I reached the small village I called home, but this time, returning without my only guardians.

Times sure do change, don’t they? I had been caught up in my own thoughts, not realizing that it was now dark outside. Well, time to execute the plan...again. I always kept a bobby pin in my hair, which it pinned back my fringe. Despite being handcuffed, it was surprisingly simple to grab the sliver of metal. With the bobby pin in hand, I began to pick the lock on the cuffs, hearing a satisfying ‘clink’, telling me I succeeded with step one. I quietly shifted to the other side of my cell before a voice interrupted me.

“Escaping again, I see.” Seungri’s voice rung out across the empty hall. I smiled softly at his voice. Seungri had been the only person who actually bothered to talk to me from behind his own bars. 

“You’ve seen me do it so many times, yet you still haven’t told them. I can’t help but wonder as to why. Care to tell me?” I responded, pressing my back against the wall, curiosity getting the better of me. 

“I know you only do this to survive, you’re nineteen, you can’t do anything about it, it’s your way of survival.” He called out, leaning forward on the bars that kept him in the small human enclosure. I smiled weakly, before parting my lips to speak again.

“Hey Seungri, thanks...for having my back.” I mumbled sincerely, grabbing some loose bricks on the wall. He smirked and gave you a kind look.

“No problem, kid.” He finished the conversation before heading back to his small bed. Just as I started to squeeze through the small window, a guard began to walk down the hall.

“Hey, what are you doing!?” The structured, wide shouldered man started yelling, pulling his keys out of his pocket and unlocking the barred enclosure. My fight or flight instincts kicked in. If I don’t run, I will possibly be thrown into some sort of pit. Then again, I’m already destined for hell. But I can’t possibly fight this man, he’s probably been through a lot of training and there is no way that someone like me will be able to win, especially a rabbit hybrid. I squeezed my thin body through the bars and dropped to the ground below just as he entered. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I’ve escaped this place many times before so this wasn’t difficult to do. Now, where to go now? So I did the only thing I knew how to do since I was 11. 

I ran.  

I was well away from the small community jail, even though a statement had been issued for my arrest...again. The evening markets were lit up like a Christmas tree and the smell of the food was causing my stomach to rumble. I flipped up my dirty lilac hoodie and tried my best to flatten my ears. I walked into the bustle of the market, chatter and the laughter of the small village children echoed throughout the small venue. My attention was turned to a stall that seemed to be selling baked goods, cakes, bread, pastries, the whole lot. The short and plump woman that stood behind the display table was busy talking with customers and making sure the bread in the small portable oven was burning. ‘She won’t notice if I swiped a few things, will she?’ I thought to myself, taking a loaf of bread from the table as well a blueberry muffin and was reaching for a croissant when the woman grabbed my bony wrist in her hand.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?” She asked, her eyes piercing holes in my personal bubble. I attempted to shake her hand off but her grip only tightened. 

“I asked you a question, now answer me, girl!” She yelled with an authoritative voice, her other hand flicking off my hoodie, revealing my ears. Being one of the few hybrids in town since my parents were killed, people immediately recognized me. A wave of anxiety hit me and once again, fight or flight kicked in. I could either confront the woman and end up being handed in to the police or run with food in hand. The latter seemed to be the better idea, so with a final glance towards the woman, I sped off. I could hear the woman yell something along the lines of ‘You mangy animal!’ but I couldn’t hear her. Some people tried to chase after me, but being an animal with agility, none of them could catch me. I was looking behind me as I kept running through the market, smirking when I saw how far behind me they were. Doing this however meant I didn’t see the figure in front of me. I ran into them, knocking me to the ground. While the loaf of bread stayed in my grasp, the blueberry flew out of my pocket and into a nearby bush. 

Well, there goes dessert... 

I held my head for a moment to stop it from spinning. Suddenly, a voice spoke and a hand was in front of my face. 

“I’m so sorry, miss. Are you alright?” The voice was one that sounded like it belonged to an angel and when I lifted my head, he certainly looked like one. His soft brown hair hung in front of his eyes, his skin was like honey but his most mesmerizing was his big doe eyes. If he had a tail or antlers, I would have mistaken him for a deer hybrid. I slowly took his hand, the break still in my hand.

“I’m fine.” I said coldly. I didn’t let his features get in the way of the fact that he was a human. Humans were ruthless and they cared not for any hybrids, only to lock them up, sell them and mistreat them. I stood up and brushed off my knees and went to walk away from him when he called out to me.

“Hey, be careful. There’s a swarm of people down there looking for someone who fits your looks. I would suggest heading back into town. It’s safer there.” He informed me and smiled warmly. I nodded before brushing past him, walking in the direction that leads back to the village. I climbed the small hill that wasn’t that well lit. I saw the plump woman wailing to a policeman, probably about our ordeal. I smiled to myself, knowing that I escaped their grasp twice today.

Sunrise was always the prettiest over the village. Especially when you are perched on top of the school building roof, it’s where you got the best view. My chestnut brown hair didn’t look greasy in the light and it made the freckles on my mocha skin visible. I loved these times, where I wasn’t constantly on the run from the police, being given stares from parents and shielding me from their children’s vision like I was some sort of beast. I was used to it though. Most people in the village resented or were afraid of me, well, everyone except one. Kim Seokjin, the owner of the local cafe and the person who has known me since I was a baby. Which I was on my way to see. He always supplies me breakfast and never gave up on me, even after I started getting into trouble with the police. I pushed the glass door open, the bell above it ringing. Seokjin’s gaze snapped up from wiping down the breakfast bar/counter and gave me a loving smile. 

“Well, if it isn’t Snowy Valley’s most wanted. Welcome back, JaeJae. How have you been?” He announced as soon as he saw me. I smile at my nickname and went to the counter.

“Oh, you know. It was on the radio again. I was able to escape. If they keep putting me in the same cell, they are never gonna learn that I can escape so easily. Although, I ran into someone last night. I’ve never seen him before, but he wasn’t scared of me, nor did he seem to recognize me but he warned me of a search party that was assigned to me.” I explained, my ears turned sideways in confusion. Seokjin smiled and walked towards to the barista coffee maker and started making me my usual, a mug of hot mocha. 

“I believe that’s the new kid. He came in here a few weeks ago and introduced himself as Jungkook. He seemed like a nice kid. Said he recently moved in to finally live on his own. He was very quiet and reserved however. He did seem comfortable talking to me. Overheard the news report on you and asked me if I knew you.” 

“To which you replied yes?”

“Well, considering you are like my daughter, I had no choice but to say yes. After I confirmed that, he smiled to himself and whispered something about you being adorable.” I blushed at the last comment. 

“Jin, stop it. No he didn’t. How old is he, he seemed pretty young to me.”

“Only a couple years older than you, he’s 21.” He looked younger if I was being honest. 

“He’s still a human, but a very good looking kid.” I admitted. I watched Jin frown before smirking.

“But not as handsome as me, right JaeJae?” I burst into laughter.

“Of course not.” 

Out and about today was quiet, very quiet for Snowy Valley. The reason for this was probably that it was Monday morning, which meant school went back for another week. I wandered around aimlessly before I stumbled across a newly opened bakery. I peeked inside to see a tall, thin woman who seemed to be in her mid-thirties behind the counter, a kind smile on her face. I slipped inside and looked at the assortment of baked goods that chanted my name from behind the sliding glass door. This was one of those bakeries where they were able to be used by the customers. My stomach rumbled immediately.

I’ll just grab a few loaves and some muffins and I will be gone.

I reached for the bread, successfully grabbing without being detected and with a couple muffins stuffed in my pockets, I headed towards the door. That’s when a shrill voice screeched “Hey! You didn’t pay for those!” At those words, the plump woman from last night appeared from the back, rolling pin in hand. 

“It’s you again, you feral animal!” She shrieked, running from behind the counter and towards me. 

Well, now I was battered, no food and extremely hungry. It was late at night and no one was around. I was in the back alley behind an apartment complex, near the dumpster. My eye was bruised, my muscles hurt and I’m pretty sure my stomach was bruised. 

Looks like I’m sleeping here tonight...

I picked up sounds of footsteps but couldn’t be fucked opening my eyes. 

“Hey, are you alright?” A familiar voice asked, causing me to open my eyes. My gaze was met by the doe-eyed boy from last night. His eyes were glazed with concern and worry. I scoffed.

“Do I look fucking okay to you?” I spat coldly, crossing my arms over my stomach, only to remember that’s where it hurt the most and hissing in pain. 

“Wait, let me help you. I’ll take you to my apartment and I’ll treat you.” He calmly said, grabbing my hand. I ripped my hand from his grip, staring daggers at him. 

“Unhand me, human! Don’t touch me!” I exclaimed, trying to get away from him and run, but my legs refused to move. 

“Okay, I won’t touch you. But please, you’re hurt and if you aren’t treated, it’s only gonna get worse.” He explained with a hint of concern in his voice, as he knelt down to my height. While my brain didn’t trust him, my body acted according to my heart. I followed him with my head hung low and not saying a word. He led me up several staircases and to a door with the number ‘97′ on the door. He unlocked the door and opened the door for me to enter first. I scowled at him and entered the small apartment. I looked at the dark room, my night vision being one of the best thing in the situation. I heard the door slam behind me and I turned around, my ears pricked all the way up in fear. My eyes grew bigger and a small whimper escaped my lips. 

“Woah there, Bugs, no need to freak out. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He smiled, revealing his teeth that looked similar to me. I didn’t realize how much he looked like a rabbit, so much so that it was almost scary. Before a single could escape my lips, he grabbed my wrist and guided me to his bathroom, his grip remaining tight despite me struggling to release myself. He finally reached the bathroom and lifted me up quickly and placed me on the counter, our faces only a mere few inches away. I scowled at him, my bangs covering one of my eyes.

“I can walk myself, you know.” I spat, eyeing him suspiciously as he grabbed ointment and bandages from a cupboard. He only looked at me and chuckled a little.

“It was the best way to make sure you didn’t run away. I can’t let you leave untreated.” He replied, unscrewing the cap from the ointment and instructed me to extend my arms. I still didn’t trust him. My experiences with humans were not pleasant, as my body clearly showed. This was the only way I could survive. I hissed in pain as I felt a cold liquid drop onto one of the scrapes on my wrist, retracting it back as quick as I could.

“That fucking burns!” I shrieked at him, examining the invisible damage. He grasped my wrist and yanked it towards, causing me to growl slightly. 

“Stop being a baby, Jae-Hwa.” He commanded, not looking at me at all, but that right now was the least of my concerns.

“How the hell do you know my name?” I hissed sourly, squinting my eyes as I stared daggers into his soul. He finally looked up and sighed through his nose, only to giggle.

“You’re probably the most controversial citizen, let alone hybrid in this village. How could I not know you. I’m Jungkook, by the way. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He held his hand out for me to shake, but I stared at it before looking at him with my cheeks puffed out.

“Who said you were an acquaintance of mine?” I seethed, my ears flattened against my head in distrust. Jungkook looked a little dejected at my words but I didn’t care. 

“Well, you seem pretty comfortable with me touching you, despite what you’re saying, but Jin said you didn’t like humans that much, him being the only acceptance.” His words sung out almost like a melody as he wrapped my  wrist in a clean, white bandage. I tensed at his words as my eyes wandered down to my wrist, wearing his sculpted hands guided the bandage around my wrist and the lower half of my palm. He secured the white cloth with some medical tape and grabbed a small plastic band-aid and placed it quickly on my cheek. I was slightly taken aback by his action but didn’t say anything. He looked at me for a second and saw the way my arms were folded across the lower half of my stomach. 

“Is there anywhere else that hurts?” He asked, eyes watching my expression carefully. I scoffed and blew my bangs out of my eyes.

“No.” I replied bluntly, lying straight through my teeth. His eyes softened at my words, clearly still concerned.

“Jae-Hwa, I know this may sound weird but, may I look under your shirt?” He requested hesitantly, the fear of rejection smelt so strong, it made me crinkle my nose.

“I-I...fine.” I mumbled in defeat as I lifted my shirt no higher than my middle. A large blue and purple bruise covered the majority of the left side of my stomach, the right covered in red hand prints. Jungkook’s eyes were blown open, clearly terrified at the sight he saw.

“J-Jae-Hwa, how badly does it hurt?” He questioned timidly, his eyes still fixated on the blue and purple flower that was bloomed on my stomach.

“Does it look bad to you, genius? It hurts to even fucking breathe.” I cursed at him, eyes glowing a soft amber before returning to their natural color. 

“S-Sorry, that was dumb question, I get it. But can you please stop acting like such a jerk for five minutes and let me bandage it please. If it stays uncovered, it’s not gonna heal as fast.”

Just let your guard down for a one moment, please...    

I inhaled deeply and looked at him straight in the eyes.

“Fine, but I’m extremely thirsty and a bathroom isn’t exactly a comforting environment.” Was any place comforting to me?

“Oh, yeah, sure. I’ll make some tea, and then we can just talk, so I can understand you a little bit more.” Jungkook excitedly replied, practically bouncing on his toes. I hissed as Jungkook suddenly placed pressure onto my bruise to wrap it up in a similar white cloth that was around my hand. He secured it and moved onto my left elbow. He squeezed a little bit of ointment on, causing me to hiss in pain again. He wrapped up the disinfected graze and weaved his way out of the bathroom, supposedly the kitchen. I groaned as I slipped off the counter and down the passage that connected the rooms together. I saw Jungkook hunched over the stove, preparing to cups of tea and looked at me as he realized my presence.

“I only have green tea. I hope you don’t mind.” He smiled awkwardly as he placed a teabag in each cup. I smiled to myself, making sure he didn’t see, as I played with the strings of my hoodie. That was when I realized how disgusting I looked and felt. Damn my stupidity for not realizing before he dressed me. 

“You alright, Jae?” He asked, using the nickname only Jin called me, hence catching me off guard. Normally, I would have spat a melody of swear words at him, but remembering what he had asked me to do in the bathroom refrained me in doing so.  

“I feel disgusting.” I spoke my mind in a hushed voice, embarrassed at my state. Jungkook chuckled before brushing past me and down the hallway, disappearing into his room. This would be the perfect time to escape, however, I remember that I have nowhere to run, the major factor is that, my feet remained rooted to the ground. A few minutes later, Jungkook emerged from his room with a pair of sweatpants, an oversized shirt and black hoodie in a pile in his hands. 

“I found some clothes that I don’t wear much so you can change into these for tonight. I’ll wash the clothes you’re wearing now if you want, that’s if you’re staying.” He said in a voice that was almost asking, if not begging, me to stay with him. I took the clothes in my hands, simply nodding and quick-walking to his bedroom. His bedroom was small, but not as small as I expected. I decided not to dwell too much and quickly stripped off the lilac hoodie, the white shirt, ripped jeans and the socks with way too many holes than I was willing to admit. I let the sweatpants sit loosely on my waist, the waistband hidden by the shirt several sizes too big and finally the hoodie. I slipped out of his room and back into the kitchen, where Jungkook placed the two teacups on the table and sat down.

“Take a seat.” He said simply, brushing his bangs out of his face. I followed his instructions and slumped into my chair. 

“Now, there’s one thing I want to know, why do you hate humans so much?” He goes straight for the personal question, doesn’t he? 

“Personal experiences, I’ve only been exposed to the evil side of humanity.” I said shortly, looking into the cup of cooling tea before taking a sip.

“But why are you so close with Seokjin?” Jungkook asked, lowering his head in an attempt to look into my eyes under my bangs. 

“I knew him before my parents died. He was best friends with my father, who introduced my mother to him. He consoled me after their death, and I stayed with him until I was discovered by his landlord, who certainly didn’t like hybrids. He threatened Seokjin with homelessness if he didn’t get rid of me. I couldn’t let him live on the streets so I took my leave from the premises. It was for the best. There, you have your explanation. I steal because I have no money whatsoever, therefore I can’t buy anything, besides, I love thrill of being seen but not so much being caught.” I downed the last of my tea before standing up. 

“Thanks for the tea and for treating my injuries, but I have to go.” I said abruptly, not sounding thankful at all. I turned towards the door but before I could leave, I felt a grip on my wrist.

“Oh, no you’re not. You are staying here until you’re 100% healed. It’s too dark and cold out there anyway. Please, Jae-Hwa. Be rational. Just..stay here. Take my room, it’s the least I can do.” Jungkook gave me his big doe eyes, which were utterly adorable that they made me go weak in the knees. 

“Fine, but no funny business.” I said flatly, giving in. I brushed past him and entered his bedroom, pulling back the covers and slipping between them and falling asleep.

I didn’t intend to stay as long as I did. I only planned to stay there for two days, but two days slowly turned into two months. I don’t know how I convinced myself to stay, considering I was staying with the species I hated the most. Jungkook was sweet, kind and considerate, despite me giving him the cold shoulder more often than not. He always made me green tea when I had breakfast and the beverage slowly became my favorite taste ever. The days and nights passed quickly but I often went out at night. Tonight, Jungkook insisted that we went to the markets together as he always got the best food for the best prices than he did at the small supermarket we had. With my newly washed hoodie over my head, Jungkook and I stood in a sea of citizens of the valley. My eyes wandered, spotting the woman who caused me the injuries that littered my body. I felt my blood boiling that such a kind looking woman could make such a cruel act. I latched myself onto Jungkook’s arm in an attempt to keep myself from picking another fight with her.

“What are you doing?” Jungkook asked, looking utterly confused. 

“Just roll with it, Jeon.” I said, calling him by his last name. I guess we grew closer than I first thought.

“Alright, Choi.” He responded coolly. 

He dragged me to almost every stall in the markets, his hands occupied by brown paper bags, filled with a range of different items. He finally stopped at the stall I had been dreading, the bakery stall. The plump woman hadn’t noticed me standing behind Jungkook, clearly blown away by his beauty.

“And how can I help you, sir?” She asked, her voice so sickly sweet, I almost burst into laughter. Jungkook’s eyes scanned the display table before pointing to a loaf of bread and two blueberry muffins. The woman flashed him a smile before grabbing grabbing two different white paper bags, one long one for the bread and a smaller one for the muffins. Jungkook paid the woman and was turning away from her when she finally spotted me. She immediately stopped smiling and her face wrinkled in disgust.

“You filthy animal! What are you going to steal from this nice man? Police! Police!” She yelled, catching the attention of quite a crowd of people. A policeman came running up to the woman, panic written across his face.

“Ma’am, what’s wrong? What happened?” He questioned, watching as the woman broke into fake sobs.

“It’s the hybrid! She tried to rob one of my customers.” She fake cried with a subtle smirk on her face. The policeman saw my lilac hoodie and started booking it after me. My instincts kicked in as I grabbed Jungkook’s hand and started running from the scene. Jungkook exclaimed in surprise, dropping half of the bags, including the loaf of bread. The policeman was hot on our heels as I rounded into an alleyway and climbing on top of a dumpster. The policeman rounded the corner and we were cornered. 

“Choi Jae-Hwa, stand down and we won’t need to do anything irrational.” The broad man commanded, his eyes dark and serious. I looked up at the roof above me before looking back to me. 

“Jungkook, I need you to trust me for a second. It might seem crazy but we’ll leave with our lives.” I said, my eyes filled with sincerity and uncertainty. I had been so cold to this boy and now, I was suddenly asking him to trust me. 

Real smooth, Jae. 

Jungkook looked at the officer before looking back at me. I extended my hand, part of me hoping that he would take my word and trust me. 

“If it means you’re safe, that’s all that matters.” He whispered and took my hnad. A soft blush crept across my cheeks before I jumped up and grabbed onto an low ledge and pulling myself onto the roof above. I reached my hand down for Jungkook to grab.

“Oh, no you don’t.” The policeman called and attempted to grab Jungkook’s ankle. Thankfully, I was able to pull him up, the officer missing him by less than an inch. I looked into Jungkook’s face, just centimeters away from mine. I walked on the tiled roof of the abandoned building...her house. 

“What is this place?” Jungkook asked, looking around before his eyes fixating on the beautiful view of the moon and stars. 

“The place I grew up before all of this.” I explained, pointing to myself, indicating my criminal record. 

“Why did you give up? Why did you rather have been hated for this than trying to fit in?” Jungkook asked. Silence fell upon my lips before I parted them.

“I’ve given them a reason to hate me. No matter how many wounds were on my feet, I always remember one thing...how to run away. It was the only thing I really seem to remember from my childhood. The first time I shifted with my parents and ran around with them. I know they wouldn’t be happy with what I did, but at least they know I’m surviving.” I smiled sadly, until I felt Jungkook take my hand.

“Jae-Hwa, you don’t have to do this alone, you know.” He said calmly as he looked into my moonlit eyes.

“What are you saying?” I asked, my gaze wandering over his features. 

“That I have been crushing on you for far too long. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I love you and I would love to give you the best life I can, even if it means I gain my own criminal record.” My eyes widened. He is really willing to give up his entire life to be with me.

“I-I love you too, Jungkook.” I whispered, looking around. His face moved closer to mine and looked at me with love in his eyes.

“Are you really willing to give everything up?” I asked him, my heartbeat quickening. He smiled with his teeth and intertwined our fingers.

“For you, I’d be willing to give up my life.” He whispered before he pulled me in to kiss him. His lips were soft and sweet, moving professionally across my lips. I broke the kiss and smiled happily. 

“What do you say, shall we go cause some trouble?” I asked with a sneaky smile. He laughed.

“Let’s do it, for we are the renegades of the entire valley.” 

A/N:This is my first one shot ever. I am really proud of how it turned out and I’m sorry if it’s kinda cringey. Reminder, that this onehsot will be illustrated by the magnificent @worldwidebt7 so stay tuned for that. Until next time, my friends.

~ Kookie’s Cup of Tae 

[fortheloveofmecha]

Transform And Roll Out Part 1

since I've started a petition to revive Transformers Animated as a comic (http://chng.it/V8rRXfMXvL) I figured I'd rewatch the series itself and may as well livetweet it. I’ll do the posts live on twitter and collect them here.

This series still has the best version of the theme bar none.

Okay what really inspired me to rewatch the series was remembering that it opens up with reused G1 footage and I just had to see it again. and then I kept watching the episode because it's really good.

I can't imagine the headfuck that caused upon first viewing. Apparently the writers had to clarify that this wasn't meant to imply that Animated was a sequel to G1 but I can see where the confusion came from.

I can imagine Ratchet calling the G1 footage "a load of scrapmetal" didn't win the series too many new fans right off the bat.

The opening's very effective at conveying its premise. The war is over and has been for a very long time. Communicated skilfully in the first minute.

"I got a diagnostic program that'll delete that feeling like a bad line of code." That line has disturbing implications.

I really like Prime and Ratchet's cybertronian modes. If I ever get the chance I'll hunt down the toys of them.

Bumblebee's feet look weird, his big toes are on the wrong side.

Great use of the space bridge mission to show off all the character's personalities/abilities.

And I love the idea of characterising Prime as someone who makes heroic speeches that the show can actually acknowledge are corny.

But then you back it up right after by showing off that he is still a badass, even if he's kind of a dork.

And it's clear they already have his backstory worked out from day one.

There's a lot of stuff that conveys how the Allspark is a Big Deal but my favourite is just how spooked Ratchet is by finding it.

Megatron eats babies and that's canon.

There's so much to love about this group of Decepticons, shame we never get to see them all together again.

It's a great establishing moment to have them all bickering and then just immediately fall silent when Megatron walks in.

Starscream your Sunstorm is showing.

Having Prime try to activate Omega Supreme in the first episode is just another example of just how far ahead they were planning.

I feel it also kinda contradicts Marty Isenberg's statement at TFN that Magnus wasn't aware he was giving Prime Omega Supreme, because not only does Prime already know how to activate him but he's deliberately been disabled. I doubt Ratchet did either of those things.

TFWiki lists Bumblebee saying "we're all gonna die" as a Beast Wars reference and in any other show I'd call bullshit but this is Transformers Animated.

"Well I'll just, get these fixed then." I love it when shows put in tiny little jokes like that.

"Right then. Solemn face. Solemn face." Starscream gets all the best lines, as it should be.

Is it me or does the Autobot ship use the sound of a WWII fighter when it's crashing?

I love the way Tom Kenny says Decepticon.

Megatron gives a really strong showing in this episode. Never wasting a word and seeming at most vaguely irritated by the Autobots. Corey Burton was a wonderful choice.

Using explosive decompression to get rid of Megatron just makes me question why Cybertronian ships even have pressurised atmospheres. I'm sure there's a reason, I just can't think what it is.

I wonder if Paw Paw's a real place. To @tfwiki​!

Apparently it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paw_Paw,_Michigan… And @DerrickJWyatt grew up there. If I ever make a TV show I'll find a way to put Holcombe in there.

Even when he's a head in a field Megatron retains that same mildly pissed-off expression he's had throughout the episode.

The music behind Sumdac's speech actually kinda slaps.

The designs for the Sumdac robots are really neat.

I love that most Transformers shows take place in pretty realistic but made up towns. Yet the one setting that's fantastical and futuristic is just plain old Detroit. Also Detroit's just a funny word to say.

Been a while since I've listened to a @tarastrong performance. Always a delight.

Sari's such an endearing weirdo right from the start.

it always strikes me as slightly weird whenever cancer get's mentioned in a kids show, especially so offhandedly.

Coming back from TFN after the season 4 reading and Marty Isenberg's panel as well as hearing Sumdac talk about it here, it's clear that the fusion of Technology and Organics is a central them of the show. Not surprising from the guy who created Beast Machines.

And that's all for Episode 1. A really solid opener that establishes and foreshadows a ton of backstory. Might do Parts 2 and 3 later tonight. Don't forget to sign the petition.

[superemeralds]

sonic forces review

EDIT: added day after thoughts under read more

Hey nyall! Time to review forces!

First, a broad, spoiler free, review. Under the cut will be a more in depth review containing spoilers for both, the main game AND episode shadow.

Please note that this is from the perspective of someone with adhd. I can’t tell how some of the things that peeved me would affect neurotypicals.

General info:

There is an easy and a hard mode. (hard mode is just normal mode “for ppl who played sonic before”) It took me 7 hours and 44 minutes to complete the entire game including episode shadow. Granted, I took quite a few breaks for breathers and shitpostingly liveblogging me playing the game on a discord server + I think I’m just bad at the game.

There are over 30 levels to play, of which a few did repeat and you just play with a different character, but it was still fun!

The hub map got increasingly confusing and hard to navigate and i really hate it now that i completed it because there’s too much happening at once on the screen.

Game play:

There was a Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic and Custom Character type game play.

I personally do not enjoy Classic Sonic game play but it was very well playable once I remembered I could use the arrow key pad instead of the left joystick.

Modern Sonic was often too fast in platforming sections and the absence of drift made sharp curves in 3D areas hard to handle, mainly when you activated boost (as the game intends you to). But it was very fun and refreshing to be able to boost again.

The Custom Character could use different wispons to do progress in the game. This is probably what has the most replay factor, as you can go back to levels using different wispons to clear new paths that you were previously unable to go through. The wispon use can be kinda sloppy at times, but once you get used to it it can be very fun.

The tag team game play was sloppy. It was never clear which character you are playing as right now (until later I realized you are playing both at the very same time ? I think? i am still confused).

Visuals:

The lighting in the cutscenes and levels often comes short and can even ruin the atmosphere at times. A lack of detail in some scenes undermines this. 

The characters are not as expressive as they could be, but there are some iconic expressions to spot throughout the game.

Sometimes camera angles shift weirdly or zoom out too much (some times the character even blends in with the stage and you don’t see it at all anymore when you are in movement) and you lose track of your character and most probably fall off the stage or get hurt. Sometimes there is also a little too much going on in the background.

On the contrary, the game had also tried to pull quite a few visually stunning shots and lighting in both levels and cutscenes.

It is overall still better than previous games because it has more heart and life in it and I hold it dear.

Overall feelings about the game:

The game had mostly been very fun! There was a lot of variety between stages and the wispons gave the gameplay a very fresh kick.

Some stages were frustrating because the character was too fast/very hardly visible for the platforming and I ended up dying a lot in the same spot. 

Not to say too much about the story, but Classic Sonic was pure fanservice and was not important to the plot whatsoever and the game would’ve done very well without him.

Character development was pretty absent.

The pacing of the game in general was very sloppy and almost even uncomfortably fast (rushed) and bland.

Most of the levels were very short to a point where you’d expect there to be multiple acts of it because you refuse to accept that this was already the end of it.

The story had some strong points, though, and the music was absolutely phenomenal, like always, BUT the music was not as recognizable as it was in previous games. I played the final boss only a very few hours ago and i cannot remember the tune to it at all.

The game had a lot of potential but it was executed rather sloppily than exceptionally.

All in all this game gets a 7/10 for effort from me.

because im very generous and i still had fun and was hyped and enjoyed it despite all the annoying parts. I mean i am also 06fucker69

Longer and more in depth review including spoilers under the cut

!!!! WARNING SPOILERS START HERE !!!!

I will try to stay in chronological order, but that is the first thing that is kinda peeving me in this game. 

(warning i quickly grew tired and couldn't write anymore but i forced myself to finish)

The time skips and flashbacks are inconsistent and have a harsh transition. For example the 6 months between Sonic’s defeat and the recruitment of the Rookie is just white text on a black screen that isn’t even narrated. Sometimes the time between perspectives is very disorted and you forget about Classic and Tails while you are busy with another mission that is forced upon you thanks to the linear 1 perspective story.

I would’ve had a 3 perspective story, with 3 story modes. Each story mode would explore the same story from the different perspectives like in SADX, SA2, heroes and Sonic the hedgehog 2006. (mostly 06 though)

The stages were perfectly arranged and build to be incorporated into a 3 perspective story. Classic might have had more time for character development and relevance. Also more, mostly consistent, time with him would make us more attached and feel actual emotions about his parting in the very end.

The idea of having Mania connect with forces like that and have a “reason” for Classic to appear is good, but Classic just arrives and is there. For not reason at all besides the sake of being there in order to please 2d/classic enthusiast fans. Great concept in theory, sloppily executed though.

Modern Sonic

The game play was very sloppy as Sonic just could fall off the stage and you just had a very huge lack of control of his speed. Mostly when you were in boost in a place that intended you to boost. The absence of drift was very unnerving.

The thing about Sonic being imprisonment was just. so..... unrealistically done. Sonic just came out of the cage and he’s been doing just fine. But he’s gotta be down, because couldn’t run. He absolutely hates being stuck in a place and it’s been SIX FUCKING MONTHS. The bars are also so far apart he can just slip out. Also Sonic can easily break out of prison.

This was not the first time he was imprisoned. In SA2 he had a far greater emotional response, and he broke out the moment he knew what he had to do to make things right. (He volunteered to be imprisoned in SA2, in forces he was forced in prison.)

This is not just out of character for him, but also very lazy writing. The time skip between was badly done, in a black screen with text. No context as to why Silver is suddenly here (if you didn’t read the comic you have no idea whats going on) or how the resistance formed.

Everyone thinks Sonic died, Knuckles is very upset and admits he cant get used to him being gone; and suddenly he gets the news that Sonic is fine and it doesn't trigger any emotional response in him. Or anyone really much besides Amy; who had refused to believe he died in the first place.

He just immediately goes on a mission and fights Infinite.

Tag Team

It was a very good idea to incorporate this mechanic and was mainly well done and fun; the double and triple boost was a nice lil kick off to regular gameplay.

As mentioned was it never clear who you are playing right now and it didn’t warn you about swiches. It could’ve been done better with the heroes mechanics of swicharound. There were more than enough characters to have multiple teams that could be playable.

Avatar

The custimization options aren’t spectacular, but that was not to be expected. I was positively surprised to have the option to chose between 3 voices. 

Villains

Chaos is. Just there. He wasn't even a boss. He was just there for the shock value/fan service.

The Metal Sonic fight was okay.

Zavok was annoying but okay and reasonable.

Shadow wasn’t even a bossfight he was also just shock-factor. He joined the team but was of very little value. (Except for DLC, will talk abt later.)

Infinite has 4 boss fights. And in the end he just vanishes. He’s basically still existent? I think? what happened? Are we just going to accept this?

The final boss was lame and not memorable at all. At least nega wisp phase 2 was iconic.

Infinite

Infinite is a very interesting character with much potential, which they sadly didn't really use much at all except for him being extra. He didn't show off much of his personality and we couldn't learn to appreciate/hate him. 

The game doesn't mention much about his origin, so you will have to read the online comic in the social medias to understand. This might be good marketing to get consumers to consume media on different platforms, but it does not make much sense for newcomers who know nothing about Sonic and don’t follow the social medias to begin with.

Someone who just picked up the game and it��s their first Sonic game.... They won't understand shit.

I want to see more of him. He got so much potential to grow and ultimately redeem himself. Maybe in a future game? Or in the comics at least.

Episode Shadow

The 3 levels were well. One time it was a sonic level but with shadow and some lil things changed. The other was a custom character level but with shadow. The other was just generic 2d platforming with cubes. None of these were long or new. It was fun, sure, but it wasn't exciting.

I was kinda peeved that even though infinite was revealed, we still didnt get to see his face.

Visuals

Lighting harsh, sometimes interesting, but not completely fleshed out/good/atmospheric. 

There are scenes/levels that have stunning visuals (the sonic level in space and the scene with the sun.) even when its not perfect.

Just. The characters sometimes float above the ground and the lighting is very white and harsh and not atmospheric. (The colors are meessed up and too bright. The characters look like they have a completely different light source from the environment)

EDIT: A DAY AFTER ADDITIONS

okay so a day after, replaying some stages, I still think the game is very fun.

There are quite a few things that are peeving me still. I just remembered the whole null space thing, which is totally wasted potential. You could’ve had a few levels in that space with fucky gravity and weird cube shit going, but you just had to double boost out and that was it.

Many tricks the villain packs out are treated as something they can oercome easily and they just. Win “because they always do”.

I want to see the heroes doubt themselves and have character development. The only character that does have character development at all is the custom character. Infinite arguably does undergo some development too; in episode shadow.

There is a lot of potentials for DLCs and I hope they release them and have more characters playable.

[spectrumscribe]

a solo act is good, too.

a Humanverse general TMNT universe fic, mostly using 2012 versions and borrowing from IDW here and there. i’ve always headcanoned 2012 Mikey as an aro/ace, so on the free day of the lgbtmntweek i decided to finally write a fic up for the hc. 

(not @ them bc of a slight NSFW situation involved. nothing graphic,  it barely lasts more than five sentences.)

“So Mikey, when’d you and Angel start dating?”

Mikey, age nine and a half, hits pause on his current model building project to give a blank stare to his friend across the table. Mondo keeps staring back, expectant.

“What??” Mikey asks.

“Everyone’s saying you’re girlfriend and boyfriend!” Mondo exclaims. He shoves aside his own Lego to lean forwards, whispering fervently, “You know girls have cooties, right?”

“Uh, yeah? Duh,” Mikey says, then remembers that his cousin Karai and friend April will beat him up for saying that, and diverts the subject. “But we’re not dating! Angel just likes Bionicle, that’s all. She’s fun, and we live really close.”

“Girls don’t like Bionicle,” Mondo says. “My sister hates it. She’s gotta be faking it so you guys can date.”

Mikey feels confused. He thought they were just friends who liked the same toys and TV show. And Angel never said so, so they aren’t dating. “But we’re not-!”

“You totally are!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Boys, settle down,” A passing TA says, and both boys quiet down.

There’s a moment of silence, and Mondo whispers, “Totally dating.”

And Mikey sticks out his tongue, not listening to another word his friend says all through free time. He’ll just ask Angel later, when they walk home from school together.

“My friends were saying the same thing, actually,” Angel says later, when they’re weaving through the streets back to their shared neighborhood.

Mikey scrunches his nose. “What? Why?”

Angel shrugs, reaching up and twisting one of her long dark strands around her finger. “They said we hang out a lot, so we gotta be dating.”

“That’s dumb. Donnie and April hang out a lot and they’re not dating.”

“I said that too, but everyone else thinks they’re dating anyways.”

Mikey groans. “So dumb.”

Angel shrugs again. “It’s not super dumb. I think dating sounds kinda fun.”

“Ew, no.”

“What, you wouldn’t date me?”

“You’re my friend.”

“So?”

“Friends don’t date, they do- friend stuff!”

“My big brother says that dating starts with friendship, though.”

Mikey thinks about that for a moment. “Really? People on TV just kiss a bunch, though.”

“Keno doesn’t kiss his girlfriend too much, they mostly just sit around and talk a lot,” Angel explains. “Or play music in his room, sometimes. So kinda what we do, but I guess big kid stuff instead.”

“So… are we dating, then?” Mikey asks tentatively.

Angel looks at him, contemplative as she examines Mikey’s baggy orange shirt, his cargo shorts, and wildly tangled brown hair. “Maybe? Do you wanna be dating?”

“Uh, we’d still do friend stuff, right?” Mikey doesn’t think kissing part sounds too bad. But only if it’s in little amounts.

“Well duh, we gotta finish Bionicle, right?”

“Oh totally.”

They keep walking for a minute, and Mikey remembers something that people who date are supposed to do. “I think we hold hands now.”

“Oh, right.”

Angel sticks out her hand, and Mikey takes it. They keep walking, go to his house where his brothers are already hanging around in, and they watch Bionicle season 2’s fifth episode together.

They end up kissing possibly three times over the course of the rest of the week, barely pecks on the lips, before Angel says they should probably break up.

“There’s no spark,” She says very seriously. “It’s not you, Mikey, it’s the spark.”

Mikey is hurt for about two seconds, and then shrugs. He’d only really been doing it because people said he’s supposed to. “Okay. You still wanna sleep over?”

It makes a lot more sense, around fourteen, why Angel hadn’t felt any spark for the brief relationship or Mikey. Mostly having to do with her dyeing her hair purple, getting a pink shaded button for her bag, and going steady with Alopex from her apartment building. Mikey isn’t really surprised- Karai had had the same kind of look Angel grew into at the exact same age, and his cousin had been dating girls since she figured out how to bleach her hair.

Mikey, by fourteen, has had exactly one relationship, three first kisses, and lacks motivation to seek out another situation to build those counts. He’s moved on from his Bioncle years- though he keeps some toys, for the sake of nostalgia- and dived headfirst into the Marvel comic’s universe.

The school library has an excellent selection, and at the beginning of his fourteenth year he meets a girl buried up to her ears in that section. Renet and Mikey hit it off immediately, swapping knowledge and recommendations and favorites and strong opinions about individual universes.

“Who’s your friend?” Leo asks after one evening, when Mikey had spent about an hour and a half debating heatedly on the phone. Guardians of the Galaxy verses the Avengers- who did more on the grand scale of things for the earth and its wellbeing? Mikey voted the Guardians, but Renet had fought back valiantly that ground troops frequently made more differences than long-range artillery support.

“Renet! She just moved here like, three weeks ago or something,” Mikey says, hanging up the phone. The debate would have to be continued at school, next lunchtime. He turns to his sixteen year old brother, grinning. “Can she come over for dinner sometime? You guys’ll love her, I swear.”

“Her?” Raph asks loudly from the living room. “Holy shit, did you finally get a girlfriend?”

Mikey frowns. “Uh. No? She’s just my comics buddy.”

“Who you’re inviting for dinner,” Leo says pointedly. “Who you just spent like, two whole hours talking to, instead of texting.”

“Hey Donnie, Mike’s finally got a crush on someone!” Raph hollers. Crashing follows and Donnie skids down the steps of their second story in all his fifteen year old lanky glory. He nearly wipes out on the pile of laundry by the steps.

“Did we get blackmail yet?” Donnie asks immediately, hardly taking the time to steady himself.

“Working on it,” Leo replies.

Mikey slaps his hands over his eyes, groaning. “Guyyys! Shut up! That’s not how this is! She’s just- really cool, okay? And knows about superhero shit!”

He hears his older brothers make disbelieving sounds, and Mikey ignores them all. Maybe he deserves a little teasing- he’d done so to all of them about their crushes- but it’s! Not! Like that!

And then the first school dance of the year rolls around, and Mikey is faced yet again by social pressure to be dating someone. He has limited options for a dance date: his cousin, who scares everyone and is probably too busy to come. His best friend, who has two dates already (Mikey doesn’t know how Mondo managed that or how he’s going to keep that a secret from both dates, but he promises his friend the funeral will be a nice one). His other best friend, but LH is twenty-something and would really scare everybody, even though he’s just a big softie who likes leather too much. None of those dates are acceptable, in hindsight.

Or there’s Renet.

Mikey wants to go to the dance, because dancing is great and he loves social events in general, so he agonizes a bit and finally asks Renet to go with him.

She turns bright pink when he does, and fumbles her hold on issue four of Wolverine and the X-men. “O-oh, Mikey. I didn’t know you, um, felt that way about me?”

Mikey rushes to abolish that idea. “No! I mean- I like you, but not like that! It’s just a stupid dance, okay? I just want to dress up nice and go dancing, I swear.”

Renet sighs in relief. “Okay, good. I’m not really supposed to date until I’m older anyways. I’m glad we don’t have to have such a totally uncomfortable convo.”

Mikey slumps in his chair, huffing. “You and me both. So will you?”

“Be your date?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure! I love dances, they’re totally bodacious,” Renet giggles, and Mikey grins in return. His friend’s outdated slang has to be one of his favorite things about her. He kind of wonders why isn’t crushing on her- Renet is curvy and cute and knows a ton about comics- but she’s just his friend.

Mikey puts that thought aside, and asks Renet what the hell a corsage is.

When the night rolls around, she shows up in a dress and hijab that’s color coordinated and he puts on actual dress pants for once. He wears his favorite flannel and a bowtie borrowed off Donnie- and grins and bears it as his father, brothers, and their friends all snap pictures of him and Renet.

“You two are so cute,” April comments, taking a picture as Mikey sticks his tongue out at her.

“I hate all of you,” He grouches, but smiles again so Renet’s parents will have good photos. At least he gets to have revenge, snatching up a camera and getting all the angles possible of Leo, Donnie, April, Casey, and Raph in their outfits. The five of them are going stag together- for reasons Mikey is Highly Suspicious of, regarding Donnie, Casey, April, and Leo in particular- and he’s only a little mad they didn’t tell him going stag was an option.

The dance itself goes great- good music, good mood, mediocre refreshments and minimal buzzkill from teachers supervising. Mikey sees and meets his family throughout the evening, throwing down on the dancefloor with Renet and their classmates. He sees Leo making his Nervous But Trying Not To Be face as he talks to a couple of his classmates, mostly towards one Asian guy with dyed white hair. Mikey also sees Raph drifting from the group with his friends and twin, towards the punch table and snacks, which leaves Donnie, Casey, and April shimmying in a circle and looking really awkward, and why can’t they just figure themselves out already, jeeze.

Mikey focuses mostly on twirling Renet around, and having fun with that. Mondo, who is soaked in punch from his dates dumping him and going off together, gives Mikey meaningful looks directed towards Renet.

Mikey ignores his friend and highly awkward family members, and just enjoys dancing with his comics buddy. Renet, at the end of the night, is flushed and grinning and Mikey really does wonder why he doesn’t feel the need to kiss her. She is awfully cute.

When the drop her off at home, all they say to each other is a reminder that comic swap is this Thursday and to remember to bring the ones they’d borrow from one another. And then Renet leaves, shutting the door and shutting Mikey inside a van with his stupid nosy family.

“So,” Leo says, and Mikey doesn’t have to look towards the driver seat to hear that grin.

“You two crazy kids kiss tonight?” Casey finishes, poking the back of Mikey’s head. Mikey swats the hand and tells them all to piss off. His family does not in fact piss off and pokes for juicy details for at least another few blocks.

There’s no ‘juicy details’ to tell, even after he and Renet meet up the rest of the week and keep meeting up. They swap comics and have debates and just hang out, still just friends and unchanged from the dance date. Mikey wonders on and off why he doesn’t have a crush on Renet- or anyone, really- but brushes it off in favor of the new Superior Ironman series coming out soon.

It stays that way, through years fifteen and sixteen- while Leo finally works up the courage to admit out loud he likes guys and ask Usagi out, Donnie and Casey and April keep making circles around each other and the elephant in the room, and Raph starts making eyes at a cadet in training he’s met at the gym. Even Renet starts going steady with a boy her family approves of, and she approves of even more so, and Mondo goes through about five more relationships, all ending in various states of chaotic mutuality.

Mikey watches his family and friends all be in love or at least interested in other people, and Mikey just keeps feeling more interested in his comics and skating.

“Maybe you’re gay, like me,” Angel suggests at one point, while they’re sitting at her kitchen table and cramming for a bio test.

“I dunno, maybe?” Mikey answers, and doesn’t feel against dating a guy, but feels about as enthused as he would dating a girl. Or anyone in between, honestly.

“You already tried girls, give some guys a shot. More for me.”

“You thinking of cheating on Alo?”

Angel flicks an eraser at Mikey. It lodges in his coils and he doesn’t even bother getting it out.

“Hell no, and if you say anything like that to her I’ll bust your kneecaps.”

“Noted.”

Mikey actually gives it a shot, dating guys. Dating in general. Keno introduces Mikey to a delivery boy his age at a local pizzeria, and Woody’s not bad to hang out with. He’s got curly hair to Mikey’s coily, freckles except in red, and skates most weekends. And he likes comics, albeit indie ones, and they find a bit of common ground by breaking in each other for new fields of reading.

It goes great, chaste kisses and holding hands and having coffee dates to skate parks- up until Woody asks to take it a step further. And Mikey doesn’t… want to.

“Is it your first time or something?” His boyfriend asks, and Mikey nods. “Then we’ll… wait, I guess. Until you’re comfortable.”

“Thanks,” Mikey says, and tries to not feel guilty for not being ready right now. He knows for a fact Mondo lost his virginity ages ago, described in detail that Mikey had to make his friend shut up about, that Angel lost hers a while ago, told in much less detail, and that most of their classmates have. He also knows that his brothers had at least tried things at this point, and Mikey hasn’t.

He feels a little left behind and frustrated about it.

He tells his buddy, Linnorm Hirutarum, named after a dragon because his parents had been awesome, all about it as LH tends to the vegetable patch behind his tiny house. Mikey flops all over the grass by it, grumbling and sighing, and snitching lettuce when he pretends LH isn’t looking.

“If you are not ready, then you are not ready,” LH says sensibly in his usual growling tone. Which is default for him and basically his version of a warm-fuzzy tone anyways.

“But I should be!” Mikey exclaims. “Everyone else was. Is. Augh.”

“Have you talked about this with Woody?”

“I… I don’t want him thinking it’s about him. Because it’s not! It’s just stupid whatever stuff for me and I need to get over it.”

LH’s shadow falls over him, and Mikey waits for his huge friend to gently lower himself onto the grass. LH’s wide scars move with him as he does, displayed by a sleeveless shirt only in the safety of the hedge protected backyard. His hand comes down on Mikey’s veritable afro, and pats Mikey’s head as he keeps talking.

“I know people who have made rash decisions about these sorts of things,” LH says seriously. “If you are not ready, then do not force yourself to. Respect your own boundaries.”

Mikey sighs, but agrees to respect himself. It’s easy to agree in that moment, with only LH’s non-judgemental presence near him, but it’s harder when he’s with Woody again and trying to explain himself without being rude.

He gives it a try, the whole sex thing. LH said to respect his boundaries, but Mikey thinks he can do it if he just figures out how it goes. Everyone else likes it, so shouldn’t he?

They talk about it, set up a date, and Mikey gets ready to experience the… experience.

It ends up being an unexciting, uncomfortable half hour of sloppy kisses and bumping parts. Mikey tries his best, but can’t figure out why anyone works so hard to experience this.

When it’s all over, Mikey hasn’t felt anything remotely close to pleasure, and actually feels a little over touched. Woody is a bit flushed, breathing fast by Mikey’s ear, but doesn’t seem super pleased either.

“…you didn’t enjoy it, did you?” He asks.

Mikey covers his eyes, and sighs. “No. Sorry.”

“Yeah, I thought you didn’t. Sorry, Mikey.”

“It’s not your fault,” Mikey says, taking his arms away and staring at the ceiling of Woody’s room. “I’m pretty sure this one’s all on me.”

They sit in stiff silence for a moment, before Woody asks if Mikey wants to stay for dinner. Mikey declines as gracefully as he can, and goes home instead. Slogging upstairs and heading into the shower to wash off.

He’s pretty sure he shouldn’t feel so much better, alone in his bedroom and freshly cleaned of the lingering smell of body fluids. His brothers find him there later, in a bathrobe and watching the original Twin Peaks on his laptop, and they ask him why he washed so early.

Mikey debates for a moment, and decides they’ll find out somehow anyways. “I had sex.” He’s unsurprised to hear Leo choke on his own spit, and Raph and Donnie make twin sounds of shock and disbelief. “Yup. Popped the cherry but good. You guys can stop teasing me about it, now.”

Does he sound a little bitter? Mikey thinks he does. From the way his brothers hover awkwardly in the doorway, they heard the bitterness, too.

“…you okay, Mikey?” Leo asks, genuinely concerned.

Mikey shrugs. “I’m fine. It just went awful, that’s all.”

Raph pats Leo on the shoulder, simultaneous with Donnie, as they both silently nominate the eldest to deal with the situation. Leo shoots them both an abandoned look, but steps into Mikey’s room to come sit on his bed. Mikey doesn’t pause his video, using it as a distraction from his prickling shame.

Leo watches him for a moment, before asking, “You used protection, right?” and Mikey groans, covering his face.

“It wasn’t that kind of sex, okay?”

“Oh. Um. Good?”

“Smooth,” Raph comments from the doorway, audibly swatted at by Donnie.

“Anyways,” Leo recovers. “You were both… you talked about it beforehand, right? You both wanted it?”

“Yeah,” Mikey says miserably into his sleeve.

“…you know first times are always bad, right, Mikey? It takes- um- practice-”

“It wasn’t because of that, Leo. You can stop.”

“Thank you,” Leo says gratefully. Donnie and Raph snicker from the doorway. “So… what was it because?”

“I can’t believe this is a conversation we’re having.”

“Shh!”

“If it’s somethin’ that kid did-”

“Raph we talked about that contingency already: only if Mikey says so-”

“It wasn’t Woody,” Mikey says, before death threats start getting thrown around. “It was me, okay? I made it suck.” He takes his arms off his face, shooting a look at all three of his siblings. “And before you say it- no it wasn’t just because it was my first time. It sucked ‘cause I suck and I couldn’t figure out how to enjoy sex, okay?”

A beat of silence, all three of his brothers staring at him, and then Leo breaks the lull.

“Mikey… you don’t ‘figure out’ how to enjoy sex. You just- enjoy it. It happens naturally.”

Mikey’s cheeks burn and he scowls. “Well apparently not with me.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right person yet?” Raph suggests. “I mean, you know me and how things go with that.”

Mikey shakes his head. “I kinda doubt it; I’ve tried to get crushes on like, ten different kids at school and nada. Zip.”

Donnie tilts his head, long hair following the movement. “Maybe when you’re older you’ll be more interested?”

Mikey sighs. “I don’t know. Maybe. I hope so. But it’s been like- never a thing, okay? I should’ve had feelings or whatever at some point, at least once, right?”

A collective “uhhhh” from his brothers and Mikey turns over into his pillow to suffocate himself. Leo pats his back comfortingly, saying Mikey should just give himself more time, keep an open mind to chances in the future- and Mikey makes a wordless complaining sound into his pillow for it.

He and Woody break it off a few weeks later. His friend tried, and Mikey recognizes that, but Woody needs a relationship that involves stuff Mikey just… can’t figure out how to give. He tries only two more times before they just call it quits. It’s not working, and trying to make it work is just frustrating for them both.

They keep being friends afterwards, and that’s actually better in the long run. It’s everything Mikey really wanted out of the relationship anyways, so he doesn’t feel like he’s lost anything.

He feels shitty for not being able to put out like he wanted to, though. And that drives him nuts for the rest of the year, until he’s seventeen and graduating finally, and gearing up to follow his siblings to local universities. Donnie graduated ages ago, but stayed local because of their family and he, April, and Casey’s really obvious secret relationship. Casey is in mechanics, and April in general sciences; Donnie is in both and more, because he’s insane. Leo is already a few years into his share of university courses, a hopeful nurse in the future, and Raph is neck deep in his art courses.

Mikey doesn’t know what he’s going to go for, and signs up for a random collection of electives to start with. Social sciences and psychology looks sort of fun, and so do dance courses. But those are months away, and before then is summer, family time, and June’s Pride Parade.

They’ve gone a couple times, when everyone has the day off from work or classes, and this year Mikey doesn’t have a shift at his outreach program scheduled on the parade’s date. So he, his family and friends, all end up watching the parade go by in a loosely connected group.

The standard drag queens, sponsor programs, and generally proud and loud folks roll by, music and cheer its usual levels of boisterousness. Mikey snags a couple plastic necklaces that are being given out, and just enjoys hanging out with his family. He waves to Angel and Alopex as they march by, part of the local lesbian representatives, watching the familiar pink and red flags flutter as they do, but pauses as the next group follows them.

It’s just a handful of people, walking with grey, white, purple, and black flags, mixed with ones very similar but instead of purple, they have green. There’s some polite clapping as they go past, and Mikey nudges Donnie beside him. “Hey, Donnie, what’re those flags for?”

“I… don’t actually know?” His phone is out within seconds, reflexes of a true technology addict. “Let’s see what our almighty lord and savior google has to say about it.” Mikey pushes close, reading as much as he can as Donnie flicks through the search faster than he can take it. “They’re- huh. They’re for ‘asexuality’ and... ‘aromantics’? I don’t even know what the second one is, and I’ve never heard about that first one being applied to anything other than asexual reproduction.”

“More explanation, please?” Mikey asks impatiently.

“It’s says- don’t push, I’m trying to scroll- it says it’s for individuals with little or no sexual drive, or little to no interest in romance. Actually that sounds contradictive, why are they listed together…”

Mikey’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

“Well, that’s a gross oversimplification of everything here. There’s a spectrum for it, and apparently different categories? This is actually pretty interesting. I wonder why I’ve never read about it before.”

Mikey snags the phone from his brother, scrolling back to the top and rereading the first few paragraphs. He ignores Donnie’s grabby hands and keeps reading, feeling a twisty hopeful emotion build in his chest.

“Here,” He says, tossing the phone back at his brother. “hold my spot.” And he takes off at a jog to catch up with the parade members. They’re not too far ahead, and Mikey just has to avoid slipping on stray necklaces as he runs over to them.

“Hey- hey!” He shouts, catching up with the first person he can. The woman turns questioningly towards him, and Mikey blurts, “When did you- did you first know?”

She blinks at him, adjusting her hold on the big flag pole on her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

“That you’re asexual,” Mikey asks, heart tempo speeding up. “How’d you know?”

She stares at him a second longer, and then grins. “Around the time I had my first girlfriend, and I looked back at the times with my other partners and figured out I was always more interested in watching the movie than I was in making out.”

Mikey grins back. “Yo- same hat!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Totally! My ex always wanted to make out during Luke Cage and I was always like- dude no there’s good stuff happening. That’s. Wow.” Mikey feels a little breathless. “So that’s what it is? It’s not like- just a me thing?”

He barely hears the crowd around them, his focus tunneled around the conversation and the woman holding the flag. Mikey waits for a denial or an okay, a little scared while he’s so excited.

The woman smiles kindly. “No, that’s not just a you thing. We’re not a huge community, but there’s aces out there. Do you think you’re one of us?”

“I don’t know, I’m- I’m hoping so?” Mikey’s heart does a little twist. “I mean. My bro just pulled up the google explanation, and it sounds really, really. Um. Like me?”

The woman reaches up to the front of her jean jacket, and reaches into a pocket. When she pulls out her hand, she holds something out to Mikey.

“Look into it a little more, but if you think asexuality fits you- then welcome to the club, kid.”

Mikey takes the little button, grinning ear to ear. He thinks he’s shaking he’s so ecstatic. “Hey, would it be cool if I hugged you right now? I think you just solved like half my life problems.”

The woman laughs, and holds her arm out. It’s an awkward hug, because they’re both still walking and she’s carrying a flag, but Mikey appreciates it wholly.

When he comes back to his family, he’s got a new pin stuck to his shirt and an elated, hopeful feeling in his chest behind it.

“Hey guys, guess what?”

Turns out, not really feeling like dating people is fine all on its own.

So while Leo and Usagi go through the ups and downs of long-standing relationships, Donnie, Casey, and April all share their usual collective awkwardness and romantic overtures, Raph finally lands a date with the cadet Y’Gythgba he’s been following around for ages, and Karai and Shinigami disappear over the eastern horizon to share their seventh anniversary-

Mikey cracks a fresh pile of comics in his bedroom, turns up his music, and calls Renet on Skype to have a comparison hangout of their latest picks. He hangs out with Mondo and Woody around the skate park before that, and rolls by Angel’s place to say hi to his friend and her family on the way back. He pops in at LH’s place, trading half the casserole Angel’s mom gave to him for fresh veggies, chatting about his day so far and plans for a comic binge later. He sees his friends, does what he always does with them, and departs from them all one after another.

When he goes home, enjoying the summer heat all on his own and excited to video call his best girl who-is-his-friend and nothing more- he doesn’t feel even the slightest bit lonely as he walks. Like he always has.

[mymarvelimagines]

His Human Mate - Part 3

Finally part 3!! So sorry that it took so long. So there is a short scene that describes torture, so if the triggers you, be careful.

----------

You wake up alone and cold, locked in a cell. You’re dizzy, your head is throbbing, and everything has the hazy feeling of drugs.

“Did you get her, Soldier?”

“да, she is here”

You crawl forward, peering between the bars to the two people who are standing in the hall. “I have your next mission”

Bucky stiffens up immediately, “Ready to comply”

The HYDRA agent grins, “You are to guard Y/N Stark. Only I am allowed to touch her, understood?’

“Mission parameters understood”

“Good. Bring her to Lab 4, we have some questions for Ms. Stark”

--

You scream as another bolt of electricity tears through you. “I don’t know” you sob, “I don’t know anything!”

“You live with the most powerful people on earth, have observed them for months, you know their weaknesses, and I want you to tell them to me. What are the Avenger’s weaknesses?”

Bucky stands in the control room, constantly glancing at the door. You snarl baring your bloody teeth, “I don’t know anything! Even if I did, I would never tell you!”

Another shock rips through you, staling your breath, and making your muscles twitch uncontrollably. “I really hate to do this to you. I don’t want to hurt you, Y/N, but if you keep this up I will have to find more … creative … ways to get you to talk. How about a different question?” He crouches down so he’s eye level with you, “How do you kill the Asgardians?”

“I won’t tell you their weaknesses, why would I tell you how to kill them?”

HYDRA Baddie 1, as you’ve started to refer to him as, let out a chuckle, “I was hoping you’re say that! Soldier!!” Immediately Bucky stands up straighter, “Get me the tools.”

Your eyes widen as Bucky wheels out a table full of torture instruments. Straining against the metal cuffs, “I promise I don’t know anything!! I only met them a few days ago!”

“You are the only human in the tower, there is a reason you’re still alive, and I want to find out why. You’ll either tell me willingly, or I’ll find other ways to make you talk”

HYDRA Baddie leans down and grins, slashing his knife across your cheek. You’re exhausted and can already feel unconsciousness starting to creep up on you when you feel something brush against your mind. You lock eyes with Bucky, the only supernatural creature within range, but he only smirks an tilts his head toward the door.

Suddenly another mind brushes against yours, this one you recognize. Loki’s here, he’s in the compound, he’s come to rescue you.

“I’m here, dove. Just a little longer”

You look up at the HYDRA Baddie, “You’re gonna regret hurting me, you know”

He raises an eyebrow, “And why’s that? What are you gonna do?”

“She won’t have to do anything” Bucky’s growled before a gun fires. As soon as the HYDRA goon goes down, Bucky quickly gets the metal cuffs off you. “You’re alright, doll. Stevie contacted me, the Avengers are making their way here now.”

Your body pitches forward as soon as you’re unlocked from the chair, but Bucky quickly rights you, “How do you remember?”

Bucky chuckles, “Wanda did some of her long-distance magic, overriding HYDRA’s programing, it also makes me immune to the wipes. Stevie and I grew up together, so we can communicate over large-distances like most siblings can. That’s how I knew about the rescue”

He’s rambling, you can tell that he’s worried about you. Shit, you’re worried about yourself! You can feel your body going numb, vision hazy, and everything just kinda hurts.

The door to the lab bursts open and Bucky whips around, gun raised, but lowers it immediately when Tony and Loki are the ones who run in.

“Y/N!!”

Loki slides down next to you, pressing gentle kisses all over your face, while Tony has JARVIS running scans. You bring your hand up, clutching at Loki’s robes, and burying your head in his chest, “Loki …”

“I am here, dove, right here” he whispers, rocking you gently.

“Didn’t think you’d come”

Loki lets out a low growl, “I shall always come for you, always, never doubt that”

You nod, and are vaguely aware of being picked up, “Stay awake, darling. You shall be healed. Anthony has already relayed your injuries to SHIELD”

You give Tony a breathy smile as you pass him, “’m tired. Gonna sleep”

Several voices quickly start shouting for you not to fall asleep, but the pull is too great, you can’t stay awake, so your body is quickly dragged into unconsciousness.

--

The first thing you notice when you wake up are the soft sheets that surround you, next is the annoying beeping of the heart monitor, and last was the hands that were encasing both of yours.

“Y/N?” Tony whispers

You must have moved or made a sound, but when you try to open your eyes it feels like they are glued shut.

Loki’s voice is soft when his fingers stroke your face, “Take your time, dove, don’t strain yourself”

With a soft grunt, you manage to peel your eyes open, “Water” you whisper.

Immediately a straw is against your lips and you take a few blissful sips of water, “Take it slow, I don’t want you to throw up, pup”

You pull away and offer both Loki and Tony a shaky smile. “Thanks.” You glance around the room, taking in the equipment that is surrounding you, “How long was I out?”

Loki sighs softly and sits on the edge of the bed, “You were asleep for 8 days, dove. Your body went into shock, you almost died. I – I gave you a transfusion of my blood, the healing properties were able to save you, however it sent your body into shock. A human is not equipped to handle the blood of a supernatural in large quantities.”

“Thank you, for coming to get me” you whisper.

Tony takes your hand and Loki pulls you into a tight hug, “Never doubt that we will come for you, my human. I will take on all of the armies in the Nine Realms for you.”

You let out a relieved sob, and cling to both of them. “I was so scared”

“I know you were, pup” Tony whispers, running his fingers through your hair. “Do you want to see the rest of the team? They’re on the communal floor”

You chuckle, “Yeah, I kinda wanna get out of this bed”

Tony’s eyes go comically wide, “J, did you record that?! It’s the only time Y/N will ever willingly leave her bed!!”

--

As soon at Loki wheels you up to the common room floor, you are rushed by the entire team. You quickly assure everyone that you are alright, and that there is no lasting damage. Bucky gives you a shy smile and a wave from behind everyone.

“It’s nice to see you again, Bucky. Glad to see that you’re finally home”

Bucky chuckles and reaches out to touch you, only to find himself pinned to the wall by Loki, “Don’t touch her” His growl reverberates throughout the room, causing everyone to take a step back.

“Loki! Put him down, he wasn’t going to hurt me!” You stumble out of the wheelchair that Tony had made you use, quickly wrapping your arms around his waist.

Loki whips around, tucking you underneath his chin, “I cannot have you here with all of these creatures, dove.”

“Take me to my rooms, we can watch movies, just the two of us” You whisper

Loki nods stiffly, “I cannot promise the safety of anyone who approaches Y/N” Loki spoke to the room, never taking his eyes off you, “I shall, hopefully, be more controlled tomorrow”

You glance over at the rest of the Avengers, “I’ll see you all tomorrow. By then he should be calm enough to let me be around other.”

Gently pushing you back into the wheelchair, Loki lets out one last growl before he heads to the elevator, “Come, my human. You need to rest”

You can’t help rolling your eyes at his protective behavior. The two of you had just started your courtship and he was already acting like this, you honestly couldn’t wait to see how much worse it will get. The Avengers are going to have an interesting year ahead of them.

----------

If you guys want to be tagged in any of my works just send me a request and i can add you!

@iamwarrenspeace

---------------

Part 4