#but ok when the principal was like there’s not enough students in robotics we have to shut this class down :[ like. in the middle of term?

[aroaessidhe]

2022 reads // twitter thread  

The Trouble With Robots

middle grade about a girl who keeps getting kicked out of her classes & the overcontrolling team leader who have to work together to get their team to the upcoming robotics competition

learning to work together and becoming friends

bi autistic & questioning aroace MCs

[thechangeling]

The Game: Chapter 2: Strange Fascination

 My upload schedule is a mystery from now on... sorry 

tw: slight ableism

Ty was not having the best of days.

English was tricky for him. Sure he loved to read, but most of the books that he had to read for school were not to his liking. Also Ty's English teacher didn't seem to be the biggest fan of his. Ty had a tendency to ask all kinds of questions about the material that apparently were deemed inappropriate or annoying.

Also his EA was absent today and the school didn't have the budget for a substitute. So Ty was struggling to focus and follow along with what the teacher was saying. He wished he could text Livvy to make the time go by faster, but she apparently had gotten her phone privileges revoked for the week. Ty sighed, attempting to refocus. He hadn't been taking notes because the teacher, Ms. Wayburn was going too fast. He had spent the last half hour stimming with his pencil and staring up at the ceiling, counting the smudges of dirt around the edges.

"So moving on-" Ms. Wayburn's voice came back into focus. "For our next unit, which is poetry, we are going to be examining the works of Shakespeare."

Instant groans and muttering broke out around the classroom. Ty shared their sentiments. He wasn't exactly a Shakespeare person and he was even less of a Romeo Juliet person. Ty hated those types of stories.

"So" she continued sharply. "Since you are all so eager, who can tell me what the theme of Romeo and Juliet is?" Ms. Wayburn began to pace down the aisles of their desks, looking at them expectantly. Reluctantly, a petite blond white girl put up her hand. Ty couldn't remember her name.

"Well it's a love story right?" she answered timidly. "They loved each other so much that they died for each other."

Ty tried his best to have no reaction to what she was saying, but there was a definite nausea spreading through his insides. He thought about going on his phone, but Ms. Wayburn was too close by.

"I was thinking of something a little more abstract then that but that's also true" Ms. Wayburn said cheerfully.

"No it's not" Ty blurted out.

Ms.Wayburn sighed dejectedly, "Tiberius don't interrupt." But Ty wasn't really listening to her.

"It's not really a love story, that isn't the point," Ty protested. "It's about a pointless feud that led to the deaths of two innocent teenagers. It's a tragedy. That's the whole point!" 

The nameless blond girl glared at Ty furiously. 

"Well maybe some of us are romantics," she shot back bitterly. "Maybe some of us prefer to see the beauty in things rather then pulling everything apart and analyzing it. Maybe some of us aren't emotionless robots who don't understand how love works."

"Tiffany!" Ms. Wayburn shouted.

So that was her name.

A series of hushed muttering broke out around the classroom. Some of them were giggling, some sounded angry, but all Ty heard was noise. 

"Fuck off" he snapped at Tiffany.

"Alright that is enough!" Ms. Wayburn turned his scathing gaze on him. "Tiberius go to the principal's office immediately." 

Ty thought about protesting. He thought about pointing out that Tiffany had started it. But in the end there was no point.

There was nothing that Ty could say that would change the fact that he was the autistic kid causing a scene. 

Ty took a breath, gathered up his things and walked out of the classroom without saying a word.

xxxxxxxx

In the past two years Kit Herondale had attended five high schools. Do to his father's less then legal activates, they were forced to move around a lot. Then when he was finally arrested and Kit was put in foster care, a kind younger couple with a newborn daughter.  All of the high schools he had been to were more or less the same, with their bland boring brick structures and beige paint. 

Alicante high was no different.

Kit had been in school for less then a week and he had already managed to get himself sent to the principle's office. He had tried to pick pocket one of his classmates in biology who looked like he had a decent amount of money. 

Unfortunately his teacher had noticed and busted him. 

Now was sitting across from Principal Loss who did not look even slightly amused. She was a fairly intimidating and well put together woman with deep brown skin, ebony long coarse braids which contrasted against her white blazer and dress pants and serious brown eyes. Kit was fidgeting with his backpack strap as Professor Loss finished typing something on her computer.

"So Christopher," she began, "you're a bit of an anomaly aren't you? Five schools in the last two years, in and out of foster homes, run-ins with the law, and now here you are trying to rob my students." she sounded surprisingly matter of fact but her gaze was sharp and unforgiving. 

"Sorry. It won't happen again," he muttered dejectedly, looking over at the clock on the wall. He wondered how long she was planning on keeping him here. Principal Loss sighed and was silent for a moment. 

"Christopher-" 

"It's Kit," he insisted. 

"Kit I want you to know that I am not unsympathetic to your situation. But I will not tolerate theft on my campus or criminal activity of any kind." She gave him a stern look. "Consider this a warning. Next time you will face disciplinary action. Is that clear?"  

Kit fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes," he said reluctantly. "Yes it is."

"Excellent!" Principal Loss exclaimed with a smile. "That will be all then."

Kit pulled himself to his feet, swinging his backpack over his right shoulder. He started towards the door to leave when suddenly it swung open and for a moment the world stood still.

Standing in front of Kit was a boy who looked about his age. He was tall, with dark hair, stormy grey eyes, sharp angles and pale skin. He had wireless headphones over his ears that pushed part of his hair out in a slightly weird angle. But it was beautiful. Everything about him was. 

He was staring off past Kit's shoulder, tapping his fingers slightly against his thigh.

Look at me. Kit wanted to say. 

Please.

"Ah Tiberius," Principal Loss called out from behind him. "Yes I was expecting you. I just read the email from Ms. Wayburn. We need to talk." She looked over at Kit. 

"You can go now" she said pointedly. 

Right. He was supposed to be leaving. Not ogling some stranger. 

The boy, Tiberius slid off his headphones and walked past Kit, barely acknowledging him. 

OK fine.

Kit shook his head and rushed out of the office without sparing him a second glance. 

Little did he know. The boy was staring after him.

tagging @ti-bae-rius @zafirafoxx @anxiousbookenthusiast @eutony-in-whisper @dianasarrow @stxr-thxif @magnus-the-fabulous-entp-bane @thelandunderthehilll @julieandthefandoms @banesbitch 

[satsuki2406]

OPEN SKY  Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"...And never, ever forget that, your dreams are the wings that'll help you fly."

(L/N)(Y/N) has always been forced to live according to others' expectations. As a member of the powerful and influential (L/N) Family, she has had to live with the heavy weight of seeing others write her destiny with no choice but just obey. But when (Y/N) finally decides to risk it all to take the only opportunity to regain the control of her own life, everything ends up going horribly wrong. Surrendered and disappointed, she receives one last chance to prove to herself and to U.A, along with some unexpected help that this was not a crazy and meaningless waste of time.

Maybe this plan could work after all...

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Mentions of sex, My poor attempt of comedy, family dysfunctionality, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: Failure

Chapter 2: Sometimes the Greatest Hero of All is a Good Friend

Masterlist \(￣︶￣*\))

3-Her Start

The weekend you spent with your best friend was full of good memories and laughter. You recovered your self-trust and conviction to keep going. But as blissful as it was it quickly came to an end. Before you knew it, it was Monday again, which means school, fortunately, this was the last week before graduation, even if you mom forced you to go to that insipid private academy in Tokyo, you'll keep chasing your aspirations no matter what. It was still I little bit cold but the weather was slowly changing as the spring got closer. Over your school uniform, you were wearing the school uniform’s coat that had their logo embroidered and your fluffy (f/c) scarf to keep you warm on your way to the school door.

In the blink of an eye, you and Momo already got to the shoe lockers to change into your respective uwabaki.* While changing your shoes a thought came to your mind, you wanted to touch the matter but didn't know how without making things awkward. "Hey Momo, your test, for the recommended students, you already had it right?"

A little taken aback by your comment Momo hesitated a little before answering unsure. "Y-Yeah, that's correct, I wasn't sure if I could tell you, you know..."

"Please don't feel bad about sharing your successes with me, I would be more than happy to hear how it went for you, you're my friend and I feel happy that you're one step closer to your dream, after all, you also want to be a hero, just like me. You were nice enough to spend the last weekend with me to make me feel better I didn't even ask you once how was it for you, I'm a pampered brat, aren’t I?"

Momo smiled sweetly at you in understanding. "What about if I fill you out on the details of my day at U.A during lunch?"

"Sounds like a plan."

🍱🍱🍱

"Alright ladies this is all for today, there are another 5 minutes before the bell rings. So, you're allowed to socialize in the meantime, please let's keep things calm and low volume please."

"Hey, Momo!~ I've got an idea! They are showing a really good movie right now! Do you want to see it with me?"

"I'll love to, but my mother requested my presence at home as soon as school is finished, my chauffeur is already waiting for me outside, so, unfortunately, I see myself unable to go. But aren't you still grounded?"

"Oh, right, I forgot it..." You puffed off your cheeks in annoyance.

Just in cue, a small vibration came from your skirt pocket adverting you of an incoming message.

'Oh, is Nobu-san, I wonder what happened?'

Good afternoon (Y/N)-sama, I wanted to notify you beforehand that this morning you received two letters; one of them is from the Tokyo's Science Academy, probably respecting your upcoming enrollment.

'Ugh, of course...'

Regarding the second letter, the U.A’s crew is way competent and faster than we thought, I made sure to put the envelope under one of your bed pillows, please make sure to check it out as soon as you arrive home so Xiù-sama won't notice it. I already sent the chauffeur to pick you up as soon as possible.

"."

".."

"..."

"...."

"....."

"WhAaAt?!"

"(L/N)-san! I strongly urge you to refrain from shouting in class!"

"S-sorry, Tanaka-sensei" The slight giggles of your classmates could be heard, but it was short-lived thanks to the shrill sound of the school bell announcing the end of the school day.

"(Y/N) are you ok? You look a bit pale. Something happened at home?" Momo asked, but unfortunately for your friend the last of your worries was explain yourself. Without giving it too much of a thought you took your school bag and burst out the class."SorryMomonotimetoexplainseeyoutomorrowbyeeee!!"

Before she could even understand what you just said, Momo couldn't do anything more than see you disappear among the crowd flooding the halls.

"What in heaven just happened?"

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️💨

After sprinting to the school gate, you could spot in the distance a black limo, Sasaki-san, the same chauffeur that brought your mom to U.A that fateful afternoon one week ago, was waiting outside the car, straight as a lamppost with a serious almost bored look on his face. After you finally approached him, he lightly bowed his head and greeted you. "Good afternoon, (Y/N)-sama, I hope you had a pleasant day" His tome was monotone and robotic, almost like he just repeated a script that had learned out of habit at this point. "Good afternoon Sasaki-san, I did thank you, and yourself?" 

“Lovely indeed” he said almost sarcastically and opened the car's door for you. You quickly made your way in and he closed the door behind you.

Lost in your thoughts time passed faster than you imagined. Before you could notice a glimpse of your house appeared among the trees. The imposing structure made its way through the vast gardens that adorned its surroundings.

You wanted to just get there and finally get the closure you needed about this whole situation, leave your guilt and disappointment behind so you could start over again and move forward to your goal in a more positive note. Up to your room was a blur, you think that maybe a couple of maids greeted you on your way but you were too busy to notice or care, did you even take your shoes off at the genkan*? Who knows, who cares.

You opened your door desperately, closing and locking it to avoid being interrupted. Fixing your eyes on the exact place your fate laid made your heart race like never before, you started walking there slowly, almost cautiously, to sprint with all your might, throwing yourself at the bed and tossing the soft obstacles in your way to find in the middle, a crisp white envelope with a red wax seal, with the iconic logo printed on it. Dread and uncertainty invaded you, were you ready for this? What if they think you were not hero material after all? ‘No! let's just rip the bandit off at once and get over this already’. With a surge of newfound courage, you opened the envelope, tearing the seal apart in the process. Once it was open you could find a letter and a round metal object inside, you took it in your hand to analyze it closer but suddenly a bright light was shooted from its center, startling you and letting it fall obstreperously on the floor.

"Ahhh!"

The light then elongated and shaped itself into some kind of screen, showing what looks to be some kind of small white animal. "Greetings, young lady! My name is Nezu, the one who could be a mouse or a dog or a bear but the only important thing is...I'm the Principal!"

"T-The Principal?!"

"Very well then, I assume that you would prefer me to go right to the point, you must be anxious right now" You gulped nervously and nodded your head as he could see you. "In your written exam you got an outstanding score of 87! Well done!"

'At least I did something right' You thought melancholically.  

"But..."

'Here it comes'

"...Unfortunately, you weren't that successful during your practical exam, in the end, you only earned 31 points, that, as you must know, is not enough to approve this test, since the minimal score is 45"

'I knew it...'

Your vision started to get blurred due to the fat tears that started to accumulate in your eyes. You knew this would happen, but that didn't make it less frustrating.

“However, there’s something that especially caught my attention, and although I’m not a doctor or any medicine specialist by any means I noticed you looked a little off, sick perhaps.Your movements looked sluggish, your breathing seem even more labored than it would have been in the situation you were in not to mention you passed out in the middle of the exam.”

“You’ll see, here at U.A we take special care of the whole process involved in our admission trials, not only to make sure that every single step is performed correctly, the rules are followed and the safety measures compiled but also to prevent the usual improper practices like fraud and cheating, reason why we had installed thousands of cameras with the propose to keep a close eye on all of you.”

'Wow, U.A really goes over the top about everything' You sweatdropped.

"That's the reason why after analyzing your performance carefully, the teaching staff and myself were awed when we notice that indeed you were straining yourself and even managed to save one of the applicants of the attack of a three-pointer, with the last of your strength you pushed him far away from danger knowing the little time you had and your deteriorated condition, you sacrificed yourself for the wellbeing of a stranger, without hesitation"

"Save? But I thought I could do anything at all!-"

"There's a phrase that says that we rise by lifting others, thanks to your selfless help, this young man you saved could complete his test and also had the time and strength enough to get your back after you blacked out. He was also nice enough to handle you to Recovery Girl's capable hands. As you could see, you received some extra points in your final score, these were Rescue Points, a panel of judges conformed by the teachers watch closely these battles and award this kind of heroic gestures, which boosted your original score of 14 points."

"And is because of your heroic spirit that I'm here, in front of you, to make you an offer.” Your breathing hitched, your eyes opened like saucers and you could swear that your heart stopped for a second. 

“We of course never do this kind of exceptions, a once in a lifetime opportunity per se, but I, the Principal, had decided to give you a chance to start again, it may be more competitive than the first test you took but, what is the life of a hero without a good challenge?"

"A-A second chance?!" Your teary eyes widened at this revelation. Was U.A, the U.A High School, not only seeing the potential in you but also wanting to give you another chance?!

'This is so crazy!' You thought tearing up.

"Usually some students, as a precautionary measure apply for both the Hero Course and the General Studies Course, in case they fail to get in the first one, if they meet the necessary requirements could hit a spot in the latter one, with the hopes of competing internally for one of the coveted positions in our prestigious Heroism Department...."

"God! What I didn't think of that?! Like a security net that will catch you in case you fall, clever..." You pondered

"As you well know you did not opt for this, but we had decided unanimously to make a space for you in the General Studies Course as your second chance and a fresh start here, at U.A."

"As I mentioned before, the competition is more ferocious internally because of the really small quantity positions, sometimes there's only one transferred student or not transfers at all, so you must work hard because you need at least 85% of approval from the teachers to get into the Hero course."

"So, I need to make merits to get in, I wonder how though-"

"You must be wondering, how to get that approval and enter the world of your dreamed career?!  Let me enlighten you then! There are several ways to do this but the most common and effective is..."

"...Is?!"

"Is...!"

"The U.A Sports Festival! The annual competition that Japan is so crazy about that forgot about the Olympic Games and where everybody can take a look at the future and witness the rising of their future heroes! And of course the perfect place for you to show what you're made of! The U.A Sports Festival not only is a great chance for the Hero Course pupils to show their abilities, but for the ones who were left behind, that they also have a lot to offer, and a chance that I'm sure you won't waste at all."

"I won't!"

"So please, let us know what you think, We already see inmense potential on you, we think-no, we believe that you will not disappoint. All the important information, forms and consent letters are attached and listed inside the envelope, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us at our website www.uahigh.com.jp/newstudentexperience to chat live with one of our representatives or call us at 1-800-UAHIGHJ (1-800-824-4445) or drop by at our headquarters in U.A. Remember that the due date to send the forms with your parents' authorization and uniform measurements and specifications is March 25th!"

"Oh my God, I got in... I GOT IN!!! Yes, I did it!" You then started to jump on your bed carried by the excitement, then a little detail crossed your mind. "Crap! My mom would never sign the authorization form! She'll rather take off her own eyes than do that! I don't want to involve dad in this, he's been receiving mom's colder shoulder lately and he looks kinda depressed, just remember the fight hey had that night give me the hives. What can I do? How can I-"

"This device will self-destruct in 10 seconds!"

"...What."

"10!"

"9!"

"Oh God, Oh God No! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!"

"8!"

As best as you could you quickly jumped off your bed and hid inside your walk-in closet closing and locking the door behind you. "Was it that necessary to make it explode?!" You closed your eyes and covered your ears as waiting for some kind of impact.

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Just kidding! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"..."

"WHAAAAT?!"

"Excuse me (Y/N)-sama? Are you ok?" One of the maids asked while knocking your door. You ran out of the closet and threw all evidence of your recent conversation with the fury Principal under your bed.

"Y-Yes! I'm fine! P-Perfectly fine!"

"I heard some screams and voices inside; do you have any guest? Do you want me to bring some refreshments?" Immediately you opened the door and were faced with the maid that you liked the least, she was a middle-aged woman who always drove herself in a hypocritical and double-face kind of way.

You could see from pretty far away that she didn't like you the least, looking her in the eyes was enough to know, the resentment and indifference were palpable. For her, you were nothing more than a spoiled filthy rich brat and that was more than enough to hate you. She also was a notable gossipmonger and was of general knowledge among the service crew that she could not keep a secret for dear life, which your mother took advantage of to monitor you and the house in general when she was absent. All in exchange of a juicy bonus in her weekly check.

"There's nobody with me Uwasaki-san, I was watching some YouTube videos, and an ad came out, a really loud one." You opened your door a little more to show her, she peeked into your room a little to look closer, everything was in order, except for the dropped pillows and a panda plush, it was just like you said, all she could find was a flat screen with a paused video showing in it.

She gave you a skeptical look first before convincing herself you were saying the truth and gave you one of her infamous fake smiles. "I see, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know, I'll be close by fixing one of the guest's rooms."

"Oh, who's coming?" You asked, half trying to diffuse the awkwardness, half out of truly curiosity.

"Kaguya-sama, she asked Xiù-sama for advice in one of her university projects, Chemistry I think"

'It makes sense, with the kind of quirk she has, chemistry was always one of her strengths'

"I see."

"Alright, if you excuse me, I'll be taking my leaving."

After this, she turned and walk in the direction of the guest's rooms mumbling complains about how slow this day has been so far, with nothing interesting to report, not juicy scandal to uncover and how she hoped that the rest of the week could deliver something better. As you heard her steps get lost in the immensity of the hallway, checking she was gone for sure, you closed your door leaning your back on it while you slowly slide to the floor.

'That was close!, I've never been happier to forget to turn the tv off before going to school, I must be careful, I have to find a way to convince them to let me go, after the second chance I received, I can't back up, I don't want to. It's decided then! I’ll go to U.A no matter what.'

"Hmm... So, U.A? Maybe get you out of my way would be easier than I thought, dear cousin."

*Uwabaki (上履き): They are a type of Japanese shoes worn indoors at home, school or certain companies and public buildings where street shoes are prohibited.

*Genkan (玄関): are traditional areas for houses, apartments or buildings. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door. The primary function of the genkan is to leave your shoes before entering the main part of a house or building.

-The word 'Uwasa' (噂) means gossip combined with the kanji 'Ki' (機) or machine forms the word Rumor or Gossip Machine (噂機) Uwasaki.

-I'm learning Japanese on my own, so I thought it could be interesting and fun to try to construct some (Last)names inspired in the oc’s quirks and personality just like Horikoshi does. As I said I'm a beginner and all the feedback is welcome! If you have suggestions or corrections let me know! I'm open to learning! 😊 

🏷Taglist

@alex-sulli​  Hope you like it ~\(≧▽≦)/~

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Arrowverse Science Fair AU

~2004 National Highschool (Gr. 8-12) Science Fair

Projects:

Felicity Smoak (Gr. 9) – Computer software to detect card counters. She may or may not have hacked into online card games to test it (this wasn’t included in/on her project.)

Cisco Ramon (Gr. 8 or 9) – Piano playing robot. He thought it played better than Dante. His parents didn’t agree.

Caitlin Snow (Gr. 9) – Analysis of physiological response to various stimuli. She wanted to find stimuli that would help kids cope with traumatic experiences (say crashing their bike or losing their father.) If she was able to find something that made her mom show some/any emotion that would be a bonus.

Barry Allen (Gr. 9) – Growing crystals (lots of different and cool ones). His project started out as an attempt to make something special for Iris for her birthday but turned into an elaborate project. It ended up being a good choice because 1) it reminded Barry of his parents (the first science experiment they did together was grow Borax crystals on pipecleaner and 2) it followed Joe’s ‘your science fair project must make, not destroy things’ rule instated after Barry’s Gr. 6 project.

Alex (Gr. 9) and Kara (Gr. 8) Danvers – Birds in my Backyard. Eliza had insisted on Alex getting Kara involved in her science fair project this year. Alex was excited to show Kara the science fair experience she enjoyed but wanted to pick a topic she knew more about that Kara (her knowledge of math and science was intimidating enough without the superpowers). Seeing Kara’s interest in birds they decided to study birds in their backyard. With Alex’s design and Kara’s powers they built tall post’s and attached bird houses and feeders with differing properties. They then monitored which kinds of birds built nests and ate from where (with some help from Kara’s flight and X-ray vision). Alex also picked 5 nests from different species to chronicle the embryo and chick development. Kara enjoyed doing the project and learning about birds from Alex. The actual science fairs, not so much but those were Alex’s favourite part. Note: Streaky was locked in the house for the duration of the project so he wouldn’t eat any of the birds.

Winn Schott (Gr. 11) – Pop-up room/ room in a suitcase. Being in the foster system for the last couple years inspired Winn to design a room that collapsed to the size of a suitcase for easy transport but could expand in less than a minute into a nice-sized, fully-furnished, sound-proof room, so no matter how many times a foster kid was moved around they always had their own space and stuff. Also good for camping, travel and special short-term events (like waiting in line at conventions).

Lena Luthor (Gr. 5) – Oxygen absorbing/releasing crystal that could allow breathing underwater. After her Mum drown when Lena was four, she was determined to develop a simple way for people to breath under water. She was able to do just that by synthesizing a substance that absorbed and stored large amounts of oxygen then released it slowly (so if someone held in in their mouth, they could breathe underwater). She was happy and excited that her mom and older brother were interested in her project but a little frustrated and concerned that they were so focused on its ability to absorb all the oxygen from a room (in a big enough amount). Although she supposed it could be used in that capacity to control/extinguish fires. Note: although in elementary school, Lena got to compete against the high schoolers since her project was so advanced for her age.

Sara Lance (Gr. 11) – The Biomechanics of Dance and Martial Arts. As punishment for skipping classes, then sassing her teacher and principal when they tried to discipline her for skipping classes, Sara had to complete a science fair project. To make the best of it Sara chose something that interested her. In hindsight she wished she hadn’t. Her project was so good she was chosen to represent her school at the state and national science fair.

Ronnie Raymond (Gr. 9-12?)- Structural design to minimize Superman related damage in Metropolis. Ronnie was proud of his project and had enjoyed analyzing the powers of Metropolis’ hero, but he lost any chance he had at winning when he decided to leave his project to go flirt with Caitlin. At least Kara, whose project was next to his, seemed interested.

Hartley Rathaway – something to do with sound waves

Lily Stein (Gr. 11) – designing and comparing different miniaturized forms of renewable energy sources. She had some help from her dad.

Patty Spivot – Recreation of crime scene evidence using food models. A bunch of her friends (her whole cabin actually) from her summer camp for those interested in law enforcement came to support her.

-       Maggie Sawyer – seemed really interested in the bird project

-       Ralph Dibny – found every project that said it was OK to touch. His favourite was slime. To Patty’s surprise he didn’t break anything.

-       Dinah Drake – hung out with Patty most of the time. Talked to Hartley, beside her, about his project on sound waves for a bit (seemed kinda interested). Patty joined her when she got into a conversation with Sara, across the way, and Laurel about the implications of her biomechanics project in fighting and self-defence. The rest of the time they talked about that Vince guy from camp Dinah thought was cute.

-       Eddie Thawne – he hung out with Patty most of the time too but did do a lap of the fair with Iris, who was there supporting Barry, when she accepted his offer to buy her something at the concession.

Notable events:

- Clark came to see Alex and Kara’s project and brought James and Lois with him. Kara and Clark (very subtly) tested the models on the project beside them that had been abandoned and were said to be superman proof/resistant. They were very impressed to discover the models did indeed stand-up to heat vison, freeze breath and super-strength leading Clark to believe the student had a bright future. James spent most of his time talking to Winn about his pop-up room project because, “Don’t you think these would be way better than cubicles, the Daily Planet should definitely purchase some.”

- Cat Grant, a young reporter from the National City Tribune pushing a stroller, came around and interviewed all the contestants because, “What better place to find the next world changing innovator or innovation” as she put it when she stopped to talk to Clark (more like flirt Kara thought). Alex used Clark distracting Cat as an opportunity to play with the baby in the stroller. This was the only time during the entire science fair Alex was distracted, except maybe when Maggie had come, but they mainly talked about the project like Alex did with everyone, which left Alex wondering why it felt different. During their entire interview Cat called Kara Kira, much to her annoyance. At least the baby seemed to like her. This interview sparked a conversation between Kara, Lois and Clark about journalism which Iris overhead while she was visiting Barry and joined in.

- Graduate students Ray Palmer and Curtis Holt were volunteer judges and ticket takers. Curtis wore a varsity jacket over his shirt and tie which covered his name tag, but at every project he judged he would describe every aspect as terrific, so the contestants started calling him Mr. Terrific. While judging Barry’s project they began a discussion about their favourite elements/minerals/gems. Barry couldn’t decide so joked he liked Barium. Ray shared his love for dwarf star alloy with a ‘quick’ lecture about its rumoured properties and potential uses. Curtis listed at least 10 compounds essential for modern tech as he flip-flopped back and forth trying to decide a favourite and Lex Luthor who was visiting his sister’s project beside them interjected that he favoured kryptonite. While taking tickets Curtis witnessed the following interaction. He asked Damian Darhk, who was carrying baby Nora, what brought him to the science fair. He responded with “These are the brightest young minds in the country and being young means they are malleable. So, there is nowhere better to recruit future talent for my enterprise.” Malcolm Merlyn, who was behind, him added “I know exactly what you mean with what the world’s coming to we’re going to need a bright mind to save it.” This led Tommy, who was accompanying him, to say “I thought we were just here to support the Queen’s.” Then one of the other judges, Dr. Harrison Wells aka Eobard Thawne in disguise, added “No your Dad is right. This world’s next HERO could be in this very room. I’ve already made a list of students to keep my eye on.” He pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. On it Curtis saw four names: Hartley Rathaway, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Ronnie Raymond. This led to a long conversation between the three men about numerous threats to society, the country and the world and the possible drastic solutions that would need to be employed to stop them. When they left Curtis turned to Ray and asked, “Was it just me or were those Doomsday Dudes really creepy?” “What” Ray replied his attention clearly being pulled from elsewhere. But before Curtis could answer a voice behind him said “Doomsday Dudes is a terrible nickname you should call them the Legion of Doom.” Curtis turned to find Cisco. “Just saying,” he continued, “anyway I heard there’s free Big Belly Burger for the contestants. When’s that coming?” Ray had missed the entire conversation Curtis was asking about because he had been making funny faces at baby Nora the whole time hoping to make her smile or laugh but she had just stared at him with her big blue eyes.

- Queen consolidated gave out a $1500 scholarship and a summer internship at the applied sciences division. This year Moira and Robert had made Oliver come and brought 9-year-old Thea. Oliver was tasked with watching Thea who ran around the entire science fair wanting to look at and touch all the projects even the ones with big ‘Do Not Touch’ signs on them. She spent at least an hour trying to get everybody around the robot pianist to sing and dance with her. Most people ignored her although she was able to get Cisco, Winn, Stein, Joe, Kara (who kept trying to get Alex to join) and to Oliver’s surprise Malcolm Merlyn all to sing with her and they were all surprisingly good. She also got many people to dance including the Lance girls. She even convinced Cisco to make the robot play some of her favourite songs from Disney movies. Barry was very happy that he was able to convince Iris to dance with him for a couple songs with just a little encouragement from Thea and despite Kara’s constant encouragement Alex only agreed to dance when Maggie asked. Oliver had to present his family’s award which went to Felicity. When her name was announced Donna yelled “Woohoo, that’s my daughter! Way to go sweetie!” which earned a whispered “Mom, ssshh” and accompanied eye roll from Felicity as she headed to the stage with her head down and cheeks flushed. When she got onstage Oliver presented her with her award and Felicity began to babble, “Thanks. This is so cool. I’m such a big fan of yours… well not yours… your company… your family’s company. But uh you seem cool too. I could be a fan of yours, but not like a creepy stalker fan just like a normal supportive fan, ya know. I’m sorry, I’m rambling, it’s just, I don’t know what to say. Your very handsome… and I just said that out loud. I’m so sorry.” She stops and whispers “come on Smoak, pull yourself together,” then takes a deep breath before addressing Oliver again, “Thank-you again for the award and I look forward to working with you, or for you. I’m just gonna go now.” Oliver couldn’t help smiling as she left and thinking that just maybe if she had been around when Thea was partnering everyone up to dance he may have just participated.

- Kara quickly got bored of standing by her project and started wandering around to talk to the other contestants. She spent a good chunk of time talking to Barry. Tried to join in on a heated debate between Felicity, Cisco and Winn about the best language to code in but quickly left when she had no idea what they were talking about. She ended up spending most of her time with Lena. They talked about their projects, their lives and interests and about dealing with new and scary situations especially when you feel different from everyone else and learnt that they were both adopted. However, the whole time they were talking Lena’s eyes kept scanning the room as if waiting for something to jump out and scare her. Kara learnt why when a woman Kara thought must be Lena’s mother showed up and menacingly questioned why she was distracting her daughter.

- J’onn came in disguise to check out the Danvers sister’s project

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Idea: Yazukzashi

Also on AO3! 

TL;DR:

Hizashi in part of a Yakuza family, Shouta is the hapless gen ed. student that transfers into his hero class. The class tries to warn him about the blonde's Yakuza connections but...

Shouta is kinda dense.

TW: CHILD ABUSE it accidentally got angsty in the middle there. if that's a trigger for you, skip this one. its not very explicit but the stuff implied is nasty.

anyway, so this was supposed to be a comedy au. oops.

Anyway, this was written before we knew about Shirakumo if you’re wondering why he isn’t here / why Nemuri is the same age as Shouta.

the yakuza zashi au

hes not morally perfect bc he's a yakuza kid with his parents cheering him on

with a hoard of other yakuza they all have handmade signs and a special cheer

they are at the sports festival and they are scaring the people around them. they look like they wanna beat up shouta when he beats mic, but then one of them whispers "oh wait! that's the young lord's crush!" and these burly men giggle like school girls

Hizashi abusing his dads connections to help this scruffy lil gen ed boy stay out of trouble and then he gets into the hero course and he's like,,, "fuck, I'm gonna need a bigger allowance to pay people off"

ok so he's actually yakuza on his mum's side, his dad married into the family, his dad took his mum's last name bc i say so

anyway his parents look like Criminals and it makes him laugh tbh bc they are really sweet, if totally also criminals. his dad has a scar cutting from his eyebrow to his cheekbone, everyone assumes it from a knife fight. it's from a cat. His mum is a high femme boss lady style femme fatale, and she rocks it. However, she's secretly a total tomboy who just likes looking fancy

also hizashi was like,,, very gay growing up. the stereotypical gay kid, and his parents thought he was just the sweetest thing tbh

his mum did his nails all glittery, his dad took him to gymnastics

anyway: so he and his parents have an,,, interesting sense of morality

they don't like killing people bc it's lazy, messy and pretty rude, but they will in some scenarios, ie: they tried to kill you for no good reason, they backstabbed you for no good reason, they did something horrific too you etc

hizashi doesn't view killing as the worst thing someone can do, but he does see it as a total last resort. in the family, betrayal is worse than murder, same w the whole yakuza family

so hizashi has great parents

shouta - shouta is not so lucky

his mum doesn't really,,, care much for him. his stepfather is a b a s t a r d. does terrible things we ain't getting into, calls shouta a fag, useless, "basically quirkless", etc. his mum just tells him to stop "making his father angry"

after the sports festival when shouta kicks hizashi's actual ass hes totally prepared to be hated, he's expecting it honestly.

but hizashi looks at him with wide eyes and mutters "so,,,, cool,,," and he feels himself blush like a tomato. moving into 1A after the festival hizashi basically forces him to become his friend. shouta has 0 say in the matter

the only people brave enough to really befriend him rather than just being chill w him were nemuri and tensei

nemuri bc shes gives no fucks ab any yakuza bitch, tensei because he has some faith in the background check system to not let a violent bastard in

now shouta has no clue hizashi is in the yakuza

everyone else in 1A knows they try and like,, warn him. subtly. but he doesn't get it at all and actually thinks they mean hizashi is bitter ab the festival

so shouta 'lets' himself be befriended all the while expecting that some time hizashi, nemuri and tensei are going to beat the crap out of him when hes not expecting it

hizashi and co. are fucking around at lunch, eating outside and messing around

nemuri says one of her normal pretty explicit jokes to shouta and shouta panics

he can't handle it, shuts down, has a silent panic attack that freaks them all the fuck out because he's not breathing, he's just shaking and crying silently and nemuri, obviously, feels like shit and shes panicking a lil ab what to do

tensei is trying to calm shouta down and failing bc shouta is panicking so hard he can't even fucking hear him

hizashi is really regretting his brains because he's just made some really horrific connections

the bell rings, hizashi tells nemuri and tensei to go back to class and just sits there and holds shouta's hand until he calms down

poor guy is dissociating like fuck too

so hizashi considers going back to class

he really does

but then he thinks "nope, fuck it" and he sits with shouta outside until the bell rings to go home

shouta starts to feel a little,,, better? more aware? idk, but he apologises and tries to say nothing was wrong and he just overreacted

hizashi just looks at him

"look, I'm not gonna make you tell me. but that wasn't nothing. I'm not that stupid."

shouta tries to defend himself but just gives up bc it's not like hizashi is wrong. nemuri and tensei bring their bags down, explain their teachers weren't that mad (nezu totally saw that happening on the cameras and told the teachers that they might not be coming back to class)

nezu is a good man also ive decided hes immortal and principal always

hizashi would totally put a hit out on shouta’s parents but he's stony silent ab his homelife, they don't even know if he has parents and asking seems rude bc they've known the guy like a month

now hizashi's parents

have no such moral qualms

and they get people to scope out shouta's house. wiretaps, bugs, stake outs, the works. bc hizashi told them that his friend had the mother of all panic attacks when nemuri made a dirty joke about a daddy kink and that is a warning sign if ever there was one

it literally takes a day for the stakeout team to report back, and they are fucking fuming. they heard aizawa's stepdad spew some nasty shit then make his son sleep outside

(this au shouta adores cats bc the strays stay with him when he's locked out, which is pretty often. he doesn't mind being locked out because it's better than the alternative)

so, hizashi's parents? pissed.

very pissed

bc you dont. hurt. kids. and this is their kid's new friend

so

they have a plan (tm)

it involves mainly making shouta more comfortable with them + hizashi, then beating his dad's teeth in

to move away from angst for the moment, even baby zashi has tattoos bc he's part of the family

he just has a big one on his shoulder blades of a koi, and tiny one just under his collar bone of a music note

hizashi takes shouta out for bubble tea like every Friday. Hes highkey rich with a massive allowance from his parents and spoils the fuck out of all of his friends

he totally had a crush on shouta before the sports festival from when they were in the same entrance exam and shouta saved his ass from a robot. He was heartbroken that shouta didn’t make it into the hero course

[one-grimm-bitch]

Need Nothin’ But You - Snowbaz

fic for @urahnia!! happy birthday bean!! love you lots <##

tw: homophobic language/violence

(for reference: Baz’s POV refers to Ebb as Ms.Petty, Simon refers to her as Ebb)

***

Baz watched as Snow chewed his lip in concentration, brows knitting together before he continued to scribble numbers on his page. Baz suppressed a chuckle as Snow gritted his teeth- turning the pencil upside down to erase another mistake from his page. He raised his hand silently, urging their teacher over, and displaying his own work expectedly.

“I think this should be right,” Baz said quietly- yet apparently loud enough for Snow to hear- as he turned around in his seat to glare at Baz. Ms.Petty checked the problem and his answer before giving him a nod.

“Nice work, Basilton,” she sent him a small smile and then made on her way back to her desk. Baz gave Snow- who was still glaring at him, the imp- a smug grin. Snow rolled his eyes and turned harshly in his seat back to his own page.

***

Simon hated the way Baz Pitch could get under his skin so easily. He gripped his pencil harder, tongue poked out in concentration as his mind relayed the steps to properly find zeros of the function. How Baz had managed to complete the first problem in two minutes was beyond him- and the words Penny had told him in the beginning of the year reverberated in his mind. Just because he can do something great doesn’t mean that you’re not doing good as well, don’t let him stop you from doing your best, Simon. And so Simon attempted to push all thoughts of the long-haired git from his mind, focussing solely on the headache-inducing number of x’s on his page to solve for.

By the time he completed the series of problems they were given the bell was about to ring, and most students had already gathered their things into their bags. Simon’s head popped up when the screeching of Baz’s chair disrupted him from his thoughts. He watched in curiosity as the boy left the room a minute early, not even giving Ebb a glance as he strode out of the room seemingly without a thought. Simon gaped at Ebb, silently asking for an explanation, she smiled and shrugged.

“It’s not my place to tell you, Simon,” was all she gave him before the bell truly did ring, and Simon was rushing to get everything in his pack and racing out the door.

***

Baz walked quickly in the few minutes he had before all of the students would be let from their classes to go to their next ones. He was thankful to Ms.Petty, who had understood his situation and offered a solution that had certainly saved him one or two times. For Baz, walking through the halls of his school to his next class took more strength than it really should. Ever since it was revealed that he was gay, he’d occasionally gotten shoved unceremoniously and had unkind words whispered and taunted in his ear. Leaving early allowed him to avoid it all, and Ms.Petty was one of the only teachers he had who let him do so.

He greeted Niall as he sat down at their lunch table, grinning as his friend launched into a story about how his modern government teacher had gotten drunk the previous night and made hilarious posts to their school’s website. Baz shook his head as he laughed, and was too caught up in his conversation that he didn’t notice the now silent lunchroom, or the football player standing behind him.

*** Simon felt uneasiness churn in his gut as Higgins approached Baz, and most of the room seemed to notice it too, a spell of silence overtaking everyone. For a reason he couldn’t place, Simon wished for the smile and laughter that was just there to reappear on Baz’s face. Baz was now realizing that everyone was staring at him, and looked behind himself briefly before Higgins grabbed him by the color and lifted him like he was nothing.

Simon gasped as Baz struggled under his grip, a kick to Higgin’s groin eventually getting him to let go.

“Niall’s one of our best players, we don’t want a queer like you messing him up,” Higgins snarled, and Simon felt anger scorch through him. Baz stood up from where he had been dropped to the ground and brushed off his pants casually before he chuckled.

“I didn’t realize having a gay friend affects one’s football skills,” Baz replied.

“Back the fuck off,” Niall gritted his teeth at Higgins.

“What, defending your boyfriend now?” Higgins first approaching Baz was shocking in itself, but nothing could’ve prepared Simon to watch Baz reel back his arm and hit Higgins right on the nose. Higgins stumbled back a few steps, clutching his bleeding nose with his fist. “You’re gonna pay for that, faggot,” Higgins snarled. Simon jumped up from his seat, and ignoring Penny’s protests, he ran forward and punched Higgins in the gut as he stepped forward to harm Baz.

“Stay the fuck away from him!” Simon shouted, Higgins glared at him, and was about to stand back up to retaliate before a teacher stepped between them, ending the fight.

***

“I’m glad they let us off the hook,” Snow said. He had his elbows on his knees and hands clasped like he was going to pray. Baz eyed Snow suspiciously.They were sitting outside of the principal’s office, the three highest officials in their school currently berating a bleeding and bruised Higgins for approaching Baz. A curl fell right over Snow’s eye, and Baz resisted the urge to tuck it back for him.

“You call one month’s detention ‘off the hook’?” Baz asked, Simon shrugged.

“Could’ve been expelled,” He replied, he was chewing his lip in concentration again.

“This is your fault, you know-” Baz started, but he was cut off.

“What? It was your ass who punched him first, I was just trying to stop him from killing you- which- no offense- but he totally could,” Simon rambled.

“I didn’t need you to protect me, as much as it hurts your ego for me to say it”

“Oh, my ego-” Simon was cut off as the door beside them squeaked open, a grim looking Natasha Pitch eyeing them both.

“Come back inside, please,” She said, her tone was clipped, and Baz hated it when she spoke to him in her “teacher voice”.

“Higgins has something he would like to say to you both, and I believe you two have something to say to him as well,” She gestured to Higgins, who was red in the face.

“I’m sorry I called you inappropriate things, that is not the conduct we have at Watford,” He mumbled robotically, looking all the part like he did very much not mean the words he had just said.

“And I’m sorry I punched you in the face as a response,” Baz replied, tone just as cool as his mother’s.

“Yeah, er- me too, for punching you in the stomach and all,” Simon muttered quickly.

“You all know your punishments, dismissed,” his mother stated. Baz knew he would get a mouthful at home, but was thankful that she didn’t call him in her office right away.

***

“Baz!” Simon called, with a nod from Ebb, he followed the Pitch out of the classroom and into the empty hallways. “Wait up!” They hadn’t spoken since the “fight” (though one couldn’t really call it one)- two days ago.

“What do you want, Snow?” Baz asked, not stopping his brisk pace. Simon had to quicken his stride to keep up with the taller boy.

“Er- could you help me in maths?” “Could I do what?” Baz asked incredulously.

“I’m falling behind and you’re the best in class- also I think punching the same guy we both hate makes us closer than algebra 2 rivals, yeah?” Baz stopped walking to turn and raise a brow at Simon.

“Algebra 2 rivals?”

“Well- yeah, but now I need your help- and I helped you against Higgins- whether you wanted me to or not,” Simon replied. Baz groaned out a fine through gritted teeth and Simon pumped his fist in the air with a victorous “Yes!”

“You’re a bloody mess, you know that, Snow?” Baz had chuckled, and in that moment Simon couldn’t understand why that made his heart beat a bit faster in his chest.

***

“You never did tell me why you helped me that day,” Baz told him randomly. They were sat in the library, peering over the study guide Ebb had given them for the test tomorrow.

“I dunno, felt like the right thing to do, I guess,” Simon answered with a shrug, he circled his answer on the page and sighed when Baz shook his head.

“I’m not a damsel in distress, Snow,” Baz replied, “Look at the divisor,” He nodded to the page and Simon gasped in realization before he began to solve the question again.

“Well duh, but that doesn’t mean I can’t bash Higgins in the gut if I want to.” Simon was smiling as he glanced back up at Baz, and his eyes widened as Baz grinned back.

“What?” Baz asked inquisitively.

“Nothing- er- just think I’ve mucked up the division again,” Simon answered quickly. Baz looked at his work.

“Yeah, you did”

***

“Snow?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you care?”

“Care about what?” Simon turned to look at Baz. They were lying on Simon’s messy bed after completing a study session, Simon not wishing to admit the heat that had flooded his cheeks when Baz had sat- somehow gracefully- onto his bed, wrinkling his nose slightly at the crumpled sheets and proceeding to  tie his hair up into a bun.

“That I’m gay,” Baz stated simply, and Simon froze.

“No? I mean- I wouldn’t ask you to tutor me if I had a problem with it,” Simon answered. Baz was giving him a strange look.

“Ok,” He was smiling now, “I’m glad,” Baz said, and Simon felt a well of happiness go up through his chest. It was the way that Baz’s eyes gleamed and crinkled as he smiled, so truly beautiful that Simon couldn’t stop the revelation that poured from his mouth.

“IthinkImightbegaytoo,” He said too quickly.

“You- what?” Baz stuttered, he was looking at Simon like he was a madman.

“I- I think I’m gay,” Simon whispered. He didn’t know why he was telling Baz of all people first. Maybe it was because he knew that Baz wouldn’t be homophobic- for obvious reasons- but also that he felt like he could trust the boy.

“Have you told anyone else?” Baz asked. And Simon flushed, turning away.

“No,” He mumbled.

“Then why me?” Baz asked.

“‘Cause,” Simon said, focussing his attention on his hands that sat on his lap.

“Cause I’m the only other out person you know?”

“No- cause- cause you’re you,” Simon said desperately.

“I’m- what are you saying?” Baz questioned and Simon huffed in annoyance.

“You’re you,” was all Simon mumbled again before he was looking back up and grabbing Baz’s shoulder, tugging him into an awkward and chaste kiss. At first Baz didn’t react, and Simon froze in fear, before plush lips were moving tentatively against his own. Simon sighed happily into Baz’s mouth, before he pulled back a few seconds later.

“I-” Baz stuttered. “Who knew you’d be gay for me, Snow,” He smirked, and with his cheeks and ears blushing a bright red and his mind gooey, Simon laughed.

[kaythejay]

Five of a Kind

Here is my first Sanders Sides fic I hope you all enjoy it!

Five of a Kind 

Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning

:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom:

Sanders Sides (Web Series)

Language:English

Virgil walked into his first day of class and wanted to walk out the second that he did. There were three other guys in there with the exact same face as him. One was unlikely enough, but three. He sighed. He already knew this was going to be a year of mix-ups.

"Heya kiddo!" One of the doppelgangers said as he walked up to Virgil. Virgil sighed. Human contact was his least favorite thing. Especially when they called him kiddo.

"Number one, don't call me that," Virgil said. "Number two, why are you calling me that in the first place. We're literally in the same class."

"Oh! Sorry!" The other boy said. "My name is Patton Sanders, by the way," he said. "Ice to meet you," he said. Virgil glared at Patton, unsure if he was delirious or if Patton had actually said that his last name was Sanders. Same as his own. Which is a very suspicious coincidence, as his own last name was Sanders. "Come on!" Patton said. "You can come sit with us!" Virgil looked to the back of the room and saw that the seat he normally would have taken in a new classroom was already claimed. He sighed and followed Patton over to the group of boys who all had the same face. "You never did tell me your name," Patton said.

"Maybe I don't want you to know it." Virgil said. Patton shrugged.

"That's ok. I'll just call you," he trailed off and looked at him up and down until he smiled. "Anxiety." Virgil shrugged. Anxiety was better than his name. Patton smiled at the group. "Hey, this is Anxiety," he told the other doppelgangers. The one wearing red looked him up and down.

"Well he's a debbie downer," he said. Virgil glared at him. The other boy put his hands up. "Easy there, the incredible sulk, we just met." Virgil could already tell he was going to hate this boy who shared his face. "My name is Roman, but that is your highness to you."

"Roman, stop," the last boy said. "Be nice."

"Indeed!" Patton said cheerfully, "What are the odds of three of us all having the same face and last name in the same school!" Patton put his arm around Virgil's shoulders, who instantly squirmed out of his embrace.

"My name is Thomas, by the way," the other boy said.

"Please be seated everyone," the teacher said almost robotically as he walked in. "We have much to get through." He centered himself in front of the white board and looked up at his class. "My name is Mr.-" his eyes fell on the three identical boys sitting in a group who had his face.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Virgil exclaimed. "How many of you are there!"

"Please calm down. There is nothing to be shouting about." The teacher turned to the board and grabbed a marker. He wrote Mr. Sanders on the board and turned back around. "My name is Mr. Sanders, as I was saying before I was interrupted," he looked pointedly at Virgil who rolled his eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Virgil said standing up.

"Sit do-"

"Who is paying you!" He pointed at all of his doppelgangers. Mr. Sanders looked at the group of boys and blinked.

"Pardon?" Mr. Sanders said.

"We get it, negravation, you're confused." Roman said. "Now would you sit down and shut up. I don't know about anyone else, but I would like to move on."

"No Roman, was that any way to talk to a new friend?" Patton said.

"Silence," Mr. Sanders shouted. The entire room fell silent. He adjusted his tie and looked at the class. "Thank you." He pushed his glasses up. "Shall we get started? Open your books to page one-hundred-forty-seven and begin ranking those words and looking them up. It will be," Mr. Sanders reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of notecards and flipped through them until he found the one he wanted. "Lit." Satisfied, he put the cards back in his pocket and nodded. Virgil raised his hand.

"Is this really necessary?" Mr. Sanders turned to him.

"It is of utmost importance in your education. I will not allow for wasted time in my classroom. If it was deemed unimportant, it would not be an assignment." Virgil rolled his eyes and started doodling in the margins of the textbook to make it look like he was actually even though he was most certainly not. Why should he have to answer stupid questions about Shakespeare. He was dead and rumor had it he didn't even write anything he was famous for. Historians didn't even know much about him so how was he, a high school no-care supposed to know?

"I hate to say it, but I'm with electron here," Roman said. Mr. Sanders walked over to the group.

"Oh come on guys," Patton said. "It isn't that bad."

"It'll be done in two minutes if you just do it instead of complaining about it," Thomas added. Mr. Sanders crossed his arms and looked at Roman and Virgil.

"I'm still not going to do it," Virgil said. "Just because we have the same face doesn't mean we have the same brain."

"Clearly," Mr. Sanders said. "If you had my brain you would be done with that in no time and would be asking for more ways to extend your learning." The class erupted in a roar of "ohh" and "roasted!" "Just quit ruining your textbook further than it already is ruined and do your work." That was enough to get Roman to do his work. Virgil, however, had other intentions.

"No," he said. Mr. Sanders looked at him over the top of his glasses, typical glare of someone who had glasses. An idea popped into Virgil's head and he decided to run with it. He ripped the page out of the textbook and tore it up. Mr. Sanders flushed with anger.

"Hallway, now," Mr. Sanders said. Virgil ignored him and started reading the first bits of Hamlet. Mr. Sanders gritted his teeth because he didn't know this student's name so he very well couldn't try to intimidate him with the use of his name. Instead, he took a deep breath. "What are you getting out of this," Mr. Sanders asked calmly with a hint of anger to his words. "How did tearing that up assist you in passing my class?" Mr. Sanders was ready to just fail this kid but one, he could get fired for that. Two he'd get stuck with this kid again. That was exactly the last thing that he wanted. Virgil was still not phased at all by this. He just continued on in his reading. Mr. Sanders shrugged. He had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Here you can look off of my textbook," Patton whispered. Virgil ignored this too.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sanders was in the process of looking up the name of the kid on his computer. He knew all of the names in his class besides the one rebellious one. Virgil Sanders. Mr. Sanders smiled and sent an email to the principal, Mr. Thomson to tell him of what Virgil had done. "And send," he whispered. He walked back over to Virgil's desk.

"Are you just about ready to do you work now?" Virgil only shoved the paper in Mr. Sanders's face and turned back to reading Hamlet. Mr. Sanders's sighed. When he'd seen Virgil's last name, he'd questioned if they could perhaps be related (he'd done the same with Patton, Roman, and Thomas as well, but so far they all came up not related) but now he was sure that they didn't even share one molecule of DNA.

As the bell rang, he was tempted to ask Virgil to stay so they could "talk," but he was more than aware that Mr. Thomson's "talk" would be more than enough to throw the kid off and hopefully fix his behavior. If not, he had a long year ahead of him.

[squidney01]

I totally forgot about this episode and all its potential

I forgot about this episode, but @vinan-rhaplanca reminded me of its awesome theory potential that I completely forgot about!!! Thanks for reminding me

Ok, so let’s go into the theory. What was the purpose of Ernesto hypnotizing the students when he was their substitute teacher? Specifically, why was he teaching KO’s class? Was there any significance to it? Let’s get into the details.

So in the episode “The So-Bad-ical” new textbooks are received by the students of KO’s school. Suspiciously named ‘Booksmore’ and they’re to teach the students basic math that they’ve already learned. And when their teacher, Ms. Quantum, goes on sabbatical a substitute teacher is hired to take her place. This person or rather robot was Ernesto from Boxmore. When Ernesto starts reading from the text books all the students go into a trance except for Dendy and KO (who falls asleep). We all know how it ends so I won’t go any further when explaining the episode.

But what is important is, why Ernesto was teaching KO’s class? Why would the Boxmore robots become involved with kids as young as KO?

It isn’t really what they’re known for. In fact, they probably prefer destroying things physically than anything else. And while they’re smart they aren’t the type of robots to have a well thought out plan. I know that they’re succeeding financially, but that’s probably because they spend their time better than Boxman ever did. Anywho, it just isn’t ‘in their programming’ if you catch my drift. They were made to follow orders by whoever was in charge. Whether that was Boxman or Darrel or maybe someone else....

As @vinan-rhaplanca suggested, maybe it was neither Boxman nor Darrel that gave the order to hypnotize the students at KO’s school. Perhaps it was Professor Venomous.

In the few occasions we’ve seen him in action, we know that PV is fairly respected by his fellow villains. We’ve never seen him use any sort of power. All we know about him is that he’s a bioengineer. What does this mean? Let me tell you.

To put this simply, a bioengineer is someone who uses the biological characteristics of certain living things and uses technology to innovate them. They’re the kind of scientists that can make artificial muscles, cells, etc.

Anywho, PV used bioengineering to create that ‘bio-chip’ that he gave to Bowman, which he used to give Boxman Jr. enough power to take down anyone in the plaza. However, he was almost no match to TKO/KO. I say almost because even TKO wasn’t able to destroy him right away. TKO was able to destroy a level 100 Darrel, but had a harder time taking down Boxman Jr..... but that’s a theory for another day.

Anywho, this wasn’t a typical Boxmore plan. Obviously they needed some guidance for this plan. Who was behind this plan? We don’t know for sure, but PV could be the one behind this. So IF he was behind this, what was his motive? Why would he want Ernesto to hypnotize KO’s class?

On another side note. What was the deal with their principle?!? I mean really? How dull do you have to be to hire a villain as a substitute teacher? Especially when a majority of them are looking to be heroes when they grow up. Perhaps the principal has a similar situation like Chip Damage, where he’s super friendly with people in public but once the curtains close he’s a different person... Who knows. He could just be that dull and irresponsible... maybe that’s why the students only see him once a year...🤔 but allow me to continue.

Maybe, PV wanted to kidnap KO where he knew no one would be watching him. Just think about it. His mom can’t watch him cause he’s at school and neither can Enid, Rad, or Gar. His strict teacher who keeps an eye on everyone just went on sabbatical. The principal needs a substitute. Soooo, he’s pretty much on his own. And to ensure he could get at KO without any repercussions he sends in someone KO doesn’t know as well as the others. Someone that KO hasn’t really faced, but is still somewhat feared. The best out of all the robots for the job is Ernesto (after all he is a business robot and isn’t really known for being violent).

Perhaps he knows what KO is capable of and wants to get his hands on his turbonic energy. I mean he’s already experimented with it before (remember that collar he made for Fink?)

Idk. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk everyone.

Special thanks to @vinan-rhaplanca for suggesting this theory to me!!! (This theory was really fun to write about)

Also if any of you have any thoughts/theories that you think I should write about, or maybe you saw something that got overlooked, please feel free to share!!! I’m always open to new ideas!!!!

[megamanx1994]

Xenoforce II Chapter 7

Chapter 8: Paintball Preparation (Disclaimer! I own nothing of Xenoblade Chronicles or Ratchet and Clank!!) Clank and I were looking at a man in some kind of metal suit. “RUN!” I said. I put Clank on my back and we ran off. The man snapped his fingers and more of those strange robots attacked us. I imagined a shield and blocked their attacks. “Holy shit!” I said. I kept running. One robot tried to attack me and I blocked it with my monado. I managed to cut through one of them. More of them kept coming but I fought them off. “Come on freakshows!” I said. The giant robot was being controlled remotely. I tried to cut through it but for some reason it wouldn’t work. “What the….” I said, “I can’t cut through it.” “I do suggest we escape while we still can,” said Clank. “Couldn’t agree more!” I said. The monado sign changed. “Speed!” I said. I ran fast away from them and barely made it before the door closed. The man just watched. “Just keep running boy,” he said. Later I was in my room at home analyzing the piece of technology that I got. “Strange,” I said, “They seem to react to human emotion.” I was given some amazing results. “I gotta show this to Anela,” I said, “She’s gonna flip out.” I heard uncle Chris shouting. Micah came into my room. “Uncle Chris wants to talk to you,” she said. “Now?” I said. “Now,” she said. “God,” I said. I came downstairs and he was sitting at a table. “Have a sat Michael,” he said. I sat down. “I’m not happy Michael,” he said, “Not. Happy. Ask me why.” “Ok, why?” I asked. “Why what Michael?” he asked, “Be specific.” “Why are you unhappy?” I asked. “Your constant tinkering with other people’s belongings makes me unhappy,” he said. “Why, have you gotten complaints about thing not working?” I asked. “Complaints I can deal with, but what I can’t deal with is that you’re constantly denying that things are built the way they’re built for a reason!” he said, “Those people are experts, and when you sabotage their hard work its like its meaningless.” “Am I doing something illegal?” I asked. “Not exactly,” he said. “Are you saying I shouldn’t be using my gift to help people?” I asked. “Your mom asks that I say no,” he said. “Dad said I should use my gifts to help people,” I said. “No, use your gifts to help YOUR PEOPLE!” said Uncle Chris, “Starting with your aunt at the hospital room taking care of patients! Our family….” “Is like a giant tree,” I finished. “Exactly, and that tree will only stay healthy if all the little branches stay where they belong,” he said, “Like you. You’re not meant to fix things that don’t need to be fixed. Therefore you need some water and nourishment so you’ll be a healthy branch and have your own tree.” I wasn’t listening. I saw someone in danger. “Michael? Michael?” he asked. He pulled me back to his face. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” “There’s someone who needs….” I said. “Don’t change the subject Michael,” he said, “We’re talking about your…” “That man is getting mugged!” I said. “Well its not like you can make something to help him,” he said. “I’ll be right back,” I said. “Stop right now or you’re grounded!” he shouted. I stopped. “Close the door and get over here,” he said. I came back. I saw the mugger escape. “He got away,” I mumbled. “Good thing too,” he said, “Its not like you can do anything to help anyone. You’re just a kid.” He was walking me back to the school while lecturing me about what he ‘thinks’ he knows about the world. “Have a good day, and remember, a Morrison makes his voice heard,” said Uncle Chris, “And that kitty girl… I don’t want you talking to her. She seems like bad news.” “You don’t know that,” I said. “Yes I do know that,” he said. “No you don’t,” I said. “Yes I do,” he said, “You keep hanging around her and your branch will fall.” He looked at me. “And look at you,” he said, “Stand up straight, tuck in that shirt, adjust that belt buckle and tie those shoes!” “A few mess ups won’t wreck everything this family has,” I said. “But one weak branch could bring down the entire family tree!” he said, “And god forbid you be that branch. Now get to class.” I scoffed and walked away. “Watch that attitude!” he snapped. My teacher was watching. I was getting some stuff from my locker and Chuck and his goons surrounded me. “Not in the mood Chuck,” i said ignoring them. “Don’t you dare not look at us when we’re talking to you,” said one of his goons. “Look I’ve had it today,” i said, “Can we not do this?” “Your uncle told us to make sure you stay out of trouble and not do anything rash,” said another goon. I sighed. “My uncle is a dickwad,” I said. “He’s not a dickwad,” said Chuck, “He’s your uncle and you need to show him some respect.” “The hell do you know about respect?” i said turning to him, “You don’t show shit of respect to me when it comes to my inventing!” His goons stopped me. “Watch your back punk,” said one of them, “We’ll be watching you, and we’ll know if you do anything and tell your uncle whom you should show respect for.” They walked off. “Who do they think they are?” I said to myself, “Its my uncle and if I wanna insult him and call him names then that’s what I’m gonna do. After all that’s what nephews are here for.” I got a smack in the face from Taffy. “That’s ENOUGH Michael!” she said. “Wha....” I said. “I can’t stand anyone who thinks they’re intitled to talk trash about their aunt or their uncle!” “Me?!” I said. She walked away. I looked down to the floor.

I was in the classroom and the guys were by my side. “What’s wrong dude?” asked Anela. “Don’t wanna talk about it,” I said, “I think you guys should go.” “No don’t push us away Michael,” said Anela, “We’re here for you.” “I said I’m fine,” I said. Mr. Stephens came inside. “Alright its time for a special lesson,” he said, “If I could grade you all I’d give you an A, but its not about the grade. Who knows what inventing is about?” Micah raised her hand and asked, “Making money.” “Good try but not exactly,” said Mr. Stephens, “EJ?” “Getting jobs,” he said. “No,” said Mr. Stephens, “Ratchet?” “Standing up to the system?” asked Ratchet. “Exactly!” said Mr. Stephens, “But you can’t just say it, you gotta feel it.” “What’s that mean?” asked Denise. “You already have it in you Denise, you’re a rebel and you get angry at the system,” said Mr. Stephens, “Right now I’m the man telling you how to do stuff, and who has the balls to tell me off?” “Shut the hell up Stephens!” said EJ. “That’s it EJ,” he said, “Anyone else?” “Stuff it asshole,” said Denise as she flipped him off. “Wow, you really do got it,” he said, “The system can be anyone, it could be bullies, teachers, even overbearing parents.” He walked over to me. “What would you say to someone bossing you around?” he asked. “I’m not sure,” I said. “If someone was in your grill pushing you around what would you say?” he asked. “Piss off?” I guessed. “Exactly!” said Mr. Stephens, “This is your life, and you gotta live it.” He went back to the board. “I’m assigning you all a fun project,” he said, “I want you to build something that is NOT what is assigned today, and stand up to me when I tell you that’s not what you were assigned. Can you do that?” “YEAH!” said the students. After class ended I went to another area. “So is there a certain reason why this lesson was taught today?” asked Anela, “It just seems like it was completely random.” “Its because I see that Michael is dealing with some family problems and needs to come out of his shell,” he said, “He has the support from his friends, but not from his overbearing uncle.” “I know Michael will be a great inventor, he just needs the opportunity,” said Anela. “I agree,” he said. She went to go find me. “Well, I just found out why we had that lesson,” said Anela. “Just go away,” I said. “That talk with your uncle couldn’t have been that bad,” she said. “The weak branch in the family tree,” I said, “That’s what he called me.” “Well… you are sort of a go getter,” said Anela. “Irresponsible, ignorant,” I said, “He practically accused me of bringing down the family tree!” “I can see that happening with our school,” said Denise walking by, “There go the buildings!” She chuckled. I jumped down. “You can laugh about it,” I said. “You see Michael, you’re so overbearing to yourself that you never allow for yourself to relax and be carefree,” said Denise, “Like me.” “What are you talking about?” I asked, “If I slip up even one time, I’ll end up in trouble!” Denise dropped a bag of water on some of Chuck’s friends. “Michael!” he said, “You’re in trouble young man!” Denise was holding the jar. “Might as well,” she said. I took it and soaked them. “I think I got it,” said Denise, “You know what your problem is Michael?” “What?” I asked. “You care too much,” she said. “Well your problem is, you don’t care at all,” I said. “Well in that case I’m guessing you care more than I do that we’re… late for the banquet for example?” Something shocked my memory. I was running to meet Kitty like I said I would. “I’m dead,” I said, “Kitty’s gonna kill me!” “Don’t worry man,” said Anela, “Nobody will even notice us comin’ in.” People noticed us as soon as we opened the door. “Nobody will even notice,” I said glaring at her. She chuckled nervously. “Michael there you are,” said Kitty smiling. She whispered in my ear. “The principal just gave you a spot in the paintball team,” she said, “Not only will you be playing in the matches, but you’ll be in charge of creating and inventing new gear for the group.” “Really?” I asked. “Seriously,” said Kitty, “I think you should go and thank him.” I went over there. “Apparently Annie, someone thought he just needed the opportunity,” said Kitty. Everyone cheered for me being in the paintball team. “Whatever,” said Chuck. “No need for jealousy Chuckie,” I said. “Don’t you dare call me that!” said Chuck, “Don’t forget I’m the king.” “Well one of these days I might dethrone you and be the new king,” I said, “I’ll invent a suit for myself and we’ll take home the gold for sure!” “Please, the day you invent something to help the team and win the trophy is the day I admit you’re a cool dude,” said Chuck. “Oh you bet your ass I can make something,” I said. “Michael, language,” said Denise pointing at Bryan. Bryan sighed. “Well why don’t we make a wager,” said Chuck, “You think you’ll make an invention that’ll help us with the game, but I think you’re gonna fail to the floor. Loser of the bet, will be mechanic to the other.” “Oh you got a deal,” I said as I shook his hand. “Whatever you’re inventing it better be great,” said one of his teammates. “Trust me,” I said, “It will be,” I said. Later I was at the dorm coming up with some new inventions. Or…. So I thought. “Dead beat, low on plans, no ideas,” I said, “Useless, empty brain!” “Michael Morrison, washed up at 14,” said Anela, “So sad.” “I got nothing, I’m doomed!” I said, “I’m never gonna win this bet!” “Hey, I ain’t givin’ up on ya,” said Anela. Anela started shaking me around. “Annie what are you…” I said. “Use your imagination, come up with something phenomenal,” said Anela, “Use something new!” I looked at Clank. “Yes?” he asked. I then came up with an idea. “Hey Ratchet?” I asked, “Can you help me out with something?” We were at the garage working on Clank. “How long is this gonna take?” asked Micah. “You can’t rush creativity,” I said. I gave Clank a new propeller wing on his head. Then I created a suit for myself that matches our team’s color and made myself a paintball gun with Maddi’s help. After some tinkering it was finally ready. “While I do appreciate being able to assist you, I do find this position to be quite…. Disturbing,” said Clank. He was on my back. “Nice suit Bro,” said Micah, “Is that one for me?” She was pointing to a prototype. “That one’s for display only,” I said, “You handle it too much, its not gonna last.” I spent the next few days preparing for the first paintball game of the year. “You ready dude?” asked Anela. “Annie I practiced that course 1,000 times,” I said, “Of course I’m ready.” “Just remember its like Assassin’s Creed,” said Anela, “Only there’s no killing. One more thing.” She put a helmet on my face. “I’ll contact you through this speaker in your helmet and guide you all the way,” she said. “Anela you sure know how to help me out,” I said. I did a signature fist bump with Anela. “You too Clank,” I said. “high five is not in my paintball database,” said Clank. “Its not a fighting thing buddy,” I said, “Its what people do when they’re happy and such.” I did a high five and he did it as well, then followed with a back hand and a fist bump. “Blam, blam, shazam,” I said. “Abracadabra,” said Clank. “There you go,” I said. “I will add high five to my greeting matrix,” said Clank.

[hotdogjumpingfrog5]

It’s Strange - Chapter 17

Previous Chapters: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve , Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen , Chapter Sixteen

~

February 26th, 1987

As the bell had rang at the end of the day after the losers had said their goodbyes for the day, Bill had sat upon the bleachers while Ben and Beverly had their weekly track meet.

Bill was going to study for history with Ben after school

While sitting on the bleachers watching the track meet, that’s when he remembered; Bill won’t be home when his parents go out on another “date night” of theirs next week on Wednesday since he will be at his weekly speech therapy.

Who will look after Georgie?

Not even his parents bothered to acknowledge or even mention it, they hardly noticed what Bill and Georgie got up to anyways. Were his parents even alive? Or human for that matter? He was certain they were unconscious as hell robots.

Bill usually got Mike to look after Georgie when his parents weren’t there and when Bill wouldn’t be present, but Mike’s grandfather wanted him to stay home and study for a “big test” if he wanted to go to public school

Then he asked the rest of the losers while him and his closest friends were at Eddie’s a few days ago, but they all had something planned, and it was on a school night. But he hasn’t come around to asking Ben or Beverly yet.

Bill watched as Ben and Bev were running on the track together, possibly laughing at something funny that Ben had said.

After about 30 minutes of going over his schoolwork while on the bleachers, the track meet had went by so swiftly when the sound of the coach’s whistle echoed in the gym.

Ben and Bev had walked up to him and grabbed their stuff right next to where Bill was sitting

“H-How was y-your p-p-practice?”

“It was good,” Ben responded, “You still coming to mine?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Guy time, huh?” Bev smirked

“N-No, j-j-just s-s-s-studying.” said Bill

A few moments of silence had rung between the three of them until Bill had decided to ask

“Hey I was w-w-wondering, a-are any of you able t-to l-l-look after G-G-Georgie on W-Wednesday?” Bill asked, “M-Mike and the r-rest of them are b-busy.”

“I would,” said Ben, “But my mom wants me to go to that painting class with her.”

Bill nodded

“I’ll do it.” said Beverly

“That’s great!” Bill smiled, “Th-thanks.”

As the three of them were walking out of the gym onto the from parking lot of Derry High, about to head separate directions soon.

Ben and Beverly stood close to each other while speaking, that track meet must’ve made them closer than ever.

Before they said goodbye to each other, Ben went more closer to Bill

“Y-Y-Yknow,” said Bill, “Y-You two would actually make a g-good c-c-couple.”

They both chuckled, not knowing what to think, but at the same time flattered

“Really?” Ben cocked his head

“J-Just s-saying.” said Bill

“Thanks.” Beverly chuckled, “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later.”

~

March 5th, 1987

Thursday afternoon during lunch, the AV club had gotten together like they always did, having their weekly discussions. Not even AV class felt like a class, since they were all interested in it for quite a while.

It was now 12:40, only ten minutes before the first warning bell would ring. 

They had finished their meeting quite early this time, not knowing what else to discuss, started talking about different things. 

“Yknow guys,” said Mike, “When we get the day off from school in a few weeks, we should go back to Hawkins Middle School and visit Mr. Clarke again.”

“What if he doesn’t remember us?” says Dustin

“Really Dustin?” Lucas responds, “It’s only been nine months since we left!”

“Yeah Dusty, I’m sure we haven’t changed that much.” said Mike, “Besides, we were his favourite students.”

Will nodded

“I think that’s a good idea.” Will responded

Then Dustin and Lucas, of course, agreed as well

The bell had rung for the next class, and they had to say their goodbyes to each other for the afternoon.

Mike had walked Will to his lockers like he normally did, after Will’s bad experiences with Troy and the rest of his greaser gang whenever he went there alone.

Halfway through getting his books out of his locker, Will looked as Mike as he stood there leaning against the lockers.

“Need me to walk with you to class?” Mike asked

Will was still irked at how the party and his family still babied him, even though he’d be 16 this month, but Will was used to it.

“I’m fine, I just got some stuff to do first,” said Will, “You can go without me.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah I’m good.”

“Ok well, I’ll see you later!” said Mike, as he began walking down the hall

Will waved, the turned back to his locker.

Out of the blue, he felt these chills, and it seemed as if the entire hallway has been cleared within that millisecond. Will wasn’t sure why, maybe it was 12:56, a minute after the last warning bell rang. 

He sighed, and only now noticed the red spray paint in his locker that read

ZOMBIE BOY

Will thrusted his fist against the lockers, clearly pissed at whoever kept harassing him like this. 

Though Troy’s gang never admitted it, the party was 98% sure they were the ones behind it.

Will looked around the now empty hall, hoping they weren’t lurking around any corners. 

Troy and James haven’t bothered the party in quite a while, but who else calls him zombie boy? Everyone, I guess.

Will

He turned around, looking everywhere, but everyone was gone to class by now.

It was 1:01 pm, and he was late to his next class, but he didn’t care at this point. Will was more concerned on the graffiti and the voice he heard. 

“M-Mike?” Will called out, regretting letting Mike go off without him

This was weird, nothing like this has happened to him in a long time, not sure if it was real or if he was hearing anything.

He happened to walk close to the source of the sound, which was at the end of the hallway, right next to a fitness room that was only ever used once in a while by PE classes, and a tiny bathroom that was never used.

Tapping could be heard behind the locked door of the fitness room, and the sound of a dumbbell could be heard clanging against the ground, which had startled Will

Will stared in horror, unable to move or make a sound.

“Yknow, it’s a good thing that faggot friend of yours is gone.” said the voice behind the doors, “Now I can finally have you to myself for the first time in a loooooong time.”

The two doors flung open, and nothing but the silhouettes of fitness equipment and items could be seen in the dark, hardly dimmed room.

Step right up, Willy!

Will started shaking his head, thinking he was going crazy.

He saw someone or something lurking in the shadows, appearing to be wearing a ruffly outfit, but Will was not dense enough to think about going through those doors.

“William Byers!” the principal grabbed his shoulder, making Will jump and yelp out in fear

He looked at the principal, then into the fitness room, which the only sound in the room now was the sound of the March wind coming from the vents.

“What are you doing?”

“I-I I don’t know.” Will managed to spit out

“Not only are you late to class,” said the principal, “But the fitness room is off limits.”

He then went in to close the doors, and walked past Will.

“That room is for educational purposes only.” said the principal, “Now get to class.”

“Yes sir.” 

As soon as the principal disappeared down the corner, Will sighed, and looked at those doors again. Now there was nothing but silence.

Will forgot to even mention what he saw, he was just too scared for that to cross his mind.

~

March 14th, 1987

It was now Saturday, and Nancy, Johnathan, Steve, and Emma had gotten together for the weekend, as they tried to do so once every few weeks between college.

They had first went over to Nancy’s, the only person that would be home that night would be Ted, and were glad Karen wasn’t, or else she’d complain about the non-existing racket they were making or make some excuse for the rest of them to head home way too early. 

The four of them were planning on seeing a late film that night, and Hopper was the one who dropped both Eleven and Emma and would be back for Eleven later on.

Now being 8:30, Hopper had come back to pick up Eleven while she hung out with Mike. Even though Eleven had a curfew, she knew it was better than not going out at all. 

The doorbell had rang, and the four of them had went downstairs to answer the door, since Ted could not hear the doorbell between his snores.

“Nancy, get the door.” Ted said groggily 

“Hello guys.” Hopper greeted them, “Ems, it’s time for Eleven to come with me now.”

Emma had ran upstairs to get her, and Eleven and Mike had followed behind as they went downstairs.

“So, how’s Joyce?” Nancy asked

“We’re both doing really well.” Hopper smiled as he looked over at Johnathan

“Sucks you have to go.” Mike said as he gave Eleven a goodbye hug

“You’ve gotten tall, Michael.” Hopper smirked, “And so has Will.”

“I know,” Johnathan laughed, “Soon he’ll be my height.”

“Okay Cathy, when do I tell your mother you’re coming back?” Hopper asked

She looked over at the four and Nancy mouthed “Twelve”

“Uh, around 12?”

Hopper nodded

“Don’t worry,” said Steve, “I’ll be bringing us back.”

“Sounds good,” said Hopper, “Hope you guys have a good night.”

The four of them made their way back upstairs after saying goodbye, and Mike was the one to shut the door behind him after saying goodbye to Eleven.

The sound of his father snorting made him glance over into the living room

“Mike, where’s Nancy?”

“Really dad? You just saw her less than a minute ago.” said Mike

As Mike was about to head back upstairs, Ted stopped him with more questions.

“Oh yeah Mike, where’s Richie?”

“At Eddie’s.” 

“One more question,” said Ted, “Where’s your mother and Holly?”

“I don’t know, out somewhere!”

Meanwhile, as Nancy, Johnathan, Emma, and Steve headed back into Nancy’s room, Johnathan began smiling, and they thought it was weird since he never did so unless he was laughing.

“What is it, Johnathan?” Steve smirked

Johnathan smirked, while glancing over at Emma, and she exchanged a look.

“Seriously what is it?” said Nancy

“Emma, do you want to tell them?” said Johnathan

“Tell them what -” Emma asked, “Oh, right.”

She scratched her head, then broke the news.

“So Eleven’s dad, Hopper, and Joyce are doing well.” Emma announced, “Both of our families will be having dinner together next weekend.”

“Does that mean you and Johnathan are going to be -” Steve paused

“Step-siblings? Probably.” Johnathan smirked

“Oh my god,” said Nancy, “That would be so cool!”

~

Next Chapter: To Be Continued

[captainolive23]

Fun Facts about Lawrence, Kansas

(So this is mostly just for people who want their fics to be accurate. I'm not saying you have to use these things in fics but if you want to, here ya go.) Ok so as someone from Lawrence I have trouble reading supernatural high school au fics that take place in Lawrence because of all the inaccuracies. Which is the sucky part of having the main characters from your favorite show be from your home town. Ok so first off if your fic takes place before 1997(1996?) then there was only one high school in town (Lawrence High) but if you're making it take place in modern day then there are 2. The newer one is the one I went to so I'm gonna give you some facts about Free State cuz I don't know shit about Lawrence High. -Free State was designed by a prison designer. -they were going to name it "Quantill High" but if you know anything about Lawrence history you know that Quantrill was a dude from Missouri, who during the civil war came over to Lawrence and burnt the town to the ground and killed a shit ton of people. -when you first walk into free state you see the main common area which is also the lunch room. There's two main doors leading into this area. One is on the side that faces the main road and the other is on the side that faces the student parking lot. The entrance to the office is on the side with the parking lot. -up until my senior year anyone could pretty much walk in the doors any time of day. Then in my junior year there was a remodel and the office got moved so they started locking the doors during the day and if a parent needed to come in or if a student got in late you had to get buzzed in through the office. -one security guard is total dick and will get after anyone for anything. Like wearing hats for example. While wearing a hat was against the dress code, none of the teachers gave a shit. The principal didn't give a shit either. Hell the other security guard really didn't give a shit. But one time it was snowing and it was cold as fuck and I was wearing my hat. The second I walked in the door this guy was yelling at me for wearing a hat. -so the average school day goes from either 0 hour to 6th hour or 1st hour to 7th hour. Most people go 1-7 but one of my friends went 0-6 since she had to be at school super early every day anyway. 0 hour starts at 7 am. 1st hour starts at 8. I wanna say that 6th hour ends at 2:20ish but I could be wrong. 7th hour ends at 3:10. -there are 3 lunch periods taking place throughout 5th hour. 1st lunch was preferred by most people but second lunch was nice to cuz it cut 5th hour in half and made it feel waaayy shorter. -we also had open lunch where we could leave to go to one of the restaurants or stores that surrounded the school. There was taco bell, burger king, McDonald's, starbucks, Jimmy johns, arbys, little ceasars (which tastes like the schools pizza so we avoided going there), dominoes, Chipotle and orange leaf(frozen yogurt place) and there was a Wal-Mart, CVS, a dillons (krogers grocery store), hyvee (another grocery store) and sprouts (organic food grocery store). If you had a car you could probably go other places too but lunch was only 30 minutes long so most people didn't. -wednesday and Thursday are short days. Until my senior year (so last year) Wednesday schedule was 0,1,3,5,7 starting at 7 and ending at 2:30. Thursday was 2,4,6 and was late arrival so school didn't start until 9 and went until 2. That switched my senior year so now Wednesday is the super short day. -they also started holding classes at the new career and college center during my senior year. Basically juniors and seniors can take one 3 hour long class at this place and get college credit. The class I took was forensic science but there was also a nursing class and a robotics class. There were others to but I don't remember them. You could either take the class in the morning or in the afternoon (which is what I did) and it only lasted one semester but if you took the science class that gave you a whole science credit instead of half a credit like a normal science class. -you only needed 3 science and 3 math credits to graduate but it you wanted to go to college you needed 4 of each. You had to have 4 English credits to graduate. -senior consumer math taught you how to do taxes and shit. -as long as you're not an overachiever senior English classes are fucking easy as hell. My first semester class was myth, fantasy, and folklore and we barely had to to any writing and my teacher read to us cuz it was the first class of the day and Mr. Wolak was about to have his first kid so he was practicing his character voices. And the second semester class was a little harder cuz it was mostly writing but Ms. Elliot was super laid back (someone brought pot brownies to her class once and she ate one even tho she knew there was pot in it. Seriously there's a reason she was everyone's favorite teacher) -the dress code was not heavily enforced. The only person who really cared was the security guard I was talking about earlier. -juniors and seniors could be office aids or teacher aids. Becoming a teacher aid was a little harder cuz you had to get a note from the teacher and permission from your counselor but becoming an office aid was pretty easy as long as there was an opening. -you only had to have half a P.E. credit (one semester) to graduate. Most people took more since it was an easy a. -you also had to have half a foreign language credit. So now we're going to get into actual stuff about Lawrence. -LAWRENCE IS NOT A SMALL TOWN. In the 80s and early 90s it kind of was but it's not anymore so if you're writing a fic that takes place in the 80s or 90s then it's fine to write it as a smallish town. But if you're basing it in modern day Lawrence it's not small. The high schools are getting so overcrowded they're thinking of building a third one. -there are 14 elementary schools. 4 middle schools(which were junior high (7-9th grade) until my 8th grade year when it switched to middle school(6-8th) in 2011). There are 2 high schools. There's also a bunch of private schools but idk how many since they're not on the district website. -downtown Lawrence has a bunch of really cool old houses and all 3rd graders in the town get to take a tour of downtown Lawrence and see all the historic spots (like the giant boulder in the park and the oldest cemetery in town) -the sorority and frat houses are in downtown Lawrence. -there's this really creepy mansion between the frat houses that I always thought looked like a castle and I'm pretty sure a dentist lives there or at least did when I was little. -the guy who invented basketball lived here. -a couple years ago they blew up one of the dorm buildings cuz they built a new one and it was this huge thing that anyone who didn't have to work that day went to watch. I still have the video on my laptop. It was awesome. -the one place almost every teenager in town goes to hang out is java break. Its been here since my mom was a kid. They make milkshakes and smoothies and you can add cereal to them. There's a room in the back that's basically the graffiti room. You can draw on any surface you can find in there. There's some really cool art work in there and every once in a while they go in and paint over it. Most people just draw dicks tho. -the last day that the outdoor pool is open every summer they have a dog day where people bring their dogs to go swimming. I've never been since my dog hates water and other dogs but it always looks like fun. -on the 4th of July they have a firework show by the river which is next to downtown. I usually go to the hospital parking lot to watch it. -there's this one homeless dude who lives near the river who has chickens and the cops just sort of leave him alone cuz he's far enough away from any residential areas that he's not bothering anyone. -Lawrence is the most liberal town in Kansas mostly because Its a college town. We are an island of blue in a sea of red. -there are still racist homophobic douchebags here but not nearly as many as you would expect. There are a couple assholes that like to hang confederate flags on their trucks. Unfortunately said douchebags went to my school. They didn't have many friends tho. -the the Campbell's own pretty much everything in town. Every time they start another housing community they named it after one of their kids. From what I've heard most of their kids are pretty nice but I knew one of them and he was a total dick. He was the stereotypical rich white guy. -the other super rich family in town is the Compton's. They own peacocks, zebras and a camel. -both families live in these super huge mansions near free state high school. The Compton's oldest son dropped out of college to become a rapper and from what I heard he sucks at it. -for a long ass time there was only one place in town you could get fried chicken (kfc) but in the past 2 years we've gotten about 10 different fried chicken places. All of them within about a 3 block radius of each other. -for a long time (about 20 years) there was a bridge to no where next to the movie theater because they started building a road but then had to stop cuz they didn't have permission to build through the marshlands. They recently finished it. -the movie theater got remodeled in the last couple of years and it used to be super gross but now it has reclining seats that are super comfortable and it's a lot cleaner than it used to be -south park is downtown and it has a gazebo. -every year the humane society hosts a zombie walk downtown and it starts at south park. Its a really big thing. People decorate their jeeps with zombie parts and fake blood and have "zombie hunter" stickers. People dress up as either zombies or zombie hunters and walk through downtown. Some of the zombie costumes are fucking amazing. And there's always this one guy that goes with his daughter and they run up to random people and scream in their faces. My best friend got her picture in the paper one year cuz her zombie costume was that good. Anyway that's all I can think of for now. If anyone wants a part 2 or has any questions just ask and I'll do my best to help.

[horrible-monstrosity]

Hero no Macademia Nuts, season fucking two let's get the fuck on with this shit

1 This recap makes me remember questions I didn't bother to ask earlier. So after the first magic baby was born, reports of quirks "popped up" apparently in grown people... but nowadays quirks pop up neither in infancy nor adulthood, but most in kids around 4, and if you're significantly past that there's little chance you'll gain a quirk in adulthood. Bitch, what? Plus it's been shown/implied that quirks are genetic, which doesn't make much sense with that origin story either unless glowbaby bathed the entire Earth in mutation-inducing radiation. and the narration randomly spews some shit about collective consciousness. karl jung maeda would be twirling in his grave if he heard this shit

this cold open fight betta deliver good

"he may not have had a plan when he acted" he did have a plan. throw things. it was a page of his notebook remmeber so who did al mite write this letter to, and how do they feel about him having had his stomach surgically removed or whatever? tell me how heroic sacrifices affect the people around them. tell me how your bland, blind ideals fall apart once they're subjected to just a bit of scrutiny

We're told handsy is a "spoiled brat manchild who was never told no" to make us immediately hate him (show don't tell would be spinning in its grave if it saw this shit) but that really just makes me ask questions. Like... why is he this way? We're told he bad because he treated birdbrains like a "pet", but for all we've seen... Birdsy is just a brainless (haha) monster that can't even speak, what was created to fufill a certain purpose. How the hell else is he supposed to treat the thing? Nobody is like this for absolutely no reason, but MHA wants us to hate on an empty homunculi with no origin because they said he was horrible. or maybe it's so terrible I just want to be contrary. - and then the principal calls his students manchildren by proxy lol ok

school was closed after the attack... which happened on like the second day of school. the kids only got like two, three days of class before the school got fucking shut down lol apparently for only one day too as far as we saw. absolute kek

"uh, I'm sorry but why not (cancel it)? it's just a sports festival..." Grapes-kun's quirk might be his grapes but his true superpower is being fuckin reasonable apparently this fucking school's sports festival is bigger than the olympics or some shit. it's the fourth day of class and already the kids' future careers are on the line.

earplugs girl is still shitting on electric guy and I still hate her. meanwhile floatzel loses her shit and goes out of character because nothing matters - construction company hasn't gotten work in this society where superfights destroy buildings. how - floatdad basically ruined her by telling her to focus on her own dream. becoming rich by joining a top-level agency is so much harder than her just helping the construction company with her powers. And it still doesn't make much sense, because if she was hyped up over catching an agency's attention she should be more hyped up over training exercises since getting an agency to notice her is worthless if she's not good enough to interest them.

And then we get another one of those things that just seems *weird* to me but I just can't put my finger on why- AM decides that the reason punching birdman didn't break Beku's arm is because... his body subconciously put the brakes on to keep him from killing a bitch. Which... oh man, what? First off-  the implication is that Beku fucking threw down to kill. Which... is actually reasonable, since he's facing an inhuman monster that's trying to kill other people, which makes the fact that he supposedly stopped himself from killing questionable, but on the other hand we're talking about some kid fucking trying to kill a bitch. And then there's the weird implication that what stopped him from killing wasn't morals but an inherent reflex, and without it birdbrains would be a fucking red mist. Not because Beku thought for himself that killing was wrong... because his heroic body just auto-decides that for him. He never has to worry about the morality of a situation, just throw punches and don't think about it. I- I don't fucking know, it's just... fucking weird. And then AM calls this "some kind of progress" because he's made absolutely no other kind of progress except... this.

oh look, we get the designated gril ed credits right off the bat. sell that waifu merch

2 Beku is entirely right. The sports festival is useless for Beku right now, both as a chance to sell himself and as a way to fix his problems with his powers. He needs actual focused training if anything, not random skirmishes, and there's no point in trying to show off when he can barely do anything. But it's being sold to us that because he had the heroic passions once he needs to be as retarded as possible, just charge ahead with whatever's presented to him never thinking of how to get the most out of his time. Hell, he'd probably get more out of skipping the festival entirely and just meditating in a cave somewhere instead. This is just... indescribably dumb. Besides, with all the villains gunning for AM just because of his status, it'd be way better for him to keep his civilian identity a secret... which means showing off as a student is pointless.

have we ever even heard of the other courses before? and this just makes things even more contrived, that the one class that was already despised for ~spotlight camping is the one that got targeted by real villains and survived unscathed because plot armor so now everyone else just happens to hate them even more. What was the point of this? Like, it's a competition, but you need to make the entire rest of the school even more competitive against specifically this class because... why? It's just so cheap. it's not the hero course it's just the main character course

We skim over even more month because it's either the most clusterfuck of a single day possible or absolutely nothing. "a bunch of villains did just break in"- just? I thought they just skipped over months of training.

... why aren't they using their costumes now?

icyhot randomly shows up to bitch and dickmeasure at beku about how he's totally going to win... just why? this is such a cheap and empty way to attempt to raise the stakes and drama. why did he even single out Beku? Everyone still thinks he's kind of shit. Hell, why is Icyhot the only one making declarations like this?

baguko gets up on stage and does exactly what he usually does, acts like an overblown asshole, but Beku tells us it means his character's changed. if you have to explain it to us then it means you've failed. The way Bakugo acts here tells us just about nothing, it's just more of the same shit we've gotten so far from a character I sure fucking don't really care about but his samey bullshit is still being shoved down my throat. It's boring.

oh look only the students we know whose powers we know get ahead. we already know their powers, so this is boring. no one else matters. nothing matters. at least grapes-kun gets to show off. Like, no, really, I've been wanting to see him do some shit for a while now. In the entrance exam (or the test they did on the first day of class? whatever)- I don't remember where he ranked, but he was at least above Midoriya, who had just his normal strength and the one finger blast to rely on. (probably second last lol) And his powers, while useful for... some things, couldn't have helped all that much. So he must have some kind of physical prowress to have made it in this school. Which makes him interesting, that this dopey little joke character is at least presumably competent. And in the landmine race he's shown being both somewhat physically adept as well as quite cunning. oh look, it's "the zero-point robots from the entrance exams" !!! man, remember that? check out them recycled cels and reused models, we don't need to design a new thing ha ha hwt the fuc beku mom is just watching the festival and crying because she thinks her son is going to fucking die. what the fuc did she think was happening at the school this entire time?

- the preview has bakugo acting like a psycho asshole again and contradicitng what beku said before so that's not even legit apparently. ha ha what's character growth and things happening

[longlivelizziemcguire-blog]

All Grown Up

The bell rings at Hillridge Junior High and students scurry from classroom to classroom. Roaming the halls looking for mischief, Principal Tweedy finds a gathering of students huddled close to the lockers in the hallway. His intrigue turns to frustration as he strides towards them. “Mr. Gordon,” Tweedy exclaims, prompting the surrounding students to disperse, “how many times must I break up one of your little schemes before you actually stop them?” The boy closes his jacket and he rolls his eyes, revealing that it is filled with candy, electronics, gum, and other things for other students to buy. “Mr. Gordon I am far too old and have been put through too much for your mischief, Lord knows how much your uncle tormented me,” Tweedy says with defeat.

“You’re right Principal Tweedy, I’m so sorry” the boy says with faked remorse. Tweedy tiredly dismisses his mocking apology as he pats him along to class knowing his battle was not, and probably will never be, won. The boy walks sluggishly to his classroom, disrupting the lesson that has already started as he appears in the door. Apathetically walking towards his desk, the boy’s eyes light up as he notices an empty chair near the front of the classroom next to new student in class, a pretty well put together blonde girl. The boy excitedly settles himself in the seat, flashing a smile to his neighbor. She smiles back kindheartedly, giving the boy a glimmer of hope.

When class ends, the kids pack up their stuff so they can head to the cafeteria for lunch. Mustering up the courage to say something, anything, to the girl sitting beside him, the boy is interrupted by pushes and noogies from another student. “James, when did the wells of our friendship run so dry that you began to to quench your thirst from another?” the student tease, referring to James’s impromptu seat change. James looks back up at the girl who is now already halfway to the door, saddened that he missed his chance.

“If she loves you, she will return” he mocks, laughing at himself. “Whatever man,” he says ceasing his lighthearted role play, “can we get some food now cuz?”

The two of them sit at the lunch table together and we finally officially meet James and Adam. James is the troublemaker, always getting himself into something with his parents and at school. But James also has a kind heart and a soft spot for those he loves, uncannily similar to Matt McGuire. Adam is James’ cousin, but the two are very different. James is an earnest poetry writing, theatre loving, art class taking kind of kid who has a wicked sense of humor. As much as he keeps James’s schemes from getting too catastrophic, he also doesn’t shy away from stirring the pot.

In their last period of the day, science, James sits alone at a two-person desk. “Now James,” the quirky and compassionate teacher says, “your partner Ellie won’t be in class anymore but no need to fret! We’re lucky to have another student transfering in to take her place.” As the words come out of her mouth, the pretty girl from the previous class strides through the door. “Aaaand here she is!! James, this is Lucy your new lab partner. Class, please make Lucy feel right at home in our house of discovery! Now, let’s revisit our conversation about ecosystems. Who’s excited?”

Lucy makes herself comfortable beside James who is obviously trying to suppress his visible excitement. “James, right?” she says extending her hand towards him. Confused by this gesture James dumbfoundedly points to himself mouthing ‘me?’ in a puzzled state. “Yes, you James” Lucy says through harmless chuckling.

James extends his hand to shake hers, “nice to meet you too Lucy. I assume you’re going to be our President one day, you know, going for the handshake and all.”

Flattered, Lucy smiles. “I bet you’re pretty stoked that you’ll get to say you were my lab partner then, right?” The two smile at each other for a brief second before returning focus to the lesson. James is evidently on Cloud 9.

After school, James and Adam walk home discussing what funny business they have planned for the family dinner they’re having that night. “Ok, and then,” Adam says, “I’ll do that to make everyone distracted”

“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s good” the wheels of creativity are turning for James. “Then with no one going I’m going to –”

“Going to what?” a man interrupts, stopping James and Adam in their tracks. It seems that James has arrived home, as we see his dad (Gordo) pulling up to the house at the same time. “Please boys, no picking on Sarah tonight. Can we, I don’t know, take a night off maybe?” Gordo is trying so hard to persuade them, even though he knows it’s a lost cause. The boys exchange mischievous glances. “Well, you can tell your mother I tried to stop you at least,” Gordo says putting his arm around James, ushering him into the house. “See you tonight Adam!” he says as Adam hops over to his house across the street.

“How work today, dad?” James asks as they approach the front door of their home.

“It was good son. Met with some producers for a new movie they want me to direct!!” Gordo says beaming with joy. But clearly James’ mind is occupied by something else. His dinner scheme? His new crush?

“That’s so cool dad,” James says walking into the house. “I’ll be in my room,” he shouts racing up the stairs.

“No shenanigans at dinner!” Gordo yells after him, knowing that his words will do absolutely nothing. He then walks into the kitchen to find his wife, Lizzie, sorting through mail. The two of them hug and kiss and discuss their days. When Gordo brings up the possibility of directing a new movie, Lizzie perks up.

“That’d be amazing! I’m so excited for you. And, not the mention how useful the money would be” she says pointing to the mail, “Sarah still hasn’t gotten any acceptance letters yet, when do school start sending them out?! Does she get it by email now?! I don’t know how any of this works anymore” Gordo calms Lizzie down and assures her that their daughter will get into a good college, hopefully not one too far from home. Putting the mail and her worries away, Lizzie and Gordo begin preparing for dinner.

That night, Adam and his father (who we find out is Lizzie’s brother Matt) come join the Gordon’s (Lizzie, Gordo, James, and Sarah) for dinner.

Matt and Lizzie get along like dignified adults, no longer fighting like they did when they were younger. While Matt is clearly all grown-up, with a kid and a wife who is currently out of the country for work, he still hasn’t lost his troublemaking antics. Matt and James are very close as Matt sees a lot of himself in James and vice-versa. James loves his uncle very much and often goes to him instead of his father for many things.

As a senior in high school, Sarah has no patience for her brother and cousins’ relentless stupidity and scheming. She’s far too preoccupied with her schoolwork, friends, and boyfriend. Sarah is a straight A student, school President, involved in debate team, the robotics club, the daily broadcast, and many other clubs that you wouldn’t think she’d have enough time for. She is very fixated on her studies and dreams of getting into Yale, but still makes time for fun with friends. At dinner we see that she is polite and refined but also clearly cool and popular. While she doesn’t get along well with Adam and James, her and her parents have an amazing relationship.

When the family sits down for dinner, Adam spills the beans on James’ new crush and everyone erupts with incessant questions and inquiries. “Does she have a name?” Sarah asks.

Knowing he won’t be able to avoid such questions for long, James drudgingly reveals her name, “uhhhh, it’s Lucy. She’s in my science class.” Sarah squints her eyes.

“Wait…” she says, “does Lucy have blonde hair?” James is clearly taken aback by Sarah’s accurate guess. Adam is loving watching the story unfold as he stuff his face with pasta. “Omg!” Sarah exclaims, “your new crush is Ben’s little sister!! She just transferred to Hillridge” And with those words, all the blood flushes from James’ face.

“Brother and sister dating brother and sister, huh? Let’s see what happens here and maybe I could make a movie on it,” Gordo laughs nudging Lizzie. Adam’s eyes light up as the plot thickens and it’s revealed that Lucy is Sarah’s boyfriend Ben’s little sister. Now, every family member is chiming in trying to give James advice on how to woo Lucy, but James is having none of it as his annoyance with Sarah grows. He raises his eyebrows at Adam indicating that now is the time for their prank.

With that, Adam begins fake choking which gets everyone up from the table trying to help him. Adam gets up out of his seat and walks towards the family room diverting everyone away from the table while James stays put. He douses Sarah’s plate next to him full of spaghetti with vinegar, noding at Adam that it’s time to stop. As Adam lets out his final cough, he assures the family that everything’s fine. “I’m all good now! Just went down the wrong pipe, oops!”

The family sighs with relief as they make their way back to the table. James and Adam smile at each other mischievously. Before Sarah twirls another forkful of spaghetti, Adam quickly distracts her asking, “hey Sarah how’s the whole college thing coming along?” But, before she can answer, her phone lights up. It’s an email notification from Yale. With Sarah distracted now by her phone, and with James not knowing that she had just received an email from Yale, he considers now the perfect time to sneakily pour baking soda overtop of the vinegar in her spaghetti.

“OH MY GOD” Sarah shrieks at her phone, “I GOT INTO YALE!!!!!” Immediately Sarah’s entire plate of spaghetti explodes all over her. Taking in what just happened, Sarah shoots James an angered look.

“…Congraaatttss…” James says sheepishly, bursting into laughter thereafter.

“YOU GOT IN?!” Gordo and Lizzie scream in unison, getting up from their seats to hug Sarah. Soon enough, the whole family is covered in spaghetti after exchanging hugs and celebrating in excitement.

After dinner, the family sits in front of the TV while Sarah beams over the phone to Ben about her acceptance. “I know I know!!! And it’s only a 2 hour drive from NYU if you’re going to be there…I can’t wait!!”

James and Adam linger in the kitchen, eating the dessert cookies no one else is touching. “Well,” Adam says, “pretty poor timing for our prank.” The two shrug. They’ll do better next time. Giddy from tonight’s events, and now wearing clean clothes, Sarah comes over and grabs a cookie.

“So,” she says to James, “Lucy, huh?” James buries his face in his hands, knowing that Sarah must’ve said something to Ben. On the contrary, “I didn’t tell Ben anything…” she says. James raises his head suspiciously. What does she want? “…and I won’t if you stop pranking me for the rest of the school year.” Adam’s jaw drops as James’ eyes widen. “Yup, you heard me. It’s the girl or the pranks, your choice,” and with that Sarah grabs and cookie and skips up to her room.

“Well that’s rough man,” Adam says. “No more pranks on Sarah? What are we going to do?!”

“I’ve got a couple ideas,” James says as his eyes fill with mischief.

[totesmccoats]

Dark Nights Metal #2

Batman has stolen the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and the Justice League give chase. Meanwhile, the council of Immortals plan to find a way to kill Barbatos before his cult can summon them through Batman.

They may be too late.

There’s this saying in storytelling that you should start a scene 5 seconds into things so that your action has a running start. This issue exemplifies that perfectly, starting with Batman already having outsmarted the League, and baiting them with decoys upon decoys. It’s a genius way to remind us just how well prepared Batman really is without much actual set-up. And watching the League essentially open boxes within boxes until they reach the crunchy Batman center pays off like gangbusters.

And when Superman and Wonder Woman eventually do catch up with Bruce, the reveal is one of the best sight gags in comics history. Highlight below if you really need spoilers: Baby Darkseid in a baby bjorn 😀

And in the final pages of the issue, the shit hits the fan, and the real Dark Souls Nights Metal begins.

  Mister Miracle #2

Scott and Barda lead many successful campaigns against Darkseid’s forces, but none of it earns any respect from the new Highfather – Orion.

Instead, Orion sends Scott and Barda on a new mission – to kill Granny Goodness, the woman that tortured them through their childhood, while pretending to negotiate a treaty. But a half received message from Metron casts doubts on which side Scott should be fighting for.

Another great issue that probably couldn’t turn any more upside down than it does. The issue goes through stages: exhaustion by the endless warfare, then an unease while in Orion’s court as he compels his brother to bow to him, and finally uncertainty when Scott and Barda are “graciously” welcomed by Granny. You would think that GG would be the creepiest part of the issue, especially considering the reunion of abuser and abused, but she has nothing on Orion’s massive egotrip.

Luckily, King is skillful enough to break up the discomfort of the issue with one sweet, and incredibly relatable, scene of Scott and Barda trying to figure out how showers on New Genesis are supposed to work. Part of that sweetness is soured when it’s implied that one of Barda’s continuing insecurities was seeded by GG, and that GG knows it; but it’s the initial thought that counts, right?

Right now, Mister Miracle is an almost Hamlet-esque family drama above everything else – a deadly and divine Thanksgiving; and its completely gripping.

  The Flash #30

Infected by the black suit Negative Speed Force, Barry finally snaps at Singh and his fellow crime lab workers after they chastise him for investigating the missing samples alone. Luckily, Kristen won’t be pushed away so easily, and manages to talk him down in private, which leads Barry to a break in the investigation, which he follows up on as the Flash. Waiting for him is the thief, but he’s more than Flash bargained for.

I love everything about this issue. It’s just classic comics. Negative influenced Barry finally reaches his breaking point and angsts out in front of everybody! And then we get a new villain using a classic formula: after experimenting on himself, Bloodwork manages to turn his hemophilia into a psychic control over all blood. So good!

The Flash is on a roll right now, largely going back to superhero fundamentals, and knocking them out of the park.

  Wonder Woman #30

After being persuaded to be part of Hamilton Revere’s experiments to use her blood in regular people, Wonder Woman is told that he plans to use it to make super soldiers, not cure diseases. Realizing she’s been duped, Wonder Woman rescinds her help. And, realizing Diana has been led into a trap, Steve and Etta make their way towards rescuing her.

Following Fontana’s pattern so far, the prolonged fight scene in this issue is better than everything that comes after it. Diana’s running monologue where she says she will be a hero for humanity, but not a weapon, really works for her character, especially as she fights off partial Wonder-ized super soldiers working under Revere’s orders to – quite literally – bleed her dry. Wonder Woman will not be made an object.

But, the issues quality takes a sharp downturn almost immediately after the villain’s base explodes. It’s almost as though there were two writers on this book, it’s that drastic. Thankfully, it’s only for three pages, but it’s a sour note to leave this story, and this creative team, on.

  Amazing Spider-Man #32

Defeated, Norman Osborn searches once again to re-awake the Goblin inside himself, a search that leads him to the Temple With No Name, high in the Himalayas, to begin studying the arcane arts.

This is a one-shot, and a relatively insignificant one, all things considered, but a fine enough story in and of itself. I love the art of Smallwood and Bellaire, fresh off their run with Rucka on Moon Knight, and that meta-reference also is a small hint towards how this story winds-up.

But, honestly, Osborn isn’t as compelling a character as Slott would like him to be in this issue, and acknowledging that the story is similar to those of other magic users in the Marvel Universe isn’t an excuse for the lack of anything novel in this telling.

  Ms. Marvel #22

Just having found out that Jersey’s newest villain is one of her school friends, and revealing her own secret identity as a way to reach him, Ms. Marvel is just barely able to escape from Lockdown. Totally exhausted, and opposed by half the city, Kamala is lucky that the other half has her back, and also, that she’s friends with a teleporting dog.

Between this and Black Bolt, Lockjaw is in the running to be this month’s Marvel MVP. The rest of the issue is fantastic, too, demonstrating the power of a community to rise up against the parts of it that would destroy them from within. More heroic than Kamala are Nakia and Tyesha, who lead a march to the mosque where KIND has their kidnapped inhumans surrounded, and present them with a document from the court proclaiming their actions to be illegal. She’s also backed up by the rare good cop, and recently former mayor Marchesi.

After a quick refueling at a friendly neighborhood Mediterranean restaurant, Ms. Marvel hops back into the fray, but in this issue, the day is truly won by the people, whom, united, can never be defeated.

  Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #24

Ultron is a T-Rex now! That’s all you need! Also, Squirrel Girl teams up with Antonio the Doombot to try and stop Ultron, who is a T-Rex now.

Henderson and Renzi do some neat things with Ultron’s iconic face-lights cutting through the darkness in the beginning of the issue, and it’s almost a shame they don’t keep it up longer. But, almost as quickly as they finish doing that, North introduces us to Antonio the Doombot, who continues this series’ tradition of scene-stealing robots; although Ultron doesn’t let Antonio do so easily.

  Kill or Be Killed #12

After killing the guy who threatened Kira, Dylan realizes that if he really wants his newly improved relationship with Kira to last, he’s going to have to bring down the entire Russian mob before they can harm her or himself.

What strikes me most about this issue is the contrast between happy Dylan and vengeful Dylan. On Halloween, Dylan realizes that every moment he gets to spend with Kira is a miracle, and joyously wonders the city with her until they settle into each-other’s arms at the end of the night.

But then he’s consumed by vengeful Dylan, who compels him to stake-out a Russian Mafioso until he can lead him to his boss and tell him everything he knows before killing him in cold blood. He ruminates on how he’s learned to ignore his fear response because he’s realized that he’s not the first or only murderer among humanity. He’s ruthless, calculating, and single-minded. And you being to wonder how these two Dylans could possibly be the same person.

  Redlands #2

OK, this series is going in a very different direction than I expected. Having successfully liberated the town of Redlands, Florida; Bridget, Alice, and Ro became the new police force. Their latest case is chasing “Redbrant,” an “artist” murderer who poses his victims in symbolic positions while stuffing their bodies with alchemically treated rose-petals, and paints solid red canvases with their blood. Moreover, he knows about Bridget, Alice, and Ro’s witchcraft, and wants to expose them to the world.

If this series decides to settle into Witch Law & Order, I am totally here for that if this issue is any indication of how that would pan out. But Bellare has also clearly built a much deeper world with Redlands, full of – besides witchcraft – artistically predisposed murderers, and perverted high-school principals that prey on their students. Redlands may be run by witches, but men still be creepy.

Coming off its explosive cold-open of an issue, Redlands is still warming up, but I’m excited to see where else this series decides to go.

Comic Reviews for 9/13/17 Dark Nights Metal #2 Batman has stolen the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and the Justice League give chase.