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ectonurites · 3 years

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can anybody please explain the appeal of tim drake because ive been into the batfamily for a while now and tbh im really confused on why people like his character so much compared to the other robins. like they all have their own thing going on and he just... doesnt?

Have you read his Robin solo? Because if not and you want to try to like him but just don’t understand why people do, that’s what I’d recommend. That and like, Young Justice 1998.

Because Tim definitely... does have his own thing going on. Maybe not in the same way as the others, but like, there’s a reason he has a 183 issue long solo comic that ran for like 16 years: he was fun to read about!

But I will give some more specific thoughts on the subject as a Tim Drake Appreciator™ (this got long im sorry)

The appeal of Tim (especially early on Tim) is kinda the fact that he’s this more normal kid. For a while that is his ‘thing’. He was basically designed to be a self-insert (he definitely became more than that along the way, but from the start he was meant to be relatable) in a different way than how Dick and Jason had been before him.

Like the role of Robin from the start was this way to create a character young readers could identify with more, could see themselves in more. And Dick and Jason did that, but they still had this element to their lives and stories that was more... unattainable for the average reader. Dick was a circus prodigy, Jason was either also a circus prodigy if we remember pre-crisis or if we go with his post-crisis story he’s this street-wise orphaned kid who had a really tough life but still went on to be a hero anyways. Obviously those lives are relatable for some people, but those’re definitely not as broadly recognized as common upbringings especially not by DC trying to market to the ‘average’ kid/young teen.

But the creation of Tim changed the game a bit. Dick and Jason were these aspirations a kid could look to like ‘wow I want to be cool like that!’ but Tim was a Robin designed for kids to look at and go ‘wow, his problems and civilian life are just like mine AND he’s a hero, I want to be cool like that!’, ya know? Tim was... just a clever kid with an average life who managed to connect some dots and had enough drive to want to fix things he saw were a problem, he didn’t have the same kind of heightened drama backstory the others did. The Robins that came after Tim definitely didn’t have this idea of relatability in mind the same way either. Unfortunately Steph’s time as Robin was much more of a marketing ploy than an actual like... decision to make her Robin, so it’s hard to really fit her into this conversation. But Damian from the start was first of all initially created not to be Robin but just as the son of Talia and Bruce back in the 80’s, but when he was later reimagined into the character that would become Robin he had the whole ‘raised by and is the heir to the league of assassins and is the son of batman’ thing going on still. He just was not supposed to be relatable that same way, he was a character designed with different things in mind.

I really think it was more just DC’s 90′s era younger-audience comics in general that tried to push that relatability thing (like in YJ how Cissie even after quitting the team stays a major character as a civilian throughout, and the civilian aspect that’s super present in Bart’s 90s solo too, etc), but later in the 2000’s that idea was definitely pushed to the side in favor of... putting in even more dramatic superhero-y stuff.

And the other thing that’s... such a more normal thing but it actually made him unique here, was that Tim’s dad was still alive until like 2004 (so 15 years into Tim being around as a character). This gave Tim a lot more typical ‘family school girlfriends normal life etc’ problems on top of/in contrast with his superhero problems. These just manifested in very different ways than they could with the other Robins because of that unique situation with a living civilian parent who doesn’t know about hero stuff (until he did find out which lead to that whole Unmasked thing, but there was only the brief time around War Games & Identity Crisis where Jack knew Tim was actively Robin and he was... still alive) Tim also had his life at school expanded way more than most other Robins, like, he had such an extended supporting cast of civilian friends which is a really interesting thing to read about (and the fact that he hasn’t had that stuff since the New 52 I think really hurts his character)

And then related to that loss of his dad... Personally another thing about Tim that really interests me is how a lot of things were more... his choice. if that makes sense. A lot of characters in the Batfamily were struck with tragedy/extreme trauma before they became heroes and that’s what spurred them into this life of becoming heroes. Tim’s situation wasn’t like that at all! When he first got involved in everything during Lonely Place of Dying, the only tragedy he’d experienced was watching Dick’s tragedy happen. Which sure yes traumatic obviously, but that’s not the same as how pretty much all the other Bats had gone through these very personal losses or other sorts of very first-hand personal traumas that served as motivators. Tim didn’t start to experience those things until after he got involved in the hero life, and aside from his Mom’s death which was more of just an unrelated incident (that technically happened before he was officially Robin but it was during his time training to become Robin), pretty much all these other tragedies and things... would not have happened or been experienced by him had he not become Robin.

That’s not me placing blame on him or anything like that, because god no that’s not how that works, but it’s very interesting because from his point of view he definitely feels that guilt because he knows him being Robin played a role in a lot of it (Thinking specifically about in Adventure Comics #3 when Kon even says “I know what guilt does to you” to him like it’s... it’s a thing with him!). His dad was murdered because he was Robin. He only met Steph and started dating her through being Robin, and thus he would not have experienced the loss of his girlfriend dying like that had he not been Robin. Tim met both Conner and Bart through being Robin, and would not have had a personal connection to them when they died otherwise. The whole Bruce’s death thing after Final Crisis, like. I could go on honestly, that was only talking about losses not even his own experiences nearly getting killed, but yeah, all these personal tragedies were experienced by him specifically because he chose to bring himself into this life, which I think in turn plays into how throughout his comics you see him go from having this really optimistic view on things and being really hopeful to seeing him at that low point he reaches by the time of Red Robin. (thinking about that one post that points out how Tim started out in the 90′s as an optimist and Steph a cynic and by the time they were Red Robin and Batgirl in 2009 they had switched outlooks...)

I also think that him having had such a great team book with the original Young Justice can help contribute to people liking him. His friendships with the rest of the core four and that team in general are really compelling. (and that’s something like again when looking at the other Robins, while Dick had the Titans ofc, Jason never really found footing with a team outside of like one mission with the Titans and then We All Know How Damian’s Teen Titans Stuff Went. Steph also only ever really worked with a team outside the batfam on very brief occasions) and even though I’m not as big of a fan of the 2003 Teen Titans run that came after YJ, people who read Young Justice and also that could follow and be attached to those same characters over a pretty decently long period of time.

Idk man, I don’t really have an ultimate point here i’m just rambling. I can definitely understand not seeing the appeal to him right away (honestly i’ve been into Batfam since like 2013/2014 and Tim did not become one of my faves until 2020) especially if like... idk when you say ‘into the batfamily’ that can mean a lot of different things. If you’re reading more like the bigger events with the batfam sure Tim can kinda fade into the bg a bit, if you’re more talking about fanon the fanon version of him is prettyyyyy uhhhhh not really the same as how he was in pre New 52 canon, if you’re mainly reading New 52 era Batfam stuff then that Tim I also don’t understand the appeal of bc thats Not My Boy, if you’re interested in a different member primarily and only familiar with Tim when he shows up in things focused on that other character then it’s easy to not really understand the appeal right away bc he’s more there to support that character rather than shine in his own right.

I think it’s also worth mentioning he’s just not everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s totally fine. Like, these are fictional characters and sometimes you just will vibe with a character and sometimes you won’t! idk if this helped at all or even made sense. but yeah. I just think he’s neat 😌

#Anonymous

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disneylanddilettante · 3 years

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The Disney Renaissance Killed the Disneyland Star

This post has been brewing and stewing in my brain for some time.

We here in the Disney theme park fandom are prone to lament the modern attraction design philosophy that says everything must be based on a movie. Aside from spectacularly clueless comments about “a random mountain in India or whatever” and misuse of the term “barrier to entry,” the reason behind it seems to boil down to: That’s what guests want. On the one hand, this is very clearly an excuse to do what Marketing wants (because film IPs are proprietary in a way that broad concepts are not, and can be merchandised accordingly), but on the other hand…it seems to be…kind of…true? The vast majority of the public, in my experience, does think of Disneyland (which I am going to use as synecdoche for all Disney parks, because it’s the one I grew up with, it’s easy to say, and because I can) as a place where you see Disney characters walking around as if they were real, and go on rides based on Disney movies, and anything else there is just to, idk, fill space until they can think of a cool movie makeover for it.

I have spoken to people online who quite enjoy Disneyland, but also think the Enchanted Tiki Room should become a Moana attraction, Tom Sawyer Island should be something to do with The Princess and the Frog, and the Matterhorn should be turned into Frozen. When I challenged them as to why, they didn’t seem to understand the question—what did I mean, “why?” Isn’t it self-evident? A couple years ago, one of the Super Carlin Brothers (I don’t remember which one; anyway I couldn’t tell them apart if you put a gun to my head) made a video expressing bafflement over the use of Figment as a mascot in Epcot because “He’s not from anything.” As if a ride in that very parkwere nothing.

So there is something to the assertion that film IP tie-ins are what regular guests expect and want. But the question remains as to why they want that—after all, it didn’t used to be that way. Costumed characters and rides based on movies have always been part of Disneyland, of course, but in past decades, the most elaborate and promoted attractions were the ones based on unique concepts that had nothing to do with the movies. The reasons to love Disneyland were things like the Haunted Mansion and the Mark Twain and Space Mountain…not so much the chance to meet Mickey Mouse. So what gave the public the idea that it was all about movies and characters? I’m sure there are several reasons, but I’m going to focus on one that I don’t see brought up that often.

I’m going to blame the Disney Renaissance.

Let me give you some personal background. I’m a young Gen-Xer, born in 1977. I was a child of the 80s…and in the 80s, Disney wasn’t doing so hot. Feature Animation had dropped to a cinematic release about once every four years, the live-action division was even less productive, and the corporate raiders were pawing at the door. In those days, when I saw a Disney movie in theaters, probably four times out of five it was a re-release of an older classic. (Anyone else remember when that was a thing?) There wasn’t much new at Disneyland either. The biggest thing to happen in the first half of the decade was the remodel of Fantasyland, which added one new ride—based on Pinocchio, a 43-year-old film—and otherwise just rearranged and refined what had always been there. On the other hand, the big Imagineering projects of the 60s and 70s were mostly still going strong.

The upshot is that if you were a Disney fan in those days (there weren’t many of us, even in my age cohort), you were a fan of the older movies and/or the parks. And for all its genuine quality, that stuff was showing its age. It was made in decades past, and there was a corniness and a quaintness to much of it. Most of the kids my age considered Disney “baby stuff” and were eager to put it behind them. It seems to have been a widespread phenomenon, because I don’t remember the park being very crowded when I was a young kid. Queues for even the roller coasters tended to top out around 45 minutes and it was very rare that we didn’t have time to do everything we wanted on a given visit.

And then, the year I turned 12—the year my age bracket hit puberty and could definitively be said to have outgrown cartoons altogether (except for the weirdos like me)—The Little Mermaid hit theaters.

Two years later, we got Beauty and the Beast.

And the hits kept coming. Suddenly, Disney was the hottest thing in entertainment again. Not just kids—by this time the generation that would come to be known as Millennials—but their parents watched these movies and went wow, this is really good. Disney is better than I thought. Maybe we should rent some of those older movies that I remember from when I was a kid. Maybe we should go to Disneyland… Unlike in the past, when families went to Disneyland because it was advertised and known as a family destination, families went to Disneyland because the kids were going gaga over the new Disney movies and the parents wanted to make them happy.

So a whole new generation of fans flocked to the parks, most probably never having been before, or not recently. They didn’t know what to expect. They just knew they loved these new movies with their endearing lead characters (so much more full of personality than Snow White or Alice or Pinocchio) and their big bombastic Broadway-style musical numbers (so much more in line with current musical tastes than the Tin Pan Alley ditties from Cinderella or Peter Pan or The Jungle Book). That’s what they wanted from Disney, whether they were paying six bucks a head plus popcorn, or fifty bucks a head plus lodging.

And that would have been fine but for the fact that endearing characters and big bombastic musical numbers are really hard to build traditional dark rides around. What you can do, though, for people who want to meet their favorite characters, is build dedicated character meet-and-greet spots. What you can do for people who want to sing along with Academy Award-winning songs is create huge colorful parades and stage shows that feature those songs. Best of all, if you are certain people who shall go unnamed, these sorts of things are much cheaper to create and operate than rides. Corporate was more than happy to meet, rather than try to exceed, the expectations of this new wave of fans.

The newer guests got used to seeing more-or-less verbatim (condensed) film content in the form of these shows and parades. The classic dark rides began to look decidedly odd to them—why are the movie events out of order? Why doesn’t the main character show up more? Why don’t we get to hear all the songs? And no one was there to explain it to them, because the older generations of fans had largely drifted away and the internet wasn’t quite a household staple yet. Rides that weren’t even based on a movie seemed even odder—what does a Wild West roller coaster have to do with Disney? What does a submarine ride have to do with Disney? I thought this park was supposed to be for kids, but my kids don’t recognize this stuff! They should build a Lion King ride! They should build a Toy Story ride! That Snow White ride isn’t suitable for kids; they should do something about that! I didn’t pay all this money to stand in line for an hour and a half and go on a ride that my kids don’t get!

The pattern was set. IP tie-ins were what the people wanted, and they closer they hewed to their source material, the more guest approval they got, simply because people didn’t know any different. And it has snowballed from there. The Disney Renaissance was amazing for the art of animation, but I think it was a net negative for the art of theme parks.

Tl;dr The Disney Renaissance changed guest expectations for Disney entertainment products in ways that were incompatible with classic Imagineering principles.

#disneyland #disney theme parks #walt disney world #disney #disney renaissance #theme parks

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k-s-morgan · 4 years

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how likely do you think us getting a s4 will be? at first i was excited, but the more time passes, the more i doubt that i'd enjoy it based on the little we've heard from bryan. i'm really not here for the unnecessary drama & continued manipulation or whatever it is he's implying. and also will being out of his mind frightens me a bit? like if it's something that hannibal can guide him through & stay by his side, i could possibly be here for it, but if it's something that breaks them apart again

(...) then i don't want it, haha. now that it finally seems they've found a way back to each other & can be happy. obviously, you can't predict the future, but what do you think s4 could look like based on the little we've heard so far? thank you kindly for answering!

Another ask: Realistically do you think there will be a S4 of Hannibal?

Another ask: Hi, I absolutely love your metas! Since it is super unlikely that we will ever be getting s4 of Hannibal (we are not getting it) - what would be its ideal plot for you? I would obviously love to see Hannibal and Will finally show their love to each other, but what would be an overall “ideal” plot for this season for you?

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

Hello! I hope you all don’t mind that I combined your asks since they are all related to S4.

The possibility of S4:

I don’t think it is likely that we are going to see S4. The strongest chances were at the very beginning, right after the cancellation, and later with Netflix revival. However, Bryan said that even after ‘Hannibal’ did well there, no one contacted him and no one showed interest. Considering that Bryan and Martha have been trying different networks for years, I think it’s safe to say that they are all aware of our show and they are just not interested.

I understand why. While ‘Hannibal’ has a very passionate fan-base, it’s still a niche show. It’s expensive, complex, and wildly misunderstood. Just look at the articles about it, read the official summaries of the show/episodes, check casual viewers’ reviews - 97% of them miss the point entirely. Reviving and marketing such a show would be a nightmare. Also, I don’t know what Bryan is pitching, exactly, but in my opinion, he doesn’t sound strong enough when he’s discussing the show’s future publicly. His ideas all seem very abstract, and it doesn’t look like he has an idea for S5 at all. Of course, he might be trying to avoid spoilers, but knowing how he works, I’m not so sure about that. He didn’t even know what kind of show he was doing after 'Hannibal’ was green-lit - he figured it out in the process. So, if he’s pitching the same abstract thing we’ve been hearing about, I’m not surprised there is a lack of interest.

Things might still change, but it doesn’t feel likely to me.

Reservations and My Ideal S4:

First anon, I agree with you entirely. When I finished watching the show, I was very excited for S4, but with years, this excitement turned into anxiety. I’m not thrilled with Bryan’s talk of Will being out of his mind, Hannibal’s grand manipulation, MP focus, absolutely every character being brought back for it, etc.

Here’s my idea of S4 based on all Bryan’s comments over the years: this is the most acceptable version I could think of.

As for my ideal version: I think one more season is the only thing we need, preferably a movie. Since there will be a time jump, Will and Hannibal should already be in pretty openly romantic relationship. They just start killing after lying low for years (Mads indicated this once). Will is figuring out his design, perhaps getting overly reckless occasionally, and Hannibal is there to guide him. They face a threat of Margot and Alana’s people going after them repeatedly, so after a while, they decide to strike back.

Honestly, I’m very vague on the ideas, I could accept pretty much everything as long as it is logical and consistent. Will being dark without any reservations and openly romantic as well as mutually devoted Hannigram are the only two major things that I definitely want to see because otherwise, S4 wouldn’t make sense to me. The remaining loose ends are Will living after his Becoming, him and Hannibal learning to be a team all the time, and Jack & Alana with Margot threat. I’d like for a potential S4 to address them and lead the characters to a satisfying conclusion. The specifics are irrelevant to me.

#hannibal #hannibal lecter #will graham #hannigram #bryan fuller

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cloveroctobers · 4 years

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HARRY ZHONG (MITCHELL-WHITE)

IG info/bio: @/heedful.harry | 15.6k followers| hi, I’m Harry and I’m a business major. No, You don’t have to hold your applause 🧐

21 years old

From York, England

Cancer sun + ARIES MOON energy

He and his younger brother, Archie were foster children in the Mitchell-white household

which consisted: Harrison Mitchell and his daughter from a previous marriage, Briony, Piers White and together they had a surrogate carry their child, which gave them their second daughter, Pippa

Later they came to the decision to adopt Harry and Archie Zhong, if only that’s what they wanted too

It took longer for Harry to warm up to the family since he was still waiting and wishing for his mom to come back for them

He was diagnosed with IED around 15 years old

Goes to therapy for it and meetings with others with similar issues...he dreads the meetings since it makes him feel like he has a problem or something, which HE DOES but it makes him feel like a...but he knows that’s a ignorant way to think

He’s currently a business major and loves telling people about it *yawn* (don’t drag me lmao)

He’s thinking he’ll be a Financial analyst or a Marketing manager

The type of person who’s done a lot in his short life that it’s often unbelievable ex.) telling the villa he’s driven one of the cars that was used in the fast and furious franchise & getting pissed when bill and everyone else didn’t believe him

Harrison is a train driver and is normally bubbly + wears bright preppy clothes

He also loves Broadway, much to Harry’s annoyance...if he hears one more Hamilton song he’s gonna slam his head thru a wall stg

Piers is a music producer and is more reserved or “stand-off-ish” until he gets warmed up to you + his aesthetic is a rocker, yeah he’s got the whole tattoos and boots thing going for him, after all he was in a rock band

Piers makes the most $ and is of high status, which brought him and his family perks but is not a snob about it...it’s whatever ya know?

Harry’s closer to piers, feels he understands him more & can be kinda rude to Harrison when he’s in one of his moods but tries to be better at responding to him since he made him cry once years ago — yes he felt like complete shit afterwards

Harry is anemic so he always finds himself cold, experiencing fatigue, irregular heartbeat, and if he gets up too fast or moves too fast? Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the—FLOOO000R! (I’m making this joke as a person with anemia)

Likes cold weather since everyone else can feel what he feels on the daily

Plus he loves dressing for winter season, trench coats, wool coats, turtle necks, thermal t-shirts, fleece pants, rolled up beanies that keeps his ears covered and his hair glued to his forehead...you name it!

On the regular? He’s a khaki’s kinda guy, dress shirts, and loves wearing suit and ties...he’s not the biggest fan of jeans. He loves dressing fancy unless the measurements are bloody awful

I’m going by the alternative design for Harry and...whew! Then he’s 6’1 if we’re talking about the one they gave us then we all know he has a baby face, so I’d say he’s about 5’8

He’s got long legs + arms and hates how majority of his pants barely fit around his ankles

has dry scalp too

I feel like he’s pretty intelligent and sometimes it can come off as a know it all, yet, he’s always down to help people & isn’t condescending while doing so

He knows how to make soaps and would sell them on his etsy account in highschool where plenty shat on him for it so for awhile he stopped the hobby until Harrison encouraged him to keep at this if it was what makes him happy

Harrison is the type of parent you go to for comfort and hugs even if it might feel like he’s smothering you

Piers is the one who lets you come to him when you’re ready to talk about it, no pressure

Harry went to a high school that focused on technology so he’s all into the latest gadgets

This is a secret but he only got a apple watch to feel like a true spy

His intelligence got him somewhere with a few ladies ;)

He’s a certified freak, 7 days a week and had a handful of hookups and about 4 gfs in his life so far

He’s kinky!!!

& has a f**t fetish

His past relationships were not long relationships, which sucked but Harry felt like...this might sound arrogant, but it’s either their lost — although there was never any bad blood with his breakups! or his person was still out there somewhere...

I haven’t fully played his route (AJ stole my ass since I couldn’t romance seb or Nicky sorry) but I’ve seen screen caps and he’s a total sweetie if he’s really committed to you, you might be his “true love”

He’s nervous opposed to his usual confidence when he’s chatting to other ladies with ease, with you it’s different, it’s magnetic, nerve-wrecking, butterflies, electric, and exciting all wrapped in one

I feel like he shows his love language with quality time but also enjoys physical touch from his partner

Picky eater

But he was worst as a child! Barely ate anything which led to him being lanky or it’s in his genes but mostly he wouldn’t eat a damn thing

These are a few of his favorite things: figs, green tea, and almond milk

makes the best spring rolls with the rice paper, those are superior than fried! “Fried food will kill u u know!” “Okay bill.” “Iona, don’t know if u had too much to drink but, erm I’m Harry.” “R/WHOOOOssssh! And you’re s’pposed to be the smart one, yeah right.”

outside of the villa he found himself continuing his friendship with bill—even tho he pisses him off sometimes since he’s always got some shit to say but they’re probably the closest, Iona she’s always honest and is always a good time to be around when they hang out, Then there’s Camilo and Miki that he hangs out with too

Is the first one sharing about his day in the group chat with all of the villa, he can feel half of them rolling their eyes at him since many feel he tends to exaggerate

if he’s not endgame with mc...he kinda feels a way that Genevieve found her happiness in seb instead of him, it’s not that he’s bitter—he genuinely liked her and felt like maybe they didn’t try hard enough but deep down knows relationships can’t be forced. It’s just his ego trying to control things that’s all! plus he was comfortable with vieve even if it felt more on a platonic side...oh well

once slid into jen from s1’s dms one dark stormy drunk night & admitted on live that erikah kinda gave him some tips before going on the show... & that he thought one of the new girls that entered the villa was a better fit than one of the originals from s2 which caused him to get blocked by said original OOP

Has a circle of close friends outside of the villa, they’re all brainiacs and have something going for themselves

Enjoys action films and biographical drama films like: James Bond, John Wick, and the social network

Isn’t ashamed to admit that he loves using sheet face masks but isn’t the greatest at following a consistent skincare routine

Has his own back massager that he spent a lot of $ on since it wouldn’t go on sale and then a week later...it went on sale

sends a lot of “🙃🙂” texts when you piss him off

probably worked at GameStop, the apple store, Godiva, and currently works at a electronic repair shop for a side of cash but is looking for a internship since he’ll be graduating next year

Always Keeps cough drops on him?

is a huge cuddler & falls asleep easily

His brain is always active, experiences REM sleep often

fav video games are tekken & hitman

owns a drone now 😏

also loves strategic board games & riddles

Took quarantine life seriously, did his research before it completely broke globally and started buying shit excessively in person and online that he sent most to his family before the campus shut down

Is the friend that will check on his friends :)

Keeps his dorm and his room back home CLEAN af, is OCD about everything being in order/organized. Will know if you touched his shit, Archie felt his wrath many times before

Has a life goal board in his closet, & plans to be fully established by 25. More power to ya Harry!

Celeb crushes: Victoria justice, Jesy Nelson, Deepika Padukone, Brec Bassinger, jasmine tookes, and princess Mae

Who does he listen to? oceanfromtheblue, Galimatias, Ta-Ku, Aries, Tyler, the creator, rich Brian, NIKI, viji, & AJR

Anthem = DPR IAN, “So beautiful”

#litg #litg3 #litg s3 #litg harry #litg genevieve #litg bill #litg seb #litg mc #litg oc #litg moodboard #litg headcanon #litg headcanons #yes I’m still doing these and it’s kinda challenging but at the same time not?

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cherry-valentine · 4 years

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Fall 2020 Anime Season:

Golden Kamuy Season 3 is, so far, just as good as the first two seasons. For anyone unfamiliar with the show, it follows a former soldier called “Immortal Sugimoto” (nicknamed so for his tendency to survive a lot of shit that would kill most people) and a young Ainu (the Japanese equivalent of Native Americans) girl as they search Northern Japan (and even parts of Russia) for hidden Ainu gold. The story is pretty wild, with threats coming from the wildlife and the harsh, snowy conditions as often as from mercenaries, assassins, and various other human dangers. The cast has expanded enough that we have several separate groups of cool, well-written characters roaming about (and they’ve shuffled a bit from season two, making their interactions very interesting). Sugimoto remains one of my favorite anime protagonists. He’s one of the more brutal, violent main characters I’ve seen, but, strangely, also one of the nicest. He’s kind to innocents (both people and animals) but will slaughter his enemies without hesitation. He’s also pretty funny. Then again, almost every character is subject to the show’s weird but endearing humor. It’s very hard to dislike any character, even the ones who are quite cruel. The show is also notable for having a lot of homoerotic subtext. The beefy, handsome men sure do love taking their clothes off and wrestling. Like, taking it ALL off. Multiple times per season. Yeah. Watch this show, everybody.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park is a new show this season that I was initially interested in because it reminded me of Durarara!! in that it’s set in Ikebukuro and features color gangs. That’s where the similarities end, however. Whereas Durarara!! had tons of supernatural elements and just plain craziness, IWGP is more realistic by comparison. The show follows Makoto, a seemingly normal guy who seems to function in a sort of “odd jobs” type of role for a color gang called the G Boys. While they’re a gang, they don’t seem like criminals or thugs, or even delinquents. They really feel more like a club, held together by their respect for the leader referred to as King. So far the series seems to be episodic in nature, with most stand-alone episodes focusing on some sort of social issue, from drug addiction to immigration. It’s interesting to see these issues presented in such a sympathetic light, viewed through the lens of Tokyo’s youth. The art is nice, with varied character designs and animation that’s just good enough that you don’t notice the problems very often. The music is a highlight, with my favorite opening theme of the season and one of the better ending themes.

Magatsu Wahrheit is a show I was very iffy on at first. It has a lot of things working against it. It’s based on a video game I’ve never heard of, the opening theme is one of the cheapest, most unimpressive things I’ve ever seen (note: it does improve a few episodes in!), and the series overall has a low budget feel (though nowhere near as bad as Gibiate from last season). But the story is actually very interesting and very well written. The basic premise is that Young Man A (I’m not remembering these weird names, sorry) works as a delivery truck driver in your usual “modern fantasy” setting (kingdoms and monsters and other medieval fantasy trappings alongside trucks and cars and advanced science laboratories). When he’s loading up his deliveries, Young Man B, a fresh recruit in the kingdom’s military and general goody-two-shoes, randomly offers to help Young Man A load his truck. Young Man B spots some boxes off to the side and, assuming they were part of the load, puts them into the truck while Young Man A is talking to his boss. These boxes turn out to be illegal weapons being smuggled by a group of... freedom fighters? I guess? This, in turn, drags Young Man A into a shit storm of trouble when the illegal weapons are discovered in his truck. It also leads directly to tragedy for Young Man B as well, setting them both on wildly different but similarly dangerous paths. The whole idea that a simple act of kindness for a stranger sets off such a terrible series of events is pretty engaging. As it stands in the show right now, Young Man A is the more compelling character. He’s just a truck driver. He’s a coward who runs from danger and wants no part of any of this. But at the same time, he can be surprisingly brave at times (usually when a child is in danger). In a twist on the usual trope, these spurts of bravery are rarely rewarded. At least twice, his decision to act has led to heartbreaking tragedy. So far Young Man B is your typical “idealistic youth realizing the military isn’t comprised entirely of nice people” type of character. As such, he’s just not as interesting. He hasn’t had as much screen time though, so hopefully he’ll grow as a character. I guess it says a lot that I’ve written so much about the show, and almost all of it is about the plot. But the plot is really the only remarkable thing about it. In this case, that’s enough.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is, well, a bit of a trainwreck. And I’m not necessarily talking about the quality of the show. Let me explain: The show was marketed as a remake of the 2006 anime, which was one of my all-time favorite series. I was pretty excited about it. Lots of new fans who had never watched the original started this one. The first episode was okay. I wasn’t crazy about how shiny everything looked (I realize the original’s visuals are a bit dated now but at least they were unique, this new one looks like pretty much every harem anime from the past five years) but the story seemed to be doing good and I looooooved the use of the original opening theme song as the closer. Then episode two dropped, and the fandom basically exploded. The first few minutes of episode two reveal that this is not a remake, but a sequel! Shock! At first, I was impressed by this little bit of manipulation. It felt exciting to realize the truth. But then it dawned on me (and the rest of the fandom) that new viewers who came to watch this were screwed over. Those first few minutes of episode two spoil some very important things from the original series (we’re talking major spoilers here), and it’s going to ruin a lot of plot points for those who never watched the original and now want to go back and watch it first. So here’s a PSA: If you’re new to Higurashi and want to try this new series, DON’T unless you’re okay with watching a sequel that spoils the original.

Okay, so now let’s talk about this new series/sequel. First, the good points: The ending theme is GORGEOUS. Just... go watch it. Soak it up. The opening isn’t bad but I can’t help comparing it to the far superior original opening. Aside from the overly shiny and generic character designs, the rest of the visuals are pretty great. The scenery in particular is very nice. In terms of story, I like the idea of beginning each new “arc” by staying close to the original story, then throwing in some pretty wild deviations that make them end in completely different ways because a character that lived through the original is trying to make subtle changes (that so far have ended up turning out very badly). When it comes to the bad points, one in particular sticks out: It’s not scary! The original had some truly unsettling moments, and so far this one hasn’t even been creepy. It’s had some moments that obviously tried to be scary but have failed miserably. For example, the early scenes with Rena in the original were actually terrifying. But I felt none of the intensity or creepiness in this sequel. Still, it’s nice to see these characters again and to see how this story deviates as someone tries desperately to change the outcomes.

Haikyuu!! has another new season and... I don’t really know what to say about it. I’ve talked about this show several times now. Looks like this season is going to focus primarily on one long match, a concept I’m not crazy about. They also made the baffling decision to cut in with a full episode about a rival team’s match right in the middle of showing the match with the main team. I mean I love seeing more of the rival teams but it felt disjointed to do it this way. Still yet, it’s a fun and energetic show full of great characters and easily understood volley ball matches.

Jujutsu Kaisen is probably the most hyped up new show this season, and I would say it definitely deserves that hype. It’s a pretty familiar shounen fighting anime setup: A teenage boy acquires special powers and joins a school to train so that he can use those powers for good. However, following that formula does little to negate just how fun and well-done this series is. A lot of people have compared it to Naruto (the protagonist is a vessel for a powerful entity, he joins a trio of characters with a more serious and moody black-haired boy and a chick, and they have a badass teacher with silver hair who keeps his face partially covered). So sure, it’s like Naruto... except it’s much better than Naruto in every conceivable way. The animation and fight choreography are consistently fantastic. The main character is not the least bit annoying. The only chick in the group (there are more cool ladies in the story, just not in this group!) is a badass in her own right and her story and motivations have absolutely nothing to do with romantic interest in any of the guys. Even the teacher character is incredibly fun. The music is great, with my favorite ending theme of the season. You know it’s an excellent ending theme when people start making different versions of it using characters from other shows. It’s so, well, fun. A word I keep using here, because that’s the first word that comes to mind when I’m watching this series.

Talentless Nana is one of those shows that’s going to be difficult for me to talk about without spoiling a very cool surprise. This surprise comes at the end of episode one (basically, the show makes you think it’s about something, but turns out it’s about something completely different). So if you want to really enjoy that surprise, stop reading this and go watch episode one before coming back. If you’ve already watched it or don’t mind having the surprise spoiled, here we go: The first episode sets up the series to be a cheap Boku no Hero Academia knock-off. We have a school of “talented” (super powered) kids training to use their powers to save humanity from (so far) unseen monsters referred to as “the enemies of humanity”. We are told one boy has no “talent” or special power and he’s ridiculed for this. There’s a new transfer student named Nana, a super sweet and cheerful girl with pink hair who has the ability to read minds. There’s also another transfer student, a sullen and quiet boy named Kyouya who hasn’t disclosed what his “talent” is. With that setup, I think a lot of people were ready to dismiss it as “BNHA, but not as good”. But then, a few minutes before the first episode ends, we’re hit with the twist that reveals what this show is really about: Nana is the one with no “talent”. She lied about being able to read minds (the boy we thought had no talent did actually have one). She’s a totally normal human being, and she has been sent to infiltrate the school and kill off the students, the true “enemies of humanity” (called so because their powers make them incredibly dangerous). Thus, the show is about a normal human girl using only her wits and skill in manipulation to kill off super-powered individuals. Watching her work is an absolute delight. She is ruthless and incredibly intelligent, but she does have one major problem: the other transfer student Kyouya, who is at least as smart as she is and is suspicious of her right off the bat. But since he’s not sure she’s up to no good, he can’t really act on his suspicions. Nana in turn knows he suspects her, so she has to be careful around him. As a result, the two become “friends”, constantly watching and outmaneuvering each other. In this way, the series reminds me of the early, best parts of Death Note, with the mental sparring between Light and L. But the most fun you’ll have with this show is watching Nana come up with ways to deal with each new “talent” she comes across, from the ability to time travel to necromancy, all while having no special power of her own. The art is nice, a bit generic, nothing too fancy. The music is great, with one of the better opening themes this season.

Moriarty the Patriot focuses on the classic Sherlock antagonist Professor Moriarty. Let me get this out of the way first: I know next to nothing about Sherlock. I haven’t even watched any of the various tv shows about him. What I know of the character basically comes from mentions of him in Detective Conan. So I’m coming into this series with no preconceived notions about these characters and no other versions to compare them to. Anyway, Moriarty as a series is about class warfare. Moriarty as a character pretty much embodies the phrase “eat the rich”. If you’re familiar with the phrase and understand its meaning, you’ll probably like this show. Moriarty works as a professor, but his side job is as a “Crime Consultant”. He helps the poor lower classes get revenge on the cruel nobles and elites who have wronged them. This revenge most often involves murder. There’s something refreshing about how unapologetic it is. In most anime, the hero tries to find other ways to punish evil than by actually killing them, or there’s some lesson involved about how revenge isn’t the answer or how killing someone who wronged you makes you as bad as them. In this series, there’s absolutely none of that. People get their revenge and, so far as I’ve watched, seem to be living much happier lives afterwards. In this way the show totally avoids being preachy. The art is gorgeous, with classy character designs and lovely backgrounds. There’s a certain lushness to it. The music is very nice as well (particularly that poppy ending theme). The only downside is that this has probably ruined me for watching other versions of these characters now. I mean, once you see them as sexy anime pretty boys, it’s hard to see them as anything else.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

Black Clover

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Jujutsu Kaisen

Best Opening Theme: Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Best Ending Theme: Jujutsu Kaisen

Best New Male Character: Moriarty (Moriarty the Patriot)

Best New Female Character: Nana (Talentless Nana)

#anime reviews #seasonal anime #fall 2020 anime #anime recommendations #text #jujutsu kaisen #moriarty the patriot #munou na nana #ikebukuro west gate park

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masteroftheblade · 3 years

Note

What are your favorite and least favorite animes? Why do you like/dislike them?

oh god here we go lmao 🤠👍 prepare for an entire novel as always lol

my favorite animes atm are Naruto, Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, and Claymore. Overall, my favorite genre of anime is shonen (and in case you dont know what that is, its basically shows that are marketed to young boys. it'll have shit like superpowers and poorly written female characters). My least favorite genre is Shoujo (marketed at young girls). I honestly don't hate the entire genre, I just hate how much romance is in there since im pretty romance-repulsed. If there were more Shoujo series like Claymore, I'd probably be in love w/ it. I'll start talking about these shows individually, starting w/ Naruto.

1. Naruto.

Honestly, the only reason I started watching Naruto was because my friends peer pressured me into doing it, and it actually differed from what I expected it to be story-wise. The beginning of the show started off amazing; it had excellent world building, magic systems, interesting characters, and it attempted to address how messed up the whole shinobi system is. But then Naruto got on the front page of Shonen Jump, and everything went down from there. It started to focus more on cool fight scenes than the actual plot. I wont get too much into that, because you can literally find entire blogs dedicated to dissecting that, but Naruto killed itself w/ its own popularity. That said, I love the characters and world building and I can look past most of its flaws anyway.

Would I recommend reading/watching it? Yes, but only to say you did it for bragging rights. Don't go into watching Naruto if you want deep looks into imperialism and militarized governments, because you will get the complete opposite of that :P Also the best way to watch it is to watch it with friends.

2. Dragon Ball.

I only started watching DB about a month ago, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think its a garbage series. The fight scenes have little to no weight to them, because no matter what, the protagonist of that episode will always succeed in some way. For example, when Goku (a 12 y/o boy) was fighting Giran (a 10ft tall godzilla man) and was getting his ass beat until Goku just... randomly grows back his tail that was cut off earlier and wins. We are never told why he grew back his tail, and i think he only gets it back so he can have a cool fight scene in a later episode. Goku can literally be battling genocidal gods and he will still always win. The show also goes out of its way to sexualize/show a female character being harrassed. Every. Fucking. Episode.

That said, it is a fun show, and I really enjoy watching it. Like Naruto, I really love the characters and the world they are in, I just hate the way it was handled, and its painfully obvious that DB was made by a bunch of old men in the 80s. Unlike Naruto, however, I really appreciate how simple it is. It doesn't force a narrative about space genocide or whatever being bad, and I'm very thankful because that kind of narrative would be absolutely botched in this kind of series. It's also nice to have a show that doesn't take itself too seriously. Shows like AOT are amazing and important, but those shows can be overwhelming with their heavy subject matter. I would only recommend watching DB if you want to see some really good art/character design. Don't take the show seriously, and you'll have a good time.

3.Attack On Titan.

This anime was actually the first I've ever seen! I saw the very first episode when it aired in 2014, so I'm definetely biased in that regard, but I still try to look at this show in the most objective way I can. This show does almost everything right. The pacing, the characters, the art, the plot, you name it. It takes a concept that looks silly on paper and turns it into this grueling story about war, politics, and the trauma of being a soldier. It never treats it's characters like they're only one-dimensional, or like they are there just for one purpose only. These characters feel human in a way Naruto and Dragon Ball could never be. But there is one thing that has me concerned about this show, and its about the weirdly anti-Semitic undertones it has.

You probably heard the controversy already, but it really effected the way people on the outside of the fandom view the series. The show is heavily inspired by European culture, specifically that of Germany, and there are an ethnic group of people called The Eldians in the show that are pretty anti-Semitic in this kind of setting. The Eldian people have the capability of turning into Titans, and the Titans are what divided the world and killed millions. As a result, another group of people started doing the shit the Nazis did to Jewish people, basically making the Eldians into this weird allegory for the holocaust??? Which was kind of a shock to me when I first realized that was the angle they were going for. I genuinely did not expect that considering what the series started off as. The foreshadowing is there and all, I just didn't think they'd use real-world events as inspiration.

Now, this actually has the complete opposite problem Naruto and DB had. Naruto and DB had amazing ideas and concepts that went to shit, AOT's whole holocaust narrative was trash from the beginning.

The show could have easily had a different kind of social/political commentary without even going near the holocaust narrative. It comes off as kind of a half assed idea that people put way too much effort in, so it's kind of in this weird grey-area between "modern anime masterpiece" and "what the fuck were they trying to get across with this show?". If you asked me what the moral of the show was, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

Now, because of the fact that the Eldians can literally turn into man-eating beasts, this makes the comparison of Jewish people and Eldians very racist, and it doesn't help that Japan is still full of legitimate Nazis, making the whole situation look even worse. Since I am not Jewish, I wont speak for other Jewish people. There is a very heated debate on whether the show is racist, and frankly I don't think it's within my right to say if it is or isn't. What I will say, is that I really loved the show and appreciated the social commentary it provided, and I think a lot of people would benefit from watching it, but I think it's also important to listen to Jewish people's views on the show. For this reason, I specifically avoid reblogging AOT stuff, but I do love that show and I wont hate on people who do reblog stuff from it. It's definitely not a light watch, but it does provide a lot of thinking material.

4. Claymore.

This. Show. Was. Amazing. But. Underrated.

First off, this is a shonen show that is led by a majority female cast and a female protagonist, and all of those women are badass swordwielding lesbians and I love it. Second, the art style is beautiful. Third, the story is really interesting from so many angles, so much so I am not even going to mention what its about because you dont need to know, you just need to watch it and see what happens. The first season was an absoloute ride of a show, and if you love shows like AOT or Berserk, you'll love Claymore. Honestly, this show was what AOT should have tried to be. It also has its fair share of militarized imperialist commentary, but this is the only show on this list that actually fucking critiques imperialist ideals and has a main character that actively refuses to participate in that kind of oppressive system, choosing to fight it all together.

But the show got fucking cancelled right before the first arc even finished. You can thank shows like Naruto for that 🙃🙃🙃

10/10 Would reccomend, but just be prepared to be left on a major cliffhanger. You can try reading the manga, but it's kind of hard to follow since all of the warrior girls look the same.

#i spent too much time writing this #oh well #im not gonna tag the shows i talked about in this bcuz if i do ill get discourse blogs to start shitting on me #so im just gonna avoid it all together lol #also didnt write abt my least faves because this was too long to write as is #anyway as promised we can now get married any time you want @kindasortasalty /j /p #👩‍🦲

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coffeeismyblo0d · 3 years

Text

By The Society's Needs

TW // Minor Misgendering

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The sound rang through Aspen's already tired ears, reminding them of what was to be expected, and what was not to be expected. They turned, looking at their annoyingly loud phone which displayed the time: 7:05.

Aspen slammed their hand down on the phone, sighing softly as it shut off the alarm, which felt glorious to them this early the morning. They heard the loud yelling of their neighbors, who were just on the other side of the thin walls. They also heard a rather loud thumping noise, of which they desperately hoped was a exercise machine upstairs, despite knowing the truth behind it.

Aspen launched themselves up, stretching their arms and back out. This had been part of their routine for a while, the only exceptions coming during sick days, which were few in numbers, fortunately. Aspen looked around their room for a moment, trying to find what they were looking for amongst the littered sketches of outfits to be.

"Ah yes, there you are." They held their rediscovered binder up in triumph, despite being alone at the moment. Their binder was special to them of course. After all, it sealed a lot of insecurities about their body away with what little changes it made.

Aspen hopped on one foot as they tried pull both the binder and a sock on at the same time. Of course, this was a major struggle for them, as the binder was a binder, and a sock is on your foot. Both were on opposite points of the body.

Aspen turned toward the full length mirror in their room, despite one sock halfway off of their foot. They hummed, tilting their head at themselves.

"What should we go for today bud..?" They looked at their succulent. "Of course, you're throwing a fit. I'm sorry but too much water might kill you." They giggled softly, clipping the binder back enough so it fully reduced everything. "There. I think that will look great."

"And we'll go...." Aspen looked at the closet full of outfits, outfits that fit many different moods and aesthetics. They grabbed an outfit that included items sewn by them themselves, such as overalls, an 'ugly' sweater, and others that went along with them. Aspen chose a pair of short boots as an addition to the outfit, smiling. "I think I'm going to look great today. "

They turned towards the clock on their bedside table, which had been handpainted by a local artist. The clock read 7:15. Aspen smiled. "Right on track, I am."

Once done getting dressed, Aspen grabbed their bag and walked out the door, rubbing their eyes. How they were still tired, was a question that would likely be left unanswered.

"Let's hope you start..." Aspen muttered, turning their key in the car. They let out a sigh of relief as it turned on without stalling as they attempted to turn music on. "Thank you..."

They started their drive to work, groaning as their music refused to load. "At least the car started, that's all I could ask for.." They muttered, eyeing their bag of fabric and other assorted sewing items. A bag that hadn't been touched in a long time.

"Someday buddy, someday." Aspen patted the bag, waiting in traffic. Their eyes drifted over for just a moment, seeing the scammer like looking teen on the sidewalk. Every place had scams, even if you lived somewhere remote. And the bustling city was no exception to this rule, especially downtown.

As soon as they were able, Aspen continued driving. They loved yet hated the activity. They loved it because it gave them inspiration,and they hated it because it was terrifying.

Another reason to hate driving was where it took Aspen. The job yet to enlighten them was kept only because of Aspen's license. A license that Aspen wishes would have been nonexistent, and would allow them to live a life. A life where their own business was possible.

The job may have felt constricting, but Aspen didn't want to get into a deeper hole than the one they were already in financially. The job supported them. There was no way-if they were sane- that they would quit.

"Astroplanes." Aspen muttered as they pulled up to the big building. "The bane of my existence."

The building itself wasn't decked out in anything too special. The logo was in neon lights, but that was otherwise it for the dread filled building. Remove the logo, and it would likely be unrecognizable next to it's store counterpart.

The inside of each building was different in it's own way, aside from the store being the store, and the building being where everything was designed. The employees at the store seemed much more interactive and alive, even if on their last strain of life. Where as in here, they seemed dead, with few of the employees cheerful.

"Morning." Aspen's coworker waved, sipping her coffee as she walked past them. "The big lady is here today." She sighed. "Just warnin' ya kid."

"Well that's great. " Aspen smiled, sounding cheerful to their fellow worker. Inside, they were screaming in rage, because corporate officials were always unpleasant.

Aspen sat down at their workspace, pulling out the sketchbook they saved for work. It was filled with ideas they wanted to fulfill, but couldn't, and ones they didn't quite enjoy, but knew were required to produce into a true product.

In Aspen's eyes, fashion was fluid, and had no limits. There was no feminine or masculine in what they saw, because they wanted their demographic to wear what they saw as validating. There was no limit to how 'crazy' a look could be in Aspen's head. Everyone should have their size that fits and look great, was something along the lines of Aspen's thinking.

Astroplanes differed very much from one of their many overworked employees, as one expensive company does. They marketed everything towards women, and made everything feminine. There was nothing super crazy,and looks lacked simple, yet amplifying touches, such as a single patch. The sizes for what was sold the most didn't expand far, and many things marketed as plus size were not considered as fashion as the mainstream products.

Aspen had nothing against the clothes themselves, because an outfit looks great to someone no matter what the outfit is made of. It was the way that Astroplanes went about their products, and how employees and customers alike were treated that didn't sit right with Aspen.

They couldn't help but wonder what went through someone's head to not acknowledge the truth about companies like Astroplanes. Then again, they knew it'd be pointless to point out flaws, as they'd just get squished like the tiniest ant outside of it's hill.

Aspen sighed as they stared at the blank page, tapping the eraser of their pencil on the woodtop desk. They started sketching, looking at the figure they had drawn. They continued to sketch, drawing whatever they pleased, ignoring the tall slim woman in the background.

The result was spectacular, in short. It displayed a colorful suit, of which did not particularly define the model's identity.

"What is this?"

"I-" Aspen turned, met with the bright red face of the company's owner, who was clearly angry. "It's my own design ma'am. "

"We can not have this." The woman scoffed. "This is far beyond the goals of my company!"

"I apologi-"

"You absolute digust of a woman!" She spat, her eyes narrowed. "I never want something like that ever again, especially from you."

Aspen resisted the urge to reach up and punch the company's owner. They were beyond angry at getting yelled at for a design, and offended by the incorrect use of pronouns, when they had a very visible pin on their jacket reading 'THEY/THEM'.

"Yes ma'am. " Aspen responded, trying to sound as kind as possible after the last moment.

They watched the woman walk away. They let out a sigh of relief and rolled their eyes. They flipped to a different page in their sketchbook, starting on a completely different design from the supposedly troublesome one.

The rest of the day would go along fairly smooth for Aspen, with nothing other than the usual annoyances bothering them, sucha as a lazy coworker complaining that no one would get fabric for them.

Aspen sat alone while on their lunch break, listening to music as usually did. Nothing else had changed from doing it's normal way of doing things. Unless you counted Aspen constantly thinking about the event that had happened earlier, at the beginning of the day, then that counts.

"Still sucks here." Aspen muttered, looking at the building as they left, long after their last free breath of air while on lunch. "Things never change, do they?"

They turned on a random Spotify playlist once they got in their car, tossing their work bag into the passenger seat of the car. They sighed, turning the key to their car a few times to get it to start.

"At least I have my car, right?" Aspen muttered to themselves, backing out of the parking spot before having to halt to a stop, with their coworker Tammy trying to get out of the parking lot. They heard indistinct yelling, a car horn, and then screeching tires.

'They never fail to amaze me.' Aspen thought, their green eyes staring at the road. 'I wonder what goes on in the small mind they possess. '

They left the parking lot, just letting their thoughts whizz by as they pleased, in fear they would focus on the bad of the day. The music helped, serving as a good distraction that didn't distract Aspen from driving.

Thankfully, the drive home was not too bad for Aspen after all. They didn't die.

They fixed themselves a quick dinner once they had changed into more comfortable clothes after getting home. The dinner in question as really just a hot pocket, but Aspen could care less.

They checked their plants and made sure they were alright, watering the ones whose soil was dry. They stretched their torso out, sighing as their shoulders became less tense and relaxed.

They then watched a bit of whatever they felt like watching. Aspen knew they didn't have particularly good taste, but could care less at that moment.

Aspen went to bed once they had finished watching their show, curling up in a ball on their side underneath the warm blanket. They managed to fall asleep after twenty minutes of empty thought, knowing the next day would be the same.

#story #nonbinary #original work

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brokenjardaantech · 4 years

Text

Blue-tinted Red Walls (Prologue: A mistake or accidental prophet?)

my entry for the 2020 @dbhau-bigbang. also part of the groom lake aftermath series

pairings: hankcon, minor male ryder/reyes vidal

major warning: canon-typical violence

additional warnings will be provided before individual chapters.

summary:

In 2028, rumours emerged that Sara Ryder, inventor of androids and co-founder of Cyberlife, disagreed with her father Alec Ryder, another co-founder of the company, over the direction the company was heading. Speculations were rendered pointless as the younger Ryder disappeared off the grid after thousands were killed in an explosion outside Detroit, the site which later became a dumping ground for abandoned or damaged androids. A few days after Alec took over CyberLife, reports of androids breaking away from their programming started to emerge, and for a decade, it was CyberLife's best-kept secret.

In 2038, Connor, an RK-series prototype, began development under Ryder's supervision and was released in August in the same year as Cyberlife's last resort towards the deviancy crisis. Rumours among CyberLife employees put someone else as the lead of the RK800/900 project, and although the company goes through extensive measures to dispel the rumour, it somehow manages to reach the Detroit Police Department. It is with this rumour in mind that Lieutenant Hank Anderson is partnered with the same android in question.

Little do they know that the revolution brewing on the horizon is just the beginning.

also on ao3

---

Before

A gloomy figure left shadows in their wake as they swept through the brightly-lit corridor of a hospital, the click of combat boots against smooth floor clearly audible as the voices in the hall died down. Most only noted the person’s threatening posture and boiling expression and bolted out of their way fearing consequences; little did they know that had they paused to take a better look, they would have noticed how young they were - too young to be wearing such hatred on their face.

They stopped abruptly in front of a door with a sharp snap of their feet, and their hand shot out of their pocket towards the knob but froze with the sharp yell of a nurse. A roll of their eyes. Turned to face the nurse.

‘Visitors are limited to family members only,’ the nurse explained as she closed the last bit of distance between them. Then it clicked. ‘You didn’t register at the front desk?’

‘My brother has been asking for me for days. Ask the front desk. I gave them my name.’

A slight flinch from the harsh tone. ‘I’m sorry, but I still need to confirm your identity. It’s for the patient’s protection.’

The figure huffed. From the smirk on their face, it might have been a silent laugh. They reached into their coat with their teeth grinding. ‘Your ID?’

The nurse looked taken aback. ‘I believe you should be the one presenting identification.’

‘Like you said, “it’s for the patient’s protection”,’ they parroted. ‘How can I be certain that you are an actual nurse but not another spy sent by someone who will bring him harm?’

A pause. The nurse looked away for a second as if to think of the best course of action, but this split second is enough for the person to twist the knob and slide into the ward, the slam of something against the wall indicated that they somehow managed to also barricade it from the inside. The nurse banged her fist on the door in a futile effort of protest before dashing away to get backup.

Inside the room was another atmosphere in its entirety, however, and would have been peaceful if not for the muffled hustle and bustle from the hallway. The blinds were pulled down, the lights were dimmed, the monitor was muted; everything to guarantee that the boy lying on the bed slept undisturbed. He was wearing a green beanie even in his sleep, and next to his head was a small stuffed toy which was rubbed against and clutched when he opened his eyes.

‘Sister?’ he asked the person who had broken into his room.

The sister sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her brother’s cheek. All the anger on her face was gone. ‘I’m here, brother,’ she said. Her thumb swiped against the bottom of his eye and came back wet. ‘I bought us a few minutes to talk.’

Her brother’s face scrunched up. ‘I’m sorry,’ tears started flowing freely down his face and into the pillow and the stuffed toy. ‘I didn’t mean to -’

‘The fault does not lie on you,’ she took out a handkerchief and dabbed his face. ‘It was a reckless move, but I doubt you have another choice.’

‘I -’ a hitch in his breath. ‘I don’t want to go.’

‘I know. I am here to take you away.’

‘You can’t. Baba is -’

‘If you think I care about what he thinks, you are sorely mistaken,’ she stood. ‘Is there anything you want to bring with you from the apartment?’

The brother hesitated. ‘Can I show you later?’

His sister’s face turned blank. ‘Of course,’ she said in a lacklustre tone. It was obvious that she did not want to do so. ‘I need to take care of something. Will be right back.’

‘Okay.’

She turned around and closed her eyes. A deep breath. Glowing wisps of blue emerges from her spine, then from her head, then finally from all over her body, and her eyes were swathed in the same blue glow when she reopened them. She raised her hand.

A blue sphere appeared in front of the desk barricading the door and knocked it away.

The same nurse from before entered. ‘You could’ve told me that you’re here to discharge your brother!’ she said accusingly. ‘There was no need for that hostility. And you shouldn’t even be -’

She was interrupted by the sister shoving a stack of paper towards her chest.

‘Then shut the fuck up and do your damned job.’

oOoOo

Now

Androids have always unnerved Captain Louis ‘Lou’ Allen, but for a very different reason people normally expect. For years after their mass production, he could feel an unexplained buzzing in his nerves, one that, throughout his limited childhood, he had learnt to associate with ‘shit randomly exploding around him’. Now that Anna’s… gone to space, there was no one else in the world to vouch for him, telling him that yes, his feelings are valid, and that he isn’t imagining the hum coursing through his body whenever an android comes close.

Not anymore, though. Ever since he became half-bot and perhaps half-immortal, not once has the buzz returned, which was more of an inconvenience than anything; before, he could predict whether shit was about to go downhill and be responsible and warn people, but now, there was never enough time to vacate a room before, say, the screen of a monitor cracks on its own and shatters into thousands of pieces.

The negotiator CyberLife sends almost brings back the unpleasant buzz. This android - RK800, if its - his? - jacket is to be believed - is too harmless-looking for a model designed to hunt and kill other androids who break away from their programming and the most advanced prototype CyberLife has to offer. His voice is pleasant enough, but that only makes Lou’s spine tingle and threaten to charge the air with static; a sign he has learnt to watch for before an outburst. He hides a deep inhale, listens to the android’s - Connor’s - question, and faces him when he realises that Connor won’t go away anytime soon unless he actively does something.

‘Listen, saving that girl is all that matters,’ he tells the android. The twitch of his face only slips the situation into a whole new level of uncanny valley. Since when did CyberLife allow so much life on their androids? ‘So either you deal with this fucking android now, or I’ll take care of it.’

And it’s so typical CyberLife, isn’t it? Lou thinks as he grabs his rifle and kneels behind a toppled, bullet-ridden table his team has been using for cover. There’s a girl’s life at stake, and there they are, thinking that this is a prime time to test their newest prototype as if actual human lives are merely tools they can use whenever, whatever, however. Just like my own, he thinks bitterly as the place where human flesh meets pure cybernetics aches from hunching over the desk for too long. Scrap that, cybernetics were weaved into his very muscles and nerves and changed him fundamentally, and CyberLife didn’t let him know until years after the operation. It wasn’t even someone within the company -

So anyways. Fuck CyberLife. Fuck their monopoly on the android market. Fuck them for playing god.

But orders are orders and Allen received explicit ones telling him to not interfere unless the android looks like he’s gonna fuck up, so he doesn’t have much choice but to piece everything together through comm chatter and the images from the drones flying over the patio. Whoever is in charge of creating this android, he sure as fuck hopes that they made him knowing what he’s doing.

o0o0o

A few hours later in the relative safety of his office, Lou reads over the report compiled by his people. One of the men shot down by the deviant is, thankfully, alive and recovering, but the other had drowned in the swimming pool long before they were able to do anything. He told the others to go home first, giving them enough time to digest what the fuck just happened in the penthouse, but stayed in the precinct himself just to - just to go home with everything settled. Leaving a job unfinished always makes him anxious and unable to relax at home, especially when people die under his watch, and the numb calmness of the recipient of the call - the man’s fiancé, if Lou remembers correctly - chased away what remaining sleep he is going to have for the night.

And the face. The person who came to collect Connor’s bullet-riddled body. The flickering skin above black metallic plates brushing against his armoured thigh where his cybernetics acted up from his little magic stunt. He never thought he would see them again, but well - he’s not a prophet, no fucking he is not. No more sleep for him tonight.

That is when he notices a line near the end of the report. Android took Officer Antony Deckart’s service weapon and violated P.L. 544-7 American Androids Act. Request to tighten programming to prevent further incidents, it writes, and it makes him think of the other house he has that he’s been letting… people use as a safehouse. Switching tabs, he examines the footage from the hostage situation once more. Connor had, indeed, taken the gun and even admitted to it when questioned by the deviant, but it only served to gain its trust when he threw it away. He broke protocol only to accomplish his mission, and in the end no one was harmed except for the deviant who had killed two officers. And Connor himself.

It is a tricky scenario, yes, but Lou can do tricky. Connor was just doing what he was supposed to, right?

He highlights the segment and deletes it. He deletes the previous versions of the file as well just in case CyberLife are thorough bastards, and whoever made him, Connor seemed… like an asset. Lou would hate to see all the effort go to waste.

I better not regret this.

o0o0o

As much as Lou wants to stay in bed and sleep with a cat on his chest, debriefing is still something he must do, so the next morning he finds himself facing a bunch of rebellious SWAT members who are too curious about the negotiator they didn’t manage to properly meet yesterday night.

‘That was his trial. Nothing more, nothing less. The android proved himself to be useful under situations like this. That’s all I need to say,’ he repeats for the umpteenth time. ‘I don’t think we’ll have any more missions with him, so stop asking questions. You won’t need them anyway.’

‘It was plastered all over the news, Captain,’ the newest addition to the team - Shum - says. ‘It’s CyberLife’s newest prototype created by Ryder himself. You can’t fault us for wanting to know more.’

Jim smacks her on the back of her head. ‘Led by Ryder, yes, but you can’t build an android like that alone, Shum.’

Not with the current staff CyberLife has, Lou says to himself. But he saw her. He knows. ‘Alec Ryder isn’t capable of this shit.’

‘Who else can it be, then?’ someone else - Nelson, if he remembers correctly - asks.

‘I don’t know.’ How can they have such short-term memories? ‘There’s one other Ryder on the table and she’s supposed to be dead.’

‘Wait, you mean Sara Ryder? As in the guy who got kicked out ten years ago?’

Lou gives them his best ‘who else can it be?’ look, and it is what successfully shuts everyone up.

What game are you playing this time, Ryder?

#dbh au big bang #female ryder #male ryder #dbh connor #dbh captain allen #detroit: become human #mass effect andromeda #groom lake aftermath

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ubernoxa · 4 years

Text

The Token: A Guns N’ Roses Fanfiction

Chapter 7: Cousin Kendal

Masterlist

Story Summary: Story inspired by the movie She’s the Man. A female Duff is tired of dealing with the bullshit of trying to make it on the strip as a female bassist. In a desperate attempt to make it big doing what she does, she cuts her hair and mascardes as Duff. What’s the wors that could happen?

Chapter Summary: Cousin Kendal comes to town causing several problems and hiccups in Michelle’s plan

Taglist: @viralwolf02 @littlemisscare-all @smokeandmirrorz @aratbaby @slashscowboyboots @achiweyow

“So what did you do last night? Have any fun?” Derek quizzed as I was wiping down the display cases in between rushes.

“Went out with Walter and Macy, and it was...interesting. Went to a couple bars that had okay music. Nothing I won’t forget in a couple weeks though. How about you?,” I shrugged back. The bar hopping part of the night might have been my idea to get away from a certain group of people.

I continued to listen to Derek as he talked about the girl he met last month and was still going out with. He kept going on and on about how cute and sweet she was, making my heart warm. Yeah I was quickly growing tired of his constant praise or borderline obsession over his girlfriend, but I was glad at least one of us had a healthy relationship, hell a relationship in general. The best word to describe my relationship status was nonexistent. I froze for a second as an unfamiliar figure stared back at me. I remained frozen staring at my own reflection. I hadn't noticed it at first, but Michelle the brunette bassist who worked at a coffee shop seemed to be slowly turning into a stranger. A mask I would put only only when needed.

“ I hope my father hasn't been working you too hard,” my heart stopped at the familiar voice that came from behind me.

“No Kendal, but just enough to keep me out of trouble,” I quickly turned around and sent the familiar face a smile, except she wasn’t as familiar as I had expected her to look. It wasn’t her hair, her clothing, or her makeup that was different, but something was. She quickly pulled me into a hug before letting go of me and placing her hand under my chin.

“Did you grow? You have to at least be part giraffe by how tall you’re getting!” She quizzed as I felt her look me up and down

“Giraffe? I’m not even 5’ 10”!” I teased back.

“Ohh there is my college girl,” I turned to see my uncle running out of the back office to give his daughter a large bear hug. It was nice to see them back together after the six months that had passed. I sent them both a warm smile before returning back to work.

“What major is she this week?” I had to hold in a snort at Derek’s comment. He had many options about Kendal, and a majority, arguable all, of them weren’t good.

“Hey now, do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life? It is both a scary and hard choice!” I whispered back. Kendal had tried marketing, accounting, journalism, typography, design, and now she was sitting in general business management.

He shrugged and joined me in washing the dishes.

“What would you do?” As he shot up from organizing the pastries, it was clear that my question had caught him off guard.

“What?”

“I said, what would you do if you had the money to go to school?” I repeated.

He shrugged before returning back to the pastries, after a couple of seconds I heard him reply, “I would go to culinary school. Once I got the degree I would head to New York and never look back,” I felt a sense of comfort flow through me as he talked.

“I have always heard that New York has the best dining. Unless it is deep dish pizza, that belongs to Chicago,” I smiled back earning a nod from him.

“Yeah I would become an apprentice or some shit like that and save up enough money until I could own my own local restaurant. It may take 10 or 15 years, but when I have it….ohh god when I get it I will name it after my dad and have his sausage stew as a permanent item I will do anything to get there. Hell, I got one more year before I can start affording to go to college part time. I have and will do whatever it takes,” he added.

“Let me know when you open because I will be the first in line. I will camp out a week before your open if that's what it takes!” I smiled back, his face quickly mimicking my own.

“Are you really going to have time to? You are going to be a world famous rockstar! That's still the dream right?” he asked back, his attention no longer on organizing the pastries.

“Yeah, and I think I might have actually found the right band too! We sound unique and the songs we play aren't the ones you would forget a week later.”

“I am glad that you are finally back on your feet after your last band...what was is Pyxie or some shit like that?”

“Yeah..forget those bitches! They didn't have what it takes!”

“And you do?”

“Yeah..I gotta” I smiled back at him. These were the moments that made me love my job. These were the moments I wish he didn’t have a girlfriend.

“You gotta what?” I immediately snapped up at Kendal’s question.

“She has gotta have what it takes to make it as a rockstar!” Derek bragged as if I was his kid who just won the spelling bee. Which would never happen because I couldn’t and still can’t spell for shit.

“She has to have what it takes,” Derek rolled his eyes when Kendal corrected his grammar. Kendal had many quirks and Derek could not tolerate any of them.

I watched Derek like a hawk as he tried to calm himself down. Luckily for all parties involved he was successful.

“Your band is called Pyxie right?” She quickly asked and immediately apologized when she saw my reaction.

“They were my old band, and they were more interested in sex than the music...so I left and found a new one,” I received a confused look from Derek as I spoke. Using the term left was putting my departure from PYXIE lightly, but that is the beauty of telling the story. I get to tell it my way.

“Ohh sorry to hear, but sounds like you made the smart educated decision by leaving the band. What is your new band called? Can I come see you perform soon?” She was radiating excitement as she spoke.

“We don’t have a name yet, but whenever we have our next gig I will invite you and send you pictures!” The lies easily rolled off of my tongue as I spoke

“Good to hear that you found another band!” I wish I could punch Izzy in the gut when he invited himself into the conversation. How had I not seen him walk in?

“Kendal, I’m Michelle’s cousin. Are you her bandmates?” Izzy tried to hide the smile that was growing on his face, but he failed.

“No, Axl by the way” I rolled my eyes as Kendal swooned over Axl, just like every other girl he encountered.

“If you are looking to see some music tonight, or band has a gig,” I immediately stared Izzy down as he spoke.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IZZY STRADLIN.

“Oh Shelley and I would love to go,” I never broke eye contact with Izzy as Kendal spoke. I watched as a smirk grew on his face when Kendal slipped and called me my nickname from when I was 10.

“Sorry I can’t go,” I didn’t even fake a saddened tone as I spoke.

“Are you working late?” Axl’s tone was smooth as he spoke

“No, band practice,” I shrugged before Kendal could make a comment offering to get me the night off which would only cause my lie to fall apart and everything spiral out of control.

“What band? You singing or playing guitar?” Axl seemed genuinely curious which threw me for a loop.

“Bass, and name coming soon,” I quickly replied.

“Would I know anyone in this band?” I shot Izzy another death glare as he quizzed me. I wanted to slap his smirk off of his stupid face.

“No….but like I said I won’t be able to make it,” I never broke eye contact with the black haired dick as I spoke. Why? Why was he digging? He knew I was Duff. By the look on his face I could tell he was enjoying this.

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

I started to apply my eyeliner when I heard him walk in.

“Thought you had band practice,” I heard him tease as he leaned against the wall right against the mirror I was using. I could barely focus on applying my eyeliner as he leaned against the wall smoking a cigarette. His purple blouse was unbuttoned all the way and tied at the bottom reminding me of the night that was a little over a month ago. Fuck he looked hot.

“Do you need help teasing your hair?” I raised a brow, but before I could say anything he grabbed a brush and began teasing it to the heavens. He was gently which was actually quite surprising.

“Take a picture, it will last longer,” I remained frozen while Izzy spoke as I stared in his reflection in the mirror. My mind raced around in a circle trying to figure out his game, but I couldn’t think of any reason.Was this some sort of apology?

I decided to close my eyes, and relax. We were going to perform soon, so overthinking would only make the nerves that I always get from performing worsen.

I froze as I felt a moan escape my lips. My eyes shot open and I watched Izzy continue as if nothing happened. I tried to calm my breath as he continued teasing my hair, but another moan soon escaped my lips and that is when I saw it. A smirk had grown on his lips as he repeated to tease the same spot earning another moan. This bastard was doing it on purpose.

“Ohh baby you’re so hot when you moan like that,” I then felt him kiss the crook of my neck.

“Her cousin called her Shelley,” the moment I heard Axl’s voice, Izzy went back to finishing my hair.

“You fuckers ready to kill it tonight?” Slash shouted earning a fuck yeah from the two of us.

“Duff, did you know that Michelle used to go by Shelley? Isn’t that cute? It reminds me of a stripper or dancer” Axl asked before grabbing a beer.

I shrugged looking back at him before replying, “Doesn’t really fit her. Doesn’t look like a Shelley.”

“Did you see how she reacted when her cousin said it? I’m definitely going to be calling her that from now on,” Axl’s laughter echoed backstage which was quickly joined by the rest of my band excluding me.

“Is she seeing anyone? If not, I am definitely going to find her after this gig,” Slash smiled before taking another sip of whatever the fuck he was drinking.

“Well she will be here after the show right?” Izzy turned to me as he spoke.

“No, Derek, the guy who works with her at the coffee shop asked her out on a date tonight, so neither of them will be at the show,” I shrugged back and excused myself to go get another beer.

It had taken 20 minutes of me begging and pleading with Derek for him to ask her out. I used the excuse that I hated the Indiana boys’ guts which took him a lot of convincing. Eventually he caved when I offered to cover a shift for him next weekend. He asked Kendall on a fake date, and that was the end of that problem. At least that is what I thought until I saw Derek and Kendal in the crowd.

I waited at the bar and in an instant I knew that I was fucked. Standing only a few feet away from me was Derek and Kendal. I watched as he came over and his eyes caught mine while a flash of recognition crossed his face. I motioned for him to follow me, and he quickly made some excuse to Kendal.

We stood alone in the ally as I watched him try to find his words. For the first couple of seconds we stood in silence.

“Okay, what the actual fuck is going on? Why are you dressed as a guy? Is this your new band? Last and certainly not least who the fuck is Duff,” I sighed as Derek growled at me.

“Long story short, I got sick and tired of dealing with the bull shit of trying to make it on the strip as a chick, so one day I dressed as a guy for an audition and...boom Duff was born. I am running out of options Derek. Whatever it takes. That’s what you said only a couple of hours ago. You said that you would do whatever is takes to Make your dream come true. Well that’s what I’m doing here,” Derek remained silent as I spoke.

The seconds that it took for him to respond felt like hours. “I guess that explains the wig situation, why you really wanted me to ask out your cousin, along with why you were being nice to Axl and Izzy. Two people who you despised a couple months ago,” He ran his hands through his hair as he spoke. I could tell he was trying not to freak out.

I watched as he shook his head in shock. “How long do you plan on keeping up on this charade? Does anyone else know? Do you have a plan?”

“Once I get my record deal,yes, and my plan is to not fuck this up. But before you continue to judge me, put yourself in my shoes. I’m on borrowed time Derek. Please get my cousin out of here because she can’t find out. She just can’t,” I said before leaving him to go join my band backstage.

“Whoa Duff you okay?” I tuned to Steven as his voice caught my attention.

“Yeah, just a bit nervous,” I shrugged back.

He poured a pair of shots and we took them together.

“Alright boys, let’s show them what the fuck rock and roll is,” Axl shouted before we went on stage.

It was the last song in our encore.

The last note where Axl was screaming to the heavens.

That’s when Kendal and I made eye contact.

That’s when I saw recognition cross her face.

I watched as the smile fell from her face and she immediately shoved her way through the crowd.

Fuck.

She knew.

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stephissalty · 4 years

Text

no chance too high

Pairing: Iwaoi

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Words: 4900

Notes: this is the first thing i’ve written in like 3 years. idk what i think about it, but it exists

Summary: "The chance was too high, and Iwaizumi wasn’t willing to risk what he had at stake - which was his everything." Iwaizumi had a bad feeling when Oikawa roped him into being an RA with him.

AO3

no chance too high

The night before his high school graduation, Iwaizumi made a vow to himself that he’d confess after graduation.

Oikawa had just gone home after an evening of hanging out at Iwaizumi’s house, and Iwaizumi’s chest ached when he thought about the way his friend had looked at him when they’d walked home from getting ice cream. That look had given him just the slightest bit of hope that maybe - maybe - after all of these years, his feelings might not be unreturned.

But hope was a dangerous thing when a friendship was on the line.

And five years was a very long time to hold an unrequited crush.

As soon as the graduates were released, Oikawa immediately found Iwaizumi, and wrapped him in a rib-crushing hug. Iwaizumi hugged him just as tightly, dropping his head onto Oikawa’s shoulder. “We did it, Iwa-chan.” He sounded breathless, and his eyes were big and brimming with tears as he pulled back. Then, he grabbed Iwaizumi’s wrist and tugged him toward where their families were making their way towards them.

Their families took them out to dinner at Oikawa's favourite restaurant. Afterwards, they found themselves sitting in the grass on the hillside of a nearby park, deserted save for the two of them. The sun had long since gone down - dinner took a long time - and they were seated close enough that Iwaizumi could feel heat from Oikawa’s arm.

Oikawa sighed and smiled. The sight of Oikawa’s true, happy, genuine smile made Iwaizumi’s chest bloom with a familiar warm feeling, so much that he felt a heavy feeling at the base of his throat like he might cry. “I’m proud of you, Iwa-chan. I’m proud of us. ”

Iwaizumi smiled and met his friend’s eyes, vision blurring slightly. Weak . “I’m proud of us, too.”

Oikawa reached out and caught the first of Iwaizumi’s silent tears as they fell. His thumb lingered for just the slightest second on his cheek. Then, he carefully grabbed Iwaizumi’s hand from where it was gripping his knee and laced their fingers together, squeezing slightly. The action was so sweet, so delicate, so romantic that Iwaizumi thought he might combust.

Iwaizumi’s heart hammered in his chest as his eyes widened, darting back and forth between their linked hands and Oikawa’s genuine, kind, amazing, beautiful face. Oikawa’s eyes almost seemed to be telling him it’s okay, tell me, and he’d nearly convinced himself, was about to open his mouth, was finally going to tell him when -

“Thank you for everything, Iwa-chan. You’re my best friend, and I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Best friend.

Friend.

It was the slap in the face that Iwaizumi needed to get out of his delusions that his clearly sleep-deprived brain was dreaming up. Oikawa wasn’t being romantic; he was being friendly - because he was Oikawa.

And anyways, the chance that he’d be rejected was too high. He couldn’t take the chance of losing the best thing in his life over a stupid, ridiculous, stubborn crush. If his feelings weren’t returned, that’d be awkward and it’d be weird for Oikawa to be around Iwaizumi. And worse, if his feelings were returned, and the relationship went badly, they’d no doubt have to cut off all contact because staying friends after a breakup is hard.

And losing Oikawa wasn’t an option.

“You’re my best friend, too,” he choked out, his chest feeling heavy and his throat constricting.

The chance was too high, and Iwaizumi wasn’t willing to risk what he had at stake - which was his everything.

A year and three months passed.

The second year into his marketing degree, Oikawa decided he wanted to be a resident assistant. He decided it on a whim, so whenever Iwaizumi asked why he was doing this, Oikawa would brush him off and tell him to ask himself from eight months ago.

Regardless, he’d managed to rope Iwaizumi in on this whim and convinced him to also apply to be an RA - a decision that, on move-in day, Iwaizumi was already beginning to regret. By some miracle of fate (and probably some flirting on Oikawa’s part, he presumed), the two of them had been approved as RA’s and were assigned to opposite sides of the same floor. As RA’s of an honors living learning community, they were required by the housing committee to plan a certain number of joint programs together themed around various different topics and design bulletin boards every month, and just thinking about the hell he’d allowed Oikawa to sign them up for was giving Iwaizumi a headache.

“Oi, Shittykawa, help me move this box,” Iwaizumi shouted down the long hallway. Oikawa jogged down the mostly deserted hallway - as RA’s, they moved in a few days prior to their residents. “Is it too late to back out of this?”

“Yup,” Oikawa quipped happily as he grabbed the opposite side of the box Iwaizumi was attempting to carry to his room.

“Damn.”

The two slowly moved their belongings into their respective rooms, the feeling eerily similar to move-in day of their first year of university.

After Iwaizumi had finished putting all of his belongings away, he made his way down to Oikawa’s room, where his best friend was seated on the floor in the middle of the room, organizing photos on a cork board to be hung above his bed. “Oh, Iwa-chan! Where should this photo of us go? Upper left or middle?”

He regarded the cork board, noticing how it was filled entirely with pictures of only the two of them or just Iwaizumi. He spotted the picture Oikawa’s mother had taken of them at graduation, Oikawa leaning his weight over Iwaizumi’s left shoulder, head thrown back as he laughed at something, while Iwaizumi looked at his friend with a grin of his own. That was one of his favorite pictures of the two of them. There were also countless photos of the two of them in their volleyball jerseys, smiling after winning a game, holding trophies after winning a tournament, action shots as Iwaizumi spiked a ball Oikawa had set to him. There were a few pictures of them at parties together, Oikawa’s eyes slightly hazy as he had his arm slung around Iwaizumi’s shoulders, a drink in his other hand. Another photo was a candid photo of Iwaizumi - first year, it looked like - doing homework with a sly smile on his face, likely because Oikawa had just done something dumb. The board was a physical representation of their friendship over the last six years, though they’d known each other for far longer.

The photo in question had been taken last month. It was dark, taken at night. Oikawa had insisted that they go downtown to watch fireworks, which turned into a whole night out. The selfie, taken by Oikawa, Iwaizumi behind his shoulder, was slightly blurry, likely due to Oikawa laughing at something. In the photo, indeed, he was laughing as he looked somewhere in the distance at the fireworks, face illuminated by a light pink. Behind him, Iwaizumi wasn’t looking at the same point as Oikawa, wasn’t watching the fireworks at all. No, Iwaizumi was gazing softly - almost lovingly at Oikawa.

His chest constricted as he surveyed the whole board again and said, “Middle.”

“That’s what I thought! Thanks, Iwa-chan!” He stabbed the photo with a clear pushpin just above Iwaizumi’s head and stood to hang the board on the wall. “Where do you wanna go for dinner?”

"I don’t wanna go too far,” he mused. “Pandacanes maybe?”

Oikawa made a noise of affirmation and headed towards the door, dragging Iwaizumi along. It was the first time in a while that they didn’t have to bicker about you choose, no you choose where to eat.

The two chattered mindlessly about nothing as they made the walk towards Pandacanes. Oikawa suggested that they could see Hanamaki and Matsukawa the next day - they were living off campus in an apartment together - to which Iwaizumi hummed his approval. Conversation then shifted to their classes for this year - for Oikawa, his third year marketing classes would be getting harder than they’d been before, but would be nothing compared to Iwaizumi’s upcoming engineering classes. An ongoing debate between the two of them was STEM Major vs Business Major - so far, Iwaizumi was winning by a long shot, and he never let Oikawa live it down.

After ordering, they sat at a table in the far corner of the large room, and Oikawa pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. “Have you thought any about what you’re doing for your first program?” Iwaizumi shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Okay, me neither.” Oikawa unfolded the paper and pushed it towards the other. “So obviously you’ve seen this -” No, he hadn’t. “- and you know that we have to have a program within the first week to get to know our residents.” Yes. “And put up a bulletin board about getting to know each other or not killing your roommate or something like that.” Okay. “So I was thinking that we could do a joint social program and check off one of the three social programs and one of the five joint programs right off the bat. We could do like a game night or a movie night in the common room? What do you think?”

Iwaizumi hummed. “Sure.” Frankly, he couldn’t care less, and this whole RA thing seemed like it was a pain in the ass - but it was what Oikawa wanted, and thus, he would do it. That was just how things turned out. He did things to keep his best friend happy even though he didn’t really want to, ended up having a little bit of fun, and Oikawa stayed happy. “I don’t want to do the first floor meeting by myself. Can we do that jointed?”

“Mhmm. We can make the double floor meeting -” Iwaizumi tuned out his friend’s voice as he skimmed over the paper. All of the responsibilities on it made him want to be sick, but he’d do it to keep Oikawa happy. He didn’t think too hard on any meaning behind that - he never did.

Their residents moved in three days later. At nine, Iwaizumi made his way over to Oikawa’s room, pounding on the door. “Lazykawa, wake up!”

While he was waiting to be let in (he heard some disgruntled moaning and stumbling around inside), a voice came from behind him, “Are you an RA?”

Startled, he jumped and quickly spun to face the voice. “Uh - yeah, I am. I’m the third floor east RA.” The person who’d spoken to him was a few inches taller than he was and stood stiffly. Iwaizumi also distantly noted that his hair happened to resemble the shape of a turnip. “How can I help you?”

“I’m Kindaichi Yutaro. My parents asked me to go find my RA and introduce myself. I’m in room 308,” Kindaichi said, stumbling slightly over his words.

“You’re on the west side, so Oikawa’s going to be your RA. I was actually coming over to find h -”

The door swung open, revealing Oikawa dressed in only a pair of volleyball shorts. “Iwa-chan!” Realization slowly dawned on his beautiful face.

Iwaizumi glared. “Oikawa, this is Kindaichi-kun, one of your residents,” he gritted.

At least Oikawa had the decency to look embarrassed. “Hi, Kindaichi-kun! I’m Oikawa Tooru.”

Kindaichi averted his eyes from Oikawa and his bare torso. “Nice to meet you, Oikawa-san.” He then turned tail and ran back towards his room.

“Don’t forget the floor meeting tonight at seven!” Oikawa called before Iwaizumi harshly shoved him back into his room, slamming the door behind them.

“Dumbass.” Iwaizumi launched himself onto Oikawa’s unmade bed as the other rifled through his closet to find a shirt. “We should go into the common room and introduce ourselves to our residents as they move in. And not embarrass them. That poor kid was traumatized. Look what you did, Trashkawa.”

“Hey! I thought it was just Iwa-chan!” he pouted.

“It was just me. And then the kid was there. Get your act together. We have things we need to do.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Iwaizumi glared again, harsher this time.

“Sorry, sorry, I won’t do it again!” Oikawa pulled down his shorts to change into a pair of black ripped jeans. Iwaizumi averted his eyes. Not weird not weird not weird. He doesn’t find it weird; it’s fine. “How do I look?”

Oikawa looked great . The jeans - great. The grey short-sleeved button-down he had tucked in - great. The black converse - great. The face - great - wait.

“Like an asshole.”

“Do I look like someone you want to be friends with?”

“I don’t get a choice, Assikawa.” He jumped off the bed, gripped Oikawa’s sleeve, and dragged him towards the exit. “C’mon.”

“Okay, Bossy-chan.”

They sat in the common room on the couch, watching Black Panther for the millionth time, as their residents moved in. Their upper bodies weren’t touching, but their legs were tangled together on the circular table in the center of the L-shaped couch.

“What’re you watching?”

Oikawa, from where he sat in the corner spot of the couch, leaned his head over the back of the couch so he could see the hallway adjacent to the common room. Iwaizumi dragged his eyes away from Oikawa’s exposed neck and to the person who’d spoken.

Two boys, starkly different in every way possible stood next to the bench that separated the common room from the hallway. The first - the one who’d spoken, he presumed - was significantly shorter than average and was practically vibrating with energy. He had wide, excited eyes and a wild head of orange hair. The other, in a stark contrast, was fairly tall - somewhere between his own and Oikawa’s heights - and stood so still that he might be mistaken for a statue. A wicked scowl and frightening glare covered his facial features, and he had straight, black hair.

“Ooh, who’re you two? Why don’t you smile, Grumpy-chan, like your friend Shrimpy-chan, here?”

The taller growled and started to respond something that was sure to be a scathing comeback, but Iwaizumi sighed and drove a brutally hard hand into Oikawa’s ribs, causing him to yelp. “Apologize, Shittykawa.”

“Sorry, sorry, Iwa-chan.”

“Not to me.” He glared even more. “I’m sorry for Oikawa. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa mumbled solemnly. Then, in a whiplash-inducing change of attitude, he asked, “What are your names?”

The bright-eyed one responded, “I’m Hinata Shoyo, and this is -”

“I can answer for myself, dumbass,” the other cut him off. “I’m Kageyama Tobio. We’re in room 347.”

Iwaizumi quickly answered before Oikawa could say anything to further annoy Kageyama. “It’s nice to meet you boys. I’m Iwaizumi, and I’ll be your RA on east side. And this asshole -” he hits Oikawa on the back of the head a little harder than necessary “- is Oikawa, the RA for west side. If you need anything, my room’s a straight shot down the hall, and his is down the opposite side.”

“Thanks, Iwaizumi-san, Oikawa-san,” Hinata said quickly, smiling brilliantly.

“We’re watching Black Panther if you’d like to join,” Oikawa offered.

As Hinata was about to agree, Kageyama glared harshly and mumbled something about needing to finish unpacking before grabbing Hinata by his collar, thanking them half-heartedly, and storming out of the room.

They’re quiet for a moment.

“What do you make of that?” Iwaizumi asked.

“They were in awe of my strikingly handsome good looks and couldn’t stand to be in the room with me any longer.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and lightly hit Oikawa over the head, no real anger behind it. “Of course that’s your answer.” He couldn’t keep the fondness from his voice. It goes to his benefit that, luckily, Oikawa may be incredibly perceptive, but that perception does not apply to manners that involve himself.

That’s probably the only reason why he’s managed to go nearly seven long years of having a crush on Oikawa without the other finding out. At this point, he should just be honest with himself and admit that it surpassed being just a crush about eight years back, but that sounds like a scary admission that Iwaizumi isn’t willing - isn’t able - to make.

“So mean, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa whined, shifting closer on the couch to Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi tried to suppress his sudden inhale at the proximity - their arms and thighs were now lightly pressed together, Oikawa leaning slightly against Iwaizumi. “And look, we just missed the best part!” Then, he leaned his head onto Iwaizumi’s shoulder and got into a more comfortable position to watch the rest of the movie.

Iwaizumi should really be one hundred percent, undeniably immune to all of Oikawa’s touchy tendencies after all this time. After all, for how many years had this been their default movie-watching position? How many times had they shared a bed? How often did Oikawa drape himself over Iwaizumi for no better reason than that he felt like it? Regardless, all of Oikawa’s physical whims still affected him almost as much as they did when they were in junior high.

There were times when he could forget about his stupid crush.

And then there were times when Oikawa did this and it suddenly became really damn hard to keep his hands to himself. But alas, from years of trained self-control, he prevailed.

The rest of the afternoon passed fairly uneventfully.

That evening, they held their required floor meeting for their new residents. The two of them sat on opposite sides of the table underneath the TV mounted on one wall of the common room. Iwaizumi fiddled with the HDMI cord and set up the PowerPoint they’d made for the meeting.

Once the room was filled with all of their residents - all hundred or so total of them, Iwaizumi thought with a shudder - they started the meeting. Iwaizumi let Oikawa do most of the talking - if the bastard roped him into this bullshit, he’d take the bulk of the work, goddammit. The beginning was fairly standard - Housing Policies, curfew, campus rules, alcohol policy, visitation policy, et cetera.

Then they moved onto the biographical slides they’d decided to make for whatever reason - Oikawa’s idea, again.

Oikawa skimmed over the slide Iwaizumi prepared for him - the rule was that they weren’t allowed to see the slides ahead of time. There’s nothing strange on the slide - his name at the top, his major, his high school, his sport, favourite food, favourite color, and a fun fact “alien nerd”. He put a few nice photos of Oikawa - an action shot from a game of him setting a ball for Iwaizumi, who was just out of shot, a picture Iwaizumi had taken during finals week last semester with Oikawa smiling cheekily and flashing a peace sign, and one of the two of them from winter break when they’d gone snowboarding. Nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’m Oikawa Tooru, and I’m the RA for west side. I’m a marketing major, second year. During high school, I played volleyball - setter - and Iwa-chan over here -”

“Goddammit, Shittykawa, don’t call me that!” Iwaizumi hit him over the head with the attendance clipboard, which had made its way back to him.

“- Iwaizumi was wing spiker and ace, if any of you are volleyball players.” He rattled off a few more facts that were on the slides, glazing over the alien nerd fact, regardless of how true it was, and adding a few more random facts. “We’ve been friends since elementary. Speaking of, Iwa-chan, that’s about all I’ve got, so I believe it’s your turn.” He flashed a dazzling, shit-eating grin, eyes sparkling in such a way that Iwaizumi knew that Oikawa knew exactly how much he was pissing him off right now.

He suppressed a growl and flipped the slide and found himself shocked at the amount of stuff on it. It was basically a biography in and of itself. Oikawa had changed the background to the color of their high school’s primary color - a choice that complemented the number of action shots of Iwaizumi spiking, serving, and receiving that dotted the screen. The page had him outlined down to his birthday. He shook his head and looked away from the slide.

“I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, aerospace engineering major, second year. I’m the RA for east side, but it’s my full-time job to keep this asshole in line, so don’t mind him,” he smirked and jabbed a thumb at Oikawa.

“Mean, Iwa-chan!”

He hit Oikawa again. “It’s my turn now, shh.” He turned back to the common room, half of which had their mouths open in awe, the other half of which was trying to hide their laughter. “Like Oikawa said, we played volleyball together in high school. We both play recreationally when we get a chance.” He regarded the slide. “According to Oikawa, I have a Gemini moon, which is a questionable fact that I didn’t know about myself. Where the hell did you find that?” Oikawa shrugged carelessly. Iwaizumi regarded him for a second before continuing on just as Oikawa had, listing off facts about himself.

“Do you guys have any questions for us?” Oikawa asked when he was sure Iwaizumi had finished.

Hinata, who was sitting on the couch in Kageyama’s lap, started to ask a question. “Are you guys d -”

“Stop it, dumbass,” Kageyama snapped, effectively cutting him off. He then quickly apologized to the RA’s.

Iwaizumi swallowed. He knew what question it was, and he didn’t want to hear Oikawa’s answer out loud. His heart probably couldn’t take it.

As Iwaizumi was going to swiftly move on, Oikawa said, “No, it’s fine, what was your question?” Iwaizumi stiffened. Surely Oikawa wasn’t that oblivious.

A faint blush on his cheeks, Hinata asked, “Are you guys dating?”

Oikawa laughed, but it was his bright, high, fake laugh he had only to keep up his image. “Iwa-chan wishes,” he joked, jostling Iwaizumi roughly. “No, we’re not together. Any other questions?”

Iwaizumi heard ringing in his ears as another resident asked a question that Oikawa quickly answered, following on that way for another few minutes. He heard his heartbeat in his ears, his heart in his throat. He couldn’t force his eyes to focus on anything.

It hurt, even though he knew it was coming.

Iwa-chan wishes.

Oh, how dearly he did.

Oh, how dearly he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs how much pain Oikawa put him through and how scared he was of ruining everything by slipping up one day. But he couldn’t do that, couldn’t hurt Oikawa, couldn’t risk their friendship. He’d lay down on the runway in front of a plane ready to take off, wheels set to cut him in half, before he took the chance that would ruin his everything. His friendship with Oikawa meant the world to him, and if he didn’t have that, he didn’t have anything.

He didn’t speak for the rest of the meeting, just sat there in a daze as Oikawa was in his element. Eventually, most of the residents dispersed back to their rooms as Oikawa left them with the reminder about their program over the weekend.

The only residents remaining were Kindaichi and Kindaichi’s roommate, Kunimi, Hinata and Kageyama, and one other pair of roommates, Kuroo and Kenma. Oikawa set up the movie that they’d promised they’d show for anyone who wanted to hang around. All three roommate pairs shifted around the room to be more comfortable. Kageyama sat in the corner of the couch with Hinata on his lap, Kuroo and Kenma sat at one end of the couch, leaned against each other, and Kindaichi and Kunimi were in two separate chairs, an even foot apart.

Oikawa pressed play on the movie and tapped Iwaizumi’s forearm. “Iwa-chan, come on, let’s sit and watch the movie.” There was obvious concern on his face, but Iwaizumi hardened his expression and swallowed.

“I think I’m going to head back to my room. Bring back my laptop when you’re done with it.” Without giving Oikawa any room to argue, he started walking towards his room. He knew that his friend was probably standing there, confused and a little sad, but he didn’t care. He was hurt and a lot sad and he wanted to be alone.

He was about to curl into a ball on his bed when there’s a double staccato knock at his door. “Iwa-chan, open up.” Iwaizumi debated pretending like he didn’t hear the knock at all, but he knew how persistent Oikawa was. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but let me help.”

Iwaizumi slowly opened the door and mumbled, “Go back to the movie. Socialize and bond with our residents.” He never took his eyes off the floor.

“No, you’re my best friend, and you’re upset about something.”

“Go, Oikawa.”

“No.”

Iwaizumi snapped his head up, a slight bit of anger bubbling to the surface. He just wanted to mope in silence. “Oikawa, goddammit, let me be!”

Down the hall, a door opened, and a head popped out, looking their way questioningly - a clear sign that they were being too loud.

“Iwa-chan, let me in, and we’ll talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, least of all with you! ” Iwaizumi shouted, but still allowed Oikawa to step into his room, where Oikawa launched himself onto the bed.

“But why, Iwa-chan? Why won’t you talk to me about it? I’m your best friend.”

Seven years of pretending, of hiding, of lying, finally, finally caught up with him. He snapped. “Because it’s about you! You’re the one who’s hurting me, Oikawa, and you don’t see it.”

Oikawa froze. “How can I stop hurting you if I don’t know what I’m doing?” he asked slowly, choosing his words carefully.

Iwaizumi groaned and grabbed at his neck in anxiety. “It’s not that simple! I can’t ruin the best thing in my life because I’m weak and can’t get over my own shit!” Oikawa stared at him silently. Iwaizumi wasn’t ready, he knew that. But… “Oikawa… I can’t. If I tell you, it’s going to ruin our friendship, and…” he choked up, tears filling his eyes. “I can’t lose you.”

Oikawa inhaled and exhaled. Again. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but there’s quite literally nothing you could do to get rid of me, Hajime.”

“You say that… but you don’t know .” His words are choked.

“Look, you’re my best friend, and you’re not going to get rid of me that easily. You can tell me.”

Best friend.

Friend.

“And that’s all I’ll ever be,” he mumbled sadly, the last of his walls breaking down at two small words. “Tooru, all I’ll ever be to you is your best friend, and I… I can’t stand it.” Oikawa still looked confused, but he saw the slightest bit of realization in his dark eyes. “That’s what’s killing me. For years, Tooru.” Now or never. “I’m in love with you, and you don’t feel the same, and I’ll only ever be a friend to you, and I’ve just ruined our friendship, and I’m sorry , okay? I love you, Tooru, and it’s eating me up, and I don’t know what to do.”

Oikawa was silent, his mouth dropped open in awe. “H-how long?”

Iwaizumi looked down in shame. “Seven years.”

“Hajime.” There was a finger on his chin, gently urging him to look up. “I love you, too.”

Iwaizumi ripped his head away from the gentle finger. “You don’t understand!” he roared, frustration at an all-time high. Of course Oikawa loved him, but it’s different, and there’s no possible way that Oikawa is that dense -

“Rephrase time, then,” Oikawa said and took two fingers and a thumb to force Iwaizumi to look at him this time. “I’m in love with you, too, and I’m going to kiss you now.”

Iwaizumi’s heart had been through so much already. It felt like it may actually burst into a million pieces when Oikawa’s lips touched his own in a soft, chaste kiss. Oikawa’s hand on his cheek, other hand on his thigh, lips on his - Iwaizumi couldn’t keep up. But it’s amazing. It’s everything that Iwaizumi waited all these years for. It almost - almost - makes all of the pain he’d been through worth it.

Oikawa pulled back slowly, his eyes fluttering open. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes, but -”

“No buts!” Oikawa punctuates it with a quick peck to the corner of his mouth. “I love you, Iwa-chan, and I can’t take back the hurt I’ve caused you, but I can try to make it up to you in the future. Will you be my boyfriend?”

“Yes, but -”

“Yay!”

“Oikawa.”

To: 3rd Floor Residents, Staff

Cc: Iwaizumi Hajime

From: Oikawa Tooru

Subject: FAQ Correction

Dear Residents,

I’d like to make a clarification to a question that was asked at the floor meeting this evening. Iwa-chan and I are, in fact, dating. Hands off, Iwa-chan is mine! <3

Happy studying!

Oikawa

PS - Iwa-chan said that I need to put in here that he doesn’t consent to being called Iwa-chan and that it’s only acceptable when it’s from me ;P

#my writing #haikyuu!!#iwaoi #iwaizumi hajime #oikawa tooru #hq #hq fanfic #haikyuu!! fanfic #iwaizumi x oikawa #kageyama tobio #hinata shoyo #kindaichi yuutarou #ao3 #college au #they're ra's

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fandom-necromancer · 5 years

Text

651. You love me as if I deserve you.

This is a bit long for my usual shorts but I guess it is kinda slow-burn so it needs time? Anyways, this had been prompted by the amazing @smolandangry001!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900

‘Tina? Sorry to say that, but you look horrible.’ Connor gifted her a weak smile and put the cup of fresh tea in front of her. He had a hunch what - or better who – had been the reason for her deranged state. ‘Thanks’, Tina said, and Connor didn’t know whether that was for the tea or the questionable compliment. ‘Gavin again?’ The woman nodded while drinking. ‘Kept me up all night again. How do you know?’ ‘Nines did the same yesterday.’ ‘Ah well, good thing androids don’t sleep.’ ‘Yeah, but I have other things to do than mothering my brother. To think they both are dumb enough…’ They looked over to where Gavin and Nines sat opposite to each other, Nines staring at the human who was focussed on his work. Five minutes from now the roles would be reversed, Connor knew that from experience, and still none of them seemed to recognise the signs. And this was now going for nearly a month. Connor had hoped for at least one of them to get their things together and tell the other, but no, they stubbornly got tangled in thoughts. It was hopeless.

‘We have to do something’, Tina sighed. ‘Else we’ll never sleep again. And it’s tiring to watch them do this damn back-and-forth all the time.’ ‘I agree. But I don’t have any ideas. It has to be naturally. They mustn’t notice we have arranged something.’ ‘I don’t have any idea either’, Tina told him deflated. ‘I’ll call a few friends, see what they come up with on the weekend. Talk again on Monday?’ ‘Good idea. I don’t think I know people who would be helpful in that matter, but I’ll try to do the same.’ Connor already thought on who might know something. No one had experiences with humans though. ‘But they are on patrol together on Saturday, so prepare for another sleepless night.’

As forewarned Tina's phone woke her up at three in the morning to Gavin's desperate voice. 'Ugh, Gav did you drink again?', she yawned loudly. 'What else should I do on a Saturday evening?', came Gavin’s lulled voice from the speaker. 'Saturday night to early Sunday morning, Gavin. But fine, I'm awake now, what can I help you with?' 'Tina, am I loveable? Like, could anyone love me?' Tina let her arm fall next to her to groan loudly, then put the phone back next to her face. 'Of course, you are, Gavin. I remember you picking up the guys in bars like crazy.' 'Yeah but that was for a night. Mutual stress relief. I mean love like... the romantic shit. You know? The long-time stuff.' 'Gavin, I think if you asked there would have been at least one to meet you on another date.' 'But I'm a human disaster, Tina!' 'Is this about Nines again?' She couldn't keep the yawn at bay this time. Several moments of silence. Then quietly: 'Yes.'

'Listen, Gav, why don't you just tell him? You work well together, you like each other and I'm sure he wouldn't get angry or something.' 'Just tell him? It's not that easy, Tina! What if he says no? I would lose my best and only friend!' 'Hey!' Tina sat up in bed and wrapped the blanket around herself. 'What happened to me?' 'Sorry, T. I mean one of my best friends and the only datable friend.' 'Okay, good safe.' She sighed. 'But honestly can you find any good reasons he would say no? As far as I know he never had anyone. Maybe he just waits for someone to ask?' 'You got to be kidding me! Good reasons? There are thousands! Maybe he’s just not the type for a relationship, you can’t know that.' 'Give me an example for one of these many reasons', Tina ignored the last sentence. He knew from reliable sources that was bullshit. 'Nines could never love a useless fuck up like me!' It was cried into the speaker and Tina covered her face in her hands. These goddamn two idiots. This would be a long night.

>Connor? Yes >Could you come? On my way. Connor got up from where he was seated next to Sumo and gave the dog one last pet. 'Gotta go care for my idiot brother, see you in the morning.' He found Nines in his room on the bed, blanket wrapped like a tent from the shoulders over his legs, he had pressed against his chest. The red LED was illuminating the room and the light fell on a few books around him. Connor gently put some to the side and sat in the free space next to the android. 'Hey. I'm here. How can I help you?' 'Why did Cyberlife design me like this?' It was so impossible silent it hurt. 'Like what? Like the best unit ever made? Like my perfect little brother? Like the best android detective, the world has seen?' Nines threw him a disgusted look. 'You know what I meant.' 'I know, Nines. But do you know what I meant, too?' The RK900's face softened. 'I guess.'

Connor laid an arm around him and the other android leaned into the embrace, wrapping the blanket around him, too. Connor could feel the warmth emitting the body and wondered how long he had sat here thinking, overworking his processors. 'Listen to me. You are more than what Cyberlife told you to be. We all are. It doesn't matter what they intended you to be. What you became, what you achieved all on your own is what is important.' 'But that is all people will ever see', Nines spoke into the silence. Outside Sumo’s claws clicked on the floor as he strutted through the house. 'They will always just see the ruthless machine, the deviant hunter, the soldier.' Connor felt with his brother. Of course, his words wouldn't help. Not when he had it easier having Markus back up his actions in his public speeches. But he knew what would help.

'I don't think he sees you like that', Connor smiled and pressed the other android gently against himself. 'What?' 'This is about him, isn't it?' Connor chuckled and Nines looked up to him. 'Not everything is about Gavin!', the android spat out. 'Never said his name', Connor grinned but got serious again as Nines blushed and let his head hang loose between his shoulders. ‘Gavin would never love a war machine like me.’ ‘Why don’t you ask him yourself? You can’t possibly know this.’ ‘And destroy the friendship we’ve built? You warned me yourself about him. He would just get angry, call me a damn bot and say something about how our kind can’t love.’ ‘I don’t think he would, Nines. You are just overthinking. I bet he just waits for someone to ask.’ ‘And you don’t just say that to cheer me up?’ Connor chuckled again and ruffled the other android’s hair. ‘I am trying to cheer you up, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.’ ‘Thank you Connor. But I can’t. I would risk too much.’

The sun was rising when he finally got out of Nines’ room and made breakfast for Hank before they all drove to the precinct together. He gridded his teeth as he read Tina’s messages. >Hey Con, prepare for another shitty day, Gavin kept me up all night again. Same here. >Oh shit are they synchronising now? Don’t know see you in twenty. Meet me in your break? >Yep.

‘We have to do something!’ Tina broke down on the table of the breakroom. ‘These idiots cost me years of my life robbing my sleep like that!’ ‘You and your friends had any ideas?’, Connor asked while sliding her a coffee. ‘Okay, so you and Connor meet up somewhere, I and Gavin meet up somewhere that just happens to be the same place and then we both make up some excuses why we couldn’t come.’ ‘That is all you came up with?’ ‘There was a lot of gushing over our two losers and a lot of booze’, Tina apologised. ‘Believe me, this is still the best thing we came up with. What about you?’ ‘We get allies.’ ‘What?’ ‘We tell Fowler and ask him to put both of them to observe some suspects. Long hours in a car, nothing to do except talk. They have to talk about that eventually.’ ‘And why should Fowler accept that?’ ‘He gets to torture Gavin? And he would have them occupied and away from the precinct. I don’t think it would be too difficult persuading him.’ Tina downed the coffee like nothing and nodded jerkily. ‘Fine. Should we go then? The quicker, the better. And if that doesn’t work, we try my idea?’ ‘Deal.’

‘What have we done to deserve this? I mean, stakeouts? Really? What information is there to find about an armed robbery when we watch the house of his damn granny? Am I the only one thinking this is punishment and nothing else? Phck Fowler!’ ‘It does seem rather weird, Gavin’, Nines agreed. ‘But there are no major cases in lately, so even if this is grasping at straws maybe the Captain really has nothing else for us to do.’ ‘Yeah, but why stakeouts? It’s phcking boring! Grandmothers aren’t really the type of people who run around every day. The old lady probably watches TV all day, livin’ the life like it was intended.’ ‘We could talk.’ ‘About what?’ ‘I don’t know, detective. You-‘ he coughed and Gavin fixed the android. Robots didn’t cough. ‘Your cats, maybe? You like them a lot.’ ‘Yeah, I do. But I told you everything already, I think. And there was nothing too interesting happening during the weekend, too.’ Except for her to curl up against him when he had cried to Tina about that very android next to him. That had been adorable, but for obvious reasons he couldn’t talk about that. ‘Maybe something about you? Any new books read lately?’ ‘Hmm, no’, Nines lied. ‘Me and Connor talked most nights, I had no time to read.’ That he had read a bunch of romance novels lately, especially the human-android kind that was flooding the market lately, he didn’t dare to tell. ‘About what did you talk?’, Gavin wanted to know. ‘I mean, if that’s not too personal of course.’ ‘Oh, no it…’ Nines was at a loss of words. He couldn’t tell the truth, but a too obvious lie would be noticed. ‘It was about me. My past. It’s still difficult living under those I am designed to kill. To see everyone afraid of me.’ ‘Aww, I’m not afraid of you.’ Once again Gavin realised, he had talked without thinking. ‘You are okay, okay? You are so much more than what they wanted you to be.’ ‘You really think so?’ ‘Yes.’ He went so far now he could also walk home.

‘Gavin?’ ‘Hmm-hmm?’ ‘I think I…’ Gavin looked the android in the eyes that avoided his suddenly. Yes, please, say the words! ‘I should go around the house to check the other side.’ ‘Ugh. I mean, yeah, sure, sure! Do your thing! Could be something interesting to see. Have fun.’ God, Gavin, shut up.

'Why on earth didn't it work?', Tina exclaimed. They had met in a bar this time because she had insisted, she wasn't talking this through while sober. 'What can we do more than forcing them into a small confined place with nothing to do but talk?' She drank in big gulps, shaking her head. ‘And my idea won’t work either. Could also compromise us. Fuck.’ She ordered another beer and downed it promptly. Then she eyed Connor. ‘Hey, don’t you want to drink something, too?’ ‘I don’t. I don’t like losing the ability to say only what I want.’ ‘Boring’, Tina mumbled. ‘Wait, that is it!’ Tina looked at him dumbfounded. ‘Hey, I’m doing this for Gav and my sleep, not for you to have an interesting drinking partner.’ ‘No, Tina, I meant we have to get them drunk together. They would easily slip some words then and maybe they finally realise they both play the same dumb game.’ Tina looked at him, then at her drink and started grinning. ‘You know what? That might actually work. And it would be enough to get only one of them drunk in case Nines is equally stubborn as you are.’

‘Connor, I’m only agreeing to this because this is my partner you are speaking of, but in case one of them starts to throw up, consider me gone. I’m not getting involved in that.’ ‘Understandable. But I think they both know their limit as adults. It should just be a nice evening together.’ ‘I thought you invited me to help getting them home. If it is just a nice evening you don’t need me.’ ‘Come on, it will be fun, believe me.’ ‘Fun…’ Nines looked towards the bar and recognised Gavin’s car already standing in the parking lot. ‘We’ll see.’

They entered the bar to some people laughing and music playing. More humans than androids, but Nines spotted Gavin instantly and something changed. Yes, they had spent unusually much time together the last days, but that didn’t mean Nines wasn’t happy to see him again. They sat down opposite to Tina and Gavin and greeted each other. Almost the first question for the evening was asked by Tina. ‘Hey, Nines, are you like your brother and don’t drink?’ ‘Rather not. But I never have before, so I don’t know if this opinion is just prejudice’, he answered. ‘Really? You have never been drunk?’ That was Gavin, already a bit tipsy. ‘May I remind you I have only been active for half a year and thirium-based alcohol has only existed for a month of it?’ ‘But aren’t you curious? I know I would be.’ ‘I… am a bit curious what it is like.’, Nines admitted and promptly Gavin banged his hands on the table. ‘Then try one. It’s on me.’

Connor and Tina exchanged a look. Maybe this would be easier than thought. Soon after there was a glass full of blue liquid on front of Nines and Gavin looked more eager to see him drink it than Nines himself. ‘Come on, one glass won’t make you be unable to walk and spill your deepest secrets, try it!’ Nines nipped on it, waited, then drank more. ‘And? How is it?’ ‘There is an ingredient that messes with my analysis program and from there spreads into other parts. Like a virus but without much harm.’ ‘So, good? You want more?’ ‘Well, I think I would try.’

A few hours later Gavin and Nines where deep in conversation, Tina and Connor were forgotten. They should be happy as this had been their goal, but the two idiots talked about work and were very, very drunk. It was like listening to bad buddy-cop-TV-shows about their lives.

Until it took a different turn.

‘And how you captured that perp, that was amazing dude!’, Gavin exclaimed grinning. ‘I just saw my chance and took it. You on the other hand… That chase was well calculated. I hadn’t thought humans to be capable of that.’ ‘Nah, didn’t calculate shit, Nines. Just reacted.’ ‘And that’s what I love about you, Gavin. You never think, you just act.’ ‘Nah, with a supercomputer by my side, who needs to think, am I right?’

Connor was the first to look alarmed, Tina was too drunk to notice, but managed to get it after the android nudged her under the table. She immediately perked up and leaned over. ‘Hey, Nines, what else do you love about Gavin?’ Nines looked confused, but quickly got back to his conversation. ‘Oh, just about everything.’ And finally Gavin was turning red, looked up to the android’s face and said: ‘Hey, I wanted to say this for a long time now, but I love you too, toaster.’

What should have been a sweet moment was interrupted by Connor jumping from his chair and calling out in relief: ‘Fucking finally! Tina, come, we are leaving them alone.’ ‘Hmmm, sleep’, she murmured, but continued to grin. ‘It was worth it though.’

That left a very drunk human and less but still adequately inebriated android sitting at their desk looking after the other two leaving. Only then it suddenly dawned them what had happened the last weeks of forced stakeouts and horrible night conversations. Then they looked back at each other, red and blue blushes as intense as a police siren. ‘So, you love me?’, Gavin asked shily. ‘Since when?’ ‘I don’t know really. You grew on me every day like weeds. But in a good way.’ Oh yes, honest conversations and alcohol was a bad combination. ‘Although I’m a major phck-up?’ ‘Because you are. I love you like you deserve to be loved.’ ‘Heh, more like you love me as if I deserved you.’ ‘No, Gavin. You are a remarkable human being. And I feel proud you chose me.’ ‘Hey, the same can be said for…’ The human went silent. ‘That whole time we’ve been both…’ ‘And we told them…’ Nines added thinking of the past month.

‘God, we are idiots.’

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #Connor dbh #Tina Chen #how are my stories lately alcohol indused bullshittery?#don't use alcohol to solve problems #Except you are a total dumbass and pining for an android who's pining for you #RIP Tina's circadian rhythm #Connor: has better things to do at night #Also Connor: spends the whole night petting sumo #That's important alright?!

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tacanderson · 4 years

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Super-Borg Chapter 1

My book, Super-Borg Dies, is out now. You can purchase it here or read the first chapter below. You can also sign up for my newsletter here.

Chapter One

“Stupid wannabe superhero,” a bulky man holding a metal pipe said, swinging it at Super-Borg, “why don’t you go home and read your comic-books?” Super-Borg had already disarmed the man of his gun but was surprised by the man’s resourcefulness when he pulled out a metal pipe.

Super-Borg ducked the wild swing and brought his clenched, reinforced glove up into the man’s jaw, shutting him up. He hated banter. He stood over the unconscious man, catching his breath and wiping rain away from his goggles. His black exoskeleton-enhanced, military-grade personal armor creaked when he bent over and zip-tied the man’s hands behind his back.

As he stood up, two bullets struck Super-Borg in the back. The carbon-fiber reinforced plates in his suit absorbed most of the blow, but it still hurt. He dove behind a garbage can as another shot fired; it didn’t provide much protection. He spotted the shooter standing fifty yards away, which placed Super-Borg directly between the shooter and the Space Needle. Super-Borg bolted from his cover, staying low to the ground.

Even in a crouch, his powered suit allowed him to cover half of the distance quickly. He straightened up and then, as more shots whizzed by, he jumped, letting his suit propel him eight feet into the air. At the peak of his jump he threw a disc, about the size of a hockey puck, at the gunman. The disc struck just above his eye, and he crumpled with a grunt.

Super-Borg landed and slid on the mud, crashing into a bush. He stood up, extricated himself from the bush and picked trash off his mud-caked suit. It wasn’t the most graceful landing, but it worked. Super-Borg sprinted over and zip-tied the man’s hands behind his back. “Let’s hope the cops find you before your friends do,” Super-Borg said to the unconscious man. “And hopefully the cops aren’t your friends.”

A bullet struck the tree next to him, and he ducked instinctively, jumping behind the tree. All this gunfire was bringing more unwanted attention. Yelling echoed through the vacant grounds around the Space Needle. What few lights that worked did little more than create small lighted cones of rain and mist. His disc was at the base of the tree but he didn’t bother to pick it up. He had lost so many that people were collecting them and reselling them online. Periodically he changed the design of the “SB” stamp he put on them, just to make the older discs collectible. People were funny. Even with all the chaos and economic instability, people still collected things.

The Space Needle, with its boarded-up gift shop and graffiti-covered cement supports, loomed ahead. The Neuro-syndicate was a gang specializing in the theft, production, and sale of neuro-enhancing drugs. Neuro enhancers were used by everyone: from corporate employees trying to stay sharp while they put in twelve-plus hour days, to professional gamers looking to get an edge in their next online tournament, or even school kids looking to pass their prep-school admissions tests. While it would be hypocritical for Super-Borg to object to people using neuro enhancers, the Neuro-syndicate killed people, and the stuff they cut their neuro enhancers with caused long-term brain damage and sometimes death. When neuro enhancers weren’t covered by a person’s corporate benefits plan, the black-market stuff was all most people could afford.

Super-Borg was there to stop the Neuro-syndicate from making a major sale, but he did not expect them to have this much armed support. The deal must be bigger than he thought.

“Super-cycle, deploy the drones and release smoke bombs between my location and the Space Needle.” Super-Borg used drones for several purposes. He was surprised more supers didn’t use them. But most supers weren’t rich. Super-Borg wasn’t Bruce Wayne rich, but he was rich enough, and after dropping out of med school he had earned a degree in engineering, so he could build most of his own equipment. He relied on drones to survey his surroundings and record his excursions. He used the recordings to make videos he released online to his followers, to watch for his own personal training, and he occasionally used them as evidence in court. Drones were also invaluable for providing a distraction. He could see the small flock of drones in the heads-up display built into his goggles. Soon dense smoke filled the park.

His super-suit featured large, modified high-tech goggles that provided a heads-up display and video link from his drones, an open-face reinforced motorcycle helmet, and a face mask covering his nose and mouth. The mask was wired to receive his voice commands, amplify and alter his voice, filter out all smoke and toxins, and supply extra oxygen when he was exerting himself like right now. Sensors in his suit adjusted oxygen levels as needed.

People yelled loudly, calling out to each other in the smoke, trying to get a handle on what was going on. An occasional shot rang out when someone saw — or thought they saw — something.

An alert on his display warned him that his heart rate was elevated. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. “Keep it together, SB.” Super-Borg took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. “Someone has to do something. This is what you do. This is who you are,” he said, repeating the oft-invoked mantra. He took a deep breath, “Up, up, and away,” he whispered, and sprinted for the Space Needle.

_____________________________________________

Who brings rocket launchers to a drug deal? Super-Borg thought, running to get clear of the falling Space Needle. Beams, bolts, and concrete built to survive a 9.1 earthquake began to scream as if in unbelief that they had finally failed. As he ran, Super-Borg was still looking up at the falling Space Needle. It was like a bad dream. He was trying to not run directly in the path of the falling mountain of architecture, but there seemed to be no escaping it. He tried to change direction and tripped — over what, he didn’t know — and fell sprawling into the mud. He cursed himself for not watching where he was going, scrambled to his feet — determined to watch where he was running — and kept his head down as he ran. He was so intent on running and watching where he was going, that he failed to see the furniture dropping out of the old top-floor restaurant. A chair slammed on the ground immediately in front of him. He didn’t have time to hurdle it, so he tried to kick it, but his foot got stuck in the armrest and he fell again. Debris and concrete rained down. He curled up into the fetal position as Seattle’s most iconic landmark buried him.

_____________________________________________

Trent was coughing on water and his head was throbbing, but he wasn’t awake enough to open his eyes.

“Trent? Trent, can you hear me?” His father’s voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. “Trent, I need you to wake up.” His head shook slightly, and water sloshed around the side of his face, like it was bobbing in the ocean.

Trent’s eyes snapped open, his head hurt, and he was still coughing.

“He’s awake,” his father said, sounding relieved. “I think he’s okay.” His father was looking at him, but he wasn’t talking to him.

“That’s great, Mr. Daeshaun,” a woman’s voice said from overhead. “Help is on its way, just hang in there.”

It came back to Trent then. Headlights swerving into their lane. His dad swearing. Tires screeching. The world spinning.

“Trent. Buddy. Can you hold your head up? I need to let go.” Trent realized that his head was being held up out of the water by his dad, who was turned around from the driver’s seat — one shaky arm holding Trent’s head up so he wouldn’t drown and one hand pushing against the steering wheel, giving him the leverage that he needed to reach Trent. Trent nodded and lifted his head up.

“Mr. Daeshaun, how are you doing? How are your legs?” the woman asked, with an intentionally calm voice — not emotionless or robotic, but not worried either, just appropriately concerned.

“I still can’t feel my legs. I’m feeling light-headed.” Trent’s dad glanced back at Trent and then added with the best smile that he could muster, “But I’m fine. I got my boy here with me, so everything will be okay.” Trent’s dad was a cop, so he knew how to lie convincingly.

Trent was twelve and knew when his dad was being a cop and when he was being a dad. Right now, Officer Daeshaun was in the driver’s seat, and everything would be okay. Trent knew when his dad put on his work persona in front of him: it was either because he needed immediate and unquestioning obedience, or when he needed to lie because whatever was going on in the world was out of his control and he couldn’t face his son with the truth. For the first month after his mother died, he lived with Officer Daeshaun and didn’t see his dad much.

Trent always thought he looked like a faded version of his dad. He had seen pictures of his dad as a kid and they looked so much alike, except Trent had his mother’s lighter Indian skin. His mother was beautiful, but he had always wished he had been darker like his dad. He spent a lot of time looking at his dad’s complexion and had learned what the subtle changes meant. He could tell when his dad blushed because his cheeks and ears turned a richer color of brown. When he was sick or light-headed, he looked like the chocolate Easter bunny Trent had forgotten about for almost a year that had developed a gray-tinted film over the surface. His dad looked like that now.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Officer Daeshaun looked back and met Trent’s eyes, “We were in an accident. Help is on the way. It will be okay.”

“Dad, you’re shaking. You don’t look good.” His dad was shivering severely.

“Don’t look good? You calling me ugly?” The laugh that followed was weak — even weaker than the joke. Trent said nothing.

Trent’s dad sighed, “The wreck was pretty bad. We’re lucky to still be alive. My legs are trapped. I also think I lost a lot of blood.”

“That’s why you’re shaking so bad?”

“Probably a combination of shock and the adrenaline wearing off. But the blood loss isn’t helping.”

“Mr. Daeshaun,” the voice spoke from their car speakers, “the paramedics and the police are arriving now.” Trent could see the flashing lights and hear the vehicles pulling up. “I’m in contact with the officer in charge. I will leave the line open until you are both out of the vehicle.” Neither Trent nor his dad bothered to respond. They were both transfixed by the emergency vehicle lights.

“Mike?” They could hear footsteps and the sound of a belt full of equipment bouncing as the officer it was attached to ran toward them. “Mike?” A flashlight moved closer, breaking away from the emergency vehicles parked along the road, like a bright white scout sent out from the hive of flashier, colorful lights.

“Here. We’re here.” Trent’s dad called out. Tears filled Trent’s eyes and he wasn’t sure why, he tried uselessly to wipe them away with a wet hand.

Light filled the windshield and then came around to the driver’s window. The car had rolled into the lake, but they were near the shore where the water was shallow. Trent sat in the backseat, passenger side — his dad still preferred him to ride in the back so the airbags wouldn’t hurt him if they were ever in a wreck. Trent almost laughed as the tears ran down his face. The one time they were in a wreck, and the airbags failed to go off.

“Mike, thank God you’re alive.” It was his dad’s partner, Jose, and Trent knew he was crossing himself. His dad teased Jose about how much he crossed himself and uttered little prayers. Trent was glad Jose was praying for them.

“Jose, Trent’s in the back. Get him first.” The flashlight turned its stare on Trent and panned back and forth.

“Trent, you hurt?” Jose said.

“I don’t think so.”

“Trent, can you unbuckle yourself?”

“I think I can,” Trent said, reaching down until he found the buckle and unlatched it.

“Bring me a stretcher,” Jose yelled back toward the flashing lights. “Trent,” Jose said, in his soft, but still firm, everything’s going to be okay if you do what I say voice, “I’m going to pull you toward me and then out. Okay?”

Trent nodded and slid toward Jose. Large hands reached in and grabbed him. Trent began coughing again.

_____________________________________________

Super-Borg woke up coughing on dust and his whole body was in pain. His mask had come off, it was dark, and dust filled the air. He was trapped and concrete dust coated everything, forming a sticky paste as it mixed with the rainwater. His head hurt and his ribs screamed in pain when he coughed. “Broken rib, great.” The display on his goggles wasn’t working. There was a cold breeze and drops of rain splashed around him. His leg felt trapped, and he didn’t have much room to move, but he was thankful to be alive. Trying to lift the slab of 1960s concrete that trapped his leg proved impossible as there was no power from his suit, and without it he wasn’t strong enough.

A sharp pain in his knee pulsed like someone was stabbing it with an icepick in time with his heartbeat. The concrete rock kept him from bending his leg, but he moved his toes and then his foot. “I don’t think the leg’s broken, that’s good.” There was a large gash on the armor over his chest where a large piece of rubble had bounced off and broken his ribs. He was lucky to be alive.

He coughed again and forgot about the icepick in his knee as pain shot through his chest. He could feel his ribs shifting when he coughed. Between the dust and the broken rib, it was hard to breathe, and he felt light-headed.

“I can’t believe they dropped the Space Needle on me. What the hell?” His voice was rough and scratchy from dust and coughing, but talking to himself helped to keep him calm.

No power in his exoskeleton or in the goggles meant the suit was in sleep mode, out of power, or the impact had somehow shut everything down. It was also possible the suit was critically damaged, but he didn’t want to think about that. Opening the cover of the touchscreen on his arm, he poked at it a few times. Nothing happened. He coughed again and grimaced through the pain. The suit would need a hard reboot.

Lifting a panel built into the armor on his shoulder, he flipped open the small breaker box. Sliding the switch inside to the off position, he counted to three and then slid it back. The slow, electrical whining of his suit waking up filled his little cave. He lay back, exhausted but smiling.

Looking at the screen on his forearm, he could see his suit’s power was at 20 percent. There was also a problem with the right knee joint. All of his drones were still circling the area, collecting data. They reported that his immediate vicinity was clear — the Neuro-syndicate must have bolted. The police weren’t there yet, but an alert told him they were on the way. Super-Borg had no desire to talk to the police. They disliked supers, and Super-Borg was a vocal critic of the privatization of the police force. Whenever he had to deal with the police, they went out of their way to make things difficult for him. He still respected the badge, but he knew even his dad wouldn’t like what had become of the force. His best option was to try and get out of there quickly and quietly, and file his community marshals incident report later.

With the power restored to his goggles, he turned them to night-vision mode and located his mask. He braced himself, then used the power of his suit to lift the chunk of man-made rock off his leg. Even with the suit doing most of the heavy lifting, his ribs still screamed at him. The rock shifted and he stopped, catching his breath, trying not to cough.

Taking a slow breath, he repositioned his hands and lifted again. The concrete slowly shifted, causing a small avalanche of rubble to fall on his helmet.

He slid his leg out and slowly stood, leaning against the same rock that had been trying to crush him. There was a piece of rebar wedged into the knee joint of his suit. The rebar had cut a large gash in his leg. Blood dripped down his suit, mixing with the dirt and rainwater, but he thought how incredibly lucky he was that it had not skewered his knee. He grabbed the piece of metal and pulled it free, inhaling sharply as it dragged across the cut. The mechanized joint on his suit was useless, but he could still bend his knee.

It was only a few blocks to where he had parked his motorcycle. He hoped no video of him limping away from the scene would turn up online.

He made it to the super-cycle without any hassle. He called it a super-cycle, but it looked like any other motorcycle. That was the point. He pulled a large, black hoodie from the storage compartment under the seat and covered himself up. As he rode away, shame and embarrassment flushed his cheeks. This was bad. He would have to call his publicist.

_____________________________________________

Super-Borg Limps Away from Destroyed Space Needle

We are receiving reports that today’s collapse of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle happened during an altercation between the Neuro-syndicate and the community marshal known as Super-Borg. Amateur video of Super-Borg fleeing the aftermath of the fallen Space Needle has been posted online.

Today, Super-Borg has given more fuel to the fire for those who think the community marshals cause more harm than good when he was involved in an altercation that resulted in the collapse of the Space Needle. Losing the iconic Seattle structure has many residents calling for the disbanding of the community marshals. While some call them superheroes, others call them reckless vigilantes.

Fredrick Harman, the owner of a vegan hamburger truck called, Where’s the Beef, who lives in an apartment near the Space Needle, doesn’t see the purpose of the community marshals anymore. “They just run around playing superhero and doing more damage than they prevent. We lost the Space Needle today. Is it worth it?”

Deputy Veishea of the local community marshals’ office has continuously stated that because the police are now privately funded, their priorities don’t always align with those of the public.

The Space Needle is owned by the city and has been condemned for years, so there were no police assigned to the area, but they are looking into the use of banned weapons and explosives that reportedly brought it down.

From The Seattle Wire

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years

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Howdy there! How are you?

Self

My name is James Home. I’m a 23 year old trans male from Olympia WA. In time zones that’s PST (Pacific standard time) am a visual artist, graphic designer, and storyteller. My Briggs acronym ENFJ. In saying so I’m a huge talker and communicator, physically and literally! Personal interests of mine include BOTW, FFXV, and Hanibal atm. I have a lovely and incredible wife named Isabella. We both additionally like DND (were even painting our minis), collecting Halloween decorations, and watching Avatar the last air bender with our roommate. Though I do have a history in plenty of other fandoms as well and always on the lookout for recommendations.

Preference

So for myself I love to take care of my Rp partners in all accommodations possible.

Meaning if your heart has been craving fluff, rough smut, or a plain ol hug. IM GAME! If none, no biggie let’s make a plot spot!

Roles I usually fall under are but not limited too….

-DOM , Vers, Power bottom

-caretaker, guardian, teacher

-father, handler, knight

-beefcakes, robots, selfless leaders

And so much more!

The roles I lean towards are

-caretaker, strong and silent-ish type, and flamboyant entertainers.

-male roles, trans male roles, open to trying a female role?, non binary, pangender role.

- I do enjoy topping, some aspects of BDSM, and some hard kinks.

-fallen leader, relearning about a loving world, hopeful in a dark world.

-not taking their role as important as they should have or are, “I’ve been doing this for years. But this is new”, and “I brought you your favorite drink wanna cuddle, I’ll provide the sugar?” Types

And so much more!

As far as story things themes are

-highly complex kingdoms

-High pace fantasy

-society by the ocean

-abandon green houses

-heavily dense forests

-fae and fiend worlds

-AUs of pre-existing universes from shows

-magic incorporated

-supernatural

Worlds we design collectively.

My HARD NOs are…

NO MINORS ROLEPLAYING WITH ME, 19 AND UNDER DO NOT APPLY

-abuse in active Rp (can be used from background and really has to depend on circumstance)

-harm of any children

-harm of expected mother

-any form of r*pe play

-blood play, degrading play, hard impact play

-crying kinks, humiliation kink, and electric play

-no smoking kinks either or character usage of substances.

Writing

I’m not too big on proper grammar or sentence structure as long as there was an idea getting across. I’m ok with role playing as many people as you’d like to actively work on, so doubles, and even triples are okay. Plus working two different stories is fun! I do prefer paragraphing and we all know the feeling of one word responses. This is a hobby and creative outlet from myself so that’s why I have no big stressors about punctuation or spelling.

Storytelling

Here are some story concepts I’ve come up with. Yet if you’d like to imply your own let’s talk about it!

Counterpart pathways

A magical filled fantasy realm where all is possible including the bad. One summer day a incubus/demon hybrid named Jona, father of three, learns someone has kidnapped all three of his boys! He's on the hunt for clues and finding them at all costs. Gathering the best crew possible of Moof the best wolf bounty hunter in all the realm, Bell the boys spider caretaker shapeshifter, and Glover the bull/bison hybrid the green alchemist, set off to find the children. Along the way by gathering clues they encounter obstacles and trials of skill and pursuit! Will they ever find the three octopus babies ? Will Jona have closure and put on a shirt? Will Bell ever stop stealing everything shiny? Will Moof grow more confident in his teammates? Will Glover not stop shaking and being such a wuss? Who will help this odd 4 on their epic abnormal quest?!

Puddles

A time traveler that gets stuck in between dimensions due to their powers temporarily weakened from the extensive work they've been doing end up meeting a stranger who takes them in. Not used to the timeline they shows up in, they have to knowledge of normal behavior. They must figure out a way to recharge their abilities but has not of the slightly clue as to what it causing them to have lost them in the first place. Is the person that's helping them good or evil? Who's side are they on? How will they figure them out? Why do they find the stranger oddly familiar?

When men become mortal

An alien/robot/human species that survives by using different masks/chips for various occasions. It's like buying different clothes but they adapt or transform the hoist for a month or less of another body/form/identity. The main character experiences a technical difficulty where their head socket cannot adapt to a new face for long and has to get it repaired. Though along the way he seems to find that not wearing a false identity they actually enjoy seeing the outside world with no expectation of appearance. The other is a identity artist, the one whom develops different faces and identity. He spends hours tweaking details of bodies and faces. He always has the nicest things because of his work and from important commissions and work for certain clients.They meet at a gallery that the artist is hoisting at a museum. The individuals there are decorated like some of the model pieces and others artist curators-part sellers. The faceless one decides to go to the museum to see what's or who's being showcased and since he has a little bit of extra money he saved up for the occasion. Everyone finds him interesting since he doesn't have an appearance, they think he's a model. Thus they send him to meet with the artist for the show. The artist doesn't know him at all. They find eachother very different but most parts similar. From their meeting the artist gets inspired by his original face. Coming to realize that even himself that he has given into the world he never wanted to.The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities. Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans.The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities. Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans. Thus forces the artist to reveal his true identity. A human being. Not a hologram. Plus he's not just an artist but a ex-con scientist from the labs that have bloomed into a internalized war. Faceless becomes confused and also hurt that the artist to mention this. Only for the two of them being followed. The artist informs the robot that the hybrids (the children of the robot-species, generations of offspring) are the real threat to society. The one who hoists and is in charge of the power sorce is human and machine. The first of its kind, and also the previous mentor of the artist/ex-scientist. Who will get to the power source first. Our main dynamic couple or the robotic uprising that believe all humans should cease to exist once and for all?

Gay Cryptids

Themes

Active night life

Next to the ocean, sea, body of water.

Beach city/lost boys/Mad max?/punk/ regal?/neon lights/old mascots/vapor wave af

Carnival / festivals

Dark market authenticity

Biker gang(s)

Aquatic features, art, incorporated in surroundings

Lifestyles like fish importing, dock workers, sushi shops, fancy diners

Common foods are all fish and sea foods

The city was a work in process for a resort city, and a major violent storm came too early taking out some of the fancier parts of the island. Most of the higher end houses and mansions were believed to be damaged in the outer edges of the island. There had been a castle built as a main part of the hotel/resort. Old costumes, sets, mascots were left to rot by the seas breeze. Barnacles, ivy, and vines with exotic flora and fauna growing wildly cover the buildings. Possibly even growing in the mansion and other houses. The main part of the biker gang is in a abandoned church next to the sea caves is where the biker gang mostly resides and work primarily as hit men and women. The island would be decided by the two head family of vampires one powerful family versus the other in over control if the current situation of resort in the actual tourist location.A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young. Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young. Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

Plausible locations

Old mill

Carnival / freakshow

Rides and amusement

Abandoned Church

Greenhouse

Garden

Boat house

Log cabins

CAMP grounds

Old schools

Warehouses

The Docks or Port

Boat houses

Boat docks

Abandoned Hotel

Studios

Bike store

Surf or like diving store

Knickknack shack

Ma and Pa restaurants

Antique stores

Downtown

Library

Hospital or infirmary excotic masion

I have story plots for days SONNNN so these are at skim level for plot.

If you’d like to contact me the best ways are

Discord at

Agodnamedhome#4202

[email protected]

I work from 11:30 to 4 Monday-Friday

But available before, and after for sure.

Thursday’s at 5 are my therapist appointments

Weekends are 100% free atm

Looking for a long term, short term, a friend!

#long term rp #oc rp #mulitfandom rp #email #discord #writting #hobby #rp #roleplay #looking for an online friend #pacfic northwest #orginal content #submission

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agodnamedhome · 4 years

Text

Howdy there! How are you?

Self

Preference

So for myself I love to take care of my Rp partners in all accommodations possible.

Meaning if your heart has been craving fluff, rough smut, or a plain ol hug. IM GAME! If none, no biggie let’s make a plot spot!

Roles I usually fall under are but not limited too….

-DOM , Vers, Power bottom

-caretaker, guardian, teacher

-father, handler, knight

-beefcakes, robots, selfless leaders

And so much more!

The roles I lean towards are

-caretaker, strong and silent-ish type, and flamboyant entertainers.

-male roles, trans male roles, open to trying a female role?, non binary, pangender role.

- I do enjoy topping, some aspects of BDSM, and some hard kinks.

-fallen leader, relearning about a loving world, hopeful in a dark world.

And so much more!

As far as story things themes are

-highly complex kingdoms

-High pace fantasy

-society by the ocean

-abandon green houses

-heavily dense forests

-fae and fiend worlds

-AUs of pre-existing universes from shows

-magic incorporated

-supernatural

Worlds we design collectively.

My HARD NOs are…

NO MINORS ROLEPLAYING WITH ME, 19 AND UNDER DO NOT APPLY

-abuse in active Rp (can be used from background and really has to depend on circumstance)

-harm of any children

-harm of expected mother

-any form of r*pe play

-blood play, degrading play, hard impact play

-crying kinks, humiliation kink, and electric play

-no smoking kinks either or character usage of substances.

Writing

Storytelling

Here are some story concepts I’ve come up with. Yet if you’d like to imply your own let’s talk about it!

Counterpart pathways

Puddles

When men become mortal

An alien/robot/human species that survives by using different masks/chips for various occasions.

It's like buying different clothes but they adapt or transform the hoist for a month or less of another body/form/identity.

The main character experiences a technical difficulty where their head socket cannot adapt to a new face for long and has to get it repaired. Though along the way he seems to find that not wearing a false identity they actually enjoy seeing the outside world with no expectation of appearance.

The other is a identity artist, the one whom develops different faces and identity. He spends hours tweaking details of bodies and faces. He always has the nicest things because of his work and from important commissions and work for certain clients.

They meet at a gallery that the artist is hoisting at a museum. The individuals there are decorated like some of the model pieces and others artist curators-part sellers.

The faceless one decides to go to the museum to see what's or who's being showcased and since he has a little bit of extra money he saved up for the occasion. Everyone finds him interesting since he doesn't have an appearance, they think he's a model. Thus they send him to meet with the artist for the show.

The artist doesn't know him at all. They find eachother very different but most parts similar. From their meeting the artist gets inspired by his original face. Coming to realize that even himself that he has given into the world he never wanted to.

The two of them hit it off. Both dwelling into the matters of the "perfect" vessel. Asking the serious questions such as what makes a body, a face, a soul attractive? They go on for hours and it starts to inspire the artists work into his new resorted craftsmanship. The faceless impressed by the purposed questions and also work. The two of them grow closer resulted from talking so much about bodies and meaning. All the while testing out the new creations, body parts, and vessels capabilities.

Not all though is good while the two develop this hoist. There's a villain at hand who one of the artist's main clients that goes unsuspected. They want to use the designs to create a vessel for the bad and wealth. Only to include to kill off all humans.

Thus forces the artist to reveal his true identity. A human being. Not a hologram. Plus he's not just an artist but a ex-con scientist from the labs that have bloomed into a internalized war. Faceless becomes confused and also hurt that the artist to mention this. Only for the two of them being followed.

The artist informs the robot that the hybrids (the children of the robot-species, generations of offspring) are the real threat to society. The one who hoists and is in charge of the power sorce is human and machine. The first of its kind, and also the previous mentor of the artist/ex-scientist.

Who will get to the power source first. Our main dynamic couple or the robotic uprising that believe all humans should cease to exist once and for all?

Gay Cryptids

Themes

Active night life

Next to the ocean, sea, body of water.

Beach city/lost boys/Mad max?/punk/ regal?/neon lights/old mascots/vapor wave af

Carnival / festivals

Dark market authenticity

Biker gang(s)

Aquatic features, art, incorporated in surroundings

Lifestyles like fish importing, dock workers, sushi shops, fancy diners

Common foods are all fish and sea foods

A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young.

Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

A rambunctious gang of young cryptics disguise themselves as human during the daytime but during the night it's quite the time to be alive and young.

Various story arcs of love and lust between the group members figuring out their own sexualities and forming adulthood. Though most of it is all of them just fucking around.

Plausible locations

Old mill

Carnival / freakshow

Rides and amusement

Abandoned Church

Greenhouse

Garden

Boat house

Log cabins

CAMP grounds

Old schools

Warehouses

The Docks or Port

Boat houses

Boat docks

Abandoned Hotel

Studios

Bike store

Surf or like diving store

Knickknack shack

Ma and Pa restaurants

Antique stores

Downtown

Library

Hospital or infirmary excotic masion

I have story plots for days SONNNN so these are at skim level for plot.

If you’d like to contact me the best ways are

Discord at

Agodnamedhome#4202

[email protected]

I work from 11:30 to 4 Monday-Friday

But available before, and after for sure.

Thursday’s at 5 are my therapist appointments

Weekends are 100% free atm

Looking for a long term, short term, a friend!

#rp #rp partner search #rp search #oc rp #orginal content #writting #fantasy #smut #fun #art #self promte

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