#and sorry i lost the link for this video a long time ago

[kiwikiwiandkiwi]

— NEXT TO YOU

[forever-rogue]

Hiiii 🐻

What about an Eddie fic where they are at an award show nominated in the same category but they are exs. They ended things because right person wrong time type of deal. His career took off and hers was in the early stages.

And he wins the award and spots her in the crowd

Link for reference

https://www.tiktok.com/@editsmcu/video/7045316909562219782?lang=en

AN | I changed the prompt just a little but I hope y’all enjoy! 🥰

Warnings | Language

Pairing | Modern!Rockstar!Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 2.7k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"He's going to be there, you know," the soft tone of her voice caused you to look up from your phone as you caught her eye in the mirror. Your grip around your phone tightened as her expression turned doe-eyed, "Eddie. His band is nominated for a few awards."

You knew that, of course you did. You wouldn't admit that you still closely kept up with what was going on with him. But, despite the fact that you'd broken up almost a year ago, you still cared deeply for him. 

"Oh," you swallowed the thick lump that had welled up in your throat, trying to keep the tears at bay, "well, that's alright. These things will continue to happen and I'll just have to learn to deal with it."

"You'll be okay?" She finished up your hair and settled her gentle hands on your shoulders. She gave you a tender squeeze as you nodded, "if you need anything, you can always text or call me. I'm not your hairdresser but your friend too, and I'm here for you."

"I'll be alright," you promised, heart constricting at the kindness she displayed, "I'll just have to learn how to deal."

"You'll do great, my love," her smile was gentle, "you're solid gold and one day you'll find exactly what you're looking for."

What if you had lost what you had been looking for?

"Thank you."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Eddie was sprawled on the couch in the studio, scrolling endlessly through his social media. A heavy sigh escaped his lips despite his best efforts; he was feeling a type of way he couldn’t quite explain. It wasn’t bored or tired or…anything really, just sort of down. 

“Hey man,” Jeff sat down at the opposite end of the couch causing Eddie to lift his head in question, “I just heard that umm…well, she is going to be there tomorrow night.”

Eddie tried not to let his face light up entirely but it was hard not to perk up at even the smallest mention of you. His heart ached as he pictured your face; it had been so long since he’d even seen you in person. To put it quite frankly, it sucked. 

“Oh?” He tried to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible but even he could hear the curiosity in his voice, “how did you find that out?”

“Seth told me,” ah. Of course their manager would know all about that, “wonder why she’s going. She’s not even a musician, just an actor…maybe she’s someone’s date or something…”

“Date?” and yeah he almost choked on that singular word. The idea of you going on a date made anger bubble in his blood, “you don’t seriously think that she’s dating someone, do you?”

“I dunno man,” Jeff shrugged lightly, “I mean…you were the one that broke up with her. And it’s been almost a year. She's going to date someone else eventually."

"I know!" He snapped, rubbing his tired face with his hands. Jeff recoiled slightly from Eddie's sudden sharpness. He knew that you were still a sore subject for him and he'd hope to negate any bad feelings by warning him that you'd be there. But now he was wondering if he'd made a mistake - maybe Eddie wouldn't even have noticed you.

"I'm sorry, Ed. You'll be alright," he offered him a tight lipped smile, "and it'll be over before we know it."

"Yeah," he replied dismissively, raking a hand through his messy curls, "let's fucking hope so."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"You look amazing."

You studied yourself intently in the mirror, staring at the dark pink dress that you were currently sporting. Your mind had immediately drifted to wondering if Eddie would have liked your dress. He always enjoyed the fact that you were so opposite of him. Sunshine and rain, he'd always said, balancing each other out.

So much for that. But you tried not to dwell on the past. You'd already given into the fact that you would ever be completely over him. A part of your heart would always belong to him.

"Thanks," you smiled but it didn't quite reach your eyes. You were nervous going to the awards show tonight, even if you were just going to accompany one of your friends. 

Your stylist touched up your hair and set your makeup before letting you go. After you slipped on your heels and waited for your ride, you couldn't help but go on to IG and scroll through photos of the red carpet to see who had already arrived. 

Everything was fine until you reached a post that caused your heart to almost stop. There was Eddie, looking as gorgeous as ever, standing on the red carpet with the rest of his band members. You'd be lying if you said you weren't relieved to see that he didn't have a date.

Not that it mattered. Of course not. It was all peaches and he could do whatever he wanted. Even if it would break your heart a little further.

"Your chariot has arrived ," you looked up when you saw Angelica walk through the door. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw her standing there, looking as amazing as you hoped you did too, "ready to go?"

"Yup," you grabbed your bag and walked over to her but you could tell that something was on her mind, "what's wrong?"

"I…Gareth texted me a little while ago. They're already all there," she gave your shoulder as a squeeze. You appreciated all the concern but it really wasn't helping. It would have been preferable to just have everyone ignore the blatant obviousness that Eddie would be there.

"It's fine," you insisted softly, "really. I'd rather just not worry about it at all. It is what it is; he broke up with me and that's it."

"Babe-"

"Seriously," you took her hand and squeezed it gently, "let's just go and have fun."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

One of the many wonderful things about Eddie was that he didn’t really care what anyone thought of him. Even as a world famous rockstar, he couldn’t really be bothered to worry about that. So he didn’t worry about the way he looked around the crowd, blatantly obvious as he scanned the sea of people for you. Unabashed and unashamed as ever. 

Just when he’d almost given up, he found you. Clear across the room, looking stunning as ever and sitting among your friends. He knew them all and he knew that you wouldn’t be anyone’s date, not like that anyway, and that served to put him at ease. A silly, dopey little smile tugged up the corner of his mouth. 

But then he remembered - you weren’t his. Not anymore and more than likely never again. 

“You gonna keep staring all night?” Eddie’s cheeks pinked as he turned his gaze away and back to Jeff, “you couldn’t be anymore obvious!”

“Shut up,” Eddie hissed as he shifted in his seat so he couldn’t look at you as easily, “it was just one look.”

“Mhmm,” he raised an eyebrow and pulled up his phone, showing Eddie a few articles that had already popped up. All about the two of you - speculation that this meant that the two of you were back together or fans attempting to manifest it, “you’re only going to make it worse.”

Eddie folded his arms across his chest and shrugged, “it’ll be fine. Let’s just hope this night goes fast.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A few hours had passed, in relative ease and peace, and you were relieved to know that it was almost over. Then you could go home, have a hot bath with a glass of wine, and get some much needed sleep. 

But then the award that Eddie’s band was nominated for was announced. You listened to the announcer rattle off the nominees, heart beating wildly in your chest as you hoped that he didn’t win. It was so incredibly selfish, you knew that much, but it was just all too much at once. 

Corroded Coffin won, which didn’t really didn’t come as a surprise to you or anyone else. It was a well deserved and hard fought win, and you knew it should have been them. You clapped along with everyone around you, watching the stage closely as the guys walked on, with Eddie coming up last. Suddenly it seemed like he was the only one in the room and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. He looked good, but worst of all he still looked just like Eddie. 

He hung back as the rest of the band all spoke, but you could see him scanning the crowd. When it was finally his turn, he laughed nervously before looking out into the audience and somehow managing to find you. His eyes looked with yours as a small gasp escaped your lips. You knew that he was aware that he was staring right at you. A smile spread on his face, easy and soft just like the one he’d blessed you with so many times. Despite everything that had happened you couldn’t help but smile back at him. 

It didn’t matter what he was saying, you were only vaguely away of it, the moment was all that mattered. People scattered throughout the audience seemed to catch onto what was happening; you could hear them tittering about and looking at you and back at Eddie. It made your face warm up but none of that mattered. The moment belonged solely to you and Eddie. 

Unfortunately it was over much too soon for your liking and the boys were herded off stage. You turned your attention back to the table and you could feel the silent questions being thrown your way. Ignoring them all you grabbed your glasses and chugged down the rest of the champagne. 

What a series of unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate, events.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After it was all said and done and you were ready to head home, insisting on taking a cab so and skipping the afterparty, much to Angelica’s dismay, you made your way out of the building, heels in hand. It was quiet here and allowed you a few moments to breathe and absorb all that happened. 

Then you heard your name being called out. Urgently and loudly, in a voice you’d heard so many times before. You had two options - keep walking and pretend you hadn’t heard or didn’t care, or face him. You knew which one you wanted, long before the opportunity had even presented itself. 

You turned around and found Eddie running towards you, his curls bouncing wildly. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of you, attempting to catch his breath. 

“Eddie?” your voice was small, so soft he almost didn’t hear it. You opened and closed your mouth a few times, trying to ignore the butterflies in your stomach, “what are you doing here?”

“You,” he said softly as your expression turned doe-eyed; that look always made him look weak in the knees, “miss you - had to see you.”

“You missed me?” he nodded, taking a last gasping breath before straightening up and looked at you.Your brain felt like it was turning to much as you tried to process everything taht was going, “what do you mean?”

“I fucked up,” he shrugged and threw up his arms in exasperation. He was so mad at himself for ever letting you go, “I fucked up and I lost and I just…I really fucking miss you.”

“Eddie, you’re the one that broke up with me,” you blinked back tears as he ran a hand through his messy curls, “but now you miss me?”

“I should never have broken up with you,” he shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping those plush lips you so desperately missed kissing, “biggest mistake ever.”

“Then why did you?”

“I…I thought I was doing the right thing,” he explained, “I thought I was going enough for you and with things really taking off with the band, it felt like I didn’t have enough time for you and didn’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated. It seemed like the right thing at the time. I figured that maybe you would fine someone that deserves you but honestly, I really hate the fucking idea of anyone else having you.”

“Oh. Oh,” the realization crashed over you like ice cold waves, “well, I admit the idea behind breaking up with me was admirable, but deciding how I felt wasn’t exactly your choice. I never thought you weren’t good enough or didn’t give me enough of you. Eddie, I was so in love with you, nothing else mattered. We could have figured things out together - we always have. I never wanted anyone else, and no one even crossed my mind. Even now, almost a year later.”

“Really?” he choked on his question, feeling his own eyes start to burn with tears.

“Yeah,” you promised him, reaching over to give his arm a gentle squeeze, “it’s getting late. I should head home.”

“Ba - wait-”

“It was good to see you,” and you meant it. It was good to see him, and hear him out, and maybe it would serve as a bit of closure. You tried to walk away, but he held onto your hand and gently kept you from walking away, “Eddie?”

“Wait, just,” he stammered as he tried to format even a coherent sentence, “I-I love you. I’m still in love with you, I never stopped. Fuck, I don’t ever want anyone else. No one, just you.”

“Eddie-”

“Give me another chance,” those words made your mouth drop open as you blinked at him a few times, “please. I’ll do anything, just…don’t walk away. I don’t deserve another chance, and I’m an asshole, I know that. But please…one chance is all I’m asking for. I don’t think that this is the end of our story, I think that we’re-”

You caught him by surprise, cutting off his rambling by taking his face in your hands and pressing your lips to his. It was the first time you’d kissed him in so long, but it still felt so right, so magically wonderful. His large, warm hands settled on your waist as he pulled you into him and continued to kiss you deeply. 

Neither of you were willing to break apart until you were both left dizzied and breathless. He pressed his forehead to yours, a smile dancing on his lips as you exchanged soft chuckles. 

“You’re an idiot, Eddie Munson,” you whispered before pressing a kiss to his lips, “but you’re my idiot. And I think you’re right…”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve never thought about anyone else but you either,” that made his entire face light up with happiness, “and I think you and I have a very long story ahead of us.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yes,” you promised, “you’re it for me, rockstar. You always have been and will be.”

“Baby,” he let out a slow breath, feeling like he was able to properly breathe for the first time in a long time. He took your face and peppering it in kisses, causing you to giggle at the ticklish sensation, “let me take you on a date. Let’s go right now.”

“It’s almost one in the morning-” 

“And our favorite diner is open 24/7,” and yeah. You were in love with this fool, “and I don’t know about you but I’m starving. The little bits of fancy food they served were definitely not enough. Whaddaya say?”

“Let’s go,” you moved to slip your heels back on but Eddie stopped. He kneeled down and motioned for you to get on his back; you laughed but did so nonetheless, climbing onto his back as he held onto your heels. You pressed a kiss to his shoulder before closing your eyes and inhaling his familiar scent, “I love you, Eddie.”

“I love you too, baby. So fuckin’ much.”

[thenamesblurrito]

assorted Transformers fics to rec (part two!)

first list here! have more fics i missed the first time or discovered since then or were recommended to me by others! if you decide to read these, i recommend leaving a comment if you can to encourage the writers and show some love! 🥰 note: the ones marked with * were ones i read a long time ago and did not reread before adding them to this list, so i am going off the good vibes in my memory

An Act of Revenge for Crimes Uncommitted

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. young Orion Pax wakes up mutilated, empurata'd, and his assailants punished him for the crimes of one Optimus Prime. ooooo this is kind of heartwrenching, truly intriguing and unjust and mmmmm drama. time travel, gore, mind the tags here, a fascinating look at a bad timeline! some of the functionism stuff in here actually helped inspire my own functionist setup in SNAP

Blackout and Reboot

canon soup, complete multichap, AO3. amnesia was not on the table when Thundercracker agreed to go undercover as a human. giant robot aliens weren't on the table when Marissa took it upon herself to help the weirdest guy she'd ever met. it's a match made in heaven. i love this fic okay it's got some fantastic wth moments and TC being TC and Marissa being awesome and just. i like it. the writing could use some technical polish but the action and plot concept are good, and the fun alien/human interactions are my jam. has a sequel i haven't read

Canonfodder*

TFP, incomplete, Spacebattles. a series of harrowing updates from a poor hapless nobody isekai'd into the body of a Vehicon on dead Cybertron, and all the nonsense that spirals from there. i like this one, the pacing can get a lil jagged and the technical skill of the writing is a bit off but that's often the nature of these forum fics, i didn't mind it. definitely love the inclusion of Kup, and space video games, and the limited but interesting choices the protag can make when presented with such a dismal situation makes for a very compelling, journal-style story. if you don't know how to navigate forum fics like this, just use the links in the first post to skip to each snippet

Catching Feelings

TFA, oneshot with sequel, AO3. Bumblebee and Charlie are clearly a Thing, so what's Optimus doing thinking about her so much? honestly i just like this ship concept especially in a TFA context, it's very cute and awwwww poor Op, sorry you're experiencing emotions!

Commonality and Misunderstandings

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. a collection of scenes showing just how humans and mecha can figure each other out, no matter how wide the cross-cultural divide. this is cute! i like the human OCs and the shenanigans. talks about gender perceptions, has some mech-preg mentions, and hits some good emotional moments

the consequences of being a vehicle on Earth - even if only as a part-timer

TFA, oneshot, AO3. out of everyone who has to deal with the legality of autonomous sentient vehicles, it's Fanzone. dear god, save him. a very funny little read that honestly addresses some things i constantly wonder about re: driving laws and the bots. nothing more tortuous than the DMV!

Curious Thing, Isn't It?

vaguely G1, oneshot, AO3. the Ark crew, freshly crashed on Earth and uncomprehending of English, discover one of the tiny squishy native inhabitants. a very cute little scene, i love the variety of reactions and how they treat the kid they found

A Fourth to Remember

G1, oneshot, AO3. it's the 4th of July, and Wheeljack has taken it upon himself to make a fireworks show. lovely little story of his typical nonsense taken large-scale, and some interesting culture collision too!

The Great Space Opera

IDW/TFP crossover, incomplete, AO3. Brainstorm does a whoopsie and uh oh, is that Team Prime in the Lost Light? only a little bit written but VERY fun and i love the mindbending reactions of Ratchet meeting Ratchet. the whole premise is just. mwah

Introduction to Cybertronian Biomechanics

canon soup, incomplete, AO3. a small collection of medical essays and articles detailing a breakdown of anatomy. really fascinating, very coherent explanation that manages to condense canon and fanon into something understandable, perhaps even plausible!

Liberty Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla vs Trypticon!

Aligned/Godzilla crossover, oneshot, AO3. when Trypticon is resurrected by dark energon and heads towards New York, Fowler remembers a certain other giant lizard monster that might be able to help. Rescue Bots cameo, Miko gets to speak Japanese, Godzilla is awesome, this is just the fic ever

Malto Family Search & Rescue

ES, oneshot, AO3. a Decepticon named Thundercracker shows up at the Malto home in the middle of the night to beg a vital favor: help find his lost dog! SUCH a cute and good and wonderful little fic that fits right in to canon!! i love TC and i love the Malto family interactions and just. oogh lovely little fic. has sequels that i am saving for a rainy day pick me up

marriages of convenience (and the inconvenience of explaining them)

IDW, oneshot, AO3. Minimus is a widower. this fun fact is dropped rather unceremoniously. the painful awkwardness is marvelously in character, there are feelings and funnies and an uncomfortably heartfelt discussion about this matter-of-fact revelation that manages to characterize each of them so well, especially Minimus

Murder Mystery Night

IDW, oneshot, AO3. it's NIGHTBEAT'S NIGHT, BABY! lovely little mystery following around the Lost Light's greatest detective when a fun game night is abruptly shut down by a real actual murder! can Nightbeat find the killer in time?

nothing is more sacred than any other thing

vaguely G1, oneshot, AO3. Skyfire is a nerdy scientist with nerdy friends, which means most shenanigans surrounding him are nerdy. very cute and fun little fic about friends and mushrooms and Starscream being duped! first in a series of oneshots that i haven't gotten around to reading yet but look equally lovely

Objectification

G1, oneshot, AO3. a human and a Cybertronian have very different opinions on who exactly the victim is in an oversexualized music video. stupid funny and good, just the way i like it! last line kills me

Optimus Prime is Destined to Die!!

canon soup AU, incomplete, AO3. poor little Orion is isekai'd into a Cybertronian fantasy light novel as one of the soon-to-die forgettable side characters: the cold prince Optimus Prime. supposed to be MegOp but that hasn't really shown up yet. fantastic premise i leapt at immediately, with interesting royal politics and classic isekai tropey vibes. it's a little slow in places from a lot of (warranted!) purple prose introspection, but i find it cool enough to read through and follow poor Orion adjusting to his new existence!

Return Me to the Stars

TFA AU, incomplete, AO3. when a near-dead little Prime is picked up by the Nemesis, it sparks a lot of shenanigans, mysteries, and interesting political developments, all thanks to Optimus being Optimus. i really love the way this fic is developing, with a terrified Autobot in enemy territory doing the best he can, an expanded cast of Decepticons, a lot of fun worldbuilding, and very engaging and dynamic interactions. features a good bit of whump for our tough lil Prime. tagged as MegOP which is still slowly developing, pretty realistically taking their time to find some kind of even footing without breaking their characterization which i greatly appreciate! the writing itself could use some spellchecking but the plot and pacing are very engaging nonetheless

Scaredy-Car

G1, oneshot, AO3. i love a good comedic misunderstanding and boy the assumptions people are making about Breakdown are WHOOF. kinda cracky, a smidgeon dirty, and just the right amount of loserness that is the entirety of the Decepticon army

The Season of the Smallest Stars

sorta IDW/Stardew Valley crossover?, incomplete, AO3. you weren't expecting a small troop of adorable little robots to help you with your farmwork. a very soft cute little fic, i love it!!! never played SV but it's easy enough to follow along anyway, and i love the cute beeping Lost Light bots helping out our farmer

Second Star From Morning

technically IDW, incomplete, AO3. only a little bit written but SELF INSERT BABYYYYYYYYY gotta love it when your protagonists are aware that this is in fact a fictional character! the panic, the questions, the wahuh?? captivating premise, i hope the author comes back to it someday

Skywarp And The Wonders Of The Unnatural World

G1, oneshot, AO3. their summary sums it up best: "The Elite Trine have a very serious and mature debate on the existence of mythical creatures." extremely funny to me, i LOVE when they're stupid and petty and catty and silly!! Skywarp is so dumb i love him so much

Small Problems*

G1, ongoing series, AO3. average human Crystal finds some shrunken Autobots lost in the big city, and her life only gets weirder from there. an OC-centric series that--spoilers for later in the series--may have been one of the original "human turned into Transformer" fics! the whole series goes from sweet and funny to heartwrenching and angsty, with a lot of in between. i love the OC and sympathize with the horrible things she ends up going through, and also the heights to which she rises! slowburn Prowl/OC, with a bit of love triangle with Jazz in there too (funfact this was the second ever piece of media in which i encountered Blurr)

Sparkless

TFP, incomplete, AO3. a Vehicon left behind finds itself fixed up by a human, and might just gain some personhood along the way. a VERY sweet little story oogh i love this Vehicon!! poor thing i want to give them hot chocolate and a blankie. it's a lovely story with an intriguing premise

Stop Me*

TFP, incomplete (but with over 200 chapters), FFN. Starscream nearly dies at the claws of the Predacons... and then he's alive again, in the past, as if none of that ever happened. a rather (in?)famous fic in the fandom, i've found, although when i first read it i didn't know that. a very interesting take on a Starscream redemption AU, paired with some fascinating outlier power moments! a little bit wooby about Screamer (maybe a lot wooby?), a lot of whump, a lot of emotion, maybe some hints of StarOP idk if that's become an actual ship since i last checked. ymmv on this one depending on your Starscream opinions but i was hooked for the whole time for sure! i need to catch up, it's technically still updating. also the author has another, shorter, complete Starscream redemption fic which i also enjoyed, check that out too

A Streetcar Named Traitor

G1, oneshot, AO3. Megatron doesn't take Starscream's defection well and Optimus has had enough. very stupid, very funny, makes me cackle as Megsy gets dunked on

Sudden Active Development... I certainly feel SAD at the moment*

TFP, incomplete, Spacebattles. another isekai forum fic, this time somebody gets dropped into the body of Nemesis Prime and has to deal with running around as an Optimus lookalike! i like the misunderstandings and the process of adapting to a strange new body. some stilted dialogue, and it gets a little weird about gender perception but i can gloss over that. ramps up with more canon characters, a sprinkling of OCs, and completely taking canon off the rails within the last few posts! this one has threadmarks for easy navigation

Turning Points*

vaguely G1 AU, incomplete, FFN. Prowl was one of the most brilliant tacticians among the Decepticons, and then they destroyed his home. it's gonna be a long climb into the good graces of the Autobots for this defector. an absolutely fantastic character driven piece with a brilliant premise, i love how Prowl is written. and the politics of defecting and dealing with a security hazard, mmmmm good!

An Uneasy Partnership*

sorta G1/Armada/canon soup?, ongoing series, FFN. Alexis keeps an unruly Starscream in her barn. this can only go well. this series is WILD, it escalates and gets worse and then better and then worse again, you root for Screamer and then you hate him, poor Alexis is on a constant horrid rollercoaster but hey, (spoilers), she gets a cool robot body and also a tyrant king boyfriend out of it??? but man is it a long, manipulative, whumpy road to get there. the powerplays and emotional turmoil in their dynamic just keep going and it's fascinating, although probably not for you if you don't like bad power imbalances. it's the end of the world as we know it and whatever comes on the other end is going to be only as good as you make of it. i think this series may also be sort of (in)famous in the fandom? idk i don't pay attention that well

Untitled

IDW, drabble, tumblr. in an unexpected meetcute, Minimus finds himself rescuing Rung. honestly it's just a quick little concept of a conversation but it has captivated me and i'm obsessed with it

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY

THERE ARE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE MOVIE FLOATING AROUND.

I NOTICE THIS AND I WASN'T SURE WHAT TO THINK.

Okay okay, I guess is time to give admit a couple of things; one of them is that as for now, I had watched this movie in theatres 5 times; and no it would not be all of them. I have no idea how much of the movie I had seen outside theatres because doing this analysis can make me watch a scene from three to ten times.

Another caveat to all of this is that I have ADHD, which means I can either miss something that was plainly on the screen because it wasn't too interesting to me, or, I would be picking on crap that no on else even thought about until I point it out but to me feels obvious.

Honestly one of the praises I have for this movie is being able to keep my attention for over two hours without me getting bored or restless; not to say every person with ADHD can't sit still watching movies, but for me personally is a challenge. I concentrate more on books.

I am getting sidetrack again, the thing is that I NOTICE THESE STUFF.

I watched the movie the day it came out, which meant I also watched the movie when the audio was a bit off. So I was expecting in sub sequence viewings to be different.

This may be just me, but in my first viewing I could had swore the presentation on the logos was different; they were fewer and there were more versions of Lord Miller's logos for what I recall.

There is also a difference when Lyla appears at first.

I noticed The Spot's dialogue, the Hobie Bubble, and Ben's different dialogue, but at first I just thought "Huh? That looks/sounds different, oh I may just be mixing up stuff."

Remember what I mentioned about my memory? It's quite funny, I can remember exact quotes from books I obsessed over a decade ago; but if you put me a picture of a client from my workplace, and ask me if this person came yesterday or on Monday, I may legit not know.

Rule of thumb if that is I am hyperfixating on it chances I will remember things correctly, but I also didn't think there would legit be different versions of a movie, so it seemed more feasible that I just didn't remember it right.

I also have some audio processing issues and the movie is hard to hear on certain parts unless you have headphones; so I thought perhaps I just heard wrong and my mind filled the blanks.

Gwen's dialogue? Oh that was the part where I thought for a hot minute I lost it.

Last time I went to the theatres I realized Gwen's dialogue while looking for Miles was missing, which of course I caught on because I am obsessed with them; and I notice right away that was missing.

When I went to check on with my friends, they were surprised to hear me say that because they also remembered it.

I will let out on a little secret; the post of "Please No!"? The second reason I put that video on that post, was in case I was right about things changing.

I am not sure how this movie will be distributed, and if the different versions may had to do with the audio mixing issues; meaning the first version could get lost eventually once this movie is properly on screening.

So, I got the video, uploaded on the post and linked to the original; because in case I am right and Gwen's dialogue gets cuts on that moment, I have proof that no, it was like that at one point, or in one version.

Sorry for the incredibly long ramble, I will come with an analysis soon. But I needed to share this here because 1) I am not crazy, and 2) If I discover parts of my analysis don't match the final version, well, I have proof that I wasn't making stuff up.

Thanks for reading!

[wingedcat13]

Synovus: Villains Never Retire (2)

[This is part two of three for Villains Never Retire, and the third overall installment of Synovus’s story! As usual, if you’d prefer the Ao3 posting, you can find that here, and the master post with links to all of the parts of the Synoverse pinned on my blog, or here. Enjoy!]

All told, you think you did a pretty good job staying out of the scramble for your territory.

Yes, you did somehow manage to get caught up in one of the first power moves someone made and put one of them in the hospital on principle. And okay, maybe you were… tetchy… about people starting to lay claim to titles that once had been yours.

But hey. You were a villain. Selfishness was in your nature.

There was, however, one very significant hurdle to overcome.

You were very quickly becoming dangerously bored.

Normally, you kept yourself busy by partaking in various villainous pastimes. You exercised your powers, studied pop culture to keep your witticisms up to date, and actually studied various goings on from political shifts to news from other villains. If you had a plan upcoming, you worked on filling in its details. If you were in recovery from your last plan… well, you were in recovery.

But with your grand plan of retirement, there was no reason to do any of that. All you had to keep you occupied was a private island full of state of the art facilities, a teenager, and your small army of minions.

Okay, so it shouldn’t have been that hard, but you were used to multitasking, okay?

It didn’t help that everyone else, rather than trying to avoid the news of what was happening on the mainland, were actively keeping up with it. It seemed like every time you entered a room, someone scrambled to change a TV or radio channel, or stop a video’s playback. Several times, you showed up to eat in the dining hall, and found everyone else furiously debating something in a corner - only to stop cold as soon as anyone saw you.

And you also often lost the war against your own curiosity. Typically late at night (by your reckoning, which could mean any time on the clock at all depending on when you’d woken up last), you wound up skimming headlines, or going through your emails.

Still. You didn’t intervene. Not even when fucking Dazzler showed back up, and you hated Dazzler so much you’d spent a year specifically running them out of the hemisphere.

It was tempting, though.

Your self-imposed exile - sorry, retirement - was interrupted about a month after the fighting over the West Coast began in earnest. You woke up one morning to find an invitation set out on your balcony, complete with a completely unnecessary white rose threaded through a signet ring.

You stared at it for a minute. Then you raised your phone and snapped a picture of it, and dropped it into a group chat.

[Syn]: Someone care to explain what this is about?

You left it where it was, and went back inside. You’d need to do laundry before you dealt with that. And probably inform people of where you’d be going.

—-

By the time you were dressed and had eaten something, you had a response.

[Tall]: It hasn’t been that long since you came to a meeting, Synovus.

[Dr.W]: We even gave you a few hours’ notice. This time.

You hissed at your phone as you replied.

[Syn]: I recall the last meeting. I also recall, not long after that, delivering my resignation to each and every one of you in this chat.

You might’ve gone on to say more - but you nearly ran into Minerva, and abruptly had to reach out to steady her.

“Watch- Synovus?”

The once-hero was balanced on crutches, which she was not adapting to with any fluidity. Her leg, broken at Alexandria’s birthday dinner a month ago, was nearly healed. Or at least, it would be, if she stopped trying to walk on it. The wonders of a heroic healing factor.

“That is my name.” You reply intelligently.

Minerva scowls at you, and at first you think it’s for nearly running into her or your reply, but then she surprises you by going so far as to take one hand off of her crutches - to indicate your clothes. “Where are you going?”

“Well, you needn’t be so suspicious, dear Minerva.” You drawl. The helmet is still tucked under one arm, but you already feel the mask of your field persona slipping back into place. It’s comforting, if inconvenient.

For a moment, Minerva blocks your way, staring you down. You meet her eyes, relatively unbothered. You two have done a variation of this particular dance too many times by now not to know how it ends - with you getting away.

She whistles.

You wince.

“What’s up?” Asks your young protégé, poking her head out of a door in the hall. “Did you throw one of the crutches aga- oh.”

Alexandria slips more fully into the hall, considering you curiously. “I thought we didn’t have any more training exercises today?”

It’s a reasonable assumption. You and Alexandria have been keeping to her training regimen, at least. Those sessions are the only times you’ve donned your costume since you delivered your notes of notice (for all the good that seems to have done you).

“We do not.” You answer shortly. “I have a meeting.”

“With who?” Alexandria asks, tilting her head. Minerva is still watching you with an intense scrutiny you find more annoying than unsettling.

“Individuals.”

“Villains?”

“Presumably.”

“Anyone I’d know?”

“Probably.”

“Where’s the meeting?”

“Elsewhere.”

“When is it?”

“Soon.”

“Can I come?”

“No.”

“Synovus!” Oflok calls, jogging down the hall after you with a small box in one hand, “good, glad I caught you - these are for Tallflawes.”

Either oblivious to or uncaring of Minerva and Alexandria’s reactions (one a sharp start, the other a more subtle tensing) Oflok tucks the box of what you know are cookies into your upturned helmet, while you pinch the bridge of your nose.

Minerva recovers first, “Tallflawes, as in the supervillain, I presume?”

“The Scourge of the East Coast!” Alexandria sounds, if anything, like she might start squealing in excitement. “Oh that makes sense that you two would cooperate! Hey, did you know that there’s a group on the Internet who thinks you two should date-“

“I am not dating Tallflawes.” You snap, flushed. You know exactly who to blame for that stupid fan theory.

Oflok gives you a look. “You’ve done worse.” She comments, and you wish she meant the murdering.

Scowling, you tug on Oflok’s shadow, turning it briefly physical to tug at her ears. Most people find the reminder of your ability to manipulate their personal shadows suitably intimidating.

Oflok sticks out her tongue at you.

You resist the urge to respond in kind.

“Do you know who else is going to be at this meeting?” Minerva demands, but she’s looking at Oflok.

“Ah.” Oflok glances at you, and you throw up your free hand in askance. “Lord Synovus-“ (it was one of those kinds of days, as you’d told her earlier) “-is sworn not to discuss those meetings. You know how he is.”

Alexandria nods, “Well, if Tallflawes is there, and it’s not a one-on-one, that’ll probably mean… something to do with territory? That’ll mean Gray Gangster at least, since he controls a good chunk of the area between you two? I don’t know anyone else who has significant enough territory to bother.”

“Dr. Wraith.” Minerva says grimly. “And the mages, Unwritten and Chanter.”

“Touched as I am that you all are so concerned about my social circles.” You interject, before they can keep guessing your comrades. “I do, in fact, need to get to this meeting, so if you will just scoot your righteousness to one side-“

“I’m going.” Alexandria announces, “So lead the way.”

When you glare at her, she shrugs, “I am your apprentice.”

Minerva’s expression at that is a study you don’t have time for - not the least because she informs you, “I am not allowing my daughter into a room full of supervillains without me there.”

The idea of it - taking Menace as your shadow, while Athena stands guard at your shoulder in furiously disapproving silence - is. Well. It just is, and it shouldn’t be, because this should never have come up.

“Easy fix.” You reply smoothly, on autopilot, “as neither of you will be going. This is not a meeting for apprentices or injured over-protective heroes.”

“I’ve fought through worse injuries.” Minerva says stubbornly.

“Mom, I don’t need you to protect me so much anymore-“ Alexandria abandons that angle completely at the look Minerva gives her, and tries another, “- it wouldn’t make any sense for you to go, why would Athena be there?”

“Then I won’t go as Athena.” Minerva says, irked. “Synovus has to have spares. That’ll do for one evening.”

You nearly have a heart attack in the goddamn hallway. Mental image of Minerva in your costume aside, you can’t think of any way to declare that you are hiding someone more clearly than to have them show up in your hand-me-downs. Even Menace’s costume was designed to be different, regardless of the similarities between them.

Tallflawes and Wraith would have a field day.

“This.” You tell Oflok, deadly serious. “This is why we keep our mouths shut, my dear Fair Lady of the Kitchen. This. Is your fault. Fix it.”

“Well, there is that project we’ve been working on.” Oflok muses, and that is when you know you are well and truly fucked.

—-

At least you finally get a chance to reply to the group chat again.

[Tall]: Yes, I did get your note. Very elegant.

[????]: Yeah about that… the swirling miasma of chaos that is my life kinda… ate it before I could read it?

[????]: Saw the Twitter post though.

[Tall]: Decidedly not elegant.

[OP]: I did not receive a note. This upsets me.

[Syn]: Optix, give me a physical location to find you, and I will gladly remedy my error.

[OP]: No :P

[Dr.W]: Come on, Synovus. You didn’t really think the rest of us would continue to suffer through these meetings without you, did you?

[Ibis]: My companion and I will also be in attendance. We wish to see you, Synovus.

[*GP*]: Ooh, wouldn’t wanna upset the goddess, Syn

[Syn]: Someone remind me why we added Prodigy.

[Dr.W]: I believe it was your suggestion, with Optix’s support.

[Dr.W]: You did not elaborate on your reasoning, but Optix said something about ‘memes’ being ‘fire.’

[Dr.W]: It was mixed with emoticons, so I can only presume my interpretation is correct.

[*GP*]: [FortniteDance.gif]

Syn, ????, Tall, Dr.W, and Ibis have reacted to this message with *thumbs down*

[OP]: Synovus, bring your guests

[Dr.W]: Guests?

[Tall]: Optix, I feel obligated to remind you not to listen to anyone through our devices.

[Tall]: Additionally, I second both the question and the suggestion.

[Syn]: …

[Ibis]: We wish also to meet your allies.

[Ibis]: Unless they are prisoners - then we will respect your rights to your own sacrifices.

[Dr.W]: Here - all in favor of extending the Right of Parley to Synovus’s guests for the duration of the next gathering?

Tall, *GP*, ????, Ibis, and OP have reacted to this message with *thumbs up*

[Syn]: … Will the teleporter you sent me even take more than one person?

[Tall]: You’ll have to stand rather close together, but I see no issue - provided, of course, your collective mass does not exceed the specifications.

[*GP*]: Wait, who’s playing host this time? Need to know if I should eat before or not.

Resigned, you get the details from Tallflawes, and promises that the others will intervene if anyone else at the meeting not in your chat - namely, Gangster and Chanter - try anything.

While the banter continues (now at Galactic Prodigy’s expense instead of your own - the poor soul had made a typo), you set your phone down, and rub at your face with both hands. You are currently sitting in your own - well, okay, it was technically a sitting room.

You were waiting on Minerva and Alexandria, was the point.

You pull the package of cookies out of your helmet and tuck it into a pocket where it won’t get too crushed - you’re tempted to just eat them, but you know Oflok will make you wait while she makes more. You’ve had enough peer pressure for one day.

Helmet now clear, you slip it on, and find comfort in the familiarity of the interior, and being closed off from the world again.

As the clasps are sealing and the audio is syncing, you catch Menace’s voice, calling, “Ready!”

You look up, noting that she also has her helmet on now - though you could tell from the voice. Like your helmet, hers has a slight affectation, allowing her to sound more feminine without focusing. Though yours is featureless, hers has angles, more akin to a motorcycle helmet with a permanent visor.

And behind her is Minerva, in the results of some of your attempts to avoid boredom.

(Well, that wasn’t the only reason you’d designed it - but it was the reason you’d gone from concept to testing, ostensibly just to see if you could do it. You’d never intended to actually show it to her.)

‘Athena’ had been styled after a war goddess, what was worshipped by her partner. This costume, which you’d mentally dubbed ‘Amphitrite,’ was meant to fit the woman who wore it. You knew it wasn’t quite the same, given it was your design and not Minerva’s, but-

“Are these real pearls?” Minerva demands, running a hand over the scalloped edge of her half-mask. The pearls in question are set into the brow, at different points to accentuate the design.

You blink. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

Minerva makes a disapproving noise, and you roll your eyes. “They’re not load bearing, and they’re naturally harvested with mindfulness for the environment. You can pry them out to give to the poor or people who help you if you want.”

Minerva narrows her gaze at you, though it’s filtered slightly by the glass lenses of this mask. “You’ve… put a lot of thought into this.”

You shrug as you stand. “It seemed a shame not to have something more fitting for your costume.” You don’t intend for that to be a double-entendre, but given that this suit does hug the figure more, you realize it could be. You move on rather than address it, circling to check the seals and explaining as you do.

“It’s modeled after a wetsuit, so you won’t have to worry about potential wear and tear. The interior is woven with Kevlar and padded for ballistics. I presumed you’d prefer something more akin to your old costume in terms of contact, if only for familiarity, ergo-“ You gesture to the mask, “No full helmet, and the collar not reaching your chin. All of the compartments are water tight, and the compression should help with deep dives.”

You fold your arms, considering, “I wouldn’t recommend relying on it in arctic waters, we didn’t get to testing that factor.”

Minerva blinks, having stood warily still throughout your inspection. “And the color?”

Rather than white and gold, as her old suit had been, ‘Amphitrite’ was a darker blue, with slight lines of distortion. There were panels of extra fabric at the waist for modesty, though they were shorter than the skirt of Athena’s chiton.

You’d kept the gold accents though. Small gleams at the neck, wrists, and hips. Lining under the eyes of the mask. It worked with her hair.

“Camouflage. White or black stands out in the water. Blue seemed both fitting from a design standpoint, and practical.”

Minerva rolls her shoulders, quietly pensive. You realize you’re holding your breath.

“Well?” Menace prompts, leaning in to poke at her mother.

“I-“ Minerva falters, then sighs. “Thank you, Synovus. It’s - unexpected.”

“You think it’s creepy.” You conclude, sighing. “I promise you the measurements were guesses-“

“It’s - a little unsettling.” Minerva admits, “But not for the reasons you think. Before I became Athena, I… would occasionally go out for ocean rescues. I wore a wetsuit… and a snorkel mask.”

She reaches up to touch the edge of the mask you’ve given her again. You can place that hesitancy now - it’s wonder.

“I didn’t know.” You say softly, and it’s the truth. “Though I take it that means you don’t dislike it?”

“She loves it.” Menace informs you.

“A- Menace.” Minerva scolds.

You are grinning, beneath your helmet. “Well, in that case, there is one other matter of business before we can leave.”

“And that would be?”

“A name!” Menace crows, “A villain name!”

“I am not a villain.” Minerva corrects her quickly.

Menace shrugs, “You are for this meeting. I suggest Pacifica, after the ocean.”

“In my notes for the costume, I referred to it as Amphitrite, in keeping with your previous naming convention.” You offer.

Minerva shakes her head, “When I first started,” she says quietly, “I told people, when they asked, that a Naiad had rescued them.”

“Then a Naiad you will be.” You accept. The name, both Greek and tied to the water nymphs, feels right.

But you weren’t here to play dress up.

“The others you’re going to meet today know I change methods of address, but for formality reasons, will default to the neutral. I ask that you do the same. Do not speak unless spoken to, and even then I might intervene. You have been granted the Right of Parley for this meeting - that means you must also agree to grant it to others. That means no violence, no mental influences, and no poisoning. If someone else draws, you may do the same - but you must let them make the first move to strike, or the agreement is void.”

“What happens if someone breaks the agreement?” Menace asks.

“I happen.” You say flatly. "Questions?"

You leave out the times these meetings have turned into full scale brawls. You’d had to learn who could be invited and who couldn’t, and it was an ever shifting roster.

“Several.” Minerva - Naiad - says grimly, “but none, I suspect, that you would answer. Let’s get this over with.”

“Menace has been recognized as my student. Naiad, you will be a petitioner I have granted sanctuary. If anyone asks further, tell them you invoke right of privacy. They’ll still push, but it means officially they’re supposed to go to me about it as your sponsor.”

When they both nod, you gesture for them to follow you to the balcony, where the ring and rose still rest. You pick them up, and decide it’s better to show than tell.

You pull the rose free of the ring, and drop the signet to the ground. It expands, metal fluid and shifting now that it’s been triggered, but maintaining the perfect circle.

Once it stops, you step into it, and gesture for Naiad and Menace to join you. It is a little awkward - like trying to stand three people inside an oversized hula hoop - but as Tallflawes promised, doable.

“Pemberley.” You invoke - and you snap the stem of the rose.

—-

Between one blink and the next, you are there, and then you are here.

‘There’ had been a balcony in the Pacific, balmy air coming in off of the waves, the sun just past its zenith.

‘Here’ was a well-furnished room in the modern style, with one wall consisting of floor-to-ceiling windows, showing you the night sky and the distant Atlantic.

You shake your shoulders, dispelling the strange sensation teleporting always gave you.

“Pemberley?” Naiad questions. “As in-“

“Yes!” Calls a delighted voice from behind you, because Tallflawes is, after all, a villain. “A delightful choice of name for a home, isn’t it?”

You step out of the circle before you turn, letting the stem drop and tucking the rose blossom into a pocket. It gives you a moment before you have to actually address her.

“Tallflawes uses a coded system to designate transportation points.” You explain, “based, for some unfathomable reason, on primarily Gothic literature.”

You come to a stop in front of Tallflawes herself, and incline your head in a regal acknowledgment of the host for the evening.

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell them before you arrived.” She responds with a smirk.

Though Tallflawes has to look up at you to do it, she’s long since mastered the art of meeting your eyes through your helmet. Though she will occasionally wear masks in the field, here at her home, she hasn’t bothered. And though you know she’s worn a variety of ‘costumes’ over the years… she’s chosen a white pantsuit to host, marked with the shoulder-and-lapel accents of her particular technology.

You can’t help but smile, “What fun is there in explaining everything?”

You leave the question rhetorical, gesturing behind you, “Menace, my protégé, and Naiad. I take responsibility for their actions and damages, for the duration of our meeting.”

“So you have spoken,” Tallflawes replies smoothly, “So you must live. Welcome to my home, Menace, Naiad. I will not promise you peace, only a place at my table.”

It’s still strange, to hear someone else speak the ritual words. To be the visitor, instead of the host.

You feel more than see Menace and Naiad watching you - but now is not the time to respond.

“Formalities aside, Tallflawes, you never did explain the purpose of this meeting.”

She gestures for you to follow, and you fall into step beside her as she leads the way through a selection of hallways and adjoining rooms. “Why, Synovus, darling, it’s you of course.”

You’re fairly certain both of your hangers-on tense, but you are unperturbed. “Doubtful.”

“Would I lie to you, my dearest?”

“Only as much as I lie to you, dear heart.” Your tone is sardonic. Hers is not. There was a time your positions were reversed. But regardless of the tone, you know you both understand each other.

“Well, that’s only fair.” Tallflawes agrees, shrugging. “But I’d rather only go through everything once.”

You tip your head in recognition, and change the topic accordingly. “Your sense in decor hasn’t changed.”

Indeed, from the white walls of the room you’d arrived in, to the pale gray of the furniture, everything you’d passed so far had been remarkably monochromatic, with only the dark lines of supporting furniture to accentuate the lack of color.

“All the better to show the bloodstains.” Tallflawes replies serenely, as you reach a door. “Take your seat, Synovus. We’ll begin shortly.”

You know that’s not why she decorates in white, of course. Tallflawes would never spill blood in her living quarters - at least, not without having it immediately cleaned and the victimized furniture replaced.

No, Tallflawes decorates in white because it makes every guest uncomfortable. It leaves everyone who walks her halls checking surreptitiously for shoe prints in the carpet, smudges on glass, feeling as though they are an embarrassing stain in a spotless world.

And you, in your dark costume, had always been like a walking blot of ink on a white page, slinking from one part of the building to the next. You had recognized the power play for what it was, and in defiance, had actively stained something every time you visited. Spilled drinks, actual ink blots from pens. Sometimes you’d had to get creative.

But now, all of the seats for her guests, spread out in this room in a rough circle, are black.

You settle into the chair that is yours (it’s complicated to explain why you know it is yours - a combination of view of entrance and exits and decor patterns and who else is sitting where) with a practiced grace, tossing your cape over one arm of the chair and leaning against the other, legs crossing comfortably.

Menace and Naiad shuffle for a moment, before finding their places at your shoulders - likely modeling it on how Gray Gangster, across from you, has two of his enforcers at the ready.

Everyone else is alone - bar Unwritten, who this time has a small dragon in her lap, gnawing ferociously on the upholstery - except for Ibis, who sits a few seats over from you with Vulture directly beside her. It throws off the symmetry of the circle to have their chairs so close together. Tallflawes has solved this by putting herself opposite the pair, with you and Gangster on the other quarter-axis. You approve.

On your left is Dr. Wraith, the immortal with a penchant for robbing museums. You’re not sure how old she actually is, and you do know for certain that not every artifact she’s stolen under the pretense of ‘reclaiming’ has actually belonged to her at some point, but you can account firsthand for how hard she is to kill. She gives you a wintry smile.

On your right sits Unwritten, now enticing her dragon to gnaw on the tie of her robes instead of Tallflawes’ furniture. “Hello, Syn.” She calls merrily. Her clothing changes color as you watch, but she doesn’t seem to be aware of it. Perils of being a chaos mage.

Ibis, in an excess of golden jewelry, sits with her consort on Unwritten’s other side. She bares her teeth at you in what you understand as a favorable greeting, and ruffles her wings in lieu of a wave. Supposedly, she and Vulture are the most recent vessels of long dead gods. You’re not sure if that’s objectively true, but you’re hardly one to throw stones for a bit of self-aggrandizement. Or a God complex either, really.

Past Vulture, and flanking Gray Gangster, is Chanter. He raises a brow at your two guests, but nods solemnly. Where Unwritten is chaos ever-roiling, Chanter is tightly constrained. His posture is perfect, his clothing neat. The only sign of his abilities are the swirling colors in the gemstones of his necklace, and in the small pocketwatch-shaped device he keeps on a chain wrapped around one hand.

Gray Gangster themselves is as unreadable as always. They won’t speak at this meeting - you’ve only ever heard them speak once - but their enforcers will translate what they want. A traditional pin suit and fedora marks the crime boss of the North. They do not offer you a greeting.

“Heya Jim.” You call to one of the enforcers you recognize.

“Synovus,” he replies respectfully, dipping his head.

Seated on Gangster’s right, between him and Tallflawes, is a bouncing bundle of energy you know as G.P. - Galactic Prodigy.

Lanky, blue skinned, and with several tendrils that he continues to insist cannot be described as ‘tentacles’ in place of hair, Prodigy never had a chance at blending in among humans. Lucky for him, he’d never intended to.

Prodigy had been an instant splash with the hero scene - though, as one of only.. (five? Yeah you were pretty sure the number was still five, unless Astrae had had her kid) five aliens on Earth, he would’ve stood out regardless. You remembered the first time you saw an advertisement for his themed cereal.

But then the kid had realized he wanted to go home, maybe, at some point, and he’d wound up in some trouble that you’d had to haul him out of, and some people who wanted nothing more than to lock him up somewhere and study him had taken that as opportunity to brand him a traitor. And Prodigy had decided that crime was more fun anyway.

He mostly pissed off governments by stealing classified files - making sure no one else wound up where they’d wanted to put him.

And that left Tallflawes, reigning queen of the circle and host of this tenuous peace. Her chair was slightly raised on a small dais. She had a small table on which to set a champagne glass, which you knew actually held a non-alcoholic sparkling cider. As she took her seat, she did not look at anyone in particular, instead checking something on a summoned view screen.

That technology was not public access - hell, even you had only figured out a few basic components to some of what Tallflawes did. It wasn’t that she was a genius - though she was, undoubtedly - it was that she was a woman out of time.

Some indeterminate amount of time in the future (she refused to tell anyone when, exactly) Tallflawes had been grappling with a hero for different reasons. During the fight, they had both been knocked into a contraption she’d been working on with the aim of deciphering time travel. It had worked - but she hadn’t planned on it being activated yet, and certainly not as a round-trip.

So she and the hero known as ‘Blue Prophet’ were stuck in the now.

Tallflawes, disinclined to give her technology to anyone else anyway, had immediately found ways to set up shop again, and now hand-crafted most of her tech in a foundry/workshop downstairs. Prophet, she’d told you once, had nowhere near the amount of knowledge needed to do the same - so he only had what he’d brought with him.

She was rather smug about that.

You realize Menace has leaned over towards you when she murmurs, “What’s the significance of Pemberley?”

“Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. The estate the protagonist moves to once she’s married, and proof of her suitor’s good heart and business sense.” You reply, gesturing vaguely to the area around you. “Also, in this case, definitely bugged.”

“Noted. What’s our island called, then?”

You sigh, “Thornfield. From Jane Eyre, by Emily Brontë.”

Naiad gives you an incredulous side-eye.

“What does that represent?”

“You know, Menace, I believe I have a copy at home. You can borrow it and find out yourself.”

“That doesn’t help me know what it means now, though.”

“Naiad seems to recognize it. Why doesn’t she explain?”

Naiad exhales in a near-imperceptible sigh. You realize she probably has a lot of practice at this - keeping her mouth and jaw still, if not the rest of her face. “I support you broadening your literary horizons and coming to your own conclusions.”

Menace leans further forward, “Wait, you agree with Synovus?”

“That is not what I said.”

“It is what she meant though.” You confide to one side, not quiet enough that Naiad can’t hear you.

You might’ve continued - or Menace might’ve found something else to ask about, there were certainly plenty of conversation starters in the room - except Tallflawes looked up from her screen. Recognizing the sign, you raised a hand, gently nudging Menace back into place.

“Before we begin with this meeting’s purpose.” Tallflawes calls, and her voice is clear and commanding, “Are there any relevant challenges that must be settled?”

“Nope.” Replies Prodigy. At a look from Tallflawes (and Wraith and Chanter) he sighs, and recites, “I hold no grudges with anyone here.”

One of the enforcers - Not-Jim - speaks for Gangster. Chanter gives his affirmation solemnly. Ibis uses the plural as Vulture simply nods. Unwritten mostly sticks to the script.

You go to give your oath, and pause. Athena, your rival, is standing at your shoulder. In a different name, in a different costume. Someone who hurt her child, accidentally or no, and was working to change.

The question was - did you still hold a grudge?

“Whether I hold a grudge against anyone present remains to be seen.” You settle for that, “though I give my oath that any potential grudges will not see consequence until well after this meeting’s conclusion.”

Tallflawes watches you for much too long. She nods, and turns to Dr. Wraith, who gives the standard answer.

“Aw come on,” Prodigy complains, “Why does Synovus get to give a different answer?”

“Because Synovus is retired.” You drawl, “And only here to find out what you all could possibly want.”

“The oath given was sufficient.” Tallflawes says, as though you hadn’t spoken. “Though Synovus is why we are here. We don’t have many rules - and I don’t intend to ask anyone to follow any more than we already do. But I think we all need to know a few things about your plans for retirement.”

She taps the arms of her chair, looking at you expectantly.

“I’m retiring.” You reiterate, “if you want specifics, ask for them.”

“A point of clarification before we devolve-“ Chanter puts in, leaning forward, “- Synovus, are you aware of what’s been happening in your territory since you announced your retirement?”

Awful question. Admit to ignorance, or pretend you know everything. You do neither, “Again, you’ll have to be more specific before I can answer that question.”

“He refers,” Dr. Wraith says softly, “To the small scale war breaking out between upstarts. The kind you normally put down, or intimidated too much for them to start.”

You sigh, “That is to be expected. I covered a lot of ground with several large scale cities - and it isn’t as though I had a no-interference policy.”

“And if you want to watch those cities burn, that’s your business.” Unwritten says cheerfully, “I just want to know if you’re backing anyone, so I know who to bet on.”

“What.”

Jim shrugs, “You do have a student, after all. Maybe you wanted to have them take over?” He looks towards Menace, and several others do as well.

“Though we haven’t seen her out and about - or heard much at all about her yet.” Unwritten agrees, peering closer.

“An apprentice succeeding the master is only natural.” Chanter points out.

“Menace is under my tutelage - but she is not my pawn.” You say coldly, straightening from your lounged position. “If she wishes to take my place, that will be her affair.”

“Do you?” Asks Tallflawes, and she is no longer looking at you.

Menace, to her immense credit, doesn’t fidget under the gaze of so many monsters from her bedtime stories. “I have no plans to do so at this time.”

Dr. Wraith laughs, in a sign of approval. “Inherited Synovus’s tongue, if nothing else.”

You give her a sharp glance that she has no way of knowing occurred, picking up on the word choice. You haven’t addressed allegations she’s your actual child, and you don’t intend to be baited into discussing it now either.

“I choose my words for myself, Dr. Wraith. My teachers deserve their credit where it is due - but do not presume I am only their creation.”

Dr. Wraith gives another cold smile, and you’d swear you can feel Naiad’s blood pressure rising.

“A warning aptly given.” Tallflawes says coolly, “And not one we are likely to forget, child. The question remains. Clarified - Synovus, do you name a successor to your territory?”

“I do not.”

“What about your rivals?” Prodigy asks, having folded his legs up underneath him.

You are still.

“Athena and her Legionnaire.” Ibis hums, “I do not believe she is like us… but I would like to find out.”

“Bit difficult, given Legionnaire’s dropped off the map.” Not-Jim says.

Unwritten shrugs, balancing her dragon on one hand as it tried to climb on top of her head, “It never made sense to me that they were your rivals anyway, Synovus, so you know I’m in favor.”

“Dazzler or White Shadow would’ve been more thematic.” That’s Chanter, and you’re reminded why you’ve never liked him.

“This is an old conversation.” Dr. Wraith puts in, “the point is, if Synovus is retired, they may no longer claim the Right of Rivalry against the heroes Athena and Legionnaire.”

“Point of clarification.” Asks a voice from over your shoulder, and you tense as Naiad continues, “Define the Right of Rivalry?”

Chanter, again, “Your patron is the one who penned the Right. You do not know?”

Tallflawes’ eyes do not narrow, but you do feel them weighing on you.

Prodigy speaks before she can, “Hey, it took me forever to learn these things, no harm in wanting to know for sure.”

He looks at Naiad, and you wonder if they have met before. If he will know her, beneath the mask. You should have asked. You didn’t.

“Basically, no one is supposed to kill someone else’s rival, or go out of their way to fuck them over. There’s a whole lot of wiggle room if one of them comes after you or someone changes territories, or something happens, but it’s our way of calling dibs.”

Chanter remarks disdainfully, “Synovus has broken the Right before, of course.”

You force yourself to relax back into your chair. “Point of contention.” You say, as though bored, “The case of death of Igneous was ruled valid, and I have settled the debt with Heathen.”

Unwritten snorts, and you hear her mutter, “flying submarine.”

“Point - both of them - acknowledged.” Tallflawes cuts in. “Synovus, do you acknowledge that you may no longer claim the Right of Rivalry?”

You are silent, for a beat. You knew this was a possibility, but to bring it up here is forcing the issue. Is someone else eager to hunt them? It would have to be someone here, powerful enough to be willing to risk your wrath -

“I claim inheritance of Synovus’s rivals.” Menace says.

Tallflawes tilts her head, “On what grounds? No more than that they were your patron’s rivals?”

You do not speak. You cannot. To do so would be seen for what it would be - a desperate attempt at a cover up.

But Menace, your menace, continues on with her own gamble. She says simply, “They are my parents.”

There is silence in the room. In that silence, you can hear Naiad’s sharp intake of breath, and the creak of Menace’s gloves as she tightens her grip, hands clasped behind her back. You know how far it is to the nearest window and how everyone here will begin if it turns to violence. Shadows begin to knot, unseen, under your palms.

And then Gray Gangster laughs. Chuckles, really. It’s rough, and unsettling, and sounds like something from a graveyard had dragged its way up to sit in this room and mock you. He claps, slowly, exactly three times, as his enforcers watch him intently.

Not-Jim looks up, at you. “He congratulates you, Synovus.” They say neutrally, “On going above and beyond his expectations for your agreement. He will support Menace’s claim.”

With that declaration, the spell of silence is broken. Ibis and Vulture mutter to each other, speculative, while Chanter slowly nods. Dr. Wraith is staring at Menace, calculative, and tsks in a way that might indicate sympathy. Tallflawes cuts a glance towards Prodigy. Prodigy gives a bewildered shrug.

“We acknowledge Menace’s claim to the Right of Rivalry with Athena and Legionnaire. Are there any other matters of business we must address?”

The meeting continues - but no one in your party speaks again.

—-

It’s only after you teleport all three of you back to the island (crushing the rose blossom in your palm with a terse ‘Thornfield’) that you expect the dam to break.

You are braced for it, prepared, waiting for the accusations and demands and questions. You stand on your balcony, letting the warm wind whip past you, and you wait for them to begin.

But Menace leaves first, stepping off the balcony railing and into the air to soar straight up, far away from both you and her mother. She leaves without a word.

Naiad - Athena, Minerva - is almost worse. She pulls off her mask, as the two of you watch Menace’s outline grow smaller. She watches her daughter fly away, and says softly, “Well. You did warn me you were a liar, Synovus.”

She leaves her mask on the railing, right where the ring and rose were earlier, and turns to leave. It is her parting shot that hurts more;

“More the fool, I.”

And you can only stand and stare at the starlight, alone.

[Do not fear! There will be a (at least slightly) happier conclusion - but this does mean instead of a two-parter, you all will be waiting on a part three. See you then!]

[orokukarai]

In Defence of Leorai

I know there have been a lot of these posts since forever blah blah blah but I wanted to put down my own thoughts and I've never quite 100% vibed with other people's opinions. HOWEVER this post by @leorai4life does resonate with me very well so I'll link it here because they're much more familiar with the source material than me: https://www.tumblr.com/tmnt4ever/713795384789581824 sorry i am a kataang shipper though lol, you're still cool

So a question I've seen come up multiple times is 'Is Leorai incest?'

tl;dr I don't think so.

Disclaimer: I haven't watched this show in a long time and I stopped just before the final season.

Here we go.

Are they biologically related? No. I've never bought a turtle at a pet store, but I don't think you go in, go to a tank, take out the turtles you want, carry them to the self-check out and then carry them home in your hands or pocket or recyclable bag or whatever. The shop staff would have been the last to touch them, and Splinter would have touched them maybe AFTER he got home. With small turtles, you don't handle them UNLESS it's absolutely necessary as it can stress them and stuff. Splinter not being the last to touch them is backed up by the fact that the turtles (except maybe Don) don't share physical similarities with Splinter. Splinter is Japanese and Leo and Mikey have blue eyes (plus the latter has freckles). I don't know whether during mutation if they even transfer DNA or if the ooze just evolves the creature based on what they last came into contact with, or if they're still mostly their turtle DNA or whatever, but I don't think they'd share enough similarities/DNA to be considered biologically related either way. And you know what? That's okay. He's just as much the turtles' father as if he was biologically related to them. Pushing for them to be biologically related (father-son) when it's extremely unlikely seems in bad taste to me. Also Karai and Leo are very different species. Splinter and Karai and Leo all mutated with different animals.

Are they adoptive siblings? Not... really? Only Leonardo was raised by Splinter, and he met Karai before they knew their connections to Splinter. Afterwards, Karai acknowledges that Splinter is her father, but for me it seems like more of a title to her. Splinter is more emotionally/psychologically family to April and Casey and the turtles than he is to Karai imo and she doesn't really try bonding as a family with everyone. He doesn't raise her at all beyond when she was a baby (which she can't remember), then he goes and dies rip. Oh and the fact that Leorai still flirt after the reveal (I'll get into that more in the next paragraph). Karai and Leo do not think of or see each other as siblings. Leonardo refers to Karai as Splinter's daughter but never as his sister. They were never raised together. They were not brought up together as a family. Yes Karai is referred to as family at times, but so are April and Casey and the TCRI cannister. Splinter is their father in different ways, in a way that they don't see each other as siblings. Is it still weird? Yeah. But TMNT 2012's writing gets pretty weird at times.

EDIT: I've seen a vague about this post about how they're like cousins because Shredder and Splinter grew up like brothers. My response: the turtles do not see Shredder as their uncle. Karai doesn't see Splinter as her uncle. The turtles and Karai do not see each other as cousins.

Finally, this is a kids show. Nickelodeon would not have continued pairing them and giving hints to them crushing on each other after the reveal if they were meant to be seen as siblings. Literally a few months ago, the official TMNT channel uploaded a 44 minute video of their 'best' moments with blue and black hearts in the YT title and a V-day short. I've seen people say Leo backed off her/lost interest after the reveal (not that he was ever pushing her for a romantic relationship?? They're crushing on each other but I see it as a slowburn). I think he was being respectful as she had just had her life flipped up upside down. Now wasn't the time to rizz her. Almost every other ship feels rushed and very instalovey while Leorai involves the characters being like. not weird about it. Dorky and cute. Funnily enough. TMNT 2012 does some things well but it really is a case of the show's focus on shipping characters dragging the show down (ESPECIALLY DON/APRIL/CASEY). Shipping culture, amirite?

My point about it being a kids show applies to Raphmona. I don't ship it but I've seen people argue that Mona is an adult so it's wrong. I think the simple explanation is that the show handled them and their writing clumsily too in this regard. I don't think if Mona was an adult that they'd be paired in the show. It's just not thought through well and kinda unclear but I can see people being uncomfortable with it.

If the ship makes you uncomfortable, whether it's for personal reasons or you're just not vibing, that's OK. If you personally see it as incestual, that's valid. But going around saying Leorai shippers all like or support incest is not true and there are many valid readings where they're not incestual even if you disagree with me. Some shippers probably do like incest, but then so do many non-Leorai shippers.

That's all from me! I'm disabling replies in advance bc I'm not bothered to debate. I've read what people have said already and I only have 4 followers.

[isuzuakatsukiposttruth]

*I noticed this after posting the video, Bouquet of Heather. "OH MY CAT!!!! The video was silent!!!!" I've re-uploaded it, sorry.

昔つくった曲「ハビービー」の再々修正版と、「ハビービー」の英語＋サイケ/エレクトロニカなアレンジ版「Bouquet of Heather」を公開しました。Bandcampから無料でダウンロードできるよ。

I released both the revised mix version of the song "ハビービー: Ḥabībī" that I made a long time ago, and the English + Psychedelia/Electronica version of the song "ハビービー" ＝ "Bouquet of Heather".

Both songs are available for free download on Bandcamp. https://isuzu-akatsuki.bandcamp.com/album/modal-fetter

Below are the lyrics for each.

＋＋＋ ハビービー (The lyrics have changed slightly compared to the first version) ＋＋＋

“愛していたわ” 　今の今までもずっと、変わらずに “愛しているわ” 　今後も何があろうと、変わらずに

解けない魔法のような愛を誓い合った― 私とあなた、それはまるで月蝕のようで 真昼と夜闇 あなたは月で私が太陽― 照らし続けなければ消えてしまう そんな脆くも必然な恋でした

互いに惹かれ合うままに近付いては あなたの闇に触れ― 荒れ地のようなその心に、 私までもが寒さに震えてたわ 荒涼とした風が吹く― あなたという名の渓谷に 一条の温度を差したかっただけなの

過ぎ去った時間に あなたは何故怯えているの？ 昔むかしの幻影は あなたが生み出した幻なのに― 暗闇の中でもがいてる 自ら作り出した牢獄の中で ねぇハビービー、私を見てよ―

“愛していたわ” 　今の今までもずっと、変わらずに “愛しているわ” 　今後も何があろうと、変わらずに

　だけど、 　どうか私のことを忘れて欲しい 　それで、 　あなたが暗闇から抜け出せるのであれば―

解けない呪いのような人生だと呟いた あなたの声は、それはまるで月蝕のようで 夜闇と吹雪 あなたは月で同時に藍影― 覚めぬ眠りを願い続けてた そんな脆くも儚い人でした

互いに惹かれ合うままに近付いては あなたの闇に触れ― 荒れ地のようなその心に 私までもが寒さに震えてたわ 荒涼とした風が吹く― あなたという名の渓谷に 一条の温度を差したかっただけなの

襲い来る幻影は どうやら今は私の姿で― 今もあなたの心を 罪悪感の中に縛り付けていて― 暗闇の中でもがいてる 自ら作り出した牢獄の中で ねぇハビービー、私を忘れて―

　“もう私は過去なのよ”

＋＋＋ Bouquet of Heather ＋＋＋

Characters entwined, Beaten pages in the book; A story, fate forsook. The chapters now closed, But still echoes endure; A dear, remains pure.

She's worried, Watching him trapped in the past — Buried in memories of agony. He's haunted by ghosts of the way things were, She feels his pain.

They're like a lunar eclipse, Both shining brightly, But not at the same time. In his heart, She's lost, Like a relentless night. Midday replaced by shadows, Covered in fright.

in the fading evening twilight anxiously wandering i loved you deeply a fire in my heart but now apart worlds apart in solitude often shed many tears bereaved by the absence the emptiness inside i trying to turn the tide maybe it's a waste of effort but —

Gone from the glow Like a lunar eclipse With each passing day As the days go by Something is fading From the shadows that haunt No one be able to escape? Slowly revealing Emotions start to fall

why do you fear the ghosts that have passed away? all their whispers they make you sway haunted by memories the chains won't let go i feel your burden now

We're like a lunar eclipse Both want to snuggle Both want to walk together Why couldn't we do those things at that time? In your heart I'm buried in pain and despair

In the fading evening twilight Anxiously wandering I loved you deeply A fire in my heart But now apart Worlds apart In solitude Often shed many tears Bereaved by the absence The emptiness inside I trying to turn the tide Maybe it's a waste of effort But —

＋＋＋ 余談：Just a side note ＋＋＋

The song "ハビービー: Ḥabībī" is derived from my novel "Water Under the Bridge". And I hate this song. Out of all the songs I've written, it's the only one with lyrics that I can definitely say I hate.

Only one person in the novel utters the word "Ḥabībī". However, she only speaks with the nuance of "hey, bro!"

… And she's not the motif of this song; The motif is another woman named Erica.

The lyrics of this song in Japanese are, to put it mildly, "seriously shitty", so translating them into English was a real challenge.

Actually, the English version is almost completely different. I can't just ship shit as shit. In that case, it would be faster to rewrite it from almost zero. And this time I did.

And since the English version is linked to this one (the Japanese version is the same, but it's hard to understand where they connect), I think if you listen to them together, you'll be able to see a creepy world.

Then the flow continues, those songs.

The novel it is based on is a story that depicts the quagmire of a man who is confused after losing the woman he loved, until the female protagonist mentally destroys and brainwashes him.

I'm planning to publish the second part of that story in print at the end of this month or next month.

[oskea93]

☨ Fire Away ☨ Chapter Four (part one)

▾ Caius Volturi x OC ▾ ▲ Warning: Sexual content, cursing, physical altercation, homophobic remarks ▲

⍏ Taglist: @xoxoindigo @vampluv3r @ladysybilchronicles @badkitty83 @volturgeist @theplagueworm @dogmom2014 @hybridlamb    @clandestine-nerd @yourfamilyfriendsatan @yourlocalrockstarsimp @violetlilites @quennconstanceuniverse @soraththefallenangel​ @cancankiki​ 

★ Taglist now available ★

▿ Author’s note: Hi guys! Sorry for the late update. I thought I was going back to work but something came up, so I have a couple more days to write! First off, I want to thank you all that have read, liked, and added yourselves to the tag list. I really appreciate it :) This chapter we meet some new faces that will travel with us on the long road of this relationship. I also want to apologize for leaving you at a cliffhanger (i’ll make it up to you in the next chapter). I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes and i’ll try to go back and see what needs to be fixed. If you haven’t already, you can be added to the taglist via the link above! I asked this question in a post on my page, but if anyone out in Tumblr land makes trailer videos for stories, I would love for this fic to have one! A couple years ago, a creator made one for my Jax Teller story and it was amazing. I think it would be cool if this story had one too. I’m gonna stop rambling now, but if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to say hi, I would love to hear from you!!▿

✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥

I looked at the dress that had been dropped off moments ago.

The lace detail and soft pink coloring glowed in the mid-day afternoon sun. I had yet to tell him if I was going to dinner with him, but he took it upon himself to have the dress delivered (just in case). Along with the dress was a note, instructing me to be at the hotel salon in an hour. For a moment, I had forgotten all about his dinner invitation. I spent most of the day staring out at the sea, my mind lost as the waves brushed against the white sand. This was supposed to be the time where we spent getting to know one another. We were supposed to hang out and tell each other about ourselves. We were fucking married and yet I knew nothing about him. I don’t know how much he knew about me, but I’m sure it wasn’t much. I watched all these fucking couples walking hand in hand, strolling on the beach, just laughing and enjoying one another. I was a little envious if I was being honest. When I pictured myself married, I could see myself being that way with my husband. Enjoying being around him every minute – craving his touch and just spending our time getting lost in each other.

However, my world is pretty fucked up and I don’t get to participate in that fairytale. I get married to an arrogant asshole I never fucking met. Not to mention being beat by his security team and then having sex in front of a middle-aged man just so it’s public knowledge that Caius and I consummated our marriage. I mean that’s what every girl wants, right? I understand that his uncles have an agenda – I mean, Aro basically spelled it out to me at the wedding. Caius was to take over the family business and I was to stand by his side – be the doting wife and give him the heir that the Volturi family needs to continue. That’s a lot of fucking pressure for someone to be under. What happens if I wasn’t able to give them that heir? Would I be sent up to a tower and locked away until it was time to execute me? Would they bring in another girl and have her carry Caius’s child, passing it off as our own when the baby is born? Why was I the chosen one? What was so special about me that he chose me out of all the girls in the town – the world…

The pink material pooled around as I sat in front of the mirror. My newly highlighted locks perfectly styles, framing my face perfectly. I went back and forth, talking myself into and out of going to dinner with him. The bottle of wine giving me the courage to finally text him, letting him know that I would be there. A car was on its way to pick me up – bringing me to some undisclosed location. The same butterflies that were present during our wedding flew around inside, nausea and nerves making it worse. I slowly removed myself from the floor, shaking out the tool of the dress, making sure nothing was stuck in the fabric. My high heels carried me to the door, one last sigh leaving my body before I exited the room.

I walked through the lobby, keeping my eyes down as I walked to the awaiting BMW. The man instantly opened the door once he saw me, his eyes gentle as he helped me into the vehicle. I watched as the coastline whizzed past us, finally stopping once we reached a busy building. This must have been the place for couples to eat while at the resort. The driver quickly helped me out of the car, directing me on where to meet Caius. I gave him a smile and thanked him before walking towards the entrance. Those around me were dressed similar.

I ventured further into the bar area, taking a seat at the end of row. I watched as those around me talked, some choosing to dance to the music being produced by the pianist in the corner.  

“Ma’am-“The bartender caught my attention, a drink in his hand. “The gentleman at the other end wanted you to have this.” He sat the half-filled glass in front of me – Red Wine. I looked to where he pointed, my heart starting to race once I saw who it was.

He was dressed in a grey, button up shirt and stripped dress pants – a fedora placed on his balding head. His eyes connected with mine, his lips turning into a disgusting smirk. I instantly pushed the drink away, stepping away from the bar. I didn’t want to be anywhere Victor was – including this fucking restaurant.

I found the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind me. Where the hell was Caius. He fucking told me that he would meet me here. And why the hell was Victor here? I paced around the small room, finally leaning against the sink. I took a couple deep breaths, glaring at myself in the mirror. Was this a fucking set-up? Was Victor here to kill me – get me out of the picture and make my death look like an “accident.”

I snapped out of my thoughts one a knock sounded on the door. I stood straighter, fixing my hair, giving myself one last look. I had decided that if Caius didn’t show up in the next three minutes, I was leaving and going back to the resort to pack my things. I had already looked up flights this morning while I was debating coming here, saving a ticket in my cart just in case. I could be back in the states by midnight and on my way to wherever.

The knocking accrued once more, my anger starting to rise as I ripped open the door. The girl on the other side pushed past me, her eyes filled with disgust and hate.

“You got some temper on you, little girl.” Victor’s accent piercing through me. “My beautiful wife has an even worse one.”

I looked up at the man, realizing that the girl who pushed past me was the one he was talking about. “Where’s that handsome husband of yours? Find him another girl to sneak away with?”

I stayed silent, not wanting to interact with his kind. He let out a laugh, shaking his head as he popped a cigarette between his lips. The scent flowed through the air as flashbacks of the night before re-emerged. “That boy is too handsome for his own good. Plus-“ He slowly started walking towards me. “You’re a beautiful girl yourself – I can see why Caius enjoys you so much.” I was cornered between his body and the wall. “Maybe little Caius would be interested in sha-“

“Vanessa!” Caius’s loud voice boomed, causing those around to look.

I pushed past Victor, feeling his hand reach out for my arm as I ran towards Caius. “About time you got here, Caius.” Victor smiled. Out of relief, I wrapped my arms around Caius’s body, feeling a sense of calm as his arms were tightly around my body. “Your lovely bride and I were just talking.”

“Is that right?” Caius was pissed. His body was rigid, his heart beating fast. “Maybe you should stick to talking with your own wife, Victor.” I turned to look at the man, my side flush against Caius’s.

I watched as his wife walked out of the restroom, his hand reaching out to grab her. In typical woman fashion, I checked her out from head to toe. She was young – younger than Victor that was certain. Her dress was black, a noticeable slit at the top of her thigh. The neckline plunged as her implants showed for the world to see. More than likely bought by the bastard she was married to. Her hair was honey blonde, curled to perfection as her dark makeup made her eyes pop. She was a beautiful girl but filled with attitude and greed.

“Miranda-“Victor spoke, keeping his eyes trained on Caius. “This is Caius and his new bride, Vanessa.” His tone biting. “Caius and Vanessa Volturi.”

She just stood there, not introducing herself and anything. I sure as hell wasn’t going to greet here, not after the way she pushed me out of the way for the bathroom. Also, I didn’t like her fucking husband and from the way things were going, I wasn’t going to fucking like her either. I had no reason to waste my breath and words on someone that didn’t deserve them.

“Why don’t the two of you join us for dinner? You know Daniel and Michael would love to see you again, Caius.”

“My wife and I will be having dinner alone.” Caius voiced. “Give my best to Daniel and Michael.” Caius’s released his hold on my body, grabbing my hand. He led us past the two, walking deep in the restaurant and to our awaiting table. He gave the waiter a kind smile as he ordered us both water – asking to see the alcohol menu as well. The table was silent once the man left – his temper still hot.

“Did you know he was going to be here?”

He looked up at me, his eyes narrowing at my question. “You serious?”

“I wouldn’t be asking you if I wasn’t.”

He leaned back in his chair – his eyes becoming darker. “You think I would take you to a place when I knew that bastard would be here? You honestly think I’m that much of an asshole?”

I chose to play with the salt and pepper shakers, dodging his question and piercing gaze. “Gee, thanks.” He sighed.

The waiter soon returned with our drinks, handing Caius the wine menu. I stayed silent, trying to decipher the menu as I listen to him order a bottle of wine and a glass of Johnny Walker Red. I listened as Caius ordered his food – giving the waiter my order soon after. Once he was gone, Caius and I kept our conversation to a minimum. The quiet between us becoming a bit much after a while.

“Who are those other two guys he mentioned?”

His eyes stayed on the wine glass, “Daniel and Michael?”

I nodded my head.

“Their father is an associate of my uncles. We basically all grew up together but haven’t spoken really in a few years.”

“Why?” I indulged.

His eyes connected with mine, a deep hatred flooding his irises. “They betrayed me.”

I was taken back by his change of tone – worried that if I pushed even more, he would come undone. “What did they do?”

He played with the silverware, tracing the edging on the knife. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“If they betrayed you, why did Victor act like you guys were fr-“

“Because Victor is a trouble making asshole who’s only looking out for himself and screwing everyone else over.” He cut me off. “He’s Aro’s right hand man – apparently it’s tough finding good help nowadays.”

“Mr. Volturi-“The waiter appeared, dropping a note on the table, along with a glass of red wine. “Mr. DeMarco wanted me to give you and your wife this – He’s requesting your presence.” I watched as Caius stared at the waiter before turning his eyes towards the note. His eyes scanned over the paper, his head dropping back slightly.

“Thanks.” He muttered.

The waiter nodded his head slightly, walking back towards the kitchen.

“What does it say?” My eyes scanned his frame – tension and anger consuming his body once again.

He muttered something under his breath before gulping down the Johnnie Walker, reaching for my hand, pulling me into his warm body. He kept me close as we walked through the restaurant, the sound of laughter and loud talk getting closer.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in!” A tall man smiled as Caius and I entered the curtained area. “Victor told us you were visiting this lovely island, but he didn’t say anything about the beauty you brought with you.”

The man was tall- a little taller than Caius. His features were dark – dark hair, tanned skin, perfectly white teeth. His tailored suit fit him perfectly, tight enough to draw your eyes over the fabric. My eyes drifted to the rest of the guest. A blonde girl sat to his right, her dress tight and sleek over her small frame. A man to his left looked at Caius like a junkyard dog looks at a fucking bone. Wanting to tear him apart and leave him for dead. He looked similar to the man standing up, only difference was his hair was lighter and longer.

“Well you know how finicky Victor’s brain is-“Caius spoke. “I’m surprised he still knows how to hold his dick when he pisses.”

The man let out a loud laugh, “That’s a good one, Volturi.” I glanced up at Caius, feeling his fingers digging into my side. “Well-“The guy looked at me. His eyes scanning my body. “You gonna tell us who she is?”

“That’s his wife, Vanessa.” Victor spoke. “Gorgeous, isn’t she.”

I shifted uncomfortably further into Caius as his eyes slowly moved up my body. “She sure is.” His voice low.

“Why don’t you have the bride and groom join us, Daniel.” Victor smiled. “Give them a little celebratory dinner.”

Daniel smiled as he looked between Victor and Caius, “I think that’s a fantastic idea!” He clapped. “Michael-“He looked at his brother. “Go tell that pinhead waiter of our to get us two more chairs-“He paused, turning his attention back to us. “We’re having special guest for dinner…”

I sat as close to Caius as possible as the guest around us sat relaxed and happy. I watched as they spoke animatedly, drinking and abusing the staff with shitty and ridiculous demands. Caius was slouched in his seat, smoking his fifth cigarette in the matter of 30 minutes, his left arm resting protectively on the back of my chair. He stayed silent – his facial expression never changed from the time we arrived at the table to now. He rolled his eyes in frustration at their stupid request, muttering curse words under his breath.

“Vanessa, is it?” A female’s voice caught my attention. The blonde that was seated next to Michael staring at me, a wicked smile on her face. “How did you and Caius meet?” “Their marriage was fucking arranged.” Victor spat. “He barely fucking knows her.” The table turned silent as those around us took in Victor’s information.

“They still do that shit?” Daniel looked at us confused. Caius stayed silent, blowing his smoke off to the side.

“Apparently.” Victor shrugged. “Aro and Marcus’s idea.”

“That’s bullshit.” Caius spoke, all eyes retreating on him. “It was my choice – not the choice of my uncles.”

The girl leaned forward in her chair, his breast on full display. “And what makes her so special?”

“For starters she’s not a slut.” Her face slowly fell at his answer.  “She’s smart, kind, beautiful-“His eyes connected with mine. “She’s an old soul – a perfect soul.”

The table went silent, each looking at one another, unsure at his answer. My eyes stayed trained on Caius, my heart beating out of my chest at his answer. It felt true, sincere. “You mean that?” I whispered.

A small smile formed on his pale face, “I do.”

“Gentleman!” Daniel’s voice boomed. “Why don’t we let the ladies chat and get to know each other while we have a couple rounds at the bar.” His eyes landing on Caius and I. “Come on Caius- “ He smiled. “You don’t want people thinking you’re a fruit, do ya?”

Caius rolled his eyes, turning to me, gently kissing me. His lips lingered, my need for him increasing every second. He slowly pulled away, caressing my cheek before stalking off with Daniel. I could hear the other girls speaking with one another – laughing and dancing to the music that was playing.

“Vanessa!” The blonde from before yelled. “Get your ass over here and join us.” She was drunk. I reluctantly removed myself from the chair, tiptoeing my way over to where they were gathered. A glass of wine was shoved into my hand by Miranda, Victor’s wife, a mischievous smirk spread across her face. “Let me guess-“She spoke. “You don’t drink?”

“Not when I don’t know who poured it.” My eyes boring into her.

“You must have some kind of golden pussy for Caius to choose you.” She replied. “You’re not the typical type he goes for, especially for him to marry.”

I could feel my blood starting to boil. “Excuse me?”

A couple of the other girls surrounded her, “You heard me.” She smiled. “What’s your secret, Vanessa? You put out within the first hour? Give him the best blow job he’s ever had. There has to be a better fucking reason why he chose you.”

“You jealous or something? Maybe you’re jealous that he chose me and your stuck with that fat, old piece of shit you call a husband.” The words spilling out of my mouth like lava. “He fucking told you why I was the one he picked. Sorry if you don’t believe it or you’re just pissed you’re one of the whores he was talking about.”

The glass that she was holding shattered against the floor. “You think you’re so damn perfect, don’t you bitch?” She stepped towards me, now practically face to face. “Caius Volturi may make himself out to be the alpha but he’s nothing compared to Daniel and Michael. Just a small little runt in a litter full of pit bulls. Pit bulls that are waiting to tear him apart any second.”

“Maybe you should back off Miranda.” One of the girls spoke.

“Yeah, Miranda-“ I sneered. “Maybe you should back off.”

Before she could respond, the guys reappeared – Caius and Daniel nowhere to be found. “What’s going on?” Victor asked, looking between his wife and I. I watched as Miranda slipped her arm around the man, her left hand running up his chest.

“Nothing baby - Just a little girl talk is all.” She sweetly smiled.

“That right, Vanessa?” Victor’s eyes searching my own.

I decided against answering him, choosing to roll my eyes, walking away from the dreadful couple. I was never one to back down from a fight. Hell, if the guys wouldn’t have shown up, Miranda and I would have probably been on the floor, rolling around on the broken glass.

I grabbed my bag off the table, making my way to exit. I wasn’t going to wait for Caius to find me. Who the hell knows where he even was at this point? I just wanted to get away from Miranda and her minions, especially her fucking husband. I flagged down one of the resort vehicles, telling the man where to drop me off. Rain started to fall on the roof, the windshield wipers having a hard time keeping up with the weather...

The trip took about 10 minutes, dropping me off at the front entrance. I thanked the man with a smile, my dress dragging the wet ground. I made my way to the room, throwing my bag down on the table as soon as the door closed. I took a seat on the couch, my head leaning against the back, a sigh escaping through my lips. Everything was a fucking shit show. I sat there for a few extra minute before slowly walking towards the bathroom. I stripped out of the dress, leaving the pink fabric pooled on the tile floor. The warm water washed away the stress of the night- scolding and leaving red marks on my body.

The sound of the resort door closing rang throughout the room, my heart dropping for a moment as I stood completely motionless in the glass box.

“Vanessa?” I let out a sigh of relief hearing Caius’s voice. “Ness?”

I stayed silent, standing against the tile, shampoo resting in my hair. I watched through clouded glass as his figure appeared, taking a step back once he saw me. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He muttered, his hand running through his loose hair.

“How’d you get in here?” I played with the shampoo bottle. “It’s not like you have a key.” My voice soft.

“I told the guy downstairs that I lost my key, and I couldn’t get my wife on the phone to answer the door.” His voice dropping. “I mean it’s partially true, you don’t answer your fucking phone.” The room was quiet, aside from the running water. I glanced up, watching as he started removing his coat and shirt.

“What’re you doing?” My voice a bit panicked.

The sound of his belt hitting the floor caused my heart to race, his bare back on display as he pulled down the black briefs he wore beneath. My back hit the wall as the cold air rushed in, his eyes connecting with mine as he the door closed behind him. Goosebumps covered my arms as he stood in front of me, water droplets running down his tattooed chest. “I’m taking a shower with my wife.” Our bodies practically touching as his arms trapped me against the glass. My eyes focused on his lips, hungry to feel them on my own, my whole body.

[legionofpotatoes]

Hi Legion! Long time lurker and lover of your art and tags here. I always read your tags and I'm really interested in your thoughts & views on love and relationships, so I'm curious to know where you got those ideas from. Are there any videos, terms, or books you could recommend? It really resonated with me and since I'm a huge nerd my first instinct is to find more sources haha. Thank you so much!

This ask genuinely made me sit with myself and think long and hard about how my views on that stuff really formed, something I maybe took for granted a lil bit. So thanks, and I'm sorry that I can't give a nerdy answer here! It is difficult to point to specific sources, it's more of a lived-experience type thing. It truly is The Question Of All Time lmao. And boy did it get me thinking back.

I'll put my ramble under the cut if this is not interesting or what you're after, but I enjoyed the introspection still! Thank you!

My context is entirely unremarkable (middle class cishet white guy from eastern europe), but if I had to point to one thing that is the bottleneck of my views on love and relationships, I genuinely think it could be traced to my insane early childhood nat20 roll to avoid toxic masculinity pipelines. I truly believe in my bones that if I had been seduced by that stuff - and legitimately all but maybe two of my childhood friends were - I'd be a completely different, colder, worse person today. I credit only luck in that.

Where I'm from, boys of my generation were set on a very specific path very early on that was pointed veeeery far away from "love". All wrapped up in warped orthodox christianity and crypto-nationalist sentiments, stemming from our incredibly disillusioned post-soviet parent figures constantly running in survival mode. So like, I legitimately don't remember how I managed to avoid those circles and behavior patterns, and the truth is that I probably sometimes didn't? I certainly made stupid mistakes in my early teens, but I had the luxury of making them outside of the public eye of social media. More luck.

There's other alchemy of course - as a child of divorce I got a real early up-close look at the ugly results of mistrust and toxic "love", and a lot of my life back then was rebelling against that. Not that the parenting itself was always bad - my mother turned me to the arts and to stories, which eventually led me to fandom that I can now identify as a much healthier outlet for my frustrations than whatever my peers were doing with their nighttime brawls. It led me to a very crystallized idea of what I really wanted from life - not glory or patriotism or ambition, but a quiet life with the ones I loved.

That is also around the time when I let go of teenage lust as my north star and started fostering friendships instead; because like, relationships are bonds and connections, nothing more or less. Sexuality and romantic love can take as big or as small of a role in that as the parties desire, and they're entirely ornamental to the value of linking your experience with another living, breathing human. Realizing the divinity and beauty in that changes almost everything in an instant. And it is such a goofy-ass thing to say, but yeah, for a lost idiot dude like me, fandom helped me see that. Even the raunchiest fics were ultimately about belonging and emotional nakedness, and I learned to desire that more than anything else. I am trying so hard to point to something specific here, but I honestly don't know with way back then. Bioware's found family-ass games/fanfics were a big one later on, but there were so many other communities before. My memory's just bad.

But knowing I wanted love was one thing, and being a healthier, more empathetic person ready to actually get that was a whole other trek. Made a few more dumb interpersonal mistakes. And then I met my current partner, now over twelve years ago, and realized there was a version of me reflected in her eyes that I could truly chase and grow into. This all sounds super melodramatic but it was more of a terrifying thought at the time, stoking self-doubt and real worry that I was leading her into a mistake. But of course that was all a symptom of terminal self-awareness. We were in our early 20s, mature enough not to play childish emotional games, and young enough to go on that growth journey together. More luck. Found that gentle peace I had yearned for with her., and I count my lucky stars to this day.

In short, everything about my understanding of love and relationships is rooted in personal circumstance + massive amounts of luck, and especially that early course-correction away from toxic dudeness. Nothing extracurricular. And then just more and more luck piled on with time, culminating with my lovely bean. So in that sense I'm the worst person to ask this question! And times have really changed irt internet culture and fandom so I can't even point at that part as an action point either.

But if nothing else, I believe that storytelling is the ultimate shortcut in getting our dumb teenage brains over the precipice of pride and control, and towards the gentle pursuit of love in all its forms. I think that's worth articulating over and over again. Thanks for reading this long and I promise I usually interpret asks like a normal person! This is an exception!!! a big question if there ever was one

[holygraund]

I really love your gifs, but I don't like that you almost never link a video source. You can literally save a draft with the video link so it doesn't get lost or forgotten, it's not that hard and not giving credit to the videos is unfair.

Hi, I'd been called out before because of this, and I had apologized. I'm deeply sorry and it's not my intention to disrespect anyone. I will do better and actually I've been doing it for months but please know that I don't normally make gifs of videos right on the day I download the videos. I only get to make gifs of them when I have time and it could be weeks or even months later. I get 99% of the videos from youtube, and I do have a way to keep the links in case I or anyone else would need them. But youtube is notorious for removing tour videos of higher quality within a very short period of time. So like, by the time I get to make gifs & upload them, the videos are long gone like removed already. I don't really see the point of linking the unavailable youtube links so that's why. I will try to make gifs sooner after I download them and before the links stop working, but on that I really can't promise anything. Also there are still dozens of gifs in my queue without video sources because I made them a long time ago out of videos from a longer time ago, I apologize for that in advance.

[hopelesshawks]

Companionship XP Part 34- Eden (SFW version)

18+ Kaminari Denki x fem!reader quirkless, streamer au

Summary: The decision to start a youtube channel was a spur of the moment thing. Sure you’d watched your friends have great success with their own channels, but when you uploaded your first video playing Genshin you never would have guessed it would take off the way it did. You’re perfectly content with the community you’ve built but if there’s one thing you’ve been missing, it’s someone to co-op with. When Mina offers to link you up with one of her old friends with his own channel, you just hope he won’t be too obnoxious. Enter Kaminari Denki. He’s definitely obnoxious, but he’s also so much more.

Masterlist Help Lulu <3

You don’t realize you hadn’t thought about where exactly Denki is taking you until he finally stops, killing the engine and tapping your hands gently where they’re still tightly clutching onto him to let you know you’ve arrived. 

“C’mon babe we’re here,” he prods gently and as you withdraw your face from where you’d been hiding it you’re a little surprised to find yourself outside a park gate in the city.

“Where are we?” you ask curiously as you and Denki both climb off the bike. 

“Hamarikyu Gardens.”

You give him a curious look, not quite understanding.

“Seemed like you could use someplace peaceful to decompress. It’s not super popular here in the first place plus we’re too late in the season for cherry blossoms but too early for the ginkgo trees. So it should be quiet for us, I doubt there’s very many other people around to bother us.”

You can only gape at Denki for a moment, stunned silent by the touching gesture.

“Should I have taken you home? Shit I totally should have just taken you home. This is too much right? I’m sorry, I wasn’t even thinking I just thought maybe in case someone managed to follow us but as soon as I was pretty sure I’d lost them I still should have-”

“Denki!”

You cup his face in your hands as you cut off his rambling, leaning in to press a brief kiss to his lips.

“This is perfect… Thank you.”

The grin you get in response is almost blinding in its beauty and intensity. Denki’s own hands come up to your cheeks, giving you an even more enthusiastic kiss before taking one of your hands in his and dragging you into the gardens. 

You can tell he must do this a lot because he walks with a purpose when he steps inside, tugging you over a long bridge, past a cute little tea shop, and over to a little island amongst the many ponds filling the gardens. Once you’re there he swiftly removes his jacket and motions for you to sit on it, even when you insist you’re fine just sitting on the dirt. 

“C’mon what if you get cold?”

“Then I can cuddle you for warmth!”

You roll your eyes but accept his logic, even if the minute you’re both seated he pulls you into his lap, wrapping his arms around you and resting his chin on your shoulder anyway, making the sacrifice of his jacket unnecessary. 

And that’s pretty much how the two of you stay, wrapped up together as you watch the ebb and flow of the park around you. Ducks fly in and out of the area, the water level starts to shift, and the only sound other than that of nature, is Denki’s voice. He sheepishly explains that he’d gotten hyperfixated on the park once years ago, done a deep dive into its history, but at your gentle prompting you convince him to tell you everything he knows. He tells you about how the ponds are all salt water from Tokyo Bay, the grounds’ connection to nobility in feudal Japan, even about the tea house and its traditional ceremonies and festivals. It’s warm, even as the sun starts to sink low in the sky before dipping beneath the horizon. Time flows around you slowly and by the time an employee is ushering you both out, night has fallen properly and the air has gotten chilly. 

Denki drives you home wrapped in his jacket that smells like ozone, old spice, and the dirt he’d laid it down in. As you cling to his back, the wind whipping past, you can’t help but feel grateful and long for you to never make it back to your apartment. If you could extend these last couple minutes for an eternity so you’d never have to face the reality of your identity being exposed and could just live in this moment with your arms around a man you love, you would in a heartbeat. 

A man you love.

Perhaps it’s too early to call him that but it’s true. You love Denki, you realize. If it hadn’t been solidified before then it certainly was when you watched him risk a mob that could just have easily turned to clamor for him, just so he could get you out; that he came for you even without you having to ask. When he pulls up in front of your building and helps you off his bike you could just let him go back to his own place. It’s totally too early. Definitely. You’re going to freak him out. You should keep your mouth shut and go inside and just keep this revelation of yours close to your chest until a more appropriate time.

“I love you.”

Or, apparently, you could impulsively blurt it out just as he’s about to say goodbye. 

Denki blinks at you with wide surprised eyes and a dusting of pink across his cheeks that’s still visible even under the dim light of the moon and the streetlamps in front of your building. You’re just about to take it back, make some flimsy excuse about not meaning what you said and just being emotional after such a long day but then he steps closer into your space, his hands coming up to cup your cheeks as he stares at you with wonder-filled eyes.

“I love you too.”

When he leans in to kiss you it’s gentle, filled with disbelief and awe, like he’s worried if he kisses you too hard he’ll realize it’s all a mirage, an elaborate hallucination, or some other trick of the mind. So you wrap your arms around his neck and deepen the kiss yourself. It’s a reassurance, that you’re sure about your feelings and that you’re not going anywhere.

“Stay here with me tonight?”

“I’d be honored.”

“I love you Denki.”

“I love you too.”

A/N: Ahhhhhhhh I know, I know it's been so long since an update but I hope you guys really enjoy this and it was worth the wait. I'll be making an NSFW version of this at some point but I can't guarantee when that'll be and I'll probably prioritize writing part 34 since it's been so long since I updated. Anyway it's good to be back with another part, thank you guys so much for your patience. Love y'all <3

Taglist: @hutaoscoffinn @hhawkz @touyasdoll @pillboxmb @hoobish @fandomsgotmefucked @buckybearbabe98 @lovemegood @articmace

[graysongraysoff]

Happy October! For this year's October writing challenge I thought I'd try @whumptober, and I couldn't think of a better fandom to do it for than Batman! Here's hoping I make it through and that folks have as much fun reading these drabbles/ficlets as I do writing them. 💕

Subscribe to the series for daily updates.

Links to individual works below the cut:

Day 1. Adverse Effects Red Hood gets hit with Scarecrow’s fear toxin.

Day 2. Caged | Cornered | Confrontation Bruce and Dick are about to be cornered by the police. Dick insists that Bruce leave him and his broken leg behind, but Bruce hesitates.

Day 3. Gun to Temple Red Hood meets the new kid.

Day 4. Hidden Injury Bruce rushes into the Batcave with an injured Dick in tow. Only later does Alfred realize that Bruce doesn't look so good, either.

Day 5. Running Out of Air Dick struggles uselessly against the weights pulling him down below the water, hoping Bruce will get to him before it's too late.

Day 6. Ransom Video Bruce Wayne's 13-year-old ward is kidnapped. Not long after, the kidnappers post a ransom video online.

Day 7. Shaking Hands | Silent Panic Attack After Conner Kent's death, Tim Drake is coming apart at the seams.

Day 8. Back from the Dead The mindless, fear-addled thing that emerged from the Lazarus Pit in Jason Todd’s body wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize and is interrogated by a voice he cannot place.

Day 9. Protect In Bruce's final moments he's protecting his son.

Day 10. Made to Watch “And I thought, what better way to celebrate my relationship with Robin — or, I’m sorry, I know you’ve taken up my old moniker now, yet another bond the two of us share — but I thought, what better way to celebrate than with a reenactment of our fondest memory together?”

Day 11. Sloppy Bandages | Self-Done First Aid After the Joker uses Tim to stage a reenactment of Jason's death, Jason assesses the damage and helps him out as best he can.

Day 12. Stabbed It isn’t until his blade slides home that Damian senses that something is wrong. Silky laughter slinks into his ears; Poison Ivy’s laughter. His blood runs cold. He’d been fighting one of her mutant plants — her most advanced cultivation yet. It must have taken her ages to perfect it, to create a monster that could hold its own for as long as it had against a combatant like Damian Wayne. She should be furious… what does she know that he doesn’t?

Day 13. Fracture Dick Grayson tried to play Two-Face's game and lost, and now he has to pay the price for biting off more than he could chew.

Day 14. Carried to Safety Bruce rushes a gravely injured Dick Grayson back to the Batcave.

Day 15. Lies After his daughter dies as Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon promises he isn't going to let anyone else's children meet the same fate.

Day 16. Mind Control Dick regains consciousness as Jason is trying to get him back to the Batcave so his injuries can be treated, but it doesn't take Dick long to realize that something isn't right.

Day 17. Dazed and Confused Bruce wakes up in the hospital to find his mother beside him, despite the fact that she died decades ago.

Day 18. “Take my coat.” Officer Jim Gordon attempts to take Bruce Wayne's statement on the night of his parents' murder.

Day 19. Repeatedly Passing Out | Head Lolling Jason brings a battered Tim back to the Batcave for Alfred to patch up.

Day 20. Tears The Joker sets a bomb in Sheila Haywood’s agency warehouse, but this time Bruce arrives in time to save Jason  — at the cost of his own life.

Day 21. “You’re safe now.” Bruce comforts Jason after Jason wakes from a nightmare. At least, he thinks he does.

Day 22. Pick Your Poison | Toxic Dr. Crane asks Poison Ivy why they’ve never teamed up. Ivy gives him a clear, concise answer.

Day 23. Tied to a Table | “Hold them down.” The Joker has teamed up with Jervis Tetch, and together they’ve come up with a game for Bruce and his boys to play.

Day 24. Blood Covered Hands Commissioner Gordon fails to comfort Bruce Wayne after Dick Grayson dies to protect him.

Day 25. Lost Voice Bruce Wayne talks to Dick Grayson after his parents’ tragic deaths.

Day 26. “Why did you save me?” | Birthday Wild Card! Yuji eats the last of Sukuna’s fingers and Megumi carries out his execution.

Day 27. Muffled Screams Dick reflects on his growing fondness for the new Robin as he rescues him from a band of thugs.

Day 28. Anger Born of Worry Dick's life slips through Bruce's fingers.

[acespec-ed]

hi! literally two days ago, I kinda clocked I'm somewhere on the aro-ace spectrum, and I feel really lost. I assumed that i was heterosexual, but from watching a few videos i realised that I feel sexual attraction with conditions (?) and all the crushes I had were emotional/aesthetic attractions. I've never engaged in sexual activity before either. I just want to know, when/how do you realise that, "ok i'm not allosexual"? And how to navigate microlabels too? (sorry this is badly written!)

This turned out far longer than intended, so I'll give you microlabel resources first, a tl;dr answer to your other question, and then my long answer.

Microlabels- Your best bet to finding one is going to this glossary I wrote up: https://aceglossary.carrd.co/ It has just about every ace term and label I've found on this wiki, but actually categorized by type with definitions next to them for quick finding and viewing. I've even got a category called "sexual attraction under certain conditions," so you can start there! For examples of the more popular microlabels in action, you can check out this cereal comparison post I made that led to the creation of this blog. There's also this handy flowchart I made recently that you might have already seen but I'm linking it anyway. (And, obligatory "you don't have to use microlabels if you're happier using an umbrella term or even no labels!")

Now for the tl;dr answer to realizing you're not allo:

The “new and improved” defintion of being ace/arospec going around nowadays, goes along the lines of; “anyone who experiences sexual/romantic attraction different from what society expects.” If you feel like you experience attraction differently, whether you’re feeling it rarely/weakly, whether you only feel it under certain conditions, whether you even feel it at all, you’re ace/arospec. Some people might decide that, even if they technically fall under this definition, they’d rather not use any ace/arospec labels for whatever reason. But anyone who does fit that definition, can use those labels. You said you realized you feel sexual attraction under certain conditions, so that would mean you’re not allo, unless you decide you’d rather go by allo. 

The more in-depth answer:

Everyone’s journey towards discovering they’re not allo is different. Some people felt broken and alienated. Others discovered that, allos weren’t exaggerating when they made sexual comments about crushes. Some found out they fit in better with aces/aros than allos. Others randomly stumbled across the ace/aro spectrum and something just clicked.

Myself, I always felt like something was "wrong" with me. I'd been sex repulsed for as long as I could remember. Conversations surrounding sex and wanting sex made me feel very uncomfortable and alienated. I didn't know asexuality was a thing. Then, when I was 21, my boyfriend came along, and then I started feeling sexual attraction for the first time. It was weird and confusing, but I figured maybe I had just needed the "right person." A couple years later, I came across a Reddit post about finding strangers sexually attractive and everyone's comments brought back those alienated and confused feelings. Finally saw someone mention demisexuals and I looked that up, discovered the ace spectrum, and it explained everything!

So in my opinion, if you've gone your life feeling like something's off with yourself compared with the rest of the world, and come across the ace labels, and one of those labels brings you comfort and relief and just, explains so much! Then yeah, you're not allosexual.

Of course, not everyone has the journey of feeling alienated from society until coming across a label that Explains Everything. That's when it gets a lot harder to tell, and it sounds like you're more in that category. I'm like that in regards to my romantic orientation.

I'm orchidromantic. I do experience romantic attraction, but I lack an inherent desire to want to act on my feelings. It's been hard for me to figure out which of my past crushes were romantic attraction and which weren't, but never once have I felt "broken" romantically. I enjoy a good romance. I'm not opposed to being in any romantic relationships. On top of that, I grew up in a family where being single-by-choice is seen as a totally normal, not weird thing. So I often feel like I can't even relate to most aros. I have a hard time considering myself arospec because of it all.

However, I'd get so confused whenever alloromantics would talk about wanting to pursue their crushes, and wishing they were in a relationship, and how unrequited love is the Worst Feeling Ever! Meanwhile, I prefer celebrity/fictional crushes over real life person crushes because I fuckin' love admiring from afar!

So, am I arospec, or am I alloromantic? Most would say that comes down to my own personal preference. I prefer just going by orchidromantic. Unfortunately, most people don't know what that is, so I call myself alloromantic because alloromantics confuse me slightly less than aromantics. (And now, whenever alloros do confuse me, I can just kick back and think of how orchidromantic I am! Whereas I can’t even do that in aro spaces because I feel like my experiences with romance are too different from theirs to fit in with them. Though that could change if I ever find myself single again.)

Taking my examples into consideration, whether you're allo really comes down to personal feelings and how you relate to others. If most people are talking about people/attraction in a way that confuses you, then chances are, you're not allo. If you find an aspec label that brings you comfort, sounds accurate, and/or just seems to fit, then you're not allo. If you go into ace/aro spaces, and feel like you fit in there more than you fit in with allos, then you're not allo. If you want to still go by allo regardless, that's fine. But nobody can stop you from using any ace/aro labels.

I hope this long, rambling mess helped some! 💜💚

[lovingdreamworld]

Dream's Apology

On May 7th, 2022, Dream released an apology following his past videos come to light. In them were harmful racist and antisemitic jokes.

I have not been able to find this apology on tumblr, nor the original link. I believe it is necessary for me to post this here as a point of reference, especially with how easily misinformation circulates and resources are lost. As always, please use your own judgement.

Image ID below cut.

[Image ID: Screenshot of Dream's Pastebin 'Past' from May 7th 2022

"I’m writing this just as the thoughts come to my head so sorry if I ramble at all.

Just thought I’d readdress some things I’ve talked about before, and in turn, current events. The elephant in the room, I had bigoted humor, and some very privileged and bigoted views before Youtube. Point blank. I’ve talked openly about how YouTube changed me for the better, going from a very sheltered life to talking to people from all over the world, from different cultures and countries and communities. This is something I don’t mind talking about at all because I think growth is important, and that acknowledging that having done racist things, or other things of that nature, doesn’t make you racist. It’s your actions after knowing that what you did was racist or offensive that defines you. making sure you never do those things again, and recognizing that they’re gross, and completely unacceptable. that is what defines how you are as a person. Whether it’s a full blown racist ass “meme”, or just a micro aggression against a marginalized community. Recognizing it was wrong, and moving forward knowing that.

Some people grow up surrounded by only love & kindness & understanding and don’t realize how blessed they are to have been fed the things they were on social media, and things they were taught in school, from their parents, their friends, their local government, who all their role models were. Everyone has a different upbringing, and until you get out in the world and you meet people, you’re always a lot more ignorant. I didn’t have a twitter until 2018/19, a facebook, an Instagram, or any social media. Being able to talk to people in an instant, and have people not afraid to challenge my view point, or that didn’t have the exact same views as my friends or my family or my city, was something completely new to me. Something that at first I rejected completely, and didn’t try and LISTEN. I would listen just to know how to argue back, not to try and actually understand. Once I learned that there’s more to listening than just hearing what someone’s saying, I matured a lot and slowly but surely I met more and more awesome people and feel like a completely completely different person to even just 3 years ago when I had no social media at all.

Everything that people have been bringing up recently are things that are from videos that I deleted while I was learning and growing. There’s a reason you’re viewing it on the way back machine, and not my channel, and that they’ve been deleted since early 2020 or even 2019.

I’ve talked to fans of mine from all kinds of places and cultures and plenty of times that’s resulted in me deciding to take a video down, even if it was only one person I had a discussion with in private. A lot of my “humor” came from the YouTubers I watched growing up, and so knowing that, I’ve always strived to make sure my content is as friendly to people around the world as it possibly can be. No matter who it is. I feel like it’s my responsibility. I don’t want a kid to end up being accidentally hateful because it’s something that I made them feel like was okay. I’m not their parent, but sometimes creators can have more of an influence on someone’s heart than even their parents. I only want that to be positive.

It is upsetting seeing clips that I have removed long ago being brought up, because obviously they were removed for a reason. But like I’ve also talked about many times before, that’s going to unfortunately happen. When people see stuff like that, they will want some reassurance that you don’t hold those views, or that you were uninformed or being ignorant. but the fact is, that’s not always the case. Sometimes, you were just being racist. You can be being both ignorant and racist at the same time.

I’ve done racist things. I’ve done bigoted things. I’ve never done anything with the intent to harm someone, but I have definitely harmed groups of people without caring, or without understanding the effect my words or actions could have on that group. What struggles they have to deal with on a daily basis, and how me as a teenager didn’t care enough to understand that or realize that I was adding to hatefulness in the world. It sucks, it sucked, and I’m sorry.

It’s heartbreaking to see long since deleted clips resurface, because it’s paraded as if these are my current jokes, or my current positions, or that I am a horrible bigot, and when that happens, the hurt that my past self inflicted on probably a very small audience, now gets brought up again and amplified to hurt more people. It breaks my heart because I’ve always learned from my mistakes, and part of that has opened me up to being a lot more empathetic. It hurts seeing some of the random memes or jokes that I made growing up, because now I understand that they weren’t just jokes, they were harmful and they had real impact on those around me, even if I didn’t know it. People don’t need to see idiotic gross things that I did at a young age, or while growing up and finding myself as a person. that being said, I don’t want to just brush it off, because I feel like everything I’m saying here is important for you guys to hear, and it doesn’t matter how long ago something was, it’s bound to pop up at some point.

So I’ll just finish this by saying that I have nothing but love for everybody out there, I don’t care who you are, if you hate me or love me, where you’re from, or anything about you. you have value and worth, and you deserve to be listened to and understood. I’ll always do my best to learn and grow from my past mistakes, and listen to people when I make new ones, because I will. I ask that everyone judge me by my current content, my current character, and who I am now as a person, because that’s all I have to offer, and the best anyone can do. I’ll do my best to always be the best version of myself possible.

So I’ll just finish this by saying that I have nothing but love for everybody out there, I don’t care who you are, if you hate me or love me, where you’re from, or anything about you. you have value and worth, and you deserve to be listened to and understood. I’ll always do my best to learn and grow from my past mistakes, and listen to people when I make new ones, because I will. I ask that everyone judge me by my current content, my current character, and who I am now as a person, because that’s all I have to offer, and the best anyone can do. I’ll do my best to always be the best version of myself possible.

See you soon - Dream" End ID].

[corv-idae]

Hello!!! I was wondering if you could tell us about your tattoos? I love all of them and would like to similar ones :>

Hi!! Absolutely I can go over them for you!! Omg this is so exciting

I’m assuming this is in reference to this post from a while ago:

If it isn’t please forgive me 😭, but if it is this is about a year old so I’ve collected a couple others than the tattoos you see in these photos! I’d be delighted to go over them all though! Please feel free to use them as references for your tattoos (please don’t copy them directly out of respect for my tattoo artists who designed them (if not respect for me!) ((all artists listen here will be embedded with links to their respective social media pages))

The two that are probably most important are the ones on the backs of my arms! Revali’s Great Eagle Bow and Miphas Trident! (this photo was taken the day these were done by Saraostattoo) :

The first tattoo I ever got is on the back of my shoulder, I forget it’s there all the time, my mom proof read this for me and asked about it being missing lol it was done by mariangelo.tattoo this photo is healed 3 years or so

I’m also rockin a couple pieces by politeslut !

The first piece she did for me was a Big Flash sheet design of some rose hips! (Ouch ouch) picture is 6months healed

She’s also done a Celtic symbol on my upper arm that matches with my aunt (I won’t get into explaining symbolism, sorry this photo is also terrible taking these on my own with my cellphone is proving to be not my forte, yes this one needs to be touched up)

And most recently for me she did a Great Big Freehanded Snake! (this one is so difficult to take pictures of & only a month old/healing but you can find the process pictures of it here)

The last handful & majority of my tattoos were done by rat.tooth.tattoo ! The first one he ever did for me being a Postage Stamp Flash Piece this photo is from the day of:

He then did my elbow ditch Dynamax Butterfree, photo also from the day of (this is a common theme):

My video game herb bundle half sleeve, this one’s a doozy so you get the TikTok and the drawing:

He’s also done my hands as a memorial piece for when I lost my cat this past year (he lived to be 21 and he was an awful old bastard & my best friend)

Thank you if you made it this far, I don’t think I’ve ever made a post this long before! If there’s any questions or if you want to share your tattoos with me I’d love to see them! I hope this is what you were looking for & if not let me know what I can do to fix that :D

[blackboxwarrior]

hi hi :) i apologize in advance for sending such a long ask lol. i’m hoping maybe you can help me with something? a couple years ago i saw a tumblr post about will wood. this was the first time i’d ever heard of him and for some reason the post caught my attention and i went and listened to him and i’ve been absolutely in love with his work ever since. so here’s my problem, for the past couple days i’ve been attempting to find said post with no luck. i originally thought it was on another blog but after searching through their archive multiple times (and multiple months just to be safe) i still haven’t found it. so i started to worry perhaps i’d misremembered the op, and perhaps the other blog had simply reblogged the post (and for whatever reason i just can’t find it, maybe it’s lost, maybe they deleted it, idk) so i thought maybe YOU had made the post (or maybe you know the op) if it helps, iirc, the post either contained a video (or a link to a video) of blackboxwarrior (i believe the thumbnail was the the cover of the normal album but i’m starting to sort of doubt that) and of course this was a little after tna came out, so from about july-september of 2020 is my estimate for when the post was made. i know this is very long winded, again i’m sorry about that lol. and of course if you weren’t the op, or you have no idea what i’m even talking about, i completely understand! i do have another idea about who op might be so it’s possible i will have to send another very similar ask. but anyway this has just been aggressively bashing around my brain for a while now so i thought i would ask :)

I wasnt really a big poster back then so I doubt it was me! But the video in question is likely this version of blackboxwarrior