#i busted out the panels in literally a week and then it took me two years to add the damn border and buttons 😀

[newyorkxpizza]

finally finished this sweater i started like two years ago and i don’t even like it i want to frog it and redo the whole thing

[shuadotcom]

Read Your Mind | KTH (M)

♦ Summary: You just want to find your friends and enjoy the party, but instead you find out that maybe you aren’t where you’re supposed to be.

♦ Pairing: Vampire!Taehyung x Human Female!Reader

♦ Genre: Vampire AU, supernatural AU

♦ Rating: NC17

♦ Warnings: Cursing, teasing, implied sex

♦ Word Count: 2.9k

♦ A/N: For @btsholidaybingo​​ | Bing Square: Vampire | Songspo: Read Your Mind - Avant

This has been 98% done for weeks, but I couldn’t write a proper ending for the life of me. Huge, giant thank you to Mars (@joheun-saram​) and Danna (@unoriginal-username15432​​) for beta reading this and helping me try and scrounge up an ending I didn’t hate! ❤️❤️

You can swear that Mingyu texted you the right address. The house number on your phone clearly reads 1230, which matches the numbers on the beige paneled house in front of you. The street is quite dark for it to be nearly 10:30 pm on Halloween night, but the music is loud enough that you can hear it from the sidewalk.

You glance at your texts once more and make your way up to the porch, music blaring as soon as you open the door. The inside of the house is not as dark as it looked from the outside, but it’s still dim, and there aren’t enough lights. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell like cheap beer and weed, which you’re used to smelling, having been to many house parties. Instead, the air is reminiscent of burning incense and something that you can only describe as a coppery scent.

Squinting, you see if you can recognize any of the nearby faces, but you can’t place a name to anyone around you. You pull your phone out of your clutch and shoot a quick text message to the group chat to see where your friends are.

Y/n: Hellooooooo I just walked in. Where are you losers?

Mingyu: Wow and only an hour and a half late

Wonwoo: We’re in the kitchen

Vernon: I will literally down all of these jell-o shots if you don’t get your ass in here

Y/n: IF THAT INCLUDES THE CHERRY ONES I WILL END YOU CHWE 😡

Vernon: 🍒👅

Y/n: 🔪🔪

With nothing but cherry jell-o and strangling your friend on your mind, you miss the multiple sets of eyes staring at you until you put your phone away. A group of costumed party-goers is watching your every move from where they’re standing near the staircase. At least two of them have glowing red contacts, which doesn’t help your unease. Eager to leave, your eyes scan the room, and you decide to venture to the left of the house, away from most of the crowd.

Upon reaching the kitchen, you don’t see Mingyu, Vernon, or any of your other friends. The kitchen itself is empty altogether. After sending a quick text telling your friends to stop fucking with you, you decide a drink is in order.

A quick survey of the dismal spread tells you your only options are clear bottles of red wine and a punch bowl of what you can only assume is jungle juice or another alcoholic punch concoction.

Deciding on the punch, you ladle yourself a cup. It’s oddly thick when you scoop it, and it drips instead of pours into your plastic cup. Taking a sniff, you notice it’s the same coppery smell that got your attention when you first walked in. Up close, the scent makes you gag, and you recoil. What the fuck is in this drink?

Before you can take a cautionary sip, the sense of a presence has you halting and whipping around, only to knock into the solid body that appeared behind you. Two sturdy arms belonging to the man who caught you wrap around your waist, keeping you from busting your ass completely.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” You laugh awkwardly and try to remove yourself from his arms, but his grip is much stronger than yours.

“No need to apologize, doll. It’s an honor to be this close to you.” You narrow your eyes at him. Something about his tone is off, and you don’t like it. With a quick survey of him, you see that admittedly, he’s extremely good looking. Between his dark, curly hair, thick thighs, and tattoos peeking through the sheer sleeve of his grey shirt, he’s definitely your type, but again, something is off, and you can’t pinpoint it. Even in a bunny-eared headband and a painted-on pink nose, it doesn’t seem right to be here with him like this.

“Well, uh, thank you,” Again, you attempt to wiggle out of his hold, but instead, he pulls you closer, burying his nose into your neck. “What the f-”

“Do you have any idea how divine you smell?”

“Thank you? Look, just l-let me g-go,” A sudden fuzzy sensation takes over your body, and your ability to form coherent sentences seems harder than earlier. You hadn’t even taken a sip of punch, so you know it can’t be that.

The mystery bunny man uses your lethargy to his advantage and places a few kisses on your neck. His lips are cold and send a chill through your body. You want to shove him away, but your mind is hazy.

“This’ll only hurt a bit, doll, but you’ll like it, I promise,” he murmurs into your skin. Your mouth won’t let you ask what he means, but then you feel the sharpness of his teeth grazing your skin. Your brain is screaming, but no sound leaves your lips. This is wrong. Very, very wrong. Are you seriously about to be bitten by a vampire?

“Jungkook, what do you think you’re doing?” A deep voice ringing out through the kitchen has the man you now know as Jungkook pausing before his teeth pierce your skin.

He lets out a scoff and pulls away from you. “Oh, come on, Hyung, what does it look like?”

The man enters your vision from behind Jungkook, and you make eye contact, doing your best to plead with him without words.

“Let her go and stop using your powers on her. Poor girl’s eyes look as dead as your heart.”

Jungkook mumbles something you can’t hear under his breath and releases the hold he has on you. You slump back, and in an instant, the fog that was swirling around your head lifts. You blink a few times as your senses return.

“You’re no fun.” Jungkook pouts at the other man before stomping out of the kitchen, leaving the two of you alone.

After watching Jungkook go, the man turns back to you, his chocolate eyes scanning you from head to toe. You can’t help but shrink further under his gaze. His vibe is different from Jungkook’s, less menacing, but he is just as attractive, which still makes you nervous. Slicked back black hair showcases intense eyebrows and a chiseled jaw. He’s tall and not as muscular but can still clearly throw you around like a doll if he wanted to. And honestly, you kind of want him to.

“I do apologize on behalf of him. He’s the youngest of my brothers and still behaves recklessly sometimes.” He smiles widely, and you see fangs poking out, even though he is very clearly wearing the signature purple suit of the Joker. “I’m Taehyung, and I like your costume, by the way. Are you a leopard?”

You adjust your leopard print jumpsuit, suddenly very aware of how form-fitting it is. “Y/n. And no, I’m Scary Spice. You know, from the Spice Girls?” This makes him chuckle.

“Of course, my mistake.”

You point towards his outfit. “If you’re the Joker, why isn’t your face done up to match?”

Taehyung shrugs. “It’s an old costume that I threw on last minute. I didn’t have much time for the whole thing.” He’s still smirking at you. “What’s the matter, kitten?” He asks, but his tone suggests that he knows exactly what you’re thinking.

You do your best to ignore the way his use of the pet name affects you. “I just want to find my friends. They should be here waiting for me.”

“Oh? Who are your friends? I know everyone at this party.”

“Uh, do you know Mingyu, Vernon, Wonwoo, or Seungcheol? They’re dressed as the other four Spice Girls, so they’re not hard to miss.”

After a few seconds of thinking, the man shakes his head. “Nope, can’t say anyone by those names are here...but I think you knew that already.” He starts to advance towards you, trapping you in place. “It seems you’ve stumbled into the wrong Halloween party, kitten.”

You dig your phone out of your clutch and double-check the address, showing it to him. He shakes his head. “That’s the next street over.”

Something had told you before even walking into the house that something was wrong, but hearing Taehyung confirm it proved that you weren’t just paranoid. The smell of copper and the red liquid in the kitchen, the alleged glowing contacts of people in the front room, and the fact that Jungkook nearly took a literal bite out of you all pointed to what this was. You believed in the supernatural, sure, but it was never at the forefront of your mind that you would run into a supernatural person. Until tonight.

“How interesting,” Taehyung starts. “The realization that you’ve shown up to a party hosted by a house full of vampires doesn’t seem to stress you out nearly as much as it should. Why is that?”

You’re honestly not sure, and when you tell him that, he laughs. “You know, you humans are always so fascinated with the supernatural, especially with us. We’re truly not that different than you all, you know.” Taehyung has you pressed against the counter, and you know he can hear how fast your heart is beating. You watch as his eyes flicker from brown to a deep red color.

The way he’s looking at you is different from Jungkook’s earlier gaze. The latter made you feel helpless since you had seemingly lost control over yourself. It was scary, and you are more than glad that Taehyung swooped in when he did. With him, though, the way that he’s hovering over you and studying your face is exhilarating.

Maybe you’ve finally lost it. Maybe every failed relationship you’ve had has finally gotten to you. Perhaps you’re that desperate right now. Either way, being in the arms of a vampire is better than any human you’ve been this close to.

“Your heart is racing right now. I already know the answer, but tell me anyway; what are you thinking?” He’s so close to you that his lips graze your earlobe. All of your senses are on high alert in the best way possible.

“About you.”

“And what about me?”

“Kissing you.”

Taehyung chuckles and licks his lips. Slow and deliberate. “Oh my, how forward of you. We’ve only just met, kitten.”

You stutter as a blush creeps up your neck. “I-I’m-”

“I’m only teasing you.” Taehyung’s nimble fingers come up to toy with one of your bra straps peeking out of the neckline of your jumpsuit. “I’ve been thinking about kissing you since you walked through the front door.”

He watched you walk in? How long had he been watching you? Before you can ask him, his lips are pressing into yours with a sense of urgency as he brings his body closer to yours. The marble countertop digging into your back is insignificant compared to the way your body buzzes in response to Taehyung. His mouth tastes sweet, and his lips are so soft, which are both heavy contrasts to the way his broad hands are gripping your hips so tight you’re sure you’re bruising through your outfit.

The way his teeth nip at your bottom lip elicits a soft moan from you. He uses the opportunity to suck your tongue into his mouth, and your quiet sounds grow louder, as does the stickiness in your panties. His sharp canines graze against your tongue, and you’re so close to begging him to take you on the kitchen floor of this strange house. Just as you begin rutting against his muscled thigh between your legs, he pulls away, leaving you panting and whimpering.

“You’ve got to go now, kitten.”

“Wh-What?” Your body is still buzzing while Taehyung looks much more composed.

“Your friends are waiting for you.”

“But I don’t want to.” You whine out, sounding childish, but you don’t care. You can’t believe he’s just going to leave you like this.

“Just close your eyes for me. Can you do that?” He’s whispering in your ear again, and your knees nearly buckle.

“Taehyung, I want you so bad.” Your words echo, and they sound slurred. It’s harder to open your eyes.

“And you’ll have me, kitten. Soon.” He places a kiss on your neck, and the same woozy, disconnected sensation you had felt with Jungkook washes over you. You can’t open your eyes, and you want so badly to say something to Taehyung, but your tongue feels impossibly heavy, and you seemingly have forgotten how to speak. Before you can gather any more thoughts, everything goes quiet and dark.

“Y/n? Wake up.” Hearing your name brings you out of your sleep-like state. As your eyes open and adjust, you anticipate the chiseled face of the vampire you were just kissing, but instead of seeing Taehyung’s piercing red eyes, you’re met with Mingyu’s brown ones.

Sitting up fast, you see your friend kneeling in front of you. Vernon, Wonwoo, and Seungcheol stand behind him with matching looks of concern mixed with annoyance.

“What’s going on?” You ask, thoroughly confused.

“We’ve been looking for you for like an hour! You stopped answering our texts, so we practically turned the house upside down, trying to find you!” Vernon explained.

“Come to find out you’re just here in the living room. Passed out on the couch.” Seungcheol deadpans.

Looking around, you see that you’re lying on a grey cloth couch. Around you is the rest of the party. A few people are glancing your way in concern, but for the most part, the remainder of the partygoers don’t notice you or your friends. The room is well lit and reeks of beer. The complete opposite of the house full of vampires you had just been in.

Or that you thought you had just been in.

“Where’s Taehyung?”

“Who?” Mingyu offers you his hand, which you take.

“Taehyung. Dark hair, dressed as the Joker.”

“The only guy here I’ve seen dressed at the Joker is Minghao.” Wonwoo gestures to another mutual friend across the room whose tongue is currently down a Harley Quinn’s throat.

“Well, now that we know you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, are you up to actually enjoy the rest of the party?” Vernon asks as he adjusts his Sporty Spice track pants.

You agree and follow your friends over to another group of people you all know. Your head doesn’t hurt, and the fog over your mind is completely clear, but you’re still confused. Recalling the handful of shots you threw back before you left home to pregame, you try to remember if it was enough to cause you to blackout on the couch. Your dream felt so real, from how Jungkook influenced your mind to the pure need that Taehyung filled you with. You can practically still feel his grip on your body and his mouth on yours.

When Vernon offers you a glass of water, you down it in less than a minute to calm your vivid memories of Taehyung and the dull ache between your legs.

Only another hour goes by before you, and your friends say your goodbyes and pile into your respective Ubers. Once you’re home, you get ready for bed with your mind still stuck on your dream and Taehyung. You think of him as you undress and shower, not able to resist touching yourself at the realistic sensation of him.

He’s still on your mind as you settle into bed and attempt to distract yourself by scrolling through Twitter. You’re so caught up in your head that you don’t even notice the figure reclining on your couch across the room until he clears his throat.

Nearly jumping out of your skin, you sit up and whip around, ready to fight your intruder. You abandon this quickly when you see him stand up.

“Taehyung?”

“Hello, kitten,” his smooth, deep baritone echoes through the quiet room. He is at your bedside in no time, your studio apartment not leaving much space between the two of you, to begin with.

“I-I thought, uh, I thought you were a dream,” you stutter as he crawls onto your bed. You notice he’s no longer in his Joker costume, but a pair of black slacks and loose, white button-down instead. He still looks breathtaking. “I was with you...but then I wasn’t? I was with my friends, and you were gone, and I-”

“Ssh,” he places a finger over your lips. “Don’t worry about that right now, kitten. I’m here now, and we need to finish what we started.” His hand travels up your thigh as he speaks, fingers dangerously close to your core. “I heard you in the shower a little bit ago. I know how much you missed me.”

Did you fall asleep with your phone in your hand? Is this truly happening?

You aren’t entirely sure, but the way Taehyung suddenly tears your shirt open and latches his lips around your nipple feels very real to you. The number of times he has you orgasming into the night is also very real, and the soreness you feel throughout your body stays with you even as you wake the next morning.

It’s obvious Taehyung is determined to make sure you stop doubting his existence and thinking your time together is some sort of dream, even if it takes him the entirety of the day and into the rest of the weekend.

[chidoroki]

Emma - 63194

So, it’s August 22nd, otherwise known as the best day of the month because we get to celebrate Emma's birthday! I feel like she doesn't get enough credit, especially as a shōnen protagonist, probably because she's just a normal kid compared to others with overwhelming powers/magic/quirks/etc, but I think that just makes her feats all the more interesting and amazing. So, here I am, ready to praise the hell out of everything she's done, what she's capable of, and who she is on her special day.

(spoilers for the entirety of The Promised Neverland, so if you haven't read/completed the manga yet, consider this your first warning, because I'm literally going from start to finish with this.)

This is gonna be one hell of a long post, so here we go.

- She's one of the smartest kids at Grace Field, alongside Norman and Ray, who all get full scores on the house's daily tests, which is by no means a simple task.

- This is thanks to her ability to learn things quickly, which she puts to the absolute best use throughout the entire story.

- She's undoubtedly the most athletic out of the full-score trio, as she can pull off a leap like this with no issue!

- I gotta give her voice actor credit here because her scream at the end of EP1 is simply fantastic.

- She noticed the windows in the house were screwed shut, which reinforced the idea that the kids were merely raised like cattle. (Ray was also aware of this, of course.)

- Suspects the use of tracking devices. (The anime had Norman voicing this realization, so whoever you want to give the credit for this is up to you.)

- Believe me when I say that her acting skills are top-notch.

- She's so good that she was able to control her emotions enough and even regulated her pulse to fool Isabella.

- This! Just all of this. Her crazy ideals, her never-give-up mentality, her ability to stay optimistic and strong despite everything they're up against.. just amazing.

- She always thinks of her family first. (she honestly rarely cries too, now that I think about it.)

- By using what she overheard from the demons at the gate and the “blood tests” Isabella once told her about, Emma was able to figure out where the tracking devices were located on her own. (Yeah, Ray knew of this too, but he kept that info to himself.)

- She then created a situation that allowed her to confirm this and that yes, Isabella is indeed always checking their trackers.

- It was Emma's idea to train the other children by playing tag. Not only did this help them during the escape, but afterwards as well.

- Takes advantage of every opportunity to learn. (also, the strength she has!)

- Amazing learning ability x2 (I'm aware the manga says 10 instead, but still! I bet she could memorize 100 too!)

- She believes in everyone and makes Norman realize that no one in their family is truly bad and that leaving anyone behind, even the “traitor,” could cost them their life.

- She called Ray out on his bluff about him actually being willing to help everyone escape.

- Then confronted Ray about the possibility of him experimenting on the tracking devices of their siblings, thus resulting in their early shipments, which is something Norman didn't even realize, if his surprised expression is anything to go by. (Emma scolds him and hides her anger well, though she only stays mad for like, a minute.)

- She, along with Gilda, notice Isabella disappear every night after 8pm, leading them to assume the house might contain a secret room. They eventually pinpoint where it's located. (Ray suspects such a room must have existed, but wasn't certain.)

- Introduces the boys to William Minerva's books and the morse code bookplates they held, which the trio all know how to decode and understand. (I know Phil pointed them out to her originally and manga Ray was also aware of them, surprise, but..) the hunch she had about the two special books being important guides for them turned out to be true later on after the escape.

- Accepts her mistakes and is quick to apologize when she's wrong.

- Thank you anime for giving us these wonderful lines.

- Has her leg broken and yet she doesn't shed one damn tear. (the horrific sound still haunts me.) Ah, might as well also mention this now, but her theme, 63194, is one of the best songs on the soundtrack.

- Once again caring about others more than herself, as she was ready to destroy her leg/foot even more if it allowed Norman a chance to escape.

- This absolutely amazing moment right here! Easily one of the best panels of her by far!

- Used what she heard from Krone and spent two months hiding her emotions and plans from Isabella. Learning ability & best actress x10.

- Isabella actually believes this. Seriously, someone give Emma an award. Best actress x50.

- Do y'all know how strong physically, mentally and emotionally this girl must be to cut off her own ear? I know she was in a rush to escape while Isabella was busy with the fire, like she literally had about ten seconds (anime) to remove her tracker, but damn! Not once does she ever cry over it either. May I remind you she's only 11!

- Stops Ray's suicide attempt by catching the match, thus burning her palms.

- It was her idea to let the other kids know of the escape, which helped in proceeding with the preparations behind Isabella's back.

- I love Ray x fire jokes as much as the next person, but we all know who the real pyro is. More props to her voice actor again for the scream that follows!

- Successfully carried out Norman's plan and escaped Grace Field with 14 other children.

(post-season one spoilers beyond this point)

- Keeps her cool in dangerous situations, which helps calm down the younger children. Also fairly knowledgeable of the books from Grace Field's library, such as “The Adventures of Ugo,” which came in handy in the demon forest.

- Remains positive and completely hopeful after learning the truth about the demon world they're living in from Sonju.

- It only took three days for her to become proficient enough in archery in order to hunt successfully. She apparently also knows how to use a harpoon (ch49) (but I don't think we ever see that, sadly). Learning ability x20.

- She also didn't panic when she was held at gunpoint. She stayed reasonably calm and forced her way free instead.

- Didn't even flinch when Yuugo's bullet grazed her cheek.

- Can she just get a round of applause, please?

- Emma is just so fearless. Gun to the head? Knife in her face? Doesn't matter. She'll threaten you right back.

- Kudos to her learning ability yet again x50.

- Her quick reflexes and accuracy are phenomenal.

- Of course, cue the talk-no-jutsu skills that every shonen protagonist is undoubtedly skilled with.

- Even Lewis knows at a first glance that our girl is good. Takes a lot to receive praise from this demon.

- Offers herself up as bait to lure the poachers away from the other children.

- Literally cares for anyone, as she helped countless kids she didn't even know during her first hunt at Goldy Pond by keeping them safe.

- Thanks again to her knowledge of the “The Adventures of Ugo” novel, she was able to locate the memory chip for the pen that contains information about Minerva's supporters, the paths to cross over to the human world, Goldy Pond, The Seven Walls and Project Lambda 7214.

- The damn skill she has in handling guns in the matter of two weeks is astonishing.. and she's still only 11.

- Informed the Goldy Pond kids on how to accurately aim for the demon’s center eye, which greatly helped them take out the poacher Nouma.

- She has the audacity to taunt Lewis right back and I love her for it. She also offered to stay behind in order stall Lewis on her own, despite knowing he's the most dangerous of the poachers.

- When the talk-no-jutsu towards the crazy demon fails, she summons a wide array of guns against him, because why the hell not, right?

- She once admitted that she was no good at reading an opponent's moves, but after watching many people in her life who are skilled in such a way (Norman, Ray, Isabella, Krone) and thanks to the knowledge she recently leanred about Goldy Pond, she manages to catch Lewis off guard and electrocute him. Her level of adaptability is wonderful. Learning ability x100.

- Can we all just take a moment to obsess over Emma's Goldy Pond outfit because it is fucking fantastic! She just looks so damn good! (I owe Demizu my life for this.)

- Actually manages to get Yuugo to call her by her real name after he was so adamant to no learn them or get attached to the kids.

- This bright smile adds five years onto my life.

- She’s the first to notice the disadvantage demons have with regeneration, which ultimately leads to their winning strategy against Lewis.

- She somehow survives this. (plot-armor, I know, but goddamn!)

- Now presenting, the exact moment I fell in love with Emma, because holy fucking shit! Not only does she survive getting stabbed like that, but she gets back up and continues fighting! Can I get a big ol' HELL YEAH!!

- She busts out the pistol with the trick shots she's kept hidden this entire time until the very right moment, effectively taking Lewis by surprise and granting Yuugo a clear shot to his middle eye as the demon stands defenseless against the shower of bullets.

- Emma's influence over everyone else is so powerful. We see it many times throughout the story, but because of her, they all accept that the impossible is possible, everyone is worth saving, and to never give up. This is especially amazing to witness in scenarios with Ray, since Krone once said that his weakness was that he's "a little quick to give up. He makes a decision fast but abandons other just as quickly."

- Because of everyone's assistance, they were able to destroy Gold Pond and rescue over 60+ kids, which probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Emma presence at the hunting ground in the first place.

- Not to discredit Ray, because I'm sure he did a fine job of cauterizing Emma's wounds, but she did survive a day and a half with a low blood count. (She was unconscious, sure, but her body didn't give up either.)

- Finally wakes up from her coma a month later and the first thing she's concerned with is the safety of everyone else.

- I swear, this girl has a heart of gold, but we knew that already.

- Doesn't let her missing ear hinder her at all, just adjusts how it would function normally in her daily life.

- Memorized the many maps found in the shelter's reference room alongside her siblings. Learning ability x125.

- She's capable of taking out three wild demons in the matter of seconds. Accuracy and speed on point still on point.

(Ah post-timeskip, just a little over halfway done now.) - Will not hesitate to jump in and save someone, regardless of the danger to herself.

- No 13 year-old should have this amount of pressure on their shoulders, but I'll be damned, she handles this and so much more well.

- She pushes aside her own anxieties over losing the shelter, those two boys and possibly Yuugo and Lucas and decides to lift the spirits of everyone else instead.

- Y'all see this demon? Do you think she cares? Not one bit! All that matters is her family's safety and she'll do anything to preserve that. We stan one reckless girl.

- Doesn't cry over the deaths of Yuugo and Lucas (at least, I don't think she does? She appears more frustrated here than upset.)

- She can pick up on how others are feeling, even if they're trying to hide it. (also does so several times to Norman (ch30, 128,153) and even to Yuugo (ch64))

- Is the first to volunteer to sneak into the mass production farm guarded by demons in order to retrieve the medicine Chris needs.

- Honey, how are you not screaming for you life right now?

- Official translation has Hayato saying “The Boss is saying he wants to meet you,” but I feel like this unofficial one here conveys the exchange between Emma and Oliver better. Their large family has children who are older and more experienced as a leader than Emma, but they all choose to follow her.

- Just a casual reminder of how strong our girl is. (She even beats out Ray and Don in terms of strength too.)

- I probably only find this impressive because I love my sleep, but she wakes up at 6 in the morning. Always. Without fail. For thirteen years. Then panics the one time she actually oversleeps.

- She knows every life is precious, no matter who or what they are. Also doesn’t want to follow Norman's civil war plan, which is good, because damn that's a bit extreme. Doing so would only create more fear and hatred.

- Say it louder.

- LOUDER!

- Agrees to go and find out more about The Seven Walls in hopes to stop Norman's plan, despite the many risks. Can she really arrive at TSW? What's actually there? Could she even make a new promise? Will she be able to return afterwards? There's a bunch of unknowns, but that won't stop her. (“Simple?” “It is simple.” That line kills me every time.)

- TSW proved to be very mentally exhausting but she and Ray did survive all the craziness they faced while trapped there.

- Due to her unique way of thinking, she managed to remain sane and was able to figure out how TSW worked, which is something even Ray couldn't quite comprehend.

- Because of that, she was then able to finally meet the bastard demon god.

- Thus allowing her to..successfully.. make a new promise. (Ahhh)

- Best actress x500 (damn damn damn!)

- Honestly, have they practiced this before or is her athleticism just that superior? Either way, she never fails to surprise me.

- Isn't afraid to speak the truth and put one of her best friends in their place.

- But manages to (somehow) forgive him, after his plan successfully killed the queen, the demon royals and poisoned the capital city, which forced the nearby demons to degenerate.

- Her optimism knows no bounds.

- She & everyone else were able to infiltrate Grace Field which is not only guarded by demons but the Ratri clan as well.

- Just how? I know your athletic but wow!

- The woman who shipped out so many of Emma's siblings and broke her leg now holds a gun to her face and yet our girl doesn't look panicked in the slightest. Girl, how are you so brave?! Holy shit. There's no fear in those eyes, only anger.

- AND she ends up forgiving her! After learning Isabella betrayed Peter and realizing that all the mothers and sisters are also fighting for their freedom, Emma gladly accepts Isabella's assistance. (Best mother daughter moment I've ever seen.)

- The entire talk-no-jutsu she pulls on Peter in ch172. She's angry, even downright hates the Ratri, but she refuses to get revenge for all the trouble they've caused to her family and friends by killing Peter. She admits the clan's actions can never be forgiven, but she still shows sympathy because she knows they were also suffering due to the world and roles they were born into.

- We find out that Emma worded the promise perfectly which allows every human raised as food to cross over into the human world. Truly thinking of everyone as per usual.

- She kept her promise to Phil and came back for him and the rest of the children she had originally left behind at Grace Field.

- Again, showing no hesitation to save someone she barely knows, even when unarmed.

- Pretty sure I was in literal tears at this point of the chapter, so kudos to her for making me bawl my eyes out. Aahh, she's just so forgiving and her heart is so big.

- Best actress x9999 (*screaming internally*)

- SHE LITERALLY SACRIFICES HER OWN HAPPINESS SO EVERYONE IMPORTANT TO HER CAN LIVE IN PEACE AND BE HAPPY!!

- She loves her family so deeply that even without her memories, her heart still remembers them. (it makes me cry too, hun, it's okay.)

- She has a heart literally made of solid gold. Of course she can't refuse the bastard's reward, but still accepts it with a smile on her face knowing that all humans and demons, of the present and future, can now live freely without any fear. She completely ended the tragedy that persisted the last 1,000+ years and changed the world like she set out to do back in ch4. Sweetheart please, you're anything but selfish.

- She has the most precious family on the planet. Her influence was so strong that they searched endlessly for two years just to see her again, by never giving up or doubting her words back in ch178. They're beyond happy when they do finally find her and are a bunch of sweethearts who accept her no matter what.

- Ahh, I just really love Emma okay? She's honestly one of the few protagonists I actually enjoy. Happy Birthday again to this all-around amazing girl and I can't wait to see her in action in future anime seasons!!

(congrats, you've made it to the end. i apologize if i missed any other moment worth mentioning, but yeah, i think this is enough for now.)

[miss-kittys-magical-library]

Last Christmas

Word Count: 1100

Warnings: some language but none really

A/N: And so our story comes to an end, for now. Our handsome Irish anti-hero and head-strong Lady Lawyer will return in the spring for an all new Misfits!AU sequel inspired by conversations with @robertsheehanownsmyass 🤨

Tag list: @joz-stankovich @badsext @elliethesuperfruitlover @nightmonsters @bisexualnathanyoung @magic-multicolored-miracle @immortalled

Chapter Five: Last Christmas

When Violet turned 35, she changed her entire life. Everything she set out to do as a Public Defender was always overshadowed by just how many shitty people needed legal aid. The one or two kind, desperate clients a year just never stacked up to or made the other 100 worth it.

So Violet packed up all of her things, bid everyone a fuck you and cried in her dark apartment for a week. No prospects or experience with anything but law, it frightened her how easily she dropped everything to just do.. nothing. She ignored her sisters, “Why don't you go back to New Orleans? Or back to school!” And the calls from Tony “Come back to the firm!” Then one day.

There was a knock on the door that startled Violet from her misery. She didn't care how she appeared to the courier who handed her a rather monstrous package. She signed and tore into it revealing a thick release form and three proofs of graphic novels. Then her heart leapt into her throat.

Lanky with a devil’s smirk on his face and a cocky stance in jeans and black jacket with the collar turned up. The indentation of a dimple Violet had found herself touching as he died or slept. They somehow found a way to capture the unusual green that could have easily ruined her. And even though it was just a drawing, she could hear Nathan’s smart mouth.

Beside Nathan on the cover was a shorter, almost creepy but not unattractive guy. He donned a black sweatshirt, hood pulled up and Kevlar body pads. In the background an array of others in orange jumpsuits. Simon, she knew from her own masochistic research, and infamous remaining ASBO 3.

“Captain Invincible and The Super Hoodie: The Misfits Tales,” Violet snorted. “Huh.”

Still she sat down and flipped through it. Each section more absurd yet somehow believable than the next. Nathan impaled on a metal fence. Simon stuffing a female probation worker in a freezer. Alisha using touch to elicit the most perverse filth from men’s mouths. Curtis and his ability to rewind time reliving the night they all got busted a hundred times. And Kelly, having sex with a guy that was a gorilla. It all converged into the final book, “Vegas Baby.”

Violet held her breath as she moved towards the end. The parts where she didn't expect to exist. That she even came across Nathan’s mind all these years later was curious to her, as was the version he came up with. All she could do was laugh and cry simultaneously.

There she was, more of a sexy librarian in a porn than a lawyer. Her skirt (she normally wore pants during trial) a bit too short, and her boobs far too large. Her cleavage out of control through a low cut dress shirt. She had her hair twisted up (which was true) and glasses (really?!). Nathan in that fitted suit looking more like an Irish mobster than the nervous man-child who chewed his fingers until they bled. A panel with Violet leaning, tits out, towards him as she questioned him before an explosion of rabbits.

Here was the story. It explained this fantasy of Violet, sexy porno lawyer, that's how Nathan saw her. He admitted she was rather plain and stuffy when they first met. Though by the end of their visit, her cheek and determination and inability to put up with his shit became a turn-on. How she played him on the stand and found a way to instill reasonable doubt by throwing Marnie under the bus in his defense was something no one had ever done before. Weirdly encouraged his arrogance, showed cool indifference to his charm, yet never gave up on him no matter how exasperated he made her. All of this made her “the sexiest bird I’d ever seen. I had t’be with her.”

Violet continued to the bits after the trial. The club, Nathan handing some meathead his tongue that had literally fallen out of his mouth. It wasn't even in Nathan’s head how drunk they were that night, their illustrated bodies simulating sex on the dancefloor or when she called him Irish Eyes in the back of a black cab. His insistence that the way she dodged his kisses, actually ducked like his lips were a dodgeball, made it “difficult for him to walk.” Violet rolled her eyes. A deep crimson still crept across her cheeks.

Then that night. That messy surprising night when her knife fit so perfectly in Nathan’s flesh and right into his heart. Sometimes Violet didn't know what haunted her more: the amount of blood he shed or the utter disdain in his eyes as the door slammed behind him.

As Violet ventured to that page, a perfect drawing of them on her hallway floor. Nathan’s head in her lap as she stroked his hair while he died. The air in her throat choked her as she read the panels.

“I forget hardly anyone knows I'm going to live forever. It hurts t’die with a butcher knife in your chest. Not as much as a sewer pipe or metal fence, mind ye. I don't always like the idea myself. But I did like the idea of our handsome hero being comforted by his own Lois Lane.

Kelly and Simon used t’drag me up a flight of stairs and toss me on my dirty mattress at the community center. Waited about like I was late for a concert. Kelly took the piss, didn't she?

Vi held me as I ruined her floor. No one’s held me while I've ruined anything. Wait till she finds out I'm such a selfish prick that I destroyed time just to get back a mate who didn't even like me to start.”

Violet didn't even have time to cry the tears that stung her eyes. Or think about what those words really said between the lines. Her cellphone rang making her scream a bit.

“FERN?!”

“Lettie you ok?”

“Just a bit shaken. I have to go through a release form to agree to my likeness being in both graphic novels and apparently the chance to option a film based on them.”

“Uh..”

“Nevermind, what's up?”

“Claire got a job in London at Burberry. Could you sell your apartment? Move with us and be Marigold’s nanny? You could look into getting back into law over there somehow. Eventually right?”

Violet laughed. From a lawyer to a nanny. “Why the fuck not? I know an Irishman over that way.”

[milkkygirls]

grease and grime. (sam winchester.)

request: Could you do a Sam Winchester fic when he’s in college? Like he went to college in Kansas and he works as a mechanic for his dad. The reader and Sam have been dating for years and One day the reader brings her car there to be repaired and her and Sam have like sexy, car greasy, sex on the work bench after hours or something like that? from: @thatsabummer02

warnings: female!reader, smut (oral m!recieving, penetration.) some dirty talk, language, me knowing absolutely nothing about cars to accurately talk about what’s going on before the ~smut~

word count: 1.6k

*gif is not mine, but edited by me*

SPRING BREAK, THE TIME OF YEAR WHERE STUDENTS ARE FREE FROM THEIR HELLISH STUDIES AND LET LOOSE. But here you were, stuck in a Lawrence, Kansas at you parents house with you piece of crap yellow Pinto that was at least a thousand years old. You came back from college for the week with your boyfriend, Sam, whom you’ve been dating since your freshman year of high school. You figured that since his dad and older brother were the way they were, your dear lover was probably trapped inside his father’s mechanic shop.

You wanted to drop by and visit, maybe even get your shitty car fixed for once. Sam was a law student just like you, but he sure did know a thing or two about vehicles. So with the screech of your tire and the boom of the exhaust you drove your squeaky and unpredictable car to the shop, only seeing one car in the lot: Sam’s. You pulled out your cellphone, dialing the number of your beloved and held the phone up to your ear, after four dial tones it answered.

“Hello? [Y/N]?” You heard him ask from the other end, the sound of machinery nearly muffling him. “Baby? I can barely hear you!” You yelled into the phone, covering your free ear until the sound of the machinery shut off. You sighed with relief. “Come outside.” You simply said, hanging up the phone before he could answer. You leaned against the Pinto patiently waiting, hearing as the mechanic garage’s panel door slid up, revealing the sweaty and grease covered body of your boyfriend clad in a tank top and blue jeans. Truly a sight to behold. Although he was absolutely filthy, you’d be lying if you said seeing him like that didn’t make warmth pool in your panties.

Sam came striding over, squinting to see, he smiled as he grew closer, nearly picking you up completely to kiss you. You pulled your sunglasses off to cut the interference between your eager kiss. Sam set you down, resting a hand on the roof of the car, towering over it. “What’s wrong with it now?” He questioned.

You sighed, crossing your arms, pushing up your breasts in your low-cut T-shirt in the process (something that didn’t go unnoticed by him). “Same as always.”

He nodded, doing his best to play off the blush on his cheeks to the heat, “Steer it on it, i’ll do what I can. But Dad or Dean will have to fix it.”

You gave him a motion with your hand as to say Roger That! And turned the Pinto back on cringing at the squeak it made when you pressed on the brakes as you drove it into the shop. You watched as the car’s hood was lifted, steam nearly choking the both of you.

Sam grabbed a rag, wiping away built up grease on parts of the car you couldn’t even begin to name; thank god for a mechanic savvy boyfriend. But one thing you noticed was how muscular Sam had gotten since spring break started, I mean, his back muscles were bulging out of his tank top with the slightest of movements. “Your engine’s busted, Babe.” He informed, wiping his hand on his forehead, smearing black oil on his skin.

You giggled, using your thumb to help wipe it away, standing on your tippy toes to reach the gentle giant. “This is nice.” You said, Sam raising an eyebrow, “Being stuck in a hot shop all day?”

You rolled your eyes playfully, “No, dummy. Spending time together. We hardly get to do it because of college, but now you’re stuck here all day. I miss spending time with you.” You frowned at the last part, pulling him towards you and resting your head on his chest, listening to the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat.

“I know you’re trying to be sentimental, but I really miss the sex.” He sighed. He had a point, back at college when you two were stressed you let it all out, taking your stress and turning it into bliss. You looked up at him, resting your chin on his body, “Who says we still can’t have sex without the stress of exams.. I mean, I don’t see anyone around.” You smirked.

Sam cleared his throat, “You want to fuck in a mechanics garage?”

“Why not?”

“First of all, I’m disgusting, look at me.”

You bit your lip, trailing your fingers up and down his back, sending chills down his spine, “It’s kinda hot, Sammy. Why not get down and dirty while you’re literally dirty?”

Sam leaned down, capturing your lips, holding your face within his hands, “You’re a force to be reckoned with, woman.” You giggled once more, pulling him by his shirt to the bench in the corner, pushing him down and climbing on his lap. You kissed him hungrily, almost kneading on his abdomen, nibbling at his bottom lip.

“You’re so eager babygirl..” He breathed hands moving up to cup your breasts. “I missed you..” I was pathetic to you, how easily you were putty in Sam’s hands, how just with a couple of sly looks and you’d answer his every command. You found yourself instinctively grinding yourself against his hardening bulge, mewling out when your already sensitive core made contact from under your skirt.

Sam grabbed your face, not enough to hurt you, but enough to get you to look at him, oh how those hazel eyes swirled and danced with lust, “What else did you miss?”

You moaned when his hand met with your clothed core, pressing down on your clit. “Y-Your cock..” You admitted, feeling yourself getting wetter when he smirked, removing his hand from your pussy. “Show me how much you missed my cock then.”

You gave him a quick peck on the lips, removing yourself from his lap to sit on your knees, ignoring the pain from sitting directly on hard concrete floor. You raked your nails along his jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling them down his legs. You teasingly dragged a finger along his inner thighs, close to the bulge being constricted hy the grey boxers her wore. He shuddered at the feeling, at the feeling of having your hands and mouth so close to his cock but not doing anything.

He enjoyed it when you teased him though, making him more ready to fill you up to the brim. You kissed up his thighs, your mouth hoovering over his hard member, kissing it through his boxers. He groaned out, holding tightly onto the bench until his knuckles turned white. You smiled up at him, batting your long eyelashes until you hooked your index finger onto the elastic of the boxers, slowly pulling them down. The constricted and very hard member sprang free, slapping on the side of your cheek. You admired the way Sam looked from this point of view. His adam’s apple bobbing, muscles tensed, the veins under his well groomed happy trail throbbing. You grabbed his dick gently, slowly pumping your hand up his shaft. Sam closed his eyes, feeling the pleasure he had missed since spring break started.

You kissed the head, then licked a long stride up and giggling when Sam’s hand grabbed your hair, tugging at it. You knew you shouldn’t tease him any longer and give him what he wanted, he deserved it after all. You slipped his head into your mouth, rolling your tongue around it in a way that made him writhe, looking him in the eyes as you almost swallowed him whole, pumping your hand up and down to spread the warmth of your mouth that kissed his skin.

His head fell back, a guttural moan following its wake as he tugged harder on your hair, causing you to groan, the vibrations sending a delicious sensation straight to his dick. You continued to lick and suck, doing all the things you knew drove him crazy until he released in your mouth, seed oozing from the sides of your mouth.

You swallowed, wiping your cheeks with your thumb before popping it back in your mouth to swallow each and every drop of him. You crawled back on his lap, “Such a good girl, taking my cum like that, so hot.” You kissed him, him being the eager one this time.

Sam hiked your skirt up, the fabric bunching up around your abdomen. “You ready to take me?”

You nodded quickly, moving your lacy-white panties to the side, revealing your glistening cunt in the fluorescent light of the shop. He groaned at the sight of you, moving your hips to line up with him, sliding his head up and down your folds to gather the wetness before he pushed into you, eliciting the most dirty, borderline pornographic moan he’d ever heard come from that pretty little mouth of yours.

You adjusted to his size, almost crying out when he twitched inside you, moving yourself against him. You were both sweating, the wet sounds of him pushing in and out of you and the slapping of your ass on his thighs was absolute paradise. You rested your forehead against Sam’s, moaning out his name as you got closer, feeling the familiar sensation at the pit of your stomach every time he hit your g-spot. That sensation, the butterflies, the special flutter was worth it when you released messily on him, Sam finishing not long after you.

He pulled out, pulling you towards him in his lap, petting the hair that rested on your back and ignoring the goose skin he got from you kissing his neck. Sam had missed this, and so had you. And just maybe spring break wasn’t so boring after all.

—

author’s note; sorry it took so long babes!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 261: Wakey Wakey

Previously on BnHA: The heroes decided that the only way to beat the villains was with an insane winner-takes-all gambit involving two simultaneous attacks, one on the Pliff base in Gunga Mountain, and the other on a quaint little hospital in Jakku that just so happens to be where Ujiko is keeping his Noumuraki in cold storage along with all his other evil science junk. We still don’t know what the fuck is going on in Gunga, but over in Jakku things are shockingly not really going according to plan! First Ujiko was stabbed by a Noumu space slug and melted away into nothing because HE’S A FAAAAAAAKE. Then a bunch of other Noumu came running out of the morgue to distract everyone while the real Ujiko scuttled about his lab in a panic in his lab and literally called the heroes “THOSE MEDDLESOME HEROES” because he is literally a cartoon villain, only with the evilness cranked up to 11. Thankfully before he could warp away and escape, Miruko, a.k.a. the queen of this entire arc, busted down the door and crushed John-chan like a bug (RIP JOHN-CHAN) and took hold of my heart and was all “THIS IS MINE NOW” and I was like “okay” and now she’s gonna kick Ujiko’s ass????! Or so we can hope anyway?

Today on BnHA: Well Miruko almost kicks Ujiko’s ass, and he almost doesn’t manage to punch in the activation code for his High End Noumus, and we almost manage to be spared the chaotic scene where they all come to life and wreak havoc. But unfortunately “almost” is as close as we get, mainly because every single other character decides to hang back in the hospital entrance fighting a bunch of nobodies rather than bothering to help Miruko out. Everyone that is, except Crust, who provides some assistance by (a) not mentioning to anyone how there’s a whole other tunnel that leads out of the lab and goes DIRECTLY OUTSIDE TO WHERE MY CHILDREN PRESUMABLY ARE, and (b) arriving at the lab and then not really doing anything else at all except shouting a bit. So apparently this is what we’re working with. Thankfully Miruko is somehow still alive, because it looks like she’s about to have to fight these guys pretty much on her own. Unfortunately Ujiko takes advantage of all the chaos to abscond the fuck out of there. And so the chapter leaves off with one of those “record scratch, freeze frame, yep that’s me you’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation” moments. Fun times.

so Ujiko got a new name last week; he is now Garaki Kyuudai. you can read all about the meaning of the name on Caleb’s twitter if you feel so inclined. so we are now moving on, and we’ll see how many times I forget this new name and have to go back and look it up (ETA: at least twice so far)

so hopefully today will be the day when we finally discover just how and why everything is going to go terribly wrong, because it’s getting stressful bracing myself for that shoe to drop every damn week. if you’re going to put my kids in terrible danger than GO AHEAD AND PUT THEM IN DANGER ALREADY THEN. please. I can’t go on like this

holy shit you guys

see, now this is the kind of fanservice I can get behind. too bad I can’t really focus on that at all right now because

well then. it’s only the thing I’ve been simultaneously anticipating and dreading ever since the start of the My Villain Academia arc! don’t mind me guys. I’m just gonna. sit here nearly frozen but also kind of vibrating/pulsing ever so slightly

OH NO MIRUKO WHAT DID YOU DO

holy shit you guys. I RECOGNIZE THAT BIG BLACK DOOR FROM BACK IN MY KHR DAYS. ONLY BACK THEN IT WASN’T A DOOR AT ALL, BUT A WALL. A GLORIOUS AND TERRIBLE WALL WHICH SINGLEHANDEDLY BROUGHT ONE OF THE STRONGEST CHARACTERS TO HIS KNEES DURING A DO-OR-DIE “HEROES INVADE THE VILLAINS’ LAIR” ARC VERY MUCH LIKE THIS. oh my god. and now he has returned, after all these years, to once again fuck up the heroes’ plans at a critical and devastating moment. curse you wall

also did we really need to see this

Horikoshi: “you know what I haven’t drawn yet that I’d really like to draw. brains. just some brains splattered around all messily. children love that almost as much as they love dead dogs”

ffsdsdlfkjl YOU KNOW WHAT WE ALSO DIDN’T NEED TO SEE, HOLY CHRIST

A FLASHBACK TO UJIKO “COMFORTING” A BLOODIED JOHN-CHAN AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TEST RUN OF HIS NOUMU CAPABILITIES, OR WHATEVER THE HELL THIS IS. DID YOU GUYS ASK FOR THIS? I SURE AS HELL DIDN’T. I HAVE NO REAL WAY OF KNOWING THIS FOR SURE, BUT I’M GONNA GO OUT ON A LIMB AND SAY THAT ABSOLUTELY NO ONE WANTED TO SEE THIS. LIKE, I CAN’T SAY THAT WITH CERTAINTY, BUT ACTUALLY I CAN THOUGH

ugh. anyway. “just Noumu Arc things,” Horikoshi says with a shrug. listen you son of a --

meanwhile if Ujiko gets all angry and tearfully sics all of the High Ends on Miruko in his rage, I will... actually I’ll sit here not being even remotely surprised at all, but still freaking out though. damn it, this is why I need that freaking shoe to drop already like I said. that thing is just sitting there like a loose snack in a malfunctioning vending machine and I’m standing here cursing and thumping on the glass and asking if anybody has a quarter

GODDAMMIT I DON’T NEED TO HEAR HIS FUCKING EULOGY FOR HIS PET MONSTER WHICH USED TO BE AN INNOCENT LITTLE CHILD UNTIL HE MAIMED AND TORTURED THE HUMANITY OUT OF IT

is that freaking All for One in the top right panel. YOU’RE ON MY SHITLIST TOO MISTER

looooooooool :’)

lol I think we finally got that shoe loose folks. sob. go ahead and activate them you crusty old fuck

also are these things in the little tubes... quirks??? like what the hell

so now Ujiko’s screaming (I guess if he’s upset we can take that as a good sign?), and meanwhile Miruko is all

still smiling even now. god how I love her. “I’LL FIND OUT IF I KICK HIM” GOD MIRUKO WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A FEMALE HIMBO. LIKE WITH LESS PEJORATIVE CONNOTATIONS THAN THE ORIGINAL “BIMBO” AND WITH MORE OF A “SOMEONE WHO’S REALLY HOT AND COULD CRUSH YOU WITH HER PINKY AND IS ALSO A FEW ICE BRICKS SHORT OF AN IGLOO” KIND OF VIBE TO IT. HERBO??? OR WHAT ABOUT... SHIMBO

anyway Endeavor is all “catch him” which is some great fucking advice coming from someone that hasn’t even made it inside the morgue entrance yet. what fucking good are you. at least he fried the space slug

but unfortunately that hasn’t quite solved all their problems yet

honestly though, he should still go after her. like, screw all the rest of this. get your priorities in order!! she just said there were a ton of REALLY STRONG-LOOKING!! Noumus over there too, and meanwhile she’s the only one there because none of these other dinguses seem to realize that if you want to stop the fucking Noumus you need to stop the guy in charge. otherwise they’ll just keep on coming!!

you know what, forget what I implied a couple paragraphs ago about Miruko being a few twists short of a slinky. she may have a straightforward “hit first and ask questions later” approach to things, but it’s increasingly clear that she’s still in possession of this team’s one shared brain cell right now

(ETA: the more that I think about this the madder I get. I count at least seven heroes in this shot. you’re telling me you couldn’t spare a single one??)

ooh we’re cutting to Mandalay!

she says the last of the civilians have just been evacuated from the hospital! I don’t know why she’s yelling this to them out loud and not thinking it at them like in the forest arc but whatever. the evacuation part got me thinking about the kids and now I desperately want to see how they’re doing but first we have to wait for this High End situation to finish spiraling out of control I guess

-- holy shit holy shit holy shit

okay so this guy, who was the closest behind Miruko -- I forget who he is but I remember he was one of the top ten... goddammit let me look it up... okay yeah, he’s Crust, the number six hero, whose quirk I don’t think we know yet -- anyway so he’s running down the corridor and, well...

first of all he says hmmm way too much. but more importantly he just confirmed that at least one of these corridors leads directly outside. without passing through the hospital at all. implying that the Noumus can bypass the squad of heroes entirely and escape to rampage out on the mountainside

so the one job that the heroes had today, which was to make sure that none of the villains escaped, has already proven a failure. there are Noumus outside. and who else is outside in the mountains of Jakku right now, you guys? EXACTLY

meanwhile this fucking boomer hasn’t even bothered to say this part out loud so that the other heroes can hear and realize that there are potentially escaped Noumus on the lam! like it would be nice to maybe mention that so that they know their plan has sprung a leak and also so that Endeavor can WARN HIS FUCKING INTERNS JESUS CHRIST

anyway so Crust has stumbled upon a group of Noumus and is attacking them and still not revealing a thing to his pals, thanks so much!!!

and now Miruko is leaping at Ujiko so that means ladies and gentlemen it’s finally TIME FOR SOMETHING BAD TO HAPPEN!

WHY IS THIS TAKING A WHOLE FUCKING PAGE

no fucking duh?? holy shit. he may be an evil genius but he’s really not that great at thinking on his feet

-- oh shit?!

A WILD RAY OF HOPE APPEARS?? looooool are you serious? that must mean that they’re so fucking powerful the heroes wouldn’t stand a chance if they were activated. so despite all appearances, Horikoshi is actually not throwing them to the wolves just yet and there is still a thin layer of plot armor surrounding them!

--but what the hell IS HE TURNING THEM ON ANYWAY?!

sob, he is. holy shit he’s gonna sic a High End on my wife and it’ll be the strongest fucking thing we’ve ever seen and meanwhile Ujiko will be watching all “hur hur it’s not even using 10% of its power” fucking fuck me

WHAT THE FUCK

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME THERE’S ANOTHER WARPING NOUMU JESUS

so he just left?? but turned the Noumus on first?? so now they have ten fucking hours before these things get strong enough to level the whole fucking planet are you shitting meeeee. and did he just leave Tomura there too or did he also warp him out?

wait a sec no he’s still there. lol what the fuck. so did Mocha-chan create a duplicate of him then and that’s what Miruko kicked?

I’m so confused lmao

(ETA: still confused tbh. but we have bigger fish to fry!)

but anyway. this is what we came for though

wakey wakey. hey can someone go slap Endeavor and all those other heroes for me for deciding it was more important to battle the “small fries” out in front rather than give Miruko some fucking backup so it wouldn’t be all on her to stop this shitclown from remote activating his unstoppable army of death? fucking Mic could have ended this whole show with one shouted “YODELAYHEEHOO~” down this echo-y corridor for fuck’s sake!! Aizawa could have stopped Mocha from using her quirk! god damn! I hope you’re all happy!!

LMAO HOLY FUCKING SHIT

THAT’S THE SCARIEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN?! HAHAHA MY HEART IS GENUINELY RACING, I’M DEFAULTING TO MY “HAUNTED HOUSE LAUGHTER” INSTINCT IN WHICH I KEEP LAUGHING BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS TOO FUCKING TENSE AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO

LIKE, THE ONE NEARLY BIT HER FUCKING FACE OFF BEFORE SHE KICKED ITS BITEY HAND IN HALF, BUT MEANWHILE THE OTHER ONE IS TRYING TO GRAB HER ENTIRE HEAD WITH ITS MASSIVE FUCKING HAND ATTACHED TO AN ARM THAT’S LITERALLY AS LONG AS MIRUKO IS TALL, AND THAT HAND IS BIG ENOUGH THAT IF IT CLOSED ITS FIST HER HEAD WOULD LITERALLY POP LIKE A GRAPE HOLY SHIT?!?!

NO THANK YOU I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING BUT THAT’S ALL RIGHT I DON’T WANT IT TAKE IT BACK PLEASE

oh thank fuck I think Miruko escaped?? or they just threw her into that wall, at least. well still better then getting your head crushed

and now these two are trying to talk because fuck me I forgot high ends can fucking talk

“h...hero...” took me a second to figure out what they were saying there but damned if that didn’t send a chill down my spine!

also Miruko really did kick its hand right the fuck off, god I love her. even if it is instantly growing back

you guys I literally can’t stop laughing lol

HAHAHA WE’RE SO FUCKED!?!

ALSO IS THAT ONE GUY CRIMSON RIOT?!!

hmm lol maybe not. idk though he just gave me that vibe

LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ALL ARE LOL

THEY JUST WANT TO KILL THEM ALL THAT’S SO GREAT. THIS IS ALL SO WONDERFUL THEY KO’D MIRUKO IN 0.4 SECONDS AND NOW THEY WANT TO “GO BERSERK” WHAT A GRAND TIME WE’RE IN FOR

LMAO ARE YOU SERIOUS

FUCKING CRUST OUT HERE LIKE TROY WITH THE PIZZA BOXES. DO YOU WANT TO JUST TURN THE FUCK AROUND RIGHT NOW BOY. NGL IF THEY RIP YOUR HEAD OFF I’M NOT EVEN GONNA DO ANYTHING EXCEPT ROLL MY EYES. WATCH HIM NOT SHOUT A WARNING TO THE OTHERS EVEN NOW

(ETA: I s2g though. hello?! is your headset broken???)

and he’s being greeted by this big guy with a gear head and a weird lumpy spine

somehow at first I thought that first lump on his back was an “R” symbol because I’m bad at interpreting images, so now I want to call him Rusty because I’m also bad at coming up with nicknames on the spot. I’m sorry Rusty

anyway so Rusty and Crust are immediately getting into an argument and meanwhile Ujiko is just SITTING THERE BECAUSE HE CAN, NOW

because Endeavor, Aizawa, Mic, and the others all decided it was more important to abandon their most important target in favor of trying to contain the comparatively harmless redshirt Noumus in the lobby. which is also pointless, because they’re not actually containing shit, because there are other exits besides for just the hospital! which they would fucking know if Crust was capable of relaying vital information instead of strategically saving his breath for more important things like sarcastically calling this Rusty guy “clever”

in conclusion the heroes have all picked the absolute worst time to collectively shit the bed and I’ve had it with them and they all need to retire, except for Miruko. and the kids. who are now soon to be directly in the line of fire thanks to this shitshow

LMAO HORIKOSHI YOU PIECE OF SHIT SOMEHOW I FUCKING KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO PICK THIS WEEK TO ANNOUNCE A BREAK YOU GLEEFUL LITTLE TROLL

and two weeks from now is when I’ll finally be watching the new movie though, so I don’t even know how that’s gonna work lol. guess that’s why they put the extra day in February this year. ah well

anyway! so Miruko is still alive and more reminiscent of Katsuki now than ever, which is fucking great because Crust so far has been exactly as useful as you would expect some stupid old guy with the name “crust” to be, sigh. anyway I’m glad to see my girl’s spirits haven’t been dampened

meanwhile Ujiko straight up did leave Tomura there, which is interesting lol. and so now it looks to be Miruko and Crust (with the latter’s contribution extremely in doubt) versus Rusty, Jester, Max Rebo, Girl!Noumu, and Noumu!Riot. I’m strangely not worried for Miruko because I have decided that she’s invincible, and because Horikoshi has graciously nerfed these guys a bit (please accept my dripping-with-sarcasm “gee thanks”, Horikoshi)

but I am however worried about my three sons over on the edge of town who are about to be waylaid by god knows what. not to mention all my other kids 80km away! how will their day be ruined? we shall see!

[snarkybluechristian]

Hazbin Hotel: Yandere Alastor x Vaggie Chapter 49

The group made their way up the stairs and walked through the hallways until they reached Cherri’s room.

“Here, we are,” Doctor Red said with a smile as he opened the door.  

To Cherri and Angel’s surprise, the room was fully furnished with a proper bed.  The bed was a king-sized bed with white blankets and dark wood paneling with matching bedside tables with lamps and an alarm clock on one side.  The bookshelf with books and the vanity on the right side of the room and the wardrobe on the left side of the room next to the bathroom and the floor were made up of the same wood.  The wood and technicolor books were the only thing bringing color to the room and its white walls beside the light coming in from the windows of course.

“Surprise!” Doctor Red exclaimed cheerfully.

Cherri blinked in surprise and muttered, “Um…wow…You got this together quickly.”

“I hope you two like it,” Arackniss replied coldly.  “The maid cleaned the floor and the bathroom while we were downstairs.  Then when we came upstairs, we moved all the new furniture and everything else in.  It would have taken longer if it weren’t for the doctor’s muscles.”

“I appreciate it, fellas,” Angel said kindly.  “This room is very spacious and nice.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Doctor Red said, gently placing his hands on Angel and Cherri’s backs and pushing them into the room.  “You two can spend private time together in here.”

“Sure thing, doc man,” Cherri said as she and Angel entered the room.

“Have fun in there,” Arackniss said dryly.  “We’ll see ya later for lunch.”

“We’re going to talk to your father about your progress,” Doctor Red proclaimed happily.  “He said earlier that if you are good he’ll let you and your lady friend walk in the garden, Anthony.”

Angel paused in surprise for a moment.  

Then Angel shyly smiled and said, “That would be pretty swell, doctor.”

“Good,” Doctor Red said cheerfully shutting the door and locking it.  “If you need anything before lunch, just holler and let us know.  See you later, Anthony and Cherri!”

Then without another word, the good doctor left with Arackniss once again following on his heels.

“I’m so sick of being locked up, Angie,” Cherri said as soon as the two had walked away.

Angel didn’t respond but looked around at the corners of the ceiling.  

“Angie?” Cherri asked in confusion.  “What are you…?”

Angel turned to Cherri and placed a finger on his lips before he got on his knees to look under the bed.  

Cherri quickly caught on to what he was doing and searched the room with Angel to check for any listening devices or video cameras.  

To their mutual astonishment, there were no video cameras or listening devices anywhere in the bedroom or bathroom.

Angel sighed in relief, fell backwards onto the bed, and said, “I’m sick of being locked in rooms, too.  I’ve been locked in rooms for over a fucking week.”

“That sucks,” Cherri said, lying down next to him on the bed.  

“Tell me about it,” Angel said, annoyedly taking off his gray shirt and tossing it on the floor.  “I’m sick of locked rooms, restraints, punishments, and this goddamn uniform.”

“At least, the accommodations are nicer,” Cherri said, sitting up on the bed and suddenly perking up as she noticed the wardrobe by the corner of the wall.  “Hey, did they get me new clothes?”

Angel sat up and leaned lazily on the bottom board at the foot of the bed.  

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Angel said.  “Let’s see what they got ya.”

Cherri hopped off the bed, ambled over to the wardrobe, and opened the doors.  

“Woah,” Cherri said with a chuckle.  

“What did they get ya?” Angel asked, getting up off the bed and making his way to the wardrobe.  

The wardrobe was stuffed with dresses and other outfits that were fitted to her thin and nimble frame.

“I’ll be damned,” Angel said, picking out a blue dress and looking it over.  “They really went all out for ya.  These dresses are all in your size, too.”

“How do ya think they managed that?” Cherri asked.  “Oh, God.  Do you think they measured me in my sleep?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Angel said with a sigh.

Cherri visibly shuddered in disgust.

Angel smiled warmly, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, “Don’t worry about it, babe.  I won’t let them touch ya again.  Okay?”

“Okay,” Cherri replied.  “But I’m blowing up these bastards as soon as I get the chance.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Now, you wanna try on these dresses with me?” Angel asked with a toothy grin.  “There’s ain’t much else to do.”

Cherri chuckled out loud and said, “Sure, Angie.”

Angel posed dramatically in the middle of the room and said, “Let’s get to it.  I’ll take all the dresses you don’t like.”

Cherri snorted and laughed heartily as she took the dress Angel was holding and began to undress.

“Are you sure about that, Angie?” Cherri teased.  “I don’t think the good doctor would like to see you all dressed up in such immodest and effeminate clothing.”

“He’d have to catch me in the dress first,” Angel retorted.  “They don’t have any cameras to catch me.”

“Alright, Angie,” Cherri said, tossing an older looking dress towards Angel.

“Oh, baby,” Angel exclaimed as he looked at the black and white dress plaid dress in front of him.  “This one is from my time.  They really dug deep to find this one.”

“How generous of them,” Cherri said sarcastically, pulling the blue dress over her body and looking into a mirror on the wardrobe door.  “Hey, this one doesn’t look bad.  What do you think, Angie?”

Angel had pulled off his loafers and slacks so that he was in his boxers and pulled the dress over his thin body.

Angel looked over to Cherri, whistled, and said, “You look hot, babe.  That is good luck for ya.  What do ya think of mine?”

Cherri snorted and said, “You look like my mother.  That thing is ancient.”

Angel and Cherri laughed together and continued trying on more dresses.

Before long, several hours had passed with them laughing and trying on dresses to keep themselves entertained.  They almost forgot where they were until they heard a familiar voice knocking at their door.

“Hello?” Doctor Red called out from the other side of the door.  “I’ve come by to bring you lunch and check on your progress.”

Angel and Cherri looked at each other fearfully.  Cherri was wearing a dress.  So was Angel.

“Shit,” Cherri whispered as they both heard Doctor Red fiddling with the door’s lock.

Without a moment to spare, Angel threw off his dress, grabbed Cherri’s wrist, dashed to the bed, pulled her on top of him, and whispered, “Play it off.”

“Okay,” Cherri whispered back.  

Doctor Red opened the door widely, pushed a cart of sandwiches and water bottles in front of him into the room, and looked up to see Angel laying on the bed with Cherri on top of his chest.

“Oh, my…” Doctor Red said in a surprise.

Angel looked back at Doctor Red, looked at Cherri, gasped in surprise, and started in a pretend fluster, “I…uh…I mean, uh, we…”

“We weren’t expecting you, doc,” Cherri said.  

“Oh, my apologies!” Doctor Red said apologetically backing away towards the door.  “I didn’t mean to interrupt you!”

Angel snatched a blanket at the end of the bed, threw it over himself and Cherri, and said shyly, “We were just messing around, doctor!  Nothing major!”

“Don’t worry about it, Anthony!” Doctor Red said exiting the room and slowly shutting the door.  “I won’t interrupt you two again until dinner!  Enjoy your lunch!”

Doctor Red quickly shut and locked the door.  Angel and Cherri heard him rushing down the hall to tell everyone what he saw.

Once they were sure he was gone, the pair breathed a collective sigh of relief.  

Cherri sat up in the orange dress she was wearing and wrapped the blanket around her body as she crawled across the bed to reach the cart of food on the other side.  

“That was too close, Angie,” Cherri said as she hopped off the bed and reached the cart of food.  

“I’ll say,” Angel said, crawling over to the other side of the bed to join Cherri.  “He caught us off guard.  We can’t let that happen again.”

“Agreed,” Cherri said, scooting over to make room for Angel.  “You’d think we’d have heard footsteps or something.  I mean, he’s literally made of stone.”

“We must have been too caught up in trying on dresses,” Angel said as he sat down next to Cherri and grabbed his sandwich.  “We forgot to keep an ear out.”

“Yeah,” Cherri said, grabbing her sandwich and following suit.  “I hate being a prisoner, Angie.”

“Tell me about it,” Angel said, eyeing his sandwich.  “At least these wardens feed us.  Alastor starved me out and only gave me smoothies.”

“That sucks,” Cherri replied before biting into her sandwich.  

“Yeah,” Angel replied as a shudder went through his spine.  “I don’t even want to think about what Alastor’s putting Vaggie through right now or about what Lucifer’s putting Charlie through.”

Cherri put a hand on Angel’s shoulder and said, “Hey, Angie.  Don’t worry.  We’ll get outta here to save your gal pals soon.”

“I know,” Angel said with a sigh.  “I just wish we could bust out sooner.”

“Well, we’re gonna get a chance to walk in the garden tonight, right?” Cherri said, gesturing with her sandwich for emphasis.  “We just have to wait for the doctor and your family to let us take our private little romantic stroll and hop the fence as soon as their backs are turned.  Easy peasy.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy, Cher,” Angel said, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Sure, it’ll be, especially with my bombs to fight them back!” Cherri exclaimed confidently as ever.

Angel swallowed his bite and said, “That’s just it, Cherri.  They’re going to expect us to do something like that, and they have all day to prepare for it.  My Dad and my brother are probably setting up something right now to make sure we can’t escape in case we try to make a break for it.”

“You and I can deal with that easily,” Cherri quipped.

“No, we won’t,” Angel said sternly.  “My Dad and brother ain’t morons like Sir Pentious.  Back in my day in New York City, they were revered among the men of my tradition as being some of the toughest, ruthless, and most cunning there was.  Made men of La Cosa Nostra never dared to cross each other, but they took extra care to never cross my Dad and brother.  The pair of them were known as the spiders of New York because they could weave such intricate and clever traps that no one who defied them ever knew they were trapped until it was too late.”

Cherri’s face fell suddenly and sharply as she saw the fear overtake Angel’s face and cause him to shiver right where he sat.

“Angel…” Cherri said letting her sandwich rest on her lap.  “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Angel said perking up again.  “The point is, we can’t rely on my Dad or my brother to make a mistake this early on.  We have to wait until they feel confident enough to let us out of their sight.  Once they do, that is when we act.  Understand?”

“Yeah,” Cherri said, reluctantly nodding her head in agreement.  “I just hate waiting.  It’s so boring.”

“I know, doll,” Angel replied.  “But don’t worry.  If everything keeps going this well, that wait shouldn’t be much longer.  Just wait a little longer, okay?”

“Okay,” Cherri said, picking up her sandwich again.  “But when we get the chance, I’m blowing those fuckers up to Heaven.”

Angel chuckled and said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, sugar tits.”

The pair shared a smile and remained silent until they finished their lunches.  

Once they had finished their lunches, Angel pushed the cart of food against the wall by the door and asked Cherri, “You want to take a nap, Cher?  I’m feeling kinda tired.”

Cherri shrugged as she kicked off her shoes and socks and replied, “Why not?  It’s not like we have anything better to do.  Besides, this bed is comfortable and nice.”

“Indeed, it is,” Angel said, flicking off the light and climbing back onto the bed before he got an idea in his head.  “Hey, Cherri?  The good doctor will find us like this, right?  So, since he is, how about we make it look like we’re enjoying it?”

“Oh, I getcha,” Cherri said.  “So, what do we do?  You don’t want me to get naked.  Do ya?”

“No, no,” Angel said.  “Nothing like that.  Just take off your pants and that dress you’re wearing.  You can strip down to your underwear if you want.  That should be more than enough if you’re okay with it.  You can find a slip or something in those drawers.  You don’t need to go naked for me.”

Cherri snapped her fingers and said, “I have a better idea!”

Cherri then took off her pants and her shirt and climbed over to the other side of the bed where Angel’s gray uniform shirt was.  She pulled it on and struck a pose.  

“What do ya think?” Cherri asked.  “Lots of girls wear their boyfriend’s shirts.”

Angel smiled and said, “That looks perfect, sugar tits.  Now, let’s get cozy.”

Angel threw off the covers and gestured for Cherri to climb in.  Cherri readily climbed into bed next to Angel on the pillow next to his head.  

Angel shook his head and lifted Cherri up by her armpits.

“Angie, what are you doing?” Cherri asked confusedly.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve shared a bed with a man,” Angel said with a chuckle.

“What are you talking about?” Cherri protested.  “Why are you manhandling me, Angie?”

“You ain’t sleeping with me like you’re madly in love with me,” Angel replied.  

Cherri scoffed and said, “There’s a wrong way to do it?”

“Clearly, I’m dealing with a novice,” Angel sighed jokingly. “Here, let the expert show you how it’s done, babe.  It’s all about the presentation.”

Angel pulled Cherri on top of him and laid her down so that her head was resting on top of his chest fluff and said, “You need to rest your head there on my chest just like that with your arms lying on top or wrapped around my torso like I’m a giant body pillow.  Then I wrap my arms around your back like this…”

Angel wrapped his two pairs of arms around Cherri’s back and held her against his chest and continued, “…and I hold you against me, close to my heart, so that you feel warm, protected, and most importantly, loved.  I might even stroke your back to give you that bit of extra comfort to really sell the scene.”

“Oh, my God,” Cherri said, settling herself comfortably against Angel’s chest.  “You really are an expert at this.  And I thought you were gay.”

“Eh, I prefer men, but I can service either gender,” Angel said, settling his head against the pillow.  “Although to be honest, I have been growing to like snuggling with women a lot more these past few weeks.”

“Oh, really now?” Cherri asked.

“Yeah,” Angel said, rubbing Cherri’s back and prompting her to relax into Angel’s chest even more.  “Women are soft and warm.  I still prefer fucking men, but ladies ain’t so bad if you’re lookin’ for a snuggle buddy.”

“Be careful,” Cherri said before letting out a massive yawn.  “You might be turning bi.”

Angel chuckled to himself as he sat up quickly to pull the blankets over himself and Cherri.  Angel settled back into bed and Cherri moaned pleasantly as she buried her face back into Angel’s fluff.

The two laid like that and quickly drifted off to sleep.

[evien-stark]

✧I Need You✧ Chapter 132

Tony was literally elbow deep in work. Converting panels on the walls into mechanized processors took a lot of patience, but it was good, clean work that kept his mind preoccupied. He’d been working on turning the upstairs ports into a machining hub for a while. Better to do it now than to have to rely on the same type of handiwork to repair every suit in the Iron Legion when it got damaged. However, it was the worst time to get the kind of call that he did. The lights flooded out of the room, replaced with darkness tipped in constant red flashes. Bruce made some sort of agitated yet nervous noise, hands raised. Tony tipped his head back, pulling his arms from the wall, and lifting his head. “JARVIS-”

“Red alert on penthouse level.” His blood went ice cold. Already he was pulling back, on his feet, and running. But that feeling of fear was nothing compared to what hit him when JARVIS spoke next. “Steve Rogers is attacking Ms. INY. The private elevator has been immobilized. I’ve called a suit for you.” 

The next noise out of Bruce was one of complete bafflement. “Steve is? Tony- what-” 

“Get the team upstairs. Now.” 

Already suited up, already taking off in a leap from the lab deck. Bolting up straight into the air and curving up and around to the windows that looked into the penthouse living room. There his HUD zoomed in on a sight that sent him into immediate rage. Steve atop her. Her clawing at his wrists. Struggling not to die as he choked the life out of her. 

There really wasn’t much thought floating inside of his brain after that. He shot through one of the plate windows and dropped down inside. Just as Steve seemed to be stopping- and she wheezed- Tony held both of his hands up and aimed a charged repulsor blast into Steve’s back, sending him flying. He was there in the next second, on his knees next to her. 

He put his hand at her back, helping her lean sideways as she coughed and wheezed- painfully tried to draw any breath in that she could. Though it seemed like the immediate threat had waned, he felt just slightly better hearing the rest of their team busting up through the stairwell entrance. Yet his attention was stolen by the chirp of her phone ringing. 

Uselessly she seemed to be trying to reach for it. “Don’t-” A sharp twist of a cry. 

One that slid the pieces into place. The person really responsible for this was on the other end, no doubt about it. So he had to ignore her pleas, which broke his heart. This had to stop. Now. Picking the phone up, “JARVIS run a trace.”

She fought through sobs. “Please don’t…” 

He then slid the call onto speaker. “You have five seconds.” Hoping to bait their villain of the month into giving him some monologue. 

Everyone in the room stilled. The silence was unbearable. But not more so than the sound of that laughter. And then, that voice he had long since committed to memory on that one night he’d heard it, “Don’t worry puppy. We’ll be together again soon. I’ve got many more surprises for you.” 

The screen flashed as the call disconnected, and JARVIS stated the obvious. “Trace incomplete sir.” 

He had no time to let guilt and disappointment soak him through. She was moving, onto her hands and knees. He put one hand on her shoulder to try and steady her. Her crying grew harsher, deep and heavy. Agonizing sobbing. And he struggled to keep himself together. But when she directed her line of sight across the room, Tony did too. Looking over at Steve. 

Steve looking at her. 

Damn it all. She’d known. She was right. Even when she doubted herself. She was always right. 

The air in the room was stifling, even for him. The team was falling to pieces, all turned away. Maybe some of them didn’t want to witness such a low moment, but really it was probably more that they were biting back tears they wanted nothing to do with. In order to clean up… he had to get her away from them. A problem that had been growing. Quietly. One he’d been working on. Even quieter. 

She just seemed unable to move. Which made this messier. Bent forward on her hands and knees, face pressed into the carpet, breathing with a wheeze that sounded terribly painful while she still choked through sobs. It was killing him. He could sense a spiral was imminent. But he had to hang on. He had to get to work. He had to fix this for her. Because nobody else was moving. 

It felt absolutely awful to just leave her there on the floor, but he had to. Standing up, he went to the group huddled closer to the elevator. “Everyone down in conference room one. Now. We obviously need a few minutes, but I’ll bring a briefing to you.” 

Steve couldn’t even look at him. Which was a shame. There was such a dark fire burning inside of Tony at that moment. Facing him head on might have soothed it. If only a little. “Briefing on what? That I nearly just-” 

“Get a grip.” As hard as he could make the words leave him. Steve’s black-or-white, mile high guilt complex over doing the wrong thing could not be tolerated right now. “Yeah. You nearly just murdered her. So what you’re gonna do now is sit your ass down in the conference room and start telling JARVIS everywhere you’ve been for the last week so that we can start figuring this out.” When Steve finally found that soldier’s courage to meet his eyes, Tony’s narrowed. “Understood?” 

Tony found himself extremely lucky when Steve nodded. “Understood.” Because he didn’t have time to clean up two messes right now. And if he did… well. His priorities were elsewhere. 

He didn’t wait for the shuffle of feet back towards the stairwell to go to her again. She was sitting up on her knees at that point, though still not really there. Stepping out of the suit, finally, he took a knee next to her, putting a hand gently on her back. Her pain was cutting him in swift slices, and he had to take a steadying breath to keep himself together. “Take it easy, honey. If you’re not okay to walk, I’ll carry you.” Tone dropping low and careful. 

She tried to say something but it escaped in a choked gurgle that led into a coughing fit. Her hands raised, blood spattering against her cupped fists. Worse yet- I’m sorry... Tony wasn’t prepared enough for this shiver of words that he felt so deep inside him. Echoing beyond his ears. Wrapped around his brain. Hand inside his heart. He wasn’t used to hearing her like that- like this. Words like that had usually been reserved for… quieter moments. Intimate and careful. Now she was in agony. And he was five steps away of falling into that hole with her. 

“Don’t be sorry. It’s alright.” He willed himself strong for her. Calm. Not knowing if it ever helped, especially in moments like this, but he hoped so. “Let’s just start with- just… take a slow breath…” 

It didn’t matter how long it took, how long the team was waiting for him downstairs. She was far more important. And it did take a decent chunk of time to back her off that edge. To cool her down. Clean her up. Get her into bed. He thought maybe he’d gotten lucky, and she was just so gone she might slip asleep, but as he moved to leave her side at the bed her hand shot out to grab his wrist. 

He remembered this. He remembered exactly this. 

“Don’t- don’t go- don’t leave-” 

She was begging, not for him to stay in that room, maybe, but for him not to leave the Tower. Because the Tower was safe. And outside was no longer safe. Simple concepts. A madman was lurking around outside. Had grabbed Steve from somewhere. And had promised to do even more than that. She’d begged Fury to leave them alone, to not send anyone out that night, too. For a reason just like this. 

He sat back down, hand moving over her forehead and then smoothing down, holding her face in his palm. “I’m not going. We’re alright. We’re okay.” She eased, eyes slipping closed. “I’ll talk with the team. We’ll make a plan.” Speaking slowly. Softly. Talking her back down for a second time. “I’ll get the penthouse cleaned up. Work on the elevator…” Easy things to think about. To hold on to. And as he listed off his new workload, she drifted off. Further and further until finally she was gone. 

Even then… even then he had trouble leaving her. He stayed maybe longer than he should have. Just watching her. Hand raising over his eyes as a breath hitched in his chest after another moment. Allowing himself just this small bit of time to exert some weakness. Where no one else could see it. 

                                                    --- 

He took five more minutes to clean himself up after that, splashing cold water on his face. Taking a long look in the mirror. Then after drying off he headed towards the stairwell. Steeled himself. And pushed on. “JARVIS we making any progress with Rogers?” 

“Not much, sir.” The answer came echoing. And… almost a little annoyed sounding. As much as JARVIS usually could, anyway. 

“Start a playback of as much Tower surveillance at ground level as you can. Anyone that’s not Stark ID’ed lurking around I wanna know about.” This guy picked Steve up somewhere. And if he wasn’t going to be of help in figuring out where that was, Tony would have to figure something else out.

As always. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Pull the data on Jones and… the incident before this, too. Put it all up on the screens. I’ll be down in a minute.” 

“Everything is waiting for you.” 

That was slightly unexpected, but if JARVIS was one step ahead of him, it just cut out some of the useless work. Always nice. “You’re my rock, JARVIS.” 

“What would you ever do without me?” 

Just as he put his hand on the exit door to the floor with the conference rooms, he hesitated. “...keep an eye on her for me, JARVIS.” So quiet that it should have been impossible for any other AI to pick up a voice command. 

But JARIVS, of course, was no ordinary AI. “Always, sir.” 

He keyed himself into the conference room and then on the opposite side panel blacked the windows out. It wasn’t like there was a lot of staff wandering around on this floor, but this was sincerely a team-members-only meeting. Romanoff, Barton, and Thor were standing in the front by the two holo-screens displaying all of the detailed information that JARVIS had started pulling. 

Steve and Bruce were sitting at the end of the table. Bruce had his laptop, working on something. Good man. Steve was… just sitting there. Arms crossed. Thousand yard stare. Tony started with a wave of his hand and an exuding of confidence he didn’t actually quite own in this moment. “So. May 2013…” Taking a deep breath. Going through the cursory information. Not that he needed to. From the way everyone’s eyes averted they all remembered. 

She was taken. For three months. Disappeared without a trace. No sign. Snap of someone's fingers and she was just gone. And then those three months later she called for backup (kind of) and ran. He’d taken to pacing around the table as he spoke. “Fury wanted to send her and everyone else for surveillance. She made the call that that wasn’t appropriate. She’s seen what he can do. Apparently all it takes for this guy to pick anyone up off the street is saying a couple of words.” His eyes strayed to Steve, just to catch the reaction. The dip of his head and the darkening of his eyes wasn’t quite enough. 

Tony continued, “January 2014. An enhanced individual by the name of Jessica Jones politely informs us that the man’s name is Kilgrave. And that he’s supposedly dead.” 

Natasha looked up. She’d sat down some time ago. “Enhanced how?” 

“Super strength. Took a punch from one of the suits with almost no problem. While she was incredibly intoxicated, no less.” 

Barton scoffed. “I thought you said this was a polite encounter?” 

“No one got hurt. That’s as polite as it gets in this world.” Especially with a matter like that. 

Bruce took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “But. Clearly this guy’s not dead.” 

Tony resisted the urge to cluck his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Clearly. Which brings me to March of this year. Jessica Jones makes another unannounced appearance to tell us her intel was a little wrong.” Moving to one of the screen windows he swiped through until a picture of Hope came on the screen. “This girl, Hope Shlottman, murdered her parents under direction of Kilgrave. Jones’ involvement is messy, but she brings a guilt-ridden vendetta to our door.”

To his surprise, Steve was not the first one to object in the usual manner. Instead it was Thor. “And when were you planning on telling us this, Stark? Does this man have a weapon with the means of mind control? Like the scepter?” 

This time Tony couldn’t help the roll of his eyes, glad he had his back turned. “No toys. His usual song and dance seems to just be creeping out of the shadows and saying something into your ear- speaking of. Rogers?” Half turning with an arch of his brow. “Remember anything?” At Steve’s continued silence, Tony pressed. “You’re our next point on the map. So if you’ve got any ideas for the class, now’s the time to raise your hand.” 

Finally Steve broke, head tipping up sharply. “You know- you seem pretty calm for what just went on. Are you even taking this seriously?” 

White hot anger flashed intensely inside of him. How dare he. Turning around and leaning in, Tony’s hands went down on the table a little harder than he meant to. Staring Steve down. “If I were any less calm you’d be in the holding cell in the basement.” Or… worse. “I’d count my blessings, if I were you.” There were a few seconds there where his brain had lit up a path of destruction. If it were her or Steve? ...yeah. It’d be her. And he’d live with that blood on his hands for the rest of his life. 

This broke Steve from whatever self righteous horse he was trying to ride in self defense. “Maybe I should be.” But this was not any better. 

Natasha was the voice of reason. “Your guilt over this is not going to help anyone. It’s terrible- to be sure- what happened. But-” 

As usual, Barton had the layup for her. “He took you for a ride for one day. He had her for three months. Can you even imagine what he might have made her do?” 

Suddenly all eyes were cast up on Tony. Waiting. Waiting for answers. Wanting to know. What terrible things had she done under Kilgrave’s thumb? As if it were any of their business. He couldn’t help crossing his arms and half turning back to the board. “You had two years to ask her. Don’t look at me.” 

Thor stepped into his peripheral. “Barton has a point. Lady is clearly not well. Is this a remnant of his hold over her? Should we consider her dangerous as well?” 

Bruce, thankfully, spoke up. Thankfully because Tony’s tight control was loosening. He’d brought them here to figure out a solution to this and now they were laying into her? Dangerous, considering how wound with anger he still was. “Thor… she was tortured for three months. I don’t think it’s a power thing. I think it’s a…” 

Natasha’s voice was very quiet. “A human thing.” 

A heavy silence hung over the room for far too long. Tony still had to steady himself, not quite ready when Steve finally spoke up again. “I was on a run in the park this morning.” Everyone’s attention redirected, Tony turning almost a little too quickly to zero in on him. “I stopped at one of those carts to get some water. Someone with a newspaper called out to me. When I turned he said…” Struggling as he tried to get it all back- or maybe struggling with the weight of everything that had just happened in this short window. “He said- follow me. And I just… did.” 

The setup was obvious. Tony shook his head. “He stole you out of Central Park to go to a quieter location. Loaded you up with commands, and sent you on your merry way. JARVIS, retrieve all the footage from all security cams in the park from this morning.” They had to get an ID on this guy. 

Thor’s sense brought him to the same line of thought. “We still do not know what this man looks like?” Frustrated. He’d have to get in line. 

Tony turned back to the board. “The night she was taken he erased all footage. Seems easy, right? When you can walk into any place you like and just demand people do whatever you want?” That was what made him so dangerous. He could get away with anything. Anywhere. 

Natasha chanced a smile. “Out of everyone in this room, I think you’re the closest to knowing what that’s like.” 

JARVIS interrupted. “I’m retrieving the footage now, sir, but I have some other pertinent information for you about the Tower security footage.” When Tony pointed a finger towards the front board to direct the data there, still frames of a man lurking around on the other side of the sidewalk opposite the building with a phone in hand- just about one out of every three days and always pointed at her whenever she left. He looked pretty strung out. Clothes worn and dirty. Face and hair a mess. Easy to miss. Just someone else that faded into the background noise of this city. “This is Malclom Ducasse.” 

Trying to be the voice of reason, Bruce asked, “We’re sure this guy’s not just paparazzi?” Clearly not wanting to go after some random citizen if they weren’t implicated in this. 

JARVIS sent the room cold, “His current address is the same building as one Alias Investigations.” Flashing the information on screen.

A bitter puff of air left Tony. “Jones. How about that.” Nodding to himself he started walking to the door, though he shifted to give a point to Natasha. “Romanoff, you’re with me. Let’s show the detectives how it’s done.” He was sick of this. He was going to drag Jessica Jones in here and make her talk. No matter if she liked it or not. 

It was time for this to be over. If she was working with Kilgrave, Tony would find out. And if that was the case…? 

He’d ask for the opinion of one of the only women in this world that mattered to him. What to do. Or, better put- what she would like him to do. Because at this point… at this point… Tony would live with whatever guilt she asked him to, to put an end to her suffering. Without question. Without hesitation. 

His heart was burning with pain still. And at the door as Natasha got up, he and Steve shared one last look. 

He’d gotten so incredibly lucky she’d been able to break him out of it. And Tony knew, as Steve was looking at him now… 

Steve understood that, too. 

[bigskydreaming]

So.

About that whole “Dick only met Jason once when he was Robin and its when they ended up busting up a drug lab together and Dick gave Jason his costume and phone number to call him but never spent any time with Jason other than that on panel, before Jay died” thing.....

Its not like....true. Because the issue in question is Batman #416....BUT, the thing that EVERYBODY I’ve ever seen reference this issue leaves out (and I just reread it myself this week lol)....is that the entire issue is a FLASHBACK issue. It opens with the caption: One Year Ago.

People refer to Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis continuities a lot, but the retcon of Jason’s origin didn’t actually happen DURING the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. It happened at least a year or two after. And not long before his death at all. Jason’s rebooted origin story was told in Batman #412. Dick met him for the first time in Batman #416. Then there were a couple other issues, then the Felipe Garzonas storyline and its aftermath, and then Death in the Family, in Batman #427 or #428, I forget which. But point is, alllllllll the stuff in fanfics about how Dick resented Jason and was a jerk to him at first and took out his issues with Bruce on Jason when Jason was Robin......there’s at best like, TWO pages in the opening of issue #416 that could be described that way, but other than that, its complete fanon. It didn’t happen that way and it literally couldn’t have, because there was no TIME between #412 and #427 for any of that to occur.

And before Jason’s origin was rebooted, he was like, even closer to Dick than to Bruce at times. In what’s commonly called “Pre-Crisis continuity,” that’s when Dick decided all on his own, without any prompting from Bruce, to give up being Robin and to become Nightwing....and in this version of events, DICK gave Robin to Jason personally. HE made the choice to pass on the mantle. So again, there was like, ZERO resentment or being a jerk to Jason about the Robin mantle, because it was Dick’s gift to him, not Bruce’s choice. Any reference in stories to Dick voluntarily giving up being Robin and ‘not using the name anymore’ without referring to later retcons like Bruce firing Dick because of the Joker shooting him or because he was away from Gotham too much like in NW: YO....like, it kinda sucks to pair that version of events with this fanon myth about him hating Jason because Bruce gave Robin to Jason when Dick was no longer using it, because like....that NEVER happened anywhere! Its the complete opposite of canon. In that version, there was NO bad blood between even Bruce and Dick.

And this is the continuity that was in place still when Jason teamed up with the Titans for two story arcs, first in a mission that brought them up against Cheshire, and then to help actually rescue Dick himself from the Church of Blood...at the end of which, when Dick was freed, we see him and Jason being pretty familiar with each other, and Dick being extremely proud of Jason and complimentary towards him, and zero resentment on Jason’s part towards Dick or for being compared to Dick in the previous arc. (Which did happen, with some of the Titans, but Jason wasn’t resentful there either...he basically just stood up for himself, called them out on it and said look, I’m not Dick so stop looking at me like I am and tell me what *I* can do. Also, the Titans NEVER were shown resenting or being distant towards Jason on Dick’s behalf or whatever).

But here’s the thing that makes me say that even with Jason’s rebooted origin, he and Dick still met way more than people presume.

Its because those stories, where Jason teams up with the Titans (and numerous encounters before it, like Dick stopping by the Batcave after returning from Tamaran and Jason being envious-but-mostly-just-in-an-excited-way about how Dick got to go to another world).....like...those stories are STILL canon.

Because those are the stories Jason’s referencing when he fights Tim in Titans Tower as the Red Hood, remarking that he was a Titan once too.

So Jason’s rebooted origin story, and Batman #416 only ever actually replaced how Jason came to be Robin and when Dick first met him. And later in Nightwing: Year One, when all that was retconned again....once again, its just how Dick got fired and Jason came to be Robin and their first meeting...those are the only stories actually EXPLICITLY altered by the retcons.

But in order for Jason to have ever been a Titan, even an honorary one, like he tells Tim when they first fight.....all those other encounters between Jason and Dick ARE STILL CANON. Talking pre-Flashpoint here, of course. New Earth continuity.

And in those stories? Dick adored Jason. He did not hate him, or resent him, or begrudge him for being Robin. Jason was his little brother and Dick was proud of him and grieved for him when he died, beat the Joker to death with his fists when he mocked Jason’s death, hallucinated Jason-as-Robin once as a COMFORTING presence during a near death experience, and got drunk while looking through old photos that included a skiing trip he and Jason took at one point that we never saw on panel anywhere else.

But yeah....whether you go with NW: Year One OR Batman #416 as Dick and Jason’s first encounter...either way, it was NOT their last or only encounter before Jason died, and they were closer than anyone usually credits them with being (and which is also supported by the OYL story where Jason goes to NY and when he leaves, sends Dick the note saying he still sees them as family). Both Dick and Jason have their issues with Bruce, and they’re each tangled up in each other’s issues....Dick resents Bruce adopting Jason and not him at that point in canon, being replaced and his mother’s nickname for him given away, Jason resents Bruce comparing him to Dick or using him as an emotional substitute or replacement for Dick....BUT before Morrison’s.....crap....there really was no evidence of them taking those issues out on each other, and plenty of evidence that they actually did care for each other a great deal.

No, we never saw them being as close as Dick and Tim were when he was Robin, but I hate how people take it for granted that’s because Dick was trying harder because he learned his lesson from not being there as much as ‘he should have’ for Jason. Its like....it also has a lot to do with the fact that in the 80s, Dick and Jason only appeared in Teen Titans and Batman. There WAS no Nightwing solo comic then, and no Robin solo comic. They were never shown bonding as much as Dick and Tim because like...there was nowhere to put that. Titans was an ensemble book with up to a dozen team members at some points, and Dick’s story time was usually devoted towards examining his relationships with his teammates. And Batman was Bruce’s comic, Jason appeared in the context of his own relationship with Bruce, it simply wasn’t the venue to explore Jason’s solo encounters with Dick as a regular kind of thing.

Idk, it just really frustrates me that people have created this complex fanon storyline where Dick definitely was a jerk to Jason before his death and that’s why things are messed up between them, but at the same time seems to take it as fact that like....there was no possibility that Dick and Jason hung out offpanel more than we saw, after Batman #416/NW:YO. Like, things are messed up between Dick and Jason because DC likes it that way. Not because its the only logical conclusion of canon stories where they always had issues and friction and nothing in common....because like, that simply isn’t how those stories went.

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 44: A Wild Plot Appeared!

Watched live. Had a lot of lag while it streamed. Very little idea what I’m getting into re: plot because I couldn’t understand.

Let’s do this.

––

We open with some rando track athlete losing a race because he tripped… and getting. Surrounded by a bubble version of Decade’s Dimensional Walls… Well then. That can’t be good.

Even worse is that he turns out to have been one of Sougo’s high school classmates, named Nishimura. Coincidence? Mayhaps. But he’s one of multiple people who’ve recently disappeared.

Geiz, naturally, blames the Time Jackers. He’s incredibly valid in that, as Woz agrees. After all, Swartz did just steal both Tsukuyomi’s and Tsukasa’s powers. Painfully on both counts. You know, because we really needed to see said power stealing again. Which we did. Because I definitely wanted to see Tsukuyomi screaming in pain and Tsukasa dropping to the ground again.

Junichiro, bringing out breakfast, mentions that Tsukuyomi hasn’t gotten up yet… and Sougo says that he hasn’t seen her since last night.

––

Okay, so. Serious question time. How long has passed since the last two arcs? Because the Den-O tribute was one day, June 9 or so, and led directly into the Another Zi-O II arc, which was… the first episode was June 30 and ran until July 14. Now, normally, every arc is two episodes or so – some of the plot arcs have been three. Each story is usually one, maybe two days, and they have two weeks of downtime between arcs. We just had two arcs take five weeks. So, ostensibly, it could be June 10 in-universe. This is why timelines for shows get confusing, and seasons of Kamen Rider usually end in-universe at least a month before the final episode airs.

Please let there be a time skip during this episode. I watched raw, but I couldn’t tell how much time goes by.

Alright, serious plot and chronology wondering aside. Sougo says he hasn’t seen Tsukuyomi since last night, and everything begins to shake. The three Riders run outside.

––

…That. That sure looks like a black hole. Or a wormhole. Neither is exactly unprecedented.

Oooh, and a big ol’ circle opens up, with circuitry patterns racing up. Wormhole it is. With a very blue-and-white Time Mazine dropping down out of it.

According to Woz, it’s an early model, from the 2050’s. So, good continuity nod. I mean, the title alone made it clear that Kamen Rider Aqua was showing up, even if the previews hadn’t shown him. And Aqua’s single appearance was in “Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max”, which I will be referring to as “Mega Max” because movie titles in this franchise are too danged long.

In Mega Max, Miharu Minato was said to be from ‘40 years in the future,’ aka about the year 2050.

And here he is! The good water boy! I mean, I’m not found of his armor – never have been – but his concept was always cool. He draws from the OG Showa riders using power from wind to transform, except in his case, he uses water. All we need now is someone to use earth in an old-school Showa Style belt and we’ll have a complete set! (No, I’m not forgetting fire. It’s implied in ‘Kamen Rider 1’, the Ghost spring movie, that Hongo can now use wind and/or fire for his transformation. Area cyborg is basically a literal phoenix.)

Turns out, the best water boy is here to bring Geiz and Tsukuyomi back… to… the future… Huh. Geiz has no idea who he is, so that’s interesting. He also has no idea why Miharu’d be bringing him back.

Cue Woz pausing time to narrate-

Wait hold on.

If the time powers are an inherent ability that Tsukuyomi and Swartz’s family have, and Heure and Hora got their time powers from Swartz… then where did Woz get his? We know he can at least manipulate time to some degree – not just for the recaps, but if I remember correctly, he’s been shown to at least be able to cancel out time stops.

Woz, whomst the heck are you?!

Okay, I’m just going to put that on the back burner for now and keep going.

––

Woz’s recap today shows the clock advancing again. And, I mean, it’s always at least been ticking in the background in his recap vault, but we don’t usually see the hands move. It always feels really ominous when they do that…

Basically, Woz says that Sougo has met many Legends, and taken their powers for his own. However, the enemy has effectively been doing the same. Now, Sougo’s journey is leading to the final battle.

We’ve only got a little over a month left, folks. Zero One starts September 1. That gives us… 6 episodes, including this one, and the Over Quartzer movie. …We don’t have time for this. Why were the ‘future riders’ necessary?! We could have gotten more plot back then, instead of how Shinobi and Quiz were basically filler! Okay, so Shinobi did establish Sougo’s future dreams, and Kikai established a little more of both Sougo’s backstory and powers… although I don’t think we’ve seen the dream thing since, so it winds up being a moot point anyway.

Hmph.

––

I absolutely love the Zi-O opening. Over Quartzer is a great song, and the sequence has actually bothered to update. My issue with Ex-Aid and Build’s opening sequences is that they just. Didn’t. The home releases included the actual sequences, as opposed to the movie-promotion versions that were in the aired episodes. But it made it apparent that they never finished updating them. Ex-Aid never included Taddle Legacy – the final form for the advertised Secondary Rider. (I still say that Taiga’s clearly the actual secondary plot and development wise, and Kiriya’s the secondary motivation wise. Hiiro is just there.) Build never updated with Cross-Z Magma, either. That opening kept freaking Cross-Z Charge through the end, even though he stopped using it like halfway through the show. You know. The form for the other Main Character. (Sento and Ryuuga are co-leads – they share the Main Rider spot, and you will never convince me otherwise.) Incidentally, Wizard never updated to include Beast Hyper… OR INFINITY. No, it kept the All Dragon form through the OP for the rest of the show after it’s debut, instead of. You know. The Main Rider’s ACTUAL FINAL FORM.

Yes, I’m bitter about that. If you’re going to do an updating opening sequence, then you ought to keep updating it!

Like, most of the phase two seasons are fine – they either didn’t make major changes to the sequence at all, as in OOO and Gaim, only minor changes when new Riders came in, aka Accel joining W, or kept up with the changes. That’s your Fourze, Drive, and Ghost. But Wizard, Ex-Aid, and Build didn’t.

Zi-O has! Each of Sougo’s new forms came and went – except Decade, I think, but that was more just a different Legend Rider power than an actual new form in itself. Zi-O II, Trinity, and Grand have all replaced each other as the show’s progressed. Geiz has always been in, and eventually got upgraded to Geiz Revive. When Hat Woz showed up, Kamen Rider Woz entered the sequence, and Scarf Woz eventually took over – his spot now shows Ginga’s three variants.

So yeah! The Zi-O opening’s done a way better job than the last two.

––

Heure’s running, but we don’t know from what. Or from who. Who seems to be a more likely option, seeing as he’s been deemed unnecessary by his boss.

Although, we can get a pretty good clue as to the ‘who’ as he climbs a set of stairs – because everything gets very slow.

It’s Slowdown.

Time for Another Drive.

Another Drive’s design is pretty neat! Roidmudes had… well, they had finger guns. There’s no way around phrasing it that way, they had finger guns, not unlike Deneb’s. Drive had a gun that was based on a car door.

Guess what Another Drive has on their arm. Go on, guess.

…Okay, it’s a car door. A car door with ‘keep out’ tape on it, which is hilarious. And – ohhhhh I couldn’t see this in the raw, but Another Drive’s ‘belt’? It’s a dashboard panel, the bit with the gauges. There’s a wheel hub sticking out of their shoulder, y’know, the part a tire attaches to. This is nice.

We waited literally the entire season for Another Drive and this beautiful literal car wreck was worth it.

Oh-hohoho and the face underneath what would be the helmet looks like a Roidmudes basic form, which is a great touch. Especially as a nod to the fact that Proto-Drive, the person partnered with Krim before Shinnosuke, was, himself, a Roidmude. This is a continuity nod in more ways than one, actually. The Drive and Mach equipment could still produce slowdown. Shinnosuke never did it, because he never would, and Gou only did it once, in his first arc. But they were able to…

And Another Drive can produce Slowdown in a Roidmude manner. The Another Riders are copies of their season’s enemies, after all.

With someone who can slow down the movement speed of everything around them…

It only stands to reason that they could cancel out Heure’s time stop.

In a COMPLETELY TERRIFYING MANNER, by the way! As in, Heure freezes Another Drive when they go to punch him, and runs off. Another Drive is still stopped for a moment…

Before their headlight eyes light up, and their mouth opens in a sort of a roar. One eye is white – the one that still has the headlight lens – and the other is red – presumably a busted taillight.

ALSO I’M NOT KIDDING ANOTHER DRIVE’S MOUTH ACTUALLY OPENS AS THEY BREAK THE FREEZE.

Facial articulation, be it CG or practical, is creepy. We had it with Another Build, and now we’ve got it with Another Drive. …Oh. And those are the first and last standard MOTW Another Riders. I mean, this is technically 19 down, Decade to go, but. Well. Decade.

––

Having made his escape, Heure runs to Hora, where they’ve presumably been hiding since Swartz pulled his ‘you have outlived your usefulness’ card. Hora’s surprised that an Another Rider would be chasing Heure. After all, Zi-O’s already got Grand Zi-O, so he should have all of the powers already. Why would there be an Another Rider at all? Heure suggests that it’s here to take the two of them out. Which, yeah, seems pretty likely. Swartz isn’t usually one to do his own dirty work.

Hora’s powers were taken from her, so what could Heure possibly do?

Hora, dear, I need you to stop putting Heure down constantly. Yes, he’s younger than you. Yes, he’s a little troll. Yes, he definitely should have booked it out of there after Swartz and yourself forced him into being Another Kikai. But he’s still good at this.

––

Back to 9-to-5, where Miharu’s saying that it’s a bad idea to interfere in the past, so he’s here to bring Geiz and Tsukuyomi back to the future. Geiz looks like he hadn’t even thought of that happening. In his defense, I’m pretty sure Geiz just sort of assumed he wouldn’t exist anymore after taking out Sougo before he could become Oma Zi-O, given that neither he or Tsukuyomi had an answer to the ‘and then what’ question.

Also, Miharu isn’t exactly one to talk about interfering in the past, given that he debuted via time travel last time. In his defense, it wasn’t exactly voluntary, and he was a bit ‘possessed’ at the time via a distinct overload of Core Medals.

…So, Aqua is in Woz’s book, but Geiz wasn’t? That’s just rude to the soldier boy. Although, all Wozes seem to be chronic liars, so he may have just been pulling one over. (More on ‘All Wozes Lie’ later.) But the book gives us a glimpse back at Mega Max – specifically; Miharu, his appearance as Aqua, and the shot of him leaving on his jetski into a time vortex identical to the one from earlier in the episode. That one has back-shots of the main OOO cast, because it’s archival footage. It’s nice to get that reminder that there were more characters in OOO than the Main Trio of Eiji, Ankh, and Hina. Date, Gotou, and Satonaka are all there, too, in their ass-kicking gear. (Toei please bring Ankh back we are begging you this movie was such a tease because that Ankh was from the future and disappeared immediately after this shot to go follow Miharu back and you are breaking my heart by reminding me of that and yes I am intentionally breaking everyone else’s hearts by reminding all of you of that so BLAME TOEI FOR NOT BRINGING ANKH BACK.)

So, yeah, Miharu acknowledges his own time travel incident, saying that he’s met past riders, too, and they shaped who he is. (Eiji I miss you!) But what Geiz is doing is different – he’s actively changing the past. Geiz says that’s what Swartz is doing, not him. But really, Miharu has a point. Both teams are basically just doing what they want. At this point, Team Zi-O is doing it out of necessity – they’re a bit stuck in this path, since it’s not like Swartz was going to stop, and would you want to leave Sougo as the only one fighting around here? No! No, you would not!

Geiz is pissed, as he is prone to being, when he gets compared to Swartz, and grabs Miharu by the jacket. All it takes is Sougo calling his name and a single shake of his head to get Geiz to let go.

Geiz please the Tsun-tsun act isn’t fooling anyone at this point. You like Sougo. I mean, I kind of ship it, but time travel plots make shipping a difficult task, so at least admit that you’re friends. Or, you know, use Sougo’s name. It’s been 44 episodes, and you’ve called him by name once.

…Oh no what if they’re saving that for when the time travelers are leaving for good. Because that’s almost definitely what’s going to happen at the end – they’re not going to be able to stay in 2019. They just… can’t. Causality won’t allow it, I’m certain. What if they’re saving Geiz finally calling Sougo by name, maybe even with a smile, for when he has to say goodbye.

Whoops I went and made everything sad.

Miharu also has something he’d like to talk to Tsukuyomi about.

Sougo: Where is she, anyway?

Seriously, how much time has passed?

––

Ah, here’s Tsukuyomi! And Tsukasa! They’re in the rain, on some sort of pedestrian bridge, which looks familiar for reasons I can’t quite place. I love that Tsukasa’s umbrella handle matches his outfit perfectly – it’s half the same black as his suit, and half magenta. Nice.

But anyway, she wants answers. Did he know that Swartz was her brother or not?

Turns out he’d figured it out, but not long before the others. When was the last time we saw him again? Because that was when he and Tsukuyomi went to her childhood home… Oh, right. That was Kabuto Arc, which… was the one right before Den-O. That would be about May 26, and since we’ve established that Den-O was June 9… if we assume that we’re still early June via episode-based time differences, he’s known for at most two weeks.

Tsukasa’s not lying, exactly, when he says that he and Tsukuyomi are the same, in that neither of them are from this world. He’s just not mentioning the assorted other ways. The innate spacial-distortion powers. The sibling with a variant on the same powers. The amnesia. Aforementioned sibling being jealous of them, and turning dark. The leadership role. Admittedly, I can’t exactly blame Tsukasa for not acknowledging his days as Great Leader Tsukasa, because it’s not exactly going to help his case right now.

Anyway, Tsukasa says that he wasn’t originally from this world, and that he came here to look into the space-time distortions. Tsukuyomi assumes he’s accusing Swartz – who is very definitely to blame – but Tsukasa is ‘leaning towards it being the Overlord’s fault,’ saying that Swartz is using it to his advantage. Which… isn’t wrong, exactly, Sougo’s definitely being used by Swartz just as much as everyone else has been, but it’s hardly fair to say it’s his fault. …Aside from the fact I don’t think Tsukasa has used Sougo’s name, either. Always ‘Maou.’ Always ‘Overlord.’ Almost as if the Overlord might not be Sougo.

And if it’s Swartz under the helmet, pulling the strings and, say, having swapped out for Older Sougo when they ‘saw’ Oma Zi-O transform when they met…

After all. We never actually saw Oma Zi-O transform. It was obscured by the explosions from Sougo’s attack.

Back to the show.

I was lying when I said I couldn’t place the bridge. I was pretty sure, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain. There was a whole lot of lag when I watched live, so I couldn’t be positive. But this is the same bridge that Tsukasa and Tsukuyomi were on when they watched what happened to Sougo after the bus ‘accident’, when Swartz did something to him. We still don’t know exactly what, but that purple light looks an awful lot like what he used on Daiki and Hora a few episodes ago. Not quite like what he did to Tsukuyomi, though – that was a little different, but I can’t put it into words.

According to Tsukasa, it’ll all become clear soon enough… that is, it’ll become clear whether or not he’ll destroy this world. Tsukasa, please, we all know you don’t know jack of what’s going on here, and that you weren’t actively destroying the worlds. That was just a side effect of something that was never made clear, some biology thing or power leakage or something like that. Narutaki’s just a tool who never explained anything, least of all what was going on. And it was implied that the whole… thing that happened W & Decade fixed that little… issue.

(Kamen Rider needs to stop with people getting stabbed, because I’m never okay with it, even watching things again, because it’s not okay and I’m pretty sure someone’s just into it or something on production staff. Like, I get it, a lot of people have swords, but that doesn’t mean they have to be used like that!)

Okay, Decade lore discussion being put off to the side…

According to Tsukasa, it’ll all become clear soon enough… that is, it’ll become clear whether or not he’ll destroy this world. But Tsukuyomi protests that – not because of the whole ‘why the heck would you do that’ aspect that most people would give, but because he’s had his powers taken. He says that doesn’t really matter. I mean, for all we know, the world thing wasn’t because he was Decade at all. He could go between worlds as a child, although he needed someone else to open the walls back then. Namely, his younger sister. Oh, look, the similarity thing comes back with his sister, who took over Dai Shocker from him. He could go through the walls she made, but she couldn’t, and she became bitter because of that. Sounds a little familiar, eh?

(See how I brought that back around? I said ‘off to the side.’)

Tsukasa, however, thinks that his power deal doesn’t matter right now. Tsukuyomi is a much bigger deal – just the fact that she’s here is a time distortion in and of itself. Neither of the two of them are supposed to be here.

––

Junichiro wants to know if it’s black tea that that one lady friend likes. This confuses the heck out of the three Team Zi-O boys – what lady friend? They haven’t had any women come, due to the overall lack of female characters in Rider except… for…

All three run out of the dining room, to find Heure and Hora in the main shop.

Heure’s asking for refuge, but Hora doesn’t seem to have realized that was his plan. But really, Sougo did promise to defeat Swartz, so it’ll just be for a little while, until then.

Geiz is basically all ‘Nope, not having this, you’ve made our lives hell, get out.’

But Sougo stops him, with a very good point. He’s being rash. After all, they’re not so different from him.

I’m pretty sure that Sougo’s not referring to the time-meddling that Miharu was talking about. I’m pretty sure it’s that they have nowhere else to reasonably go.

Sougo is such a good lad.

––

And then there’s a short scene with Junichiro… having conscripted Woz and Hora into making what appears to be okonomiyaki? Sure, why not. Also, he’s chastising Miharu for using a knife and fork to eat his. Hora wants to know why she has to be the one to do this. She didn’t even want to be here! Where the heck did Heure go?!

––

Heure and Sougo are overlooking the river.

Also FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. It’s evening now… on the SAME DAY WE STARTED THE EPISODE. I was hoping there was a time skip somewhere in here, between them taking Heure and Hora in and the okonomiyaki scene, but NOPE! Junichiro and Sougo are wearing the same shirts!

Anyway, this is a really touching scene. Heure’s kind of broken right now. He’d thought he could do anything, and looked down on everyone else, including Sougo and co. But it was all just a lie, wasn’t it? He and Hora, they were just being used, weren’t they? And now here they are, the time jackers looking for help from the person they were trying to dethrone.

Sougo says that it’s okay. After all, they’re working together now, aren’t they?

Heure thinks Sougo is either a complete idiot… or really does have what it takes to rule. Because they were bitter enemies, and now he’s helping them. Now he’s accepting them. Why would he ever do that?

Well, as Sougo says, it’s not that he’ll forgive them for hurting people – for hurting his subjects. But they were just trying to make a future in their own way, and he can understand that, at least.

According to Heure, it wasn’t even that in the end. He and Hora were just pawns, both brought here… from… different time periods. By Swartz.

Huh.

Sougo pauses, while Heure looks away. Maybe he was wrong, that the former Time Jackers and Geiz weren’t quite alike. Geiz has somewhere to call home, and they don’t.

They didn’t.

They live with him now. It’s not like Junichiro’s going to turn them away – he’s way too nice, too. So, let’s go help him out!

Heure, shocked that Sougo’s being so stinking nice, gets basically dragged off by Sougo, who’s wrapped an arm around his shoulder and is running off, ignoring Heure’s sputtered protests all the while.

Geiz watches from the bridge up above.

––

We come to a track meet. The same one we opened at. Nishimura doesn’t trip this time. He wins the race.

The faces of everyone else present are blank – in a censored manner, a skintone oval covering them, with little sparks of time-static every now and then.

Nishimura is estactic at having won.

Swartz is in the center of the track circle, watching, and saying that ‘this is his world’. His meaning Nishimura, not Swartz, for the record. I just can’t quite phrase it right. He’s speaking as if talking to Nishimura, but he’s not actually talking directly to him, just doing one of those observation things.

––

Back at 9-to-5, Geiz is on that couch in the dining room, pondering things, such as Miharu saying that ‘they can’t just keep changing time, so he’s here to bring them back’ and Sougo saying that Geiz has a home. He says Tsukuyomi’s name. It sounds like she still hasn’t come back yet.

Heure runs in, distressed.

Hora’s gone.

Sougo and Miharu – who, apparently, is also staying here for the time being – run downstairs, as Heure takes off, wondering what Hora could be thinking.

This house is getting crowded.

At least Sougo’s in a different shirt, and it’s daytime now, showing that we’ve had at least one day go by. So, that’s something, anyway.

––

Heure’s searching, panicked and panting. Where could she be? He sees her out of the corner of his eye, walking past him and out of side.

He turns around…

And Another Drive is there.

I didn’t notice this before, but the missing headlight lens? That’s sort of stuck on Another Drives jaw. It’s weird and I like it – Another Drive is, as I said, quite literally a mangled car wreck version of Drive, all dented and crunched metal, with visible wires and underbody elements. This is such a good design.

Panicked, Heure tries to run – he likely already knows that his time stopping isn’t going to be very effective, he probably saw from a distance that Another Drive can break out.  Blaster shots impact on the door-arm. Tsukuyomi’s finally shown up, Faiz Phone X armed and ready.

Tsukuyomi tells Huere to run, and he books it out of there. She’s ready to keep fighting – and Miharu steps in front of her.

“You’re Tsukuyomi, right?” Another Drive’s advancing, and Miharu is starting to panic. “Ah, uh, hang on! I have to get these out-” He. He pulls out a pair of patterened boxers.

EIJI. Eiji you have never been a good influence. I mean, you’re a good influence in some ways, but also a terrible one in others.

Okay, for context on why Miharu would be calling a pair of colored boxers his ‘Brave Briefs,’ we have to go back to 2011, during Mega Max. (For the record, I can’t wait to see how O-T and TV-N translate that. I know that it’s basically a literal translation, but I just wonder what spins they’ll put on it.)

You see, Miharu is from 2050. He transforms using the power of water.

He is afraid of water. (Ankh, who is a literal fire bird and thus probably has no right to talk, thought this was hilarious. He got a t-shirt thrown over his head to shut him up.)

Eiji, being Eiji, told Miharu that he just has to do what he can today in order to see tomorrow. He’ll be fine as long as he has a good outlook and underwear for tomorrow. He also, helpfully, gives Miharu a package of new boxers, all in very eiji-like colors.

One of these is what Miharu has just pulled out. This is ridiculous and I love it. I also love the little guitar riff version of the old TaToBa jingle from OOO when he pulls them out to freaking look at them and gather his courage, and the medal coin-flip sound effect when he’s gotten said courage and starts to transform. And then he uses a very Showa-style pose as he transforms, with the same sound effect, or at least a very similar one, to Ichigo’s Typhoon belt, when his Aqua Driver activates.

Sougo and Geiz arrive on scene, and Geiz is confused as to why there’s an Another Drive at all. They’ve already gotten all of the watches, haven’t they?

Ah, right, Sougo probably hasn’t had a chance to tell them that summoning Drive didn’t quite work when he was in the future. He reminds Geiz now, anyway, that they technically haven’t actually obtained the Drive watch. Geiz admits, that’s fair, they kind of don’t have the correct Drive watch.

Time For Grand and Revive Typhoon!

Aqua is very, very confused. “This is Zi-O? Oh, man, time has changed way too much!” He’s just stuck watching as the guys have basically elbowed him out of the fight against Another Drive, and asks if he can just leave it to them. They barely even answer him, just basically telling him to go do whatever. So, he basically just takes Tsukuyomi and runs.

And then Another Drive summons a whole bunch of duplicates of Midnight Shadow’s and a few of Max Flare’s tires and whoops, now I’m really missing the Shift Cars.

––

Quick cut to Miharu and Tsukuyomi, where he tells her he’s come to pick her up from the future.

––

Back to the fight, where it turns out that even Revive Typhoon can not stand against Slowdown. Geiz is still moving faster than most people, but he’s still not making any progress.

Also the door is still a gun.

Suddenly, as Another Drive is about to beat the tar out of Geiz, who’s still stuck in slowdown, it’s Another Drive who’s frozen. Turns out that Heure’s not fond of being rescued, or maybe just not fond of owing.

Another Drive breaks out of being stopped just in time to be hit by Geiz’s finisher and one from Grand Zi-O’s use of the Steering Sword.

Hora stands up from the flames.

––

With Miharu and Tsukuyomi, we get some lore. Tsukuyomi’s family apparently ‘rules over time.’ Since she’s from the future where he exists, her being here is locking Sougo into the future where he becomes Oma Zi-O. You know, the thing she’s been trying to prevent.

Her and ‘her brother’ absolutely should not be in this reality – they’re from a different one, and as per what Tsukasa said, them being here is a distortion in and of itself.

Interestingly, Miharu is here to take Tsukuyomi and Geiz back to the future. I can’t tell, but I think that he thinks they’re siblings. WHICH HOO BOY PLEASE DO NOT.

It’s her and her powers he has to bring back most of all – but that’s going to be a little difficult. Swartz – her brother – stole her powers after all.

Miharu is very, very confused again.

––

Hora doesn’t answer when Heure asks what’s going on, just turns and walks away… as Swartz walks up.

He’s going on about how Heure’s been naughty, and asks what on earth Sougo – a pale imitation of Oma Zi-O – can do against him. And then he says that he’ll show them all the power he’s obtained.

Swartz pulls out a watch, and puts it against his chest.

Introducing: Another Decade.

I don’t have much to say about Another Decade’s design, honestly. It’s not exactly that great, just… y’know, a basic Corrupted Rider design. …Why does he have teeth? Like, regular bared teeth? And why is the driver basically a mouth? The green bits on the sides of his head – those are the lenses on the mask, just extended out – and they glow, too, along with the actual eyes.

Actually, he has the Decade transformation sound effects playing underneath the Another Rider transformation, doesn’t he, to go along with the cards flipping away and back over onto him from Decade, and the sort of after-images fading off in the distance as the transformation completes.

…Okay, I guess I had some things to say, after all.

Swartz – Another Decade – you know what, I’m just gonna call him Swartz, because it’s a little shorter. Swartz opens a dimension wall, and moves himself, Sougo, and Geiz to what looks like the same quarry from the Rider War, all the way back in Decade. It’s doing pretty well, honestly. It’s got some nice greenery coming in.

Well, up until Swartz started setting off all of those explosions, anyway.

Then, because apparently they were being too boring to fight, despite his having just set off no fewer than seven explosions, he decides to summon up some Dark Movie-Exclusive Riders.

Everyone, say hello to G4, Fuma, Dark Ghost, and Rey, from Agito, Ex-Aid, Ghost, and Kiva respectively.

All of whom are doing a pretty good job of beating up Grand Zi-O and Geiz Revive Typhoon.

And then G4 feels the need to pull out a MISSILE LAUNCHER. Wh- Where did he pull that from!? Why does he HAVE that?! What was going ON in Agito’s movie?!

We end the episode with our boys getting blasted by, I feel the need to emphasis, LITERAL MISSILES.

––

As for the preview, it opens with Aqua versus ETERNAL. You know. The guy from the W summer movie. Who, like several people we’ve met this season, is supposed to be very, very dead.

And it’s not even just a summoned version of him, either. It’s straight up Kasumi Daido. In person. Somehow. Thanks Swartz it’s not like this guy isn’t off his rocker at all. It’s not like he was willing to kill the entire city of Fuuto just to see if any of them would wind up in his weird undead state. Not like he was going to use Philip as a conduit for the program to do it or anything. Nooooo, not at allllll.

FFS we could have had proper Double rep, and you give us him.

We’ve also got shots of Another Decade holding Tsukuyomi up by the neck, and Heure looking very very injured while being cradled by Sougo. KID YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN OUT A LONG TIME AGO!

The second to last shot is Grand Zi-O and Drive punching Another Drive… while moving in the exact same manner. As if one is just mirroring the other. …Dang it, it’s not actually Shinnosuke in there, is it? We’re just dealing with the same thing as Decade Complete, where he summons a copy of the Rider and they attack simultaneously, with the summon just copying his movements.

The last shot… is Geiz, silhouetted against the window of 9-to-5. Saying “Let’s go back to our timeline.”

––

Okay, so… @Miyukomatsuda and I were talking earlier – we watched the livestream together, and earlier tonight we got to talking… and. Uh. So, Swartz can pull people out of other timelines and realities, yeah? Because that’s what he’s done with multiple people. That one athlete in this ep, and now we find out both Heure and Hora, and, of course, he dropped Tsukuyomi into the Oma Zi-O timeline. Which… may not be the original timeline.

But there’s another timeline involved in all of this, too. Or so we’ve been lead to believe. See, one idea in an AU that Miyuko had was having Hat Woz pulling her characters AR counterparts out of their worlds and dumping them in the main line.

Turns out she just had the wrong guy… the guy who I then suddenly remembered something about.

––

Miyuko: I WAS FUCKING SO CLOSE

Miyuko: I HAD THE WRONG BASTARD

Cressy: Y'know. the guy who called Swartz 'sir swartz' OH SHIT HAT WOZ IS THE WOZ FROM SWARTZ AND TSUKU'S TIMELINE

Miyuko: BUT HE FADED AWAY

Cressy: IRRELEVANT

Miyuko: BECAUSE REVIVE DIDN'T HAPPEN

Miyuko: oh GOD

Cressy: GOT YANKED OUT BY SWARTZ. REVIVE WAS A PLOY

Miyuko: FEAR

Cressy: JUST LIKE CHOOSING A KING

Miyuko: HE LIED

Miyuko: WE KNOW ALL WOZ'S LIE

Cressy: I MEAN HE DID SAY "NOT NECCESARILY SALVATION FOR EVERYONE"

Cressy: oh shit 'a peace like time has stopped.' aka swartz and tsuku's main power

Miyuko: HOLY SHIT

Miyuko: ZI-O if you bring back hat woz

Miyuko: also so. Swartz's just spiriting away people huh

Miyuko: i uh like none of this

Cressy: i mean we never DID find out if Tsukasa and Daiki are summoning duplicates or the riders themselves

Cressy: so whomst the hell knows

Cressy: we're fairly certain SOUGO'S yoinking the actual riders, so Another Decade could really be going either way

Miyuko: Yeah

Miyuko: Eternal is apparently the real dude

Cressy: THIS IS FINE

(see, told you i’d get back to ‘all wozes lie’ at the end.)

[stormtrips]

- therapy #1 -

This place is a lot less... clean, for lack of a better word, than the pictures they put online. The building this therapist is in seems newer, but the waiting room is dingy, latticed aluminum ceiling holding up popcorn gray panels and yellowing fixtures for fluorescent lights. There’s a rack in the corner holding worn children’s books and a tired-looking wooden train set abandoned behind a set of threadbare office chairs.

There’s also no receptionist behind the front desk, just a window with a sign that says, in both English and Spanish, “PLEASE WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE.” The lights aren’t on back there, but there are forms and a sign-in sheet waiting for you on the ledge.

This is stupid. You scratch your name and the time, take the loose leaf papers, and get started.

Yeah, yeah, basic demographic information. Insurance—well, technically you’re still on your dad’s, but he doesn’t even live in this country anymore, and fuck if you can remember the information. Family history? You don’t know anything about this. Personal medical stuff? The only time you’ve been in the hospital was for rehab. They want to know what medications you’re on, too, which is awkward, because you don’t know the name or the dose of what Fucker gave you, you just know it’s not working.

Underneath those basics are questionnaires, Becks something or other. All of these questions are stupid. You score a 31 on the first one (kind of depressing) and a 22 on the second (not so bad, really). After circling all the numbers and x-ing all the boxes, you don’t really have anything else.

So you wait.

Click the pen a little bit in your hand, twirl it around your fingers. Your dexterity got thrown off a little bit again by last weekend’s events, but you’ll get it back eventually, right? You jiggle your leg, crack your neck. One of the lights is humming obnoxiously. There’s a fly trapped under one of the busted metal quarter-inch blinds. With this much time, you let your eyes trace out patterns in how the dirty linoleum peels up from the floor at the seams.

You’re almost nodding off when the door to the office opens. “Oh!” a female voice says softly, keys jangling. “Are you early, or am I late?”

“Are you Alex?”

“Yes, hello!” She’s already looking in her phone. She might be a few years older than you if you had to guess, brown-skinned with long black hair, wearing floaty clothes in neutral colors with long gold earrings. Damn it. You had been hoping for a dude—and that tiny expectation takes you by surprise. You make a mental note of it for later. “Oh, I was late, I’m so sorry. Please, follow me.”

You stand up—had your feet really fallen asleep?—and get ushered into a tiny side room, only just wide enough to fit a full-length overstuffed couch with too many tasseled throw pillows. When you take a seat, it wheezes. The corduroy feels crumbly under your fingertips.

Alex shuts the door behind her, blocking out the dead, clinical light of the waiting room. It’s much darker in here, only lit by a nightstand lamp with maybe a fake candle bulb in it. Alex sits down in a large armchair, her bag landing heavy on the floor when she drops it and starts looking for something. “You’re a new client, right?”

“Yeah. I filled out all this paperwork.” You offer her the stack.

“Oh, yes, thank you.” She apparently had been looking for a pen and a clipboard, because your papers get neatly pinned and she starts taking notes immediately. “So, John, how did you find out about us?”

You shrug. “I did a Google search. This was the only place that had an appointment this fast.”

“Oh, that’s because I had cleared my schedule for Good Friday.” Shit, you’re so out of it that you forgot it was a holiday weekend. “I’m glad you came in. Now, what brought you in to see us?”

You freeze.

You were expecting this question, yeah, got dogged by it for four hours last night while you were unable to sleep and worrying about Dolch. That doesn’t mean you have a good answer for it. You’re pretty sure you filled out a thing online for this place (or maybe it was for one of the ten other places you tried to get ASAP appointments). Why can’t she look on there? Whatever. You pick the simplest answer first. “I went to rehab and they said I needed to keep doing therapy when I got out, so I thought I would start.”

Alex’s pen stops. “Rehab? For a... drug addiction?”

“Alcohol.” Dead and clipped off.

“Oh, right.” Like it wasn’t as serious as Percocet or heroin. “Well, we don’t really do addiction counseling here—or alcoholism counseling, whatever—but I can see what else I can do to help you today. Maybe get you a referral. How does that sound?”

Something in that guarded, hopeful part of you deflates, an already-drooping Mylar GET WELL SOON balloon destroyed by a dart. “Fine.”

“Oh, you didn’t fill out this section of the form.” She tilts the clipboard towards you and gestures to it with her pen.

“That’s because I don’t know.”

“Don’t know your family medical history?”

“Not really.” Is it that surprising? “We didn’t really talk about that stuff a whole lot.”

“Ah, right, gotcha.” She sounds like she got a bunch of insight about you out of that last sentence. “Did you bring your medications with you?”

“Just the one.” You were careful to bring this in your jeans pocket, so no one would have to see you manipulating your sylladex to get to the goods. The pills you got from Fucker look pathetic in this little snack baggie, but it’s all you had. “I lost the bottle, sorry, I forget what this is.”

Alex peers at it under the low light, then draws back into her own space. “Looks like a low dose of sertraline.”

“What now?”

“Generic Prozac.” Oh, wow. Fucker really put you on an antidepressant. Like that’s supposed to help with whatever has your brain this rustled. “Just a baby dose,” she says, like that’s supposed to make you feel any better. “How long have you been taking it?”

“Just since Sunday.”

“Any side effects?”

“Not much of anything, really.”

She clicks her tongue. “That’s too bad.” What the hell does that mean? She flips over to another piece of paper in your makeshift chart, tapping her pen down the page until she turns to the next one. “Thirty-one, yes, same number. Oh, dear, that’s not good.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s in the range for severe depression, Jonathan.” Ugh. You hate it when people try to get cute with your name. “And the anxiety inventory, this is in the moderate anxiety range. Good thing you got an appointment!”

“Yeah, no kidding.” There’s no mirth in your voice, yet no sarcasm, either. No one told you therapy would be this boring.

“Well,” And Alex jingles her wrist to shake her bracelets away from her watch, “that might be all the time we have for an initial appointment like this. I’m sorry we can’t take you on long term, but if you’d like, I can send on your name to another practice. Oh, and, credit card, please.”

She plugs a chip reader into her phone port as you fork over the plastic. You feel a little nonplussed. You’re pretty sure you scheduled for an hour, and you’ve been here for much longer, but you could have sworn this whole thing in this room only took a few minutes. “I guess,” is all you really have to say.

Alex is focused on her phone again, then smiles as the app resolves the transaction. “Great!” she says, far too chipper. “Well, check your portal, and by the end of next week, you should have a message from us about next steps.”

“End of next week?” Full offense, but you’ve already been waiting long enough for an appointment when you’re in so much emotional pain it literally feels like it’s cracking your sternum in two.

“Yeah, all referrals take at least 72 hours and it’s a holiday weekend. Thanks for your time!” She’s already standing, opening the door to usher you out.

Good. You don’t want to be here any longer. “Thanks,” you tell her, an automatic politeness, but as you leave the office and take the elevator down to the building lobby, all you feel is confused. And kind of laughing at yourself for how seriously you took it. If it’s all going to be bullshit, at least you know what to expect for next time.

[notallbloodmages]

My studio was out of power for almost a week

I’m re-vamping my Patreon again in an attempt to make up the lost $ from this past week.  I lost a lot of work time, mostly time that would have been spent making and releasing new products. Luckily I got it back just in time to fill in orders that were due. 

Details of the studio power troubles below the cut.

The first week that I had the studio, we spent a ton of time just making it clean and slightly warmer. The second week, I was able to move in all of my furniture and start using it to take orders! 

Halfway through that second week, however, the power stopped working. The wiring had just given up and was honestly probably dangerous at that point. I called the building manager at 4:30PM and was told that I’d have to wait until Monday because the maintenance man only worked 8 to noon. I was furious, but didn’t get mad. I did have my first panic attack in months, though, and ended up hanging up on the guy. 

Monday came and went, and I texted the building manager. The maintenance man would be there Tuesday. He was, but he didn’t fix anything. He just took apart the outlets and called it a day. On Wednesday, two of the power outlets we working and there seemed to be no intention of fixing the rest. I decided I could live with that, since they were luckily within reach of my computer and my machine. 

That was all in October. 

Now, in January, the power went out a second time. This time it wasn’t just the outlets in my studio, it was also the ones in the hallway. I called the manager, doing my best to stay calm, and was reamed for not saying “good morning” straight away (sidenote: it was 2pm). He seemed way over the top angry for such a little thing so I offered to call back at another time. He stated that he was at his daughter’s birthday, but that he had time and wanted to know if I was a tenant. I told him yes, but insisted on calling back later since I didn’t want him to miss his daughter’s birthday. I hung up as I could feel the anger rising in my throat - both at his shitty attitude and at his gall to answer his work cellphone at his daughter’s birthday. I had only planned on leaving a polite message anyway. 

The moment I hung up, I started crying, but got myself under control quickly. I sent a long and very strongly-worded (yet still polite) e-mail to the management company about how frustrated I was that this happened yet again, and included what the manager had said during out short one-sided conversation. E-mail means a record of contact, which I definitely prefer now since the first time this happened was only over the phone. 

Sunday- nothing Monday- nothing. I know Monday was a holiday, but these are rich white realtors who could be bothered to answer an email. Tuesday- I sent two more emails in the morning. 

When I didn’t hear back by about 2pm, I wrote another email (mentioning legal action this time) before calling the leasing office. They’re desperate for new tenants right now, so naturally it didn’t even ring once before I was answered. I was greeted by an over-the-top-polite woman who called me “sweetie” every other sentence. She at least allowed me to share the whole story, starting from when I moved in. I complained to her about the hired management’s lack of professionalism, constant sub-par “maintenance” experienced by myself and the other tenants, and that I was not afraid to break my lease if this happened again. She promised to have maintenance call a professionally licensed electrician this time, and stated that that’s what should have been done in the first place.

Right when I got off the phone, I received an email back from the management office. No apology, just one sentence saying that an electrician would be out by the end of the week. It was something, but I didn’t have “until the end of the week.” I had orders to fill and new products that needed to be stitched out ASAP. One of the other management office folk called me, the man who showed me the unit in November, and asked me for the whole story. My fiance was there for the whole conversation so that I didn’t  forget anything. He also promised that this would never happen again, and he was going to be talking with maintenance. 

Quick note, every time that I e-mailed, talked to, or texted anyone at all, I made sure to say that I did not want maintenance to go into my unit without me present. Fully knowing that they wouldn’t listen, because this request had been ignored before, my fiance and I set up a security camera in the corner and had it alert us of any movement. Sure as hell, the maintenance man was in and out of my studio dozens of times between 9:30AM and 11:30AM on Wednesday morning. What was he doing? Going around with one of my plug-in devices to check each power outlet several times and then scratching his head while looking at the ceiling. I also got him calling the leasing office to tell them that I wasn’t there. The woman on the other end of the line sounded frustrated, as if the problem was going to have magically fixed itself and they weren’t going to have to spend any money. 

Around 11:30, I got an email from management  saying that an electrician would be there in an hour. No hello, no goodbye, no apologies for the trouble. Just, “an electrician will be out within the hour,” and the nested email that she was replying to. I checked the camera, and the electrician was already there. The maintenance man was letting him in, despite my repeated requests to not do that. I had a friend go with me to my studio so that I would hopefully not embarrass myself. On the way, I call from the leasing office saying that an electrician would be out around 4pm. I didn’t question it at first, since I’d already seen that an electrician was there and maybe they meant they’d be there by 4pm.

The moment we got there, I composed myself and was polite but firm to the maintenance - an old bald white man missing most of his teeth and any actual know-how about how to fix this problem. Which would be fine except that he did try to fix it previously. He left naked wires just sitting in the wall with no caps on. He installed outlets wrong. Worse things that the wiring getting fuzzed out could have happened. I was lucky that his idiocy and the management’s cheapness didn’t cost me my equipment. 

The electrician was in the middle of disassembling one of the breaker panels in the hallway. The maintenance man literally told me he had no idea where the breakers for my unit were. WHAT THE FUCK. I knew where some of them were. I didn’t know about this one, because it’s still labelled with the room numbers from the goddamned 1940s. I was about to lose my cool when the electrician - someone I had not right to be mad at yet - asked me to tell him what all wasn’t working. So, I led him into the studio to point out what stopped working back in November, what still wasn’t working, what maintenance had “fixed”, what maintenance said he fixed but hadn’t, what still wasn’t working since November, and the “fixes” that had re-broken. He was confused at how all of this happened when there was nothing I was running that should have made this happen. He opened one of the outlet panels that maintenance had “fixed” and discovered that it was installed incredibly wrong. Another sidenote -  I know how to install an outlet safely. But maintenance dude didn’t, but tried anyway. You don’t do that. I also asked the electrician if he could please re-install some of the outlets that maintenance removed completely for whatever-the-hell reason. 

Once the electrician had a good idea of what was going on, my friend and I left because there wasn’t really anything we could do. Needless to say I continued watching on my camera until they left. I got a text from management reminding me that the electrician would be there around 4. Upon calling them back, I found that maintenance and management called two separate electricians without communicating with each other. I was too stressed out to go back to my studio. I also fell asleep around 10-ish when all the stress of keeping a cool and collected demeanor all day hit me. 

On Thursday I could still feel the stress of dealing with this shit again in every single muscle and joint. Also it was like, -13*F here and that never helps. Upon checking my studio, I found all the outlets to be in working order and gingerly started working on an order, certain that the power would bust again.

Luckily it’s all still fine, and I got a whole week of backlogged orders done today. 

However, I still missed out on 5 and a half days of productivity. I did stress this to management, and it looks like I’ll be comped for a month of rent. We’ll see if they follow through. Now I know that threatening legal action and threatening to leave and spread their shit through the artist-seeking-studio community (definitely still gonna do that last part) does work. 

The other artists in the buildings are planning a straight up coup against management. This realty company treats its tenants terribly compared to every other similar set-up in the area. My documented issues will definitely come into play very strongly when we rise up. We will not be treated this way. We will not allow these people to profit off of our tenancy while they do jackshit to improve or fix the building., or respond to complaints. 

Last week there was a guy violently yelling in the halls and the tenants were told not to call police by the management because they “didn’t want trouble”, and instead simply escorted him out. Glad I have both a security cam now and 12inch shears. 

[100yearoldcomics]

July 2, 1922 Barney Google by Billy De Beck

TOP PANEL [ID: Barney sits at home in an armchair, his hands clasped together between his knees, his eyes closed in concentration. There's a large boulder hanging above him from the ceiling, tied to the doorknob on the door in front of him. /end] Barney: Come in, some one.

MAIN COMIC [ID: Barney talks with his friend Jerry on the street. Jerry wears a train conductor's uniform and hat. Barney smokes a cigar. /end] Jerry: To show you I'm your friend, Barney, I'm gonna let you ride free on my train anytime you feel like it. That's the kind of a conductor I am with my pals. Barney: I wish all my friends were like you, Jerry. Your one in the whole mob!!

[ID: Barney drops his cigar and tips his hat to Jerry, scratching the back of his head. /end] Jerry: Aw, don't get like that. You've got more buddies than any other bloke in town. Now that you're broke, you ought to try 'em out for your own satisfaction. Barney: A good idea, Jerry. When a feller's busted, he oughtta find out who his real pals are.

[ID: Barney struts happily across the street, cigar back in his hand. /end] Barney: The proprietor of this pool-room is an old sidekick of mine. I'll mooch in and kill a coupla hours shooting pool and tell him to trust me for the bill. He won't refuse me, not in a thousand years. No sireee.

[ID: Barney is literally kicked out of the pool hall, flying heels-over-head into the street. /end] Barney: YOW

[ID: A furious Barney storms off while he rubs the dirt off his bowler hat with his jacket sleeve. /end] Barney: The stingy bimbo!! And I took him to be a pal of mine, too. Well, that's one guy I finally got wise to. I'll mosey over to Joe's lunch room and get a bite to eat, Joe's regular!

[ID: Barney sits at a table in Joe's restaurant and tries to pass one over on a waiter. The waiter, holding up a large bowl on a tray, glares at him. /end] Barney: Joe, old boy, I won't be able to settle up for this meal till next week. How's the wife and kids? Joe: ?

[ID: Barney sits on the sidewalk outside the stairwell that leads up a story to Joe's Place. The bowl Joe was carrying has been dumped over his head, its contents spilled out onto Barney. /end] Barney: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[ID: Barney walks down the street, wiping himself off with a handkerchief and pulling his hat down onto his head. /end] Barney: BAH. It's no use, I ain't got a friend in town. Nobuddy except good old Jerry. Nothin' else to do. I might wait for his train and get a free ride.

[ID: Barney walks up behind Jerry as he signals for passengers to board his train. /end] Barney: Hullo Jerry, old scout. Jerry: All aboard.

[ID: On board the passenger car, Jerry walks down the aisle and imperiously demands Barney around. Barney pretends to sleep behind his newspaper. A man in a dark suit with a tall hat and mustache stares at the two. /end] Jerry: Tickets, please! Barney: Hee hee, he's trying to kid me now.

[ID: Barney gets kicked out of the train car as it rounds a mountainous bend. He falls, heels over head, into a ravine. /end] Barney: ?

[ID: Some time later, in Ward 13 of the hospital, Barney lies bandaged up in bed. Jerry stands by his bedside, a bouquet of flowers held behind his back. /end] Jerry: You know me, Barney, I hated to do it. But the company's inspector was sitting right opposite you!

[tevotbegotnaught]

I grew up in a factory town:paper,turbines,cement,feed,cables and caskets. Whistles blew punctually as church bells, even in the deepest night. Plants slung their keening blades past our windows and echoing off the surrounding hills. Beneath each arc, men and women lived and worked. As a boy, I played and dreamed under my own protective warp.

Scully lived with his mom, a deputy sheriff and matron in the women’s prison. She worked long hours and lots of night shifts. When I went to his place before school, she was just getting home. She’d let me in, then shout up stairs to his third floor bedroom. A woman who wore a sidearm and regularly broke up fights between violent and sociopathic prisoners couldn’t get her sixteen year-old son out of bed most mornings. When she tired of yelling, I had to go wake him up for my ride or make the thirty-minute walk alone.

In Scully’s room, mostly a bed and pair of huge dressers, the only seats were a bean bag between the heavy pieces and a windowsill. I sat on the paneled sill and talked to him. Chemically, he needed nicotine to get moving. Emotionally, he was frustrated by the way she shouted at him. His mom, newly single, now a disciplinarian, his dad suddenly the good cop. Scully’s dad actually was a cop, a detective. He solved some tough cases and brought in some real evildoers. A big guy, he beat his son for any perceived weakness.

After his all his dad’s ass whippings, Scully didn’t fear fights. He stepped up. Between us, when tension built up, he just shoved me, hard. I learned to give it right back and we usually crashed to the ground. His attic bedroom had a drop ceiling, the kind with dozens of squishy panels in an aluminum grid. During a particularly exhausting grapple, our tangled arms shot up and through the supports, spilling three or four panels.

"Bitch, look what the fuck you did! Mom’s gonna fuckin’ kill me now."

The fallen panels crumpled under our weight. Thrown clear, a legal size manila envelope. Scully carefully unfolded the metal prongs and dumped it out on the bed.

"No...fuckin’...shit!"

There were nude Polaroids of a woman.

"Dam. That’s ‘Aunt Janie’! Dad always told me to call her aunt."

Under a paperclip, a sheaf of black-and-white 8x10s, his dad and a buxom woman walking on the street or dining out, all taken from oblique angles, surveillance-style.

We examined the Polaroids closely.

"That’s fuckin’ crazy. No wonder. Mom busted his ass, and good!"

Scully seemed impressed, by his father’s voyeurism and taste in women and his mother’s vituperation.

By the time I met Scully, his dad had moved out and was dating a much younger lady from the south end of town. They got a place together in a big development newly built on prime south-county farmland. Scully and his sister saw their dad weekends. He reported back about his new family and the suburban kids. It was different there-the same teen ennui and angst, but indulged with lots more money and unchecked by close-knit family or neighbors. I knew guys from that end of town, but my new neighborhood was revealing its own fascinating topography.

We usually bought weed from Mike down the street. Scully had the connection. I was third wheel. Eventually, I had to go myself. Mike lived with his grandmother in the top two floors of a big house. His bedroom, a teenage boy’s dream: top floor, skylight, tons of posters, black light, an electric guitar, and bitchin’ stereo system with tower speakers.

You entered from the alley, through their back yard and up a metal outer staircase to a landing. Just inside, a kitchen. His grandmother was usually cooking or watching TV. She was a Noman Rockwell, white folks’ gramma: hair bun, glasses on a chain, apron over full skirts. She also knew exactly what Mikey was selling to nervous teenagers lifting her snowman door knocker.

"Yesssss" she said, standing in the enveloping smell of hot skillets, grease and cabbage.

"Mike ‘ere?" I mumbled. Mike’s door behind, she breathed sharply through her nose and bared her teeth.

" Mike! Mikey!" Her voice harsh and directed into me. Jaw levering like a nutcracker on each word "Your...friend...is....here."

She blocked me. "What’s your name?"

"Chris"

"What?"

"Chris"

"You live around here?"

"Yes. I do..I"

Mike’s buddy Chauncey opened the 4th floor door and leaned out.

Gramma stepped back, turning, walking toward the stove. Back to us, she shouted into the bubbling pots "JUST GET YOUR REEFER, THEN. GO AHEAD."

and mocked my solicitude, "IS MIKE HEEEEERE?"

"MIKE AND ALL HIS FRIENDS. DAM YOU."

Chauncey blinked and nodded. I ran up the stairs behind him, closing the door. Downstairs, gramma loosed a winding, wordless scream.

"Don’t listen to her. She’s fucking crazy."

"Yeah. But, jeeez man..."

Upstairs, Mike lay under bed covers. He swiveled his head toward me, eyes sunken and rhuemy.

"Hey. Hey, man. You’re Scully’s friend. Yeah. Cool." He turned away, sighing. Chauncey looked in my eyes. "Lotta people been coming by who don’t even know Mike. It’s fucked, you know." Chauncey was a precocious 70’s teenager-openly gay, wise far beyond our geography and spoke hushed, confessionally.

"They want all different kind of shit. Mike doesn’t like it. He’s been shooting speed."

My face must have showed surprise at that non-sequitur

"I shoot him up." He said in tenderest voice.

"It’s easier and he trusts me. He just likes the airplanes, you know, when you shoot it."

Mike moaned. Bathed in the skylight, we were a Rembrandt. I just wanted to buy a bag and split.

"Chaunce, ask him what he wants." Mike shivered and the bed rattled.

Chauncey made the deal. "It’s fuckin’ killer. I took a couple hits like two hours ago. I’m still fuckin’ wasted." In gentler days, Scully and I would have hung out and partied with them. Scully calling Chauncey a "fucking faggot" and Chauncey spitting back "pizza face". We handed off and I prepared to cross the Scylla and Charbodis. Mike didn’t say goodbye.

I pushed the door until it juddered open. Gramma sat in the adjoining room, crocheted blanket over her legs, TV blaring. I thumb-wrestled with the deadbolt and let myself out, stepping fast down the stairs.

When I told Scully about it, he calculated. "She’s a fuckin’ trip. Mike’s fuckin’ stupid, too. Firing that shit? Better not fuckin’ get us busted". There were two or three police families on each block. After a year in the neighborhood, I was learning that. We needed purchases simple and low-key. Scully had law enforcement on his literal doorstep.

His step-mom had a couple sisters around our age. In a bizarre one-off, he ended up hooking up with one of them; incest minus the c’est. Through her, he found a new connect, Russ. No geriatric kneecappers or teen vampires with Russ. I can’t remember the first bag we got from him. In those days greenish Mexican was it for regular guys. Despite his "higher than median income" school district, Russ enthusiastically promoted that product as "oh-ox-ican". I looked that name up in my Funk and Wagnalls. It was oh-kay.

We got the second bag a week after Halloween. He called it "gold". It definitely looked different. Examined under the car’s dome light, the crushed leaves looked metallic bronze, possibly from an aerosol can. We went up to Scully’s room to twist one up. It was a school night and his mom was at work. Maybe "Houses of the Holy" was playing. That was always my choice at his place. Right away, the smell was funny: an overheated voltage transformer or plastic cutlery melting in a charcoal grill. We took a few hits and put it out.

The house lights went down.

First, the overture:

"tastes fuckin’ weird"

"Like plastic, right?"

"Not smoking that shit anymore"

"Fuck, no"

The show began:

I became an amoeba, gushy on the inside, cilia paddling madly outside. Sinking into the bed, through its frame and down, down. When I opened my eyes, Scully was unwrapping Hershey’s miniatures, flicking them in his mouth, digging for more. With both hands, he offered the candy bag.

"ere..."

My insides jiggled as I waved him off.

Shadows frayed and dissolved. The record played again. Dali’s clocks oozed.

Scully lifted something to his chest, mouth flared. Black lava poured out, disappearing below. Intermittent splattering. Gutteral sounds. Lips opening and closing, an aquarium fish feeding.

I bounced off the bed, high-tide stomach and pincushion eyes.

"You’re sick. Get you cleaned up."

Lava bearded Scully’s chin. Lips gobbing, he handed me the heavy, sloshing trash can. Laughter. I put it on the sill. Down steep steps. At bottom, a hairpin turn. Scully tumbles. I pick him up. Armpits and chest. Funhouse mirror walk. The bathroom. Damp air. Washcloths under the faucet. He pulls his shirt up from the waist, trapping both arms inside. I yank it off violently.

Somewhere below, a door slams. A woman’s voice:

"I’m home. Where are ya?"

Scully looks at me, eyes spilling glue.

"Mom’s home" His voice drops two octaves between words.

She calls out again.

He unfolds an index finger.

"Shhhhh"

The voice gets closer.

I lurch toward the doorway, his mom appears before I can get out.

"Scully’s sick" I say in my serious voice.

She looks at my face,

"You’re wasted"

and pushes past me.

Then she sees her son.

"HO-LEE HELL, WHAT DID YUZ DO?"

"Nothin`, mom" he says cheerfully.

I look away. She grunts, struggling to sit him down on the toilet. He speaks to her in singsong. Her windbreaker rustles. She’s alongside me. Turning my torso with her hands, pushing me down and pinning me to the paneled wall. I smell sweat, perfume and stale smoke. She’s barely five feet tall, but her mouth is level with mine.

"WHAT DID YUZ DO? WHAT’D YUZ TAKE?"

"We drank whiskey. A bottle."

"WHISKEY DOESN’T DO THAT. YUZ TOOK SOMETHING"

"No, we didn’t take..."

"YUZ TOOK SOMETHING. WHAT’D YUZ TAKE"

Her forearm grinds into my sternum. I squirm, then exhale. My body deflates and begins to slide down. She pulls me up.

"YOU KNOW YOU COULD DIE? YUZ BOTH COULD DIE. BOTH OF YUZ."

My lips open, cool air rushes inside-inverted speech.

"GO HOME. I OUGHTA TELL YOUR PARENTS. GOD…DAM…STUPID….KIDS"

She lifts her forearm off my chest and returns to bathroom. I’m very warm. My face, in particular. The steps to the first floor tilt into utter darkness. I guide myself down, palms out, shoulder height.

Outside, cold wind knifes through a deep cleft in my skull. My walk home, one block of paved alley. Each footfall jars my spine, reverberating through my aqueous body and into my gaping head. Step by step, tottering toward our back gate. From the yard, beyond a blinding porch light, I see my mother moving in the kitchen. When I open the door, my body worms away from her.

“Hi, honey. How are you?”

“I’m tired. Gonna go to bed.”

“Your voice sounds funny. You getting a cold? Come here. Let me check you for fever.”

My throat grips and I stride through the doorway.

“I’m just tired, mom. Gonna sleep. I need it"

“Ok, honey. Sleep tight.”

When I reach my room, nauseous and staggering, I fall on the bed. The ceiling light whirls while my body liquefies. As I float, wind howls, and the city calls its third shift to work.

[paniccord-ff]

48. Part 2

I am on cloud nine right now, this cannot be real life. I am literally sat with Vera Wang and she is designing my dress “I am just a little sad that I am pregnant, I really didn’t want to wear a ball gown type but how you deigned it. It looks beautiful and it does hide the bump” she is so amazing “well I think it’s the best way to not expose too much stomach, I think the only thing I am concerned about is the crystals, having to hand stitch them. I think I will get this done but it will be so last minute, Chris is a darling though. He said I can come to the wedding but I need to shoot off, I am leaving you in good hands though. My team will be working with you every step of the way, they are taking the designs with them and will call you if they need anything” her team is big, I am so happy and excited to see my dress “I can’t thank you enough, I am so excited!” Maria held my arm “this is so beautiful Rylee, I cannot wait to see my best friend in the dress” I smiled at her “I am just happy you are here, this is such a blessing” I can’t wait to see Chris and thank him again.

Waving Vera Wang off as the car drove off with her team, I guess they have a lot to do now “I am so shook! Vera Wang bitch! Like, you have a picture with her too” Tamia spat, looking down at my phone “I still think I am in a dream right now, I can’t even deal” captioning the picture ‘When your man gives you a birthday surprise and has Vera Wang make your wedding dress, no other woman will have a dress like mine. I am so thankful, my birthday has already been great! Love you baby’ posting the picture, I have to show off what my man has done for me, why should I hide such a thing “you about to burst Maria, are you sure you’re ok here? What about your man?” I know she is ready to have this baby “oh, I have a few weeks left but he couldn’t get time off work but I do, so here I am” hugging Maria again “I am so glad you all are here” we can have fun now.

Kicking my feet in the water “does that thing kick yet?” EJ asked as he swam over to me “he’s not you know, I can at times feel him move but it seems like a very calm baby. Maybe the calm before the storm?” this makes me nervous “oh trust me Rylee, they will kick eventually. He thinks he is playing soccer, I will show you one time” Maria said as she sat down next to me “your bump is so cute! Where are the marks!? I ain’t showing you mine” I can tell, she is covering hers “the fact y’all vaginas are about to be destroyed by this” EJ pulled a face saying “who says mine ain’t already been destroyed” I retorted, EJ gasped as they all screamed out “we been done seen his dick print so I am not shocked, bitch he destroys you till this day?” EJ is so nosey “of course he does” Maria glared at me “I don’t know how you don’t get back pains? Wow” she said, EJ pointed at Maria “you saw his dick print too?” EJ asked, Maria’ cheeks turned red “you can say it” I said in case she thinks I will get mad “well, I mean it was there. I did look, sorry Rylee. I was on Instagram and it came up on my feed, it was those fans circling it” shaking my head laughing “it’s ok, I have not got back pains at all so it’s ok” giggling a little “it’s the man himself and the man that made the man” turning around seeing Chris and his dad.

Pulling the robe around my body “come here you” picking Royalty up and placing her on my hip “birthday to you!” she kissed my cheek “aww thank you” walking over to Chris’ dad, Chris never said he was bringing his family at all “hi Mr Brown” do I call him that, I am not even sure “you can call me Clinton” shaking his hand, he kissed my cheek “happy birthday to you, Chris has told me a lot about this wedding” letting his hand go “I hope it was all good things” smiling at Chris “nothing but praises” seeing Tootie behind his dad “oh my gosh, how are you?” opening my arm to hug her “how is you Rylee?” Chris should have said something “you are glowing girl!” Tootie said in my ear “you think?” moving back from the hug “you are” looking over at Chris’ nephew “hello” smiling at him “Royalty, you be making Rylee hold you. You shouldn’t be holding her” Tootie took Royalty from me “no, I want Lee!” Royalty wiggled herself out of her grip “but you can’t let her pick you girl” Royalty held my hand “I wonder who else Chris has got here” I am wondering now “oh god, Mijo” covering my face with my hand “this place is so dope Rylee!” Mijo is busy looking around the place.

Pulling the Balmain mini dress down, I am wondering if Chris chose this because it’s so beautiful. It is a little figure hugging but it’s nice “what do you think Royalty?” tiptoeing out of the bathroom, she always tells me the truth “you think daddy did good baby?” looking at myself in the mirror “I think daddy did good” Chris said out of nowhere, I jumped a little “Jesus, learn to knock but I want to know. Did you pick this!?” I questioned, he didn’t speak a word to me. Chris bit his bottom lip walking over to me “what is wrong?” he is being mad weird, Chris walked into me wrapping his arms around me. Placing his hands on my butt, feeling him squeeze my butt walking me back into the bathroom “Chris!” I yelped, he looked at Royalty “one minute! Just wait there” he spat, eyeballing Chris in shock. He kicked the door shut “I really want to have sex, you look so fucking sexy in this Rylee. Your thighs have got me, oh my god” he’s such a dog “stop rubbing yourself against me” I giggled saying, I gasped as Chris started kissing on my neck “daddy!” Royalty hit the door “I am trying to bust a nut, go away!” he spat “fuck Rylee, what are you wearing? You smell so good” he groaned out “you know you going to have to wait until tonight” he rested his head on my shoulder “I know” he mumbled, he sounds so sad “I am sorry baby” he is so adorable, an adorable freak.

Closing the bathroom door behind me “let’s go and get you dressed now” Chris got himself hard so he can get himself out of it, he need to masturbate himself now “Lee look” looking down at Royalty “lipstick gone?” she touched her lips “who lips?” she pointed at me “my lips?” touching my lips “oh, yeah. Thank you for letting me know, blame your dad” he never keeps anything on my face, I feel a mess now because of him. Hearing a slight knock on the bedroom door “yes?” I said, I wonder who it is “just me” EJ walked in “oh wow, you look so good” he rushed over “the sheer mesh panels, gold-tone studded detailing and figure-hugging silhouette. This is so beautiful, you are one beautiful pregnant woman” my cheeks feel all red now “stop it” waving him off “Rylee! You want me to put the cum in the glass!?” Chris half shouted, EJ’ mouth fell open “y’all are disgusting, I am out” EJ soon ran off “yes!” I ain’t saying no to it.

I am really happy Chris’ dad is here, Royalty will stay with him luckily. Sitting down on top of the toilet seat after closing it “how come you are back?” Chris said while pushing the shower glass back “do no splash me” I pointed at him, Chris continued to soap his chest “I won’t, you looking too beautiful baby” he complimented me, seeing the glass on the side “I actually came for this” picking up the glass “you came a lot this time, looks nice and thick” Chris chuckled “this ain’t no wine tasting babe” examining the cum in the glass, looking over at Chris. He has turned around under the water “look at your little butt and stick legs” I can’t help but tease those legs, I don’t think the cum is going to have the same taste as it would when it’s warm but here it goes.

Pushing Rylee’ seat in “look at you, gentleman” is EJ trying to be funny “I am so glad that those two are on the end on their own” he pointed “why is that?” sitting down “oh, I shall not repeat such nastiness but anyways. Doesn’t Rylee look so good!” I don’t even know what he is on about “my daughter looks so beautiful who got you the dress?” Rose said, placing my arm behind Rylee on the chair “Chris, I am not sure if he actually picked it out, did you?” Rylee looked at me “I did, I am friends with the designer so yeah” Rylee grinned at me, I kind of wanted to sit with my dad and Rylee’ dad. They look like they are having such a dope conversation, I guess I have to sit with the women because of my girl. She smells so nice though, I don’t know what it is.

Kicking EJ’ leg and looking away “I know you ain’t looking away like you didn’t just kick my leg” looking at EJ all confused “sorry?” furrowing my eyebrows “fuck you” he spat, busting out laughing “take a picture of Chris and I please” Rylee gave EJ her phone “you are shaving for the wedding yes?” Rylee asked me as she shuffled closer to me “yeah, I am just waiting it out and then I will shave it off” wrapping my arm around Rylee “do not make me look fat either” licking my lips smiling “I wish I could take a picture and look so perfect, I swear I hate you” EJ turned the phone to Rylee, looking at the picture “you look beautiful baby, you don’t look fat” staring at her phone as she posted the picture “I haven’t even updated my page in a while, I ain’t even been feeling it” being in Barbados has been wack so that is why.

Reading the menu, I don’t think I am even hungry. I just really want sex, I am feigning so bad “what do you want to eat?” Rylee sat back asking me “pussy” I openly said “seriously, stop it. Do you want to eat what I get? The same thing?” nodding my head placing the menu on the table, turning my head to the side seeing someone recording me on their phone. Smiling at the girl turning my head away “daddy, look” Royalty yelped holding my dad’ phone, picking her up and placing Royalty on my lap “I see you took grandad phone huh, what are you doing on this?” it don’t matter now, she switched it off “dad! You look lost?” I half shouted, he looked over at me “I was looking for Royalty, there she is” shaking my head, look at him losing my daughter “EJ take a picture for me, come here Rylee” passing my phone to EJ “y’all need to get a personal photographer” taking my dad’ phone from Roro “look over there baby, smile” I pointed, placing my arm around Rylee as he took the picture.

I actually love this picture, captioning the picture ‘My family, Happy Birthday beautiful. Thank you for being the best wife, step mother and mother. You inspire me to do better and is always there to catch me when I am falling #BrownFamily’ pressing send, Rylee got up from the her seat “Chris, come with me. I will be back” she announced “what is it?” Rose asked her, getting up from the chair with Royalty “give Royalty to your dad” I wonder what is up, I hope it ain’t her grandma, I don’t want to see that woman. Giving Royalty to my dad “mom, don’t worry. I will be back” Rylee grabbed hold of my hand, what is she up too.

Rylee is rushing and I don’t know why “what are you doing?” I said in a whisper, Rylee pulled me into the women’s bathroom “Rylee?” is she crazy, she pulled me into the cubicle and closed the door locking it “I want you, I want you right now” she said breathlessly, I grinned and felt a sudden rush of adrenaline “what changed your mind?” I whispered “I just looked at your face and I just wanted you inside of me, I saw your bulge and I just want you” Rylee announced, pride and lust in her eyes. Rylee caught my lips in a rough kiss, her tongue brushed over my lower lip and along the roof of my mouth. She moved back from the kiss “just do not ruin my dress” she rubbed my crotch.

Rylee turned around, I grabbed her butt and hoisted her up so we were level. I positioned myself and slowly fit my length into her “yes” I moaned out closing my eyes, I wanted to be inside of Rylee since I saw her in this dress. We eventually got a rhythm going, biting back my moans. She is so tight and I don’t know why “ah god” picking up my pace. The stall door rocked slightly back and forth, I squeezed her ass and she moaned loudly “yes Chris�� I am dying to grab Rylee’ hair but I won’t, she will truly kill me.

Pulling my zip up stepping out of the bathroom stall “why is your dick so good, god I hate you” smiling at Rylee through the mirror, walking over to Rylee slowly “if you weren’t pregnant already I would be getting you pregnant again” pressing myself against Rylee “stop, we need to go back. This is so bad” hearing the bathroom door open, stepping away from Rylee rubbing my head. This random lady gasped “yeah, I will be outside” let me get out of here “I am coming” Rylee grabbed the back of my top giggling “oh my gosh” pulling open the door “I look ok don’t I?” looking behind me “you like beautiful babe” she always does “where y’all been?” I jumped seeing Blake coming out of the men’s bathroom, I froze staring at him “I went out for a smoke and then came to see Rylee” I lied, Blake stared at me all crazy “you got lipstick all on your face nigga, wipe it” Blake walked off, eyeballing Rylee because she never said anything to me.

I am sitting with my dad finally, I switched places with Kyrie but Rylee and I keep on staring at each other smirking. I want her again already “you have a good son right there Clinton, you raised him right” my dad put his hands up “honestly, I can’t take it all, his mother did most of it but I am very proud of him. He has messed up, he has called me and said dad I messed up plenty of times. When he called me about Rylee he said dad I got something to tell you, I was scared. He told me about Rylee but it is the way he said it, I goes boy, you are whipped. He goes I have met her parents, I am doing it the right way. She is just regular girl and I want to marry her, woah son. Just get to know her but I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter in law, she has been a blessing my son needed” it’s good to hear my dad say he is proud of me “I was the same, Rylee told me and I was like who? I don’t bother with the celebrity thing but people start talking, I did question Chris and he was so open. Not going to lie my friends at home keep on saying what it is like to have a famous son in law, I don’t see the difference” Harvey said “you keep praising Chris his head about to get huge” Blake nudged me saying, he right on that.

Harvey, Nathan and Blake all got up to go to Rylee, my dad shuffled over a seat to sit next to me “I do mean every word Chris, I am very proud of you” I sometimes need to hear this from him “Royalty, come here now” my dad waved Royalty over “has Royalty not mentioned Nia at all?” shaking my head “no, she has never mentioned the word at all. I don’t know why, she is just not missed I guess” I shrugged “she said something that took me back, when you both was sat down there. I am not sure if she has ever said it to you both, Royalty said mommy Lee” staring at my dad in shock “mommy Lee?” I repeated, my dad nodded his head “she said it, no lie” I have never heard Royalty say this to Rylee at all, this is crazy talk.

Holding Royalty swaying as we sang Happy Birthday to Rylee “Happy Birthday Rylee! Happy Birthday to you!” Royalty clapped her hands “yay!” she yelped, stepping away from the family not wanting Royalty to say the word mommy, I don’t know how Rylee will feel about that at all. I just don’t know what to say either “Daddy” Royalty pointed behind me “mommy Lee, mommy. I help mommy” I blinked at Royalty several times, where did this even come from “Roro” I said her name, I don’t know what to say and I am so glad nobody heard that.

[pearlgirl710]

I’ve been into Yona of the Dawn for the past three years, but its only this year that I’ve decided to cosplay from one of my most favorite series!! I started out with Lili and Yona’s fancy cover art illustrations, and then I decided to crunch three more Yona costumes in a week for an upcoming con. I swear I’m usually better about pacing myself but I got pretty swamped with my friend’s wedding earlier in the month and I was left with a week to finish three Yona cosplays for Colossalcon this year.

Literally the only reason these got finished was thanks to the endless support of @automb @nana-cai and @tomyo!! They helped with ironing and pinning and the simple sewing so I could focus on draping my patterns, crafting, and keeping my wits together.

I know my cosplay compilation posts tend to get really chatty and long so I’ll put the rest under a read more!!

Originally I was only supposed to be Lili for Cait’s big Yona group, but I had a friend who, in the past, I had talked about doing Yona and King Il with. @toyaniisama was also going to Colossalcon and so I dragged him into the group for fun, and he commissioned me to make his robes and accessories. However!!!! I ended up finding the PERFECT fabric to make Yona’s birthday kimono and basically bit off almost more than I could chew. I bought the fabric and made plans with our Hak and Soowon cosplayers ( @thecaitsmeowww and himinty on instagram) to do a little photoshoot together before the large group shoot.

Now, when I had made the underdresses for fancy Lili and Yona, I had made them to fit both me and Nana so we could switch characters when we wanted to. They required a little bit of extra rigging in order to make them work for two different outfits, but in the end I saved a lot of time and money just reusing the underdresses from the cover art designs! Lili’s new top is made from white peachskin and is sewn to the waist of the underdress, leaving the original top hanging on the inside, but still attached. Yona’s dress just needed sleeves, and those were done easily enough.

Lili’s overskirt is a circle skirt that is finished off with a “waistband” and a snap placket for stability, and then fastened just over the bust. The lavender bias tape hides the seam and the hook and bar closures, to make it look like its only being held in place by a flimsy little ribbon.

King Il’s robes and hat were simple to sew since I had done all the time consuming parts a month prior, aka all the cutting and fitting and patterning. I knew exactly how to craft the hat and therefore was able to guide @automb to do the actual handsewing while I focused on the more complicated parts of the cosplays.

The hat base is formed from a spiral braided cloche I bought for cheap. After ripping the brim off, I was left with a simple dome. The bottom was lengthened with some buckram and a back piece, also made of buckram, was attached to create the nested dome look that King Il’s hat had. The whole thing was covered in several layers of black and red mesh, and then bound off in bias tape. The tassels were then strung on chain and attached to two wooden chopsticks, slipped into the hat, and then cemented into place with a piece of thermoplastic.

King Il’s necklace was made with a gold hoop that had tassels already attached, which I covered with more thermoplastic (the kind I use is called Terraflex, which I like since I can pick it up instore at the Tandy’s Leather near where I live) and then primed, painted and sealed, then hooking the beads and chains on.

The robes are made up of an inner kimono held in place with a obi sash, and an outer robe made of this really nice, matte suiting. I was told later by Stephen that the robes were really comfortable to wear and fit perfectly, so I’m really happy with how they came out!!!

Birthday Yona was its own special nightmare in comparison to Lili and King Il. I used up most of the week I had to finish up Lili and King Il, plus a couple of other cosplays I had planned to wear at the con, and ended up with one day to sew the whole damn thing, underdress excluded.

Luckily by the time I had started sewing Yona’s outer robe and her inner kimono, I had already finished making her birthday tiara and the hairpin Soowon had gifted her in episode 1. I used Terraflex for everything except the beads, and cursed Soowon from the day he was born for having such garbage taste in jewelry.

You can see in my WIP photos that I made the flower from individually cut and placed flower petals (37 petals to be exact) on another chopstick base. The leaves  and butterfly I formed and attached once the main flower was done, and the entire hairpin measures to just under 7 inches in length. I think the trickiest part of making this stupid hairpin was that each petal was so small (about 1cm wide per petal) and the flower itself was about 2 inches wide when completed, so trying to control the heat from the heatgun and keep the flower from melting into mush while making sure the plastics had bonded was just. It was like the opposite of fun. It made me wonder why I was putting so much effort into a dinky little prop but my need for hairpin pictures overcame my hatred for evil little petaled flowers.

The tiara had a similar problem as the hairpin did with the melting and the flower shape when I added in new petals and leaves, but it went a lot easier than the hairpin did. The hairpin took like 15 something hours to complete, but the tiara only took like 5 or 6. Both pieces were primed with spray gesso and then painted in acrylics, gilded with gold paint, and then sealed. My hatred for Soowon was once again reignited when I realized I had to gild a tiny line on the edge of every leaf, petal, and butterfly wing on the evil hairpin. I was so happy with how it turned out in the end though, that all the sweat and blood that went into Yona’s accessories was totally worth it!

Now, for Yona’s inner kimono!! The tricky bit for her inner kimono was in the way it had been structured. The top half is your classic left over right look on a kimono, but below the obi sash the robe splits into two solid panels at the front and back, with a break in the seams at the side. I dealt with this by having the top half essentially act as a wrap top, and having one side “lengthened” with the front panel and when it was all attached and covered with the obi, I had the illusion of what looked to be Yona’s magic anime inner kimono.

The worst part of Yona’s outer robe was of how little I had of the fabric to work with. I had four yards with a beautiful, complicated design that was similar to a border print, except it wasn’t weighted to the edge, it was weighted to the center of the yardage. Figuring out how to lay my pattern pieces to have all the designs match up at the seams, while making sure the designs were placed at the correct levels of the robe (clustered around the hems and sleeves) and trying to squeeze out enough for a full length robe was like a walking fever dream. Not to mention that the fabric had color gradients mingled in behind the design for extra fun times.

The material was also a weird satin stretch that made it difficult to lay out perfectly. In the end, I made the robe interfaced and lined throughout to help give it a bit of weight, so it could drape nice and smooth on my body. I really couldn’t have finished this particular piece without my friends helping me pin this evil fabric together and ironing each piece for me as I cut it out. I’ll always be eternally grateful to you three for helping me out in my time of need!!!!!!!

I think that’s most of what I wanted to cover in this post! I’m kicking myself because although I made earrings for Yona, I forgot to put them on in the rush of getting ready 😞 My wigs are both from Arda, a styled Nina for Lili and a trimmed Luthien for Yona!! I wish you can see more of Lili’s hair accessory on the back of her head, but you can see pictures of that on my cosplay blog.

If there’s anything else you want me to elaborate on with or any questions you have on anything I’ve done here that I might have missed, please feel free to send an ask!!! 🌸 

Yona // Lili // King Il // Photos by princesspotatobug on insta