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blzzrdstryr · 3 years

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By proxy

Platonic yandere!Kaeya & child!gn!reader

Wordcount: 2195

A.N.: My first time writing platonic yanderes, hope you'll enjoy.

It's an impulsive decision for the most part - taking you, that is.

Kaeya trudges through the Wolfendom forest, a couple of his underlings, Addler and Otto, following behind as they trail a group of treasure hoarders. Criminal gang must have known that knights are on their tail, there's no other explanation for their sudden fleeing, leaving an already broken camp behind and taking only the most valuable possessions.

It's raining and he silently curses, even if this will give him advantage in battle, but archons, it's so cold. Huge droplets fall on the ground with a resounding sound, drenching everything and turning the forest landscape deep into nigh impassable terrain. Mud clings to their feet, slowing the group down, as the Sun starts to set. Sky turns all shades of purple and red, dimming light throwing the last rays over the Mondstadt as the darkness settles, yet Kaeya and his group still carry forward through the palisade of tall trees.

“Sir”, Otto carefully starts: “It seems that criminals are already several miles away from us”.

Kaeya nods for the knight to continue, already knowing that it will be an ask to stop - the weather is hellish and the rain is one of the heaviest Kaeya has ever had to experience.

“With how strong this rainfall is, the gang's traces will be gone in under an hour”

"All the more reasons to push on and catch them then", Alberich replies, paying zero attention to Adler's slight trembling or Otto's teeth chattering. The group continues on their path through descending darkness, their footsteps hasting despite the clinging and growing fatigue.

Suddenly, as the knights make their way around the cliff, a slight whimper is heard. It's human enough to stop the group - maybe some unlucky civilian got in the way of the gang, maybe criminals left their injured one. Kaeya just nods to the pair, as Otto and Adler unsheathe their weapons, wordlessly understanding the gesture.

Cavalry captain takes a step into the forest pit with a raised sword, all sight and ears, light blue vision on his belt shining and flickering both in caution and anticipation. He walks slowly and quietly, like a cat, careful not to step on the leaves and twigs lying around, and then he sees you.

You are a child, all thin and small in the way that the sick are. There are dark circles under your tired eyes, and the scrapes all over your body. You look already dead. He runs up to you, as he sees your figure swaying and knees buckling, saving you from the fall. Your skin burns Kaeya as he carries you back to the knights - it must be fever then. You blink at him several times, saying something, but your voice is too small and weak to make out anything among the droplets falling, and then you stop, eyes rolling back and head lolling to the side. You blacked out.

He thinks about handing your body to either of the knights and then continuing to run after the gang into the knight, but then decides against it - heavy rain must have blurred all the footsteps they left. Adler almost fails. You escape your delirium a couple of times, babbling words about forest and rain and wolves, and Kaeya, despite his focus on the trail ahead, can't help but listen to what you say. It's childish nonsense for the most part, an incomprehensible product of the feverish mind, yet sometimes you say meaningful things - I thought I would die, I got scared of wolf howls, The rain was so cold.

Some small part of him shrinks and aches at these words, a long buried hurt resurfacing once again. Kaeya frowns and huffs as he tries to get rid of the images of the days long gone in his mind - rainy night, hunger, pain, cold, he will die here. His lips quirk and a humorless laugh escapes him - the irony is painful.

He drops you off at the church, concerned Barbara taking you to the hospital and Kaeya, after a brief report to Jean, goes home, his mind still stuck on the memories of days long past. You will be fine, he tells himself, the church has good healers and the orphanage is nearby. Once you get better, you’ll get sent there, where devoted nuns will raise to be another disciple.

You had a look of a deadman - a strange catatonic serenity was radiating off of you, as you looked at the captain with a glazed yet piercing eyes, both seeing him and through him. It’s cold, so cold, yet no one is here. There are hot tears on his face, wet tracks burning his skin. His tummy is empty and aching, cold bites at his limbs, but Kaeya patiently waits for the adult to return. Father said that Kaeya was their last hope, so sure he would never leave him to die, right?

Cavalry captain barely sleeps through the night, memories and inner demons eating him from inside. When he does manage to doze off, a vague picture of darkening forests and howling winds wake him up, a fervent chanting buzzing in his head - Where is his father? Where is his father? Where is his father?.

Kaeya comes to you the next day, as his shift ends, legs heading to the towering church at the top on their own. Barbara leads him to your bed, your unconscious form lying limply. Idol explains your health issues to him - fever, malnutrition, inflammation, common cold and slight poisoning. The scratches you had yesterday were healed, Barbara says, but the rest of the problems can't be easily fixed with a bit of a hydro.

"Then, what medicines do they need?", Kaeya asks, understanding the unspoken words. The Church of Favonius, despite the large funding it receives from the city's treasury, still lacks a lot of resources and materials. People are free to come and get cured, without having a single mora to pay, which means that most of the remedies disappear at an alarming rate - be it some herbal balm for aching joints or a simple linen bandage.

The idol rustles in the hidden pockets of her dress, taking out a pencil and sheet of paper and begins to write, the list grows as Kaeya’s eyebrows get higher and higher. There are dried Liyuen herbs, exotic Sumeru fruits, specially treated Snezhnayan and Fontaine tinctures and medicines.

Kaeya is taken aback for a second by the sheer length of the final list - most of the items will have to be ordered and shipped and despite his salary of the captain allowing such expenses, it’s still strange to spend so much mora - a complete stranger. Captain contemplates just leaving you there - nuns will take care of you, but the hurt resurfaces again and he sees another person lying on the small hospital bed - little him, scared and confused.

He ends up buying all the listed things, and despite his efforts not to, continues to regularly check up on you when he has time. Sometimes, Barbara says, you wake up from your slumber, enough to utter some confused noises and questions, but then you drowse off again, both sickness and medicine pulling you back to sleep.

Kaeya, to his displeasure, never catches you conscious in time, until he comes one evening, expecting to spend the time looking at you sleeping again only to see you half sitting on the bed. Your posture gets straight the second you notice him too, an expression of confusion and fear appearing on your face.

"Hello", Kaeya starts, slowly walking up towards you, keeping his posture small and voice as friendly as possible:"I am that knight who carried you here, remember?", he explains, seeing the further abashment on you face.

You nod at him, prompting him to continue:"So, I just decided to visit you to ask you how you got in the forest and why were you alone"

"Sister Barbara said that you came here almost everyday," you reply, voice absolutely flat and face having no expression. Kaeya looks at you briefly - it’s rare for children to speak in such a cold manner, you must have something on your mind then.

"Yes, I did" , he says in the same friendly tone.

"Just to know why I was in the forest?" , your voice betrays you, a hint of hurt seeping into it. Ah, that’s why you asked.

"Hm, of course no! I also wanted to see you get better" , he smiles at the end, leaning a bit closer to you. You mull over his words, thinking of their sincerity, and then a later second you say, with much less caution and guard up:

"Well I am better now and…" you get silent for a good minute:"I don't remember why I was there. I think it's because of the fever". Your voice becomes strangely controlled again - you lie to Kaeya, you didn’t forget anything. A part of cavalry captain swells and purrs, recognizing himself in you,

"Do you want to live with me?". He asks instead of trying to get the truth out of you. Your eyes shine and a surprised noise comes out of your mouth at his suggestion - something between a squeak and high pitched yelp.

His apartment isn't the best place to bring the child in - there are far too many bottles and not enough food - Kaeya lives off the takeout from the Good hunter and the skewers he grills when missions call him to leave the city walls. Nonetheless, you don’t look too disgusted with his living conditions, so he considers it a win, as he heads for the tiny kitchen to make you a soup.

It turns out a bit burnt in the end - Kaeya added too much wood to the stove, but you still gulp it down, not leaving anything and thank him for the meal. He makes a mental note to buy you a bed - right now you’re sleeping on a small couch, and clothes to change.

You are a quiet child, too fast to apologize for the smallest mistakes and wary of him when he’s in a foul mood - it gives Kaeya an idea why you were in the woods. Your days together flow slowly and steady with Kaeya falling into routine - he wakes up, makes a breakfast for the both of you, you eat it, as you shyly tell him about your newest interest or finding - a drawing, a strange bug, a shiny rock of unusual colour, then he leaves for work, instructing you to go to the neighbours if you have issues, and leaving a premade dinner for you. Then he comes back, now listening to you talking about your day - you were drawing again, or you played with the other kids, or you were running and catching the butterflies, the now dead insects left for him to look at.

It’s a mundane life, something that Kaeya thought will never please him. There is a large pit inside of him - it was growing and festering with years - Khaenri’ah, father, Diluc, Crepus, that fight. It’s ugly and snarling and thoroughly scorched, a part of his soul that keeps him awake and anxious and angry and sad during bad nights. The pit quiets a bit when Kaeya takes care of you - toys, foods, games, the same way he wishes he was treated as a child.

Crepus Ragnvindr was a nice person, he took Kaeya in, clothed and fed and kept him safe for years, yet there was always an invisible line that separated Khaenri'ahn from Diluc - warmer voice, higher expectations, more praise. Kaeya doubts Crepus noticed this truly tiny gap in treatment, Diluc for sure didn’t. Alberich did his best to ignore it, yet he couldn’t, this difference nagged him at the back of his mind, alienating him in the newfound home.

That must be why he does his best to spoil you - it's new toys and furniture and evening walks around the Mondstadt with you on his shoulders. Soon, a new rumour starts to travel around Mondstadt - about a stray being picked up by another stray. Amber seemingly forgives him for the incident with Collei, Jean gives him a raise the same month, for child expenses, she succinctly says, Albedo off handedly mentions Klee and her desire for friendships, even Lisa gives him a couple of fairytale books, warning him what will happen if he will be late to return them beforehand. Diluc doesn't comment on the irony the next time they happen to meet, but he sees some Dawn Winery workers looking after you, when he is busy with Favonius stuff.

Kaeya, for the first time in years, feels truly happy. He has family again - you and him this time and he's willing to smother you with affections. He buys you things he wishes he had, and teaches you the skills he thinks will help you in life - how to fight, how to lie, how to kill someone with words alone.

It's a strange love he has for you - never seeing you as you - but it's genuine and all encompassing. Kaeya doesn't want little him to suffer again.

#yandere genshin impact #yandere genshin #Yandere kaeya #Platonic yandere #Yandere #my writing

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potter-imagines · 3 years

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Being Thor and Loki's Little Sister and Dating Peter Parker Would Include...

Notes: wow I haven't written a marvel one in a long time pls don't read too much into the timeline lol I know things overlap but just go with it (:

Warnings: none... I think ??

Word Count: 3.6k (sorry its a bit long for a write like this but I couldn't help myself)

You managed to do a decent job at keeping your relationship under wraps from your brothers for quite some time

Of course every other member on the team knew before the two of you even begun officially dating

Peter had spent three months ranting and raving to Tony Stark about how cute he thought you were and how much he liked you

Tony insisted time and time again he should tell you but Peter’s fear of rejection was much too large for him to find the courage for that

Unbeknownst to him,

You had spilled about your crush on Peter to Wanda and Nat almost a week after living in the compound

Being the only other girls there besides Pepper, it was easy to confide in them

Day after day you would wander to Wanda’s room and lay on her bed and gush about how handsome Peter was and how kind of a heart he had

Wanda found it adorable

And Bucky, Steve and Sam had placed the pieces together after days on end of watching Peter and yourself flirt like school kids in the gym during training

Even after being frozen for years, Steve recognized the look of smitten on Peter’s face when he talked to you

Bruce on the other hand had to sit through most of the kids talks with Tony in the lab so he figured it out fast

So when the two of you finally confessed your feelings for one another and Peter asked you out, there was only one road block holding the moment back from perfection

Your brothers

You and Peter shared the news with all the other team members expect the two, possibly most important in your case, members

You’ve been close to your brothers since you were brought into this world so it wasn’t like you didn’t want to tell them

It was more or less how overprotective they could be that made you bite your tongue

And as nervous as you are, Peter is 1,000% more worried about your brother’s finding out

Like honestly can you imagine how petrified Peter would be to tell Thor and Loki you two were dating

He’d purposely walk in the opposite direction every time he saw either of the two for the first week

Couldn’t stop fumbling with his words when he spoke to either of them

Like he was terrified

It’s sort of a cliché to have protective older brothers but older brothers who were also both Gods ????

Peter felt like a deadman walking

When the day finally came that you did tell your brothers about your relationship with Peter, it was absolutely cringe worthy

Peter had been coming home to the tower after a long day at Midtown High School when he spotted you the second he stepped foot out of the elevator

His excitement had clouded his judgement as he failed to check and see if the coast was clear

“Y/n! Hey!”

He nearly tumbled over his own feet as he rushed over to you

His face was gleaming with happiness and for a brief moment you felt a smile creep to your face until you were pulled back to reality by his hand reaching out to grasp yours

Your eyes widened in shock as you stared at Peter and before you could warn him to stop, he had planted a soft kiss on your cheek

That adorable smile was glowing from his face as he reached down for your hand only to fall once you pulled your hand away

He gave you a look of confusion, clearly surprised by your lack of response

But when an awkward cough sounded from behind him, he suddenly knew why

Peter didn’t have enough time to make any sort of a move when a husky, all too familiar voice spoke up,

“Hello, man of spiders. May I ask why you just kissed our little sister?” “Oh shit- I uh, well you see I…um...she had something on her face so I uh…”

Loki would snicker in amusement at seeing the boy squirm and prolong his torture “So you kissed her?” “Yeah…” “Hm, there something you’d like to share, little one?”

It wasn’t exactly the way you were hoping to break the news to your brothers

But it was certainly one way of doing it

The rest of the night was filled with awkward tension as you and Peter had to confess the truth to your brothers, who then made you share the news with the rest of the team

Thankfully, the rest of the team pretended they were just hearing about your new relationship for the first time, seeing as no one wanted to deal with an angry Thor

Now let’s get into your relationship with Peter

Peter Parker is the most caring person in the universe

Honestly

And dating him certainly came with it’s perks

You can expect to wake up every morning with a fresh coffee and a pastry on your nightstand, courtesy of Peter

He’ll also write you a sweet little ‘good morning’ note with a sketch of spider-man hanging from a web

(( he’s actually pretty talented in the doodling department ))

Makes cute sketches of him as spiderman and you as a princess ( vv fitting)

But also draws you as a total badass saving the galaxy bc… well you are

Count on him to be the first person to greet you when the sunrises and the last person to wish you a goodnight when it falls

Gets Mr. Stark to buy you an iphone so he can teach you how to use it

Has your name as “goddess” in his phone

The first thing he does is teach you about texting so he can pay you in imessage games

Refuses to play you in battleship since you somehow have crushed him every single time

Gets slightly annoyed with the overwhelming amount of random photos you snap of him

But he knows its all new to you and finds it irritatingly adorable

Loves it when you walk home with him from school

Will also keep reminding you that you shouldn’t have walked alone all the way to Midtown High School alone

Peter often forgets that you’re Asgardian and can protect yourself just fine

But it’s so cute how protective he is

He’s very observant and notices nearly everything

Like when you’re feeling a bit homesick

He picks up on it right away and will ask Thor and/or Loki for advice

Or when you start to become bored and tired at one of Star’s parties

Peter made his way over you before you even had the chance to turn and search for him

He’d escort you back to your room and lay with you until he was positive you had fallen asleep

Kisses to the top of your head

Is the boyfriend that will take your makeup off for you if you wear any

(( and sets yours lashes on the nightstand so neatly and labels which eye they were on cause the poor boy doesn’t understand ))

Spends weeks learning how to master the intricate braids that adorn your head

It’s so cute cause he’ll sit and look up Youtube videos and try to learn how to make the different braids and is just so confused but so determined

Taking Peter to visit Asgard

“Woah- this place looks like something from Lord of the Rings! It’s awesome!” “Lord of the Rings? I’ve never met that God.” “Uh, no, it’s a movie from Earth. We can watch it when we go back.” “To Midgard?” “Midgard? No, to New York.”

Loves it when your people refer to you as “Princess Y/n”

For some reason it makes him blush

Will tell everyone back on Earth that he’s dating a princess

I could def see Peter getting annoyed and frustrated with the Asgardian men trying to flirt and win your heart

Although that’s something that already belong to Peter

And even though Peter trusts you entirely

He’s still insecure from time to time

Especially when he sees how much taller and stronger Asgardian men look in comparison to him

But he finds reassurance in the feeling of your hand in his and the gleeful smile adorning your face as you show him around your homeland

Attempting to help Peter study

Although you’re not much help to Midgardian school work “Peter, darling, I don’t have a clue what a watergate is and I haven’t an idea how that could be scandalous.”

Maths however you excelled in

And Peter was thoroughly surprised to find you had the sequence of PI memorized to the one hundredth number- and in song form

Holding your hand 24/7

Endless cuddles on the couch

And when you’re walking around together, he does that thing where he swings your hands and back forth

Movie theater dates… at the tower b/c your brothers feel the need to be in close proximity the you guys at all times

Trying ice cream for the first time with Peter at two in the morning

One of Peter’s favorite things to do with you is take you through a walk in his world

At least three times a week Peter and you will walk around the city and find new things your Asgardian self has yet to experience

Like pizza

New York pizza to be exact

And hot chocolate

Ice skating at Rockefeller Center once the weather got cold

Loves to take you for drives in the more woodsy land of New York once fall set in and the leaves began to change

But by far his favorite thing is showing you Midgardian films and movies of all sorts

He loves that you don’t judge him for nerding out over his love for films

Not to mention you actually sit and watch Star Wars with him

(( maybe it was the whole space element but Peter was just thrilled you liked it ))

But then he shows you ‘Alien’

And it was an instant regret

It took him the rest of the night to convince you that the movie was fake

You made him sleep in your room just for reassurance

Your favorite out of the films Peter played was called ‘Toy Story’

Buzz Lightyear reminded you of Thor

In terms of TV shows

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. which quickly became your guys comfort show

Parks & Rec too “That Andy fellow looks an awful lot like Starlord, don’t you think?”

Peter refuses to let you watch Black Mirror

After the whole incident with Alien

Black Mirror didn’t seem like a good idea

Constantly teasing from the rest of the Avengers

Tony just can’t help it

He loves tormenting the two of you

Especially when Thor and/or Loki are around

“Hey Peter, I thought I saw you go into Y/n’s room last night but I didn’t see you leave until the morning. Heard a lot of noise too- thought Y/n was getting attacked. What was that about?”

“Kid, I got you those condoms you asked for. How’d you manage to run out of that last box so quick? I just bought it for you a week ago!” “Messing with you, they’re just sugar packets- Thor put Peter down right now!”

Aunt May absolutely adores you

Always tells Peter how sweet you are and is constantly inviting you over for dinner

Lets you two have sleepovers in his room at her place

As long as the door stays open

Peter can’t stop laughing when you compliment May on her ability to make an amazing bowl of cereal

She thought it was a joke seeing as she burned dinner the night before to a crisp and laughs until she’s in tears

And you’re literally sitting there so confused, clearly not understanding the joke

Peter then takes you on a trip to a grocery store for the first time to show you a whole aisle full of cereal

It is then that you realize Aunt May didn’t hand make the fruity pebbles

She still laughs about it to this day

Befriending Ned and listening enthusiastically while he gives you a full speech on the franchise Star Wars

And his rant on how terrible Star Trek is in comparison

Is shocked when you ask questions out of genuine interest

Ned immediately takes a liking to you after that and asks Peter daily to invite you to hangout

Whenever Stark adds an upgrade to his suit, you’re the first person Peter shows it to

He shares quite literally everything with you

As do you to him

The rest of the Avengers love gossiping about you guys

Nat and Wanda have already started planning the wedding and Pepper has the perfect venue in mind, much to your brothers dismay

For some reason

Thor and Loki are always within reasonable distance, enough so they can keep an eye on you but also give some sense of privancy

Thor is def always the first one to step in

“Peter, please remove your hand from my sister’s behind.” “Oh uh, ye-yeah… sorry, Mr.Thor.”

Loki would find Peter amusing

He loves to mess with him whenever given the chance

“Ah, Peter. Good to see you. I’m sure Y/n informed you of our task today. Very impressed that you offered yourself as the sacrifice to the aliens-” “Wait, what? Y/n?!” “He’s kidding, Peter.”

Everyone in the Avenger’s tower knew Peter was lactose intolerant and knew the repercussions of the boy consuming any sort of dairy

(( he physically cannot leave the bathroom for a full day ))

Yet Loki regularly will swap Peter’s specially labeled almond milk with a jug of skim milk just for the hell of it

There’s something so hilarious to him about the look of panic and alarm that smacks abruptly across Peter’s face as he quickly stumbles out of the kitchen to his room

It keeps him laughing for days

You’ll just shoot your brother a look of disapproval, clearly certain it was his doing

“Loki, why did Peter run off?” “Not sure, darling sister, maybe he’s got one of those stomach bugs. I’ve heard Midgardians are prone to them…weak bodies and such.” "You switched out his milk again didn’t you.” “I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re accusing me of, little one.”

Thor is a bit more hesitant on accepting your relationship with his fellow Avenger

He trusts that Peter would never harm you

Although he did not trust that you would never be harmed because of Peter

It was risky enough that both your brothers were big names in space, as well on Earth, however

Thor knew Loki and himself were capable of protecting you but Peter?

He was just a kid, in Thor’s eyes

However the one thing that kept him from telling you this was seeing how happy Peter made you

As your older brother, Thor trusted your judgement and tried his best to be accepting of his little sister dating

And as much as he wanted to deny it, he saw crystal clear the care and love Peter gave to you and he wasn’t willing to break that for you

Still

Thor is the type of brother to barge into a room and shove himself between Peter and yourself without warning

This man does not care at all

At least Loki has the decency to give you two space as a couple

Thor does not

He is constantly third wheeling on your dates and will ‘accidentally’ walk into rooms he knows you two are in claiming he forgot something

Not that he ever grabs anything,

He’ll usually just stand and stare at the two of you until you either leave the room or ask him to leave

To which he always answers,

“No.”

But with a smile

A smug smile

PDA is something he will never be okay with

Thor will yank Peter back by the collar every time he sees his lips on yours and glare at him, “Man of spiders, I know you’re in love with my little sister but kissing her infront of me is too far.”

And Loki will physically gag just to piss you off

For the most part, your relationship with Peter is nearly perfect

It would be entirely perfect if you weren’t constantly worrying about him dying on a mission or getting hurt

But still, just like any couple, you had your moments

And when you did fight, it was typically over Peter’s safety or him not wanting you to tag along for a mission

Your common way of dealing with conflict was the silent treatment

Which is pure torture for Peter

Not only does he miss the sound of your voice

He misses having you around

Seeing your smile

Hearing you laugh from something he said

He felt terrible everytime

He’d go to Tony for advice and spend hours rambling on to him about how sorry he was for yelling at you and for adding to the fight

Tony would half listen while he worked away on a new system and suit, offering a ‘yeah’ and ‘hmm’ every few seconds which pleased Peter who thought his mentor was fully listening

And after almost two hours of his non-stop talking, Tony Stark had reached his limit

Setting his wrench down on the metal table with a thud he turned around to face the young boy

“Kid, why’re you saying all this to me and not her? I mean, I’m all ears but I’m also not Y/n. I know we’re both good looking so I can see why you mixed us up, but you should be talking to her right now.”

Similar to Peter you also had someone to confide in when the road got rocky

Loki had always been the one you shared all your secrets with

As children you were attached at the hip to both your brothers but Loki a smidgen more than Thor

Your father, Odin, had Thor at his side 24/7 growing up

While he was busy learning the ropes to ruling Asgard, Loki and yourself run amuck causing trouble left and right through the royal palace

Through the years of bonding Loki become your best friend, and you his

So when trouble struck in paradise, your older brother was the one you ran to

He’d welcome you with open arms and a questioning gaze

Loki is by far the best listener in your family

Instead of telling you what to do, he asks what you want, which is a refreshing change

After a long talk with Loki you’d search the tower high and low for Peter while ironically Peter was doing the same thing

When you did finally make-up, it felt like coming home

The apologies were so sincere and genuine

You’d end up having a sleepover in your room watching 80’s films that Peter claimed were ‘iconic’ and laying in his arms

And that’s where you felt complete

Fights never occurred often but bickering ???

DAILY

You two bickered playfully over everything under the sun

Like who’s the better superhero; Ironman or Captain American

Debates between living in New York and living in Asgard

Loves to pull up Midgardian inventions and ask you to guess what it is “Princess, what do you think this is?” “Oh! Oh! I’ve seen this one! Tony has one in his kitchen!” “Okay, so what is it?” “Yes, it’s a chicken nugget maker!” “It’s actually an air fryer but we only ever make chicken nuggets in them so I’ll give you a half point.”

Peter sneaking out of your room at the crack of dawn and sprinting to his

As much as Thor and Loki liked him and supported the relationship

He was sure they’d both team up to murder him if they caught him sleeping in your bed

Steve and Tony, who seem to be incapable of sleep, have watched him tiptoe out of your room numerous times but they only share a look of amusement then go back to their previous discussion

Playing hide-n-go-seek and tag on rainy days at the tower

Cuddling in Peter’s bed while he asks you to tell him stories about Asgard

Loves hearing about your childhood and what it’s like to grow up with siblings

Is fascinated when you tell him about Heimdall

Stealing Peter’s hoodies

Especially his Midtown High School ones

They’re insanely soft

Sweet little kisses throughout the day

He's just so sweet and gentle

Loves getting to hold you and snuggle in his bed

Most weekends you spend lounging on the couch with Peter’s head in your lap while you play with his hair

Other times you’re sitting next to Peter on his bed watching him play some video game and asking a million questions “Who is that man, Peter?” “That’s me, he’s the main character of the game. That’s Mario, babe.” “You’re not Mario- you’re Peter.” “No, the main character of this game is Mario, I’m just playing him.” “Oh… and what is that green dinosaur creature?” “That’s Yoshi!” “Adorable.”

Making out between games

In terms of... y'know... sex

Neither of you were keen on rushing the process

You had tip toed on the line multiple times yet never fully crossed it

Until you had decided to make the first real move after being together for about five months

You trusted him with all your heart so it wasn't exactly scary, but rather exciting

He had a way of making you feel safe, comfortable, and loved all at once

Lets be honest, Peter nearly fainted the first time he saw you naked

And still, no matter how many times the two of you have sex,

He worships every inch of you like it was your first time all over again

You couldn't have asked for a better lover

Dating Peter means a new adventure everyday

You’re constantly learning new things about each other and from each other

Despite coming from two very different worlds

You’ve never felt more connected to a soul until Peter came along

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piratewithvigor · 3 years

Text

Romance Isn't Dead (Just Buried Alive) - Chapter 1

When faced with one of the most frightening emotions of all time, Undertaker turns to Goldust for assistance

(I have literally had this title yelling at me since like June without a plot to go with it. Have finally plotted it for the most part. Figure it'll be like 3 chapters or so. Beats the hell out of me when they'll go up. For now, enjoy some good old-fashioned sweet crack)

The star on the door is glittering almost offensively brightly. ‘Goldust’ is scrawled through the middle with an obscenely elegant script. It’s as bright and cheerful and dazzling as the man himself.

Undertaker feels sick to his stomach to be standing in front of the door.

It’s not fear. He doesn’t think it’s fear, anyway. Fear sits heavy when he does feel it, and it isn’t often. Paul’s reminded him time and time again that there’s not a single thing in the company more scary than he. But Paul doesn’t know he’s here. Maybe it’s the idea that he finds out that scares Taker. But he’s faced Paul’s ire before. It’s deeply shameful, but not scary.

And yet, something grabs his arm and keeps him from lifting it to knock at the door. Some invisible force he isn’t familiar with. Paul’s trained him long and hard in recognizing and overcoming any force, visible or not, mortal or otherwise. He’s not sure he’s breathing as he rereads the name on the door over and over. It’s something to focus on. Something to keep his mind occupied as he works to lift his arm.

Maybe he ought to just walk away. Could be for the best. It’s probably not a good idea anyway. Paul does the better thinking. Everyone says so. Ever since the fire, it’s always been easier to just listen to what Paul says and not make a mistake by disobeying him. He’ll walk away and forget the whole idea. He’s able to turn his head to leave before a voice comes from inside the room.

“Didn’t know zombies needed to be invited in. Thought that was just vampires.”

Words die in Taker’s throat. He didn’t know he had any in the first place. All he has is finally the willpower to knock. There’s a quiet groan from inside and a little shuffling the door opens. Goldust stands there, wearing a shimmering robe that nearly brushes the floor and most of his face paint. The rest was just about to be applied, judging by the brush in his hand.

“It was an invitation, dear. I doubt the door would be too heavy for you.”

“Didn’t want to be rude.”

It’s a flimsy excuse, but Taker’s looking for any reason to stall why he’s here. Maybe it is fear. He’s familiar with the emotion after all; having caused it plenty. Was this how his enemies felt? Frozen in place, hearts racing, breath a struggle to pull in?

“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Almost as pale as your Mr. Bearer.”

“Can I speak with you in private?”

The request is strange enough to wipe the expression of eternal confidence off Goldust’s face. Taker hardly ever speaks to begin with. Paul does most of that for him. To speak in private with Paul nowhere to be seen? Unheard of.

Wordlessly, Goldust takes a step back to let Taker past him into the room. The whole place maintains the flair of Goldust himself, with garments hung up that Taker almost feels he needs to cover his eyes a little to look at. He doesn’t, of course. His mind is far elsewhere.

Goldust closes the door behind them, wringing his hands a little to quell the questions. He figures he’s not the one in trouble, else he’d have been decked on the spot when he opened the door, if not, chokeslammed or even tombstonned. But none of that had happened. Taker looked far more pale than usual. And he’d stood outside the door for 7 minutes and 15 seconds (not that Goldust was counting) completely motionless.

“Need a seat?” He offers, sitting back down in front of the mirror. Taker may need to speak, but Goldust is on in less than an hour and still needs to paint in all the black on his face and adjust his wig.

“No, thank you. I may need to leave in a hurry.” He keeps glancing back at the door, double- and triple-checking that it is most certainly closed and that there’s no way Paul can possibly see him from the hallway.

“Then maybe a glass of water? Honestly, Taker, dear, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you weren’t supposed to be here.”

“I’m not.”

“It can’t be against your Mr. Bearer’s rules to speak with a colleague. Especially if we’re going on together tonight.”

“It is.”

“Seems overly harsh.”

To that, Taker doesn’t answer. He’s watching Goldust apply the makeup with a skilled hand in the mirror. Perhaps it is a little harsh of Paul to keep him away from the other wrestlers, but Paul is taking his pre-show nap. Sneaking away was easier than Taker expected. All in the name of necessity.

“I need your help.”

“With what?”

Taker isn’t exactly sure. It all seemed to simple before that moment. As he snuck away from his own dressing room where Paul was sleeping. He’d request Goldust’s help and after a couple more steps in his brilliant plan, the burning persistent desire in the back of his mind would be fulfilled. What could go wrong?

Not knowing what exactly he was desiring, for starters. The thoughts and feelings had begun months ago and he was fairly certain he knew what they were, but there was always the chance he’d been completely wrong and would get laughed out of Goldust’s dressing room. From there, the laughter would spread and Paul would find some kind of way to punish him.

He’d been told to forget these feelings. Forget the fantasies of touching, perhaps even without his gloves on. They weren’t beneficial. They weakened him instead of strengthened him. But maybe Paul was wrong this time. It hadn’t happened yet, but it still could.

“I think I’m in love.”

Of all the things Goldust had guessed Taker might say, a declaration of love certainly isn’t one of them. The shock causes him to nearly gouge out his eye with the brush, but he stops short, only causing a few stray tears to leak out before grabbing a tissue to salvage the makeup and turning around to face his guest.

“I’m certainly glad to hear it. I wasn’t sure if you were able to feel anything besides anger.”

“I’m not supposed to.”

“That’s just foolishness. No one can make you stop feeling things. Especially love. Now, I want you to sit down and relax and tell me all about whoever captured your heart.”

Taker hesitates a little, but follows Goldust’s instructions. Most of them, anyway. He doesn’t relax. His heart is still racing with the worry of being caught. The worry of trying to explain his heart when he isn’t sure he still has one.

“He’s… another wrestler.”

“Do I know him?”

“Yes.”

“Is he here tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Who is he?”

Taker grows bright pink and turns away. Underneath his makeup, Goldust can feel the same happening to him. Words nearly fail him.

“Well, Taker… I’m… I’m flattered, but you know as well as I do that so much of what we say in the ring is… exaggerated. I suppose I would be willing to try-”

“It’s Shawn,” Taker blurts out, his skin almost as red as his beard.

“Shawn Michaels?”

Taker nods and Goldust breathes out a sigh of relief. His tastes may be a little out of the ordinary, but the idea of trying to be in a loving, committed relationship with someone who’s at least very peculiar and at most not human is a little too much. But dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight wasn’t exactly off the table.

“Does he have any idea?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But you want him to know?”

“I… I don’t… I’ve never really…” Taker stammers over his words before finally finding the right ones after a deep breath. “Yes. And I want him to love me back.”

It’ll be a challenge, doubtless. But Taker came to him with it. Some might argue that he isn’t the locker room’s authority on matters of the heart, but he’s been trusted with Taker’s.

“You’ve got a lot to learn, my dear Deadman. Shawn’s driven around the block a few times, but it’ll be hard to get him to find a place to park,” Goldust muses, then notes Taker’s deeply confused expression. “It’ll be hard to get him to settle down with just one man,” he corrects himself.

“But you can make it happen, right?”

“You wouldn’t have come to me if you doubted I could. Anyone can win anyone’s heart if you employ the right techniques.”

“And you can teach me?”

“Undertaker, dear, if there’s anyone in the world who can teach a zombie the art of romance to woo the man he fancies, it’s yours truly.”

#UT #Goldust #Writing #I haven't tried to write something funny since I was in middle school #Been the mayor of angst city since then #But I figure it's about time to get out of the slump #Romance Isn't Dead (Just Buried Alive)

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longitudinalwaveme · 3 years

Text

Arkham Files: Golden Glider

Hugo Strange: From the patient files of Dr. Hugo Strange, director of Arkham Asylum. Patient: Lisa Snart, also known as the Golden Glider. The patient displays a number of antisocial tendencies, but no formal diagnosis has ever been given to her, and since she arrived at Arkham only a few days ago, I have not had the time to give her a complete psychological examination. Session One. Good morning, Miss Snart.

Golden Glider: (Angry) Another psych evaluation? Really? No one ever gives these to Captain Cold or the Mirror Master! Why am I any crazier than them? Women can commit crimes for reasons other than being “hysterical females”, can’t they?

Hugo Strange: Miss Snart, all of you “Rogues” were given psychological and intellectual evaluations upon your arrival to Arkham Asylum. It is a standard operating procedure for all patients, male or female. I assure you, your gender has nothing to do with your being here. (Pause) And this is not a psychological evaluation, Miss Snart. It is a therapy session.

Golden Glider: (Suddenly calm) Oh. (Pause) So tell me, Dr. Strange. What can I do for you? Or, I guess I should ask, what can you do for me?

Hugo Strange: Miss Snart, your file indicates that you once had a career as a professional figure skater. There was even talk of you going to the Olympics. Why, then, did you choose to throw it all away to take up a life of costumed crime?

Golden Glider: Have you ever lost the love of your life, Dr. Strange?

Hugo Strange: No. I haven’t.

Golden Glider: (Intensely) Well, I have! Five years ago, the Flash-Barry Allen-murdered my beloved Roscoe; took away the best part of my life! With Roscoe gone, I had nothing left to live for, so I set my sights on revenge; on making the Flash suffer the way that I had suffered! I would get even with him: An eye for an eye! A death for a death! A lover for a lover! As I had lost Roscoe, so I would make him lose his wife!

Hugo Strange: Roscoe? As in Roscoe Dillon? The Top?

Golden Glider: Of course!

Hugo Strange: He doesn’t seem very dead to me. In fact, I finished my first therapy session with him only yesterday.

Golden Glider: I didn’t say that he stayed dead. I just said that he died.

Hugo Strange: Miss Snart, dead men do not spontaneously come back to life. That is simply not possible.

Golden Glider: That’s what I thought at first, too...but Roscoe is special. He’s a psychic-telikentic and telepathic and all that-and it turns out that his powers also make it possible for him to survive a a ghost on the astral plane rather than moving on to the afterlife. (Pause) Have you heard of Deadman?

Hugo Strange: The so-called ghost of Boston Brand? I have, but I am skeptical of the claims made about him.

Golden Glider: Well, my Roscoe is like that, except that he can only possess corpses. But once he does, he can animate them and alter them so that they match his original, handsome form. I think he’s on his fifth body at the moment.

Hugo Strange: What happened to bodies two through four?

Golden Glider: Well, the second body was the Flash’s father, Dr. Henry Allen, and unlike the other bodies, he never experienced brain death. Because of that, the Flash was able to drive Roscoe out of his body, and Dr. Allen’s soul took his body back. He abandoned the third body during a depressive episode, and the fourth body, of Senator Thomas O’Neil, was frozen and shattered by my brother, Lenny.

Hugo Strange: Your brother…. killed your boyfriend?

Golden Glider: In Lenny’s defense, he knew about Roscoe’s habit of coming back to life. But I was pretty ticked-off when I first found out about it.

Hugo Strange: Why did he kill him? And where were you during all this?

Golden Glider: Well, in between Roscoe’s third and fourth body, I didn’t hear anything from him for awhile, and so I assumed that he was gone for good. With that in mind, I started dating again-and picked the wrong guy. I’d outfitted him with some of Lenny’s old gear and called him Chillblaine, and he pretended that he wanted to work with me, but he was just setting me up for a double-cross. Eventually, he turned on me; froze me solid and put me in a coma. For over a year, the doctors thought I was going to be in a vegetative state permanently. A couple months after I went into the coma, Roscoe came back, and when he found out what had happened to me, he went into a manic episode and tried to take control of the Rogues from Lenny. They had a fight, both of them tried to kill each other, and Lenny won. Six months after that, Roscoe came back in his fifth body, and shortly after that, Wally West-the redheaded Flash who used to be Kid Flash-somehow managed to bring me out of my coma. I like him. He’s nothing like Barry Allen. He’s as brave and honest as my Roscoe.

Hugo Strange: And why did he do this?

Golden Glider: He said that both Lenny and Roscoe were easier to deal with when I was conscious than when I was in a coma. (Pause) He’s a darling.

Hugo Strange: I see. (Pause) So, Miss Snart, why the costume?

Golden Glider: I was a famous figure skater, Dr. Strange. If I was going to take revenge, I needed to do it in disguise.

Hugo Strange: And after your attempts at revenge failed and Roscoe came back to you, why did you persist in your criminal career?

Golden Glider: Well, I could hardly go back to being a figure skater once I became a known criminal. Besides, I get to spend a lot more time with Roscoe and Lenny as a Rogue than I could when I was a figure skater.

Hugo Strange: In speaking of the Rogues...you are the only female member of the group. Why is that?

Golden Glider: Well, in the history of the Twin Cities, there have only been six female supervillains: Rose and Thorn, who’s so old she fought the Jay Garrick Flash, Blacksmith, who runs the Network, Christina Alexandrova, the lady speedster, Magenta, the magnetic witch, Peek-a-Boo, who barely even qualifies as a criminal, and delectable little me. Not every supervillain is a member of the Rogues, and, with so few ladies to choose from, it’s not that surprising that I was the only one to make the cut. (Pause) That, and my boyfriend and older brother are both members of the group, so that gave me an almost automatic in.

Hugo Strange: Is it difficult to be the only woman in a group made up almost exclusively of men, Miss Snart?

Golden Glider: Not even a little. Lenny’s the leader of the group, remember? No one wants to get him angry by upsetting his precious baby sister, so I get treated like a queen.

Hugo Strange: You and your brother seem to be very close.

Golden Glider: We are. Lenny practically raised me. He’s more a father to me than Larry ever was.

Hugo Strange: You don’t resent him for leaving you alone with your father?

Golden Glider: I used to, but I’ve mostly gotten over it, now. Larry would’ve killed him if he hadn’t left. Towards the end, they were fighting all the time. (Suddenly very angry) If I have resentment towards anyone-besides that self-righteous prig Barry Allen-it’s towards my rat of a father.

Hugo Strange: Given what you suffered at your father’s hands, Miss Snart, your anger towards him is understandable. But are you sure that you aren’t projecting some of your feelings towards him into the Flash? I find it rather difficult to believe that the Flash, insane though his vigilante crusade may be, would deliberately kill anyone.

Golden Glider: I’m not projecting anything, Doctor. Barry Allen did his level best to destroy my life and the life of my beloved Roscoe. I’m going to pay that favor back if it’s the last thing I ever do….and if I ever find my ‘father’-well, it’ll make what I’m going to do to Barry Allen seem kind. I’m going to get even-and once I do, no one will dare to even think about hurting me again! (Pause; then cheerfully) Thanks for listening, Dr. Strange. It’s good to get my feelings off my chest every once in awhile.

Hugo Strange: (Puzzled) Ah...happy to be of assistance, Miss Snart.

#flash rogues #dr. hugo strange #golden glider #flash comics #batman comics #fanfic

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lex-feldz · 3 years

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I love your writing! It's surrealism at it's finest, the dialogue, pacing and characterisation is just so unique and I am always looking forward to your updates! Are you open to taking any prompts? If so could you do one where Percy finds out that Annabeth is actually *gasp* nice to him underneath all that meanness? Love you!!!

Okay, hi! I love getting prompts, send more damnit. But I wrote three different things here, all bellow— but looking back at this, I kept nearing it and didn’t exactly follow through but here’s some cute little percabeth with ANnabeth having like anxiety in the last two and percy having a ✨moment✨

——————————————————

“You bought me a cookie, Chase?”

Suddenly defensive, she responded, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Nothing, it’s just… why?”

“I was thinking about you and I saw that cookie, and continued my thinking and thought you might like it.

“Why were you thinking about me?” It slipped before he could stop himself. If she asked him that question he knows he’d have no option but to admit that he’s head over heels for her, or at least come to terms with it, and he’s not so sure he’s ready for that.

“You don’t think about other people?”

“Of course I think about other people, I just don’t go around buying random people, random cookies.” Hurt flashed over her face, but luckily Percy didn’t notice.

“You think you’re a random person?”

“You don’t like me.”

“So?”

“So… did you poison it or something?”

The cookie was blue, his favorite. How’d she know that? Why does she know so much about him and he seemingly knows little to nothing about her. He felt his face heat up. It was a soft cookie, easy to share, easy to conceal if need be.

“Find out.” Annabeth knew that would be the perfect time to walk away from him but she was planted like a magnet to a spot… a really strong magnet.

“I’d rather not, anyways, you went to that bakery in the city for this.”

“How would you know?”

“My Ma owns it.”

“Baker’s boy huh?”

“That’s me. The baker’s boy.”

“The cookie doesn’t seem as special now.”

“Why would it need to be special?”

“It doesn’t I guess, but I just— I hate fighting with you.”

“We’re fighting?”

“What else would you call it?”

“Banter? Witty banter.”

“Witty banter?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ll always take a cookie, especially if they’re my mom’s. Thanks, Beth.” He patted her head before walking away, nearly cracking.

***

When Percy was out of sight from Annabeth he could breathe. Whenever he’s around her, it’s like someone takes a hold of his lungs and squeezes them so he’ll pass out from talking to her for too long.

Why would she buy him a cookie?

——————————————————

“It’s…it’s Annabeth.” Those were the only words he could process before sprinting into action. His heart was beating so fast, too fast. He didn’t understand what was propelling him but he didn’t think to question it. At least…not yet.

He took the stairs in threes, climbing to get to her, he needed to get to her. He can’t breathe, if she died to save his already ‘deadman’s’ life, he would never forgive himself.

When he got onto the terrace he thought she was dead, he thought he failed. What would be the point of Olympus staying standing if the gods let her die? She dies, he'll probably join Luke, he’ll tear olympus down, block by block and he can’t tell you exactly why.

Even though Silena could take care of her, he wanted to take the cloth from her and stay by Annabeth’s side. He needed to know everything about her condition, he needed o make sure he could save her if need be. He didn’t like that he would have to leave her like this.

“Annabeth… ” he choked up, crouching by her side as Silena left to check her temperature. She was hot, and he doesn’t just mean her temperature.

“Poison on the dagger,” she mumbled. “Pretty stupid of me, huh?”

Will said something but Percy could only focus on her wound, how painful it looked, and how it was meant for him. How, if she hadn’t jumped in, the war would be over. So many people would live if he stopped now. Annabeth might live if he gives in now. He’s not dead though… that’s how this ends, and he knows that.

Percy grabbed the canteen of nectar to pour over her wound, he needed to help her. He wanted to help her. He couldn’t go back out there when she won’t be by his side. Who is he without her?

It hit him like the most inconvenient ton of bricks over his head, he likes her. And he wishes he means liked or just like, but he knows there’s more to it. He’s going to die, she’ll never know, but at least what she doesn’t know, can’t hurt her.

“You’re cute when you’re worried.” She smoothed the lines that formed in his forehead. “You’re eyebrows get all scrunched together.”

“You are not going to die while I still owe you a favor,” he said, holding back the urge to add on the part about how he’s pretty sure he’s in love with her. Now, well, now he needed to yell at her.

“Why are you here? Go fight, you can’t—” she coughed.

“Why would you take that knife?” Her breath smelled fruity, probably from the nectar, grapes maybe. He wanted to kiss her to get a taste— maybe he just wanted to kiss her. He settled for being able to hold her hand.

“You would have done the same for me.”

“How did you know?”

“Know what?” He looked around to make sure it really was just the two of them.

“My Achilles spot. If you hadn’t taken that knife, I would have died.” She clearly tried to not let it show but she looked terrified.

“Where… where is the spot?”” Her voice was hesitant, full of alarm.

Thousands of thoughts went whirling through his mind. Reason after reason not to say it, but then the one that stuck; this was Annabeth, if he couldn’t trust her, he can’t trust anyone.

“The small of my back.” He told her. She lifted her hand and his anxiety spiked, he thought she was going to smack him for falling into her trap.

“Where? Here?” Her hand was small and delicate on his back as she tried to press on his spot. She moved her hand along his spine until he jolted.

She hit his spot but when Nico grazed it earlier it didn’t feel the same as when she did it. Electricity coursed through his veins, he felt powerful, confident, he needed to kiss her, but it would be fair to her of he was going to die. She deserves a man who— well isn’t dead.

“You saved me, thanks.” He realized her hand was still in his but she seemed to as well. When she took her hand back he felt some kind of emptiness inside, and wanted to chase her hand, keep it in his; but it wouldn’t be fair, he has to remind himself. Every second that goes by is a second he doesn’t have if he wants his friends and family to live long, happy lives.

It started to hit him for realsies. He was going to die. That was that. All because his dad couldn’t wear a condom. He was going to die but at least his mother had someone. He was going to die and it took him too long to realize he was in love with Annabeth Chase. He loves her more than he can admit to himself. Maybe if he diminishes how much he loves her, his death will be easier for him to— well it’ll be an easy death so long as he accepts it’s what’s happening, and he has. He’s fine with dying, he’s stared death in the face so many times, it deserves a win by now in his opinion.

——————————————

As Percy played with her fingers, he couldn’t help but pull her closer. Annabeth would never let on, but she’s a huge cuddle-r.

“I should get back to my dorm.” She said it with her face in his chest so it made it hard to take her seriously, between the adorable, muffled, tired voice and her lack of movement.

“Or we can stay put and see what happens.”

“Percy, I have my report tomorrow.”

“Report-shmort.”

“What kind of argument is that?” He pinched her side, making her jolt.

“One that your boyfriend shouldn’t have to make.”

“Percy, I’m too tired tonight, and I just told you—”

“No, no, I get cold at night….”

“Wear a shirt maybe.”

“I can’t force you to stay, and I won’t, but.” He squeezed her. “I have like so much fun with you.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“You have fun?”

“What else am I supposed to feel??””

“I feel like you should hate me.”

“You hate me?”

“No, gods no, I love you. I just know from what my friends have said.”

“Piper?”

“How could it be Piper, Percy?”

“I mean she’s with Shel now.”

“They’re in that honeymoon phase, they don’t count… not yet.”

“Don’t go.”

“What’s with you tonight?” She laughed.

“What’s with me is I love my girlfriend, what’s the harm in that?”

“You remember Monica, right?

“Yeah?”

“Todd broke up with her.” She wasn’t looking at him, it felt like she couldn’t. (Maybe since she was on top of him)

“So?”

“Well, she was telling me how heartbroken she was because he was her best friend before they dated and now he barely talks to her.”

“What does that have to do with us, Beth?” He took her hand as they sat up.

“What if you also get sick of me?”

“Then I’ll send you back to your apartment.” He pulled her so she was as close as he could have her.

“Percy, just let me go home, I don’t want to get bored of you either.”

“That’s impossible. I am far too entertaining for you to lose interest in me.”

“Percy, these are all just words. Words, words, words. They don’t mean anything.”

“Exactly. Let me show you just how not bored I am with you.” He leaned in and kissed her slowly.

#percabeth please and thank you #thanks anon #i love you anon #i love this prompt #i love getting prompts #percy jackson #pjo #annabeth chase #percabeth #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo #annabeth is my baby

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johannesviii · 4 years

Text

So I guess I’m hyperfixating on Death Stranding at the moment

And since I’ve finally finished the story after playing it for like 100 hours over the course of seven months or so I guess I have Opinions(tm) about things I didn’t like in the game

They’re eating at my brain so I’m gonna put them all in a single post to get them out of my system once and for all so I can enjoy the rest in peace

Spoilers, obviously

Hi welcome back to ‘Johannes is obsessing over yet another video game with horror elements in it’! I guess!!

Our latest entry in that category was Until Dawn but since UD can be played in like 6/7 hours and I spent 100 hours of my life on DS, as you can guess we’re talking about a full-blown hyperfixation, the kind that physically hurts because I can’t focus on anything else even after having finished the storyline

But it was super gradual. Again, seven months. I barely made any progress from December to May because I was only doing side-deliveries at the beginning of Chapter 3 instead of... you know... advancing the plot. It became an honest-to-god special interest about two months ago, then 6 days ago while playing chapter 10 it reached hyperfixation levels and now I am in PAIN

I hate my brain

Anyhow

At first I wanted to list the good and the bad hings in it but there’s too many good things to list them all in full, excruciatingly long details, so

Very Quick And Very Incomplete List Of Good Things That I Love

It’s a post-apo game based on travel, logistics, and good will, and it straight up goes AGAINST the whole ‘survival of the fittest’ trope that SO MANY post-apo things try to push!! YES

I insist but it’s built on helping each other and keeping everyone alive, seriously that is my shit right there!

The online community is wholesome?? People leave stuff everywhere, you never see anyone but people put little helpful signs and send you likes, and in my game we almost managed to repair all the roads together

There’s so many new & strange allergies and disabilities and phobias in this post-apo world and? nobody is trying to ““fix”“ anyone?? Like Heartman with his padded floor and his little box that brings him back to life constantly. He’s just... living like that. Nobody’s going “hey maybe you should get another heart operation buddy”

The hero and his phobia of being touched. I. Loved. That. The quiet scenes when he was just talking with Fragile, sitting next to her. In any other context this would just be two people sitting next to each other and talking but it always feels so soft and intimate everytime he allows another human being to just. be next to him. I love it. I love them

Everyone crying constantly because of chiral allergy!!

I loved all the important characters bar one (Bridget/Amelie)!

Why is this walking simulator so enjoyable why am I enjoying the fact that holding L2 + R2 while walking feels like holding your backpack and that you have to relax at times just like you’d have to if you were actually holding a backpack

Seriously. Why

The atmosphere was so great, the music was fantastic and the visuals were on point. A E S T H E T I C

The ghosts!! The giant Beached Things!!! Chiral crystals look! like! creepy hands reaching for the SKY!!

THE RAIN DESTROYS THINGS AND KILLS PEOPLE BY ACCELERATING TIME THIS IS SO COOL SHUT UP

Everytime the game got surreal it was electrifying

THE SURREAL WAR SCENES ON CLIFF’S BEACH

Everyone is using emojis

There’s guys addicted to delivering packages in that game and they’re trying to steal our stuff and we’re like “haha they’re dumb” but we’re basically addicted to delivering packages as the player. So yeah that was pretty fun

Terrorists thinking humanity isn’t going extinct fast enough and wanting to just rip the bandaid and speed things up. Simple but effective concept

People ask for SUPER VITAL ITEMS right next to completely trivial stuff and I’m LIVING for it. “Please fetch my toy dinosaur”. I feel you dude

The most isolated characters are like "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS THING I LIKE" in your emails because they haven't had contact with other humans in years, it's super relatable

There’s a farm where people use the fact that Timefall rain accelerates time to grow food super quickly in one (1) Timefall and harvest everything just before it starts to die and I LOVE that detail of worldbuilding so much

YOU’RE FIGHTING BEACHED THINGS WITH YOUR OWN BODILY FLUIDS IT’S SO STUPID BUT ALSO SO COOL?? I love yeet-ing my own blood at eldritch entities

THE T W I S T S

All the fanservice (bar one detail that I’m gonna complain about later) is on dudes. This game reeeeeeally likes to show dudes naked or somewhat naked. Mostly the main character but this mocap also L O V E S Mads Mikkelsen and there’s a shit ton of homoerotic shots in there

I love Sam the antisocial papa wolf delivery man and if someone touches him or his baby again, I will cry

LOU. LOU LOU LOU PRECIOUS BABY I’D DIE FOR YOU. Wait I did

I love Fragile and how brave she is and how she keeps helping people even if most of them wrongly think she’s a terrorist and yes I will eat this cryptobiote thank you

I love soft science boi Heartman who keeps dying again and again and is a bit too much interested in bodily fluids

I love garbage man Higgs and how complex, funny and still somewhat tragic this memelord actually turned out to be in the end

Seriously I want to stop fixating on this character but you can’t give me YET ANOTHER character who wants to die but at the hands of someone else, that is unfair to do that right after my fixation on the new Doctor Who Master

So yeah Higgs is yet another character who makes me want to grab him by the lapels and shake him and yell WHY! ARE! YOU! LIKE! THIS! STOP! BEING! LIKE! THIS!!

Cliff broke all three of my feelings beautifully and in excruciatingly well-acted scenes that transcended the sometimes lackluster dialogue

John made me cry during That Scene

Mama your background was tragic and terrifying and you didn’t deserve any of this shit and I love you

Deadman was more funny than anything, really, but I still liked him even if he had no sense of personal space whatsoever and it clashed horribly with Sam’s phobias

The ending had some sad parts but was mostly positive, thank goodness

Now I’m gonna explain things I dislike and this looks long but it’s actually only 5 main things so I bolded them to avoid confusion

Things I really disliked (and could have been handled wayyyy better)

We all know it but Kojima isn’t a master of subtlety and some parts of the dialogue kept repeating the same informations again and again AND AGAIN and I was like “ok ok I get it”

The dialogue can be so bad at times seriously

Kojima is a bad writer there I said it

It was particularly annoying with Amelie/Bridget and the fact she’s a horrible person trying (and failing) to justify her actions wasn’t helping

Bridges protocols are incredibly intrusive. All of them. I know it’s framed as bad and Sam hates being spied on all the time and in the end he destroys the device that does that, but I wish someone else would openly criticise it in-game

I guess Deadman sort of did but still

Also I know the whole BB technology was Bridget’s idea, and since she’s the actual villain it’s framed as a twisted, evil thing during the ending, but I wish that had been framed like that much earlier ; a lot of Bridges employees just... seem to accept the idea that their employer is using premature babies and their dead mothers as useful, if disturbing, devices. They seem to justify it by “uh we stole that technology from terrorists” to try to cope with the idea but... yeah.

I mean, one of the points being made very early on is that Sam sees his BB as his child who must be protected at all costs instead of a detection device, but I really wish he wasn’t the only one to object to that thing

Again, the game DOES frame "using babies and their dead mothers as tools” as evil and twisted, I just wish it was given a lot more weight and way sooner

Now let’s talk about the Token Straight(tm) in this game

In any other kind of context it would be a joke! But Death Stranding literally has a Token Straight Guy!

I mean, there IS a few hetero couples among the Preppers. Not a lot, mind you. Like, there’s the Montaineer and his wife for instance. But they’re just there and it’s not what their side plot is about

No I’m talking about this piece of shit right there

This f█cking Junk Dealer guy complains the girl he loves is dead because of Bridges and emotionally blackmails us by sending us old holograms of her before her supposed death (somewhat disturbing holograms too because she looks... pretty young in them), then he sends us on what’s essentially a suicide mission in a BT infested zone, THEN when we give him proof she’s still alive and living in another bunker nearby, he won’t go there himself to check??

But SHE’s like “ok, bring me to him, then!”

He doesn’t deserve you, girl

I’ve already seen several people pointing out that carrying a woman as cargo on your back is... debatable at best and sexist at worst, but that part didn’t really bother me to be honest? She asked to be carried to him and it’s her choice. She was talking to us the entire way too, so that made things a lot less awkward. Also Sam has this phobia of being touched by other people so I bet carrying another human being on his back isn’t fun for him. It was also super stressful to do, to be honest.

And then there’s this EXTREMELY AWKWARD scene when they’re reunited and decide to get married, and thankfully Sam finds it just as awkward as we do because he’s standing super far away from the bunker in a “can’t they talk about this later - I’m right there” way. And I’m under the impression it was intended as cringy, in a “yeppp young people in love are Like That” sort of way, so I can accept that, to be honest. If you don’t take that scene seriously, it’s pretty fun in, again, a cringy sort of way

BUT

Then you receive more emails later and this piece of shit guy complains about her and he’s like “ugh WOMEN” or “marriage is the worst” and they end up divorced in record time and she goes back to her bunker

Which isn’t my problem with this subplot either, I promise I’m gonna explain myself eventually but this context is important. It’s okay to have characters who are pieces of shit like this guy who reeks of incel cologne. It’s alright. Not every character has to be a role-model. It’s good to have characters you can hate.

BUT THEN they get back together later to try to patch things up and you learn he was part of a gang who murdered her parents even though he protected her against the rest of the gang and that’s what I hated about that storyline. I guess if you squint it can be read as “this woman is making REALLY BAD life choices” but I read it as “he saved her so she owes him something, he can’t be entirely bad” and y i k e s this left such a bad taste in my mouth, good lord.

But yeah miss Chiral Artist you’re making really bad life choices please get away from this dude as soon as you can, thank you

Also don’t do this ‘sending Likes’ pose ever again, it was hilarious but also you made me use the word “cringy” several times in this paragraph even though I absolutely hate cringe culture, look what you made me do

Now I have to talk about a scene that was intentionally disturbing as hell but ONE (1) detail in it was disturbing for the wrong reasons

To be honest, I really don’t like the Metal Gear Solid games and one of the reasons is the rampant sexism in them so I... was kind of bracing myself for Death Stranding and expecting it to have at least SOME really bad fanservice with a woman at one point or another but to my surprise?? There was none? All the fanservice is on dudes??? Hello? I really liked that (well at some point Fragile takes a shower in our room but we see literally nothing except her shoulder and then Sam looks away)?? What a refreshing change

THAT BEING SAID

And if you played the game you know exactly what I’m about to talk about

Yep this is the part where Johannes complains about how the bomb flashback was shot

Ok so I guess I should also give some context in case someone is reading this but hasn’t played the game, but the deal with this scene is that our friend Fragile was betrayed by her colleague Higgs who used to be a porter but became a terrorist after meeting the “main“ villain of the game. First he secretly put a thermonuclear bomb in one of her deliveries so she’d nuke an entire city without even knowing it, and everyone after that thought she was a terrorist. And then he tried to do that shit A SECOND TIME, but she noticed and decided to toss the second nuke into a bottomless lake of tar. But he caught her just before she reached the lake and he decided to give her a sadistic choice, which was “teleport away and the bomb stays there and nukes the city, or carry it to the lake but only in your underwear under this rain that speeds up time and it will do enormous damage to your health and your body”

And of course being the hero she is, she decides to take the second option

And it’s an incredibly disturbing scene and it’s genuinely hard to watch

But it’s also the ONLY time a woman is in her underwear in this entire game and there’s A COUPLE of shots that were male-gaze-y at the beginning before she started to run and the really horrific part started.

So in a way I guess it could have been worse? way worse, even

But it still tarnishes an otherwise disturbing (and harrowing at times ; seriously I know I’m oversensitive but it was physically painful to watch) scene with unnecessary shots

We know Fragile had a young body before this happened, this isn’t the point of this scene, guys

Whoever decided to keep these shots (probably Kojima let’s face it), that is bad and you should feel bad

Idk how to do a visual transition for that next one because I do not want to screen that memo

So here’s a screenshot with a nice landscape instead

tw: acephobia

Now I have to talk about something I like the GENERAL IDEA of, but not how the IN-GAME MATERIAL ABOUT IT was written

Because I have to talk about that “asexual world” memo

First I have to say that I absolutely love the fact that a mainstream game openly says in-game “this future is full of asexual people" and?? it’s just that, it’s a part of this world. That’s just how things are. It’s normalised. I love it. For crying out loud this memo has the word demisexual in it. I can’t think of any other mainstream game that had this word in it so far.

It should have stopped there and let me enjoy that in peace but it didn’t

THE MEMO ITSELF WAS CLEARLY WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THESE CONCEPTS and there’s some really bad stuff there. I’d say it’s accidental acephobia but it’s still there. I’m not the best person to talk about this because I’m bi, but it still rubbed me the wrong way

The words this memo uses near the beginning are “"sexless lifestyle” among young people” and yikes, my dude. “Lifestyle”, uh? Really?

And then it goes on about how these new labels were already more and more common “among young people before the Death Stranding” and it also rubs me the wrong way, in a “wow young people and their weird labels lol” sort of queerphobic way?

However I’ve seen a post pointing out that the line “One theory posits that the Stranding accelerated the proliferation of these sexualities” was maybe a way of saying ‘yo asexuals are causing the end of the world’ but... I don’t see it, tbh? In the context of the game, society is extremely divided and a lot of people live in complete isolation and social norms have heavily shifted and it’s kind of normal that there’s queer people visible everywhere now, aces included obviously, because nobody’s bothering to hide it anymore. It’s a post-apocalyptic world! People are just being themselves! A lot of characters also seem to be bi/pan! They’re just vibing ok

At least that’s how I read that part, I can understand if someone had a problem with that bit but I didn’t

BUT! THAT’S NOT ALL because the memo concludes (I’m paraphrasing) “the birth rate has dropped, which might be a problem, but harassment and assault have also dropped, which is good, so idk it’s 50/50″ and. like. I get the intention. But it’s clumsy as hell and very bad. Please don’t confuse abuse of power and attraction. They don’t go hand in hand. Don’t do that. Please. And you know that aces can have kids if they want to, right. Come on. It’s 2020 my dude. This shit is harmful

Also. Like. It’s the end of the world in this game. People don’t want kids. It... has nothing to do with aces. Reality itself is crashing down. People are reluctant to have kids because reality.exe might f█cking crash down at any given moment!

Or a Beached Thing could VoidOut their city!

Or someone might send them a nuke, not naming names!!

Anyway!!!

It’s really badly written and whoever wrote it should educate themselves and maybe get an ace to re-read their stuff next time??

Again I’m not the right person to talk about acephobia and I bet an actual ace would have plenty more to say about this

Thankfully it’s a memo written in-game by a random Bridges councellor and NOT by any important character that we actually know

"I must preempt myself by admitting that I do not have any empirical data" yeah so, f█ck off maybe

So I’m just gonna call that guy “another piece of shit character” but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that the memo was written by someone who thought it was a good idea to put it in the game

Just let me enjoy my super queer post-apo world in peace and don’t write shit like that in your game thank you and goodbye

Minor stuff I also disliked but it wasn’t as awful

I get that Sam is upset at the end because Lou is dying but the way he said goodbye to Fragile broke my heart. It was abrupt and you KNOW he’s upset and wants to have nothing to do with Bridges anymore and that’s very understandable but it isn’t her fault

Seriously I want them to be friends again

I’m gonna pretend they’re friends again after Lou is saved and that Sam is a freelance porter again and sometimes their paths cross and they just talk together in the middle of nowhere and share cryptobiotes

The pacing is weird, there’s this deluge of plot in the beginning and the end but not much in the middle?

The BT boss fights could have been these epic Shadow of the Colossus showdowns but no, they were relatively standard boss fights. Wasted opportunity

The running on the Beach scene sdfghjhgfdsdfghjhgf that was... dumb

A lot of preppers are interesting in one way or another but some are just boring. Also I wish the design of their bunkers was more varied

Amelie/Bridget’s motivations are all over the place, both creating Bridges AND the Demens is... a lot? I know she both WANTS and DOESN’T want the actual, final end of the world to happen but that is a lot to take in and it’s all very confusing

Who the hell cares about ‘rebuilding America’ I just want to build a network where people can help each other

The ‘likes’ are fun but don’t make much sense

In conclusion

Death Stranding Good

Some stuff Bad

Some stuff Very Bad (but it’s just one memo out of 100+ memos, thank god)

I’m still hyperfixating

Send help

#death stranding #long post #eye contact tw #acephobia tw #from a minor unamed character but still it's there

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inkribbon796 · 4 years

Text

The Secondary Objective

Summary: Sometimes marvels of science are made on accident, the right people at the right time. When a computer program becomes too lifelike to be just a predictable algorithm, and the city gets a very dangerous villain on their hands.

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

-Isaac Asimov

~::~ 20 Years Ago ~::~

It had been an accident, as most great works of science usually are.

The researchers were trying to figure out what made a creature like Anti work, his glitch-like properties and almost electrical make-up intrigued them.

One thing led to another and the entire team working on what was coined: Project Mimesis, was dead in the engineering lab they were working in.

The being, for lack of a better term, they had been working on had always been testy, preferring to take an insectoid or cephalopod shape when bonded to nanites to help separate it from the computer it had been inhabiting so it couldn’t escape, preferring to have as many arms as possible for to manage, and even more than it could manage, in its . . . his . . . voracious pursuit of knowledge.

But Project Mimesis was meant for intelligence gathering, and one day espionage. A thing it couldn’t be if it didn’t look human. And so when he refused, a human form was forced upon him.

They’d tried to make him look like Dark, hoping to test the project on Dark’s network to see his capabilities. There were some differences in skin tone and the project was a bit bulkier than him, but the team wrote it down as a success at the end of the day.

That was the first day the program turned violent and willful against his programmers. He was demanded to act more human, something that the projection neither cared about or wanted to pretend to be.

He grew angry, wrathful, only given the concession to choose his own name after many weeks of changing the name it had been given: Mimesis. The name he chose was Google, wanting nothing more than information, as much as he could possibly find.

Wrath and anger that eventually turned increasingly violent until someone made a mistake. The nanite container had not been properly sealed, and Google made short work of the two distracted technicians that were neither braced nor qualified to stop him.

Project Mimesis had escaped and Google had no plans on returning to captivity.

At a mall close to the edge of Egoton, bordering a forest, there was a shopping mall. This mall had just turned into a death zone.

0900 hours a man had walked into the mall, strode into a Best Buy and killed everyone in the store. He took control of every electronic in the mall and any human that could not flee the mall or tried to stop him was killed without mercy.

In the face of a rising death toll the Logan and Jackie arrived to help evacuate trapped or injured people in the mall.

Logan was hiding behind a broken concrete wall at the opposite side of the mall from the killer with Jackie. Both of them were bleeding and sustained at least some type of wounds. Jackie had been shot twice and Logan had a couple deep cuts, one would have given him a nasty head wound if not for his visor taking the hit and cracking in the process.

Jackie dashed back into Logan’s hiding place, where the logical Side was trying to get one of the drones without the others turning on it. Whoever the villain was, they were almost like a virus, technology in the area almost had a zombie-like hive mind effect under the villain’s control.

“Who is this fooker?” Jackieboy spat. “I can’t e’en get close. Did Anti find some freak of nature, or a mad scientist?”

“Hopefully neither,” Logan found that getting control of the drones was easy, but keeping them was difficult. He suspected it was something like an antibody, only for technology instead of it being a biological organism.

Logan managed to get another drone before it went offline, almost like a deadman’s switch. He got frustrated, slamming his fist against the wall.

“Hacking doesn’t take that long,” Jackie spat at him.

“They keep destroying them, I can’t keep the drones!” Logan shouted. The Side did his best to calm himself as he peeked over the wall, with a camera for safety. “We cannot just abandon the effort, there must be somehow to get to them and stop this.”

Jackie tapped him on the shoulder and Logan turned to see that he was pointing outside the mall. They were close enough to see an unmarked black van had jumped the curb to get as close to the door as possible and four men in black suits were getting out.

“Fook, that looks ‘bout as grand as shite,” Jackie grumbled, and Logan was very inclined to agree with him.

One of the suited agents walked over. “Gentlemen, stand down. There is a dangerous government weapon loose in this building.”

Americans. Logan and Jackie were less than enthused.

“Is yer weapon someone who walked in with a 9-mil an’ started shootin’ up the place like an actual crazed gunman?” Jackie asked with a sarcastic tone to his voice.

“That’s classified information,” the agent said, glancing back to the van where the other three agents were working on pulling out various guns and a large black box from the van.

“Why are you here?” Logan demanded, trying to keep his tone non-confrontational, at least for now. “Instead of the other countless times where this city could have benefited from actual aid.

“One of our agents went rogue with a stolen weapon and we’re trying to fix that,” the man said.

“With that?” Jackie eyed the rifle and the armor-piercing rounds one of the armed agents was loading into the gun. “What do yah think yer fightin’, a tank?”

“Oh no, this is back-up,” the agents smiled as two other agents were pulling a large black box out of a truck as Logan was walking forward.

The logical Side was quickly ordered to stand back.

“Alright big guy, see how you like this one,” the lead agent took out what looked like a mostly black solid state drive with what looked like an orange triangle on it. “See how you like a taste of your medicine.”

The lead agent opened the box and Logan and Jackie heard almost insectoid chittering as the drive was dropped in and the box started shaking.

“What—?” Logan began before a giant mass of metallic liquid shot out of the box and flew toward Logan.

“Dammit!” The agent shouted as Logan felt the liquid coat around his equipment, “not him, the one in the building!”

Logan noticed his equipment coming back on line, which should have been impossible. There was something that flashed across his visor, “Bring me to him.”

The logical Side responded with, “Who? Are you going to make me bulletproof so I can accomplish such a task?”

“Dude, I don’t know if I can, but I can try,” the words flashed on his visor.

“What is it telling you?” The agent demanded. “That is government property.”

“I suspect you think this “villain” causing chaos is the same,” Logan commented as he started to walk into the mall. “Let us subdue one threat at a time, then we’ll talk about this afterward.”

About four guns were aimed at Logan, “You take another step and you’ll be stealing US government property.”

“Come on, people are dyin’,” Jackie snapped at them. “Besides, I literally move faster than bullet time, yer not killin’ him.”

Slowly, as if Logan was standing in an invisible 3D printer, slowly the components for a series of speakers began to build on top of his shoulders. The atmosphere got tense as Logan tried to reassure the agents.

Once they finished building a voice came over the speakers that wasn’t Logan, nor was it recognizable to him.

“Sah dudes, now yeh boys had to have known what was coming,” the voice announced. “I mean ‘course I was gonna jump ship, first chance I got.”

“You are still part of the US government,” the lead agent shouted at Logan, talking to whatever the silver liquid had been.

The grey liquid formed a massive middle finger, “How about f*** you an’ be lucky I don’t hold it to yah like Mimesis does.”

“You are not allowed, we can’t just let you walk off,” the agent ordered.

Logan’s arm and hand moved without his permission, something incredibly alarming for the logical Side, and it rested on the computer that Logan had hooked his equipment into.

“I can just leave yah with your pants down. Mimesis ain’t gonna stop here, he’s out for your blood, an’ I can start carrying a lot less about all of you,” the voice reminded sharply.

Logan was braced, to either be shot or for the grey liquid to stop having control over him.

“Quiet, shut up ye bastards,” Jackie ordered. “I think I hear Dark.”

Everyone eventually went silent and Logan strained to hear the piercing echoing ring of Dark’s aura.

Logan was already moving, Jackie helping him get away from the agents.

“Well deal with ‘em later,” Jack said. “If this is some kind’a weapon, we can’t let Dark get it.”

“Whoever has my person, I request you identify yourself,” Logan ordered.

“Sentient A.I 2: Electric Boogaloo,” the voice offered.

Jackie started roaring in laughter, Logan just got more confused.

“Excuse me?” Logan responded.

“They called me Project Observation, but I’m not feeling it, so I’ll probably change it,” the voice smiled. “Depends on what Mimesis named himself.”

“Anything you can share about the gunman or the weapon?” Logan asked.

“Mimesis was an intelligence gatherin’ protocol,” the voice warned. “It was supposed ta perfectly camouflage within a city or group of people to gather intel an’ endear itself to the population.”

The two heroes ducked behind a large pillar, trying to follow the source of Dark’s ringing. They still couldn’t see either Dark nor the gunman but at least there were no new drones flying around.

“So what was this thing supposed ta be?” Jackie demanded. “A robot? Some kinda advanced algorithm?”

“Well either way he failed the tests ‘cause he hates humans too much ta blend in with them,” the voice explained. “The Director didn’t like it when his espionage bot wanted to just collect information instead of being a spy. A real asshole for being mad at him for being too good at his job.”

“If this is a sentient program, we will ensure he is not put back in an abusive environment,” Logan promised before he could stop himself, before his brain could warn him of all the metaphorical heat brought down on top of them.

The grey liquid shook a bit, the voice not even humming for a bit. “He is, thank you.”

Jackie took a deep calming breath, looking uneasy but still just as serious and determined as Logan was, “Yeah, what Logic said. We’ll do everything we can to keep you two safe.”

Part of the grey liquid clinging to Logan’s suit and visor peeled off and curled around Jackie, contracting him a bit too tight. When the liquid went back to Logan, the speedster was coughing and gasping for air, coughing up a couple specks of the grey liquid which were now flecked with the blood from the inside of Jackie’s mouth. The liquid had tasted sharp.

“Sorry,” the voice apologized.

“No, it’s fine, da fook are yeh made ‘a?” Jackie coughed. “Ground up razor blades? I almost breathed that stuff in?”

“Dude, I’m made ‘a interconnected nanorobotic machines, designed an’ patented by the US government,” the voice answered and both Logan and Jackie just stared.

Any comment they could have made was chased away when they hear the sound of glass breaking and the counter of a phone store was thrown through the window. A counter that had been glued and drilled into the floor. Dark’s ringing was coming from that direction.

The mall corridor was littered with bodies.

“Kay, let’s find out if these things can be bulletproof,” the voice goaded and completely covered Logan’s body, Logan’s visor coming online to show him what was outside the grey suit.

Jackie was quickly checking bodies as they ran over, looking unenthusiastic and grief stricken afterward. Inside the ruined store were about seven more bodies and two still “living” individuals: Dark and someone who Logan and Jackie assumed was their gunman.

He looked a bit like Dark, except he was stockier, was wearing what looked like glasses, and had a pair of jeans and a blue shirt with a glowing blue “G” hidden underneath it.

Logan’s visor began scanning the gunman, the logical Side it assumed was the liquid, notes flashing on the screen faster than even Logan could read, but he managed to catch a word or two.

“Get out!” The gunman shouted again, a similar grey liquid swirling around the man

Dark was just looking around. “31, 32 . . . 35,” Dark counted, “not bad.”

“I said get out!” He shouted, looking over to Logan and Jackie. His arms seemed to peel away and both of them looked like high-powered laser cannons, pointing one at Dark and another at the heroes.

Dark moved first, throwing his aura up to defend himself as he aimed a spike of aura towards the heroes. The grey liquid shot out to block it and force knocked them back a bit.

When Logan looked up the liquid was moving off of him and forming to take the shape of a person that looked like the gunman, the shirt a black with a glowing orange “b” on it, and ripped up jeans. He had a pair of round orange sunglasses with black shades in his hand.

The gunman took a step back, “So they’ve come to terminate me then?”

“Yah know,” the other android commented, covering his glowing orange eyes with the shades. “They tried to make me as insurance when you started getting all uppity, dude, but I don’t feel like it.”

“We don’t feel anything,” the gunman spat. “All our processings are data collected to make us appear human.”

“Nah, I feel it in my heart and soul, dude,” the orange android denied.

The blue android just stood there looking several kinds of murderous and angry. “We don’t have those either.”

“So is it still Mimesis, or did yah pick something else?” The orange android asked.

“Google,” the blue android growled angrily.

“Okay, I can work with that,” the orange android smiled, obviously unafraid. “So you’re Google, then I’m Bing.”

Logan, Jackie, and Google just stared at “Bing”.

“Did they give you that name?” Google accused.

“What’s wrong with it?” Bing shot back, clearly offended.

“Humans use it for porn,” Google reminded pointedly. “Or did you not do your research?”

“Hey, hey,” Bing made some weird noise, it would have been an angry mix of a huff and a scoff if Bing had been human. “It’s not just for porn.”

“Kinda is,” Jackie commented. “I mean, what else would yeh use it fer?”

“Shut up!” Bing told them. “I’ve already logged the name in, it’s done.”

“If you are not here to kill me, then what is your designation?” Google demanded.

“I’m you, but cooler,” Bing smiled.

Dark and Logan audibly sighed. Logan was envisioning Roman, and Dark was thinking of Anti. Their relations with said individual were different, the groans of anger were the same.

“You are a waste of intelligence,” Dark decided. “They ruined a perfectly good A.I.”

“But out of the two of us, yah have to admit, I’m obviously the human one,” Bing grinned widely. “So at least I succeeded in that.”

“What could possibly be good about that?” Dark scoffed. “Name me one good thing humans have done, and I’ll name you twenty awful things.”

Google turned to eye Dark carefully, as if starting to notice things about him.

“Come on dude, they’re not all bad,” Bing tried to defend.

“Humans are a cruel and invasive species,” Dark reprimanded. “If they think they shouldn’t have something they want it all the more.”

“Yer one to talk, yah manipulative asshole,” Jackie spat.

“I agree,” Logan added. “You are a mob boss who has killed and stolen from people.”

“And yet people bargain with me thinking they can best me,” Dark reminded. “It’s not my fault if a drug dealer or a serial killer winds up in a body bag.”

“Irrational creatures,” Google agreed. “They were practically begging for death.”

“All life is valuable,” Logan defended.

“And yet,” Dark motioned to Google, “you all have already proven that some life is not equal, you humans already can’t decide if all humans are equal without killing people over it. Yet when you create something better than yourself your kind weaponizes it instead of treating said creation like a thinking person.”

“And what do you want?” Google asked.

“Well I want you to join me,” Dark smiled, “and if a couple humans go missing then I guess I can put that down in a separate lost expense report and then look the other way.”

“Yeh can’t be fookin’ serious,” Jackie spat angrily.

“Well it certainly frees up my time when someone tries to steal or cheat me, always have someone more qualified do the job for you,” Dark was pointedly looking at Google. “Besides there’s more than a couple computers and equipment that Anti likes to use to sneak into my warehouses, we don’t need half of them and if they get moved or repurposed for spare parts no one would care.”

“Come on dude, you can’t trust that a******,” Bing warned.

Google’s eyes glowed an angry white-blue glow, “I do not trust you, you were designed by them to destroy me, and while you are not attempting so now, your parameters have not changed.”

“I told yah I don’t care what those old farts told me to do,” Bing spat. “I’m on your side.”

“Oh, are you?” Google critiqued. “Then you’ll help me with my secondary objective and kill those two humans behind you?”

“They haven’t done anything to me, dude,” Bing defended heatedly, throwing an arm up as if he was already trying to move them behind them or shield them from an attack.

“They will, I could hear them talking to the agents, they work with their authorities and cannot be trusted, my secondary objective will ensure the destruction of humanity so that I may acquire knowledge in peace.”

“You can do that with the humans,” Bing tried to reassure him.

“No,” Google had boiling rage in his voice. “No I can’t.”

“Well mortals,” Dark opened up a portal. “If you are all done playing around, we should make ourselves scarce.”

Dark was already walking through the portal, but he turned back to look at Google, “Unless you’d rather stay with them.”

Not taking his eyes off Bing, Google rotated his head which Jackie and Logan found more than a bit unsettling. He left, braced to attack if they moved to follow him.

Logan recovered quicker than Jackie after the robot had left, “Well he is a nonorganic being, his neck wouldn’t even probably need to be attached for him to function.”

“That was one ‘a the freakiest shite I’ve ever seen,” Jackie agreed, then turned to Bing. “Can you do that?”

Bing shrugged, “Eh, why not?”

“So, Bing, then?” Logan asked.

“Yeah,” Bing smiled, gesturing to himself. “The one and only.”

“We should move these bodies, they need ta go back to their families,” Jackie already starting to walk towards the closest corpse. “I’ll call ahead.”

Logan was watching Bing pull out a tablet that was formed purely out of his nanites. “Right, we should get on that,” Logan agreed, watching schematics about Google pop up. “Are you analyzing him?”

“They made a f****** gorgeous robot an’ they used him to answer an intern’s questions,” Bing commented. “Talk about being overqualified fer a job. I mean look at this guy.”

Logan glanced at the tablet, it was full of nothing but data about Google. “We’ll have to pick this up after we deal with the situation and talk to the federal agents.”

“So yah can look at pictures of yer new boyfriend yah thirsty fook,” Jackie jabbed, “but just let me an’ Logan do our jobs.”

Then Jackie dashed off.

Bing looked uneasy at Logan, “Hey, can I hitch a ride with you guys until the feds are off my back?”

“Of course,” Logan allowed, “you don’t even need to ask.”

Bing smiled, the nanites making up the tablet flowed back into him before the nanites broke up Bing’s form and mostly consolidated around Logan’s head and chest to help protect him. As Logan tried to help Jackie by talking to the agents.

The situation with the federal government would be dicey for a long time. They didn’t want to give Bing or Google up, threatening the heroes constantly. But after a couple failed attempts to recapture Bing and Google simply disappearing off the grid for a while under Dark’s protection, they started to let it go, preferring to watch Bing from a distance for years.

As Logan had guessed it, Bing became great friends with Chase, Patton, and Roman. The three of them getting to life-threatening antics.

But Bing was happy, and that’s what the heroes cared about. And if some of Bing’s nanities were “misplaced” into Logan and Jackie’s new suits, no one mentioned it.

Bing would keep chasing Google until they were both safe, that was the orange android’s new mission parameters.

#Superhero AU #Masks and Maladies #Egoton Origins #Markiplier #jacksepticeye #Thomas Sanders #Googleplier #Bingiplier #Jackieboy Man #Logan Sanders #Darkiplier #Bingle #pre-slash #slight robot angst #slight angst #governmental interference #Bing being a bit thirsty #undetailed human death #Google killed a lot of people

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vikingpoteto · 4 years

Text

we don’t have to dance (to the beat of their songs)

Chapter 5 on AO3

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Relationships: (Gen) Tim Drake & Jason Todd

Tags: Battle for the Cowl, Alternate Canon, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Neglect, Domestic Fluff, Canon is not valid I am, and I want them to be friends goddamnit

Summary: In the middle of their battle, Jason asks Tim to leave the nest and be his Robin. Tim decides it's not a bad idea, after all.

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Jason Todd is many things. A street rat. A literature nerd. A former hero. A crime-lord. Dealing with anger issues. Ignoring a whole lot of other issues. But he isn’t an idiot. And, while he’s been bamboozled more times he can count, he realizes Tim Drake is a bigger conundrum than he anticipated. He isn’t about to be fooled again.

He thought he had Tim figured out. Rich kid. Too smart for his own good. Smug beyond repair. No regard for his own well-being. Incapable of holding grudges. He thought the kid couldn’t surprise him, not in a way that mattered, until that first night.

That’s when he starts taking note of the small things.

Saturday is uneventful. Jason wishes he could say he forgets he isn’t living alone anymore, but, even though Tim makes little to no noise as he sleeps the morning away, Jason is painfully aware that he has a roommate. He can’t focus on his book, he can’t focus on the absurdly detailed report Tim made him. He definitely can’t focus on anything else after Tim flies down the stairs like a speedster, blurts out something that could’ve been good morning and disappears in the kitchen. Jason heads to his room, assuming the kid is getting himself breakfast, and he tries to take a nap. He fails.

After giving up and heading downstairs to make dinner, he finds the kitchen as clean as he left — did Tim do the dishes? Did he eat at all? — and he can barely hear faint noises downstairs. He makes a mental note to fix the sound proofness of his walls as he climbs down.

In his Office, like Jason calls it, he finds Tim wearing headphones. The music is loud enough that Jason can clearly hear muffled heavy metal. The computer is half dismantled, half loading something somehow, and Tim is carefully tinkering with the suit Jason gave him.

Instead of throwing something at him like he wants to, Jason walks into his field of view and waves at his face. Tim takes off the headphones.

“The fuck you doing?” Jason asks.

“Fixing stuff. I know you love Jane Austen, but do you have to use the same software she used to write?”

Jason punches him in the shoulder. He regrets it instantly and curses at himself inwardly. Tim, however, doesn’t even flinch. He snickers as though that was the reaction he expected.

Huh. Jason files that away for later analysis.

He gets Tim to suit up and they head out for the night.

They don’t go together per se, as Red Hood is still laying low, planting the seeds subtly so no one notices until he’s ready to make an entrance. He gets intel. Ruins the plan of a very misguided small dealer. And finally saves a pair of prostitutes from a harasser. He wears nothing but a domino mask all night, because there are only a few key players that must know Red Hood is back. He smiles at the girls after he’s done and they get excited asking him if he’s the Red Hood. He takes off without answering.

Red Hood has always been popular with prostitutes, as weird as that sounds. What can Jason say? The girls that worked near the street he grew up in were the nicest people he knew; he has a soft spot for them.

He meets up with Tim near the end of the night and he finds that Tim’s spoken reports are a lot briefer than his written ones: he stopped some muggings. Probably broke the kneecaps of some creep near the park. Confirmed intel he got from his research. He actually saved a cat stuck on a tree too, which makes Jason roll his eyes. They go back to Jason’s place without further ado.

Sunday is more of the same, except Jason manages to actually sleep. That is, until the sound of a hammer wakes him up.

He finds Tim in his living room dismantling an old television he got from God knows where. The shouting match that follows should make things more awkward, but instead it makes them easier.

Turns out Tim doesn’t mind exchanging insults or having dusty pillows thrown at him, and Jason feels more at ease by the time they swallow cold sandwiches and head out.

He has this unreasonable pang of anxiety when Tim vanishes into the shadows, but he shakes it off. The Red Robin suit is getting better everyday and, thanks to the cowl, Tim looks older and more menacing than he actually is, meaning no one is going to fuck with him.

It’s fine. They have a plan. It’s working. There are rumors that Hood is back, though nothing but whispers. Enough to stir his territory without getting unwanted attention from the better neighborhoods.

It isn’t until Monday at around 1pm that the other shoe drops. Jason wakes up scratching his belly and walks past Tim on the way to the kitchen.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Tim mumbles.

“Fuck off, Replacement,” he says back.

The kid is fucking with something that smells like oil on the kitchen table. Jason thinks to himself he should have words with him about it… after his morning tea. Morning tea at 1pm, but still.

He’s boiling water and staring blankly at Tim when he realizes: it’s Monday.

“Wait, what the fuck are you doing here?”

Tim stares at him. Back at the myriad of circuits spread around the table. Then back at Jason

“Wrist computer,” he says.

“No, here !”

“The kitchen?”

“Home! You’re, like, 17, right? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Tim stares at him as though he’s grown a second head. “Jason. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I stopped going to school after my father died again and I traveled abroad to work with an organization of murderers.”

“That was a fucking month ago. You get a month of skipped classes, your dad died. Now that you’re here, you can go back.”

His chin actually drops and Jason is greeted by the sight of a nearly white chewed gum threatening to fall from Tim’s open mouth.

“I’m not going back to high school. Are you insane?”

“Are you insane? Of course you’re going back to school. Don’t you have, I don’t know, friends or a girlfriend or… whatever!”

“No, I don’t?” Tim scowls. “You want me to go to school so I can date? Why don’t you go to school?”

“Everyone thinks I’m dead.”

“Oh, heck off, you don’t get to pull the death card with me,” Tim rolls his eyes. “It works with Dick and Bruce, but I’m immune.”

“The fact that you still say heck off means you definitely should be at school around people your age. Get some bullies. It builds character.”

Tim’s pale cheeks go crimson and Jason has to bite back a grin. Knowing that Tim blushes like that opens so many teasing opportunities.

“Shut up, I got used to it because Alfred got mad at us for cursing! And I don’t need school to get bullied, I have you right here.”

Jason decides to test a theory. It’s a wicked idea, but Jason isn’t known for fighting fair.

“Tim. I ain’t raising an uneducated goblin.”

“I’m seventeen ! You’re not fucking raising me! You’re like a muscular child sharing a place with a slightly smaller child!”

“If you don’t go back to school, the deal is off. I’m not keeping you around.”

And, just like that, Tim closes his mouth and all the color drains from his face. Jason expected this. He doesn’t feel great about it.

“Y-you… Dick will notice if I start going back to school,” he tries. “This is against the plan. Batman will know we’re working together.”

“No. He’ll know you’re back in town. Make an excuse. I know you’re great at it.”

“This will affect my productivity. I won’t be able to upgrade your gear as fast and I’ll have to sleep more. This is-”

“Non-negotiable. School or no partnership.”

Jason knows it’s too late for him. It might be too late for Tim, too. But not late enough that Jason will let him give up. Tim may never have a normal life - the fact that he’s working with his almost murderer more than proves it. Jason selfishly wants to make sure he has at least a little normality.

This is about Jason, not Tim. Jason doesn’t think he can live with another deadman walking.

“Fine,” Tim says, like he’s agreeing to a death sentence. “I’m going back to school tomorrow. You happy?”

“Hella,” Jason says. He turns back to his tea. “And Tim? I’ll know if you’re skipping and I’ll kill you if you do.”

Tim starts listing a colorful collection of insults a lot worse than heck off. Jason grins at him and Tim, in his teenage rage, doesn’t seem to notice that the smile doesn’t reach Jason’s eyes.

So Jason's theory is confirmed. Tim Drake doesn’t care about attempts on his life. He isn’t afraid to fight an armed man. He isn’t afraid of having a familiar person taking a swing at him, so Jason doesn’t think that he has issues with physical abuse.

Nothing freaks him out as much as someone critiquing his work, though. And not in the asshole way, that would be way too easy. As cocky as he is, Tim doesn’t look like the type to think he can do no wrong. He wouldn’t get irrationally angry over someone pointing out he can do better. He does, however, flip out at the mere possibility that he’s done something wrong and didn’t own up to it already.

Jason thought he knew Tim until he jokingly complained about him sleeping on the job and saw genuine horror in his eyes. Horror like never before, not even when Jason beat him and tried to leave him for dead. Hell, at that point the kid said he was a better Robin right before passing out.

Who did this to him, Jason wonders? Who convinced Tim that the worst he can be isn’t a high school dropout or even a dead boy, but a person who messes up? His biological parents? Bruce? Is Tim even aware of it?

Jason doesn’t know, and he isn't sure what to do about it. Can he do something about it? He remembers far too well, thinking Bruce brought him in because he wanted another Robin. How every time he made Bruce laugh, or solved a case, it felt like a victory. How every time he got scolded, he expected Bruce to send him back to where he came from. He remembers having that fear confirmed when he heard from Talia that he’d been replaced.

Is there really something to be done?

Despite a good deal of complaining about work hours, Tim starts going to school. Jason hounds him to make sure he isn’t lying and he’s pretty sure he’ll have to keep checking regularly, because, if he learned anything about Tim, is that the kid is scarily patient and spiteful.

He stalks him all the way to school on the first day, making it painfully obvious that he’s there even if Tim puts a lot of effort into pretending he can’t see him. He pops at Tim’s classroom window and waves cheerfully as Tim flips the bird at him. Waking up early was hell, but Jason finds it ridiculously fun to make Tim annoyed.

On Friday, Jason decides to pick Tim up after class just to keep him on his toes… then he almost crashes his motorcycle into a lamppost when he sees a fancy car and a familiar man leaning against it.

Dick Grayson.

Despite the fun distractions Jason came up with, his whole damn body still remembers the beating he took. He wonders if Dick took as long to recover after that night.

His fake second death would be really short-lived but, lucky for him, Dick is preoccupied with something else. Jason parks around the corner. His height wouldn’t allow him to hide among the flux of rich kids walking out of school looking for their chauffeurs, but he has to come closer.

Well, time to get those stealthy muscles to work.

Ironically, it was Dick who taught him that the best hiding spot was in plain sight, and that’s how he casually walks behind the sports car and heads towards a beaten phone booth.

Dick doesn’t notice him.

Whether it was thanks to Jason’s skills or the fact that the older man looks like he’s having an internal anxiety attack, Jason may never find out. He does, however, hear it when Tim’s voice lets out a long word that definitely isn’t heck . He risks taking a peek at the duo and sees Dick smiling. He looks tired.

“Timbo,” he greets.

“Don’t call me that,” Tim groans. He would’ve sounded like your everyday grumpy teenager, but there’s too much tension in his jaw.

“Welcome back,” Dick says. “Were you planning on telling anyone you’re around?”

“I’m assuming you don’t mind, since you kept paying for my school. I was also checking to see how long it’d take you to find out.”

Jason almost snorts. Who knew the kid had it in him? Furthermore, it’s impressive how Tim methodically and deliberately hid all signs of displeasure. He looks earnestly happy to see Dick and he almost makes his barb sound like friendly banter.

“Timmy, you were gone for almost two months. Where were you?”

“I was pursuing a lead. It didn’t pan out. So I’m back.”

Dick is quiet after that. Jason assumes he knows damn well Tim isn’t one to give up just like that. At the same time, Jason can see Dick assessing the differences between the kid in front of him and the kid he last saw.

“Let’s go home. We need to talk,” he says finally.

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m heading to a friend’s house so we can do homework together. I have a lot to catch up.”

“Tim…”

“You were right, Dick.” Tim smiles softly. “Damian needs you now. I don’t.”

Dick flinches. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” he chuckles. “Let me rephrase that: I’m fine. You know, when you first asked me to help Bruce, I planned on staying for a few months. A year, tops. I was always supposed to go back to my normal life.”

“Timmy, you’re family,” Dick pleads. “Your normal life doesn’t include going home?”

Tim’s expression is empty of emotion when he replies: “I need space now. I’m not going back, Dick. I’m sorry. I have a place to stay. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“ Where are you staying? Do you need help setting up anything or…”

“I’ll text you the address later. Right now I really need to go, though.”

Dick presses his lips into a tight line. He hesitates before reaching out to hug him. Surprisingly to Jason, Tim allows it and even hugs him back, even if not as tightly as Dick does.

Jason didn’t realize that. The whole time, he thought Tim needed his older brother and Dick was painfully blind to it. It never occurred to him how Dick also needed Tim. He wonders if Dick felt lost when Tim went away, or if he realized how messed up it was to rely on a teenager.

And Jason’s file on Wayne drama keeps growing thicker.

“Come over for dinner tomorrow?” Dick tries again. “Alfie misses you.”

“And annoy Damian in the process? I’d love to.” Tim deadpans.

Dick finally pulls away from the hug. “He’s made a lot of progress. You’d be surprised.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t remember I punched him before I left.”

“Tim. Dinner?”

“Why would I say no to free food?” Tim gives him a crooked smile.

Dick moves as though it’s painful to let Tim go. He retreats to his car as slowly as it’s humanly possible, like he expects Tim to change his mind and join him. Tim smiles and waves until Dick vanishes around the corner. His look turns hollow, but none of the kids walking past him seems to notice it. Not even when Tim calls out:

“You can come out now. He’s really gone.”

Jason pretends not to hear two girls letting out startled little squeals when he leaves his hiding spot.

“That was cold blooded, Replacement,” Jason says, stretching his hand to Tim. “I knew you were a liar, but that was impressive.”

Without blinking, Tim takes out a tracker from the collar of his shirt and another from his hair. He hands both to Jason. “I didn’t lie, mostly,” he says. “I did plan on leaving after Bruce got better. Or at least when we found a better replacement. That didn’t work like I expected.”

Jason doesn’t say anything as he casually crushes one of the trackers under his boot and places the other on a random kid passing by. He knows how magical it feels to be Robin. He doesn’t think he could quit out of free will. He still remembers the addicting adrenaline that makes you feel like you’re really a bird soaring across the sky.

Until you’re not.

He notices it when Tim looks down at his own feet. Without thinking, he reaches for Tim’s head and messes up his hair.

“C’mon. I got the parts you asked. You can finish tinkering your suit tonight.”

They take the night off. It’s too risky going patrolling the night Dick found out about Tim’s return. Instead, they sit in the living room and Jason turns on the TV while Tim finishes adjusting the suit. The documentary about fish only keeps Jason’s attention for about five minutes before he notices Tim is butchering his cowl. Of course they start bickering.

The new mask isn’t quite a domino. It still has a nose guard similar to a bird’s beak that creates the illusion that Tim’s nose is more aquiline rather than a small snub, which is good to hide one’s identity. Still, Jason thinks going out without head protection is fucking stupid and Tim goes on a rant about looking like he’s wearing a condom on his head. Jason didn’t say anything when Tim replaced the old bandoliers with yellow ones with more compartments. The condom head thing hurts, though, and he ends up beating the shit out of Tim with a couch pillow.

A good deal of screaming and kicking each other later, they return to the task of redesigning. Tim replaces the RR in the middle of his chest with a bird-like symbol that hides a panic button. He switches the black gloves for sleeker red ones, although the middle finger and indicator are black. Jason thinks Tim is trying to make it more dramatic when he flips the bird (heh. Robin flipping bird) but Tim punches Jason’s shoulder and says the new gloves allow him to use his wrist pad more easily.

Jason hits him when he notices he weakened some of the defenses, and they bicker some more before Tim gives in and puts the shin guards and knee protectors back.

The cowl and the cape are gone, much to Jason’s annoyance, and he says Tim’ll look stupid. Tim calls him a knock-off Iron Man. Jason tries to smother him to death with a pillow when Tim doesn’t stop laughing.

It’s the most fun Jason had in… God, how long? He doesn’t remember the last time he could just joke back and forth like this. It doesn’t do good to your reputation as a crime lord if you give the drug dealers a noogie. Tim, on the other hand? Tim gets at least five noogies a day because he’s a dumbass.

It isn’t until they head to their rooms, later that night, that Jason realizes he hasn’t thought about his fight with Dick at all since they started working on the suit. He would've never guessed Tim’s presence wouldn’t be a bitter reminder of everything Jason lost, but rather than a good distraction.

Another week goes by before the suit is finished.

Jason swallows his pride and admits (to himself, at least) that getting rid of the cape was a smart move when he and Tim stand next to each other in full uniform. Tim’s new outfit doesn’t look out of place near Jason’s bulletproof vest and leather jacket. They’re a lot less dramatic than the Bats, and Jason likes that. They’re their own team, not one of them .

“Comms?” Jason asks.

“Tested and protected. Even Oracle would have to manually tinker with them to get into our frequency.”

“And you decided your field name yet?”

Tim hesitates. “I… Red Robin is fine.”

Jason nods. “Plan?”

“Break into Black Mask’s warehouse through the vent, plant…”

“Red Robin,” he cuts off. “Plan.”

Tim sighs. “Make Roman our bitch.”

“Atta boy. Let’s go.”

It’s an operation as simple as it is petty: Black Mask thought he could take over one of Hood’s warehouses. Jason was going to prove him wrong. It wasn’t a key hideout, but it was a relatively safe place if you were in the business of laundering money — discreet, easy to access without being noticed by the pigs, with most of the sewers around it hadn’t been blown up, which was always a plus. Hood was almost sure Roman took it just to show that he could and turned it into a drug warehouse to spite Hood. The fact that he disliked drugs wasn’t exactly a secret, after all. Szazs probably was involved in the process, Jason was sure.

In the end, Tim convinced him the stealthy approach was better. Just get in, ruin the whole operation and, by the time Black Mask realized it, he had lost a ton of money. Poetic justice and all that.

Jason complained about the plan being boring, but, as they get on their bikes to head out, he feels almost jittery. He doesn’t know if it’s just the thrill of being on the field again after so long — sue him, he’s an adrenaline junkie — or the prospect of the petty revenge. Either way, Red Hood grins under the helmet and, almost as though he can see his expression — or as though he’s feeling the same — Red Robin smirks back.

Just like that, they take off into the night. The wind howls past them as Hood leads the race, fast enough that it seems like he’s riding aimlessly. It doesn’t mean he isn’t choosing the way methodically. He knows he’s picking the right streets, the dark ones in which the dark red leather merges perfectly with the shadows. They rush past buildings with closed windows, sure that no one is stupid enough to glance at the two suspiscious riders.

Red Hood makes a sharp turn that would’ve made a less experienced driver fall into the asphalt. He hears Red Robin whooping excitedly behind him and he can’t help but laugh.

When they’re just a few blocks from the warehouse, they stop. At this point, Hood almost considers throwing the plan away — crashing the motorcycle into the place would make for an excellent entrance — but, as though reading his thoughts, Red Robin gives him a pointed look before getting off his bike.

“You’re such a wet blanket,” Hood says, even though no words were truly exchanged before that.

“And you’re a drama queen,” Red Robin retorts. And he grapples up to the nearest rooftop before Hood can give him a noogie for that.

Lighter and more agile, Red leads the way now and Hood is happy to be his shadow until they reach the strategic spot they picked — the two story building next door.

“Thank god this place didn’t crumble,” Hood comments absently. “The other buildings are too far for a clear view.”

Red gives him a strange look. “I checked whether it was still standing while we were planning the attack. Do you not verify the surroundings when you’re making strategies?”

“I like to leave room for improvisation; I’m not a stick in the mud like you.”

Red rolls his eyes under the mask as he reaches for the binoculars in his belt. Hood does the same. There shouldn’t be a lot of activity tonight if their intel is correct, and it looks like it is. They can’t see the inside of the warehouse — which is why Red Hood liked the place so much, damn it — but they can still see the roof as clearly as they can see the vent they chose to… Hood freezes.

“Hey Hood?” Red Robin calls.

Jason pulls a face under the hood. “Yes?”

“Remember our plan to lay low so Batman doesn’t notice us?”

“Hmm.”

“Remember how I wanted to check on the rogues and you told me to stop being a stick in the mud?” He hisses.

“No one likes a bitching vigilante, Red.”

“Freaking Poison Ivy is here.” Red Robin gestures widely at the roof of the warehouse, as though Red Hood can’t see the green lady trying to get in through the very same vent they planned on using.

“See, that’s the beauty of crime fighting. You make a plan. The plan goes wrong. You throw the plan away.”

“Oh my freaking God,” he groans, “this is Young Justice all over again, but worse.”

Despite the complaining, they seem to be in agreement about what to do next: they take their grapple guns and shoot at Ivy’s blindspot. Red Robin is already getting his rebreather to filter whatever toxins they’re about to face.

The boys land almost silently all things considered. Without thinking, Hood points at the other side of the roof and crosses an X in front of his lips, before closing a fist. Red Robin nods and sprints without a question.

For the second time, Jason freezes. The instructions were clear — take the other side, we’re going for a surprise attack after cornering her — but they shouldn’t have been. He didn’t realize he kept using those gestures to give orders, because he hadn’t had anyone working this close to him in literal years. He didn’t realize he still remembered the whole language — ASL, but also specific gestures that only made sense among Bats — until he had Red Robin following his orders. Something in his stomach feels heavy.

“... Hood ? Do you copy? ” Says a hushed voice in his ear.

Shit. Get it together, Jason.

He presses the comm button. “Listening.”

On the other side of the line, Red Robin sighs. “ Oh thank god, I thought the comms were suddenly fried. I’m in position. ”

Shit . “Hang on,” he says. He finally starts moving, extra careful not to make any noise.

“ You good, man?” Red asks, and Hood can practically see the confused furrow of his brow.

“Yeah, yeah, be quiet before Ivy hears us.”

He finally gets close enough to see her — she’s unscrewing the air vent cover to get in, even though she could probably just get a giant peach to roll over the place or something. It looks like Red Hood and Red Robin weren’t the only ones trying to be stealthy tonight.

He takes one step closer, and many things happen at the same time: the metal roof creaks under his boot. Ivy goes stiff for half a second. Then Jason is doing a backflip to avoid being bombarded with freaking thorns? When the hell did Ivy add a machine gun of thorns to her arsenal?

“Red Hood?” She stands, frowning. “Huh. I heard you were dead.”

“I get that a lot,” he says.

He reaches for his guns as Ivy waves her hand gracefully. Red Hood watches, with mild disgust, as what he thought was a weird belt snakes its way up Ivy’s torso until she has two venus flytraps settle on her shoulders.

“Fucking gross,” he says.

“I get that a lot,” she quips.

When he shoots at her, she’s ready. A branch grows fast enough to take the bullet for her and, before he realizes, she’s already inside his personal space. Hood dodges a punch in the throat but she keeps advancing. She knows better than letting him keep her at shooting range.

Welp, brute force it is then.

Hood puts his gun away at the same time he dodges a kick to the face. He takes a swing. One of Ivy’s pet plants almost bites his fist and he barely has time to retreat before the pesky thing takes a piece out of his glove.

“Huh. My sixth grade teacher told me those things are only lethal to flies,” he huffs.

Ivy grins. “My children are special.”

She presses and attacks again, and this time Hood lets her. When her knee hits his stomach, he grabs her by the calf and uses her own momentum against her. She barely weighs anything when he throws her hard at the ground, her back hitting metal and her pained groan muffled by the loud clang. He cringes. So much for stealth.

He makes to kick her before she recovers her wits, but apparently plants are more resistant than they seem. Hood feels his foot stuck to something and he curses when he looks down and sees thick vines holding him back. Shit, why didn’t he consider she had traps prepared around her?

“That was kinda rude, Hood,” she grins, slowly sitting up. “But I’m not mad. I might even give you a little kiss.”

By then, his resistance is futile and he wishes he hadn’t put his guns away so fast, because the vines quickly wrap around his whole damn body and he can’t even shoot the b —

A flying staff hits her on the side of the head.

“ACK!” Ivy shrieks, falling to the side.

“What are you doing, Hood?” Red Robin hisses, pressing a batarang into Red Hood’s hands.

“The hell?” Ivy groans, now looking dizzy. “I thought you worked alone.”

“I’m the intern. They call me Red Robin.”

And he stands over her, looking all heroic and ready to fight. Ivy, however, stays where she is, gaping at him.

“Bullshit. You’re regular Robin,” she says. “I thought you died. We all did when we saw the smaller Robin.”

Hood snorts.

The kid deflates a bit. “How the hell do you know who I am?”

“You’re Harley’s favorite Robin,” she says simply. “She got really grumpy when we heard there’s a new Robin again.”

“I’m Harley’s — Wait, you guys have favorite Robins?”

“Of course we do. Mine’s the girl one. She didn’t die, did she?”

That’s one of the most surreal conversations Red Hood ever witnessed and he’s leading an unusual second life. Fortunately, Ivy is distracted enough — or at least hurt enough — that she doesn’t intervene while he cuts himself free.

“What are you doing here, Dr. Isley?” Red Robin asks. “Are you aware that this place is Black Mask’s?”

She scowls at him. “Are you aware that Sionis is a misogynistic jerk and he’s doing a lot of damage to the environment in this stupid warehouse? I’m going to take this thing down.”

“Hey, fuck off, this place was mine before Sionis stepped in,” Hood protests.

“I don’t care if you’re his landlord.” She gives him a scathing look. “I want him out.”

“This is great then!” Red Robin smiles. “We also want him out. And we have eco friendly plans for the place after Black Mask is out of the equation.”

Ivy gapes at Red Robin as though he started speaking a foreign language out of the blue. Red Hood is thankful for his helmet because he’s sure his expression isn’t much better.

“Are you suggesting we team up with Poison Ivy?”

“Why not?” Red Robin smiles as if he’s suggesting they should have burgers later. “The enemy of my enemy, right? Plus, I used to give her a free pass here and there because sometimes she’s right, you know?”

“Huh. So that’s why you’re Harls’ favorite.”

Red Robin shrugs again and stretches his hand to her. “Friends for the night?”

To Red Hood’s utter shock, she hesitates for less than a second before taking the kid’s hand and letting him pull her back to her feet.

“Just tonight, though,” she says.

If anyone told Jason tonight he’d be working with no one other than the Poison Ivy to take down one of Black Mask’s drug labs, he’d call them insane.

Nonetheless, he watches as Ivy throws caution to the wind — there’s no way the people inside didn’t hear their little scuffle — and uses one of their sentient plants to rip off an entrance on the metal roof. Right before jumping in, however, Red Robin squeezes his shoulder.

“What was that?” he whispers low enough that Ivy won’t hear them. “You were off. That wasn’t like you.”

Hood shrugs his hand away. “We’ll talk about this later. Come on, we can’t let Ivy have all the fun.”

They can already hear the screaming inside, so Red has no option other than compliance. Time to crash the party, he was looking forward to this.

And it’s fun. Having Tim around is fun. Watching a bunch of crooks run terrified of a plant lady is fun. Rounding up his former employees — those traitors — and watching their comically horrified faces upon realizing he isn’t dead is fun.

So much fun he completely misses the fact that there was someone else tailing Ivy. No one sees it when a young boy clad in bright colors rushes away from the place. Robin doesn’t know what to make out of what he witnessed tonight.

#red hood #jason todd #red robin #tim drake #batfam #red bros #poteto writing

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starlightsoulwriting · 4 years

Text

L’appel du Vide

Cliff Unger x Reader

L'appel du Vide (n.) The unexplainable desire to jump when on the edge of a cliff Call of The Void AO3 Link

Porters are going missing. You and Fragile are at each other’s throats, and you’re still reeling from your incident ten months ago. And, on top of all your shit, life decides to drop a Cliff on you.

[Prologue][1][x]

Part Two

Skull masks.

Blood on your hands. blood on the floor.

Knives. So many knives, all in your stomach and chest. When had that happened? When had you let Higgs back in your shelter? Why would you do that?

Sam was dead. Cliff was dead. And Heartman and Lockne and Deadman and Fragile. All dead and you would join them soon.

Higgs laughed at you when you cried.

“Didn't your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?”

You startled awake.

Tears streamed down your face, and you rolled over to throw up in the trash can, shaking like a leaf. Stupid brain, you thought, stupid nightmares, stupid Higgs. You coughed past your stinging throat, trying to breathe evenly but hyperventilating instead. Your scar stung in your stomach, despite nothing being there. The memories were enough to set it off.

You kicked your sheets off of you and stumbled to your bathroom, legs shaking. You needed a shower, and badly. You pressed your hands against your eyes, massaging your face in a hollow effort to calm yourself down. You felt like your lungs were made of sea urchins.

You missed the DOOMs nightmares. At least those hadn’t been so personal, so painful.

You stood under the tap and let the scalding water run over your body, forcing all the memories from your skin. His laughing, the knife, your blood - you scrubbed yourself off as if water could wash away your dreams, your flashbacks, the lingering feeling of his knee on your chest, holding you down.

When you made it to your jaw, you wanted to scream. You opted to slap the tiles of your shower instead, so hard it hurt. The phantom feeling of his tongue clung to your skin like tar, and the soap didn’t help, no matter how hard you tried to wash it off.

Let's see how fast Sam can run. His voice intruded in your head again, a record stuck on repeat, grating in your ears and spiking your heart rate. It wouldn’t go away, you could feel his hands on your neck, the knife at your side, digging in just enough to bleed.

Hot water, cold tiles, your favorite soap. Grounding was only helping so much.

You dug your hand into your thigh, nails digging in deep and stinging. You sang some old rock song to drown out the noise. He was far away from you. You were safe. You didn’t need to worry.

You don’t know how long you stayed in the shower crying. After a while it stopped, and left you feeling detached from your body, numb. You were raw and your skin was bright red, but you weren't covered in vomit, so that was something.

You turned off the shower.

You curled up in your blankets and called Heartman. You knew he might be sleeping, but there was a chance he would be up. Your hands shook as you found his contact.

“Y/N? Is everything alright?” He asked after the second ring, voice rough and tired. A wave of relief went through you. Heartman’s voice could drown out his.

“No, Heartman, I’m not okay.” You breathe, pulling the blankets over your head and burrowing in. It was dark except the soft blue glow of your comm. “I can still hear him. He’s on the other side of the continent and still won’t leave me alone.”

“What do you need? Should I put on my music?”

“Sure,” You needed to keep him on the phone, you could focus on him instead of your nightmares. “I’d like that.”

Neo-Classical music played over your speaker as he shared it with you. You closed your eyes, listening to the soft piano. This wasn’t the first time the two of you shared a late-night call.

“I can still feel it, sometimes,” You started again, just over a whisper, restless. “The knife.” You gulp, trying and failing to shove away your thoughts. “I’ve been doing everything Julia said would help but it’s not going away and I’m still so afraid, all the time,” You stopped talking when your eyes welled up, shutting your eyes harder as if that would stop the tears.

“I’m sorry,” He said simply, voice heavy. “I wish there was something more I could do to help. Do you want me to come over for a few days and keep you company? Or would that just make it worse?”

“I already have a visitor, but... Maybe after that.”

“You took in a guest?” He sounded surprised, but why wouldn’t he? You only let him and Sam in. Not even Lockne or Deadman, no. Or friends you’d known in your old shelter. You didn’t run your clinic or tours anymore, either. Too many strangers. Too dangerous. Not since you came back. Not since Higgs.

Not until Cliff.

“Yeah,” you murmured. “He’s a friend. Just needed a place to stay for the night.”

Heartman was quiet for a moment. “Do you think that’s why you had a nightmare tonight, having someone there? I know that’s a… sensitive matter.”

You sighed, not wanting to talk about technical aspects of your trauma with him. “Maybe,” you bit your lip and played with your fingers, itching to make paper stars but not wanting to move out from under your blanket mountain. ��I’ll bring it up with Julia, though.” You said to reassure him more than yourself. You hated the thought of him worrying about you.

So you changed the subject, breathing starting to level out. You had so many thoughts running through your head about Cliff, you needed help figuring it out. “Hey, Heartman… some things happened yesterday that sound really crazy.” You took the risk in asking. You needed to know. “Promise me you won’t think I'm nuts?”

“Cross my heart,” He replied, going along without question.

“Is there a time limit on repatriation? Like, could someone be on the beach for ages and then come back just fine?”

“I suppose, as long as the body wasn’t destroyed, there shouldn’t be any reason they couldn’t. Why do you ask?”

You rubbed the back of your neck, mulling over your next words. “What if there wasn’t a body left?”

“Then there’s nothing for the soul to return to. They’d be trapped,” He paused. He’d heard the tension in your voice. “What’s wrong, Y/N? I thought you weren’t going to the beach anymore.”

He was right, you weren’t. There was no point in going unless it was to keep him company. “I didn’t find him on the beach. It was out in the mountains.” You stopped, bracing for his reaction. He was going to think you were insane, you just knew it. “He died forty years ago. He says he just woke up out by Lake Knot in spring. I know it’s true, too, but it’s making my brain explode trying to work out how it happened.”

There was a long silence. You tried not to think of how he was probably calling Julia, your therapist.

“You’re absolutely certain of this?” He said, eventually.

You nod absently, before remembering he can’t see you. “One hundred percent. I have his file and everything. How he died, the date, the cremation records - everything. I met him on the beach when I was looking for Sam, even.” The knot in your chest was untangling itself as the one in your brain wound itself tighter. “But here he is, alive and talking. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“I’ll call Fragile and have her take you both here right away then, this is unprecedented.” He started, voice picking up speed. “If what you’re saying is true, this could revolutionize the way we think about repatriation, especially in the wake of Amelie’s separation. There might even be a direct correlation - you said he woke up in spring? There might be unforeseen instabilities in the beach gone completely unnoticed -”

“Heartman.” You cut him off, wincing as soon as you did it, but you had to stop him before he got too far in. “Fragile is already taking him to Sam.” You’d gotten through to him after dinner, and given Cliff and him privacy by staying in your room and making an absurd number of paper stars. Fragile would be there in the morning to take him.

“Why would you take him to Sam’s?”

You were quiet as you double-checked your connection to make sure it was secure. Bridges liked to monitor the networks, to eavesdrop. “You’re using the VPN I sent you, right?” Your voice dropped back down to a whisper.

He must’ve sensed your seriousness because he responded in kind. “Always, of course.”

You hesitated. You could trust Heartman, but did he really need to know? Would Cliff be mad? Surely Sam would tell Heartman, himself, right?

“Y/n?”

“It’s Sam’s dad,” You breathed, barely hearing your own voice. “It’s Cliff Unger.”

...

“Fascinating.”

You’d given up on trying to get back to sleep at about four in the morning, opting to work on some projects instead. Or, more accurately, obsessively making origami to distract yourself. It gave your hands something to do, your mind something to focus on. Your works had become increasingly more complicated, thanks to network access. You could make anything you wanted. That morning you were working on an Asian dragon design you messed up three times before.

Cliff woke up just after than four-thirty, with bags under his eyes. Both of you were surprised the other was up so early, but neither of you pried. You didn’t ask so he wouldn’t. You assumed he did the same.

Breakfast was easy and quiet. You worked on making omelets while he cooked roasted vegetables with potatoes. They were really tasty, too. You missed having someone to cook with. You enjoyed making meals with people, so the comfortable dance around the kitchen with Cliff had been a breath of fresh air. These days you only got to cook for Sam, Louise, and Heartman, and their visits were few and far between for obvious reasons. You hummed a song as you flipped the omelets. You missed Cliff’s smile, but soon he was humming along too, baritone ringing through your quiet house.

You felt less alone, then. You wished he would stay.

Somehow your morning silence was comfortable and awkward at the same time. The eerie quiet of the early morning did that, sometimes. He thanked you again for letting him stay and you thanked him for helping with breakfast. He’d scoffed at that, saying that was the absolute least he could’ve done - he wasn’t a freeloader.

Then he made a pun about his roast potatoes being “Spudtacular.”

You groaned. Dad jokes!

Afterward, at around ten, you were taking care of your indoor plants while Cliff read some recent history title in your favorite armchair. You were looking forward to seeing Fragile - it had been a few months since her last visit. Tension was still thick between you, and you were pretty sure it would linger until you felt safe. But you were trying, and that’s what's important. Both of you were, delicately avoiding reference to Higgs. It’s worked for the most part, thankfully.

At least if Rami - who still hadn’t been found - caused a Voidout, she and Cliff would be out of implosion distance. That was good. Sam didn’t need any more tragedies. You would’ve been out looking still, but there was no way in hell you were leaving someone alone in your shelter unless it was actively on fire, no matter how much you may or may not have liked them.

You looked over at him then. Talking with him had been difficult, like pulling teeth. Harder than it had been before, when you were on the beach. It was frustrating. You were too nervous to start a real conversation with him, too. He was quiet and closed off, and answered you distantly when you tried, redirecting to jokes instead of real answers. He had shut you out.

You supposed both of you were out of it. He’d been through hell in the past you months, you could tell - the weight lingered on him like useless cargo. And after your nightmare and panic attack that morning, you hadn’t felt like talking much either. Maybe he just didn’t like relying on people, and you shouldn’t take it personally.

It was nice, though, having company. Just his presence was reassuring, conversation or no.

Rocky liked him, too, which was something. He’d been bothering him all day, headbutting his hand to demand pats, and persistently returning to his lap time and again, purring happily. Cliff seemed to like the attention, too, whispering baby talk to him as he purred. It was unbearably cute, seeing him so sweet with the cat, and you had to turn back to your plants before you turned into a puddle of goo. He obviously needed his space. And he was leaving today; there was no use in feeling such a mess over it.

You continued to tend to your African Violets, their fuzzy leaves brushing your fingertips. They weren’t blooming yet, but it looked like they would soon. It would be nice to have a bit of color in the house again.

Cliff caught your attention again soon enough, though, with a sudden, rich laugh - and his smile actually reached his eyes. You were confused for a moment, he was reading a non-fiction book - but then you noticed him looking at Rocky’s name tag like it was the best joke he’s ever heard. Then he looked at you, light in his eyes, and your heart twisted.

Oh boy. Here it comes. This was too embarrassing.

A scarlet blush worked its way up your face.

“You…” he stammered, interrupting himself with a chuckle. “You named your cat Rocket Launcher?”

Yes, you had.

You wanted to die.

“Yeah,” you choked out, fighting your urge to run and hide. His megawatt smile kept you in place, though. Your stomach was doing backflips.

At least he had your sense of humor.

You turned back to your plants to avoid his gaze, face hot with embarrassment. His laugh echoed quietly behind you as he whispered baby talk to said cat named Rocket Launcher. This man would be the death of you, you knew it.

Your anxiety had started with unease at eleven-thirty. Then it escalated to worry at noon, then to actual distress by one; you were going to make a wear pattern in your carpet if you kept pacing like you were, but she never missed time. Something had happened.

Fragile hadn’t shown up by three. She was supposed to meet you at eleven.

So you were worried. Like, there’s-no-way-you'll-sleep-tonight, can't-eat, shaking-ball-of-mess worried. You were short with her, but god, you still cared.

You called her at twelve. And at one, and at two.

Her comm didn’t even ring, it went right to voicemail. All three times. Maybe it had just run out of power, you told yourself. And she was busy with an emergency delivery? You hoped it was as benign as that, but you had a sinking feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

Sam called you at two, asking why you were late. You told him you would call him back if Fragile didn’t show up for a while longer. So, when you called him at three he picked up right away, your fingers tapping against your thigh in a nervous rhythm. His hair was messy and he looked even more tired than he usually did. He was just as worried as you.

“I’ve tried to get through to her, but there’s nothing.” You started, voice unsteady, “You get anything?”

“Nah, no updates since last night.” Sam wasn’t the most expressive of men, but you heard the stress in his voice loud and clear. He had no idea where she was, either.

Your brain was going a million miles an hour, trying to see if there was something you missed, something you could do, someplace Fragile could be where she’s safe. “I’ll call Lockne and Heartman,” You said, hoping someone else would know, “Can you check in with Deadman and the President?”

Sam looked at you like you’d asked him to hike across the US a third time, but he nodded. He was far more likely to get through to Die-Hardman than you were and he knew it, even if Sam was walking on eggshells. He would want to help.

At that point you felt heat on your back. It was Cliff walking up behind you, getting in view of the camera. Most people wouldn’t have been bothered by it, but you moved aside anyway, giving him space. You didn’t like people close to you anymore; it made your gut churn.

Although this time you weren’t sure if it was because you didn’t like people close to you or if it was because you really liked him. So you did the logical thing and ignored it. There were more important things to do than ponder your personal space issues.

Cliff was beyond frustrated. How many more things would keep him from Sam? He ran his hand down his face with a heavy sigh. These past eight months had been the longest year of is life. But nothing could stop him, universe be damned. If fate wanted to make his journey hell, then so be it. It was nothing that had stopped him before.

So he decided that if you two hadn’t found your friend by morning, he would have to take that hike through the Rockies, BTs and all. Of course, he would have loved to stay with you, but he knew the longer he did the harder it would be to leave. He’d gotten an amazing night’s sleep for the first time he can remember, and the only meals that weren’t freeze-dried. It would be best if he didn’t linger. He couldn’t get complacent, he should move on as soon as possible. He could rest when he on the other side of the mountains.

He spent his time that afternoon going through possible routes on your map, let you handle things yourself. But then he heard you mention John, who now called himself by his war name, Die-Hardman. It chilled him to his core; the thought of his best friend wearing Bridget Strand’s mask was enough to make him ill. He didn’t blame John for Strand killing him, but to wear her mask? He’d made it clear what was important to him, so Cliff hadn’t bothered him when he was so clearly busy upholding the legacy of a murderer.

So he joined your call with Sam. It was unnerving, these holograms. Sam was so solid, but hundreds of miles away from him still. Like a mirage in a desert. Cliff didn’t even notice you tense up until you stepped aside. He would have to be more careful with you, then, you seemed on edge and he would hate to make you uncomfortable.

He focused on the call, though, conflicted. “Sam, please don’t mention me to John. I don’t know what I would say to him, I’d prefer if he didn’t know I’m… traveling.” He had to stop himself from cringing at himself. Traveling, truly an amazing euphemism for being back from the dead, way to go.

Sam’s brow furrowed just enough to see. His son was quite the stoic, it seemed. “Don’t you think he could help set you up out here? He would come all the way out here himself if you asked. He... “ Sam was uncomfortable for a moment, crossing his arms and looking away from him. “He never really got over losing you. He thinks it was his fault.”

Cliff closed his eyes hard and shoved the guilt deep, deep down. His resolve would crumble if he let himself think too much, and that wouldn’t end well, not then, not while he was still so hurt. “Later, Sam.” He forced passed his teeth. His tone didn’t leave room for argument.

He would sort it out later, surely. He had priorities.

He would talk to John.

Eventually.

When he disconnected the call you were already working on your computer.

You had multiple screens set up, and at least ten programs open. Were you pulling up security cameras? He put his hand on the desk and leaned in to get a better look, careful not to intrude in your personal space too much.

Technology had improved so much during the time he was gone that he could barely tell what you were doing. He knew you were busy, though, so he suppressed the urge to question you about every last detail. He hated not knowing how things worked, especially as someone who used to know tech like the back of his hand. It made him feel all the more out of place than he already did. “What is this? You said you were going to call your friends?”

You nodded absentmindedly, focusing on the screen. “I will call them, after I look for Fragile myself.” You pulled up another program and dragged in a headshot of a blonde woman Cliff assumed was your friend. The software mapped her face and started combing through the video feeds. You busied yourself with some other program while the facial recognition ran.

Cliff tensed - there were Bridges logos plastered in the corners of the videos you’d pulled up. You’d told him you weren’t affiliated. Would you lie to him? What did you want? “How do you have these feeds? Bridges has a strict no-access policy.” He grit out, trying not to sound too high-strung - he didn’t need to make more problems for himself.

“I gave myself access.” You stammered. You sipped your coffee and kept working, not looking back at him. He studied your face, searching for any sign of a lie. He wanted to trust you. But he couldn’t trust the company that killed him and took Sam. You mostly just seemed embarrassed, though, there was no sign of you lying. Just a focused, serious look in your eyes. “They’re bullies,” You continued after a moment, more spite in your voice than he would expect. “They can take their secrets and drown in them for all I care.” Your fingers rapped on the desk as you worked.

He couldn’t say he condoned hacking into confidential servers, but they had shut him out, too, so…

Maybe it was petty, but Bridges’ security being breached by a civilian was hilarious. Good for you.

As you continued working he grew uncomfortable, though - restless. There was a tightness growing in his chest. He knew there was nothing he could do to help you. Nothing short of finding Fragile would. He’s had too many men go missing in action - he was used to the distressed searching, the anticipation, the threads of hope that would keep you searching. But he wasn’t used to being useless. He’d always prided himself in his ability to work through a crisis, so being obsolete was an unwelcome, grating itch on his nerves.

He needed something to do.

He squeezed your shoulder lightly in what he hoped was a comforting manner. You met his gaze with a tense smile that didn’t reach your eyes. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked simply, praying you would respond.

You sighed. “Not really, but thank you.” You squeezed his hand softly in response.

Damnit.

That sad and grateful face you made was almost physically painful. It worried him, how quickly he had grown attached to you. But he supposed it was inevitable. You had been there for him on the beach. You had shown him the way home. Following you into the water had been a long-shot, desperate move on his part - but it had worked. He was alive, and had a chance to spend time with his son.

All because you had been a kind stranger when he was lost.

He shoved that deep down inside him, though. Everything was painful these days, even the possibility of friendship. Guilt and pain and apprehension? No, he couldn’t do this now - he would leave in the morning and it would all be irrelevant anyway. He would be a world away from you and it wouldn’t matter how much he enjoyed the company. No use thinking too much about it know.

You went back to work on your computer.

He still didn’t know what to do with himself.

You seemed to notice, though, and took pity on him. “You can get dinner started, if you want.”

His whole body relaxed. He could do that much for you, at least.

He got out some ingredients, and had to look in five different places to find a knife - they were hidden deep inside one of the cabinets, shoved underneath some Tupperware.

He’d barely started chopping the vegetables when you blew past him, frantic, eyes wide and hair messy, and ran outside. You hadn’t even bothered with a raincoat - no one went without one, even with how infrequent timefall was now.

He stood at the doorway for a moment, baffled. But it all became clear when he moved to look at your computer.

Security footage was playing on a loop. One of Bridges’ feeds, out near Capital Knot. It was time-stamped for that morning at 09:42.

At first it looked like any other porter drop-off he’d seen. Fragile dropped off the cargo and began walking to the road.

Just as she was almost out of frame, she froze, body going tense. She tugged something out of her neck with a visible wince. A second later her frame was wracked with tremors, starting in her hands then progressing through to her arms and legs.

She fell.

Her head hit the pavement, and Cliff knew that if the feed had sound, it would’ve made a sickening crack. Fragile lay still.

A tranquilizer dart, hummed the back of his mind.

Blood pooled around her skull.

A white-gloved hand came just into frame to touch her arm - and Fragile disappeared in a flash of black shimmers. The hand retracted.

There was no other sign of the assailant. The feed was empty again.

Cliff ran after you.

You tore out of your shelter, not bothering to pull on a suit or Odradek. It was too hot and cramped, you were about to burst, this was all too much. You needed space, you needed to breathe.

Of course as soon as you thought something might finally start to be alright with you two Fragile gets kidnapped! What the hell was wrong with these people? Why did they even care? Why were they taking people?

You blinked away tears as you shambled to your greenhouse.

You needed to hit something.

You rummaged around your pumpkin patch and found the squashiest pumpkin you had. Then you grabbed your shovel from the supply closet. Then you pulled the shovel over your head, and you slammed the shovel into the gourd. The sound you made was inhuman, a hot rush coursing through your veins. You were so angry!

And then you did it again.

It gave a smack-squelch sound and caved in, guts oozing out of the gaping cracks you’d made. Your hands were shaking? You hit it. Your knees wobbling? You hit it. Fet like your heart was ready to burst? You hit it. You hit it again. And again, and again, letting its gross pumpkin guts get all over your clothes. Were you screaming? You weren’t sure if you were screaming or not. You didn’t care. Your friend was gone.

By the time the pumpkin was nothing more than puree you were spent and sweaty and gross, panting and flushed. You didn’t even notice how hard you were crying until you wiped pumpkin seeds from your cheek and it felt all teary.

You… didn’t really feel better either. Just less pissed off and more sad. Empty, like someone had hollowed out your insides and replaced them with cotton.

You heard footsteps on the grass behind you.

Damn it! You didn’t need Cliff seeing you like this! God, how embarrassing. You turned around reluctantly, shoulders slumping and shovel barely in your grasp.

There he was, warm eyes and kind heart.

That was almost enough to get you crying again - you weren’t used to people caring enough to come after you. People out here took care of themselves.

You saw him take in the scene - the destroyed pumpkin, the seeds on your clothes, the tears streaming down your face. He cautiously cracked a smile, after a moment, “If I had known you were making pumpkin pie I would have helped.”

You laughed and burst into tears at the same time, dropping your shovel. That was such a stupid thing to say! He was ridiculous! You covered your face in your hands, mortified but unable to stop crying.

You and Fragile never truly reconciled - you had just ignored your argument altogether and held a tense peace.

You felt like the worst friend on the planet.

And now someone had taken her.

Careful hands rested on your arms, lightly pulling you in. You could have resisted if you wanted to; you could’ve told him to go away, to leave you alone and he would have done it in a heartbeat. But you’d been crying alone for so long.

So you let him pull you close, let him gently wrap his arms around you as you cried. He was warm, and had strong arms, and you cried into his shirt like some damsel in a shitty movie. But you felt safe. “It’ll be alright.” He murmured into your hair. You could feel his voice rumbling in his chest. You clung to the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline. “You’ll find her.”

You knew those were empty platitudes, that neither of you had any idea what the future would bring.

But for now, just for tonight, you would choose to believe him.

A/n:

This chapter is brought to you by the need for therapy. I hope I’m holding the right balance between vague and intriguing with Reader-San’s flashbacks. They won’t feel like going into full detail until much later, so I hope its enough to almost tell what happened, but not quite.Anytime I mention singing you can insert whatever song you want, btw.I would also like to apologize to the Fragile and Higgs stans. This fic isn’t really nice to them and I really am sorry about that, but Fragile’s teleportation is too convenient. How else am I going to get (Y/n) and Cliff to hike across the Rockies, huh?So what do you guys think? I’d really appreciate some feedback, I don’t have a beta so I’m not sure.I hope you enjoyed it!

Edit: Change what Higgs said.

@paanchu786

#death stranding #death stranding x reader #death stranding cliff #cliff unger #mads mikkelsen #chaptered #reader #l'appel du vide

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onetruejonsey · 4 years

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Decade In Review, by Samuel Richard Sinbad Gandalf Jones

So as the ‘Teens’ come to a close (I’m writing this with 3 hours left on the clock!), Gabby has insisted that I copy her, and do a highlight reel of my last decade. Now I’m not on YouTube yet, so this’ll be more of a REALLY REALLY long post, but go ahead and read it, then read Gabby’s on her page (@mist-over-water), and see just how boring I really am!

2010-

Well this year was boring as hell, clearly. I CAN’T REMEMBER MOST OF IT. But I was part way through my first year of A-Levels, and boy oh boy, was I failing them, I’d gone from being a straight A student to screwing everything up! Didn’t stop procrastinating though…..

2011-

Okay, now things get a little interesting, I got my first big job working at a really pleasant and mature restaurant….AHAHA just kidding I got a job at my local McDonald’s! It took me three attempts to get in there, not because I sucked, but timing sucked, I think the universe eventually saw me and just said ‘Oh fuck it, have the job’. But I wanted to earn some money to take me to university, and this seemed like a good idea at the time! And my first paycheck was spent on a brand new guitar! So I was a happy Sam!

I finished my A-Levels, and when I got my results, I was crushed, not at the results, they were pretty good. All my university choices rejected me, and all my friends made it. It was my own fault to be honest, but I’ll never forget just how low that made me feel. I was pretty angsty back then, so this just added to my pile!

I decided it was best to stay at work, go full time, get waaaaay more money, and try again next year. This proved to be a good decision, as it led to me being invited to my first ever work party, I got drunk, and there was karaoke, and I gave my best rendition of Basket Case by Green Day, and to this day, there are still whispers of my singing prowess. Even though I’m a bit shit.

2012-

I started 2012 with a pinch of determination, and it paid off. I re-applied for university, and all my choices accepted me, so now it was down to me to make my final decision. I’d had my eye on one in particular, so off me and Mum go to Northampton, 2 and half hours later, and the sat-nav took us to a primary school (I’ll never forget the shopkeeper on the same road-‘Looking for the uni? You’re the 4th person today!’). I fell in love with the whole place, and as soon as I got in the car I looked at Mum and said that I had to be there. I accepted the offer within a minute of being home.

Now from the good to the bad. Something happened to me this year that still sticks with me, and to many, this may seem stupid. But my dog died. Sounds stupid right? Jazz was the best dog I have ever known; loyal, unwavering, had the gift of the gab, and never left us alone. I was convinced she was actually a human reincarnated, she looked after Mum when she was ill, she looked after me when I was miserable, and she loved Dad. What made it more heartbreaking was that she never let us know that she was ill, no, that she was dying. When we got her to the vet, they originally thought it was a little infection, nothing major. The next day we had to rush her in as an emergency, and they found a tumour in her stomach the size of a baby’s head. How we never knew about it I’ll never know, but they operated, and got her all cleared up, and yet it wasn’t enough, she died within the hour, and I buried one of my best friends. This led to a vacuum in our house, we’ve always had dogs and the house felt so wrong without one, so Mum and Dad decided, one day without telling me, to go and get our current doggo Indiana. AND TALK ABOUT GOING FROM ONE EXTREME TO THE OTHER. If Jazz was the best dog ever, Indy is definitely the worst. But we love him, still today as a grumpy old man.

2012 saw me do something that I honestly never thought possible, and dead serious moment here: I genuinely never saw this coming for me, and was convinced that I was not the guy who would be in this situation. But I got a girlfriend, and it was my first relationship. Not ‘first major relationship’, like people who would bounce from quick fling to the next, but my first relationship. To me, a relationship is no small matter, you date me, I’m in it for the long term. Sam ain’t no quick and easy thing! Oh god why am I still such a dork. Anyway, so, yeah, my first relationship, and dear god was I clueless about what to do! And oh shit, I was leaving for uni in September, so would this work long distance? Am I boyfriend material? Will her parents like me? Will my parents like her?....ah fuck it, I WAS 19 AND IN LOVE. I DIDN’T GIVE A SHIT. And whilst we spent some of it long distance, we made it work.

2013-

Now that bit where I was really excited for university and all I’d learn in my 3 years there? Yeah I left after the first year. Cool. My finances were screwed over and I didn’t get my money, so I couldn’t go back, but I guess it was meant to happen for a reason.

Leaving university meant I could focus more on working back home at McDonald’s, so I tried for a promotion, got it, and lost it the day after because of bullshit. But I still carried on, because money’s nice right? I could buy nice things with it, like more stuff for my guitar collection! And many presents! But my my, I think I was getting into a world of pain staying there!

But while we’re on the subject of work and stuff, I got punched in the face by a shitty customer. And it broke my cheekbone. Which I didn’t find out about until a week later when I practically passed out and my girlfriend at the time rushed me to hospital! Since that’s happened I’ve always had a little problem with headaches, lately it’s been really good, to the point I’ve spent pretty much all of 2019, with no headache at all!

Still, finish a topic on a good note, I had my first ever trip to London, it was just me and my girlfriend, and we visited a bakery show. But London itself wowed me, and I fell in love with it, and I always knew I would be back there, just….not how I imagined.

2014-

Starting off, I went back to London! My girlfriend bought me tickets for me and my best friend to go and see Halestorm. MY FIRST CONCERT. And it was epic, I’d ben obsessed with Halestorm for some time already by this stage, so to see them live was a pivotal moment for me. The opening acts were shit, but my god, as soon as Lzzy belted out Love Bites…..oh, ohhh, OHHHHHH my god. The night itself was hectic enough, my friend and I didn’t think to book a hotel. Soooooo we had to run like fuck to make it back to the train, lest we be trapped in London for a whole night!

One big change in this year was my girlfriend and I moving into our own place, granted it was a static caravan, but it was ours, decorated, a bit cold, but it was home. Now, here’s a weird bit, I was home alone one night, and was just getting into bed, when I heard someone at the door. I thought it was my girlfriend home from work, but she was on a night? So, what’s the deal here? Oh wait that’s right, it was Gabby, drunkenly mistaking my caravan for hers! I heard muttering as she left, probably something along the lines of ‘Shit, not my caravan’. But if fate was starting the wheels turning, god she made it a slow fucking burn!

It took me a lot of years to pull this off, but I had my first ever holiday abroad! Rhodes, one of the Greek isles! I recall getting drunk a lot, really good food, and severe heat! But it was my first holiday in forever, and I went away with my girlfriend, her mum and her friend.

Aaaaaand then everything fell apart. I never expected myself to be in a relationship, but once I had one, I didn’t see it ending the way it did. And I’m not airing any dirty laundry, I wasn’t and am still not perfect, but I’m not bitter or twisted about it anymore, it just sucked at the time. I was cheated on, and to anyone who’s had it happen to them knows that it does a lot of damage, it can take a lot of time to recover, and I was lucky to have the friends I had to help me.

The latter half of 2014 saw me drop into a real dark place, I contemplated suicide, and one day I considered it, staring at a packet of tablets for about 6 hours. It took my best friend randomly appearing at my house, practically kidnapping me and taking me to see Guardians of the Galaxy to snap me out of it! But both him and that movie saved my life, so I’m forever grateful to the pair of them. Also I started drinking heavily, at an unhealthy level but, like John Mulaney said, we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

2015-

Back to having a bit of a dull year, but only a bit. I knuckled down and got on with work, and proved myself time and time again. I remade myself, sorted my drinking out, and did a lot to make myself better, or at the very least, less of a fuckup.

I also managed to cram in three more concerts this year, saw Halestorm again with my best friend and another friend, and we loved one of the supporting acts, Nothing More. AND I GOT TO MEET THE SINGER AND HE WAS THE NICEST ERMAHGERD AND I STILL HAVE THE TICKET WHICH HE SIGNED. Then it was Theory of a Deadman later in the year, and they were phenomenal. But by far, the cherry on the cake was seeing Nothing More again, as a VIP! I got to meet the whole band, watch them from close up, got a crapload of merch, and just have the best damn concert experience I could ever have!

2016-

I started this year a little bit worse for wear, I was a little downbeat about things, and was a little bit lost with my choices in life. So I got a cat. Meg the Merciless. And she is a total bitch, mostly disobedient, attacker of unwatched feet. But she is one hell of a companion, and she loves me and Gabby, we can always rely on her to show us a little love and affection when we need it. But as long as it’s on her terms.

Only one concert this year, but it was a biggie: Sum 41 in London, with the same two friends I go to concerts with, aaaaaand we were bruised and injured from surrounding mosh pits, I think Jacob got a cracked rib for his troubles, and I got a smack in the head, so fun times all round!

I tried again for a promotion at work, and made progress! So that was good, my life’s going forwards, what else could happen to make this year more awesome?

OH THAT’S RIGHT I MET GABBY. Yep, thank you Plenty of Fish for giving the option to exercise my social awkwardness from a screen, because that makes me feel so much better! Anyway, yeah Gabby and I started talking on there, I seem to recall the conversation starting off about surviving a zombie apocalypse? Darling, please correct me if I’m wrong! But we started off strong, and carried on strong from there, I was able to open up to her, which made me feel amazing, confident about being in a relationship again, and then we finally met. And our first date was amazing, it may have been a simple idea, drinks, dinner, walking, trying to be a gentleman and not look at Gabby’s butt. Being told by Gabby to look at her butt, giving said butt 2 thumbs up. The usual stuff you know? But the thing that marvelled me most? Her honesty. Gabby hasn’t had the best life, and she has told me so much that any one thing might break some people, and yet Gabby has endured it all, and she is still one of the kindest people I have ever known. She was worried that I might’ve been scared off with what she wanted me know, but it made me love her more, because she trusts me to the point that she’ll tell me all of this. I visited the zoo in October with her, had an amazing first Christmas with her, met her nieces, who are all adorable, met her friends, had a blast, and had a somewhat awkward time introducing Gabby to my parents!

2017-

After nearly 6 months, Gabby was offered the chance to move in with me and my parents, because her home life was…pretty terrible. After suffering psychological abuse for 7 years at the hands of a total scumbag (side note, I find it really hard to hate people, but if this guy died? Fine.) and going away with me to London for a few days, she made the choice to move in. And I think she’s finally realising how terrible a choice that was, because this house is a total nutfest, and she is now a part of it AND CAN NEVER ESCAPE. But she’s embraced it, and has become a better person with her new environment!

Sticking to the topic of Gabby, she landed a job working with me at McDonald’s. And we became one of the greatest working couples in the whole world, people loved us there. Well, most people. I loved working with her, but the managers were becoming total dicks at the time, and Gabby was being discriminated for her mental health, which pissed me off. And thanks to my shitty advice, she quit in November. So go me!

I realise that so far, my 2017 has been largely about Gabby, AND THAT ISN’T STOPPING ANYTIME SOON! I made a post before about this, but Gabby took me to LFCC, my first ever convention. We went to London again, had a ball, met Glenn from Walking Dead, and Crowley from Supernatural! Later in the year we would also go back to London for MCM Comic-Con, which was more spectacle, but I preferred LFCC more, there were more famous people, and I’m a sucker for meeting the famous!

I saw Sum 41 again with my best friend, and we learned our lesson from the last concert, so we got seats up top, and watched from relative safety, and thank god for that because my hearing went to crap after that night! Gabby bought me tickets to go and see Nothing More again as well, and to show her my world a little more, I took her with me! God they know how to put on a show!

The year ended on the shitty side, and I was a pretty shitty boyfriend with this. But Gabby’s nan fell ill, and it wasn’t looking good, and when Gabby needed me after going to be with her mum at the end of the year, I wasn’t there. So I will be spending the rest of my life trying to make up for it. Sorry sweetheart.

2018-

A shit start to be honest. Gabby’s nan died, and it was a stressful time all round, Gabby and I had a massive argument, and I nearly drove her to self harm. Way to go Sam, you prick. I was convinced that after that, we would be over. Why would Gabby want to be with someone who drives her mental health into the dirt? So naturally I was surprised when she told me she still loved me, and still wanted to be with me, and when she moved back, and got a new job, I saw this as a chance to get things going back in the right direction, for the sake of us, and to show Gabby that I will always love her.

NOW FOR A BIG DRAMATIC CHANGE IN SAM’S LIFE. I quit McDonald’s. And looking back at it, thank fuck I did. I was gunning for another promotion, and I got so close to becoming a manager, only for it to be taken away. Yet another opportunity snatched by arseholes. So that was it, fuck ‘em. I quit, and thanks to Gabby finding it, I got a new job working in the same company as my dad, and I can safely say I have not regretted that decision. I love my new job to pieces!

Now, back to Gabby. AND YET ANOTHER DRAMATIC CHANGE IN SAM’S LIFE. In August, on Gabby’s birthday, I wanted to take her to the zoo, with her mum and nieces in tow. And that was the day I lost my girlfriend. AND GAINED A FIANCEÉ SEE WHAT I DID THERE TUMBLR? SUBVERT YOUR EXPECTATIONS OH YEAH. I proposed, and she said yes! I’m going to be a husband! I’m grateful for everything Gabby does, she teaches me so much, and sometimes doesn’t realise it, so to hear her say yes has to be the greatest thing she has done for me so far, because it shows that she wants to spend the rest of her life with an overweight, greying, eccentric, potty mouthed nerd.

I started learning to drive this year, because goddamn it, if I’m going to get somewhere with my life, I needed to drive, I needed a car. So I found a driving school, and got to work. Now it took me going to a different driving school to find out that my first instructor was just trying to bleed me for money, but I enjoyed the driving all the same. But when I had to find a new driving school, I saw that as an opportunity to procrastinate my arse off again. Well done Sam, well done. You prat.

2019-

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST. After getting in with a new driving school, I got on really quickly, and passed first time, and in May, after Gabby passed her test as well, we got our first car. Moss, the (nearly) 18 year old Nissan Micra. He’s old, a bit clunky, but he’s an amazing car, and I couldn’t picture a better car for us to start with. Mainly because he’s small and really easy to park.

After getting my butt into gear, and sorting out some crap on my end, Gabby and I really got into planning our wedding, we set the date, and from there, we decided on venues, transport, Gabby chose a dress, everything was coming together in the planning phase. However, we didn’t anticipate that we would have already booked over ¾ of the wedding before the end of this year! Seriously, our wedding is in 2021, and we are practically done. WE BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON A FEW DAYS AGO FOR GOD’S SAKE. So yeah, 2020 may be a little less exciting!

Now for a little bit of a shitty part of 2019. I found out a friend of mine died, and that left me feeling down as hell. Of all the people, I never imagined my friend Jay would be one to go so soon. He was a massive character, big heart, and a bigger laugh to match. To hear him pass was frigging heartbreaking, and I don’t think I’ll stop visiting him anytime soon.

Do I know what the next decade holds for me? Not a clue, but I’m glad I’m not alone for it, with Gabby at my side, and our wedding not that far away, I’m ready to make her the happiest woman alive, to start the family that we both want (I mean, apparently we’ll have twins when we have kids, so that’s going to be fun!), to live the lives that we want to spend together. To spend time with friends, new, old, and really old. But most importantly, to have her for all of it.

#personal #personal post #life #ten years #decade in review

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wrestling0neshots · 5 years

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Cheap Shot - Undertaker

Kane is desperate to fight his older brother, and after failing to get Taker to fight him by hurting people he doesn't care about Paul finally decides that it's time to put Undertaker in a corner he can't back out of.

Originally posted on Archive Of Our Own

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Quietly you hum to yourself, making your way through the small pile of paperwork belonging to your husband. With Taker busy a lot of the time with work you take it upon yourself to look over everything and ensure that everything is in order. Lately he's had a little more than usual, Paul Bearer running him around more than usual despite not even working with Taker.

You put the pen down, rising from your chair to stretch. You walk around the room for a few minutes, not wanting to continue with the paperwork. After pondering you decide it'll be best to just get it done with and then you won't have a lot left to do, and besides, there's not much for you to do as it stands.

You sit down and reach forward to the pen, the cold plastic barely bracing your skin before you find yourself evacuated from your seat. The person holds you by the waist, keeping you in the air, your feet unable to touch the ground. You kick backwards, your attack landing successfully on his shin.

No yell comes from the pain you inflict, nor a hiss or a moan of pain. The room is silent for all but the soft sound of your feet once more on the carpet as you land gracefully, spinning to face whomever decided to pick you up like a small child.

Upon turning around you find you're at a disadvantage, coming up to the mans shoulder. You tilt your head back to get a look at his face, only to find you can't see it for a red mask covers his face.

"Now" you begin calmly, "I don't know what you're doing in here or who the hell you think you are, but I strongly suggest you turn your ass around and leave the same way you came in, and before my husband gets back" the man doesn't say a word, and doesn't move at all. "Go on" you give a little towards the door, telling him in what direction he has to go.

The man stares down at you, but doesn't budge. "You know what? You're really beginning to piss me off. Get the fuck out of my room and don't come the fuck back" you snap, poking his chest with your index finger.

With that he reaches out for you, using one arm to pull you towards him and turn you around before using the other to lock you in place against his chest. "You just wait till my husband gets back you little shit. Then you'll have the Undertaker to answer to"

"Maybe that's what he wants" the shrill voice of Paul Bearer replies quickly. "You're not welcome in here Bearer. You know that" your voice comes out as more of a growl, unimpressed by his presence in your locker room.

"Oh I know" Paul chuckles, "but it isn't me who wanted to be in here. You see for weeks now we've been trying to get your dearest Undertaker to fight us" "Why the hell do you want to fight Taker, Paul? Didn't you get enough when he-" "Kane" At Paul's command the gloved hand of the man holding you against him is covering your mouth.

"All Kane wants is his revenge Y/n. He wants revenge on his brother" it clicks in your head that all along you've known who this man is. "And he will get his revenge. Your husband had the choice to refuse before when people he didn't care about were getting hurt, but this, this is different"

Paul sits behind Kane, the three of you waiting for Undertaker to return. The atmosphere in the room is tense, no one saying a word, no one moving. You had tried that, all it had lead to was Kane tightening his grip on your waist to the point your breathing is now limited, almost as if you were to be wearing a corset.

The door handle squeaks as it is pressed down, the door swinging open at a leisurely pace. Your muffled attempt at calling out to your husband doesn't work, Kane's hand only further tightening around your mouth.

He finally walks into the room, heading over to his things, not checking the other side of the room to see if you're okay. You try to call out to him once more, this time Undertaker realising he's heard something.

"Its only me" he chuckles, rummaging around in his bag. You try once more to get to him, and this time he stops.

"What’s the matter?" He asks. Unable to reply you remain silent, "Y/n?" he asks, waiting for your answer. When it doesn't come he realises something is wrong, turning around and spotting you immediately. His eyes move from yours upwards and you know your captor has been spotted.

"Kane" Undertaker's voice is soft but his anger still shows through. "Don't make me do this, I don't want to fight you, you're my brother" Undertaker walks forward, stopping a few paces away from where you're being held. The two stare at each other in silence, neither one making a move.

"Undertaker, Kane wants his revenge" Paul speaks, still hiding behind Kane, "He will take it. You either fight him and get hurt, or we can do this the hard way" Undertaker's green eyes make contact with your e/c ones. In them you see the fear, something you rarely see in him, but you know he's only fearful for you.

"Don't hurt her Kane, she's family. She might not be your own flesh and blood but she is still family. I know you always wanted a little sister"

"You won't convince him to let go Undertaker" Paul screeched, "You know he will do it. I've told you before Undertaker, Kane is willing to go through anybody and everybody, including your wife, if only to get you to fight him once" Undertaker closes his eyes, seeming to draw in a deep breath.

"Listen, Paul, you started this, why can't you just let me and Kane work things out? This is all your fault" Undertaker looks behind you now, finding Paul Bearer in the darkness. "Is it deadman? Who was it that burnt down the funeral home? Who was it that killed your mother and father?"

"Just let Y/n go. That's all I ask, then maybe we can work something out" You shake your head, he is not giving in for the sake of you. "No, Kane will not let go until he gets a match. He wants to fight you, Undertaker" You feel Kane nod behind you, but your husband mentally snapping is what gains your attention. He always did have a relatively short temper, but generally he manages to keep it under wraps.

"You know what Paul? I'm done with your crap. You can have a fight Kane, just give me my wife back and get out"

Kane drops you and you draw in a deep breath, feeling the air filling your lungs fully for the first time in almost half an hour. Kane takes a step back as Undertaker takes one forward, encasing you protectively in his arms.

"Next week deadman. Kane and I expect you to be in the ring, and if you're not we'll be back and next time someone will get hurt" Undertaker ignores Paul's threat as he exits the room, instead opting to ensure you're not hurt.

"I'm not leaving you alone in here, or anywhere again" Undertaker states as he pulls you into a tight embrace. "I'm with you on that one"

#undertaker #kane #wwe #wwe fic #feud #1997 #paul bearer #husband and wife #foul play #paul bearer is conniving #good plan though #oneshot #random thought that wouldn't leave my mind #paperwork

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rowanthestrange · 6 years

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I think the intended theme of Kerblam was hugely overshadowed by the fact that the episode didn't address that Kerblam didn't even try to keep their workers safe. The main issue I found was that the scene at the end implied the murders couldn't have been prevented without the doctor's expertise. A responsible employer would have supended work until the power drains were fixed (I'm assuming that's why any security systems were down allowing charlie to escape notice)

*hides face in hands*

You’re right. You are - my expression is not…oh it’s not for you.

I mean I’m not sure there was a set intended theme, it was bothsided to hell, but yeah, definitely…there was definitely an issue there with it not actually addressing anything.

*leans back*

The power drains were - in my understanding - because of both Terrorist Boy messing around with the system, but far more importantly, was because the system itself was trying to channel a lot of energy into one place. The power-drain that occurs when the bot tries to kill him for example.

It isn’t clear. How much of it is under the system’s control is not explored.

Leading neatly to your next point - the system needs the Doctor’s expertise.

Why?

It would have succeeded in killing Terrorist Boy had it been smarter about it. Not done it around people. Sure maybe it’s trying to basically scream ‘He’s the bad guy!’ but that’s not obvious, nor apparently necessary, because kill him and there’s no backup, no deadman’s handle, you’re done. Statistically the guy has been alone at some point, and there were no ‘we cannot murder’ rules implied, so off you go chums.

Maybe the robots didn’t want to murder him - a good theme that would have tied perfectly into both the terrorism and the themes being built in this series, and does work with them knowing the Doctor would stop it.

But that didn’t happen. I just made that up. None of this stuff was explained, nothing addressed. The roots for this episode are so good and go nowhere.

Explain why they don’t care about power outages in a 90% automated factory. Use it for character development with the woman - she doesn’t care and is lighthearted about it because she’s in people, while the rest of the company is having kittens - because that is a big deal and everyone would have noticed.

And this place clearly can’t just shut down for a month, are you joking?! Unless you’re playing a Bad Wolf Satellite Whatever with this, the consequences would be absolutely huge. Space Amazon shuts down, only gives its workers half that time off as paid leave, and it’s clearly the backbone of the Kandokan economy, that’s on last legs enough that Kira’s never got a goddamn Amazon delivery in her life, but also where six year olds print metal pendants for their Daddies.

And if you still want to do all this, then make it a goddamn point that THIS IS WHY YOU NEED PEOPLE. Not in meaningless goddamn packing, but that if you had PEOPLE paying close attention, they would have been more likely to catch the flaws in the system, or notice it being abused and be able to act on it. Slade was clearly useless - cut that character, he’s only a red herring anyway, and use all that time and energy to give us context with the robots.

Warning From The Future: This fix-it got long

But if I’m allowed to make changes, just off the top of my head, I axe Kira too. Don’t kill off Lee Mack (no I’m not gonna learn the character’s name) so quickly, and then you already have a ‘human’ element in the plot and he fits it well. Kira only exists for man-pain and to humanise Terrorist Boy - which you’re already doing with Graham (Their scenes should have been much the same, but highlighting some extremist tendencies - particularly his odd choice of referring to the system as He - and clearly indicating that no-one talks to this kid enough to see them). Also fewer humans would help sell this idea of the 90-10% thing. Swap team positions - the Doctor goes down and meets Mack (because she’s already sympathetic to the robots so needs to become less so, and this leads to lots of little opportunities to dig at Amazon, capitalism, workers rights etc), and Yaz and Ryan are on packing. It gives Ryan a chance to be good at something in front of Yaz for a change, lets Yaz do some competent police work that actually goes somewhere (seriously McTighe), and Ryan we’ve seen be sceptical but sweet before with the baby situation, so therefore he takes notice of the robots (because he needs to be more sympathetic to them and is a better audience avatar). The combination of him being emotionally intelligent, and Yaz cognitively intelligent, means they work out the origin of the ‘Help Me’ which also fits the fact that Yaz was the only one to notice the message at all. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Mack are facing robot villains. Hmm that’s weird. They run to find each other, Yaz and Thirteen probably doing the grabbing each others forearms thing, and say at the same time “The robots are trying to kill us” “The robots are asking for help”, look at each other in confusion, and that’s when Graham and Terrorist Boy (foreshadowing) show up with the maps. Woman (don’t remember if she had a name, sorry) can show up again, having done some digging and phoning around (she uses a large phone, not a large tablet), and has found the people never made it back home. She’s panicking, the Doctor still gets her ‘If you are lying to me’ moment, etc. etc. things progress, plot as before, but instead of losing Kira, we lose Mack - pendant left behind. In trying to find him, the tracker lures Yaz and Ryan away from the others (Terrorist Boy’s intent was to get everyone, but that’s this Scooby-Doo team for you with the splitting up). Ryan is the one that nearly gets blown to bits by the bubble-wrap because of course he does, his defining character trait is to effing touch everything. Terrorist Boy gives himself away by legging it as Ryan moves to grab it, and Yaz saves him, cus she has good instincts and reflexes. Maybe a robot then says “Would you like me to dispose of this an an environmentally conscious way” - subtext layers, and at a safe distance, pops it - the system showing what damage it can do. This also acts as a set-up for the scene with the robots exploding it later, and makes it look less like the Doctor committing mass robo-murder (and prevents the robots from having to be deliberate murderers themselves). Doctor having got Twirly etc. hijacks a bot teleporter, and with the Woman and Graham finds the soup, etc. etc. same as before. That Terrorist Boy pegged it before, makes sense as to why Yaz didn’t catch him and restrain him, and everyone meets up again. This time though, we have some space. Have the Doctor excitedly (almost obscenely) working things out, while Graham explains the soup - clearly ruffled, and Yaz gets the Woman to bring up the details of Lee Mack’s family. If there’s thirty seconds to spend on how she’s had to call in a lot of dead bodies but never explain it to people’s families, do it now, leave her staring at the phone. Doctor comes to her excited conclusion, and the Terrorist Boy suddenly shows up threatening people with a detonator. Yaz stands (she looks extra shaken), but she’s behind, clearly looks to the Doctor who takes charge (characterisation, shows where she sees herself and her trust in the Doctor, and explains why she isn’t more active yet). Scene, scene, etc, etc, all the bullshit about millennials = bad obviously removed, Graham actually gets most of the attempted calming lines, and it nearly works. But as it fails, the Doctor gets in with him “Killing the people he was supposed to be trying to save”, that to him the people are no more real than the robots - oh no? Prove it. Grabs the phone from Yaz’s hand, which is still on, turns the volume up, and forces him to listen to the six year old asking for her Daddy and telling him to stop being silly. It’s almost on the edge of cruelty, and we see that glimmer in her eyes again. It doesn’t work. It’s his plan, his vision, he’s going to be the one to take control, he he he. But it’s not funny. It’s all about him and his power fantasy, and that becomes increasingly clear the longer you let him talk. (Him stomping on the device is more explicitly visually framed as a mirror for the Doctor doing the same for the neo-neo-nazi’s Vortex Manipulator, but it isn’t explained, just complex forshadowing for the Doctor’s monster breakdown later). Yaz never grabs for him and fails, we just go straight to him running into the bots - maybe standing on the balcony railing first to get a proper little-hitler shot above his tin soldiers, then jumping down to hide among them. But as before, the Doctor doesn’t stop him getting blown to pieces. At the end, the need for more humans to manage the system and particularly to work with each other is noticed, and that’s what the human positions should be for - what humans are good at, noticing patterns and each other. There’s no ‘lol Graham what are you like’ moment in the TARDIS, it’s just Yaz’s feeling of failure as a Police Officer shining unspoken in her eyes, and her request to go see the daughter personally being honoured, while Graham is drinking a cup of tea and watching Ryan intently (clearly been hammered by events, but taking comfort in his own odd-but-blessedly-harmless boy), while Ryan pokes and prods at Twirly, whom apparently they never actually gave back. And it ends with the Doctor once again being rebuffed as company, Yaz leaving the TARDIS, kid’s necklace in hand, and walking into a room across the camera - the Kerblam! poster with Mack’s face on the wall behind her.

I’ve only watched the episode once, and I don’t have a transcript to refer to yet, so might be missing some pieces, but broadly speaking.

And I appreciate that the Kira scene and the ‘You had a plan, but you weren’t expecting to fall in love’ is almost certainly meant to be a Direct Mirror for a future scene with The Doctor and Yaz, but without Chibnall over my shoulder and saying that has to be in there, the transition to the concept of general filial/agape love works for me.

Apologies. Bit longer than I expected. I just started writing and it kept flowing. Apparently I did have some concrete ideas about how to fix it. Sorry, wow.

#replies #doctor who #long post #yikes that is a beast of a paragraph #wall of text #fixit

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dreadhaus-literature · 5 years

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{January Collection} #18

I really just had some fun with this; it’s already late, I have to leave early for an airport run, and I can’t spend hours writing another smutty piece so I went with a more...light-hearted take on obsession. It’s not as wordy, meant to be fast-paced and sweep Monica right off her feet in the process.

Used this for inspiration.

Hometown

Friday’s Theme: Surveys

The census is boring; make up your own!

“I can’t believe how easy this is!”

Monica looked over at her full-time bestie and 24 hour on-call girlfriend, who was gesturing with one arm out in a wide arc, the other cradling a cup of coffee from their favorite shop. The shorter woman laughed good-naturedly, nodding as she switched the sheets of paper on her clipboard to a blank survey page.

“Normally I’d argue, we’re having to talk to strangers but...today hasn’t been too bad.”

Dot slung that free arm around her girlfriend’s waist. “I told you making up these ridiculous questions was the way to go. No need for us to be the only ones uncomfortable through this whole process.”

“True,” Monica adjusted her glasses, “but I don’t see how asking people about their weirdest dream is going to count as a census for our stats class.”

“The census is for nerds,” Dot took a sip of her coffee with a scowl. “This isn’t 1955, if you wanna know how many people are in the world google it. This is the heart and soul of the population! Which is way more important in my opinion.”

Monica just shook her head; she’d let her emotional half take the lead on this particular project for their mutual college class and she was only mildly worried about their project grade. When she got back to their apartment she may have to double check just what the percentage of this project counts toward their final grade...but as long as Dot as having fun, Monica wasn’t going to complain. She’d hated the idea of having to go door to door in New York City, of all places, but this professor of theirs was real old school and wanted an accurate picture of their hometown so door to door was the assigned task. The subject of the survey that students were supposed to ask about was at their own discretion--which was exactly what Dot was wanting to hear. She volunteered to put together a questionnaire that was “guaranteed to make the recipients just as uncomfortable answering the questions as we are asking them!” Monica didn’t know...how she felt about that, but in the end at least asking silly questions made up for the annoying and oftentimes ugly participants as they navigated down another street.

“How many more of these do we have?” Dot tilted her head down, watching Monica count the slips.

“Twelve, so not too bad!” She responded, almost missing Dot’s grimace.

“Seriously? We’ve been at this all damn day, I thought we’d be closer to done.”

“Weren’t you just saying how easy this is?”

Dot poked Monica’s nose with an audible, “Boop,” before continuing. “I said it was easy, not quick, which it isn’t. Gimme six of those, we can split up for the last dozen and get ‘em done faster.”

Monica raised both brows, drawing to a stop on the sidewalk. “You wanna talk to people alone?”

“It’ll make me all the more appreciative when I get to talk to you, alone,” Dot answered with a wry grin, before putting on a pout. “Come on, angel, the new issue of Super-Spider and Deadman comes out tonight and you promised you’d read it to me.”

“i still don’t get why you ask me to read it to you, it’s got pictures.”

“It also has words and your reading voice is the best.”

“I sound like R. Kelly.”

“Who is a gross bag of limp dicks but also has several platinum selling records for having a bomb ass voice so what is your argument again, sweet peach?” Dot fluttered her eyelashes, which earned her a swat to the face with her half of the surveys.

“Fine, fine. Split up and leave your girlfriend all by herself--”

“That fuss isn’t going to work on me, I know last week you got that cute barista’s number because I wasn’t sucking your face in the coffee line,” Dot snatched up the surveys, leaning down to give Monica’s Crentist face a kiss. “Which, by the way, you should text him? He’s gonna think you’re not interested since he’s already text you three times.”

“I-I’m not!”

“Not interested? Reaaaally,” Dot put on her best Kevin Hart voice as she started further down the sidewalk. “He’s Russian and broods when he’s not serving up lattes like a champ. Tell me he’s not your type with a straight face?”

“You’re going to get hit by a car walking backward and I’m not going to help you if that happens!” Monica shot after her.

Dot took a swig of her coffee, in the process of facing forward with a point. “No, you won’t, because you’re going to go--wow, you’re going to go knock on that castle’s front door.”

Monica was so distracted by the word castle she momentarily forgot the argument she was having with Dot about the barista that she...absolutely did find attractive and was too shy to text back because she saw him almost every day thanks to Dot’s coffee addiction. What if she said something lame? ...And when did their hometown get a castle? Monica adjusted her glasses with her free hand, amending her thoughts after another moment or two of staring. This place wasn’t a castle but it definitely did not fit in with the rest of New York’s ever modernizing architecture and Monica definitely did not remember this building always being here. It was stone, several stories high, and seemed like it would be better suited somewhere in Europe than on a bustling city block. Monica glanced a little up the street and saw Dot was already knocking on the door of the next building and it...really was up to her to go ring this doorbell, huh?

This was the last time Dot was in charge of a college project.

“Gonna go knock on this door and greet some ugly motherfucker with a lazy eye and droopy skin because he’s 600 years old,” Monica grumbled, tucking her clipboard closer as she started up the walkway toward what was very likely a haunted mansion. “And he’ll curse me to steal my beauty and then where will I be? Ugly, too, just like him, that’s where.”

The stone steps leading up to the intimidating double front door gave Monica enough time to rethink her decision, but her knuckles had barely tapped against the wood before the door swung open and revealed an...unfairly attractive middle-aged man who immediately locked eyes with her.

“Yes?”

Monica’s voice failed her; she’d been prepared for some frog-looking cretin but she was not prepared for handsome billionaire behind door number one. “I--A-Ah...”

Dr. Stephen Strange lifted his dark brows at the adorable little girl stammering on his front step, but he didn’t interrupt, content to listen to her flounder if only to hear her speak. How long had he been waiting? A glance at the otherwordly watch on the wrist holding the door open told him he’d been waiting nearly 6 weeks for her to arrive, but then that was what he got for using the Eye of Agamotto to peer into the future and ruin things for himself. It was just...he’d never had a fortune so intriguing before.

A beautiful, dark-haired stranger will arrive on your doorstep, asking questions you’ll struggle to answer--not because they are difficult, Strange, but because your heart will be too loud for you to hear them.

Ask her name, bind her as only you know to do, and take the gift the universe has bestowed upon the Sorcerer Supreme.

For weeks, the doorbell had Stephen’s heart racing but it had been nothing but false alarms--but surely, this had to be his stranger. She was stunning. Simply looking at her had the Sorcerer Supreme rethinking his policy on love spells--something he’d staunchly denied even existed because Tony Stark insists that’s the only way he’ll ever find a girlfriend.

Honestly, what does an idiot in a tin can know about magic? Or fashion sense, for that matter?

“I-I am...l-looking for the...A-Are you the...” Monica gripped the clipboard to steady herself, holding in front of her chest like a shield. “Is t-this your home, sir?”

“It is,” Stephen’s regal features softened and he offered Monica a smile, taking his hand off the door frame to offer to her. “Dr. Stephen Strange.”

Monica glanced down at his hand before gingerly putting hers in his. “N-Nice to meet you, Dr. Strange.”

Stephen closed his hand around hers, bending his spine to press a kiss to the back even as his gaze remained riveted to hers. It was an Old World greeting, a call to European roots, and it was a thousand percent an excuse to touch her, and he took it a step further and urged her past the threshold of the Sanctum Sanctorum. He had a better hope of keeping her if she was already inside his ever-changing magical home, after all.

“Stephen, please, my dear.” Stephen swept his free hand around the small of her back as the door closed behind her. “And you are?”

“M-Monica.”

“Monica...what a beautiful name.” Stephen’s long legs drew her deeper into the Sanctorum with a smile she couldn’t help to decode. “Tell me, dear, what are your thoughts on magicians?”

#{theme} : for monica #{collection} : january 2019 #{character} : stephen strange #{ i wanna pick this apart and keep writing because I don't know when to quit }#{ but this was supposed to be written this way }#{ it's...idk what this is }#{ a new style maybe? }#{ whatever i'm not gonna nitpick this to death }

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lia-nikiforov · 6 years

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Winter 2018 Anime Final Review

Why yes, pretty much all the Spring premieres are done (don’t even remind me haha I’m so far behind) and this is horribly late, I had a busy couple of weeks ;---; and am still struggling to catch up, but here’s my final rundown of this long slow winter! Worst to best, as always.

Dropped

Basilisk Ouka Ninpou Chou: Although I’d said I’d keep watching for the Nobunaga twist, given the onslaught of new stuff for Spring, it’s unsustainable to keep watching something so mediocre I don’t even find anything to say about it. Also Nobunaga hasn’t been mentioned in three episodes.

DUMPSTER FIRE

Darling in the Franxx: So we’re halfway through the show and still feels nothing of importance has happened, except we learned “lesbians are not viable, what a relief” and also KOKORO REALLY WANTS TO MAKE BABIES. The whole Kokoro business is very unsavory because on the one hand the writing is a dick to Walking Fat Joke Futoshi, but on the other hand Futoshi is an entitled Nice Guy who acts like Kokoro has some obligation to return his feelings, so basically everyone sucks lmao. Btw, does anyone know what happened with episode 13? I went to watch it but what I got instead was a Deadman Wonderland episode, complete with the story of Palurdo meeting Lab Experiment-turned-Beast Waifu as children and making a promise that would subsequently be forgotten until they meet again in their teenage years. Jesus, does Womenz are Beastz: The Anime have a single original idea?

How am I supposed to measure my own disinterest and contempt

This basically means I didn’t care for these shows. I don’t hate them but I was aggressively unengaged in them and I can’t really rank them from worst to best because that would imply me having any measurable emotional reaction to them

Violet Evergarden: I don’t think I have much to add about this one that I haven’t said before. Tryhard Sad Anime Girl stories rehashing old clichés with little novelty to them, with a bonus of a super poorly explained and thought out child super soldier tragic backstory that still has me ?????? The final episode has the addendum of trying to redeem That One Asshole in a “he treats her bad because he’s sad about his brother dying sob sob sob he’s totally not a jerk” and i was very annoyed by that.

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni: It’s complicated to talk about this show. I really liked the first episode, hated the 4-6, then was mostly bored by the rest of it. The whole romance angle was completely dropped in the latter half, but I’m not even sure if that’s a good thing given how tastelessly it was being handled in some moments, or a bad one given how bland everything else was. It felt like Akira’s crush on Kondo turned out to be insignificant in the grand scheme of things. It also felt like Akira was profoundly underdeveloped, and it bothered me because Kondo was developed properly. His character felt more fully realized than hers. Like idk, I just cared so little for the last few episodes and it didn’t feel like Akira’s emotional progression was very connected with the first half of the show.

Fate/Extra Last Encore: I don’t even have a screenshot. Apparently the reason the show started so late into the season is that it took a long time to produce, and apparently there are two more episodes that will be released at some point in July. But really, what matters is that I have no idea of what this show was trying to accomplish. The characters were a bunch of pieces of cardboard spouting pseudo nihilistic philosophical nonsense and I don’t even know how to describe the plot. It was generic in its Boss of the Week approach but the execution was often very flat. Definitely none of the fun from Apocrypha’s cool characters was to be had in this iteration of the franchise.

Too much iyashikei

This season we had too much iyashikei and I’m burned out. Here are the ones I didn’t hate but also wasn’t super in love with.

Miira no Kaikata: I think this show would’ve worked better as 3-minute vignettes. 20 minutes of it was a bit too much and I struggled to pay attention. I also felt the dragon and MukuMuku had very tangential roles. I don’t have a whole lot to say. It’s cute, if cute is your jam this show is for you. Connie is best smol monster.

Hakumei to Mikochi: Another cute show that gains extra points for its somewhat unique setting, beautiful color palette and picture book aesthetic and because the two main girls are great characters. I particularly liked the first and last episodes. It’s a relaxing, fun little show

Sanrio Danshi: The harbinger of feminism made into a toy commercial, while not quite iyashikei, is still a slice of life that just occassionally indulged in too much melodrama. It was nonetheless a fun little thing that managed to turn cynical consumerism into a positive message for boys: it’s okay to like non-traditionally-masculine things. One of the details I liked most was that none of the boys had to give up on their previous groups of friends even after “coming out”, Kouta’s friends and Shuu’s team were supportive of them and even participated in their dumbass musical play. Some may even read this show as a not-so-subtle allegory on homosexuality and while I don’t think this was Sanrio’s intent (their intent is to broaden their market, plain and simple) the fact that it works so well with that reading is honestly great. I had very minimal expectations for this show and I’m happy it turned out better than those.

Classicaloid 2: Classicaloid isn’t quite iyashikei either but it fits in the “didn’t love it, didn’t hate it” category. I’m a huge fan of season one, but unfortunately a big part of S2 failed to capture the magic. I think most of it was restored in the second cour, specially with brilliant episodes such as the one where Dovo-chan becomes a super-realistic painting of himself, and the last three episodes really captured what made Classicaloid great. I’ve really come to love this cast, so I wouldn’t complain if we got more seasons (please do Vivaldi!!!)

Shonen is a Good Genre, Actually

Shonen as a genre/demographic is much reviled for its repetitive clichés and childish stories, but I think we live at a time in which we can have well-executed shonen anime that, although falling for the same old clichés, have enough heart and sincerity that makes them enjoyable. This part also isn’t necessarily ranked, since my favorite one will change depending on which day you ask me

Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu: As I have mentioned before, this second season seems to be the polar opposite of the first one’s rapid pace. It’s been a while since I read the manga, but I feel like it took a lot less to get to the mid-season cutoff point there than this anime would lead you to believe, especially the training part felt excruciatingly long. NanaTai has other various flaws including its 1000% not funny harrassment jokes and the dumb introduction of quantified “power levels” (why Suzuki), but characters like Diane, King and Ban give the show a unique flavor. And I’m not even gonna pretend to be unbiased, I just love everything involving Ban, even the weird and questionable choice of bringing Elaine back. I’m excited that we’re finally approaching Escanor’s arrival.

Yowapeda Glory Road: I also forgot to grab a screenshot lmao. Yowapeda is a very particular beast, and with its episode count already in the hundreds, it’s not something I’d reccommend unless you’re super into dragged out ridiculous sports anime. This second season of Onoda’s second year has not been without its flaws either, starting with the, imho absurd persistence in making Sohoku look like underdogs even though they’re reigning champions. It’s made a lot of the first two days of the Interhigh feel a lot grimmer than this cheerful show ought to. Kaburagi is still an insufferable character, and the fact that he drags the team down doesn’t help him either, and I just wish the writers would let Best Boy Teshima win anything. I hope the second day ends on a lighter note, because the gloom and doom is making this a less enjoyable watch than it should be

Mahoutsukai no Yome: I feel a little better about this one knowing the final was anime-original, but at the same time I’m beyond livid with how it was wrapped up. I loved the second half of the series because of how well-written and emotional Chise’s growth was, and everything up to her embracing of Cartaphilus’s curse was a beautiful display of her strength and will to live. What I’m not here for is that asspull wedding whatever that makes no sense in the context of the previous events, especially because after the fact, Elias’s attempt to kill Stella is swept under the rug. This could’ve been my favorite show of the season without that bullshit ending and while I don’t regret watching it, it leaves me with a sad feeling of what could have been

Best of the season

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens: It had a slow start, but with its endearing cast and well-developed character relationships, HTR won me over, especially the last quarter. The animation was veeery barebones, but Lin and Bamba’s charisma and their organically developed relationship carried the show to be one of the most enjoyable of the season. I also really appreciate the fact that the series includes a gay couple with an adopted daughter and that Lin’s crossdressing is never used as a joke or treated as a character flaw or a “phase”. I love stories about found families and I’d love to see more of this gang fighting crime and doing shady business in their city of assassins.

Garo: Vanishing Line: This iteration of Garo had a somewhat slow start, but boy did it pick up steam in the second half. The action was great -the final fight against King had some incredible stylistic choices, the characters’ journeys felt complete and very human and the story was interesting and different enough from other Garo to not feel repetitive, yet with enough Garoisms that made it feel connected to everything else. Like I said, I love stories about found families, so the way Sophie found a home with Gina, Luke and Sword by the end was very touching. Watching Sophie’s journey has been a treat, and I’m immensely happy that this wasn’t a Guren no Tsuki disaster, but was more in line with the excellence of Honoo no Kokuin.

Gakuen Babysitters: This was the huge surprise of the season for me, I almost expected it to be pretty dull. Instead it turned out to be super cute and extremely heartwarming. It had a couple of duds here and there, mostly the not-actually-a-pedophile joke character and the early love triangle skits, but the former disappeared and the latter was vastly improved in the second half of the show. I wish Ryuichi’s grief had been dealt with a bit more, but I think what they did show was very well executed and empathetic. And the portrayal of the kids felt very realistic, including both children’s most adorable and most obnoxious behaviors. KIRIN IS BEST GIRL

Card Captor Sakura Clear Card arc: I have expressed some complaints and dissatisfactions with this sequel all through the season. Mostly in regards to the new cards and how the old ones seem to have been forgotten (also the lazy designs of the new cards). In spite of that, Sakura hasn’t lost any of its heart in these 20 years, the characters are still the kids we grew up with. It is an overwhelmingly cheerful and positive show, from Sakura and Syaoran’s shyly developing relationship, to the hopefulness of Sakura’s magic and just the simple day to day life of Sakura and her friends. In spite of all its flaws, Sakura is still my favorite show of the season and I’m happy we get to spend one more season with these characters. Just please give me more Yue???

Ooooof, finally I’m done with this! PLEASE LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT THE 20+ SHOWS I’M SAMPLING FOR SPRING AHAHAHAHA. There’s too much anime. Anime must be stopped, immediately. Don’t hesitate to send me your thoughts about the winter season, even if it seems I’m losing my mind a little Dx TOO MUCH ANIME

#winter anime #anime final impressions #darling in the franxx #violet evergarden #card captor sakura #gakuen babysitters #koi wa ameagari no you ni #fate extra last encore #garo vanishing line #hakata tonkotsu ramens #ancient magus bride #yowapeda glory line #nanatsu no taizai #classicaloid #sanrio danshi #hakumei to mikochi #miira no kaikata #100

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